BY MIKEY MIGO
This is a pretty random topic. I was searching through my brain for ideas of what to write about this week and got a little bit bummed out by my writers block. In result, I ended up turning on one of my favorite CDs and before I knew it I felt better. It wasn't because I had an idea of what to write about, but because the music was soothing and relaxing. I started to think that if music can chill us out, what other uses does it have? We all know the cliches about music therapy, prenatal music, and all of that psycho mumbo jumbo. But let's take a closer look.
Some of these theories might be well accepted and people may have had positive experiences with them, but they're still theories. We can all have opinions on theories until they become "a proven fact". Don't take this too seriously. This isn't an educational piece, it's more like a conversation with a friend (be my friend!). I'm not trying to offend anyone who has been helped by these ideologies, but just to share my take on them.
Musical Therapy
Some people go to school for years to be able to help people with their problems by using music. Then there are some people who can make people feel better with a really good mix CD. Sure there's a huge difference, but the idea behind it is the same. Music can tap inaccessible emotions, music can make someone smile, feel better, feel worse, angry, or chilled out. It's all how you use it. I don't think they're around anymore, at least to my knowledge, but I recall there being a huge "self help" trend in the 90's where people would listen to these cassette tapes and gain "empowerment". But there are much more everyday aspects to this idea. Bad day at work? Go home and rock out to something that'll calm you down or that'll let you get all your stress out. There is a science behind it. Certain tones, beats, and lyrics can easily help people. To be fair, I think this kind of therapy can be related to any kind of art, be it paintings, movies, or what have you. Basically what I'm saying is that we all have our own comfort zones.
Baby Bumps
It's been often said that if you play classical music to a womb that the baby will come out calmer, smarter, and in some rare cases it's been said the baby will come out dancing. Okay, so I made up the last part, but it'd be really cool. Seeing a baby do "the worm" upon birth is something I hope medical science can take care of before I'm gone. But seriously, to me this has more effect on the parents than the child. The parents are going to THINK it's going to work so they're going to focus more time on the child's development and thus giving them extra attention. If this happens, I see no harm in it. If you play music for the baby and then start putting pressure on them to do trigonometry at the age of six then you're a bad parent.
The Work Out
This is another one of those topics that we take for granted. Music gives us a lot of emotions, but it also gives us adrenaline. If it makes you dance or makes you fuck things up in the mosh pit that's pure adrenaline. Sometimes it's hard to control yourself. You find yourself slightly dancing along to a beat or slightly head banging to a song and then you realize it, stop, and look around to make sure you've not made an ass of yourself in public. When I used to be involved with professional wrestling I know a few guys would listen to their ipod or portable CD player to get them "in the zone" for the show. Maybe they were just using this to be anti-social or not help do ring crew work, but there's also that chance it helped. A lot of people I know who actually do exercise and do physical activity (the numbers are against them) use music as something to "pump them up". Don't believe me? Put on your headphones, turn it up to full blast, and listen to some Mindless Self Indulgence. Your heart may explode.
On the flip side, this whole theory of music and health can also be considered bullshit. I know happy people, depressed people, normal people, and just a lot of people. If their mood shifts THAT much because of music then they need help. Not music help, like pills and doctors help. I'm sure there are dumb babies out there who aren't any smarter because their pretentious parents played them Mozart when they were growing their fingers and toes inside their mother's gut. I know plenty of out of shape people who love music; hard beats, metal, and all genres. There are plenty of different thought processes that come with relating music and health. Science may prove things like facts and theories, but we all know what's up with our own selves. We're all fans of music because we enjoy the sound, connect emotionally, and on a grander scale we actually gain from the experience. If you gain better health from music then that's awesome.
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