I’ve been thinking a lot to the purpose of music lately. I started reflecting on what music means to me and its role it plays in my life. This role has changed in different moments in life, but it’s a good reminder as to how people relate to music. It’s especially a good reminder as an educator as to what music means to my students. This post is going to touch that line of corny touchy feely garbage that as a man I avoid. For a moment I’m going not worry about coming across as cheesy in an effort to reflect on the role music has on the individual.
I asked my students the question “What does music mean to you?” The responses to me were very mature and observant answers. I think music can be so hard to describe and define, but it’s easy to describe how it affects us. Here’s a list of their responses.
“Music is one of, if not the most important aspect of my life.”
“Music is how I relate myself to the world.”
“Music means the world to me. It makes me think about how it relates to life and I love the beats.”
“Music is a way to express yourself, keep you company while you’re alone, and always give you something to do.”
“Music is everything, without music there is no purpose to a lot of stuff.”
“Music is a way to express yourself and your feelings. It’s something that I can go to whenever I need it.”
“Music is a way to express feelings that might be hard to express otherwise.”
“Music to me is a source of stress relief. It helps me calm down or just to relax, on a bad day. But on a good day, music just helps me get through the day.”
“Music is a way of expressing me and being able to relate to other people.”
“It can personify emotions in life if written well.”
“Music is a source of inspiration and expression.”
“Music wakes me up, gets me going, and is a way to add some more awesomeness to every day.”
“Music means a lot to me. It is a way to express and release emotions. I love music that on top of the fun beats, it can carry a message that is relative to real life situations.”
“Music is a nice thing you can listen to when you want to get out and just go into your own world.”
“Music is my way to escape from the real world and just listen and let myself go.”
“Music is freedom. It’s everything. Music connects the world!”
“It is the expression of deep emotions and feelings.”
“Music calms me down, lifts me up and always makes me feel a certain way.”
“Explains things when words fail; Music speaks.”
“Music means something that’s inspiring and can match your moods”
“Music helps me connect to life.”
Again these responses are very insightful to me. It really shows the importance music plays in their life. For some people music is the most important thing in their life. For others it’s one of the ways they express their emotions. While looking at this list I thought it would be interesting to simplify this list as to what I infer the students were trying to say in its simplest form. Here’s what I came up with:
Music is ones identity
Music is ones world
Music is a drug
Music is a therapist
Music is how one shows the world what I’m feeling
Music is how one socially interact with humans
Music is entertainment
Music is inspirational
Music is a friend
Music is life
Some of these responses to me aren’t healthy. Making music your world isn’t necessarily a good thing. I’m not questioning the moral values one places on music, but on the importance music plays on society and the individual. As I look at my list I can easily share example after example of how this has been true in my life during different stages. It reminds me as I teach how important music is to our culture. It makes it exciting to be a music teacher, while at the same time gives me a responsibility to show the benefits of music in their life.
I would encourage you to ask yourselves the question. What does music mean to you? Respond back with your answers.
16 comments
Dominic Hartjes
Music is intrinsic to our society. If you look at music throughout history, this has always been the case! The oldest musical instrument ever found by archaeologists is 35,000 years old. Just for a little perspective, the oldest unearthed clay pot is about 18-19,000 years old. The oldest clay figurine is around 29,000 years old. Not to say anything about what music means to me, I think this shows that music fulfills a deep human need!
Check out the flute at http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-06/oldest-musical-instrument-found. Other facts came from http://anthropology.net/2009/06/02/oldest-known-pottery-found-in-yuchanyan-cave-hunan-china/.
Thanks for what you do, C&C!
Dominic – a fellow music teacher
On Music and Emotions | savanah, pro se
[…] these things for me. It means so many different things to and does so many different things for so many people. And I wanted to share some particular songs that evoke these emotions, feelings, that make me […]
julie
hi, i don’t really want to tell you randome what music means to me but i just wanted to say, well write really, hi so uh, HI!!!!!
julie
hey i’m back, thats write, woop woop, better get back to my homework so uh, BYE!
julie
So i’m back again but this time with a real opinion to share…
Music means a lot to almost everybody and plays a large, very important role in most peoples lives. With all the different genres there is a lot of different moods and emotions involved in music and there is something to suit almost everybody. To some music is just an organized pattern of sound but to most music is more, it is a way of living where they can feel free and escape into there own world. To most it’s not just a catchy rhythm or beat it is a way to express their emotion, something to suit there mood.
kingSHOLAZEAL
coooooool……….
Tomek
Music is the solution for people who are keeping a secret. When someone writes music, they’re screaming their secret in allegorical form. Knowing and realizing this makes me wonder what secrets producers are expressing through their music. Is that their way of coming out about their sexuality? Have they done something terribly wrong and cannot tell someone? The possibilities are endless, but every song has a message, intended or not.
r
music is who i am i love all music it helps me feel loved i dont care what people say i love music i look at music for answers
Daycia Mainor
Amazing!!!! And I love music but I’m not telln u wat music means to me
nabeel
I’ve always tried to figure out what music means to me and why I play it and why I listen to it. I realized I listen to it when I feel.certain.emotions and it helps me cope with them or make me happy. I love.music.with.a.good.groove because.it just instantly excites me and.makes me happy. Why do I play music? I thought it was to express myself but I realized that wasn’t the case. I listen to it when I feel a certain.way and that’s expressing myself. But when I play it makes ME feel. It makes me feel something I can never feel from.anything.else. I.can’t even describe this feeling, just an overwhelming.feeling.of.joy. I love being.in rhythm with others and.jamming and exploring.new ideas. I don’t use it.to.express.myself when I’m.sad or happy I just do. Some people will write music about how they feel, about love or sadness but when I write or play music.it.never really has an objective emotion or direction. Some people play music to express their feelings, I play to make me feel. To make me feel that one feeling.nothing else can replicate or simulate. Being in rhythm with others, being accepted, being in a state of trance. That’s it for me.anyways. I love how it means different things for.everyone, its really.great. Sorry for the long post, keep on grooving!
poop
hi……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….I AM IN LOVE WITH MUSIC IT IS THE BEST EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Niamh
Music is personal, it’s the thing that makes us an individual at the same time of allowing us to still be apart of the world. These days that’s not so easy to do. I also think that it’s not unhealthy, in any way, in fact I think that music helps people become the type of people they want to be, it give us the freedom to be anything. It is everything to me, without music I would have become a complete different person, someone I now can never see myself being. Music has helped me through a lot and I don’t think anyone should underestimate the power it has, on anything or anyone.
What I love most of all about this question is that no answer is wrong and no answer is right. It only depends on yourself.
Laura
Music is my world. Music helps me express who I am as a person and it can help me overcome and or realize anything. Music is my outlet and my way to escape from the world. It especially means something to me when my favorite artists sing the songs that have a special meaning to me because it conveys a whole new/fresh meaning to me. Music isn’t just something I turn to when I’m sad, I also turn to it when I’m happy and I also turn to it when I want to have fun or be happy. Music is a HUGE part of my life because it saves me when I’m down and when I’m happy I can rock out to it. There are quite a few songs that have been there for me when I’ve needed them the most and then there are songs that I just absolutely am in love with. Whether its because of there beat or there lyrics or whatever. There are also a lot of songs that will put you in a deep pit of emotion and others that will not. A lot of songs also either bring back memories or have a special memory to them for me. Its just nice to know sometimes that music will always be there for me when I need it the most.
rebecca
In many cases, music relates to how the person is feeling, thus music reflects are moods,if you just broke up with your boyfriend you might go and listen to a Taylor Swift song if you feel joyous then you will find music that encompouses that feeling.
It all depends on personal preference, we enjoy music because it allows us to connect with like mided people but also allows us to ‘escape’ and many people use it as that, an escape. We listen to the beat and the lyrics to escape our own troubles, but not all music is deep and meaning but most do tell a story, and that is how I see music, a story that someone wants to tell.
Bernd Willimek
Why does Music Evoke Emotions?
The Theory of Musical Equilibration states that in contrast to previous hypotheses, music does not directly describe emotions: instead, it evokes processes of will which the listener identifies with.
A major chord is something we generally identify with the message, “I want to!” The experience of listening to a minor chord can be compared to the message conveyed when someone says, “No more.” If someone were to say the words “no more” slowly and quietly, they would create the impression of being sad, whereas if they were to scream it quickly and loudly, they would be come across as furious. This distinction also applies for the emotional character of a minor chord: if a minor harmony is repeated faster and at greater volume, its sad nature appears to have suddenly turned into fury.
The Theory of Musical Equilibration applies this principle as it constructs a system which outlines and explains the emotional nature of musical harmonies. For more information you can google Theory of Musical Equilibration.
Bernd Willimek
Aj
Music cannot b described in words…..
it’s ur feelings nd emotions …..it can b described by anyone nd the description will always b differnt…..