The Many Roles Of Music
The Most important Role: The Power To ENTERTAIN!
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| Nowadays, life can never be boring. That's because you can carry the soundtrack to your life everywhere you want! Music's biggest role... to entertain you in times of boredom! |
Music: Investing in Future Generations
Many people see music as something that is nice, but not avery useful. But that's not at all true. Studies have shown that Music can actually help those with learning disabilities in mathematics. As we all know, music involves a rhythmn and beat, which we need to count to. These in turn involve ratios and fractions, which can helps a child set a strong foundation in math. Children with a better sense of rythmn have also shown a tendency is ahceive better academically then their counterparts who do not take music.
Musicians are also shown typically as dreamers who, while talented, do not succeed in real life. This turns out to be very much untrue. High school students who take music, when taking the SAT maths and verbal, outdo their peers once again. And as for pre-college applicants, the group with the best chances of getting into med school is- surprisingly- the people who have majored in music.
Learning about music helps children have a better future. It opens up opportunites that they could have never have imagined before.
Source:
Tuck, Kevin. The Benefits of Music For Young Children "http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/the-benefits-of-music-for-young-children-412128.html"May 13 2008. 1 May 2009.
Music as A Medium of Expression
Music is, most importantly, a way for us to express our feelings and show our emotions to a wider audience.
Music can also be a way for those who have no other way to express their feelings, for example, it can help those with severe disabilities or those who are deaf and mute.
Beethoven, one of the master composers of the world, had hearing problems and eventually became deaf... but that was the time when he created his most amazing works of music that people still love today, like his famous Ode To Joy.
Music has been shown to help in development speech functions, so it really helps people who might have language-related problems like dyslexia.
Motor skills are also improved, which benefit people born with limited motor coordination skills and defects. Also, autistic people have been found to respond well to music, with many of them possessing extraordinary amounts of natural musical skill.
So, it is obvious that music can help those who don't have much choice but to suffer in silence to find their voice and express their feelings to a wide audience.
Source: Sinclair, Kevin. Benefits of Music Therapy. "http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/benefits-of-music-therapy-183491.html" Jul 18 2007. 1 May 2009
The Cycle of Depression
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| Source: Webber."http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Depression_Cycle.jpg" 13 Jan 2007. 1 May 2009. |
Music As A Cure For Depression
Depression is a disorder that destroys lives, making normal people suddenly feel suicidal and angry towards the world.
There was a survey conducted on two groups of depressed people. One group received traditional depression therapy and the other group was treated with music therapy. The group that received music therapy healed faster than the other group. Music, with its relaxing and energizing properties, has the ability to lift moods and make people feel better.
Music is healing. Even plants and animals respond to its therapeutic power. Depression is one of the worst disorders on Earth, affecting so many people worldwide, and it's amazing how at the end of the day, you don't really need expensive pills laden with side effects to help.
All you need is the music.
Source:
Jones, Denzing. "http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/medical-science-falling-back-on-music-for-depression-cure-359501.html" 14 March 2008. 1 May 2009.
The 'Right' and 'Left' Brain
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| This is a small summary of how each side of the brain functions. Music increases function on the left side of the brain, and also created better communication between the right and left side. |
Music As A Form of Education
Music can in fact help us a lot in our academic studies. There is evidence that musicians have greater development in the left side of the brain than average. The 'left brain', as that area is also known, is in control of the body's musical ability, language ability and word memory. Musicians have been shown to have better language capabilities than their non-musical counterparts.
In 2001, a study found that more musical exposure before the age of seven resulted in an increased linkage between the left brain and the right brain.
Musical training also aids in improving our memory. Musically trained students have been shown to retain information for a longer period of time than their untrained counterparts. There is an anecdote which exists in the musical world about a woman who suffered from such bad dementia that she could not remember her place of birth or where she had lived for most of her life. However, she still remembered songs perfectly.
Music has also been shown to play a large role in the treatment of Alzheimer's and other brain-affecting diseases.
Sources:
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_and_the_brain" May 1 2009.
Live Aid in 1985
| This is a picture of the famous Live Aid concert, taken by Squelle and obtained under copyright free conditions from the public domain (see citations). | This photograph of Live Aid was also taken by Squelle. See the amount of people at the event and the magnificence of music's role as a fundraising tool? The amount of people present is amazing! |
Music As A Fundraiser for Charity
Music raises money for causes that people need to care about in the world. Events that donate to charity organizations bring in large amounts of cash from people who would ordinarily not care about the state of providing for AIDS orphans in Africa or earthquake recovery in Sichuan.
One such event is Live Aid, an event created by Irishman Bob Geldof in the 1980's as a response to the sad state of famine relief in Ethiopia. In 1985, a multi-venue concert was held to raise money for the Ethiopians. Concerts were held at places like:
Wembley Stadium, London
Philadelphia JFK Stadium
Melbourne Live Aid
The event, besides attracting 400 millions viewers worldwide (including those attending the concerts themselves), also attracted such notable performers as:
U2
Queen
David Bowie
The Who
Elton John
The Beach Boys
Run-DMC
Madonna
Eric Clapton
Led Zeppelin
and many more...
This first Live Aid event was just one of many benefit concerts that benefited the poor and needy. The most recent set of charity concerts was the Billion Hands Concert in India, which gave all proceeds to the victims of those who had suffered in the infamous November 2008 Mumbai attacks and their families.
Music can connect people in this way... promoting awareness of topics that people would not ordinarily care strongly about and helping raise funds for those who truly need it through the beauty and universality of music.
What role do you think music plays today?
To gather information on what people think about music: whether as a form of leisure or career choice or even as the thread that binds us humans all together in the world.
We also want to see whether people have a good idea of their cultural standing and opinion on this topic.
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It is an inspiration to all.
27%
It is a medium of expression.
16%
It is a good career path.
11%
It is just a form of leisure.
11%
It is a show of culture.
16%
It does not play any role.
5%
It is a form of education.
11%
Total Votes: 18