THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTOR There is no doubt about it; music affects the mood of every individual on this planet. From Greek drummers pounding harder on drums to make Greek sailors row faster, until the present when Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” will make parents of college graduates around the world cry for joy because of their children’s success, music affects every human’s mood spectrum. THE GENRE WARS To many people who play in the orchestra, almost any music from Metallica or Marilyn Manson is considered garbage. To many adults, there is not a more annoying song than Britney Spears’ “Oops, I Did It Again.” Welcome to the genre wars of the late twentieth century, where one’s loss is truly another’s gain. THE DARK SIDE OF MUSIC We who are living right now have two choices. We can cause ourselves to have many hours of downtime due to pain, depression, and boredom; or we can take a drug that has the power to turn all of our downtime into uptime. The choice is ours. The drug is music.

The Musical Brain Like other circuits formed early in life, the ones for music endure. A man played the guitar as a child, then gave it up. A few years ago he started taking piano lessons with his young daughter. She learned easily, but he couldn't get his fingers to follow his wishes. Yet when he recently picked up a guitar, he found to his delight that "the songs are still there," much like the muscle memory for riding a bicycle.   -- From Newsweek Magazine, February 19, 1996