Effects of Music Essay Example for Free

Effects of Music Essay Music and Its Effects on Our Emotions: Can Music Really Change Your Mood? Music can control a much larger part of your life than most people would like to believe. Music can affect us in ways in which were not even aware of, and for this reason, music is simply amazing. There is a large number of studies behind music. Not even just the typical music you hear on the radio or that you download from the Internet, but any sounds and the way they can affect your mood and reflect your personallity. It has been proven that certain types of music can evoke sadness, while others can give you an excitement. Music is used in millions of places for this reason. Advertisements. Advertisements and movies are based around the audio! Certain types of music are more likely to evoke emotions in people which will in turn make them feel a certain way. Sometimes this is great for producers in the economy because they can use music in their advertisements to help produce more profits, because people will become much more interested in the products that theyre offering. This works the same in the film industry. The film industry is interested in inflicting some sort of mood on its audience. If a movie is able to inflict an emotion into people, then the movie is looked upon as a much better movie, and therefore is more likely to make more money. Music can really affect more parts of the economy than you would ever even take into consideration. One amazing thing, that Im sure youve never even stopped to think about, is the music in a casino. They tend to play very uplifting music, music that will make you want to stay longer. Theoretically, the longer you stay in a casino, the more money the casino will make from you. The casino wants to keep you in their business for as long as they can. Music is one way the owners can go about this. Another irrelevant yet interesting method they have is to release scents that cause people to become more satisfied with what theyre doing, and will make them in turn be more comfortable in the environment and want to stay longer, making the casino more money in the long run. Pop, lighter rock, and most dance music tends to be a very uplifting type of music. If youre ever looking for a booster, listen to some of this music! I actually enjoy listening to this music every day before going to take classes, because it lifts my spirit and helps me make it through the day. Downbeat music such as death metal and rap music tends to affect peoples emotions in a much darker form. However, this is all personal preference and you cannot  base all of this on my opinion. Overall, music has a much greater affect on you than you would believe. Experiment. Listen to new music all the time. See what music gives you chills down your spine. See what music you cant understand and hate. Theres something out there for everyone. The Effects of Music In some way, music affects everyone. Whether it is, a young girl’s favorite song on the radio, a college student’s escape from reality or a form of entertainment to a married couple, music brings everyone together. Music definitely affects the lifestyles of people in many different ways. The diverse styles of music makes people look and act differently. Music has many different levels. To me, levels meaning; the more independent and progressive the music is, the more the fans take it to the extreme. Music creates style. It causes people to talk, act, and dress the way they do. I hope to discover how much music influences people, especially college students. Also, the more fascinated they are the more influences it has to them. I would like to prove, that to some, music is nothing more than the pop song playing on the radio in the car, and to others, it is a major part of their life. It is very interesting to me, to learn the effects music has toward people. Music impacts everyone in some way (positive or negative), but I think it impacts college students the most. I would like to know the reasons people are listening to music they buy and support. Also, the reasons certain groups are more popular than others. I used a couple various methods of research to conduct my research. I wrote up ten surveys with some questions about gender, age, what they buy, do they attend concerts, and do they support local music. I passed these surveys out to completely random students so there was no imbalance of the results. I hope to find out certain things like: are males affected more than females from music; who buys more clothing/ accessories; is local music important to college students. Another form of research was done by making some observations. I observed places that college students live. I observed a few of my friends apartments very closely and also observed a couple other houses that I was  invited to over the past month. By doing this, I hope to generalize what they like and how it influences them. For example, posters of music groups hanging everywhere will indicate a more of an influence than paintings, by say Picasso. Clothing, jewelry, and actual speech from people may also provide some interesting details. While making these observations, I had also done a couple interviews. A couple were formal, sit-down interviews and the others were just conversations that I thought would be helpful to making my research complete. After giving some thought to my results, I decided to add a section about my personal history. Throughout my life music has affected me in many different ways. It has helped me through some very important decisions, such as, how I feel, who I am with, where I am going to go. When I was ten years old, I got my first guitar. It was an acoustic guitar. I loved to play it, but dreaded going to the lessons. My parents forced me because I couldn’t play a single note. After a year or two things started to come together and I could play some songs. Then I decided to purchase an electric guitar. For me, this was the greatest thing to ever happen to me. I played everyday at any time that I could. My favorite group was the Beastie Boys. My friends and I would pretend we were them and put on shows pretending to be them. As I got older, I would purchase any music that I could; cassette tapes, records, videos, posters, anything that dealt with music. Around seventh or eighth grade, I purchased a used drum set. My other friends all played, so we decided to form a band. We would practice in the garage as much as often until my parents said enough, until it became an obsession. We played a couple of parties (nothing big, because this was the eighth grade), but still a major part of my life at the time. One day during practice, I remember my good friend, the lead singer, telling me booked a real gig, in downtown Pittsburgh. We got a set ready and about a month to practice our songs. The place was called the Electric Banana, it was real dive bar. Most people there were friends and family, but still a nice turnout. Since then I haven’t been playing in a band, but still love making music. Most of my friends are really into music too. We swap music  with each other and talk about it all the time. When I switched schools in high school, music really helped me make some friends. Without music my life would be totally different and a lot more boring, so I’m glad it turned out this way. I am very happy with the results that I got from the surveys. There were ten surveys filled out. Of the ten, six were females and four were males. Eight of the ten all liked rap/hip hop music or said rap along with some other forms. The other two liked rock, punk, or emo. No one put classic rock as their choice (which I found to be very interesting, because I like classic rock). There were two other questions I found to be very much related. Everyone that collects music, any form, (CD, cassette tape, or vinyl) has clothing and/or accessories that support music, for instance, posters, T-shirts, and hats. Four out of ten said they regularly attend concerts. I was very pleased to hear that eight of ten support local musicians/bands. I am a music lover, (as you know) so the local scene is very important to me. Here is a graph I constructed from the surveys. Females Males 60% 40% The interviews came out to be very useful also. I talked to a music lover/musician/collector. His name was Neil and he was very cooperative. We talked about the unusual styles of music he liked. He has a very wide range of music in his collection. We talked about some of his favorite artists, some being Pittsburgh based groups. He loves live music and goes to as many shows as possible. He said â€Å"it’s hard to get to places without a car and with classes† He also said â€Å"I just saw The Roots play for my sixth time last week, at a little place in Oakland.† We were talking about how they are definitely one of his favorites, if he had to pick. I asked him why he was so into music. He replied â€Å"It’s a stress reliever. It takes my mind off school, work, and people’s pettiness.† Another interview that I performed was not as formal. This one was with my dad at the dinner table. It was pretty short and to the point. I asked him if he likes music. He said â€Å"No.† I then asked him if he ever listens to it and he said â€Å"No, when I am in the car I listen to the news or talk radio and when I’m home I’m either working or watching TV.† After doing this research, I realized that by doing interviews you can really feel the emotion from the answers compared to reading a survey. I think that interviews did help me make certain things easier to understand on the survey. The Effects of Music on Peoples Emotions By Rachel Mattison, eHow Contributor , last updated July 02, 2012 Movie producers and recording artists use music to manipulate the emotions of audiences to feel everything from excitement to sadness during movies and performances. No one can deny that music has either positive or negative effects on the emotions of listeners. However, music therapy or the study of music’s impact on emotions examines how music cause positive changes in listeners and patients for areas including early childhood development, healing and recovery, and overcoming negative emotions. 1. Early Childhood Development * Music plays an important role in early childhood emotional and intellectual development, according to information compiled by Brad Kennedy and Jennifer Durst. Their research confirms that even while in the womb, babies can tell the differences between certain types of music. Also called prenatal stimulation this technique has many positive effects including higher levels of intelligence and creativity, along with the ability to calm down when listening to music. Suggested usages for music in early childhood development include teaching children to analyze songs so they can learn how to express and identify their emotions, though processes, behaviors and situations as a way of developing cognitive and motor skills. Healing and Recovery * The American Music Therapy Organization states music therapy can  allow emotional intimacy with families and caregivers, relaxation for the entire family, and meaningful time spent together in a positive, creative way.† Additional studies show that music therapy can cause changes in physiology by releasing brain chemicals including melatonin, norephinephrine, epinephrine, serotonin and prolactin, which help to reduce depression, regulate mood and make patients feel calm and more able to sleep. Doctors have used music therapy to help stroke, cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s patients improve. Dr. Suzanne Hasner says head trauma and dementia patients retain music ability because â€Å"deep in our long-term memory is this rehearsed music. It is processed in the emotional part of the brain, the amygdala. Here’s where you remember the music played at your wedding, the music of your first love, that first dance. Such things can still be remembered even in people with progressive diseases. It can be a window, a way to reach them. * Negative Emotions and Fear Management * Dr. Zbigniew Kucharski, from the Medical Academy of Warsaw, has studied the effects of music when used for fear management in dental patients. He discovered that children who listened to 30 minutes of music preceding and following dental procedures were less likely to experience negative feelings. Another study, â€Å"Quantification of the effects of listening to music as a noninvasive method of pain control,† conducted in 1992 found that relaxing music helped to reduce anxiety and pain in patients undergoing certain medical procedures including painful gynecological procedures and pediatric surgical burn units. How Music Affects Us and Promotes Health Music is one of the few activities that involves using the whole brain. It is intrinsic to all cultures and can have surprising benefits not only for learning language, improving memory and focusing attention, but also for physical coordination and development. Of course, music can be distracting if its too loud or too jarring, or if it competes for our attention with what were trying to do. But for the most part, exposure to many kinds of music has beneficial effects: 1Music heals Effective therapy for pain Overall, music does have positive effects on pain management. Music can help reduce both the sensation and distress of both chronic pain and postoperative pain. Listening to music can reduce chronic pain from a range of painful conditions, including osteoarthritis, disc problems and rheumatoid arthritis, by up to 21% and depression by up to 25%, according to a paper in the latest UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing29. Music therapy is increasingly used in hospitals to reduce the need for medication during childbirth, to decrease postoperative pain and complement the use of anesthesia during surgery30. There are several theories about how music positively affects perceived pain: * 1. Music serves as a distractor * 2. Music may give the patient a sense of control * 3. Music causes the body to release endorphins to counteract pain * 4. Slow music relaxes person by slowing their breathing and heartbeat Reducing blood pressure By playing recordings of relaxing music every morning and evening, people with high blood pressure can train themselves to lower their blood pressure and keep it low31. According to research reported at the American Society of Hypertension meeting in New Orleans, listening to just 30 minutes of classical, Celtic or raga music every day may significantly reduce high blood pressure. Medicine for the heart music is good for your heart. Research shows that it is musical tempo, rather than style. Italian and British researchers32 recruited young men and women, half of whom were trained musicians. The participants slipped on head phones and listened to six styles of music, including rap and classical pieces, with random two-minute pauses. As the participants kicked back and listened, the researchers monitored their breathing, heart rates and blood pressure. The participants had faster heart and breathing rates when they listened to lively music. When the musical slowed, so did their heart and breathing rates. Some results were surprising. During the musical pauses, heart and breathing rates normalized or reached more optimal levels. Whether or not a person liked the style of music did not matter. The tempo, or pace, of the music had the greatest effect on relaxation. Speeds Post-Stroke Recovery A daily portion` of ones favorite pop melodies, classical music or jazz can speed recovery from debilitating strokes, according to the latest research. When stroke patients in Finland listened to music for a couple of hours each day, verbal memory and attention span improved significantly compared to patients who received no musical stimulation, or who listened only to stories read out loud, the study reports33. Chronic headaches migraine remedy Music can help migraine34 and chronic headache35 sufferers reduce the intensity, frequency, and duration of the headaches. Music boosts immunity Music can boost the immune function. Scientists explain that a particular type of music can create a positive and profound emotional experience, which leads to secretion of immune-boosting hormones22. This helps contribute to a reduction in the factors responsible for illness. Listening to music or singing can also decrease levels of stress-related hormone cortisol. Higher levels of cortisol can lead to a decreased immune response23-24. 2Effects of music on the brain Music enhances intelligence, learning and IQ The idea that music makes you smarter received considerable attention from scientists and the media. Listening to music or playing an instrument can actually make you learn better. And research confirms this. Music has the power to enhance some kinds of higher brain function: * Reading and literacy skills11-13 * Spatial-temporal reasoning14-15 * Mathematical abilities16-17 Even children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder benefit in mathematics tests from listening to music beforehand. *Emotional intelligence The Mozart effect Earlier it has been thought that listening to classical music, particularly Mozart, enhances performance on cognitive tests. However, recent findings18 show that listening to any music that is personally enjoyable has positive effects on cognition. Music improves memory performance The power of music to affect memory is quite intriguing. Mozarts music and baroque music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activates the left and right brain. The simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes learning and retention of information. The information being studied activates the left brain while the music activates the right brain. Also, activities which engage both sides of the brain at the same time, such as playing an instrument or singing, cause the brain to be more capable of processing information. Listening to music facilitates the recall of information19. Researchers have shown that certain types of music are a great keys for recalling memories. Information learned while listening to a particular song can often be recalled simply by playing the songs mentally. Musical training has even better effect than just listening to classical music. There is clear evidence20, that children who take music lessons develop a better memory compared with children who have no musical training. Note: For learning or memory performance, its important that music doesnt have a vocal component; otherwise youre more likely to remember the words of the background song than what youre supposed to be recalling. Music improves concentration and attention Easy listening music or relaxing classics improves the duration and intensity of concentration in all age groups and ability levels. Its not clear what type of music is better, or what kind of musical structure is necessary to help, but many studies have shown significant effects21. 3Music improves physical performance Music improves athletic performance Choosing music that motivates you will make it easier to start moving, walking, dancing, or any other type of exercise that you enjoy. Music can make exercise feel more like recreation and less like work. Furthermore, music enhances athletic performance6-8! Anyone who has ever gone on a long run with their iPod or taken a particularly energetic spinning class knows that music can make the time pass more quickly. The four central hypotheses explaining musics facilitation of exercise performance include: * Reduction in the feeling of fatigue * Increase in levels of psychological arousal * Physiological relaxation response * Improvement in motor coordination Music improves body movement and coordination Music reduces muscle tension and improves body movement and coordination25-26. Music may play an important role in developing, maintaining and restoring physical functioning in the rehabilitation of persons with movement disorders. 4Music helps to work more productively Fatigue fighter Listening to upbeat music can be a great way to find some extra energy. Music can effectively eliminate exercise-induced fatigue9 and fatigue symptoms caused by monotonous work10. Keep in mind that listening to too much pop and hard rock music can make you more jittery than energized. Vary what you listen to and find out what type of music is most beneficial for you. You could try classical music one day, pop the next day and jazz the third. Music improves productivity Many people like to listen to music while they work and I am certainly one of them. How about you? Did you know you can perform better at your work with music? Whilst there may be many reasons for wishing to listen to music in the workplace, it really improves your productivity27! According to a report in the journal Neuroscience of Behavior and Physiology28, a persons ability to recognize visual images, including letters and numbers, is faster when either rock or classical music is playing in the background. 5Music calms, relaxes and helps to sleep Relaxing music induces sleep Relaxing classical music is safe, cheap and easy way to beat insomnia1. Many people who suffer from insomnia find that Bach music helps them. Researchers have shown that just 45 minutes of relaxing music before bedtime can make for a restful night2. Relaxing music reduces sympathetic nervous system activity, decreases anxiety, blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate and may have positive effects on sleep via muscle relaxation and distraction  from thoughts. Music reduces stress and aids relaxation Listening to slow, quiet classical music, is proven to reduce stress3. Countless studies have shown that musics relaxing effects can be seen on anyone, including newborns. One of the great benefits of music as a stress reliever is that it can be used while you do your usual deeds so that it really doesnt take time. How does music reduces stress? * Physical relaxation. Music can promote relaxation of tense muscles, enabling you to easily release some of the tension you carry from a stressful day. * Aids in stress relief activities. Music can help you get into the zone when practicing yoga, self hypnosis or guided imagery, can help you feel energized when exercising and recover after exercising, help dissolve the stress when youre soaking in the tub. * Reduces negative emotions. Music, especially upbeat tunes, can take your mind off what stresses you, and help you feel more optimistic and positive. This helps release stress and can even help you keep from getting as stressed over lifes little frustrations in the future. Researchers discovered4 that music can decrease the amount of the cortisol, a stress-related hormone produced by the body in response to stress. 6Music improves mood and decreases depression Prescription for the blues Musics ability to heal the soul is the stuff of legend in every culture. Many people find that music lifts their spirits. Modern research tends to confirm musics psychotherapeutic benefits5. Bright, cheerful music (e.g. Mozart, Vivaldi, bluegrass, Klezmer, Salsa, reggae) is the most obvious prescription for the blues. The 5 Weirdest Ways Music Can Mess With the Human Brain By: C. Coville, Kathy Benjamin February 11, 2011 1,619,046 views The entire reason music exists is because of its almost magical ability to push your buttons. An upbeat song gets you going, a sad song makes you cry and drink. But the more science studies musics effect on the human brain, the more bizarre things we discover. For instance #5. It Changes Your Ability to Perceive Time  old music the stuff you hear on the line when you call everyone from the bank to your local bail bond agency didnt fall into Americas phone lines by accident. Its designed specifically to reduce the amount of time you think youre waiting, so that youre less likely to hang up in anger. Other places that involve waiting, such as doctors offices, use a similar trick. Time shrinkage is also the aim of most retail stores, which is why youll rarely enter a mall, supermarket or clothing store without hearing some sort of music in the background. How the hell does music do that? To understand why exactly music makes it seem like less time has passed, think of the human brain as a mountain lion that is eating a bag of money. It doesnt matter what the zookeepers distract it with food, shiny objects or just shouting and yelling. All that matters is that they give another zookeeper the chance to sneak up and retrieve the money while the lion is busy deciding which one of them to eat. Similarly, when your brain is steadily distracted, youll be less likely to notice things around you in detail, and this includes the passage of time. Our brains have limited input capacity, and when something else is using up that capacity, were less likely to think things like, Ive been standing in line to get Richard Molls autograph for three goddamn hours or Do I really need this Garfield alarm clock? But it works the opposite way, too. In some situations, listening to music can actually expand perceived time. For example, listening to music while performing tasks that require concentration will usually cause us to overestimate the amount of time that has passed. The theory is that as your mind switches back and forth between perception of the music and concentration on the challenging tasks, it forms separate events, or distinct memories. When your brain thinks about what youve been doing for the past hour, youll remember more of these events and recall that the hour was quite long. Experiments have found that time also expands when were listening to familiar music that we dislike. When we hear the opening chords of a song, our brain remembers the whole thing and immediately skips ahead and plays it mentally. This fake mind-music is  extremely vivid, working on exactly the same parts of the brain as actual music does. So the effect is that you take a few moments to vividly imagine that youre sitting through five minutes of that damn New Radicals song before you come back to reality only to realize that you still actually have to sit through it. #4. It Taps Into Primal Fear OK, imagine how you would sound for a second if you saw your friend Jason across the street and wanted to get his attention by yelling his name. Now imagine you see your friend Jason across the street, suddenly realize a car is careening down the road about to hit him, and shout his name to warn him.Despite the fact that you are yelling the same thing both times, even in your head you can hear how the two sound different. Human beings have a very good, very nuanced sense of what kind of noise indicates a greeting and what kind of noise indicates you are about to be mauled by a honey badger. And that sense is being used against you in every scary movie you have ever seen. There is a reason that horror films scare the crap out of us, and its not just the creepy settings, dramatic buildup and sudden reveal of the bad guy RIGHT BEHIND YOU. Its the music. How the hell does music do that? There are certain sounds that humans will automatically associate with sudden and painful death because they tap into our evolutionary fear of the screams of other animals (and other human beings). Screams of fear in almost any animal are made up of what scientists have dubbed discordant noises. Any noise that makes you feel very unpleasant falls into this category. We know if we hear other living things making those discordant noises that we have to get the fuck out, because something bad is going to happen. Movie directors know this and make good use of it when deciding on the score for a film. That dramatic buildup and subsequent scary reveal is almost always accompanied by really freaky music or somebody screaming his ass off (or both). But this technique is hardly limited to horror movies. For instance, in his original draft of The Social Network, Andy Sorkin wanted a song called Love of the Common People to play over the opening credits scene. Heres what that would have looked like: That poppy calypso music makes you feel that everything is dandy. Sure, Mark Zuckerberg has just been dumped,  but its all OK! Hes running through the Harvard campus and is about to invent Facebook and become a billionaire. Yay!Listen to that lower-level background music throughout. It sounds like random, angry notes played behind a simple piano tune, and those notes are creating discordant sound. Suddenly youre apprehensive, feeling like something really bad is about to happen (were talking getting sued for $64 million bad). So next time youre getting a little too freaked out by a movie, remember that muting the television is a far better decision than looking away. #3. It Makes You Stronger Its no secret that many people prefer to listen to music when they work out. But music doesnt just make physical activity more pleasant it actually makes our physical performance measurably better. When listening to music, people are able to hold heavy weights for longer than when theyre standing in silence. They can also complete sprints in smaller amounts of time and are even able to reduce their oxygen intake. How the hell does music do that? Similar to the time-perception effect we referenced above, one element is just plain old distraction. Obviously, if your mind is listening to music, its not thinking about how much your legs hurt or how much longer youve got to run before the treadmill makes that final beeping noise. But theres much more to it than that. First, theres synchronicity. When you match your movements to a steady musical tempo, you spend less time and effort on the inefficient slowing down and speeding up that happens when youre going by your own rhythm. Music also increases the incidence of flow states states of meditation-like calm in which everything works right for an athlete and that is strongly linked to enhanced performance. Music can even make you feel less pain. Patients listening to music after surgery need less sedatives, report less pain and have lower blood pressure. As if thats not impressive enough, doctors have found that specially selected melodic music dramatically reduces stress in patients during unsedated brain surgery. In some cases, music caused patients to relax so much that many of them fell into a deep sleep, while people sliced into their exposed brains with fucking scalpels. And even if youre lucky enough to be asleep during  surgery, theres a good chance the doctors working on you are listening to music, since most surgeons believe it improves their performance, too. So the next time youre about to go under a general anesthetic, consider the fact that the guy with the scalpel might soon be timing his incisions to Whitesnake. #2. It Changes Your Drinking Habits Did you ever wake up in the back of a taxi after a long night of tossing down cognac and prune juice and wonder how your pants got replaced by a thick but clumsily applied coat of colorful body paint? Well, now theres something to blame it on besides your bad childhood: music. What they play in the bar doesnt just affect how much you drink, but what you drink. How the hell does music do that? Did you know you can make a person buy more expensive wine just by playing classical music? Experiments prove it. It makes people feel like theyre in a wine commercial or in a movie depicting refined, snooty rich people. OK, that one sort of makes sense we doubt anyone ever drank Wild Irish Rose while listening to Vivaldi. But in another blind study, different types of music playing in the background caused drinkers to change how theyd described the drinks they already had. Laid-back music led people to rate drinks as mellow, and upbeat music resulted in more people calling their drinks refreshing. Even stranger, in another study researchers placed German and French wines in supermarkets, with small flags next to each display so customers could tell which countries they came from. They then played some unobtrusive international music in the background. When German music was played, the percentage of German sales rose, and vice versa. This wasnt because customers thought to themselves, Ah! Germany! I will celebrate the Fatherland with some nice wine! Questionnaires showed that customers couldnt recall what type of music was playing and thought theyd chosen a particular wine simply because theyd felt like it. The people selling you the drinks know all of this stuff or at least, the successful ones do. Weve pointed out before that bars and nightclubs often play fast music to increase alcohol-based profit. But other establishments, particularly upscale restaurants, prefer slow, relaxing music, which,  believe it or not, can also make you drink more. The tempo of music is linked to your bodys arousal level, or the speed at which your nervous system operates. Fast music heightens arousal (heh), so patrons will do everything more quickly, including eating and drinking and leaving their infant by the salad bar. Which is good for a restaurant owner if hes just concerned with getting you out the door so he can serve more (and presumably better) people. On the other hand, slower music means that you eat at a more leisurely pace. Maybe youll even stay to chat with your companions after youre done with your meal. All this time passing means youre likely to buy more drinks every time the waiter comes around to ask, and at a restaurant thats charging $70 a bottle, that makes up for any lost table space. Some restaurants go as far as to purchase a personalized selection of songs specially designed by sound branding companies, which select songs based on whatever tempo or atmosphere the restaurant is aiming to achieve. #1. It Makes You a Better Communicator How does a narcissistic ass like John Mayer, who isnt even that attractive, still have hot women of all ages throwing themselves at him? Its the guitar, isnt it?Actually, a trained musician like Mayer would probably be able to talk a woman into his bed without ever even playing a note. It turns out that studying music gives you an advantage when it comes to perceiving the emotions of others, so all those years of being chained to a piano as a child are finally going to work in your favor. People who can play instruments at near-professional level can detect subtle emotional changes and intonations in the vocal tones of others. In other words, they know whether you are actually sad when you say youre fine, even when most non-musicians would have no idea. Not only that, but the fact that they studied music makes them better able to tune out background noise, so they are even better at paying attention to what you are saying in that crowded restaurant or bar. How the hell does music do that? Research shows that people who have studied music actually have brains wired differently than non-musicians. This rewiring makes them better able to express emotions they are feeling, but it also makes them more able to understand the emotions others express. Music is very emotional, and people  wired to understand those subtle emotional changes can also detect them in the vocal tones of someone talking. The emotion of the music translates to knowing when your boss is secretly mad or your mother is secretly disappointed. The sooner you start learning music, the more pronounced this re-wiring is. Scientists think that teaching children music might help kids with autism better understand vocal cues and encode speech. The fact that this brain re-wiring helps them tune out background noise could also help kids stay focused in noisy classrooms. It is also something that gets better the more you play, so sticking to your piano lessons now could lead to a powerful advantage in your future dating world. Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_19006_the-5-weirdest-ways-music-can-mess-with-human-brain_p2.html#ixzz0MMCXjaIv Music is one of many important parts of our lives because it can be an approach not only to reduce each of our mental tension but also to inspire our feelings in artistic sense. Then, there are only two subtopics to develop into two paragraphs in the body: 1) music is an approach to reduce peoples mental tension 2) music inspires peoples feelings in artistic sense