Can Music Save Your Life?

Throughout my life, no single thing has had a greater impact than music. It has made me who I am today, and I cannot remember a time when music wasn’t a huge part of myself - my earliest memories all contain the music that my parents played. Beyond being a product purely for enjoyment, as it was for a long time in my earliest years, music has gone on to become a fundamental part of who I am, how I spend my time, and who I spend that time with. It motivates me to be better for numerous reasons. I credit my early involvement in music with most of the successes I have had to this date.

There are many different ways that we benefit from music. Music can inspire better self-esteem, and confidence. It’s a great way to set the mood, and a wonderful tool. Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program (Gram, 2005). Music therapy can reach out to anyone, age, race, gender it doesn’t matter. Children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly with mental health needs can benefit from music therapy. As well as, those who have developmental and learning disabilities, those who suffer from Alzheimer's

Everyone listens to music and the affect that music has on people is not the same with everyone, but most of the time the affect is not a positive thing. According to the article “Can Music Be a Bad Influence on Kids & Teens?” it states, “According to a 2003 study published in the "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology," violent lyrics increase both aggressive thoughts and aggressive feelings. The study also warns, "Repeated exposure to violent lyrics may contribute to the development of an aggressive personality."” Music is used as a way to express feelings, but when it brings up these situations it is not a good because this can trigger feeling and excitement, just as a felling when you do something brave or rebels. This is something to watch out especially for the youth because we won’t know what to expect from them. Music can also cause death according to the article “Can Music Be a Bad Influence on Kids & Teens?” it states, “When song lyrics focus on death and suicide, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

This reference shows how music lays a foundation of teenage values beyond school or parental teaching. A musical artist can influence a young mind by the chosen lyrics with greater effectiveness than formal education. Music can control or enhance moods. A good mood can get better or a bad mood can be worked through with the choice of music. A bad mood can also be enhanced by lyrics about suicide or violent behavior. Teens can also use music to gain information about the adult world, to withdraw from social contact, facilitate friendships and social settings, or to help them create a personal identity. (O'Toole, 1997)

According to researchers Christenson and Roberts, “American adolescents spend…between four and five hours a day listening to music…[which is] at least as much time as they spend watching standard television fare and more than they spend with their friends outside of school” (8). Music media influences the lives of adolescents in a number of ways. It “…alters and intensifies their moods, furnishes much of their slang [and] provides models for how they act…” (Christenson and Roberts 8). Music plays an important role in the lives of adolescents. They spend as much time, if not more, listening to music as they spend watching television, and therefore, music deserves additional scholarly attention.

Music influences everyone on this earth. The sounds and lyrics working together can make a person feel like he or she are on top of the world. Numerous emotions can spill out of a human being when he or she hears a certain melody or beat. Music is powerful and a strong escape from any stressful situation. Bob Marley says, “One good thing about music: when it hits you, you feel no pain”. Although I live a very privileged life, I have dealt with many stressful situations where music was helpful. Transitioning from junior high to high school is difficult and this change was extremely overwhelming for me. Instead of allowing the stress to overtake my well-being, I used music to guide me through the hard times. More specifically, Ellie Goulding, Adele, and the group, Coldplay, have influenced the way I act, and they helped me persevere through the transition from junior high to high school.

Over the past years, numerous researchers have shown interest in musical preferences and how they relate to personality traits as well (Cattell & Anderson, 1953; Dollinger, 1993). However, because of changes in music and its lyrical content over time, music itself has become an issue of interest and concern. Music and lyrical content have become gradually more explicit with references to drugs, sex, and violence. The anti-social themes overall have lead many adults, mostly parents of young children and teens, to rally against it, especially heavy metal and rap. The anti-social themes have also lead the study of music’s impact on emotion and behavior.

Music has had a huge impact in my life and how I handle myself in certain situation. For example, after a terrible end to a three year relationship, I felt lost confused on what love was and how I felt about everyone who I met through out the relationship. After a couple of months, I went out with a friend and fell in love with beautiful women, but the women moving to the rhythm and I thought to myself it wasn’t the women I fell in love with Music was my first actual love. Thus, Music assisted me on regaining myself confidence, and what video explains more on the medical level.

When I was younger, I never thought much about music. I took music for granted; therefore, I had never thought much of my friends’ reactions as they listened to the cadence of the lyrics. They would be bobbing their heads, and moving their body to the rhythm of the song. All this time, music had been the result of their reactions. Music had the ability to change an insipid atmosphere to a lively party in a matter of seconds! All around the world, people are susceptible to the astounding acts that music may produce!

Music has grown to become prominent and a powerful part of my life. Consequently, it’s influence for good I believe; any sound can be music! Picture stringing together moments like flowers braided in strands, encompassing the circle of your life. Music not only is a most trusted friend and confidant; it brings an important majestic illustrious joy in my days as I live and move through life. Personally it encourages, builds, moves, motivates, invites the spirit, enlightens, and strengthens. Music with all its wonder invites a passion drawing on the sounds of all the creations of God. However, music also makes us feel like doing something fantastically important, even when we might be lying on the cozy delicate ultra-soft

For the sixteen years I have been on this planet, I have been exposed to music. From pressing colorful buttons on the Munchkin Mozart Magic© Cube I had as a child, to playing my clarinet every morning in my first period, concert band, I cannot recall a day in my life where I did not experience some form of music. Music has affected my life so greatly that I could spend a whole other paper explaining why I believe music is so important. I believe that the most exquisite thing music has to offer is it’s constant availability. I listen to music while doing homework, driving, completing chores, cooking, and even just falling asleep. Along with being a trusty companion, music has also been a helpful coping mechanism for many of the low moments life

Music wakes us up in the morning, makes us want to dance, soothes us when we are feeling sad, and gets on some folks nerves in the elevator. From infancy to adulthood music is an important part of our lives. Mothers sing lullabies to babies, toddlers and children play "ring around the rosy," and teenagers become absorbed in songs they believe help better define them during their rocky transition into adulthood. Music can summon a wide range of emotions, most of which are wonderful. Yet there is some music that communicates harmful health messages, especially when it reaches a vulnerable audience. Music is but one part of our popular culture. Whatever impact music has on behavior is bound to be complex and variant. The best way to determine

Over the thousands of years that people have been making and listening to music, it has evolved greatly. In today’s time, most people listen to music on a daily basis. Everyone regardless of age, has their own type of music that they prefer to listen to. In an article about the psychological effects of music the author states: “Teens listen to the most music out of every age group” (Tarrant, 2000). It’s important to look at the different messages and themes that are shown in the different popular types of music that teens are listening to, and to see if it has an impact on identity formation. Most of the research I took a look at dating nearly 20 years, suggest that popular types of music that adolescents are listening to play an impact on identity formation. Typically the most popular music adolescents listen to include lyrics that feature explicit words, and promote risk taking behavior. These popular genres that are commonly listened among adolescents are known to normalize things like drinking and smoking, which can make teens become bigger risk takers. I wanted to take a look at the different types of music that are popular among teens in todays time and see how they could potentially impact one's identity. Music choice can be seen as a large part of someone's identity. It’s important to look at the types of music that adolescents are hearing, so that we can see what sort of things they are being exposed to and how it may impact them. Different types of messages and

Music is a great bridge between people, encouraging people to listen to and care for other’s stories. In some cases it can make people feel like someone else is experiencing their troubles, helping them out. In other cases it can make people realize what they have, also helping them

Recently, music has been criticized for corrupting the minds of the youth. This pertains to the different genres that are evolving. According to research, music with faster beat enhances concentration and alert thinking while a slower tempo promotes a calm, meditative state (Burak, 2011).