Deep Listeners : Music, Emotion, And Trancing By Judith Becker Essay

To begin, music exhibits serenity to the most timid of people in times of distraught. In The

Many people have their own escapes from reality, whether it be video games, drugs, love, church. Probably like a lot of people, I use music as an escape. However, it isn’t just an escape for me. It is so much more. There is an entire world that one note, much more a universe in one song, if we would just allow ourselves to indulge in such a dimension. In order to introduce others to the experience of extraterrestrial emotions (feelings including peace, tranquility, romance, sorrow, fury, jubilation, and other outbursts of colorful personality no one knew they could feel!) I am going to go over engaged listening, how to make it unique to individuals, and how music makes this rockin’ world go round.

The novel is able to share how music is of great importance and is able to affect people’s moods and thoughts.

The Day the Earth Stood Still is a classic science-fiction film, ranked as one of the most important movies in American history. It explores the possibilities of aliens and life beyond our planet, while also touching on religious ideas. Specifically, the movie has underlying themes on the idea of a higher power, even beyond those with much higher scientific and technological intelligence than humans from earth. In the movie, Klaatu, the visiting alien, presents an ultimatum to the humans—stop fighting one another, or the entire planet will be destroyed. Klaatu is not only depicted as a messiah, but he also mentions how there are higher powers beyond him, which brings about a theory of religion within the movie. The use of music and

Music affects people in various ways. Ones reaction to music differs from person to person. It can evoke emotions of both joy and happiness. Music can stir up old memories of different times, places, and people. In the U.S. a major part of life is music, as stated by Natalie Guice Adams and Pamela J. Bettis, “ American institution that can tell us something about ourselves, like jazz, baseball, and cheerleading, are also not static but being created anew with each generation.” (Remix 240.) One can see how large of a role music plays in people’s lives, and that’s why I’m proposing a holiday based on celebrating and enjoying music all over the world. One thing that just about

From the creation of harmonies to singing to instruments, music has been an abstract form of human expression. Although an auditory collection of pitches and volumes, musicians can manipulate the same notes and bring them alive for their audiences. The true emotion and energy that’s felt in music really comes from the player as feelings are transferred to and through the listener. This interaction between performer and the house is catharsis, the complete release of strong repressed emotions. Thanks to the musician, music has the ability to grasp people and cause them to sense emotions and feelings without lyrics or images even being necessary. Although it’s believed we can only hear with our ears, something about music makes it emotionally if not physically tangible. In James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues,” a narrator certainly unaware of the impact of music invites himself to experience jazz for the first time. Baldwin uses the final scene of his story to argue that music has an effect on those who are able to experience it. Baldwin does this in one single moment by letting the fixed, practical minded, “well-intentioned” narrator experience catharsis from jazz as his growing, free-spirited brother communicates with him through jazz.

In “How We Listen To Music” Aaron Copeland describes the three components to which we all listen to music. We listen to music in a sensuous way, a expressive way, and a musical way. We listen to music with a combination of all these components, but don’t even realize we listen with these components. Splitting up these components shows us a view that we've never seen of the ways that we listen to music without knowing. Everyone who listens to music listens to a different combination of these components. I have my own mixture of components when I listen to music depending on when I am listening to music.

Music therapy is not a new idea. In fact, it’s been used in thousands of civilizations throughout history. The Incan nation thought that a soul was connected to the gods through music and it determined the health, success, and future of every living thing (Stobart et al, 26). But most every nation, from Africa, to Asia, to Europe, has had a history of music being used as a healing tool. There is evidence of music therapy leading to an increase in emotional functions and motor control skills (Warner et al, 15).

Scholars and artists commonly describe music as a reflection of the human condition. The period in history from the mid-1930s onward marked a tragic phase in twentieth century music and this reflection: the total politicizing of the art by totalitarianism means. Dictators, including Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, were manipulating popular culture to take control of their people. Stalin supported the idea of a “Soviet modernism,” a school of art that would embody the power of the new proletarian state. He monitored every recording made in the country, writing judgments of “good,” “so-so,” and “bad” on their sleeves. Stalin believed music to be the engineer of the human souls, and hoped to use this as a way to influence his people that Soviet life was improving. Fearing a phone call from the dictator or being arrested in the night, Soviet composers such as Dmitri Shostakovich wrote music with chained hands in an effort to please their leader. A study of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 and Symphony No. 7 will reveal the influence of communism in the Soviet Union on his music as well as his dynamic relationship with Joseph Stalin.

enjoying it, wishing it would go one way and watching it go another——almost like the composer at the moment he composes it; because in order to write his music, the composer must also be inside and outside his music, carried away but it and yet coldly critical of it. (1078)

This essay is separated into four parts by the approach used to analyze the music preformed by Paul Brandt on April 5th, 2017 as part of a religious studies course focusing on religion and music at the University of Calgary, RELS373. Scott provides a standard of music’s role in cultures, explained in lecture, culture is seen as a product of religion, geographic location, and language. The phenomenon of a spiritual experience due to music is explained through the perception of William James. The metaphysical nature of music is analyzed philosophically, from the point of view of Rudolph Otto. The experience of praise (to God) is analyzed with a doxological approach through the lenses of James Frazer and Dietterich.

When a person hears music, the impression is experienced first in the astral body. Then, the tones are consciously sent to the etheric body, and man overcomes the tones already there. This is the basis both of the pleasure of listening to music and of musical creativity.

Music has always been a fundamental part of my life. It sends me on a beautiful journey, full-to-bursting with emotions held within. It is here, within my own thoughts, that I can truly be myself. What music does so masterfully, is its unyielding capability of captivation and wonder. The listener is made to feel so many things at once, that it is all too easy to become lost within a euphoric trance. As one of my greatest passions, I turn to its pleasures time and time again. Whether it be while writing a work of fiction, jogging onward at the brink of dawn, or perhaps in the still night before bed. My love for music in its entirety has only soared as I have grown older and thus, my first symphony experience, is a wonderful memory I will forever hold dear.

Thesis: Music is a unique form of sound powerful enough to manipulate mood, feelings, and cognition.

The impact of music on positive psychology and emotion is a well known fact. Music has an extraordinary ability to change people’s emotions. In humans, music has the ability to invoke emotions of sadness, happiness and even fear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the casual relationship between music practice and participation on the emotions and well-being of male and female adults. The hypotheses for this study were as follows; Hypothesis 1: Music practice and participation has an emotional impact on individuals under study; Hypothesis 2: Preference of more music genres is positively correlated with higher levels of happiness among the population under study; Hypothesis 3: Preference of more music genres is positively correlated with emotional response among the population under study. Results of the study indicated that both age groups had a positive emotional response to music.