The Importance of Music

Running Head: THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC

Importance of Music

Hannah K. Pulliam

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Spring 2014

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The Importance of Music

Hannah Pulliam

English 1102

Ashlyn Williams

Background/Introduction

I, like many others in this world, listen to music on a day-to-day basis. It’s what

gets me through those stressful times of school and work. But have you ever wondered

what other roles it plays in society? Well, would it surprise you if I told you that music

could help calm stress, reduce symptoms of disease and disorder (Autism, depression,

etc.), or even possibly help with teaching kids how to read? In this paper, I explore the

significance that music has on other people’s lives. I look into music therapy and its

implications for various disease treatment and symptom reduction, and I pay specific

attention to actual case studies in which music is being used (some of these include

working with autistic children, effects with the elderly, mood changes, etc.)

As a music minor, I incorporate music into my work of study everyday, whether it

be through applied lessons, sight singing, music theory, etc. I am very passionate about

what I do. I have used music in different ways all my life for about thirteen years. I am

very interested in how it can be important to society in the future. I have learned already

that music can affect people in a variety of ways whether they are young or old,

musicians or not, etc. In this paper, we will see studies of how music can affect mood and

arousal, and how it may be a way to teach kids how to read. We will also lean towards

the topic of music therapy to see how music might be able to cure or at least reduce

symptoms of illness or disorder.

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The Importance of Music

Literacy Review

Over the past sixty or so years, researchers have found that music

is a great way of reducing symptoms of illness or disorder. This form of

therapy, called music therapy, would soon become one of the most used

therapies around the world.

Terms-

-Music Therapy: This form of therapy is used as an intervention for patients suffering

with an illness or disorder (i.e. depression, autism, etc.). It does not necessarily cure an

illness or disorder, but it does decrease the symptoms of it.

-Spatial Abilities: The ability to think about and visualize something in order to

understand its meaning or concept.

-Musical Mode: This tells whether a piece of music will be major or minor. A major key

will sound more lively and upbeat, while a minor key can sound more emotional, sad, or

even scary.

-Musical Tempo: This is the beat of the music. The piece can be very slow or very fast

paced.

-Literacy: The ability to read and comprehend words.

-Brain Processing: How your brain comprehends certain things.

-Cardiovascular System: Heart, the circulation of blood (circulatory system)

-Cerebrovascular System: Brain, cerebrum, and blood vessels

-Respiratory System: Breathing, exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide

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The Importance of Music

-Individualized Music: Your own style of music that you prefer to listen to

Using Music Therapy to Cure Sickness or

Disorders

Although stress is not a form of illness or

disorder, it can lead to illness, such as depression, and can

be reduced with music. In “Coping with Stress: The

Effectiveness of Different Types of Music,” Elise Labbe

examines students before, during, and after taking a test.

Given a wide range of classical music to listen to, one

group shows great results of reduced stress, while another group, forced to sit in silence

or listen to heavy metal has increased symptoms of stress.

In Nicole Allgood’s study of "Parents' Perceptions of Family-based Group Music

Therapy for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders,” parents of autistic children are

examined over a 7-week period as they participate in music therapy with their kids. The

children engage in a wide variety of musical activities that will, in the end, increase their

social skills so they can better interact with their peers and even their parents.

Not only is music therapy used to cure/reduce symptoms of disorders, it is also

used with sicknesses like depression. In "Music therapy for depression,” Anna Maratos

studied five groups of people, each dealing with depression. All groups are asked to

participate in a standard therapy of their choice and then a music therapy. In the end,

results were more positive when music therapy was used instead of a standard therapy,

and the moods of the participants changed dramatically.

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The Importance of Music

Alzheimer’s Disease is a condition that occurs mostly in elders and results in

impaired cognition. In "Effects of individualized versus classical "relaxation" music on

the frequency of agitation in elderly persons with Alzheimer's disease and related

disorders,” Linda Gerdner wanted to test how different types of music affected the brain

of elders with Alzheimer’s disease. Asking the participants to listen to two styles of

music: 1. Individualized 2. Classical in different orders, results came out positive when

listening to individualized music (their own preferred style of music) over classical

music.

Although the participants in this next experiment did not have any cases of

disorder or disease, this is still considered music

therapy. In "The meaning of music in the lives of

older people: a qualitative study," a group of elders

were asked to listen to music to see how it affected

their well-being. Results showed that when listening

to their own style of music, it reduced agitation and

also helped increase social skills. When interviewing some of the elders after the

experiment, many said that listening to music, not only improved their communication

with others, but it also made them feel less lonely.

How Music Affects One’s Spatial Abilities

In “Effects of Musical Tempo and Mode on Arousal, Mood, and Spatial

Abilities,” Gabriela Husain wanted to see how music affected students’ mood, arousal,

and spatial abilities, so she recorded a Mozart piece and manipulated it four different

times. When asked to listen to the original score, one group of student’s showed positive

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The Importance of Music

results with spatial abilities compared to a group that was asked to sit in silence. The

procedure then changed. Now, one group of students would be listening to a slower

Mozart, while another would be listening to a sped up version of the piece. Spatial

abilities appeared higher when listening to the faster version, compared to the slowed

down version.

How Musical Mode Affects One’s Behavior

As we already know in “Effects of Musical Tempo and Mode on Arousal, Mood,

and Spatial Abilities,” a Mozart piece was recorded and manipulated four times. When

examining the student’s participating in this test, Gabriela Husain found that the mode of

the piece could greatly affect the mood and spatial abilities of the students. When the

piece was played in a major key, students appeared happier and awake, compared to

when it was played in a minor key and students were more sensitive and emotional. Also,

spatial skills in students were higher when the mode of the piece was played in major,

rather than in minor.

How Musical Tempo Affects One’s Behavior

In “Effects of Musical Tempo and Mode on Arousal, Mood, and Spatial

Abilities,” Gabriela Husain also found that the tempo of a piece could affect a person’s

spatial abilities and arousal. As we already learned, when the tempo of the Mozart was

sped up, students had higher spatial abilities than when it was slowed down. Results also

showed that when the speed of the piece changed, it affected students’ arousal. Arousal

was higher when the tempo became faster compared to when it was slowed down.

More and more businesses, today, that provide services to people are trying to

experiment with ways that they can improve their setting so that they may appeal more to

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The Importance of Music

the public eye (i.e. lighting, color, using manners, etc.) Music has become especially

popular in the restaurant business. In "The influence of music tempo and musical

preference on restaurant patrons' behavior,” Clare Caldwell decided to examine a sit

down restaurant to see how musical preference (person’s preferred style of music) and

tempo affected the customers’ behaviors. More specifically, she wanted to test how

different types of music affected how long a customer stayed in the restaurant, how much

money or tip was paid after eating, and finally, the overall outcome of what the customer

thought of the restaurant. Results showed that tempo really had nothing to do with how it

affected customers. Instead, it was musical preference that determined the length of time

a customer stayed in the restaurant, how much they tipped, and their overall outcome of

the restaurant.

The Affects of Music and how it could be Helpful when Improving Reading Skills in

the Future

In “Can Music be Used to Teach Reading?.” Ron Butzlaff argues over why he

thinks music can be a way to improve reading skills in the future. He gives multiple

reasons as to why he believes musical could come in handy. 1. Music and reading are

similar because, just like reading a book, you have to read from left to right when reading

notes off of a staff for music. 2. For a singer, you have to read the lyrics to learn them or

memorize them. 3. When joining a music group, you have to have a lot of responsibility

when trying to learn your part. If you are not prepared, then “the whole group suffers.”

(Butzlaff) The author says that maybe by joining some time of music group, you can

learn how to be responsible, which can then lead to better academic performance.

The Affects of Music on Brain Processing in Different Genders

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The Importance of Music

In “Electric Brain Responses Reveal Gender Differences in Music Processing,”

Stefan Koelsch examines how the brain processes differently in genders while listening to

music. “Males have greater left hemisphere than females do usually.” (Koelsch). 62

right-handed non-musicians were asked to participate in this experiment. Researchers

then played a variety of musical phrases, each consisting of five chords. They would

examine the brain function of the people listening to the music. In the end, the females in

the group processed music on both sides of the brain (or bilaterally), while the males

were more likely to respond negatively on the right hemisphere of the brain.

The Affects of Music on One’s Cardiovascular, Cerebrovascular, and Respiratory

Systems

In "Cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and respiratory changes induced by different

types of music in musicians and non-musicians: the importance of silence,” twelve

musicians and twelve non-musicians are being examined on how their cardiovascular,

cerebrovascular, and respiratory systems change while listening to music. They are each

asked to listen to 6 different styles of music. During each song, there is a two-minute

examination period where researchers test the blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, etc.

At the pause between each song, heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing went down.

When it came to examining mid-cerebral artery flow velocity and baroreflex, a faster

tempo made them increase. The mid-cerebral artery flow velocity seemed to reduce when

exposed to different styles of music. Overall, “musicians had higher respiratory

sensitivity to tempo than the non-musicians.” (Bernardi)

The Affects of Individualized Music or Musical Preference on One’s Behavior

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The Importance of Music

In “The influence of music tempo and musical preference on restaurant patrons’

behavior,” Clare Caldwell exams how musical preference and tempo affect customers’

behaviors in a restaurant. At the end of this experiment, we found out that it wasn’t tempo

that affected the way the customers responded at the dinner table. Instead, it was musical

preference. Results showed that the preferred style of music was the determinant of how

much customers would tip, how long they would spend in the restaurant, and their overall

outcome of the service of the workers.

In “Effects of individualized versus classical “relaxation” music of frequency of

agitation in elderly persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders,” Linda

Gerdner examines agitation in elders suffering with Alzheimer’s. As we already know,

the participants were asked to listen to classical music and then their own individualized

music. Being split into groups, one group would listen to classical music and then move

on to listening to their own style of music, while the other group would listen to the same

music, just in the reverse order. Gerdner would examine them during a two-week

“washout period.” (Gerdner) In the end, results showed that there was a greater reduction

of agitation when listening to your own individualized music than when listening to the

classical music.

Entering the Conversation

After observing my figured world, I have come up with an experiment of my own

that I would like to test out. I want to know if music can help cure sleep deprivation.

Being a college student, you don’t get much sleep due to work inside and outside of

school. Also, a lot of college students like to procrastinate until nighttime to do their

work, resulting in lack of sleep and a messed up sleep schedule.

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The Importance of Music

In my experiment, I would gather 24 college students and divide them up into

three equal groups. Over a period of about a week and 8 hours of sleep each night, I

would examine the three group’s sleep schedules. The first group would be asked to

listen to their preferred style of music before and during their sleep time. The second

group would be given a classical soundtrack that they would go to sleep to. And the third

group would be asked to sleep in silence with no music to listen to.

Before conducting the experiment, I would think that the music would work better

when trying to get the students to sleep faster. You tend to think a lot at night, and trying

to sleep in silence is just going to make you think even more. I don’t believe sleeping in

silence will work as well as listening to music. I also do not think the preferred style of

music will work as well as listening to the classical music, because if you are trying to

sleep while listening to a song that you really like and know all the words to, then it will

just keep you up even longer.

I think this is a great experiment to try and perform, especially on college students

since we do not get much sleep. If music can help cope with stress, I thought it could at

least help reduce drowsiness in the mornings when waking up for class.

So What?

Music is something that is used all of over the world for enjoyment and

entertainment, but its role is far greater than that. It can be significant in ways that you

may have not even known. Did you know it could be used to help cope with stress? Now

you know to use it when studying for that big exam. Did you know that it could help

reduce symptoms of depression? You can use music in that time of sadness. Music may

also be way to improve reading skills in the future There is a variety of ways you can use

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The Importance of Music

music to help you. Researchers haven’t stopped experimenting with it. Who knows how

music will impact society in the future? Now you know, music can be beautiful in more

ways than one.

Interview Questions answered by Hannah Pulliam

My personal experience being a member of the Chamber Orchestra:

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The Importance of Music

1. How have you been in actor in this figured world?

I contribute to this orchestra as the other musicians in it do. I am a second

violin player. What that usually means is that I act as the harmony for the

orchestra, and if you don’t have the harmony, then the orchestra really

suffers as a whole.

2. How does this influence your observations?

If I were to just observe the second violin section, the behavior would be

different compared to the first violins. For the first violins, you always

need to be prompt and attentive. Same goes for the seconds, but usually

we will be playing with the first violins, so what we do is listen for the

firsts to come in. I don’t want to say that the second violin section is more

laid back, but it does involve less counting. We do have to work together

with the first violins to come in at the same time though. You must always

be focused, no matter what.

3. What was it about this topic that made you so interested in pursuing

this as your observation topic?

When picking my figured world to observe, I knew instantly that it was

going to be based around music in someway. I didn’t really know it would

be the chamber orchestra that I would be observing, but once Ashlyn gave

me the idea, I knew it was perfect for me because, first of all, I am always

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The Importance of Music

with the chamber orchestra, and second of all, I have such a passion for

playing that I knew I could explain the interaction between the actors and

artifacts very well in this setting.

References

Allgood, Nicole. "Parents' Perceptions of Family-based Group Music Therapy for

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders." Oxford Journals | Humanities &

Medicine | Music Therapy Perspectives. Accessed February 20, 2014.

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http://mtp.oxfordjournals.org/content/23/2/92.short.

Assignment One Observations

Bernardi, L., C. Porta, and P. Sleight. "Cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and

respiratory changes induced by different types of music in musicians and non-

musicians: the importance of silence -- Bernardi et al. 92 (4): 445 -- Heart." Heart

- BMJ Journals. Accessed February 20, 2014.

http://heart.bmj.com/content/92/4/445.short.

Butzlaff, Ron. "JSTOR: Can Music be Used to Teach Reading?.” Accessed

February 20, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3333642.

Caldwell, Clare, and Sally A. Hibbert. "The influence of music tempo and

musical preference on restaurant patrons' behavior - Caldwell - 2002 - Psychology

& Marketing." Wiley Online Library. Accessed February 20, 2014.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mar.10043/abstract.

Gerdner, Linda A. "Effects of individualized versus classical "relaxation" music

on the frequency of agitation in elderly persons with Alzheimer's disease and

related disorders." Accessed February 20, 2014. psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2000-

08235-003.

Hays, Terrence, and Victor Minichiello. "The meaning of music in the lives of

older people: a qualitative study." Psychology of Music. Accessed

February 20, 2014. http://pom.sagepub.com/content/33/4/437.short.

Husain, Gabriela, William F. Thompson, and E. G. Schellenberg. "JSTOR:

Effects of Musical Tempo and Mode on Arousal, Mood, and Spatial Abilities.

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Accessed February 20, 2014.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/mp.2002.20.2.151.

Koelsch, Stefan. "Wolters Kluwer Health." LWW Journals - Beginning with A.

Accessed February 20, 2014.

http://journals.lww.com/neuroreport/Abstract/2003/04150/Electric_brain_respons

es_reveal_gender_differences.10.aspx.

Labbe, Elise, Nicholas Schmidt, Jonathan Babin, and Martha Pharr. "Coping with

Stress: The Effectiveness of Different Types of Music - Springer." Home -

Springer. Accessed February 20, 2014.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10484-007-9043-9#page-1.

Maratos, Anna. "Music therapy for depression - The Cochrane Library -

Maratos." Wiley Online Library. Last modified November 6, 2007.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD004517.pub2/abstract.

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