YOU and MUSIC

"Music has power to enter the human organism and transmit its messages and influence throughout the body, but its mechanism for doing so is not widely understood. Most people do understand the

basic processes of the ear—how sound waves (vibrations), acting upon the ear drum, are transformed to chemical and nerve impulses which register in our minds the different qualities of the sounds we are hearing.

What many people do not know is that the "roots of the auditory nerves—the nerves of the ear—are more widely distributed and have more extensive connections than those of any other nerves in the body.... [Due to this extensive networking] there is scarcely a function of the body which may not be affected by the pulsations and harmonic combinations of musical tones."

This means that while "music attacks the nervous system directly..." we can say also that "music, which does not depend upon the master brain (centers of reason) to gain entrance into the organism, can still arouse by way of the thalamus the relay station of all emotions, sensations and feelings. Once a stimulus has been able to reach the thalamus, the master brain is automatically invaded."

The significance of these statements lies in their observation that music, even when bypassing the centers of judgment, can still affect the judgment centers by stimulating emotional responses through the thalamus.

Q: Where can we see the effects that music has on the system? 

A: Probably the two most important areas are the nerve or message

pathways of the body and the emotional changes brought about by the thalamus. These changes affect other processes, such as heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, digestion, hormonal balance and swings, and electrolyte balance, and show up in our emotions, moods and attitudes.

--Now exposure to "harmonic" music reinforces the rhythmic cycles of the body. Harmonic music helps to balance body processes, synchronize nerve messages, enhance coordination, and bring moods and emotions into a rest state of homeostasis. 

--However, exposure to "disharmonic" music—characterized by the "tension" caused by dissonance and "noise," or by the unnatural

swings of misplaced rhythmical accents (syncopation and polyrhythms), or by inappropriate tempo—can result in a variety of negative changes. Research has found that if the tempo of music is much faster than the normal tempo of the body, it generally produces a quickening and over-stimulation of body processes. 

Analogously, the opposite has been found true of very slow music. Indeed, "tempo may be the most important factor for our hearts and our heads. Our hearts normally beat 70 or 80 times per minute. Most western music is set (coincidentally) to this tempo."

A person whose inhibitory and excitatory processes are seriously

unbalanced is described as suffering from "neurosis," a condition we associate with introversion, despondency, depression, nervousness, wild unpredictable behavior, and extreme aggression. Such a state can also cause hyperactivity, heightened mob instinct, abnormal fear, bad attitudes, lethargic or lazy behavior, and impaired learning and memory. This last fact is what has educators and learning/memory specialists all excited.

When it was discovered that rock music is disharmonic and that it causes behavior disorders including problems with learning and memory, a very quick mandate spread around—"Don't study while listening to rock music."

Rhythm rules. Our only choice in the matter is, To which rhythms

will we expose ourselves—to the rhythms of harmony, or to the rhythms that disturb harmony? There truly is no middle ground with music. It either enhances the Creator's design and nature's pull "toward optimum (harmonic) balance" or it interferes with the balance so necessary for our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health.

May our choice ever be to cooperate with our God, that His desire for our lives can be realized, "that [we] might have life, and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10)." 

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