According to musicologists and anthropologists, music and dance are enjoyed and responded to by all human cultures and social groups on the planet. Music appears to be a "unique biological aptitude" 1 and we humans are drawn to it from an early age.
In Nat Shapiro’s Encyclopedia of Quotations about Music, many great and knowledgeable people have expressed their thoughts on music and have been inspired by it. Confucius said that “music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without”, while Aristotle questioned: “why do rhythms and melodies which are mere sounds resemble dispositions, while tastes do not, nor yet colors or smells?”. Another idea on music is from Martin Luther, stating: “music is the art of the prophets, the only art that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us” 2. So many of the greatest minds have spoken about music and its ability to calm, inspire, excite, emotion, uplift, sadden, renew the spirit of men. After all, there is something intrinsically poetic and artistic about music itself, so much so that the Oxford English Dictionary describes music as "one of the fine arts which is concerned with the combination of sounds with a view to beauty of form and the expression of emotions." 3
"Music is the art of producing pleasing, expressive, or intelligible combinations of tones. The sounds of original music are produced by the human voice or instruments actuated by musicians. The ultimate objective destination of all music is the human hearing mechanism."
It is quite fascinating to note that for the most prominent scientists and linguists, music is first of all a form of art that finds its expression in a physical and emotional phenomenon through sound. But first and foremost, the mystery and awe that surrounds the concept of music is what our dictionaries and physics books focus on when defining music.
Moreover, music is a universal form of communication that clearly differs from language and speech. It has the ability to impact arousal, stimulate brain activity, activate our emotions, and elicit significant internal autonomic physiological responses in people 5. The autonomic nervous system is in charge of monitoring and controlling our body's interior environment, as well as its visceral processes. Control of heart rate and blood pressure, digestion, respiration, and the sexual arousal apparatus are all examples of autonomic function. Music seems to have “gold pass” access to the autonomic network. When listening to favorite pieces of music, several physiological changes connected to emotional responses are induced, including changes in heart rate and blood pressure, goosebumps, shivers, and tears.6
Recent history can provide formidable examples of the power that music can exercise for humanity. In 1914 the Germans and allies in their respective trenches sang Christmas carols to each other across no man’s land, thus beginning the famous Christmas truce of that year. In more modern times, because “music-making is a safe place for people to ‘be’ together and rebuild trust,” 7 various music-based initiatives have been develop in regions of conflict and extreme social disharmony, such as in the Balkans and in Africa.
As humans we internalize sound very quickly and we are very sensitive to what we hear because of the history of evolution and the way our bodies are made. Normally, back in the evolutionary era, hearing was used to detect if something was approaching and if we were in imminent danger. 8 This is one of the other reasons why sound has a direct relationship with the autonomic neural system and can alter our cardiovascular state or give us shivers and goosebumps: primitively to put us on guard.
"Acoustic memory is embedded in ourselves since before we even see the light of day. Hearing is the first of the five senses to develop when the fetus is inside the womb. From the beginning the baby associates the rhythmic heartbeat of the heart with a sense of tranquility."
Arguments can be made that from the first sounds of animal skin drums to the symphonies of Mozart there is an incredible resemblance to the rhythmic human heartbeat. To the point that the metronome standard oscillation is at 70-80 bpm, same as our heart rate at rest. It is also true that up until late Middle Ages, musicians adjusted the rhythm of the music they were about to play by listening in to their pulse.
In modern times, music is found in a variety of different applications. Several studies demonstrate that music can and is used for therapeutic purposes. It can soothe aggressiveness, help recover from a traumatic event or help with certain kind of diseases such as Autism, Alzheimers, Depression/anxiety and developmental Delays.9
Conclusion
Most are in agreement that music has a strange and wonderful power over our species, even though there remains a lack of consensus as to why humans have responded so positively to music throughout their history.
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Harvey, A. R. (2017). Music, Evolution, and the Harmony of Souls. Oxford University Press.
Shapiro, N. (Ed.). (2012). An Encyclopedia of Quotations About Music. Springer US.
Harvey, A. R. (2017). Music, Evolution, and the Harmony of Souls. Oxford University Press.
Olson, H. E., & Olson, H. F. (1967). Music, Physics and Engineering. Dover Publications.
Critchley, M., & Henson, R. A. (Eds.). (2014). Music and the Brain: Studies in the Neurology of Music. Elsevier Science.
Sloboda, J. A. (1991, October 1). Music Structure and Emotional Response: Some Empirical Findings. 19(2), 110-120.
"Neuroscience and "Real World" Practice: Music as a Therapeutic Resource for Children in Zones of Conflict” 2012, 69-76
Simonelli, S. (2018, August). Sonic Branding [Podcast by Dallas Taylor]. In Twenty Thousand Hertz Podcast. Retrieved February 14, 2022, from Spotify
Sukhani, S., Singh, I., Kathuria, V., & Singh, N. (2022, January). Technical Overview and Evaluation of Heartune App: Mapping Music to Heartbeat for Recreational or Medical Purposes (Whitepaper). IJRMST.