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Albert Einstein once spoke about his theory of relativity, "It occurred to me by intuition, and music was the driving force behind that intuition." (qtd. in Green) As a child, Einstein did very badly in school, and the teachers recommended that his parents not even take the time to continue teaching him. His parents ignored the teachers and instead bought him a violin. Throughout his life, Einstein improvised on his violin in order to figure out his problems and equations, and music was a key factor helping him become the genius we now know him as. (O'Donnell)
Music and Health
Music also has unending benefits on our health. It has been proven that music reduces blood pressure. Scientists are currently testing the effects of playing music games with dyslexics, and how it may improve their reading ability. Music is used to calm Alzheimer's patients and others with age-related diseases in hospitals and nursing homes, helping to reduce and control conflicts.
Music is commonly used as a form of therapy. According to the American Music Therapy Association, founded in 1998 as a merger between the National Association for Music Therapy and the American Association for Music Therapy, music therapy can be defined as, "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." (AMTA Website) This is commonly used to treat everything from physical disabilities to chronic pain to brain injuries. Even healthy people can be benefited through stress reduction or the use of music to aid in childbirth. Nature and other environment sounds can also be therapeutic. Think of how relaxing the sounds of a bubbling stream, crickets chirping, or ocean waves can be. Music Therapy is considered to be one of the "expressive therapies;" others include art, dance, drama, play, writing, and humor therapy.
Although the use of music to benefit health dates back to the days of Aristotle, modern music therapy began shortly after World War II. Hospitals were hiring musicians to play for the hospitalized veterans after seeing the good affect it had on those suffering from war-related mental and emotional problems. Eventually colleges began to implement programs, and Michigan State University began the world's first music therapy program in 1944.
There are many specific reasons why music therapy works. Music with a strong beat can actually cause brainwaves to "resonate in sync with the beat, with faster beats bringing sharper concentration and more alert thinking, and a slower tempo promoting a calm, meditative state." (Scott) This can be good for you even after you stop listening, because it helps the brain in changing brainwave speed by itself later.
Researchers at the University of Toronto are developing "brain wave music" ("Brain Wave Music"), a type of music therapy that involves creating music that imitates the patterns formed by individual brain waves. The people they test the music on are given their own CD, with music made for their specific brain waves. They're hoping that this new approach may help relieve chronic insomnia, anxiety, or depression, even without the additional aid (and risk of dependency) of medication. Could you imagine going to the doctors to get a "prescription CD?"
In addition to causing positive changes in heart and breathing rates, bringing relaxation, and combating stress problems, music also brings a "positive state of mind, helping to keep depression and anxiety at bay." (Scott)
Music and Physical Activity
Mark Tramo, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School, commented on a study which "showed that the heart muscle of people exercising on treadmills didn't work as hard when people listened to music as it did when they exercised in silence." (qtd. in Cromie, "Music on the Brain") Researchers from Ohio State University studied patients with lung disease and found that those who listened to music "walked an average of 19 miles a week - four more miles than the control group who didn't listen to music while walking." (Bumgardner) Music affects us so much that it's being banned from sports-related activities.
Most high schools have banned listening to music while running in both track practices and meets. The body in charge of running in the US, USA Track & Field, has officially banned headphones and any kind of portable music player from all official races. One reason to justify this is the physical protection of the runners; while listening to music, they can't hear directions, and are less aware of the other runners around them. However, this is also meant to protect runners without an audio player from having an unfair disadvantage. But isn't it fair enough for every participant to be allowed to run with an audio player? If everyone has the opportunity to give themselves an advantage through music, then it's not unfair simply because some don't bring an audio player. Not all should be punished.
With today's iPods and Zunes becoming progressively smaller, how can this rule be enforced? Many people ignore the new rules, including Richie Sais, a runner in California's Marine Corps Marathon. "'I dare them to find the iPod on me,' he said, adding that he had clipped his iPod shuffle, which is barely larger than a quarter, under his shirt." (qtd. in Macur)
More and more "regular" people are participating in these types of athletic activities. The more serious and professional runners may actually prefer to run without music, but those running for fun or smaller personal goals might be turned off by these music bans. I know when I was in high school I wouldn't have made it through summer gym without Sean Paul and Aerosmith.
Conclusion
Music is invariably a crucial part of everyone's life, and has shaped the way we all live and develop as humans. If used in the right ways, it can help us learn, heal, or even make it through that last lap around the track. We still have so much to find out about the way our minds interpret music and how if effects us. Hopefully elementary and high schools will continue music programs, and post-secondary institutions will continue to research what else music can do for us.
