Wheel of Topics #15

Another challenge was given to me: The value of music and it's effect on
people(for all the other ideas I received, don't worry, I have made a
list for the futur). Not an easy one, let me tell you.

Music cannot be valued in conventional way. It's mostly a cultural
value. Each region of the world as its own music, with its own history.
Even inside a single country, big or small, the music have different
style. Classical european music show very little similarity with
chinese ancient music and traditional native american music, even inside
this musical style there are many variation. This could give different
value to music inside a single region.

In tribal culture, music can have a high value, because of its
connection to religion, war, and many everyday ritual. When fighting
tribal war, many african tribes have the habit to sing when fighting.
It is a kind of psychological weapon, either to give them courage or to
scare their opponents. In North America and in Western Europe, its
value is actualy lower, it is seen mostly as entertainment, with little
to no connection with other part of our culture. Who would sing our
national hymn simply for the fun of it? Who would sing during a major
fight to give himself more courage or scare his opponent? Who show his
religious devotion by singing all day long during religious holiday?
Not a lot of people, although music still have a large connection in
religion, especially during wedding and funeral.

The effects of music on people are numerous and varied. It can affect
your mood, a fact that is use in many way. In elevators, soothing music
is used to reduce the stress created by the proximity of people inside a
small room. In casino, very joyous and energetic music is used to
incite a festive mood in the people(also used in shopping mail during
the christmas period). In horror movie, they use stressful music to
increase the effect of some scene(the jaws music is a good example).
Many other example could be given, but I'll let you search a little.

Since some type of music can reduce stress, it can be used to help
physical healing. It's use as a treatement for mental traumatism is
also studied in many university. Many studies also show good result
with some mental illness, including schizophrenia. Music can also be
used to help the good developement of fetus during the last six
month(critical period for the developement of the brain). All those
result lead to the creation of music therapy, a medical technique that
use music for healing and developement.

I hope this is good enough for you all, if you need more explaination, you can always ask me.

Grim the pirate