The Power of Music

Entertainment isn't the whole story

Here in the West, we think of music as entertainment, or an accompaniment to entertainment. Most of us can't remember life without phonograph records, cassette tapes or Compact Discs and the artists we all have listened to on them. The great majority of radio stations exist to play music, and there is hardly a minute on TV - other than news shows - that doesn't have theme music, background music or commercial music.

But as much as we enjoy different kinds of music, it is all of one purpose: to entertain. We have The Music Business and The Entertainment Business. Why else would we listen to music besides entertainment?

In the past, and in other parts of the world today, there are definitely other reasons. The classical Master Beethoven, for example, was justly famous for being able to evoke specific emotions in his listeners, and wrote pieces that we still listen to today to evoke joy, sadness, loss and return. His piano sonata Les Adieux couldn't be clearer if he had written a short story: two lovers part, they experience their loneliness, but are joyfully reunited in the last movement. The ability of music to evoke emotions is its first and most obvious power, and we shall return to it again.

Physical and mental effects

Some types of music can relax us. After a stressful work day, classical music, certain types of jazz, or our favorite ballad singer can physically relax our bodies and distract our minds from the cares of the day - at least for a while. On the other hand, loud, fast music with a strong beat can exhilarate (or bother) us. In fact, sometimes we may prefer one kind of music or artist, and at other times that's the last thing we want to listen to.

So we have all experienced music's physical and mental effects on us at one time or another. In fact, the mental effect is so strong at times, a few lines from a song can keep running through our minds despite our efforts to ignore them or make them stop.

Emotional effects

There are other ways music affects us emotionally. One way can be most clearly demonstrated by movie music. Music signals us when something scary, threatening or ominous is about to happen. If you close your eyes in an action, horror or thriller movie, you can pretty much tell what's happening on the screen by the music alone. The same is true for a romance. Film composers such as John Williams get paid big money for their ability to shift your emotions from moment to moment. Movie theme music - such as Williams' Star Wars theme - can make us practically march out of the theater, our shoulders thrown back, determined to vanquish our own foes. (And sometimes we just hope one will show up right then so we can spring into action.) Our self-confidence has been affected, and it is as much due to the movie music as the movie story and visuals.