My Thoughts on Music by Loretta Goddard

Music

By Loretta Goddard

Spoken words
Illumine light
With added verse
Speech takes flight
Melody flings wide
a door--
Entwine them all
And souls will soar
 

        Music is a spectrum.  When we hear 2 or 3 notes from an instrument we can say, “Listen, I hear music.”  But we use the same word to describe what we experience with an orchestra of varying instruments and an accompanying choir of hundreds.

        Music is a mystery.  It is in those categories of love, hope, beauty, peace, consolation, imagination, as well as desolation, discord, dissonance, hatred and violence.

        In its basic forms it is practiced by animals—whales, birds, wolves.  But the more complex forms are human in origin, indeed “music remains fundamental and central in every culture.” (Sacks 2007, 2008, xi)

        If we look at our earthly lives and then peer into the eternal kingdom, we see that much of our experiences on earth will pass away when we enter heaven.  Not so with music, it is front and center in our past (Psalms), in God’s call to us today (Col. 3:16), and in eternity (Rev. 5:8, 9). God allows and encourages his praises to be embedded in music, both instrumental and vocal.

        “…there is no single ‘music center’ in the human brain, but the involvement of a dozen scattered networks throughout the brain.” (Sacks 2007, 2008, xi)  It is an integrated experience involving emotional, verbal, auditory, muscular, respiratory…multi-sensorial areas in the brain.  It calms, soothes and heals.  It excites and incites.  It evokes a response.  It is a gift and a power. 

        The experience of music seems to have tiers, beginning with hearing a distorted recording on a scratchy vinyl record or a radio station partly static-filled.  The experience climbs with high-end surround sound speakers.  But another tier is reached when we are present to the true, naked tones of the instruments’ vibration and vocal folds’ opening and closing, and the faces and hands of those producing the music for us.  Perhaps it is similar to the differences between looking at a black and white photo of a painting of beautiful mountains, then seeing the real, large, colorful painting of mountains in a museum, and finally actually sitting atop the very mountain itself that is depicted in the painting—breathing in the mountain air, hearing the sounds, seeing the surrounding horizon.  Indeed researchers have studied the differences between listening to recorded music and a live performance and demonstrated that “a substantial body of literature reflects and promotes the advantages of live music.” (Segall 2007)

        So when we take the time to enjoy a live musical performance, we allow ourselves to be affected, touched, and reached, in a deeper way.  It is not always necessarily a positive effect, as reported by one study: “Songs with violent lyrics increase aggression related thoughts and emotions…Repeated exposure to violent lyrics may contribute to the development of an aggressive personality and could indirectly create a more hostile social environment.” (Science Daily 2003)  But pleasurable music has been found to lead to a release of “dopamine, the same chemical in the brain that is associated with the intense pleasure people get from more tangible rewards such as food or addictive drugs.” (Brown 2011)  Hence, like Saul calling upon David’s harp, today many curative institutions rely on music therapy to soothe and bring healing.

        Our Creator has fearfully and wonderfully knit us together.  He has given us the gift of music.  It can build us up or, used improperly, can tear us down.  May we be discerning and receptive to that which builds up and nourishes our bodies, souls and spirits, and seek out musical venues that comfort, soothe, inspire, renew and nurture us in the sounds and rhythms of this ineffable gift of God.

Works Cited

Brown, Eryn. "Music really is like a drug, researchers say." Los Angeles Times. January 9, 2011.

Sacks, Oliver. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. New York: Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, Inc., 2007, 2008.

Science Daily. "Violent Music Lyrics Increase Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings, According to New Study; Even Humorous Violent Songs Increase Hostile Feelings." Science Daily. May 5, 2003.

Segall, Lorna E. "The Effect of Patient Preferred Live Verses Recorded Music on Non-Responsive Patients in the Hospice Setting as Evidenced by Physiological and Behavioral States". 2007.