Why music is something we need?
More often than not, we tend to look for meanings in lyrics of the song. Many vocalists, before they perform, tend to explain what they are singing about and then sing. However, music’s calming effect is felt not by understanding but by the tonal effect. Alain de Botton explains this using lullaby and the story of Cerberus from Greek mythology as an example.
“A humbling point that a lullaby reveals is that it’s not necessarily the words of a song that make us feel more tranquil. The baby doesn’t understand what’s being said but the sound has its effect all the same. The baby is showing us that we are all tonal creatures long before we are creatures of understanding.
The musician can, at point, trump anything the philosopher might tell us. The most effective way to deal with the problem may simply be to play us music. Music is the greatest mood adjustor we have ever invented. It is the axe that breaks the frozen sea within us. It can lend dignity to our sorrows, framing and containing what might otherwise be unmanageable grief. It returns us to life gently nudging us to return to the side of generosity and hope. We can follow in music’s grooves of confidence, when our own will is sagging.”
That’s why music is something we need and not merely a want.
“Music can reunite us with feelings we need but have lost touch with. It reconciles us to a sadness within which we have had to be brave and stoic not to feel. It is there for us like a comforting parent in moments of despair. It reconnects us with our instinctual, bodily selves when reason, logic and discipline are in danger of crushing us. We fully discover our debt to music when we can acknowledge just how powerless we sometimes are to change our moods through reason alone. A good life does not only need a library of ideas, it requires a vast and ever changing playlist that can systematically tug us back to our more hopeful, sensitive and resilient selves.”
The tonal effect of music is not just felt by babies and human beings, in general, but, is also, felt by dogs. The calm yet assertive tone of the master makes dogs listen to him. That’s one reason we shouldn’t yell and shout on top of our voices to get our point across. We must control our tone yet be assertive when we want to communicate our point across to someone. That’s another takeaway from music.
Check out related blog posts below:
How do musicians process grief in the modern era?
[UPDATE]
Here's how we can use our microphones - by whispering and controlling our tone.
“We feel speech and words long before we hear the words, and we hear the words long before we understand them.
The solution is simple: whisper.
Practice whispering.
Whisper when you type, whisper when you address a meeting.
Lower your voice, slow your pace, and talk more quietly.”