Ask Mike: music and mood
Hey Guys,
Late last week, I asked the Yahoo! Answers community if “happy songs” improve their moods. Most of the responders wrote that, heck yeah, songs definitely help in getting them out of a funk. The real question is “why.” Is there a scientific connection behind music and mood?
I did some searches and discovered a 2003 article from WebMD. According to studies at Penn State University, all kinds of music improve moods. It doesn’t matter if you’re listening to rock and roll, classical, or (gasp) Celine Dion–any type of tune helped those in the study feel more “optimistic, joyful, friendly, relaxed, and calm.”
And it’s not just a person’s mood that music can affect. U.S. News and World Report writes that some neurologists prescribe music for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. One neurologist says that, “‘music therapy can help restore the loss of expressive language in patients with aphasia following brain injury from stroke.” Apparently, “music can trigger the release of mood-altering brain chemicals and once-lost memories and emotions.”
The Harvard University Gazette hosts a nice (and surprisingly understandable) article on how the human brain perceives music. One small nugget of information that you can drop at your next cocktail party: As people play and listen to music, different areas of the brain receive increased blood flow and oxygen. According to Professor Daniel Levitin, “music activates the same parts of the brain and causes the same neurochemical cocktail as a lot of other pleasurable activities.
But for all the good music can do, it can sometimes drive humans nuts. Ask Yahoo! tackled a related question a few years back when it answered why certain songs get stuck in your head. Repetition seems to be the main reason. “The more you hear one chorus, beat, or whatever, the more likely it will burrow into your subconscious.” And, unfortunately, 97-99% of people are susceptible. The cure? Listen to another song (preferably something not by Los Del Rio).
Thanks for reading,
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r u on fu : Fat Tony
Hey dude, nice article, but what happens with “Los del Rio” I really like them! HAHAHHHHAHAHA
As stated in the US News story you cited, music triggers the release of mood-altering brain chemicals. These chemicals are released by the endocrine system, which consists of many small organs that release hormones. The most well known part of the endocrine system is the pituitary gland, which regulates growth and development. Other parts of the system regulate metabolism, tissue function and mood. This Web Guide contains resources for all levels of readers to better understand the Endocrine System.
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides.topic__ss_categories_ss_science_ss_Science-of-the-Body_ss_Endocrine-System.xa_1.html
cool artical I agree completly
that’s pretty cool
i think music is an amazing thing that helps out lots of people whether they’re happy or sad
For more info on mood and music read Professor Levitin’s book, This Is Your Brain On Music. Its a fun and informative read! He does cover ‘earworms’ those songs that stick in our ears and just won’t go away-like Macarena for instance! Also check him out on Wikipedia. He has had many careers including music producer and comedian. He is now teaching at McGill if anyone out there is interested in taking his classes.
Who cares why music makes you feel the way you do. As long as you can identify with the music at the time. Sometimes I will listen to hard heavy metal when I feel angry. I feels good sometimes to block out the anger as long as I listen to it loud and sing along. No matter what it says as long as it’s loud and I can sing to it. It’s kind of like hitting something but I do it with singing . I listen to pop when everything’s great wonderful and right. Same with some classical. I love to listen to Chistmas songs when it’s Christmas time. I love to listen to all types of music and sometimes I listen to fuel what I feel or I listen to change what I feel. Whatever. I’m interupted now. Gotta go.
I listen to audio books when I drive, but when I really want to rock it I roll down the windows in my CooperS drive fast and blast Eddie and the Cruisers, loud loud, loud. I feek great after that, lol!!!!
Hi, I love music. More than anyone I know. I’m an aspiring writer and the stereo is always on and I have 1500 CDs. Mostly rock, pop, even country, R&B, electronica, British music that’s popular there today that isn’t too much here yet. I’m 46. Right now I’m miserable over past relationships so the Bee Gees song “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” as sickening and sappy as it gets hits home. Now I plan to go on a serious dating streak with many women before I’m too old. Music is almost always on in my place like TV is on everywhere else I go… even if I’m reading a book…
that’s funny you know even im 9 years old and i am grade 3 i know what i do. i think music is cool and it is funny. when i have nothing to do.i turn on the radio and hear musics. and i say music is fan
sachin kumar gupta
class -12th math 1th divajan
i think that music is meant to be for every mood be it happy, sad, hopeful etc.
great article
I agree completely
Yeap.. it´s true
Nice article!
Sad songs sometimes help me realize that my problems are not so bad.
awesome article…its cool to know about this stuff =D
heck yeah happy songs always improve my mood
One form of music has been shown to cause frenetic behavior. That is rap. It drives some people plain nuts. It is it’s constant beat and punctuated rhythm. It simply crawls up your spine until it beats on your head and you develop a tremendous headache. Which is why it is banned in most establishments as an irritant.
When I have a migraine, I listen to Dave Matthews. Better than motrin or tylenol for a serious headache.
Well now, since I’m 82 yrs old, I’ve been around awhile and I believe that music has been used to sooth, excite and/or terrify people for almost ever. Kinda depends on the listener doesn’t it?
Its obvious cuz of the waves that the music send to the body & boy react dependin on what kind of music, thats my opinion!
what is the best guitar in the world
Happy music gets me going!
There are many websites which talk about the new age music and its’ supposedly soothing influence on the human mind. The angel Lucifer was musical. The kind or type of music changes but it never dies. Even if there is no musical instrument, there is still music when the wind blows or when an object is hit against another object like glasses containing different levels of water and when they are hit with a stick or something. Listening to some good music will cause unhappiness to fade a little. Listening to some down spirited music will cause more unhappy feelings. Sometimes it is better to switch off all the music just to keep still and gather all emotions together again. Yes. Music does influence mood and mood decides which music to listen to.
In my undergrad at the University of Ottawa (UofO) in B.A. Conc. Music, Arts Admin, and Piano Pedagogy, I studied under prof. Gille Comeau. We did some work with the NRC and McGill University. One of my essays was on the influence of music on human health. Some others in my class did it on the impact on the human fetus, ancient gregorian moods, greek and roman music moods, etc. With the new multi-milion dollar laboratory they have at the UofO, including infrared & heat cameras, keyboard presure sensors, broadband video learning capability, topography scans, etc there is definitely empirical data to support an influence of music on the development of humans, animals and plants. This is an interesting field to study which appear to be mis-understood or completly ignore in today’s society.
music i think has motives in stead of motivation it can be calming if you enjoy it i think that it does give me a migraine if it is constantly in your ear my fav is gotta be all or none out of the different kinds one specificly i listen too alot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Music is the food of the soul. Whenever I feel blue I pop on some happy pop music and it almost always makes me feel brighter. If I’m feeling sad an emotional song can make me feel teary but that is not a bad thing. Also if I’m feeling a bit angry a good dose of AC/DC does the trick!
When I need some introspection and need to sit down and think, I listen to Bach or Mozart and listen to the harmony. I also like Vivaldi but I don’t think he is known for complex schemes in harmonic theory.
When I want to tap my feet and just plain feel good I listen to Black Eyed Peas, Busta Rhymes, Sir Mix-alot, or the like.
When I’m down and need to quit feeling sorry for myself I listen to Tupac’s lyrics or read some of his poetry. If he could survive with pride and a healthy self-esteem, I could do the same … no matter how hard is looks today.
The rest of the time I’ll listen to smooth jazz, latin jazz, or classic rock. Smooth Jazz especially since it can easily fall into the background.
LoL when IM listening to music, i cant focus or concentrate well in my homework! i actually focus more in the song
hehehe gr8 article thou
BTW who the heck is ‘Mike’?!
Sleep, laughter and music together and apple a day and an apple at night, and your illnesses will be far and few between, if you stay away from the booze, cigs and rounders.
According to Mr. Einstein, when he ‘thought’ about things, he thought in terms of music; I think Mozart was his fav….whatever that really means, I’m not sure but thought it was quite interesting.
I am a professional musician, but I do not listen to music ‘all the time’. When I’m driving, I like things to be quite, so I can think. Just cause something is good, doesn’t mean it is good all the time. If one cannot stand silence, something could be wrong! Be careful to make sure you are not using ‘music’ to cover the things your conscience is telling you. Listen to YOUR thoughts as well as the thoughts you recieve through music. Bottom line for thoughts on music: use it–don’t abuse it! OR: use it but don’t let it use you…don’t let ‘lost’ in it. You can’t control your mind if you can’t stand to listen to it.
Why do you find it necessary to disparage someone else’s choice of music in order to write about this topic? Isn’t there enough discourtesy on Yahoo Answers already without the people who work here getting into the act?
When I was in teachers college, I read in a book by Louise Rosenblatt that music is “expression without an expressor.” If you play a happy upbeat song, it hangs in the air as an unclaimed expression of happiness. In your head, you claim it as an expression of your own happiness, thus it becomes exactly that, altering your mood.
For me, music doesn’t change my emotions or the way i feel – the emotions choose what music to listen.
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Heavy metal 4 life!
Really like the article.
Maybe the right kind of air vibrations when they flow through the ears to your brain will stimulate the body to release the right hormones in your body for you to feel good, lol…this is just what I can think of right now…
It’s a given that music has power, and and that is why I propose this slighlty differing perspective to consider. I agree that music affects mood and mood affects they type of music one chooses at any given time. But I do not ascribe to the statement WebMD reportedly made that it doesn’t matter what type of music you listen to. Therefore care and thought is necessary in your choice of the music you listen to. Why? Because music has power. And, like any other power, it can serve for good or for harm. Where does music’s power come from? From its ability to literally affect your brain chemistry and function and cause a certain feeling, mood or spirit to develop. Music can relax and soothe, or refresh and enliven. You can almost “feel” the difference between a vigorous march and a soft serenade. Music can stir every human emotion—love, tenderness, reverence, sadness, anger, hatred and passion. Dr. Joseph Stuessy, a professor of music at the University of Texas at San Antonio, warns: “Any kind of music affects our mood, emotions, attitudes and our resultant behavior.”—
We often give expression to our moods through music. When a person is in a good mood he often whistles or sings a tune of some sort.
Throughout history men have recognized music’s power and have used it to move people in certain ways. For instance, part of the triumph of the French Revolution is frequently credited to what one writer calls “the bloodcurdling call to arms” of the song La Marseillaise. And schools often have their “fight songs” used before athletic contests. Music sometimes is used to honor someone.
In addition to clever words and visual imagery, music is important to radio and television commercials. It engages the emotions, enhances the mood of an ad, helps make it memorable, and improves consumer attitudes toward the product.
Music can be misused to manipulate as in the case of commercialism where strategically chosen music is used to put customers in a buying mood. In bars music that arouses sexual impulses often is played.
Tchaikovsky wrote some [music that is] mood music for two—and despair music for one. It’s masochistic [self-tormenting] to listen to music that is disturbing.”
I finally have scientific proof of what I have suspected all along!
Hi again Mike..
Normally, a “happy” song would indeed get me out of my “funk”..
Tell that to the economy…
I work on commission…For 14 years..
All of these experts telling people to not spend any money have put me in the poorhouse…I’ve drawn money from my 401k to make ends meet..
I have a few songs that normally bring my mood up, take me there…Those songs are now making me cry…
You’re absolutley right…Music can, and Does normally bring a persons mood up…But not when there’s no hope left..
nice article.
Now I wonder if there is an explanation of getting 2 songs playing in my head AT THE SAME TIME.
I am sure that I am very sane ad not psychotic. Maybe I need to stop listening to musics.
I think parts of some music go to some deep primitive part of the brain. How else can I explain that some music or songs cause the hair to stand up on my arms? This is not something I can consciously do.
Mike, you MUST pick up a book called “Music, The Brain, And Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination” by Robert Jourdain. This book predates the “Brain on Music” guy by a decade, but his science is much more interesting, his understanding more profound, and without all the ego that I noted in Levitin’s name-dropping opus. It’s a very smart book and I have given it to many friends, musicians and non-musicians, who were blown away. I have no commercial interest in talking you into this book, just a sincere and lifelong interest in the wonder of our musical minds.
PS “Music, The Brain, and Ecstasy: How Music Capures Our Imagination” is available, used, at amazon.com for less than $3 plus postage. I especially urge musicians to read it, and they will come away with renewed respect for the amazing and mysterious ways their musical minds work. I have been a professional musician for 30 years and this book had tremendous impact.
more question
Music does a lot more than just alter moods!
Check out the amazing research on this website!!
http://www.life-enthusiast.com/twilight/research_emoto.htm
This is amazing!
WEBMD is a great source.
Yes, music triggers brain-altering chemicals.
In a state of depression or grief, I recommend that the sufferer begin with minor key music that is essentially sad. Stick with it for about 90 minutes. You’ll feel fidgetty and want to get something more up-tempo. Ultimately, it will help improve your mood.
MUSICIANS can speed up this process by playing their own sad music. They will move up-tempo faster.
The ancient Greeks believed that the nine “Muses” were our source of inspiration. They hover around and talk to each other. We don’t understand their language, so we can’t comprehend what they are saying. Instead, we hear “music,” the language of the Muses. That’s still a workable model after three thousand years.
Melpomene, the Muse of tragedy, is one of those nine Muses. To ignore her is to lose an important source of inspiration!
OF COURSE music affects you – I would say it’s akin to someone saying nasty things to you – screaming at you OR someone quietly saying sweet nothings… One will soothe you, the other will make you angry or worse… If people saying things to you affects you, why wouldn’t music?
I did a report about music therapy last year. There are certain aspects of music that can trigger different emotional and physical responses (i.e.: chords, dissonance, tempo, almost anything). Many times your heart/respiration rate change with whatever you are listening to. I really liked learning about all of it.
music is best
ne` em
led zipplen, cold play, aerosmith, AC/DC, and more
8=================B
I am currently going to school to become a Music Therapist. Music has been proven to affect humans physically and physiologically.
There is a phenomenon, called the Thalmic relex. It occurs when a stimuli (music) bypasses the master brain and goes directly to the Thalmus to trigger a physiological response.
An example would be: Someone listening to music begins to tap their foot to the beat, but they are unaware that they are doing it. It’s a natural response.
Because of this phenomenon, a music therapist can help a client who is in a coma. They could use music to improve blood pressure or heart rate. It isn’t as easy as just a normal person playing a song. A music therapist is a trained professional who is educated in the human body, and the specific ways certain types of music can help acheive the therapeutic goals. It is also widely used to benefit children with Autism and ADHD. In reality, the music does all of the work, and the therapist has the knowledge of how to apply it.
My favorite is Mozart, I love to hear Christmas songs in the style of How Mozart would have played it.
because is the way your expresing yourself
the mood of the person ringing happens or sadness, when the person is hearing the music that music can affect the mood of the person, example if the person is sadness at that time audible range of music the person feeling happiness, and staring the person smiling and starting shaking his hands, head, and legs, so that the music, in Somalia some traditional people treating the mentally ill people the music, those are suffering, headache, worry, and loss of appetite, some of those people believed the cause of there illness by jinni, or Devil, the Devil needing Music etc.
Music holds the power to elevate our moods above our worries and relieve debilitating depression. It can also perk us up if we use it with exercise or dance
Habeb public mental hospital
Mogadishu Somalia
Professional composers have know for years that different chords and chord progressions have direct emotional impact on the listener. That is why there is theme music in movies – a suspense scene is much less suspenseful if there is no sound track at all. The mechanism that connects neurology with endocrinology is the hypothalamus, an organ in the brain that is part of both the nervous system and the glandular system. Any psychological stimulus can, through the hypothalamus, set off a chemical cascade in the blood. A chemical cascade in the blood can also work the other way, through the hypothalamus, to produce a neurological effect. In essence, the “mind-body” dichotomy posited by rational philosophy does not actually exist. neurotransmitters affected are the end, not the start, of that phenomenon.
EVERYTHING ON THE PLANET HAS VIBRATION. That is a proven fact when we get out of our normal vibration anything can happen illness fatigue mood swings anything.well,music can set our vibration in or out of wack, if you want to run a test on yourself listen to heavy metal music for 3 or 4 hours and see how you feel, now listen to smooth jazz for the same time.youll see
It’s not just music. It’s country or gospel (presumably anything mostly in a minor key) and Scotch Whiskey (single malt preferred). At least, that’s what works for me.
Good night, bloggers =)
Whdre I may to ind posts on this topic?
It’s difficult to nuderstand..
So nice!
Yes, it’s real, I know!
Real post =)
Nice! I’ll do similar post in my blog