Tuning Slide 5.20- Music: A Great Gift

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.
― Confucius

It is the season when we think about gifts- getting and giving. Music has been a gift for me since I was young. I cannot remember a time in life when music wasn’t there. It’s fun to listen to; it’s fun to make music; it’s fun to share the music with others.

What an all-around gift.

As I was sitting down to write this holiday week’s Tuning Slide I wondered what Google would do with a question about music? So I asked:

What’s so special about music?

Life Hack said:

Enjoying music is unique to humans. Unlike food or sex, music isn't necessary for our survival, but it is extremely rewarding and pleasurable. It taps into the same parts of the brain that pleasure from sex and food does. Music floods the brain with a chemical called dopamine.

Moving down the list of Google-provided questions and links, I came to another answer for the same question from Muzo:

Unlike other pleasures in life, music has no intrinsic value, but with so many different genres it can reach out and move so many different people in all kinds of ways. Many say it causes intense emotion and overwhelming joy within them, influencing mood and actions, thoughts and feelings – which is why the power of music should never be underestimated.

The next question from Google was similar and gave me a little more information:

Why do we like Music?

A post on the BBC said:

Using magnetic resonance imaging [two scientists] showed that people listening to pleasurable music had activated brain regions called the limbic and paralimbic areas, which are connected to euphoric reward responses, like those we experience from sex, good food and addictive drugs. Those rewards come from a gush of a neurotransmitter called dopamine. As DJ Lee Haslam told us, music is the drug.

Next I found the question:

What role does music play in our lives?

The Creative Music Blog gave me this answer:

In the course of history, music is the greatest creation of mankind. Creativity in the pure and undiluted form is the true definition of Music. Music is an important part of our life as it is a way of expressing our feelings as well as emotions.
Some people consider music as a way to escape from the pain of life. It gives you relief and allows you to reduce the stress. Music is a powerful therapy that will make you calm down and in the moment of joy, it will make you cheerful.
Furthermore, it develops the mind and boosts your self confidence. Music plays a more important role in our life than just being a source of entertainment.

And one more came up:

Why do we need music?

Quora answered it for me this way:

Music helps us to find ourselves. It can reach our feelings and even change them. For example, music is able to reduce stress, caused by the outside world made stress, which is felt every day. Music can help to reach the deepest spots in our minds, for example, our memories, emotions.

I know that there are many researchers who dig into these questions. I know there are many writers who try to describe it. Perhaps novelist Kurt Vonnegut was right when he said:

Virtually every writer I know would rather be a musician.

I am fortunate enough to do both, which is why I keep writing this blog and playing my trumpet. I have been intrigued and moved by music and writing since I was very young. They have both given me countless upon countless opportunities to be happy, to be awed, to be frustrated, to be relieved, and finally to be filled with spirit.

So I will end this with a final quote, this time from the ancient Greek Plato:

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.
― Plato

It answers all the questions I’ve asked, and any other that we could make up. Do I need music? Yes, I do. And I am honored to have been given the gift to share with you (in words) and others with my trumpet.

And to all of you- may the blessings of a joyous season lead you deeper into your gift of music.

4.24- Tuning Slide: The Never-Ending Gift

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Music is an outburst of the soul.
Frederick Delius

It is a week of gifts. No matter how we celebrate Christmas (or don’t) the season reminds us in both crass commercialism and in profoundly soulful ways that it is a blessing to give as well as receive. As a musician I have found that music is a two-way street. I most certainly enjoy playing music for an audience or a dance. It is my gift to them and watching people enjoy music is incredibly satisfying. But just putting it that way also indicates that when playing for others I get something back as well.

But just playing and listening to music, exploring it, figuring it out, letting it flow around and within me is in and of itself a gift to me. Perhaps more than that- a way of having my life enriched so that I can share it. If music were only about what it did for me, I would not have as rich an experience of music. The wonders of music are never ending. On any given week I come across numerous articles, studies, and personal reflections talking about how music can make a difference in life and in the world.

So for this Christmas Eve Day edition of the Tuning Slide I did some digging into the wonders of music from a number of different and quite diverse sources. What is it that music can do. Here from the magazine/website Business Insider are nine ways that music makes our lives better:

Music Can Help You Relax
Angry Music Improves Your Performance
Music Reduces Pain
Music Can Give You A Better Workout
Music Can Help You Find Love
Music Can Save A Life
Music Can Improve Your Work — Sometimes
Use Music To Make You Smarter
Music Can Make You A Better Person

Most importantly: Music makes us feel good, and in the end, that's worth a lot. (Link)

Lifehack.org came up with "7 Proven Ways Music Makes Your Life Better":

1. Listening To Music Reduces Stress
2. Listening To Music Improves Endurance
3. It Can Make You Healthier
4. Singing With A Group Of People Makes You Happier
5. Learning To Play An Instrument As A Kid Makes You More Successful Later
6. It Makes You Smarter
7. It Improves Your Memory
(Link)

I can attest to these powers of music. Take the time to check these two articles out and I will expect that you will agree.

If music be the food of love, play on.
William Shakespeare

In November the Space Weather news and web site informed us that the universe- or at least our near neighborhood produced music:

On Nov. 18th, however, something quite different happened. Solar wind hit Earth and produced ... a pure, almost-musical sine wave!… Rob Stammes recorded the event from the Polarlightcenter, a magnetic observatory in the Lofoten Islands of Norway. "A very stable ~15 second magnetic oscillation commenced and persisted for several hours," he says. "The magnetic field was swinging back and forth by 0.06 degrees, peak to peak, with the regularity of a metronome. … This was a very rare episode indeed." (Link)

The music of the spheres is not just a metaphor!

As one who works in addiction treatment I found this next piece more than a little interesting. It is from Recovery Unplugged, an addiction treatment program that bases its work on music. They are applying some of what the earlier links mentioned. On their website that talk about:

Why music works:
✓ Music is a core utility in the brain. Our brain responds to and process music in the womb. Music leads to language and all forms of communication.
✓ Our bodies and it’s rhythm. Every notice you’re walking to the beat of the music that you’re listening to?
✓ Music taps into our emotions. Have you ever listened to music and just felt happy? Or felt sad? See what I mean?
✓ Music enhances learning. Do you remember how you learned your ABCs? Through a song!
✓ Music taps into our memories. Have you ever been driving, heard a song on the radio, then immediately been taken to a certain place, a specific time in your life, or a particular person?
✓ Music is a social experience. Music experiences are shared with a group, whether playing in band or going to a concert. (Link)

To which I can only add, “Amen!”

At the Website BetterHumans.coach.me, Niklas Göke reviews some of the changes in the way people listen to music and the repercussions. He suggests several ways to become more intentional in his article "How to Make Music a Useful Part of Your Life Again". He suggests:

✓ Conscious Listening- This is awareness building. Take the time to just listen to music. Sometimes I find that difficult. I am using music to do so many things, just listening doesn’t always just happen.
✓ Web App: Listen on Repeat- This is a technique to put a You Tube video on repeat so you can perhaps dig more deeply into it. I know there are other ways to do this, but this will remind me that I should look into those, too. (Link)

And finally, take the time to go to The Ascent and read this article that sums up a lot of what this post is all about. Why Is Music So Powerful?

In the end, music is a gift that is multi-dimensional, both practical and just plain fun. Without it I life would have so little going for it. It is how we and the universe can communicate and stay tuned in to each other.

Have a great holiday week no matter how you celebrate the season!

Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.
Lao Tzu

The Tuning Slide- It's a Gift

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Music is God's gift to man,

the only art of Heaven given to earth,

the only art of earth we take to Heaven.

--Walter Savage Landor (16th C. English poet)

Gifts are on our mind today. It is the day before the day before Christmas. Any last minute gifts to buy? Any gifts I hope I get? What is a gift, though? The word comes from a word that means "give." Not a big surprise there. We know what a gift is, of course. The definitions come as no surprise:

1. a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present.

synonyms: present, donation, offering, bestowal, bonus, award, endowment; 

2. a natural ability or talent.

synonyms: talent, flair, aptitude, facility, knack, bent, ability, expertise, capacity, capability, faculty; endowment, strength, genius, brilliance, skill, artistry

But the gift of heaven? Music? The only "art of heaven" that we can experience? I think I can agree with that, both as a listener and performer.

No great insights on that. Just a reminder that we as musicians at whatever stage of development we may be are gifted and givers of gifts. Be serious about your gift but enjoy it. The gift is useless if it isn't opened and used. The greatest gifts are shared.

Listen to music this week.

Make music this week.

Celebrate the "art of heaven."

The earth has grown old with its burden of care,

but at Christmas it always is young,

the heart of the jewel burns lustrous and fair,

and its soul full of music breaks the air,

when the song of angels is sung.

--Phillips Brooks