musics affect on our brains
Words formed into melodies have been the most powerful message, allowing people to comprehend emotion for over 5,000 years. The way words are placed between beats gives a hypnotic message to your body and changes the state of your brain. But is music just that? A series of notes and precisely placed words? This is what I have set out to discover. What effect does music have on humans?
When listening to a good song you feel a sense of relaxation and calm within your body. Often we stop what we’re doing to focus on the lyrics and feel the beat. The state our brain goes into is scientifically known as the alpha state. According to scientist from Ben Greenfield Fitness, the brain is split into four different conscious and unconscious states. These states include but are not limited to the Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta states. As human beings our brain usually sits idle in the Beta state. The beta state consists of your brain being alert with concentration. In order to be as productive as possible the brain needs to be transferred to the alpha state. The alpha state is a super learning state of relaxation. You fall into a slight trance where you are more susceptible to new information. Commonly known by sports people as “the zone” this state can be reached through the focusing of your breathe, deep meditation or music.
However not the same music will put all the same people in “the zone”. This is due to the fact that not all people hear music in the same way. Some people hear the melody rather than the harmony giving a different opinion to people on music and allowing everyone to experience it differently. An experience like this can often be indescribable for those who don’t hear the song the same way. An experience like this could be compared to a person trying to describe a colour to a blind person. We separate colours into different catagories such as pastels or dark, however if you have been blind all your life you have no way of knowing how that would
When listening to a good song you feel a sense of relaxation and calm within your body. Often we stop what we’re doing to focus on the lyrics and feel the beat. The state our brain goes into is scientifically known as the alpha state. According to scientist from Ben Greenfield Fitness, the brain is split into four different conscious and unconscious states. These states include but are not limited to the Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta states. As human beings our brain usually sits idle in the Beta state. The beta state consists of your brain being alert with concentration. In order to be as productive as possible the brain needs to be transferred to the alpha state. The alpha state is a super learning state of relaxation. You fall into a slight trance where you are more susceptible to new information. Commonly known by sports people as “the zone” this state can be reached through the focusing of your breathe, deep meditation or music.
However not the same music will put all the same people in “the zone”. This is due to the fact that not all people hear music in the same way. Some people hear the melody rather than the harmony giving a different opinion to people on music and allowing everyone to experience it differently. An experience like this can often be indescribable for those who don’t hear the song the same way. An experience like this could be compared to a person trying to describe a colour to a blind person. We separate colours into different catagories such as pastels or dark, however if you have been blind all your life you have no way of knowing how that would