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Music and who we are
Can music change our mood, emotions, and personality?

Music and who we are

WanderingAngel
Initiate

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Joined: Apr 22, 2008
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Posted 04/22/08 - 10:43 AM: Subject: Music and who we are	#1
This is really meant to be a broader discussion about music as it plays in to life. I personally am a music junkie, and I find that it can strongly influence my mood and how I act depending on the type of music and the feeling meant to be projected upon the listener. A group of people can mutually change mood and depending on the music they're surrounded by, without saying a word they'll all feel the same base emotions. Rock makes people excited, techno makes people dance, some music even induces a nostalgic type feeling, sometimes around things that aren't really "nostalgic". For example, that feeling you get when that one song comes on, and it makes you look at and think about a person or thing as if you've known them/it your whole life. You've never really met this person, but with the right mood induced by music, you feel some sort of metaphysical connection. I believe that music and sound can link us to people, places, and things on a completely different level than sight, taste, touch, or smell. When I listen to Zero-7 and Gotan Project I'm always reminded of Seattle and my favorite nocturnally active metropolises. Chevelle always reminds me of my favorite time driving. Sometimes music can even induce memories or visions of things that have never happened. How does music play in to you life, and you philosophy? Drop whatever you want in here people, as long as it's about music!

Abdulation
Aspirant

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Posted 04/22/08 - 12:50 PM:	#2
I think music does change your mood. Sometimes, however, it is your mood that changes your choice of music. I know this because many times we act on previously formulated assumptions and find out that we are wrong. Example, I love Tchaikovsky's Pathetique symphony, but many times I cannot last a few minutes after playing it. Usually you know before hand what you want to listen to but sometimes it happens and you find out that this is not what you want right then. I tend to think that slower music like classical is 'listenable' at times when we don't have much on our minds. You cannot squeeze a symphony at a time you're desperately waiting for an important call. Sometimes things get so hectic you can't feel the mood for any music. I always loved that particular symphony at times I was depressed, during long term do-nothing times.

Techeth
Graduate

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Posted 04/24/08 - 04:58 AM:	#3
I heard a while ago that a study was done that showed the human brain was hard wired to be susceptible to music. It was very effective at bringing back memories, and often it only took a few seconds of a song to affect a person. I think they were actually working on a device that turned thought to music. As you can imagine it didn't sound great but I liked the idea, I just imagined a new age Madonna standing still on a stage with a helmet while the music played, while her brain waves flash in florescent colours on the big screen in the background. I'm not sure if that would be funny or sad. Talk about mood music Edited by Techeth on 04/24/08 - 07:55 AM
_____________________ Studying is like rowing against the current, if you are not moving forward, you are moving backward. - Chinese proverb Life's a bitch but God forbid the bitch divorce me! - Anon

The_Rational_Animal
Übermensch

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Joined: Mar 21, 2008
Location: München, Germany
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Posted 05/03/08 - 01:01 AM:	#4
When I listen to a piece of music, I contemplate the piece as if it were a human being, trying to give me a message of some kind. I start a work from Dvorak, or Beethoven, or Wagner, I try to grant it the audience it deserves and understand what the thing is trying to communicate. I believe all art presents this type of communication, purposely or not, from its creator to its viewer. Now, if one turns on something by Miley Cyrus, its not that the song doesn't communicate the artist's value, its just that the message is so cliched or ambiguous or trivial that it is ultimately insignificant, which leads me to listen to what I deem "substantial" music. Whatever effect music may have upon your psyche, or mood, is the result of the artist's intentions, not a personal reaction to it. If one has a reaction to a piece contrary to what is expected, it is the artist's responsibility for making the vagueness possible.
_____________________ "Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong." ~Ayn Rand

pumkin
Assistant Professor

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Posted 05/04/08 - 11:04 AM:	#5
WanderingAngel wrote: This is really meant to be a broader discussion about music as it plays in to life. I personally am a music junkie, and I find that it can strongly influence my mood and how I act depending on the type of music and the feeling meant to be projected upon the listener. A group of people can mutually change mood and depending on the music they're surrounded by, without saying a word they'll all feel the same base emotions. Rock makes people excited, techno makes people dance, some music even induces a nostalgic type feeling, sometimes around things that aren't really "nostalgic". For example, that feeling you get when that one song comes on, and it makes you look at and think about a person or thing as if you've known them/it your whole life. You've never really met this person, but with the right mood induced by music, you feel some sort of metaphysical connection. I believe that music and sound can link us to people, places, and things on a completely different level than sight, taste, touch, or smell. When I listen to Zero-7 and Gotan Project I'm always reminded of Seattle and my favorite nocturnally active metropolises. Chevelle always reminds me of my favorite time driving. Sometimes music can even induce memories or visions of things that have never happened. How does music play in to you life, and you philosophy? Drop whatever you want in here people, as long as it's about music! How to turn your computer into a prayer wheel. http://appliedmusic.com/powerofsound.html The power of sound discusses psychoacoustics.

Abdulation
Aspirant

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Joined: Apr 21, 2008
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Posted 05/05/08 - 07:32 PM:	#6
I have to disagree with the suggestion by The Rational Animal that it is the artist who determines it all. That was never the case in arts. The manufacturer determines the use of a certain machine, so a hair clipper cannot be used as a cell phone (unless there is one out there that combines both functions). With art it is always more you than the artist. I think an artist only succeeds as he/she knows how to create something that everyone else can claim as their own. I don't think it is art if I don't like it. I mean it can be classified as art but it will not function that way unless I relate to it personally. So you can distinguish between classified art and felt art, if I can create this non existent dichotomy only to get my point through. I don't totally marginalize the artists and their intentionality, but in my view it plays little into it.

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