Music is a medium. Mostly, it carries emotion. That’s why everyone listens to music. People relate to feelings similar to theirs.
Yes, there are many more aspects to music, such as the way words carry concepts across culture, or how spiritual ideas flow through frequencies. But for the sake of this article, music transfers emotion from one person to another.
This transfer happens in many ways: from the composer to the musician, from the musician to the audience, or directly from the composer to the audience. I first watched this idea in action when I realized I could change the atmosphere in a room simply by how I played.
My piano has been the way I processed my feelings and dreams since I first started playing at age 13. I remember one day, specifically, during a rather melodramatic moment at the piano. My mom popped her head in the door of my room and said, “Are you okay? All the kids are feeling sad.” I realized that I was crying.
Instead of stopping, I simply took some time to sort through my emotion. Then I focused on the things I was thankful for, built a positive attitude toward life in general, and began playing. I wasn’t playing any specific piece; it was simple improvisation. I found my own mood rising and began hearing laughter outside. In fact, I could instantly feel the atmosphere lighten.
This is a simple story, but it goes to show a huge point: we can affect people by the music we play. Because it carries emotion so well, music becomes the unifying key to the general attitude of culture.
Many musicians play either to escape their feelings or to express them. For example, both Beethoven and Mozart had hard lives. But their music sounds entirely different. Mozart wrote music from a positive perspective, encouraging himself through it. (One exception to this is his final piece Requiem, which he wrote on his deathbed. In my opinion, it’s positively depressing.) Beethoven, however, translated his feeling directly to his music. His compositions tend to feel dark and melodramatic, if not outright depressing.
I am not saying one composer is better than the other. It is interesting to note the difference in the emotion produced by each composer’s music.
From this perspective, one artist can have incredible power over what multitudes feel and think. Your perspective can be shifted simply by the music you listen to.
This could have huge implications on culture. If a highly prominent artist propagates hate and violence through the music he or she creates, that gets passed to the listeners of the music. From there, hate and violence spread.
But what if musicians spread healing and blessing through the music they produce? What if they focus their songs on freedom and love? When those feelings are transferred to their fans, positivity begins to flow through the veins of humanity.
All this has taught me one thing: to be intentional about the music I listen to. I research each artist I hear. If a song starts affecting me negatively, I listen closer to see if I can identify the negative emotion behind the piece. I have learned to assess what kind of music I need to listen to in order to maintain a stable perspective on life.
To musicians: if you want to impact culture positively, check your emotions before you play for others. Be proactive, and play with purpose. What are your thoughts? Does music have as much of an impact as I believe it does? Drop a comment and let me know your ideas!