The Power of Music

“Music alone with sudden charms can bind the wandering sense, and calm the troubled mind.”

SO WROTE William Congreve about 300 years ago in his Hymn to Harmony. Centuries earlier, ancient Greek writings claimed that “musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.”

The truthfulness of that has been seen by some parents who have observed their teenagers becoming sullen and uncooperative after feeding on a steady diet of heavy metal music. It was also seen during the 1930’s and 1940’s in Germany when the Nazis used stirring march music to help prepare large crowds to listen to Adolf Hitler’s mesmerizing speeches.

Unquestionably, music can affect minds and hearts and can be used to manipulate them either for good or for bad. For example, exposure of young children to certain types of music is believed to enhance their intellectual and emotional development. Even stammerers can sometimes sing sentences that they cannot speak.

The effects of music upon patients who have neurological diseases causing movement disorders are sometimes astonishing, according to Anthony Storr in his book Music and the Mind. Storr cites the example of a female patient: “Frozen into immobility by [Parkinson’s] disease, she would remain helplessly unable to move until she was able to recall tunes she had known in her youth. These would suddenly release her ability to move again.”

A Cause for Concern

So it seems that there are benefits that can be attributed to the power of music. However, there is the danger that corrupt or greedy people may use the power of music as a deadly tool. Some studies have shown direct links between antisocial behavior and certain types of music.

In support of such claims, Psychology of Women Quarterly reports: “There is some evidence to suggest that viewing rock videos has the same effect as viewing pornography in that men who were shown violent rock videos expressed more calloused and antagonistic attitudes toward women than did men who were shown nonviolent rock videos.”

This effect is not limited to men. Women can also be affected. That same report adds: “Men and women alike may begin to accept the negative messages these songs present concerning women’s lack of worth.”

The journal Sex Roles agrees with this conclusion, stating: “A recent study . . . found the combination of being from an unsatisfactory family environment and having had heavy exposure to music videos was significantly associated with sexually permissive attitudes and behavior among adolescent females.” The graphic violence and sexually explicit lyrics of some rap music caused one U.S. district judge to rule that a certain rap album was “obscene by community standards.”

Was the judge being extreme? By no means! The journal Adolescence reached the conclusion that “both the adolescents and their parents report significantly more turmoil in the lives of the adolescents who listen to heavy metal and rap.” Such turmoil is linked with “aggressive and destructive behaviors” and low academic achievement.

Indeed, links between certain types of music and sex, suicide, and antisocial behavior are well documented. But does this mean that all music is associated with such negative effects? Read what the following articles have to say about this.

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Music can affect hearts and minds either for good or for bad