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Mira Naumann

English 12

3/25/19

Topic: The importance of music

10 Health Benefits of Music. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.gethealthystayhealthy.com/articles/10-health-benefits-of-music

This source is about how music increases people’s health. People are born with the ability

to tell the difference between music and noise. Our brains have different pathways

processing music. Music can influence our blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, and

blood. The effects on music are not fully understood but studies have shown that the

brain releases a chemical called dopamine that has a positive effect on humans.

According to some researchers, music can increase our health and well being. Music

decreases stress by relaxing with a slow tempo, low pitch, and no lyrics. It lessens anxiety

and improves exercises because it boosts your mental and physical stimulation. Music

also improves cognition for people with Alzheimer by recalling seemingly lost memories

and help maintain mental abilities. Furthermore, it helps children with autism spectrum

disorder who showed social improvement and communication skills while listening to

music. The source relates to the topic, because it explains the health benefits that are

making music important for our health.

Cotton, J. (2018, April 21). The Importance of Music. Retrieved from

https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/the-importance-of-music/

In that article, the author discusses why music is important to us and why we need it. The
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author describes humans as emotional beings who are not fully conscious about their

emotions and don’t give them their full attention, so they don’t have the opportunity to

fully developed. For that problem, music offers amplification and encouragement.

Specific music offers encouragement and confidence for specific feelings and pushes

them forward. The author claims that music doesn’t invent emotions, it makes them

louder. He arguments that boosting emotions might be risky, but it actually strengthens

our capacities for calm, forgiveness, love and appreciation. Music helps us fully

recognize the identity of a moment. Overall music helps us to get our emotions in order

and “reduce the noise” in order to allow our own best reactions to be more prominent and

secure. The article overall relates to the topic by explaining how important music is to

define and help us control our feeling.

Course RA (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2019, from

https://www.coursera.org/lecture/importance-power-music-our-society/music-and-identit

y-an-introduction-Bf9yU

This video is about music and how it related to our identity. Music tells a story about our

identity. Our identity is not completely fixed but influenced by our parents, our location

and the choices we make. Our identity is our self-in process and music is an instrument to

experience that process. We pick a piece of music that affirms our ideas and satisfies our

desires. It is said that because music is all around us it shapes our desires and preferences

because you identify yourself with certain music. Also, you are part of a collective

identity. Means that when listening to certain music you are part of a community who is

listening to the same music. Getting included and part of a collective identity shows
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hospitality and binds us together, for example, the national anthem. It identifies yourself

with the country. It relates to the topic by showing how important music is for our

identity and development.

Frometa, R. (2018, July 17). Importance of Music in Human Life. Retrieved from

http://ventsmagazine.com/2018/07/17/importance-of-music-in-human-life/

In that newspaper article, the importance of music in our everyday life is discussed. The

author says that people listen to music is to entertain themselves. Means it takes your

boredom away. If you listen to music your work capacity will increase and it makes you

happy. It can even cure mentally ill people, their condition improves and the author calls

it “music medicine”. Furthermore, music is of very big importance in our lives, because it

stimulates our old memories in our brain, which let us remind our old friends and people

been forgotten. It reminds us of the relationships that we connected with that song. Also,

you can overcome your bad emotions with music. Music benefits you calming down after

a stressful moment or day. It relates to the topic, because music is important for everyday

people of all ages, old and young. They don’t have to listen to the same music but also

elderly people spend time listening to music.

Gjurgevich, J. (2016, May 01). Retrieved March 18, 2019, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPDSXgP22LE

The video is about how important it is to get education in music, academically and

socially. Music advances focus, vision and critical thinking and promotes individualism

and
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creativity. It strengthens the audiovisual, auditory and motorcoticy and their connections

between them. Neuroscientists even found out that the corpus, the link between left and

right brain is bigger when playing an instrument. That's why music contributes “curing”

people’s disabilities. It is shown that musicians have a 7 ½ IQ points more than non

musicians. Also you should educate music at a young age and you get better results while

using your brain. It relates to the topic, because the video think music is so important that

it should get integrated in school education.

Greenlaw, L. (2017). The importance of music to girls. London: Faber & Faber.

The book is about a girl having an experience jumping accidentally through a window

and since then she can’t stop thinking about music while growing up. It plays in the 45s.

She takes piano, ballet, and violin lessons. The girl struggles with identification,

self-recognition and lacking confidence. Her chameleon allegiance to various sorts of

music (disco girl, hippy girl, punk) becomes her social currency as she attempts to fit in.

She gets on a journey trying to find music to describe her feelings and herself. The book

is more about the girl then the music though.

Mitchell-Baker, D. (2017, March 08). The importance of a soundtrack to a film. Retrieved from

https://www.theedgesusu.co.uk/features/2017/03/12/the-importance-of-a-soundtrack-to-a

-film/

The article talks about the importance of music in movies. First of all, there is a big

significance between a film’s soundtrack and a film’s score. The score is the part in

movies playing between and during scenes. Scores are used to build tension, set a tone

and convey
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emotion. Soundtracks are released as a piece and merchandise or promote the film. By

playing a score it gives own personality to the movie. The music is used to underline the

emotions and increase them. Also, the soundtrack should become instantly memorable

and recognizable so when people hear the song they will remember the movie. The

importance of music in movies relates to my topic because music is not just important in

our life but also in entertainment and is a big source to get across their intentions.

PSU (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://sites.psu.edu/sbxoxo/2015/10/22/influence-of-music-on-dance/

In that weblog is the influence of music on dancing discussed. Music makes us dance and

impacts on how we dance. Dance needs music to set the mood, drop the beat, and create

the motivation needed to start moving. It plays an important role in how music makes us

feel. So we can express the emotions in our dancing. That is why we’re having different

dance styles. There is always a typical genre that matches with a music style. Music also

plays an integral role in daily activities, like supporting us while working out and creates

a lively and more fun atmosphere while working on assignments or driving. Depending

on how fast the beats are we adapt our body movement. And our productivity level gets

up. Furthermore, the lyrics of a song can be portrayed through dance just further

enhancing the relationship they share. The movements go in sync with the speed of the

music and the melody combined with the footwork can definitely be classified as a work

of art. The topic relates to the importance of music, because it defines its importance in

dancing.
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The Importance of Music in Our Society. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.gilbertgalindo.com/importanceofmusic

That source is about how music influences our society. Music is considered as art and

people have the desire to create. It is important to create music or listen to it for

enjoyment,

emotional response, performing and creating. The author focuses on classical music and

how society may think to go to a classical concert needs special requirements and claims,

like well education, dress a certain way, being rich or old. But that’s what the mainstream

society thinks and it shouldn’t be true. American society needs to believe that everyone

can find worth and enjoyment in classical/concert music. Music can also stimulate the

mind. There are many ways to which one can listen and bring attention to music. It can

raise your mood in certain ways. Learning to play music carries a lot of advantages and

skills, like being able to critique music, playing with others in order to collaborate and

playing alone, composing and reading music and understanding the history of music and

its association with the historical and current event.

Why is Music Education in Schools Important? (2019, March 09). Retrieved from

https://theinspiredclassroom.com/2017/05/why-is-music-education-in-schools-important/

This source is about why music education is important in schools. It is argued with five

reasons why you should music. Music stimulates brain development in children. Various

studies have found that engagement with music can lead to an improvement in brain

development. It specifically shows when students play a musical instrument compared to

students who didn’t. This study shows the importance of receiving music education, rather
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than simply turning on background music when students are doing work in other subjects.

Music education also enhances reading comprehension and abilities for children. Music is

also a way to connect with people. It encourages them from playing together. Especially

through music, it is proven that it creates a bond between children. Also, music integrates

many different subjects, like musical skills, mathematical skills, reading and writing skills,

and historical knowledge. For example, music is an excellent way to incorporate fractions

and lyric analysis. Furthermore, music teaches discipline. Students are expected to learn

outside the school and it creates the possibility to schedule and organize their life. Last but

not least music relieves stress when overwhelmed with school.