Music's Affects on the Human Body

Music does many things for the human body including,

masking unpleasant sounds and feelings, slowing down
and equalizing brain waves, affecting respiration, affecting
the heartbeat, pulse rate, and blood pressure, reducing
muscle tension and improving body movement and
coordination, affecting the body temperature, regulating
stress-related hormones, boosting the immune function,
changing our perception of space and time, strengthening
our memory and learning, boosting productivity,
enhancing romance and sexuality, stimulating digestion,
fostering endurance, enhancing unconscious receptivity to
symbolism, and generating a sense of safety and well-
being. The next few paragraphs will address each way that
music has an affect on our body so one can get a more full
understanding of how something like music can affect our
bodies in such a large way.
Music masks unpleasant sounds and
feelings in many ways. A simple
example of how this is done is when
you take a trip to the dentist. If you're
going to get a root canal or something
else that would involve a drill, you
usually don't want to get it done
because most people are terrified of
drills, and the sound of the drill. We
all know the music the dentist plays in
the office. We all dread it. But what
we don't know is that it is this music
that can most of the time disguise or
even balance out the sounds of the
dentist's drill. But what the music
doesn't necessarily do is calm you
down while you're in the waiting
room waiting for the moment you go
into that room, sit in the chair, and
have the doctor start to drill away on
your teeth.
Music can slow down and equalize brain waves.
There are 4 kinds of waves that the brain has.
Beta waves, Alpha waves, Theta waves, and
Delta waves. All of these waves are measured in
hertz. Beta waves range from 13-40 hertz, Alpha
waves range from 7 to 13 hertz, Theta waves
from 4 to 7 hertz, and Delta from .0-4 hertz.
When we focus on daily activities, or experience
emotions that are strong, that's when Beta
waves occur. Calmness and having a heightened
awareness are part of the Alpha waves, and if
you're in meditation, sleeping, or in an inspiring
mood where you're very creative, that's when
you're using Theta waves, and when you're in
deep sleep, and deep meditation, that's when
Delta waves are used. The slower the brain
waves, the more relaxed, contended, and
peaceful we feel.
Common household music, medium paced
music, generally has a pulse of about 60
beats per minute, which in turn can shift
from the beta waves to the alpha waves. This
is in certain types of music like Baroque, and
New Age type music. If you're listening to a
Shamanic drumbeat, your waves may drop
into the theta range, which would in turn,
alert your state of consciousness. A Shamanic
drumbeat alters your hearing, because it's so
different than other types of music. Different
types of music, alert different waves, which
then react differently, which makes you react
differently. If you are daydreaming or find
yourself in an unfocused mood, a little bit of
Mozart or Baroque music in the background
for ten to fifteen minutes can help to steady
your conscious awareness and increase your
mental organization. There isn't any bias or
opposing viewpoints on this part, mainly
because it's all proven fact. One can't argue
with what has already been proven, because
it's right. Scientists now know that the brain
reacts differently to different types of music.

Music affects respiration,
there's no doubt about it.
Everyday breathing is
rhythmic. When one breathes
deep, and at a slow rate, this
helps calmness, and lets you
have a better control of
emotions, you can think
deeper, and speeds up your
metabolism. If one breathes
fast, quick, and shallow, it
leads to that person having
shallow scattered thinking,
and you'll have more of a
tendency to make mistakes in
what you're doing while
you're breathing so hard.
The music you listen to
affects the way you breathe
and react to the music. If you
react by dancing and banging
your head around, you're
usually listening to fast paced
music, which will then speed
up your breathing. The
curiosity in this is that this
doesn't happen for
everybody. Some people
listen to fast music and relax
to it. I am one of those
people. But that doesn't
mean that the music still
doesn't have an affect on my
breathing. It really just
depends on the music you
listen to and who you are.
Music affects the heartbeat, pulse rate, and blood
pressure. It's pretty obvious how this works. From
the previous paragraph where the breathing was
affected, it's nearly the same thing. The heartbeat
responds to sound and music just as we would. It
picks up on the frequency, tempo, volume, and it
tends to speed up according to the pace of the
music. It's not necessarily going to go with the beat,
but it will slow down or speed up to a fast or slow
song, but only within a certain range. Because the
heart can only go so fast or so slow and still be safe,
and it sure wouldn't kill itself. Just like the breathing
rates in the last paragraph, the slower heartbeat
makes it so the mind is calm, it reduces stress and
tension, and helps the body heal itself. The
heartbeat, affects the pulse rate, because they're
related. Music can change the blood pressure also.
Dr. Shirley Thompson, an associated professor of
epidemiology at the University of South Carolina
School of Public Health, reports: Excessive noise
may raise blood pressure by as much as 10
percent.
Music reduces muscle tension and improves body movement and
coordination. A study conducted in Colorado State University in
1991 relates: twenty-four undergraduate women had to swing
their arms and hit a target with an object on completion of the
downswing. They played music during this and the researchers
found that when the women coordinated their movements and
swings with the beat, instead of going at their own rate, they had
more control over their muscles, and it also enhanced their mood
and motivation.

Music affects the body temperature. For a very common example,
think of a creaking screen door, or fingernails on a chalkboard,
and how those noises send chills up your spine and often make
you shiver. All sounds and music can put out an influence on our
body temperature and make our body adapt to changes in heat
and cold. Transcendent music can flood us with warmth. Loud
music with a strong beat can rise our body heat a few degrees,
while soft music with a weak beat can lower it. Music does this by
influencing blood circulation, pulse rate, breathing, and
sweating.


Music can regulate stress-related hormones. The level of
stress hormones in the blood declines significantly in those
listening to relaxing, ambient music report anesthesiologists.
Sometimes this music can overcome the need for medication.
People with hard stress related jobs often times go to music
for relaxation.
Music and sound can boost the immune function. Current
research in immunology suggests that an insufficient amount
oxygen in the blood may be a major cause of immune
deficiency. Music comes into this problem simply. Music, can
actually oxygenate the cells. Buddha Gerace, a voice
researcher in Lake Montezuma, Arizona, has developed vocal
exercises that can increase the lymphatic circulation to as
high as three times the normal rate. In fifty years of teaching
voice, Gerace has witnessed many remarkable changes, and
he credits his exercises with helping actor Henry Fonda boost
his immune function and recover from vocal trouble during
the Broadway production of Mister Roberts.
Music changes our perception
of space. Music can do all kinds
of wonderful things for us. It's a
wonder why most people don't
realize that music helps them
that much. Some people listen
to music all day, all the time,
and they just think its music. It
does something for them.
That's what they say. But more
people should fully understand
that music might be the reason
they haven't been sick in a year,
or why they have such a low
blood pressure for the way they
eat. Because music has an
major effect on our body.

The End
Project made by : Simion Florin Echim
XII E CNLR
12.05.2014

Biography:
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