Different Perceptions of Music

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the different ways humans perceive music. The paper asserts that music may mean something different to everyone. It discusses the factors that influence how an individual perceives music such as biology and musical training. It also examines emotions evoked by music, and its therapeutic effects. The paper concludes that research the links between melody and the mind indicates that listening to and playing music can actually alter how our brains and our bodies function.

Outline:
Biology of Hearing
Musical Training
Musical Therapy

From the Paper:

"Since music can affect our emotions, we have found ways to benefit from this such as music therapy. There are plenty of uses of music such as stress and anxiety relief, and also an intervention for pain perception (Richards , Johnson, Sparks, & Emerson, 2007)(Labbe, Schmidt, Babin, & Pharr, 2007). Studies have shown that listening to classical or self-selected relaxing music results in reductions of anxiety, anger, and sympathetic nervous system arousal and increased relaxation compared to those who sit in silence or listen to heavy metal music (Labbe et al.). On the contrary, it has been reported that 60% of adolescents who listen to heavy metal reported an improvement in their moods (Gross. 2006). This shows it may not matter the type of music one listens to as long as the individual enjoys it."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Gross, K. (Dec 2006). 'Depressing' music boosts teen moods. Youth Studies Australia. , 25, 4. p.7(1). Retrieved November 16, 2007, from General OneFile via Gale:
• Howard, D., & Angus, J. (2006). Acoustics and Psychoacoustics (Ed. 3, pp 66-68).
• Juslin, P., & Laukka, P. (2004, September). Expression, Perception, and Induction of Musical Emotions: A Review and a Questionnaire Study of Everyday Listening. Journal of New Music Research, 33(3), 217-238. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
• Labbe, E., Schmidt, N., Babin, J., & Pharr, M. (2007, September). Coping with Stress: The Effectiveness of Different Types of Music. Applied Psychophysiology & Biofeedback, 32(3/4), 163-168. Retrieved November 21, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
• Musacchia, G., Sams, M., Skoe, E., & Kraus, N. (2007, October 2). Musicians have enhanced subcortical auditory and audiovisual processing of speech and music. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104(40), 15894-15898. Retrieved November 20, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

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