Even in the ancient world, it was known about the effect of sound on both the physical and mental state of a person: for example, the sound of the surf soothed, pacified, and energetic, fast drumming energized. Such famous personalities as Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle knew about the healing effect of music and believed that it restores harmony both in the Universe and in the human body. Our distant ancestors noticed that the rhythm and melody of music greatly affect a person’s mood, and even believed that they could cure various diseases. So Democritus attributed to the sound of the flute the ability to cure deadly diseases.
Music is beauty, joy, inspiration, happiness. Music penetrates directly into the soul, develops the desire for beauty. It has firmly entered our life, has become its integral part. Music has always claimed a special role in society. It is unlikely that there will be at least one person whom music can leave indifferent. The influence of music on the health of children and the harmonious development of personality has been known since ancient times. Music can improve the memory and language of children. That is why much attention should be paid to the musical education of children at different stages of their development. In the 20th century, interest in the influence of music on the human body has grown markedly. Numerous studies show that music affects many subtle regulatory processes, changes the functioning of various organs and systems, and ultimately has a beneficial or destructive effect on human health. The health of a child is not only the absence of disease and physical defects, but also complete physical, mental and social well-being. One of the most urgent problems facing modern society is the problem of children’s health. A considerable number of children are hyperactive, can not cope with their body and emotions. And some, on the contrary, are passive, lethargic. A sickly, lagging behind in physical development child gets tired faster, he has unstable attention, poor memory, and low working capacity. Their spiritual life, worldview, mental development, and self-confidence depend on the health and cheerfulness of children. Therefore, it is especially effective to carry out health-improving work using music. It is known that music, of all art forms, is the most powerful means of influencing a person. Music has a huge impact on us, acting on the psyche, emotions, soul and body. Sounds of a certain tonality can lead a person into various states, excitement, joy, sadness, and even panic fear.
The influence of music on a person
Music has consistently passed through all stages of development, just like a person. It developed, opened up new frontiers of world vision, served as an expression of people’s feelings throughout its existence.Let’s briefly trace the development of music in individual eras. Beginning with the primitive syncretic society, music was inseparable from the beginnings of primitive dance.
In ancient times, people began to pay considerable attention to music. Pythagoras and his students studied mathematics to music, noticing that it had a beneficial effect on the intellect.Aristotle believed that with the help of music one can influence the formation of a person’s personality in a certain way. The great healer of antiquity, Avicenna, called the melody a “non-medicinal” method of treatment along with diet, smells and laughter.Music educated, helped and made life easier for the Greek in many everyday situations, encouraged him in competitions, delighted his soul on vacation and in feasts with friends.In his treatise Politics, Aristotle states: “The most important subjects of study for the Greeks are grammar (reading and writing), gymnastics, music, and sometimes drawing …”Our ancestors placed music among the general educational subjects because nature itself strives to give us the opportunity not only to correctly direct our activities, but also to make excellent use of our leisure.
From the foregoing, we can conclude that for the ancient Greeks, music was, first of all, an active stimulator of the activity performed under it, and only then a means of pleasant relaxation and idle entertainment. Since the 19th century, science has accumulated a lot of vital information about the impact of music on humans, obtained as a result of experimental studies. It has been scientifically proven that music can strengthen the immune system, reduce illness and improve metabolism. The influence of music has been studied especially intensively in recent decades.Experiments are being carried out in several directions, such as: 1) the influence of individual musical instruments on living organisms; 2) the influence of the music of the great geniuses of mankind, the individual impact of individual works of composers; 3) the impact on the human body of folk music.It should be emphasized that in Greece the Ministry of Health recognized music therapy as an official method of treatment in 2003. This method is widely used in psychotherapy, since music has a strong emotional impact on the psycho-emotional sphere of a person, it can serve as a non-medical remedy for various emotional disorders.
Music exists in our lives as a means of self-knowledge and self-expression. Music, like perhaps no other art, can influence the mood, create it. All musical works can be conditionally divided into activating and relaxing, soothing.There is even music “for the mind” – various dodecaphonies can be an example. In general, the perception of music is closely connected with mental processes, that is, it requires attention, observation, quick wits.Music, perceived by the auditory receptor, affects the general condition of the whole organism, causes reactions associated with changes in blood circulation and respiration.
The influence of music on emotions
The role of music in the emotional development of a person and the formation of character traits was considered by ancient Greek philosophers. In the Middle Ages, this problem was studied in line with the theory of affects, which establishes a connection between the emotional phenomena of a person and the ways they are reflected in music.
One of the founders of Greece musical psychology B.M. Teplov, summarizing the results of many psychological experiments, outlined his conclusions in the following two theses:
1) it is impossible to comprehend the content of music in a non-emotional way;
2) the perception of music goes through emotions, but does not end with emotions: through them we learn the world. Extending these questions to all arts, B.M. Teplov expressed the idea that we are dealing here not only with different, but also emotional cognition of reality.
He wrote: “To understand a work of art means, first of all, to feel it, to experience it emotionally and, on this basis, to reflect on it.The perception of art must begin with feeling; through it it must go; without it it is impossible. But artistic perception, of course, is not limited to feeling.The study of the emotional significance of individual elements of music showed their ability to evoke certain emotional states of a person.
Minor keys have a “depressive effect”, fast pulsating rhythms and consonances are exciting and cause negative emotions, “soft” rhythms and consonances are calming.In our country and abroad, a large number of studies have been carried out on the effect of music on the physiological functions of the body.It was concluded that the cardiovascular system noticeably reacts to music when it gives pleasure and creates a pleasant mood: the pulse slows down, heart contractions increase, blood pressure decreases.
With the irritating nature of the music, the heartbeat quickens and becomes weaker. They began to talk about encoding emotions in music, about musical emotion, which can be represented in the form of various formulas.One and the same melody, depending on how it will be performed: in a major or minor fret, fast or slow tempo, will convey different emotions. Considering the influence of music on the emotional sphere of a person, and the influence of the latter on his health, such a direction as music therapy is currently developing more and more.
Musical therapy was practiced by physicians in ancient Greece, such as Hippocrates. Pythagoras also believed that music promotes health by influencing a person’s mood: some melodies act against despondency, others against anger and irritation.
Anxiety reduction is more observed when listening to sad music. At the same time, the use of cheerful music to relieve anxiety can have the opposite effect, i.e. increase anxiety and irritability. With pathological depression, patients do not perceive cheerful music, it deepens depression even more, actualizing the patient’s experiences and thus preventing the perception of cheerful music. Patients who are deeply depressed experience relief when they listen to sad, mournful music. It is more expedient for patients with depression to first listen to minor music, which helps to establish “musical contact” with them. Only after several such sessions is an adequate reaction of these patients to major music observed.
The influence of music on the physical condition of a person
The variety of genres in modern music makes it possible to choose a composition to your liking. But why do we like certain music? A person perceives music through several factors: emotional state, individual characteristics, nationality. Each style has a different effect on the physical and mental state of a person. Some musical melodies evoke a lyrical mood, others excite, such as a game in Greek Casinos Online στο GreekOnlineCasinos.com/ , while others make you sad and plunge into despondency, others help you concentrate on work or study.
Ancient studies claimed that music has a great influence on the mental abilities, the human body and his soul.
Modern research has been able to study this influence, namely:
- the influence of the sounds of specific musical instruments;
- the influence of traditional melodies;
- current trends and the psychological state of a person;
- the influence of the works of certain composers;
- musical style and its influence.
The influence of music on the nervous system and mood of a person
Mood can be defined as a continuous, constant emotional state of a person. Everyone has proved more than once in their experience that our actions and actions depend on our mood.Of course, a certain process or thing cannot globally affect the mood, although there are exceptions. One of the most important factors that shape our mood is the life situation in general.
In modern psychology, such a condition for changing mood as events is emphasized. They either depend on a person, or are created independently of him.An example, phrases, words spoken to a person by someone else or spoken by him personally. The inner world of a person: his thoughts, what he experiences, his attitude to the actions and actions of other people and events in the world.
Actions. What a person is willing to spend their efforts on. A bad mood leads to the fact that the world around and everything that happens around, a person perceives in a dark color, and looks at everything through his frustration.In a state of low emotional tone, almost everyone turns to their favorite music. It is worth emphasizing that the impact of a certain genre is personal and depends on individual perception.