Week One - Thinking About Music

Music and Emotions

Music allows for the exploration of ones emotions and feelings. Musicians are able to express themselves, leading to a near therapeutic experience.  This trend in music is found in many cultures. In Chinese culture, performers add their own twist each time they perform a melody by “adding flowers" (Wade 10).  This form of improvisation allows each musician to add their own personality and individuality to the music.  In Irish culture, it is considered aesthetically pleasing to change how a melody is played, adding new flourishes and embellishments every time.  Another form of self-expression in music is logogenic, or music that emphasizes the importance of its lyrics, such as reggae.  Music is an escape from reality and therapeutic for many people, in many forms, in many cultures.

One form of therapeutic relief for musicians is expressing their feelings through improvisation techniques.  Musicians struggling with inner demons or pressures from society, turn to their music and improvisation to help them through their difficult times, it can be an absolute escape from reality for them.  For example, modern choral and piano composer, Ola Gjeilo, often uses piano improvisations in his compositions. Gjeilo said, “There is something special about making music in the moment, because it is affected by everything: the audience, the atmosphere, the energy of the audience….” Watch this interview with Ola Gjeilo talking about improvising on the piano:

By improvising, Gjeilo is able to express the experience he is feeling in the moment through the music he makes.  By doing these improvisations, he creates a therapeutic agent for himself.  The music allows him to express any feelings he may have in a healthy, effective way.  This is similar to  a patient of a psychologist or psychotherapist creating a safe environment that would aid them through whatever struggle they are battling.  As Stevie Wonder once said, "Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand." Improvising music allows for a form of self-expression that indirectly expresses feelings.  For example, a piece of music may sound sad if it is in a minor key, yet it is never said that it is sad. Rather, the emotions the musicians feel are expressed through the music.  Music psychology actually studies these theories about the connection between therapy and music further in depth.

Furthermore, many of the youth in Jamaica find that there are countless pressures on them from society.  Pressures such as, “the government, educational system, the media, capitalist philosophies, the developed civilization, the destruction of the earth, the inequality, the separating illusions of racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia etc” (Wade 10).  All of the expectations put onto them from their elders stresses the young adults out.  The adolescents need an escape from this crazy world that they have been thrust into.  As a result, the young Jamaicans turn to reggae and the reggae culture as a way of expressing themselves and releasing the tension and stress that they endure everyday.  Reggae provides the young adults with a therapeutic emotional outlet.  The celebratory and energetic songs provide a sense of community for the youth. They can bond over the music that is therapeutic and expresses their troubles and beliefs.  A sense of belonging, especially for people who are in the same situations, can be healing all on its own.  Also, many of the songs created by reggae artists give a sense of “power to the people” and “come from the heart” (Wade 10).  Here is an example of a reggae song called “The Song of Liberation" by the Nazarenes: 

In a world that is full of social justice issues and questionable situations having possibly negative outcomes, reggae gives these adolescents a positive, healthy emotional outlet that can express thoughts that might not be popular in the mainstream.  Since much of reggae is logogenic it allows adolescents to feel a deeper connection with the musicians creating the music and with their own emotions.   Allowing for release of expression for many people, in more than just Jamaican and reggae cultures.

Numerous cultures throughout the world turn to music for more than just entertainment.  Music can have multiple purposes, including those not obvious at first glance.  Musicians and listeners alike gain much from the therapeutic music they make or listen to.

Sources

"Music Psychology | Psychology of Music | Music in Education | Music and Children|." Association for Natural Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2015.
Wade, Bonnie C. Thinking Musically: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.

Work Completed:

Sierra Marsh wrote the information on reggae music, the concluding paragraph, and edited the final product. Logan Kropp created the blog, wrote the introduction paragraph, and the information on Ola Gjeilo and improvisation.