Value of Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Value of Music - Essay Example Music listening is such an involvement that facilitates a healing environment. Music allows people to relate their emotions with themselves and gives them a feeling of self-awareness which leads to a better life overall. Music is a safe, cheap and easily used tool for helping people to manage pain, confusion, and other such issues that are wrongly interfering in their lives. Music sure can lead to an emotional response and arouse certain emotions in a person; however, it can also form emotional habits in a person and when he listens to a certain kind of music his emotions do not need another stimulus to arise. Aristotle wrote about this phenomenon in these words â€Å"by music a man becomes accustomed to feeling the right emotions† (Marshall, 1953, p. 229). If music is used in healing environments it would prove to be helpful and would assist in the promotion of mental as well as physical health. It is said that music is a universal language that allows understanding among dif ferent cultures; similarly, music is also a universal language within the body and it leads to better living (Gardner, 1990). Several genres of music exist all around the world. One such is hip hop which reflects the feel that women are objects to be used and disposed of; they do not have any value. It is assumed that anyone who would listen to such music would get against the female population since music does affect the emotions and habits of the listener. Powell has argued that such sexism exists in hip hop in order to â€Å"silence feminist critiques of the culture† (McLune). However, what about the fact that the females grow up in such an environment as well yet their character is not questioned like that of black men? If we look at Powell’s argument it would be very apparent that it is perfectly okay for sexism to exist if there is the phenomenon of poverty. This, however, makes no sense because whites can also do what black men do, there being no difference betw een them besides the colour of their skin. If there is no such difference where does the difference occur in sexism in music? And then there is the fact that female rappers also exist. How can a person go against his own kind like these women who talk shit about the rest of the female population? Of course, they mean it for the actual bitchy women, and not everyone. But is this excuse even valid? Music has a psychological aspect to it and it can affect an individual very positively or negatively, depending on the kind of music being listened to. It can improve a person’s mental health, calm and relax him and prove to be intellectually stimulating. Such is the case with adults, teens and children alike. Music has an effect on our emotions and affects the way we think. Through music we can successfully communicate and discuss concepts. Music is a way of life. It even unites people and bridges gaps among those who may not have anything else in common. It soothes us and conveys a message of brotherhood. Music is something which awakens from the extreme depth of a person’s soul, his emotion and thus it is an important aspect to be studied in emotion psychology. Every kind of music has its own way and thus a distinct interpretation. It all depends on the composer that is how he chooses to convey his message, whether it is in sadness, loyalty, anger or any other emotion. In fact, music has proven to be a very emotional communication tool. The kind of music we listen to can have a great effect on the kind of person we are and the type of personality we adopt. The intensity and frequency of music can surely affect our mental health, whether it is positively or negatively since that depends on what kind we are listening to. However, an argument presented by (Jones) says that violent media is good for kids. We just talked about the different genres of music affecting people in different ways, with the violent, negative and strong music disturbing individual s and negatively affecting their habits and