Music Blog

What do Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Mozart all have in common? And what do they have in common with practically every other artist who’s creativity has changed the world?
They are all unique.
But there is something in common.

They each changed the popular music of their times by combining already popular forms in a new way.
Elvis - on that famous and fateful day in Sun Studios in Memphis he let it all loose and brought it all together again differently… the blues, country, gospel and regional elements that were his influences in his youth all came together into rockabilly, rock and roll, something that had not been heard before. Elvis on Ed Sullivan also brought together the new music form and the new medium - television in a new way which has influenced generations of rock icons to first pick up their guitar.

Bob Dylan… they pulled the plug on his concert when he dared to bring out electric instruments, drums and a backbeat to his folk and protest music. But Dylan had his own vision of his music and it contained his influences from Woody Guthrie but also the last decade of rock and roll and other influences.. again.. he combined popular music forms in a new way.

The Beatles… well they set the world on fire with their style and their hair cuts and all that. The Beatles on Ed Sullivan - still one of the great moments in rock and television history. But do you know that in the mid 60’s they didnt release a CD for almost two years and then came out with Sgt Pepper - the orchestation, song structure and the bringing together of elements in a completely new way is what made history.

Mozart? Well, see the great movie, Amadeus, and you will understand better than I can illustrate here. But it is another case in point.

Another one that could be mentioned here is Johnny Cash. As Bruce Springsteen said (not an exact quote)… Johnny Cash broke down barriers to communication and artistic styles and, not only did he break those barriers down, but he showed why it is important to do so.
Cash’s music contains many elements brought together for the first time in different parts of his career.

So the point…? If you want to make music that changes the world, don’t just be the latest kid on the block, the latest rapper in the hood, the latest rocker in the backstreet clubs. Do something that has not been done before by combining elements that are already popular in a new and creative way.

Perhaps this unique combining of other art forms is so impactful because it aligns with the derivation of the word “art” itself. The derivation of the word art basically means… to join together.

The world needs great artists. Start!

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Why do we love music so much? Among other things, we have always felt that music enabled us to relax after a hard days work. Just sit back and feel comfortable in a recliner or relax while going to the office in the morning. Yes, music has great relaxing effect on the human body and mind. And now experts are also agreeing. They say that music is great for stress relief, it relaxes us and eases the nerves. Stress relief music works for all, though not in the same way.

The hectic lifestyle that we all lead today has started to cost all of us dearly. The fact is, humans are not biologically tuned to the lifestyle that we are all leading today. The great level of stress that we have to go through has only been witnessed for the last 30 or 40 years. So since our bodies are not used to this, acute stress can cause it harm and even lead to physical and mental problems. But stress relief music can be a solution.

How do stress relief music work

There are many theories on this. Do not be surprised if you hear someone say that stress relief music reminds the human mind of a mother’s heartbeat while at the womb. But there are many who do not agree to this view. But on one aspect almost everyone agrees - stress relief music does create a deep impact on the subconscious mind of most people and calms them down.

But the same kind of music may not have the same effect on different people. So while using stress relief music, it becomes necessary to find the type of music that will work for the individual concerned. The wrong stress relief music type may end up actually causing more harm than good. The important thing is to understand what the person likes, his preferences and then play the type of music that will work.

Some experts feel that music, slower than the natural heart beat of a person, which is 72 beats a minute works well as stress relief music. Music with rhythms that repeat and sound monotonous also can calm the nerves.

Music can be used not only to calm a person down, but also to bring him out of a lull and make him active. Faster rhythms and music with beats can effectively make a person more active while the going is slow.

Stress relief music is emerging as a popular way to distress. Though we listen to some form of music almost daily, but when we do it consciously and listen to slower and more monotonous music, it can relax us and remove the stress from our bodies.

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His name was Kung Tsu Chen. He was a Chinese poet in 1847 when he described a rare but very real phenomenon now known as “musicogenic epilepsy”. With musicogenic epilepsy, the individual suffers from brain seizures that are triggered by music, and in his case a very specific kind of music. You see, Kung Tsu Chen recorded that though he didn’t know why, he would become sick when he would hear the sound of a street vendor’s flute during the evening sun.

Researchers tell us that this form of epilepsy can appear as a result of many kinds of music. In the case of our Chinese poet the trigger was apparently flute melodies, but seizures can be triggered by type of music, or type of instrument, the composer or even the emotional content of the piece. As a matter of fact, in some cases just thinking about the music, regardless of whether the individual is awake or not, is enough to trigger an epileptic seizure.

Exactly how musicogenic episodes are induced is unknown and unfortunately due to how few cases of musicogenic epilepsy in the world the research monies have not been available to study this question directly. It has been suggested, however, that the right temporal lobe of the brain contains, within the right auditory cortex, a series of modules that specialize in processing music. If this is so, the theory suggests, then musicogenic epilepsy is evidence of a malfunction of this part of the brain.

Fortunately, that’s not the end of the story. Music has also been found to have a profoundly positive effect on individuals with epilepsy as well. One research study even found that when epileptic patients are treated with music therapy as well as conventional epileptic medicines as many as eighty percent of their patients had the frequency of their epileptic seizures reduced by seventy five percent! Likewise, eighty percent of epileptic patients experienced at least some reduction in the intensity of their epileptic seizures.

The reason for this, it has been suggested, may be found in the fact that the brain does not have any single center for processing music. Instead, the areas of the brain that process music are scattered widely across the brain. Thus, when the brain is subjected to music that is highly structured, such as Mozart’s Sonata for Two Piano’s, the brain process is actually aided. Unfortunately, the implication is that the inverse is true as well, certain kinds of music could, in theory, make it more difficult for a brain that is struggling to function in the first place if there is a clash at that weak point.

So, does this mean that we avoid music? Unless you have musicogenic epilepsy the answer is no. As a matter of fact, studies have shown that patients with other kinds of epilepsy can actually be benefited by listening to music! As a matter of fact, in one such study, the researchers found that epileptic episodes were significantly reduced in more than seventy-nine percent of the cases when Mozart’s Sonata for Two Piano’s was being played in the room where the patient was located.

To my knowledge, music is not yet used as a formal treatment for epilepsy, but the sheer fact that music has shown a potential ability to be a treatment for epilepsy as well as its ability to induce epileptic seizures would seem to indicate that music just might play a more significant role in the human experience than we ever imagined.

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