Music Makes You Mentally Fit

1047 Words3 Pages

People cannot deny the fact that there is a very drastic change in our way of life due to the new era of technology. Try to observe your surroundings, you see, technological products or gadgets are very common. They are often used by people to kill boredom or to procrastinate school work and the like. Moreover, almost all gadgets nowadays provide fun and relaxation. One way is through the power of music. A simple tune-in to the high-tech IPods, MP3 players and such gives us the peace of mind that we always wanted. Why is that so? Does Music affect our brains? Does it improve one’s mental fitness? If it does, how?

Music is “a combination of sounds that are organized and meaningful, occurring in a prescribed span of time and usually having pitch” (Hoffer, 1985, p.22). This means that certain sounds cannot be classified as music if these are not properly arranged which denotes absence of meaning. In addition, there are elements to be observed before considering it as such – pitch, melody, harmony, rhythm, loudness, timbre or tone quality, and form.

According to Hoffer (1985), the three dimensions of music are pitch, melody and harmony. Pitch is described as the degree of highness or lowness of a sound. People can easily observe pitch when listening to music. However, when pitches are played one after another in a logical series, it is called Melody. On the other hand, Harmony is the simultaneous sounding of several pitches. Musicians or singers combine sounds to enhance the melody and make it more interesting.

Aside from the three dimensions of music, namely pitch, melody, and harmony, Time or Timing is also given importance. One of its elements is Rhythm. It simply means the flow of music in terms of time. Beats such as 2/4, 3...

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...brains to add to our daily routines the hobby of listening to music.

Works Cited

Brain Function, It's a Team Sports. (2007-2011). Retrieved from Brain Health and Puzzles: http://www.brainhealthandpuzzles.com/brain_parts_function.html

Bunt, L. (1994). Music Therapy: An Art Beyond Words. London: Routledge.

Burak, S. (2011). The Effects of Music on the Mind. Retrieved from Cyberessays: http://www.cyberessays.com/Term-Paper-on-The-Effects-Of-Music-On-The/3842/

Hoffer, C. R. (1985). The Understanding of Music (5th Edition ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Pfeiffer, J. E. (1962). The Human Brain. New York: Pyramid Publications, Inc.

Standford University Medical Center. (2007, August 5). Music Moves Brain To Pay Attention, Study Finds. Retrieved from ScienceDaily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070801122226.htm

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