how music unites the world essay

Music and Its Impact on Our Lives Essay (Critical Writing)

No one can even imagine our life without music. For centuries it was an integral part of our everyday life, our traditions and culture. Listening to the charming sounds of nature, man could not help trying to reproduce it in order to enjoy music at any time. That was the reason for the first primitive musical instruments to appear. Since that time music and mankind were never torn apart. With the development of the society the instruments and the whole music changed. The mankind and music were always at the same stage of development. Starting with the mysterious melodies of the ancient cults and ending with the energetic military marches. Music follows humanity step by step, working its magic on it, showing its power. The ability of music to influence human consciousness was known from the earliest stages of development of the society.

Relaxing and calming at the beginning, it can become energetic and aggressive just in a moment, causing great changes in your mood. “Without even thinking about it, we use music to create desired moods- to make us happy, to enjoy movement and dance, to energize, to bring back powerful memories, to help us relax and focus. Music is a powerful tool for our personal expression within our daily lives– it helps “set the scene” for many important experiences” (Brewer, n.d., para. 2). Music can even serve as a basis for peoples segregation, dividing them into the different social groups according to their preferences or abilities to understand a certain type of music. Nothing could create the appropriate atmosphere better than music. The church music can serve as an ideal example of it. Religions all over the world use the music in the rituals in order to maximize the influence on people and help them to achieve eupathy and humility. Nowadays, with an unrestricted access to the sources, music has conquered the world, sounding from everywhere, suggesting the great variety of genres for any demands. Everyone could find something up to his or her taste.

Talking about my life it is impossible not to mention music. It is a huge part of my everyday routine. My day starts and ends with it. Early in the morning it is quite vital for me to listen to a portion of a good energetic music in order to get up and have a charge for a long day. But it is not enough of course. Like a real melomaniac, I always take my player with me. I have noticed the great growth of my productivity if I do something with music in background. The type of chosen music depends on the type of the job I have to do. If there is some kind of a physical activity I need some fast and energetic music. However, when some sort of mental activity is demanded, I need some calm, not very loud music playing somewhere in the background. This is by no means a panacea for everyone who wants to raise their productivity , but I cannot imagine me working without music

Having come home late at evening, it is just necessary for me to listen to another portion of music in order to relax and forget about all the stresses of the outside world. I even go to bed with the headphones in my ears, listening to my special “good night” song.

Taking into account the fact that I am a great admirer of rock music, it is not difficult to guess that all my friends are great admirers of it to. I am more than sure that common tastes in music are the good basis for friendly relations. This is not only the question of having something to discuss or to listen to together. If a person has the same preferences in music that means that he has something in common with your inner world and with your soul. Of course, there is that type of music that you will never listen with your friends. It is that kind of music which affects the deepest parts of your soul and you can only listen to it while keeping to yourself. At that moments no one is allowed to trouble you.

Music also has a great impact on the way we communicate within our company. The excessive tension or some miscommunication in relations can be easily dispersed by means of music. The sounds of the familiar song cool heads and return friendly atmosphere.

There is one more aspect of music which is worth mentioning. It is its lyrics. Being not less ancient part of our culture than music, the word has even more influence on peoples hearts and minds. The combination of such powerful remedies gives a marvelous results. This combination of sounds and words affects all your senses, penetrating deep inside your soul. Looking through the lyrics of my favorite songs, I can say that the text is of the same importance as music in the song. While listening to it for the first time you pay special attention to lyrics, especially if it resonates with your mood. The song runs in your head and you repeat it over and over, enjoining the harmony of the words and your soul.

The most common topic for all songs is, of course, relations of any kind. It is the basis of human life and music, as an integral part of it, cannot stand off. Love and hatred, faith and betrayal, and all others shades of human feelings are praised in thousands of songs. The mans attempts to find his reason to live should also be mentioned. The great number of songs is devoted to that problem, making people think or helping them to find an answer. One of my favorite songs “ The Show Must Go On ” by Queen (Queen 1990) is also one of the best compositions touching the problem of self-determination. While listening to it you cannot but feel the great suffering of a man who realizes the duality of his inner world and necessity of playing the annoying part. The Freddie Mercurys heart cry makes the great effect on the listener, making you think about your own place in the world, the way you live and spend your lifetime and reconsider your values and priorities.

The love theme is also one of the especially beloved by lyrics authors. Everyone on this planet has its own favorite love song and I am not an exception. The great song “ Not Strong Enough ” by Apocalyptica (Warren 2010) tells us about the pangs of the love-crossed man who cannot be with his darling. The most dramatic moments of the lyrics are wonderfully emphasized by music, the most powerful beats comes with the most bitter worlds, projecting the singers and the authors mood on you, making you feel the same. That great interplay of words and music makes you shiver. Especially strong effect is achieved if the song correlates with your mood or life experience. In that case the song becomes a some kind of an anchor, which evokes certain memories and feelings connected with a certain life period. No matter where you are and what your feel, from the first beats of the song you will remember the first time you have listened to it and your emotions at that moment.

The love theme is a part of a bigger theme of gender relations, which is also quite popular in music. According to the generally accepted tradition there is some stereotypical pattern of behavior for both genders which is praised in the songs. Historically, man always strives for womens love, trying to overcome all the obstacles on his way. He fights the injustice, erases the boundaries of social or race segregation just to reunite with his beloved one. Music is a reflection of the mans thoughts that is why all this issues are blended in it, The artists want to share their feelings and experience with us, to warn and protect from the mistakes they made, to show that all the prejudices are only in our heads and we have to overcome it.

Summing it up, we should say that music is not just part of our lives, it is something bigger, and that determines our mood and emotions. It helps us to forget everything and enjoy one of the greatest gifts of nature – the sound.

Reference List

Brewer, B. (n.d.). Music and Learning: Integrating Music in the Classroom . Web.

Queen, (1990). The show must go on [Reordered by Queen]. Innuendo [7″, 12″, CD]. London, England: Metropolis Studios.

Warren, D. (2010). Not strong enough [Reordered by Apocalyptica]. 7th Symphony [CD]. Germany: Sony Music.

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In progress at UNHQ

• Secretary-General
• Statements and Messages

Music Represents Diversity, Brings People Together, Says Secretary-General at Day of Action Event with United Nations Peace Messenger

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at his visit to the Day of Action with United Nations Messenger of Peace Yo-Yo Ma, in Vienna today:

Let me first of all express how grateful I am to Yo-Yo Ma.  He is a fantastic Messenger of Peace.

Indeed, if one looks at music, music represents two things that are absolutely crucial for what the United Nations does.

First, music is a universal language.  Music brings us together.  Music is a symbol of peace.

But, at the same time, music represents diversity.  In each country, in each region of each country, in the talent of different people, you have all kinds of different expressions of music.  And that diversity is an enormous richness, not a threat, and it is exactly what we need in today’s world.

A universal perspective for peace, for human dignity, for human rights, for the values in which we believe, namely the values of the Charter, but, at the same time, based on diversity, considering that diversity to be a richness for us all, at global level and also at country level.  And this is particularly important in the present debate in Europe.  Societies today are multi-ethnic, multireligious, multicultural, and that is a richness, not a threat.

But, as in an orchestra where you have musicians from all parts of the world, if you have them immediately playing it would probably be rather cacophonic.  They have to rehearse.  It is the same with society.

Diversity requires investment.  Social, cultural, political, religious, sometimes investment in social cohesion, to make sure that, in a diverse society, every community feels that their identity is respected — like the identity of the violinist needs to be respected, he cannot be playing flute.  But, they all belong to society as a whole, like the violinist or the cellist belong to the orchestra.

Music, for us, is a fundamental tool to promote our values, and that is why meetings like the one you have, discussions like the one you have, are so fundamental for the future of the United Nations, especially when we are also discussing the dramatic situation of human mobility.

We believe migration is a positive thing, but, again, we need to invest.  Instead of letting drug smugglers and traffickers control migration flows and make people suffer, and create problems in the social cohesion of countries, we need to invest in international cooperation, we need to invest in adequate forms of integration.

Refugees — and I have been working for more than 10 years as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees — deserve and need our support.  And we must make sure — and I am always very impressed by the extreme generosity of African countries for instance, that open their borders, open their doors, open their hearts, to people fleeing; sometimes, in the rich countries of the world, we don’t see the same openness — we must absolutely re-establish the integrity of the refugee protection regime and we must make sure that international law is respected for the protection of refugees.

Events like this one are something so important.  You can be absolutely sure that what you are doing is of extreme importance for us all.

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How music unites the world

Opinion columnists.

It offers a unique platform to young people and aids human and cultural communication

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Music plays an important role in the lives of humans. With its several health and psychological benefits, music keeps us cheerful and level-headed. A study by Bryan Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, indicates that “playing music reduced depression and lowered the heart rate. It calmed and regulated the blood pressure and respiration rates of patients who had undergone surgery”.

According to studies conducted by Loma Linda University School of Medicine, California, playing a musical instrument can reverse stress at the molecular level. It assists in expanding social networks, developing relationships with others and helps strengthen our social engagement with others. Albrecht Riethmüller mentions in Music beyond Ethics that “The state of mankind improves through music; music educates individuals and makes them fit for a life of community. Music is spiritual and mental food, an edifying and educational power. Music actually elevates man into a higher realm, transforming him into a new form of the human species.”

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Pertinently, music has the ability to unite people, which in turn can drastically change the way people think. Effectiveness of music is best displayed in the collaboration of West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, originally initiated in 1999 by two renowned individuals — the pianist and thinker Edward Said, a noted Palestinian Christian, and the pianist and conductor, Daniel Barenboim, a Jewish citizen. The purpose of the orchestra was to make art to strengthen the rapprochement towards each other.

The founders had the hope that the Arabs and the Israelis would meet under the umbrella of art. The orchestra attracted many young people from both Arab and Israeli demographic. Most members of the orchestra were from vastly different backgrounds and religions (Muslims, Christians and Jews). Despite the fact the musicians were initially hesitant to communicate with each other due to the political tension from the Arab-Israeli conflict, the founders encouraged musicians to sit next to each other — an Arab beside a Jew to encourage them to talk during training sessions. As expected, this decision sparked some resistance with the musicians expressing their reluctance to sit beside ‘an enemy’. However, once the musician in them pushed aside their differences and sat down to play, everyone united in harmony.

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Edward and Barenboim found that after several hours of playing, the musicians had completely forgotten the prior resistance to playing alongside people with opposing ideologies, and instead fostered a sense of harmony, playing alongside a fellow human, as opposed to a Jew, Muslim or Christian. By playing together on one song as a unit, the music grew in them a sense of team spirit, respect and appreciation. Edward said, “orchestra had demolished Arab stereotypes about Israelis and Israeli stereotypes about Arabs.”

In this case, music was used as a successful tool to unify the Arabs and Jews, enabling them to overcome their divisions and to become an interactive and productive collective. The unification under the Divan Orchestra took us back to the coexistence of Jews with Muslims during Andalusia who worked hand-in-hand to establish the greatest civilisation known as the “Islamic Civilisation”. However, Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories — the encroachment and the destruction — has destroyed the very idea of coexistence that had been established by the successors of Muslims in Andalusia for eight centuries, and that is why the Jews and Arabs failed to coexist peacefully in modern times.

Music is a medium for cultural and human communication, away from the language of extremism, hatred and intolerance. - Dr Noura S. Al Mazrouei, UAE writer

Professor Leon Botstein, in New York, indicates that music can promote peace and solidarity. Ban Ki-moon, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, described the orchestra as a “United Nations Global Advocate for Cultural Understanding, praising the orchestra’s push for peace and unity”. Although it has been described as a peace project, Barenboim affirms that the orchestra is not the story of peace and will not in itself, bring peace, whether we are playing well or not.

Instead, the orchestra is a project against ignorance. It is very important for people to know each other and to understand what others think and feel, without necessarily agreeing with them. It is true that music does not offer a solution to political and economic conflicts in its various forms, but it could be a platform for young people to find common ground that provides an opportunity for acquaintance. Music is a medium for cultural and human communication, away from the language of extremism, hatred and intolerance.

— Dr Noura S. Al Mazrouei is a writer, academic and artist

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Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — Music Industry — Music: Evolution And Impact On The World Today

Music: Evolution and Impact on The World Today

• Categories: Art History Music Industry Song

About this sample

Words: 1139 |

Published: Mar 18, 2021

Words: 1139 | Pages: 3 | 6 min read

Works Cited:

• Baker, S. (2018). The Power of Kindness: Why Compassion Is Essential in Everyday Life. Chronicle Books.
• Curry, O., Rowland, L., Van Lissa, C. J., Zlotowitz, S., McAlaney, J., & Whitehouse, H. (2018). Happy to help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 76, 320-329.
• Gilbert, D. (2009). Stumbling on happiness. Vintage.
• Grant, A. M. (2014). Give and take: Why helping others drives our success. Penguin Books.
• McKeown, G., & Hopkins, N. (2014). Emotion, kindness and compassion: The nature and significance of promoting positive affect in relationship education. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 31(2), 200-215.
• Nelson, J. (2020). The Science of Kindness: Building a Better World. Beacon Press.
• Post, S. G. (2018). The Hidden Gifts of Helping: How the Power of Giving, Compassion, and Hope Can Get Us Through Hard Times. Jossey-Bass.
• Rind, B., & Bordia, P. (1995). Effect of server introduction on restaurant tipping. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25(1), 37-57.
• Sprenger, S. J. (2008). The power of kindness: Why empathetic kids do better in school and life. Sourcebooks.
• Wiseman, R. (2012). Rip it up: The radically new approach to changing your life. Harper Collins.

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Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education

How Music Bonds Us Together

At GGSC’s recent awe conference , Melanie DeMore led the audience in a group sing as part of the day’s activities. Judging from participant responses, it was clear that something magical happened: We all felt closer and more connected because of that experience of singing together.

Why is singing such a powerful social glue? Most of us hear music from the moment we are born, often via lullabies, and through many of the most important occasions in our lives, from graduations to weddings to funerals. There is something about music that seems to bring us closer to each other and help us come together as a community.

There’s little question that humans are wired for music. Researchers recently discovered that we have a dedicated part of our brain for processing music, supporting the theory that it has a special, important function in our lives.

Listening to music and singing together has been shown in several studies to directly impact neuro-chemicals in the brain, many of which play a role in closeness and connection.

Now new research suggests that playing music or singing together may be particularly potent in bringing about social closeness through the release of endorphins.

In one study , researchers found that performing music—through singing, drumming, and dancing—all resulted in participants having higher pain thresholds (a proxy measure for increased endorphin release in the brain) in comparison to listening to music alone. In addition, the performance of music resulted in greater positive emotion, suggesting one pathway through which people feel closer to one another when playing music together is through endorphin release.

In another study , researchers compared the effects of singing together in a small choir (20-80 people) versus a larger choir (232 people) on measures of closeness and on pain thresholds. The researchers found that both choir groups increased their pain threshold levels after singing; however, the larger group experienced bigger changes in social closeness after singing than the smaller group. This suggested to the researchers that endorphins produced in singing can act to draw large groups together quickly.

Music has also been linked to dopamine release, involved in regulating mood and craving behavior, which seems to predict music’s ability to bring us pleasure. Coupled with the effects on endorphins, music seems to make us feel good and connect with others, perhaps particularly when we make music ourselves.

But music is more than just a common pleasure. New studies reveal how it can work to create a sense of group identity.

In a series of ingenious studies , researchers Chris Loerch and Nathan Arbuckle studied how musical reactivity—how much one is affected by listening to music—is tied to group processes, such as one’s sense of belonging to a group, positive associations with ingroup members, bias toward outgroup members, and responses to group threat in various populations.

The researchers found that “musical reactivity is causally related to…basic social motivations” and that “reactivity to music is related to markers of successful group living.” In other words, music makes us affiliate with groups.

But how does music do this? Some researchers believe that it’s the rhythm in music that helps us to synch up our brains and coordinate our body movements with others, and that’s how the effects can be translated to a whole group. Research supports this thesis, by showing how coordinating movement through music increases our sense of community and prosocial behavior. Indeed, one study found two year olds synchronized their body movements to a drumbeat—more accurately to a human they could see than to a drum machine.

More on Music & Social Connections

Learn four ways music strengthens social bonds .

Jill Suttie explains why we love music .

Discover how playing music together can help kids develop empathy .

Explore how singing together makes us healthier and more connected .

This tendency to synchronize seems to become only more important as we grow. In another study , adults listened to one of three types of music—rhythmic music, non-rhythmic music, or “white noise”—and then engaged in a task that involved cooperating and coordinating their movements. Those who listened to rhythmic music finished the tasks more efficiently than those who listened to the other types of sound, suggesting that rhythm in music promotes behaviors that are linked to social cohesion.

In another study , people seated side by side and asked to rock at a comfortable rate tended to coordinate better without music, but felt closer to one another when they did synchronize while listening to music. In a study by Scott Wiltermuth and Chip Heath of Stanford University, those who listened to music and coordinated their movements to the music were able to cooperate better and act more generously toward others when participating in economic games together (even in situations requiring personal loss for the good of the group, such as in the Public Goods Game ).

All of this evidence helps confirm music’s place in augmenting our social relationships. Perhaps that’s why, when you want people to bond, music is a natural resource for making that happen. Whether at concerts, social events, or awe conferences, music can help us connect, cooperate, and care for each other. This suggests that, if we want to have a more harmonious society, we would do well to continue to include music in our—and our children’s—lives.

About the Author

Jill Suttie

Jill Suttie, Psy.D. , is Greater Good ’s former book review editor and now serves as a staff writer and contributing editor for the magazine. She received her doctorate of psychology from the University of San Francisco in 1998 and was a psychologist in private practice before coming to Greater Good .

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The Significance of Music: How It Unites, Inspires, and Improves Our Lives

Music is a universal language that resonates with people across cultures. It has the power to evoke emotions, communicate ideas, and bring people together. In this article, we will explore the profound impact music has on our lives, from psychological benefits to physical perks.

Music enriches our experiences and allows us to connect more deeply with others. Let’s dive in and appreciate the wonder of this artform that transcends boundaries.

Table of Contents

Music Fosters Community and Togetherness

Attending a live concert creates an electrifying shared experience. When an artist performs on stage, thousands of people sing along, sway, dance, and absorb the music as one collective unit.

Music has a magical quality of joining strangers together through a communal spirit. It breaks down barriers and helps people bond over a shared interest.

Studies show that when audiences coordinate their movement and singing to music, such as at concerts, their brain waves actually synchronize. This demonstrates how profoundly music can unite groups of people.

Music Communicates Meaningful Messages

Songwriters infuse music with narratives from their lives, reflections on society, calls to action, and expressions of emotions. Through lyrics and melody, music conveys impactful messages that resonate with listeners.

For example, major artists have created songs to raise awareness about mental health, poverty, inequality, and other social issues. Music gives voices to important causes and ideas.

Music Inspires Strength During Hardships

When times are difficult, music can lift our spirits and remind us we are not alone. Hearing lyrics that mirror our own struggles provides comfort and catharsis.

Uplifting songs with themes of perseverance and hope motivate us to stay strong. Studies show music elevates mood and decreases symptoms of depression and anxiety. Its ability to regulate emotions helps people push through challenges.

Music Enhances Learning and Performance

Listening to music engages broad areas of the brain, making it a helpful tool for improving focus, memory, and learning. Students who listen to music while studying often achieve higher test scores.

Upbeat music played before athletic or cognitive performance increases activation in the prefrontal cortex, improving concentration and results. Tempo drives physical output, allowing faster beats to boost exercise intensity.

Music Aids Overall Wellbeing

Music’s benefits extend beyond mood and brainpower. Making musiclowers stress hormone levels and releases endorphins, the “feel good” chemicals. It also promotes better sleep and eating habits for optimal health.

Additionally, singing requires controlled breathing, which improves respiratory function. When combined with dance, music provides an effective cardiovascular workout.

Music Connects People Across Distance and Time

The rise of radio, television, and the internet has allowed music to transcend geographical separation. Recorded songs enable us to enjoy music from different cultures and eras. Streaming analytics show the “most streamed artists” span decades.

Shared musical tastes break down generational divides as well. For example, classic rock bands of the 60s and 70s maintain popularity with younger audiences in 2023. Music links us to the past while bringing people together in the present.

Musical Preferences Reveal Personality

Favourite music genres and songs provide insight into someone’s identity. A 2022 study found people systematically prefer music that reflects their personalities. For instance, extroverts gravitate toward upbeat and energetic music.

Understanding connections between music taste and personality helps us relate better to others. We can bond over shared favorites and appreciate differences.

Everyone Can Make Music

While professional musicians perfect their craft over years, anyone can jump in and experience music’s joys. Playing an instrument relieves stress and expresses creativity. Singing taps into emotions. Songwriting helps process thoughts.

The global rise of garage bands, open mic nights, karaoke bars, and music-sharing platforms demonstrates music is for everyone, not just passive listeners. All it takes is enthusiasm to start reaping rewards.

Despite some questionable lyrics, music enriches society immensely. It allows self-expression and communication. Music improves cognitive abilities while reducing anxiety and boosting moods. It forges human connections, brings people together for shared experiences, and enhances quality of life. Music inspires, heals and empowers.

So next time you experience writer’s block, workout fatigue, or a bad day, turn up your favorite tunes. Let music work its magic.

Melvin Taylor

Essay about a music power, which provides a way to unite people - IELTS task 2

Music creates shared experience between people.

Holt  Educational Consultant - / 15238   Apr 23, 2020   #2 Your opening paragraph is not enough of a paraphrase for the examiner to see this as a properly developed restatement of the original prompt. It is still too similar to the original presentation. It is almost a word for word translation, rather than an explanation of the given topic. The explanation you give, is what will constitute your paraphrasing of the topic. You also should have indicated, after your degree of agreement with the topic, the 2 reasons that will be supporting your opinion. These will appear as the discussion outline for the direct opinion essay. It has to be indicated because it is referred to in the prompt. The paraphrase section needs to have at least 3 sentences, or 5 at the most. You only wrote 2 sentences because your first sentence is a run-on. It is just an extremely long single sentence that should have been broken down into 2 more sentences. The same problem exists in your concluding paragraph. There is no clear discussion summary / paraphrase represented. It should contain the same sentence count at the prompt paraphrase (5 sentences maximum) and should repeat your opinion, reasons, and include a closing sentence. A single sentence is never considered a concluding paragraph. It is because of these problems that your TA scores will be affected negatively. Spelling errors: Kpop K-Pop Grammar problems: Failure to use a comma after a conjunction (rhythm , or a beautiful song...) Noun phrase disagreement - both their favourite melody = ... favourite melodies Do not use word of uncertainty in an opinion paper. It is either you are sure of your statement or not. There is no maybe or perhaps in the presentation. Do not use contractions in a formal essay. Always use the two word presentation system (e.g. don't = do not) Being your first essay, you can see that you have several errors that will greatly affect your score and prevent you from passing. It would be better if I hold off on scoring your work until your second or third essay, when you should have shown enough improvement for me to judge if you can pass the test or not. (WARNING! STUDENT SCORING = SUSPENSION!)

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How music can unite and heal america.

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Billy Ray Cyrus, left, and Lil Nas X perform "Old Town Road" at the 2019 BET Awards.

American polarization, particularly heightened after the last four years of deliberately-sown division and mistrust, may seem insurmountable. But eight years working to build bridges in the most famously divided city in the world—Jerusalem—have shown me that there are still ways we can reach one another.

Through the Jerusalem Youth Chorus , an Israeli-Palestinian music and dialogue project I founded in 2012 and have directed since, I have experienced how music taken from diverse traditions gives both singers and audiences windows into unfamiliar cultures, histories, and realities, and a less threatening way to connect to one another. For communities that can barely stomach saying the other’s name, music is a way to not only speak to one another but to hear each other, too.

In the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, Ala, a Palestinian Muslim teenager who spoke only Arabic, and Eden, an Israeli Jew who spoke only Hebrew, proudly built a deep friendship despite their language barrier, through their shared love of music. Despite being frequently stopped by the police, and even tear-gassed on the way to rehearsals, Ala has gone on to help other Palestinian youth feel valued in the chorus as a now-trilingual member of our staff. Eden, who sacrificed many friends at her religious high school over her membership in the chorus, made history as the first Ethiopian-Israeli voted to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Competition—singing a song in Hebrew, English, Amharic, and Arabic.

Throughout human history , music has been used as a tool to build community and foster a sense of shared identity. Indeed, singing with others is one of the few human activities that releases oxytocin —often called “the trust hormone”—in the brain. Even just listening to music can trigger empathy, firing up the mirror neurons in the brain that help us attune to someone else’s emotional state. Music helps drop us from head level to heart level, and engage one another not on the level of irreconcilable positions but on the level of fundamentally shared human needs—to be loved, to feel safe, to have dignity, and to be a part of something larger than ourselves. In an American national landscape devoid of trust, empathy, and belonging, music that can bring us together seems like exactly what we need these days.

In foreign affairs, cultural diplomacy is a classic tool for building trust and exposing nations to one another. Particularly in the context of conflict, multi-track diplomacy has been effective in complementing the political process with a more ground up, people-to-people approach. Why not harness the tools we have honed for so long abroad and apply them to the problems we face at home? 

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The United States needs a national initiative to strategically incorporate music into efforts to bring the country together. Musicians, whether as performers or educators, possess the tools we need to help us reconnect to one another on an emotional level and remember the feeling of togetherness that we seem to have forgotten as a nation. Such an initiative could activate and empower musicians as powerful agents of the healing and unity that we so sorely need.

At the same time, such a mobilization of musicians would help revitalize the creative sector of our economy, much as the Works Progress Administration did during the Great Depression. Musicians and other creative professionals have been among those hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic: according to an Americans for the Arts survey released in May, 95% of working artists have experienced loss of income due to the pandemic and 62% lost their jobs entirely. Before the pandemic, the arts contributed more than $800 billion annually to the US economy — five times more than agriculture —and provided jobs for millions of Americans. Let’s put musicians and their creative compatriots to work in uniting America.

Of course, music is not going to solve all of America’s problems. Even in the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, music is just an entry-point into building deep, resilient relationships between people who otherwise would never even talk to each other. A professionally facilitated dialogue process complements our musical programming to equip participants with tools that can help them think critically, hold complexity, and transform conflict into creativity. Any musical intervention with a hope of meaningfully repairing America’s frayed national ties will similarly need to be grounded in an understanding of group process and conflict transformation. Indeed, when the Jerusalem Youth Chorus took its first U.S. tour in 2015, it was the dialogue process that we facilitated for the Commonwealth Youth Choirs in Philadelphia—giving them the tools to explore, together, their experiences and understandings of race in America—that left the longest-lasting impression on all of us. Together, music and dialogue can have a far deeper and more sustained impact than either one alone.

Clearly, our country will need a multi-pronged approach to national reconciliation. Like Jerusalem, America must rebuild the capacity to think critically, hold complexity, and transform conflict into creative approaches to our shared challenges. So much can be accomplished if we can break out of our echo chambers to listen to one another, as organizations like Braver Angels , Convergence , and One America have proven over the last several years. But with our country so deeply polarized, we’ll need something to remind many of us that it’s even possible to try. Music could be the perfect place to start.

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Music: Uniting people around the world

27 june 2019, the idea of music bringing us together has been a long-studied phenomenon., research shows that it can encourage the release of endorphins and create positive emotion, and there’s even research that may suggest it helps alzheimer’s patients with their symptoms..

Music’s power transcends more than just the pleasure of singing along to a catchy tune, and that’s something everybody should be able to feel. But how do we include those who can’t hear it?

Where language, distance and borders can separate us, music brings us together

It’s the universal art that unites us all in our humanity. It’s what moves your body to dance to the rhythms of funk, the tears to fall at the beauty of a classical aria, and the laughter to come as you and your friends listen to the latest chart topper before a night out.

It’s the awe that’s created through a carefully crafted soundtrack and the euphoria of being in a crowd at a festival, where everyone sings along to an anthem – not as separate individuals, but as one entity. It’s a power that brands have been keen to utilise, and some companies are really using it to make a better place for all.

Spotify is working with The National Institute of Young Deaf People, Marcel Paris and Publicis to raise money that’ll go towards helping deaf people hear music. They’re streaming an album called D.E.A.F, a silent record that donates its streaming revenue to research benefiting young deaf people. In France, currently nine out of ten deaf children have access to hearing implements that allow them to hear human voices, but not music.

However, a system is being developed with the help of sound engineer Damien Quintard that would allow deaf people to hear music through vibration. The ultimate goal is to install it in concert halls, allowing everyone in the audience to enjoy the same unmistakable atmosphere created at a live music show.

You can listen to the album here:

Just as live music brings people together, events like Pride do the same for communities, and are true celebrations of inclusivity. And while some businesses have been criticised for using events like this as a hollow marketing exercise – like merely changing their logo to a rainbow colour – others make a more meaningful contribution.

Music always plays a huge part in Pride, with people in the community coming together to enjoy concerts as part of the event around the world. Especially for Pride Month in June, Amazon Music has curated a special playlist called ‘Proud’, highlighting artists in the LGBTQ+ community. Updated every week, it features music by queer artists like Sam Smith and Janelle Monae, and includes specially commissioned tracks from artists including Years and Years, Soak and Sasami.

The playlist shines the light on those in the LGBTQ+ community, and offers their talent a showcase where they are often overlooked. It also recognises the power of music to bring people together, giving them a sense of belonging and a shared love no matter who you are.

It’s available to listen to here:

At PHMG, we too understand the connection music can create. Our talented composers create exclusive music tracks for our clients, giving them a one-of-a-kind piece of music that reflects their unique business and culture. This then becomes the unifying sound for their brand – establishing another connection their customers can make and associate with them.

It’s clear that music is a powerful tool to unite people from all walks of life – and it’s something businesses in every industry should harness.

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Music everywhere

Comprehensive study explains that it is universal and that some songs sound ‘right’ in different social contexts, all over the world

Jed Gottlieb

Harvard Correspondent

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, “Music is the universal language of mankind.” Scientists at Harvard have just published the most comprehensive scientific study to date on music as a cultural product, which supports the American poet’s pronouncement and examines what features of song tend to be shared across societies.

The study was conceived by Samuel Mehr, a fellow of the Harvard Data Science Initiative and research associate in psychology, Manvir Singh, a graduate student in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, and Luke Glowacki, formerly a Harvard graduate student and now a professor of anthropology at Pennsylvania State University.

They set out to address big questions: Is music a cultural universal? If that’s a given, which musical qualities overlap across disparate societies? If it isn’t, why does it seem so ubiquitous? But they needed a data set of unprecedented breadth and depth. Over a five-year period, the team hunted down hundreds of recordings in libraries and private collections of scientists half a world away.

“We are so used to being able to find any piece of music that we like on the internet,” said Mehr, who is now a principal investigator at Harvard’s Music Lab . “But there are thousands and thousands of recordings buried in archives. At one point, we were looking for traditional Celtic music and we found a call number in the [Harvard] library system and librarian told us we needed to wait on the other side of the library because there was more room over there. Twenty minutes later this poor librarian comes out with a cart of about 20 cases of reel-to-reel recordings of Celtic music.”

Mehr added those reel tapes to the team’s growing discography, combining it with a corpus of ethnography containing nearly 5,000 descriptions of songs from 60 human societies. Mehr, Singh, and Glowacki call this database The Natural History of Song .

Their questions were so compelling that the project rapidly grew into a major international collaboration with musicians, data scientists, psychologists, linguists, and political scientists. Published in Science this week, it represents the team’s most ambitious study yet about music.

Manvir Singh, a graduate student in Harvard’s department of Human Evolutionary Biology, studied indigenous music and performance as a part of his fieldwork. Here Mentawai children in Siberut Island, Indonesia, are practicing in a kitchen. Video courtesy of Manvir Singh.

Music appears in every society observed.

“As a graduate student, I was working on studies of infant music perception, and I started to see all these studies that made claims about music being universal,” Mehr said. “How is it that every paper on music starts out with this big claim, but there’s never a citation backing that up … Now we can back that up.”

They looked at every society for which there was ethnographic information in a large online database, 315 in all, and found mention of music in all of them. For the discography, they collected 118 songs from a total of 86 cultures, covering 30 geographic regions. And they added the ethnographic material they’d collected.

“I started to see all these studies that made claims about music being universal. How is it that every paper on music starts out with this big claim but there’s never a citation backing that up … Now we can back that up.” Samuel Mehr, researcher

The team and their researchers coded the ethnography and discography that makes up the Natural History of Song into dozens of variables. They logged details about singers and audience members, the time of day and duration of singing, the presence of instruments, and more for thousands of passages about songs in the ethnographic corpus. The discography was analyzed four different ways: machine summaries, listener ratings, expert annotations, expert transcriptions.

They found that, across societies, music is associated with behaviors such as infant care, healing, dance, and love (among many others, like mourning, warfare, processions, and ritual). Examining lullabies, healing songs, dance songs, and love songs in particular, they discovered that songs that share behavioral functions tend to have similar musical features.

“Lullabies and dance songs are ubiquitous, and they are also highly stereotyped,” Singh said. “For me, dance songs and lullabies tend to define the space of what music can be. They do very different things with features that are almost the opposite of each other.”

The unanswered questions of music, according to researcher Manvir Singh

Transcript:.

So in this project we asked, “What is universal about music, and what varies?” This is a deep question in the study of humanity. Music is this widespread behavior but until now, we actually have not known, there have been a lot of unanswered questions about what these patterns are. There’s something that I find appealing about this array of humans doing all of these different things, producing music — which is this beautiful cultural product, but there being these echoes of similarity, or this echo of structure? That’s what I find appealing about the question and the project. But there’s also the more academic side, which is: Music is this ubiquitous human behavior. And it’s something that people engage in daily in societies around the world. And yet we understand so little about it. Obviously, music is hugely diverse, even within a classroom of students — the kind of music they listen to, engage with, and produce is, like, hugely different. But I think there’s something comforting and colorful about the fact that in this huge web of diversity there is something that we share, that we’re all speaking to.”

Definitely seeing music as cross-cultural excites Singh because he comes to the Natural History of Song project as someone who studies the social, cognitive, and cultural evolutionary foundations of complex traditions found throughout societies from music to law, narrative to witchcraft.

For Mehr, who began his academic life in music education, the study looks toward unlocking the governing rules of “musical grammar.” That idea has been percolating among music theorists, linguists, and psychologists of music for decades, but has never been demonstrated across cultures.

“In music theory, tonality is often assumed to be an invention of Western music, but our data raise the controversial possibility that this could be a universal feature of music,” he said. “That raises pressing questions about structure that underlies music everywhere — and whether and how our minds are designed to make music.”

This study was supported in part by the Harvard Data Science Initiative, an NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, and the Microsoft Research postdoctoral fellowship program.

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How Music Unites Us

June 12, 2020

Adrienne Braithwaite

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A spike in online music streaming

Social media and online streaming platforms like TikTok and Spotify , have seen a spike in users streaming music and live video.  People are not just watching or listening to music, they are actively participating in video and music challenges.  Online music challenges are turning everyday people into artists; people are creating music as a form of self-expression and individuality.  Harvard Health research reveals how listening to music is beneficial for mental health ; music helps us relieve stress, feel connected during times of social isolation, and is a mood booster.  During COVID-19, the biggest spikes in music streaming have been fitness-related, children’s music, and mood-calming playlists.

COVID-19 and the music industry

But what impact has COVID-19 had on musicians and the music industry overall?  A recent CTV News report reveals musicians are adapting to the changing economy by offering curbside and live (distance) concerts for devoted music lovers.  Music often fills a natural need for human connection and response when faced with crisis.  It can unify us and represent of our cultural identity.  With reduced accessibility to fine arts and with mass performances being cancelled this summer, you have a chance to support your local musicians by participating in “Curbside Concerts”.  Online streaming and low-cost, impromptu concerts might permanently change the music industry as more and more musicians struggle to persevere in this economy.  Plenty of opportunities are available to support your local and national musicians.  An online fundraiser put on by Edmontonian Dan Davidson, raised $53,000 in support of struggling musicians during COVID-19.

Music as a form of resistance

Music can also break down social and cultural barriers.  At AU, diversity is encouraged and celebrated and music can facilitate a sense of connection between social and cultural groups.  There are many examples online of people embracing and celebrating culture and diversity through music and dance.  As a display of unity, soldiers and protesters danced along-side each other in the streets of Atlanta.  Some protests in the U.S.  are becoming calmer and more focused on music and dance as an expression of community support and unification .

Music is often used as an expression of resistance by oppressed people groups and often ignites an emotional response from individuals.  Some protesters have reported that music has substantially “changed the atmosphere” (Kim, 2020), from hostile to more community bonding.  From a mental health perspective, music also provides a healthy physical outlet for anger and frustration.

In reflection

As we move forward, reflecting on our relationships and connection with others, remember how music can play a unifying role.  As we stand together as a student body, we can support those who are feeling discrimination and show solidarity.  In a recent online post, AU President, Dr. Neil Fassina challenges students to engage in conversations about diversity by saying, “[e]ducation plays a vital role in raising awareness about racism, and we will work to confront and reject all manifestations of discrimination.  Education raises people up and brings us together.  We embrace and celebrate the diversity of our community, our learners, and our team.”

Live Music Streaming Events During COVID-19

CBC Music : An up-to-date list of Canadian live streams to watch during COVID-19 .  (2020, May 5) https://www.cbc.ca/music/an-up-to-date-list-of-canadian-live-streams-to-watch-during-covid-19-1.5500113

Billboard : Live Streams & Virtual Concerts.  (2020, May 27) https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9335531/coronavirus-quarantine-music-events-online-streams

The Social Distancing Festival : Livestream Listings.  (2020) https://www.socialdistancingfestival.com/live-streams

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