[5 minute read]

Have you ever seen a really scary movie? Have you ever watched one with the sound turned off? If you’re into scary movies, here is some warning: turning the sound off will kill the mood. The scenes will stay play in front of you but your brain probably won’t process it the same without the auditory information. There’s something about those two notes in Jaws that make me nervous every time… (Remember duh-duh duh-duh duh-duh?).

Music and sound guide us, through films and through our everyday environmental spaces. The way music accompanies us through life speaks to how our brains are created to process and encode phenomena like rhythm, pitch, synchronicity, consonance, patterns, beauty and meaning. As a music therapist, the science of music is central to my work. Books like This Is Your Brain on Music (Levitin, 2007) or Musicophilia (Sacks, 2007) were some of the first best-sellers that connected neuroscience to musical properties.

Music and Wellbeing

When we consider the brain’s compatibility with music – its meaningful connection even with brains that have experienced injury, mental illness, or memory loss – it is evident that music has incredible potential that can be put towards mental health and wellbeing. For many of us, this is intuitive. When driving to work, we might listen to music that helps us transition our thoughts, mood and body. When walking in nature, we might take out our ear buds to hear the birds singing and take a deep breath. When feeling sad, we might listen to music that comforts us and makes us feel like we’re not alone. The music and sounds are being used intentionally to support us through life’s ups and downs.

About fifteen years ago I attended a concert-lecture by Dr. Richard Kogan, a psychiatrist and a prolific pianist. Kogan has dedicated some of his work to studying composers who exhibited signs of mental illness by looking at the person through the music they wrote. When Kogan talks about Robert Schumann (1810-1856), he reveals the way Schumann’s Bipolar Disorder manifested in his music. The non-musical parts of the composer emerged through the narrative of the genius compositions he created.

This is true of us, too. Perhaps we can’t relate to being a “composer-genius”, however, the principles of music are at our disposal today in the same way they were for Robert Schumann. The non-musical parts of us find expression in the kind of music we make and listen to. Our behaviours, thoughts and feelings can be mapped with our musical choices.

Playlists can Shape our Behaviour

Just like a DJ or band leader, we make musical choices regularly, but we may not use conscious control to do so. For example, when we’re trying to relax – sitting on the porch in the warm evening air – we might crave silence. Accordingly, during intense parts of a workout we might crave upbeat and familiar music that will help us reach our peak performance. Music neuroscientists attribute this phenomenon to entrainment, the brain’s natural desire to sync up its level of activity to external stimuli. Different parts of us sync up, including mood, heartrate, brain waves and breathing.

Do you have a playlist that you have created for a reason? The authors of the book Your Playlist Can Change Your Life (Mindlin, Durousseau & Cardillo, 2012) give evidence and instructions for how intentional playlists can be used to change undesired behavioural patterns. I hear of countless ways music accompanies people through stressful work days, situations that provoke anxiety, or challenging emotional experiences. In my own life, certain playlists have accompanied me through performance, transition and grief experiences. How about you? What kinds of experiences do your music choices help you with?

Using Music in Stressful Times

When life becomes stressful, we crave something predictable. Our body’s stress response is adaptation to change – our body’s way of rolling with the punches. When a stressful event costs us our ability to stay within what we can tolerate, we might find ourselves needing to slow down the pace of life in order to achieve a more sustainable rhythm.

Cue: music. Whether for acute stressors or long-term recovery, music can be a beautiful way to regain our balance.

The warmth of a familiar song, the comfort of a steady and moderate beat, the inspiration of a great lyric, the satisfaction of a brilliant performance, the peacefulness of an instrumental track, the distraction of the arrangement of a cover song, the curiosity of a new artist . . . music offers comforting, immersive and predictable experiences that can help us regain our footing in stressful times. Music in any form – listening to it, making it, improvising it, writing it, or pairing it with other things – has this potential if we use it intentionally.

An interesting Canadian study from 2021 showed that listening to self-selected music did not prevent the effects of stress unless attached to an explicit goal to do so (Peck, deZepetnek & Fiocco). In other words, if music is in the background it won’t be as helpful as if it is part of our conscious attention. We need music choices to be intentional in order for them to have maximum impact. For those of us who may feel stressed out, stretched thin, weary or overwhelmed, it means that taking the extra five minutes to choose a small goal for your soundscape might be a worthwhile exercise.

Creating Playlists

This can be as simple as creating a new playlist for your self-care routine. Whether it’s called “Breathe Deep”, “Prayer and Meditation” or “Chill”, this playlist can be used intentionally, at a particular time in the day when you need it most. It can be timed to be as long as is realistic, and it can be produced at a very low cost. I can’t tell you what to include in this listening list. Music is flexible, a “universal” language that can honour geographic, cultural and conventional values, so choose music that you like and is most meaningful to you.

To celebrate Music Therapy Awareness Month, try using music more intentionally for your self-care during the month of May. Set your intention, make a plan and use music to be well!

If you are interested in learning more about how best to use music-centered resources, consider consulting with a music therapist (check out the Canadian Association for Music Therapists or taking a basic skills training (check out Music Care Training).

Music and Faith

Music and sound have been used for centuries to support spiritual disciplines and faith practices. If you already have a daily ritual that allows you to align your mind and body and attune to yourself, God or a Higher Power, consider how music and sound might support that practice. Create a playlist that allows space for goals areas like contemplation, listening, attention or others. Don’t forget about silence! Even five minutes of intentional silence might transform a regular everyday moment to a transcendent experience.

Aimee Berends RP, MACP, MMT, is a music psychotherapist who is trained in both music therapy and psychotherapeutic practice.

References

Levitin, D. (2007). This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession. Dutton Penguin.

Mindlin, G., Durousseau, D. & Cardillo, J. (2012). Your Playlist can Change your Life: 10 Proven Ways your Favorite Music can Revolutionize your Health, Memory, Organization, Alertness and More. Sourcebooks Inc.

Peck, K., Totosy de Zepetnek, J., & Fiocco, A. J. (2021). Music listening does not inoculate the stress response in young and older adults. International Journal of Stress Management, 28(2), 154–164. https://doi.org/10.1037/str0000217

Sacks, O. (2007). Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. Knopf.