The Healing Sounds of Music

The Healing Sounds of Music

By: Brandon Quintela

SOC 316 – Research Methods

Prof. R. Kulick

9 October 2014

Quintela 1

The Healing Sounds of Music

Music has always had an intimate connection to us within our minds and our bodies. We have

both listened to, and created it for eons, in various cultures, as well as within remote parts of the world.

It is the one global unifier that we all have in common, our ability to understand and feel the effects on

our psyche that music tends to bring about. I do believe music has a healing effect on both our minds

and our bodies, which is why I have chosen to do my literature review on the subject of music used as a

healing tool. I have found four academic journals that discuss my view, and either agree, or disagree

with musics ability to heal the body or bring peace to the mind.

The first journal observed was titled Auditory stimulation with music influences the geometric

indices of heart rate variability in men, by S. Silva et al. In the study, the researchers observed how

males reacted to different music as stimuli. According to the results, relaxing music had no real affect

on the men's heart rate compared to the control group, while heavy metal music actually evened out

their heart rates, “We observed that the SD2 index was significantly reduced during excitatory heavy

metal musical auditory stimulation compared to control. The SD2 index corresponds to HRV in long-

term records . . . indicating that this style of music reduced HRV ” (S. Silva et al. 2014). According to

the quote, S. Silva et al. Found that surprisingly, heavy metal music could produce a rhythmic and

steady heartbeat in men, a consistency most would not expect from such music. Such findings show

that music does not have to be calming in order to profoundly affect peoples bodies. Though even more

surprising was that such an effect did not come from the tranquil music in the study, and that such

music had no real change in the subjects heart rate variability in comparison to the control group. This

information could be key as to why people tend to act so in sync with each other at times when high

energy, intense music is playing in the background. That synchronization with others and the music

Quintela 2

The Healing Sounds of Music

itself, can lead people to feel a sense of both excitement and bonding with those around them, which

illustrates why concerts are both such memorable, and social events. This journal more fully connects

with my original thesis as well, through their mention of the results of other past studies regarding

music as a healing agent, “Therapy with music has been investigated to treat cardiac dysfunction . . .

help in improving sleep quality of subjects with acute and chronic sleep disorders. Also, a recent review

. . . showed the chronic benefic effects of relaxant music on the cardiovascular system” (S. Silva et al.

2014). This excerpt shows the many positive effects that music can have on the human body, and even

on a person's sanity which sleep disorders can be a detriment to. Music can readily fix a great deal of

stress related issues in the body and mind, if people give it a genuine try.

The next academic journal discussed is called Effects of different “relaxing” music styles on the

autonomic nervous system, by A. Delvenne et al. The study looks to see how differing styles of relaxing

music can affect a person physically. According to the results, New Age music seems to be the most

reactive music to listen to, as is stated by A. Delvenne et al. in this quote:

“In this study, listening to "relaxing" music evoked significant autonomic responses as

measured by HRV analysis . . . when subjects listened to a "new age" style song a strong and

statistically significant reduction of the HF spectral component and increased LF/HF ratio were

noted . . . Interestingly, personal feelings and preferences regarding musical styles had no

effects on autonomic responses” (A. Delvenne et al. 2014).

These results are showing how in this study, the New Age music had a great effect on the various

subjects autonomic nervous system, while classical and romantic music had little to no effect.

Ironically even though certain music styles can elicit an emotional response, the autonomic nervous

system response is subconscious and cant be controlled, which is why it did not matter if the subject in

question preferred New Age music or not. This goes to show, yet again, that music can have a very

profound effect on a persons body without that person even being aware of it. Some people feel that

Quintela 3

The Healing Sounds of Music

New Age music has a very profound effect on their mental state when they listen to it, and that feeling

might be due to the literal reaction that their autonomic nervous system is experiencing while the music

is being played. This academic journal also has some background information on music therapy itself,

“Music therapy employs specific musical elements such as sound, rhythm, melody, harmony, dynamic,

and tempo to encourage or facilitate movement, positive interactions, and/or improved emotional or

cognitive states. . . anxiety appears to be reduced by playing music . . . in patients” (A. Delvenne et al.

2014). The researchers are stating in this excerpt how music therapy helps, and the people that it can be

used on. The full quote mentions how cancer patients or patients undergoing surgery can have their

anxiety lessened through the use of music therapy. The power of music as a healing tool has been a part

of human knowledge for centuries now, though some are still skeptical about it. Music has proven itself

time and time again to be a great aid to those who suffer from either physical or mental ailments, yet

music therapy is still sometimes seen as more of a gimmick than a real aid in the modern world.

The third researched piece is an article that has the rather interesting title of The SkepDoc:

music hath charms but “sound healing” hath nonsense, by Harriet Hall. This article explains how the

author believes that while music does have its merits in the health arena, sound therapy is a pointless

endeavor. H. Hall continually criticizes a doctor by the name of Mitchell Gaynor throughout the article,

due to Gaynors insistence of using alternate therapy methods along with chemotherapy for his cancer

patients, “Dr. Mitchell Gaynor . . . is an "integrative" oncologist who treats his cancer patients with

science-based chemotherapy along with non-science-based modalities like Tibetan singing bowls, herbs

and algae, acupuncture, and energy medicine. He considers these necessities rather than options” (H.

Hall 2014). The author feels that Dr. Gaynor is being very unprofessional with his method of treating

patients, and is 'guaranteeing' that his method works and will help his patients live longer lives due to

it. As a reviewer of the article, I disagree with both of their opinions. I feel H. Hall should be more

Quintela 4

The Healing Sounds of Music

open to alternative methods of medicine, which wont do much harm if used along with the mainstream

methods. Though I also feel that Dr. Gaynor is taking advantage of his patients and getting their hopes

up too high by making them believe his methods are going to work for them. I am a believer in certain

forms of alternative medicine, and feel that if Dr. Gaynor approached this situation in a different way,

his methods would have been fine. While H. Hall holds steadfast in his criticism of the doctor, he does

admit that at the very least music can help with certain medical and stress related situations, “Soothing

music lowers blood pressure and relaxes people. Endorphins are released when people experience

euphoria listening to music . . . Half an hour of music equals 10 mg of Valium . . . Singing can help

stroke patients recover the ability to talk” (H. Hall 2014). This quote shows that H. Hall is very aware

of some of the benefits that listening to music can provide people, even though his article seemed to

point towards the opposite due to his 'by the book' mentality. He can admit that there have been many

cases where music did greatly improve the lives of those who used it, especially those who suffer from

certain types of disability, such as Parkinson’s disease. The piece ends with criticism the same way that

the author targets Dr. Gaynor throughout the article, making Gaynor out to be slightly less than sane in

his opinion.

The fourth and final document being reviewed is titled The evolutionary biology of musical

rhythm: was Darwin wrong?, by Aniruddh D. Patel. In this written report, A. Patel discusses how

Darwin's theory that all species are capable of perceiving and creating a musical rhythm might actually

be false. He states that such an ability may only actually be shared by a few species, “Darwin

speculated that our capacity for musical rhythm reflects basic aspects of brain function broadly shared

among animals . . . it is being challenged by modern cross-species research. This research hints that our

capacity to synchronize to a beat . . . may be shared by only a few other species” (A. Patel 2014). It can

be seen that the author A. Patel feels strongly about this new research being done in regards to species

Quintela 5

The Healing Sounds of Music

and rhythm. While the results are not entirely conclusive, the information being gathered seems to

point favorably to such a fundamental difference between a wide range of species in comparison with

our own. We humans take for granted our ability to perceive and reproduce music. If it is truly the case

that rhythm is rarer in nature than we though, it just means that our gift of musicality is all the more

special We should cherish this ability, and the fact that it can help us in so many ways. Music is

something that has been around for a long time, and that is here to stay, “Music is a human universal

with an ancient history: delicately carved bone flutes made by ice-age hunter-gatherers predate the

oldest known cave paintings by several thousand years . . . While musical forms and meanings vary

widely across cultures . . . certain features of human music are widespread” (A. Patel 2014). As this

quote states, music has been around in one form or another for as long ago as the ice-age or perhaps

even beyond that. While it is still unknown whether the majority of species can produce a rhythm and

create music, at the very least we know that we can, and that it has been an important part of our

culture for as far back as we can remember.

Whether its understanding auditory stimulation, the effects of relaxing music, if sound therapy

is real, or what species can produce rhythm, it all comes down to music being a crucial and important

part of life itself. Music is able to heal us in various ways, it is able to lift or spirits when we feel down,

it can help us to express the true intensity of our innermost feelings, or it can show us the beauty in the

unnoticed. Music has a power to change the people whom listen to it, and to ease the suffering of those

who struggle in their daily lives. Whether this literary review proves a thesis or not, I do believe music

has the ability to heal people and that it is a real tool for therapy. I doubt most college students would

ever disagree which such a statement, since a lot of us use music to cope with our daily struggles on

quite the regular basis.

Quintela 6

The Healing Sounds of Music

Bibliography

da Silva, S. A. F., Guida, H. L., dos SantosAnt?nio, A. M., Vanderlei, L. C. M., Ferreira, L. L.,

de Abreu, L. C., ...Valenti, V. E. (2014). Auditory stimulation with music influences the

geometric indices of heart rate variability in men. International Archives of Medicine, 7,

27. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/

Delvenne, A., Braidot, N., Cardinali, D., & Vigo, D. (2014). Effects of different "relaxing"

music styles on the autonomic nervous system. Noise and Health, 16(72), 279. Retrieved

from http://go.galegroup.com/

Hall, H. (2014). The SkepDoc: music hath charms but "sound healing" hath nonsense. Skeptic

[Altadena, CA], 19(3), 4+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/

Patel, A. D. (2014). The evolutionary biology of musical rhythm: was Darwin wrong? PLoS

Biology, 12(3). Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/

.

.

...

Quintela 7