A Close-Look at Music Therapy
By Iraa Shri Mantri
It was in the backseat of my mother's car, listening to old recordings of ghazals, when I became aware of my love of music. Music has always been part of my life, whether it was my grandma loudly singing bhajans around the house or my mother's music playing softly on the stereo. I remember belting out Bruno Mars’ “Just the way you are” in the car, drowning out the traffic around me.
Although I was always an outgoing and friendly person, it wasn't until the global pandemic that I realised how much music was a part of my life. As collective grief and personal despair set in, I came to realise that music helped me through this time. Intrigued by its calming effect on me, I began to read about music therapy and its benefits.
Recent studies published in the journal Music and Medicine show music affects mood. These studies look at how the power of music can improve and speed up mental and physical healing, enhance quality of life and even improve memory. In children, music has shown to encourage social interaction and cooperation. Like exercise, listening to music increases serotonin and oxytocin levels in your brain, acting as an energy booster and fostering feelings of love and bonding.
An experiment by pLoS showed that after being shown a sad face and happy face while listening to music, people saw happy faces more frequently than sad ones. This kind of therapy uses music to reduce stress, improve mood and enable self-expression. It also helps address a variety of disorders including cardiac conditions, depression, autism, substance abuse and Alzheimer’s disease. There are two fundamental types of music therapy- active and passive. The active process requires clients to play a role in creating music, singing, writing songs or playing an instrument themselves; whereas the passive process requires clients to listen and respond to music.
Loud, upbeat songs, especially rock, are used all the time to reduce stress. These signs introduce uplifting images and enthusiasm. Researchers at arts therapy provider Chroma conducted a survey and found that songs by rock artists like Queen, Pink Floyd, and Bob Marley are most effective in uplifting one's mood. Songs with strong melodies and rhythms have been proven incredibly efficient in calming a person and improving concentration. During the lockdown period, I kept myself happy by listening to songs that made me want to get up and dance. Rock, pop, and jazz! But when I wanted to concentrate and calm down, soft piano music helped me.
Writing and performing your own music or spoken word piece, with friends and family, on any platform can be healing — not only for you, but it can also help start important conversations in your community and through the power of music, you can create change and share positive messages about mental disease. Music therapy is accessible to most, but remains underrated and unknown about. Its benefits, as you can see, far outweigh costs!