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R-5-21
Life: A Musical Cycle
He was great. My cousin didnt miss a single note when playing
his oak wood acoustic guitar. I was quietly sitting on his chair,
observant, and captivated as he made the guitar sing. I would learn in
the years to come that I was watching him play power chords. I
remember the sound it made when he played it. It was like a single
note, but amplified. His tall ceiling allowed the sound waves to
resonate freely and his mellow yellow walls visually accented the
sound of the low pitch, laid back tunes he was playing. The smell of
burning sage incense added to the whole effect as well. It amazed me
how a wooden box and metal strings can produce such a beautiful
tune. I saw it as an extension of my cousin rather than an entity that
was separate of him. The guitar let my cousin say things that he
couldnt normally say with his mouth. It gave him more depth. It
added to his ability to connect with himself and with others who were
listening to him play. The music made his bedroom feel extraordinary
as if he added life to it. It was beautiful. Listening to him play live
music in front of me felt very different than simply listening to a radio
or mp3 player. Why is that? I could not explain, but the difference was
very real. I guess its more inspiring to see another person create
something beautiful, rather than a machine replicating it. After
listening to my cousin play for a while, I asked him if I could play a

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little. He agreed, so I took the guitar from him that was not much
smaller than me at the time; I was ten years old. I took it slowly,
strumming the strings without putting my fingers on any of the frets at
first. I just wanted to get the feel of the guitar. Honestly, it was pretty
uncomfortable at first due to its big size and new feel. However, it
grew on me rather quickly. After a little while, my cousin taught me my
first song. It was the intro to Smoke On the Water by Deep Purple. It
was fairly easy considering that it consisted of four different notes on
one string. That didnt stop me from feeling gratification from it
though. From then on, I progressed from that intro and eventually
started taking lessons and learning basic guitar skills. Now Im at a
point where Im still in between beginner and intermediate on the
guitar, but my interest in its capabilities has grown by far.
My experiences with music have been wonderful. Music for me
has meant many different things. On a very basic level, music has
united me with others, affected my feelings and mood in a way that
nothing else could, inspired me to accomplish tasks, helped me get
through my hard times, and has added to the celebration of my good
times. It also has served as a timeline for my life. If you were to ask
me if I remember how was my 3rd grade year, I would have fragments
of memory scattered in my head of that time. However, if you were to
ask me what is the first rap song I remember listening to, I would
confidently answer, Stronger by Kanye West. I remember how I was

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introduced to that song, how I felt when I heard that song, and when I
would listen to that song most. So in that way, music has an amazing
ability to preserve my memories. Due to musics profound effect on
my life, Im inspired to learn more about it. My goal in this paper is to
find out how music affects us biologically, psychologically, and socially.
Although some people are lucky enough to have the ability to
travel and experience different cultures and ways of life, many people
dont. Ive learned that music can at least be a partial substitute for
traveling and exploring new places. When experiencing new
surroundings, one learns the way of life that goes on in that place. You
see what the people of that place do for fun, how their lives are
structured, their struggles, and much more. Basically, you see life
from another point of view. For myself, I enjoy listening to the hip-hop
artists who express their perspective on life through their music. For
example, Kendrick Lamar does a very good job to this effect because
he makes music with profound connections and deep messages that
paint the picture of how he sees things very clearly. This in turn makes
me think more deeply about the picture hes painting, a picture set in
the city that Kendrick comes from, Compton, California. All my life Ive
been hearing things about Compton from people who have never been
within ten miles of it. Consequently, I formed an imaginary picture of
this city that was so false. Im sure many of the things I heard
stemmed from some version of the truth but the way people view

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Compton and their inhabitant is very shallow. Outsiders dont try to
empathize with their socio-economic struggles, rather they perpetuate
stereotypes of what theyve been told by others who dont even know
what Compton is even like or what conditions dictate peoples lives
there. However, when someones emotions are symbolic or indicative
of something they went through, thats when you get the most pure
version of the truth, at least in my opinion. In addition, truth isnt
always told in words. Sometimes its portrayed in the way those words
are being said. When peoples barriers are broken by music, they
become more compassionate and understanding of each other. My
mentor, Mark Benjamin, a guitar teacher, had a profound statement on
this matter:
No matter what language or style, if you have an open mind, a
piece of music can bring about unimaginable emotional impact
completely by surprise. And if one follows the call of a song or
style they can end up hanging with and appreciating people from
various cultures and backgrounds that they maybe did not
understand previously. (Benjamin)
Music is a consistent harmony of sounds in relation to all the people
who are listening to it together. Based on this, music acts as a unifying
factor amongst people. In general, people are afraid of the unfamiliar,
and in part I think this notion is what makes people intolerant to others
who are different; it stems from the insecurity of not knowing. In this
sense, when groups of different people who come from varying
backgrounds listen to the same music, then music becomes one
familiar factor to all, thus bringing them comfort. This boosts our

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outlook on whoever these people are and paves the way for new
friendship, understanding, compassion, and connection.
Music has always been an integral part of shaping society. In this
regard its more like a general tool instead of a specific tool. It
depends on the artists to influence people in his or her way. Some
artists have particular beliefs or agendas that they push through their
music whereas other artists try to remain as universal as possible. Its
really up to the person behind the art in the end. I asked Mike Christie,
a local band member, about this subject. He responded by saying:
Artists create not only musical trends but also fashion and
cultural trends. Since the 50s people have blamed musicians for
everything they dont like their kids to do. But its important for
each generation to have their identity and in retrospect it never
turns out be the downfall of society like their
parents thought it would be. (Christie)
This quote is referencing musics ability to partially shape society. It
could do that in unconventional ways without people being too aware
of its impacts. Music influences peoples ideas on many cultural norms
and revolutionary ideas. In America, war and peoples ideas on war
have heavily been influenced by music, throughout history. For
example, during the Vietnam War, many artists expressed their
opinions through their music. Bruce Springsteen, Creedence
Clearwater Revival, Stevie Wonder, and many more made music about
the negative consequences of the Vietnam War. Artists with a very
strong image and persona had an unquestionable influence on the
perception of the war. According to the book Battle Notes, Most of the

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recordings about Vietnam can be categorized fairly easily as either
pro-war or anti-war in theme. (Andresen 24) Whether one is for
or against the war, one lesson definitely was learned from the war that
was reflected in the music: its not possible to win a war that is
perceived to be unjust by much of the American population. These
singers highlighted the antiwar movement and it probably gave
enough momentum to put sufficient pressure on American leaders to
reconsider the countrys commitment to the Vietnam War. I would not
be surprised at all if music was a key part of bringing the Vietnam War
to an end.
While music has the amazing ability to influence society and
culture, its effects go deeper than that. It actually affects our brains in
elaborate ways. Our brains actually respond differently to happy and
sad music. (Cooper, The Surprising Science of What Music Does to Our
Brains) This is amazing because that means the brain doesnt
perceive music as one set thing but rather many things. So this speaks
wonders to its capabilities of serving various functions to us. We see
this because different parts of the brain are responsible for different
parts of the body and psyche. When varying tunes correlate to
different states, it proves that different musical aspects can affect
various parts of our life in their own unique way. For example, happy
music will release the chemicals (neurotransmitters) that make one
feel happy. These neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, are released

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at moments of peak enjoyment. It was actually the first test that
reported on the relationship between music and released dopamine. It
was reported that people who were enjoying the music they were
listening to, experienced a nine percent increase in dopamine levels on
average. (McGilchrist, Music Releases Mood Enhancing Chemicals in
the Brain) This is another topic that Mark, my mentor, had insightful
information on, saying, Listening to music can produce chemical
changes in the brain that can bring various emotions which can bring
about some healing and comfort, trigger memories, etc.. (Benjamin)
This is an interesting idea that music can make chemical changes in
our brain and thats already been addressed with the dopamine
response study but what is still unclear is how does music have the
ability to heal.
There are many reasons why music is linked to good health. For
example, music is proven to physiologically affect the heart rate.
(Merz,Healing Through Music) A study done by Dr. Mike Miller from
Baltimore proved this by measuring the effects of music on the
cardiovascular system by measuring the blood vessel size before,
during, and subsequent to playing music. When patients were
listening to music that they enjoyed, they relaxed. In response to them
relaxing, their blood vessels opened up more. This is comparable to
blood vessels opening up when one laughs. Its also a similar effect to
when someone takes blood medications like statins and ACE inhibitors.

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Many people across the world seek this sense of relaxation from music.
However, music does more than just relax a person. It actually lessons
their perceived pain. This was proven by a study that administered
safe electric shocks to the participants who were simultaneously
listening to music. (Corbett, Music Therapy For Pain Relief) They were
instructed to focus solely on the music and try to take their mind off
the pain. The result was astounding. It reported a seventeen percent
decrease in overall pain levels. Another interesting thing about this
experiment is that the participants, who were usually the highly
anxious type, reported twice as much pain decrease as the ones who
didnt experience anxiety. This information alone is amazing because it
shows how much our own brain influences the way we view and feel
about life. These anxious people who were listening to music felt a
strong decline in anxious feelings that translated to a higher drop in
experienced pain. With this knowledge, we could make a positive
social gain by decreasing anxiety and decreasing our perception of
pain. Whether that has to be from music or not is beyond the point,
however music has played a key role in pointing out this relationship
between anxiety and increased feelings of pain.
A study discovered that 45 minutes of listening to music before
going to bed can increase the duration of sleep, decrease the interval
of time it takes to fall asleep, gives a higher perceived sleep quality,
and a smoother transition into the day. (Clark, Does Music Help You

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Sleep) These results can be viewed in an objective manner because
theres scientific evidence that backs up these claims. A
polysomnography test measures brain waves during ones sleep and
one test found a link between the patients who listened to music and
slept in comparison to those who didnt listen to music then slept. The
ones who listened to music experienced a longer time in REM sleep.
REM sleep is a one of the five sleep cycles that we all go through. It
stands for rapid eye movement. In this period of sleep, our eyes move
rapidly while the lids are closed. We dream most clearly in this stage
and our brain is more stimulated than it is in other stages. Its REM
sleep thats responsible for the most restorative sleep, which happens
to also be linked to psychological and emotional well being.
There is no one way to make music. Every person who makes
music has his or her own particular way of doing it. Some musicians
look at it scientifically whereas some look at it artistically, and with
that there is all that is in between. Ultimately, music is something that
we can transmit to other people, which has the ability to affect them
emotionally. With this, it gives us the ability to view, learn about, and
create music scientifically. This is called music theory. Music theory
spans far back in history and has extreme relevance because you can
have a code by which to look at things and play something that
someone else wrote. It makes it possible to visualize music by showing
us how far apart different notes are in the musical scale. Musical

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theory, being a code of looking at music through mass observations
and experiments, allows us to make creations with music like new
songs or just addition to musical theory very smoothly due to its
systematic approach. On the other hand, approaching music
artistically gives us the ability to strengthen ones musical intuition and
in my opinion, sometimes create something more naturally. A balance
between both, I think, is needed because you want to have structure
and clarity that can be interpreted in the same way to all, and that is
where musical theory comes in. At the same time you want to have
that individual and unique style that only you have. I interviewed Mike
Christie, a local band member, who had similar things to say about the
subject matter. He expressed, I enjoy that music can be very artistic
but it also always has some logical or mathematical reason why a
particular song works. (Christie)
Our speaking or verbal IQ gets better as we are exposed to a
variety of words. I bet you wouldve never thought that music could
help us speak better. At least I wouldve never guessed it. A study
consisting of children eight to eleven years old found that the children
who had extra-curricular music courses went on to have higher visual
capabilities and higher verbal IQ. (Wright, Parents perspective of
early college entrance) This is awe-inspiring because it shows how
music can indirectly help other parts of our life. This just happens to
be the part that we are examining now, but these findings are much

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bigger than just music itself. This shows that certain positive activities
can help improve other aspects of our life that we may not think to be
directly related but in realty they are. If one practices a certain skill,
he or she increases a neurological substance called myelin sheathing.
Myelin sheathing insulates the nerve cells also known as neurons.
When ever one thinks or performs an act, an electrical impulse fires
across his or her neurons. Its like a self built programming system. If
one practices a certain activity for a long time, it will strengthen and
lengthen the neural connections that allow them to do whatever it is
that they are striving to do. For a long time, people thought the key to
this was studying the characteristics of neurons, however myelin
sheathing has recently been being studied more and viewed as an
integral part of neurology. According to Coyle, In 2005 Fredrik Ullen
scanned the brains of concert pianists and found a directly proportional
relationship between hours of practice and white matter [myelin
sheathing] (40). He goes on to say, in 2005 the Cincinnati Childrens
Hospital study of 47 normal children aged 5 to 18 correlated increased
IQ with increased organization and density of white matter [myelin
sheathing] (56). Considering that music helped increase white matter
or myelin sheathing and an increase in myelin sheathing shows an
increase in IQ, we can conclude that music can very possibly increase
ones IQ.

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This project was the most intense research project that Ive ever
done. It was very different than my normal school work, and it allowed
me to see a different perspective on learning. My interactions with
people in the music field were with people who truly enjoy what they
do and that was evident. When being questioned about certain
aspects of their field, they responded in an in depth manner. It was
obvious that they were not only knowledgeable but also passionate
about the subject. Thats very inspiring to me, especially now because
Im going off to college and Im trying to look for a path that would give
me both satisfaction and a comfortable salary. However, now I see
that pursuing something thats meaningful to me will allows me to
flourish and gives me opportunities that will transcend a comfortable
salary. I also have observed through scientific research that certain
practices affect others, so anyone can make their mark in the world in
various ways. This is very valuable information to me because it shows
me a new reality; one can do things in many different ways and still be
successful. It takes off some pressure from me thinking that there are
only specific paths to achieving what I want. It taught me that all you
can do in life is do the best you can and let life decide the rest. Lastly,
it serves as a bridge to a new form of learning. All my life, Ive been
taught academic skills in school, yet this project has given me a
glimpse of how thats going to change partially. I will still learn
academic skills in college; however, Im going to be putting those skills

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to use by doing my own research and solving my own questions. Most
importantly, I will never stop questioning.

Works Cited
Books:
Andresen, Lee. Battle Notes: Music of the Vietnam War. Superior, WI:
Savage, 2000. Print.

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Coyle, Daniel. The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born: It's Grown, Here's
How. New York: Bantam, 2009. Print.
Electronic Sources:
Clark, Chelsea. "Does Music Help You Sleep? How to Help Insomnia by
Listening to Music." Natural Health Advisory. Natural Health
Advisory Institute, 16 Sept. 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Cooper, Belle Beth. "The Surprising Science Behind What Music Does To
Our Brains." Fast Company. Mansueto Ventures, 6 Dec. 2013.
Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Corbett, Holly C. "Music Therapy for Pain Relief." Men's Fitness. Weider
Publications, 5 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Mcgilchrist, Sonya. "Music 'releases Mood-enhancing Chemical in the
Brain'" www.bbc.com. BBC, 9 Jan. 2007. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Merz, Beverly. "Healing through Music - Harvard Health Blog." Harvard
Health Blog RSS. Harvard University, 05 Nov. 2015. Web. 24 Apr.
2016.
Wright, B. "Parents' Perspective of Early College Entrance for
Profoundly Gifted Children, Part I and II." Parents' Perspective of
Early College Entrance for Profoundly Gifted Children, Part I and
II. Davidson Institute for Talent Development, Sept. 2001. Web.
24 Apr. 2016.
Primary Sources:
Benjamin, Mark. "Senior Project Interview 1." E-mail interview. 12 Apr.
2016.
Christie, Mike. "Senior Project Interview 2." Personal interview. 17 Apr.
2016.