Music & emotions
🎶 Turn up some music for a better mood! 🎶
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging
sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or
otherwise expressive content.
A music playlist that gradually
moves from uncomfortable emotions to comfortable ones can be a healthy
coping strategy and facilitate a positive mood change.
Active music-making positively affects neurotransmitters, such as
dopamine and serotonin, that influence mood. Dopamine influences focus,
concentration, memory, sleep, mood and motivation. Likewise, serotonin
impacts mood, sleep patterns, anxiety and pain. Active music-making can
involve singing, playing an instrument or creating music electronically.
Making music, specifically singing in a group, helps us feel connected
to other people because of the production of the hormone oxytocin.
Singing synchronizes breathing patterns to promote relaxation and reduce
the hormone cortisol, “the stress hormone.”
Music and emotions are personal, cultural and associated with prior
experiences. A song will not give everybody the same feeling. That is
the beauty of the diversity in music and preference across diverse
cultures and time periods. Research attributes this phenomenon to the
messages our cultures and experiences have assigned to sounds before
listening to a song.