Modern science refers to emotion as a mental state organized in the limbic system of the mammalian brain. It is recognized as a state of manifestation of the feelings expressed nonverbally. Such strong feelings have a link with what we call fear, dislike, disgust, sadness, shame, wonder (surprise), anger and joy, which are the innermost states, whether manifested or not by words or actions.
The civilization of man, who rightly belongs to the animal kingdom, has caused several psychological problems, which also have an impact on his or her physiology. The social expectations and tremendous control exercised by the authorities such as family patriarch, community, government etc. has made the individual to suppress (if not, control) his or her emotional expressions. Despite concepts such as freedom or democracy, emerging as a popular way for nations, the individuals are made to think, to speak or to act as robots to be successful in a social set-up. This means that he or she cannot freely express what he or she feels truthfully even to the nearest and dearest and leave it to colleagues or countrymen.
This suppression of feelings results in emotional encrustation in the personality, which finds rare outlets only through sporadic and unhealthy manners — such as unreasonable outbursts, criminal acts or thinking, violence and what not. It is therefore necessary that the adverse effects of human civilization are tackled through subtle mechanisms that help the citizens to feel pampered and happy — despite all odds! It is here that music comes handy as a tool.
Emotion and. Music
The term ’emotion’ is derived from ‘ex’ and `motio’„ which means an outward movement, such as an action gesture. It is obvious that any emotion involves certain ‘movement’ which is also a basic characteristic in all kinds of music and sound vibrations. Music is also referred to as ‘movement in time’ and includes as much rhythm as the resonance. In Indian music layapragya or recognizing the in-built, the rhythm is given a great importance. Thus music yields a tremendous influence on the human mind, thanks to tremendous potentiality to express a wide range of emotions as listed earlier.
Recent experiments in neural circuitry of emotions confirms that it is the emotion which plays a salutary role in the decision making processes involved in modern management and long term planning in the public administration.
The ever-changing and often unpredictable nature of the world around us especially with multiple motives and limited capability has made it more necessary that to cope with the unexpected and at times the tragic environments, we have to rely on-the subtle companionship offered by music and musical training. There is no exaggeration that music helps us to cure what need not be endured and endures what cannot be cured.
Music Psychology
The general principles involved in music psychology can be summarized as under:
- A particular music can be analyzed by asking questions about one’s perception.
- A music operates in a cultural continuum, a person can come to terms with such continuum through its analysis.
- As music production is a meaningful enterprise, it is an important avenue by which one comes to terms with human creativity.
Music and Violence
In a recent study of university students, it was found that a batch of students who listened to violent lyrics / songs ascribed more aggressive meanings to the words such as ‘rock’ and ‘stick’ as compared to those who listened to non-violent lyrics/music. On a stranger note James Gundlach a sociology found higher rates of suicide among those who listen to country music. Gundlach clarified that suicide occurred only with older country music which is not as upbeat as its contemporaty avatar.
Bade Gulam All Khan
Bade Gulam Ali Khan’s remark in the context of Indian partition in 1947 and its tragic aftermath is quite relevant in this context. `Even if one member from every Indian family had studied music, the country would never have been partitioned’! said the great Ustad. Thanks to the integrative features in the music, one gains a more flexible and broadened outlook on one’s existence and placement in this universe. When one develops such a broad realization and outlook with music, where is the question of division and selfishness?
Music Helps In Eliminating the Negative Feelings
The linkage between a musical form and the emotional experience of a listener has been researched by volunteers of Nada Centre for Music Therapy, Chennai since 2004. The ongoing research suggests that a musical structure (or form) mimicking a certain human could affect the very emotion in a listener in a very positive manner. Thus a song or a raga (like Subha Panthuvarali or Todi) which is capable of churning out the sad feeling in the listeners can per se act in subsiding the traumatic situations faced by the listeners. Experiments conducted with tsunami victims in 2006 and the cloud-burst victims in Ladakh more recently seem to confirm this proposition.
It is strange to find that the ancient systems of Buddhism have references to confirm that the anger in persons can be converted into compassion by adopting meditation and introspection. In fact, focusing on ‘angry’ music such as `Vivadi’ or raga passages of ragas like ‘Atana’ has been found to be useful in controlling the temper and averting accidents. Even the persons denied of sex can find, some consolation if not, full compensation with the music reflecting the erotic feeling (shingar rasa). Indian ragas like Bihag and Khamas can work such wonders! When ragas such as ‘Revati’ or tunes of ‘Tchaikovsky’ (such as Symphony No 5 in E Minor) are played/listened to the participants have felt certain confidence in them to overcome their fear, shyness and inhibition.
References
1. Malkani, Vikas 2001 Spiritual Healing
2. Sairam, T V 2010 “Psychology of Music”, My Doctor, Feb 2010. P. 18-19.
3. Sairam, T V 2010 “Music and Moods” Ayurveda and All, March 2010, P. 21-24.
This article was published in HomeoBuzz – April 2011 pages 31,32
Edited by Geeta Shreedar, August 24, 2021