Though anger is an emotion which is and should be avoided, even then, each one of us experiences anger in some form or the other in our everyday lives. Music has shown to have a positive impact in controlling anger and also reducing the angry bouts in people. The author highlights how music helps to control and prevent anger.
What is Anger?
Anger is an avoidable evil that could be commonly noticed not only in the animal world, but also in the ‘civilized’ human society! It is an emotion. It happens when an individual’s emotional equilibrium is disturbed. The reason for this could either be internal or an external factor. It can even be triggered by factors which are related to one’s past experience in life. The trigger factors could even be trivial and nonsense, like someone breaking the queue or overtaking a vehicle or talking loudly. It is also widely known that predisposing factors make a person vulnerable to anger even at the slightest provocation.
Anger: The Cause
Anger is also caused by expectations. Expectation for a good life and happiness is also one of the causes for anger, which aggravates the very path to happiness! Disenchantment with the systems which leads people to agitate against the governmental policies, against inequities and injustice are the other causes for anger.
Victimization, partiality, bullying, lack of trusting relationships, depression, poor coping skills, poor self-esteem, exposure to violence in films and television shows are the other causes that induce anger in people. Non-acceptance of the people and the world around, in short, is the main reason for anyone becoming angry!
There are also reports indicating that recurrent incidents of anger lead to so many unfortunate consequences in life, which are never intended when one thinks retrospectively. Divorce, separation, loss of friendship or companionship, adverse reaction by others, loss of golden opportunities are some of the many ad-verse consequences an angry person faces in society. The most important of all these consequences lies in the major role played by anger in one’s health profile. Several illnesses such as hypertension, heart ailments, mental instability etc. are attributed to those who fall easy prey for angry bouts. Anger is also not socially accepted as it leads to several crimes including homicide and what not, disturbing the peace and tranquillity of social life.
Anger Prevention Possibilities through Music
One who is determined to prevent anger needs more contemplation and meditation on its futility. One has to reorient oneself by adopting a “new attitude”- an attitude that perceives the positive side of the world and the people around. It is similar to the incident that describes Nero playing fiddle, when the entire Rome was burning! By playing fiddle and getting involved in the ‘musical logic’, Nero had fortified himself with coping skills. Yes, it is the music here with its own logic that has provided solace to those who have to accept the world and its people.
Nada Centre for Music Therapy and its volunteers have experimented with both Indian (folk, film, semi-classical etc) and Western (pop, rock, blues and classical) music to test their impact on those who tend to be short-tempered. It was noticed that by consciously and repeatedly adapting to the rajasic (active) music of their choice which contains lots of drumming in a fairly fast tempo, the frequencies of angry bouts have fallen down considerably. The experiments of the Centre in these cases with anger-prone mentally retarded children were also fruitful especially with proto-ragas and drums which came handy to re-enact their anger through music. This was supplemented with body movements such as for example, Tiger Dance which was experimented at Lebenshilfe, Visakhapatnam which house over 400 mentally retarded children. Here the children were given clothes and masks of a tiger and made to dance to heavy drum beating with shouts and noises. The overactive children could thus tire themselves with an aesthetic performance!
Conflict Resolution Skills Through Musical Experience
Conflicts can be resolved by negotiation and mediation. These skills can be taught by the inherent features in music. For instance Indian music is made of two aspects: raga or resonance and tala or beats. The Indian traditions in music train the musicians to use both these aspects simultaneously. This would mean that the emotion clothed in raga is expressed simultaneously – at the very fraction of the second with the calculation involved in the timing of the beats. Thus, by balancing these two aspects, one is trained to balance one’s emotion with his or her thinking. This balancing helps in resolving the conflicts one faces in life.
Anger Management Skills Through Musical Experience
Anger per se need not be something to be detested! Anger gives ventilation to one’s suppressed feelings. It gives way to express thought with dire consequences! What matters is how the anger could be channelized by synchronizing with a tune that imitates anger. There are several musical compositions such as Tchaikovsky’s March or Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (more particularly the `summer’ portion) which belch out fire in anger!
Some passages in Indian ragas such as Ataana can be found to help one express one’s anger by singing! Like anger, these musical passages generate a tremendous amount of energy. This energy can work as a simulator to satisfy one’s need for anger! The awareness of being angry is the first step in managing anger. Through music one can mimic an impulsive action and can feel comfort without offending others! If the reactive action is thus avoided or postponed for a few moments or minutes in real life, it would be sufficient for rational thought and problem solving to take over.
| Nada Centre for. Music Therapy and its volunteers have experimented with both Indian (folk, film, semi classical etc) and Western (pop, rock, blues and classical) music to test their impact on those who tend to be short tempered. It was noticed that by consciously and repeatedly adapting to the rajasic (active) music of their choice which contains lots of drumming in a fairly fast tempo, the frequencies of angry bouts have fallen down considerably. |
Boosting One’s Self Esteem
For developing self esteem, people need pleasantness, clothed in love and sympathy. These are the traits which come from healthy relationships (e.g., mother-child relationship) and also from unconditioned love, which is a rare occurrence in societies riddled with economic and power race! However music could fulfil this want in every human being with its unconditional love that is reflected through its pleasantness – which is there even when it sounds ‘sad’ or ‘angry’ or ‘fiery’ ! A musicological explanation for this strange pleasantness promised in music is due to its what-is-called ‘octave relationship’. There is a natural ‘hug’ in music as it touches the high, medium and also low notes! Every note in an octave, while meeting its eighth note in the octave invariably embraces the initial frequencies! In his book ‘Physics of Music’, Alexander Wood, a musicologist, says that the two notes which are in a ‘relationship’ within an octave are the best to sensitize our ears with sweetness! Though parents and teachers are required to act as catalysts for the self-esteem of people, music also helps in a subtle way to reach such a mental state!
Unconditional Positive Regard through Musical Assertiveness
Positive regard, especially to the youngsters irrespective of their academic and other achievements, can help them flower with their talents, besides enabling them to cope with the quirks of life. The ‘assertiveness’ in each and every note of the octave could contribute to a great extent to boost the sagging spirit.
Self-Music Therapy for Anger Management
Many songs evoke emotion and this trait comes hand in hand in music therapy sessions. The art songs (lieder) of Franz Schubert, the ballads and show music of the 1940’s and 1950’s —especially that of Frank Sinatra— have been found to be of immense use for those who love or are initiated to Western music. To this endless list we can even add: the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Carpenters, ABBA, Nat King Cole and Ann Murray.
Importance of Rhythm in Anger Management
It is our experience that rhythms in music excite the listeners physically and have a great contributory value in enforcing discipline into their chaotic minds, easily prone to anger. The tempo and rhythmic laya in music prompt listeners (even those who are not keen in listening sometimes!) tap their feet and make some even dance! Many musical forms that can be referred to as ‘dance music’ such as the waltz, the tango, and the polka in West and Javali in. Carnatic music helps in achieving a state of balance by clearing the cobwebs in an over-thinking mind! Though rhythm and melody go hand in hand as a matter of principle, in all musical forms certain musical forms (eg African music) give more importance and accent to rhythms and beats. There is also an example of Maurice Ravel’s famous work, “Bolero” (1928). Music here consists of a single orchestral crescendo (lasting 17 minutes). As one listens to it, it has nothing more than 18 repetitions of the same theme moving with increased volume and slightly increased tempo. In fact music with definitive rhythms and beats help in resolving the mental chaos with their “tuk tuk tagatuk, tuk tuk tagatuk ” and whatnot!
The Seven Swaras and their Mood Analysis A modest attempt has been made by this author to analyse the subjective vibratory impact of the seven swaras in the raga Mayamalavagowla raga. The exercise was done through repeated meditation on the sound frequencies flowing from voice and instruments such as piano, guitar, veena, violin and harmonium. The findings are in the Table :
| Swara-mood Combination | The Authors Findings |
| SA – infinity, space | A state of feeling lessness |
| RE- illumination, Sun | Sunny feelings |
| GA- peace, devotion | Divine feelings |
| MA- romanticism, shringara rasa | Curiosity, necessary for attracting the dull minds |
| PA- joy, happiness, contentment, lack of want | Notice how CR Subbaranian, the music director of the 50s brought tragic vein to Raga Kalyani by suppressing PA |
| DHA- seriousness, valour (sometimes disgust too) | Aggressive and dominant feelings, essential for ‘beta’ Consciousness |
| NI- encouragement | Feelings of Transcendence |
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References
- Sairam, T.V. 2010 “Feelings in music as a healing means” My Doctor Nov. 2010: 37-38.
- Sairam, T.V. 2010 “Swara Yoga and Sound Consciousness” Bhavans Journal, De 15, 2010:73-74.
- Sairam, TV 2010. “Music for Relieving” Eternal Solutions, Dec 2010: 90
This article was published on “Ayurveda and All’ November 2011 – Pages 29 to 31
Edited by Geeta Shreedar, August 25, 2021