Every bit of our musical experience presupposes the involvement of our mind. The mind influences music and in turn, gets influenced by it. As music and the mind exhibit an identical polarity or pattern, music could be considered analogous to the human psyche. It is a deeply felt reflection of our inner core of existence, where all the life’s disappointments, regrets and traumas accumulated over the years — get encrusted over and over. While referring to them, music performs magic: pain becomes pleasurable, agony, ecstatic and melancholy, sweet. We develop confidence to deal with the hostile situations in life with a new found companion in music.
“Music makes pain pleasurable”
Music, mind and meaning
Though sound, per se, does not owe any explanation to anyone, it is the human mind that is chronically engaged in a search for its sense or meaning.
As a musical composition usually reflects an expression of a theme processed in the composer’s mind, the resolutions communicated by the composer catch the imagination of the listeners.
The resolutions expressed may be down-to-earth (as in folk music) or highly sophisticated (as in orchestral forms of music) but the end-result is the motivation injected into the listener’s mind.
Mind reflected in music
We have seen that rhythmical time structures are found both in music and in the human mind. Further the analytical and emotional aspects of the brain (as associated with the left hemisphere of the brain and its right hemisphere respectively) are found both in music and in the mind. It is curious to note that it is the fair combination of analysis and emotion (intuition) which is required in day-to-day management in human life. One at the cost of the other may prove disastrous. With analysis alone, a person may turn out to be a heartless animal, just as emotion in excess makes him blind. Balancing these two was a part of sadhana in the ancient system of music. By including music in our daily life, we are assured of a fair balance of analytical as well as emotional inputs. In short, music could be a substitute for meditative practices to achieve such goals.
Let us see for example how beautifully the two classical systems of music (Western and Indian) handle this need for balancing. We know that Indian ragas are soaked in emotions of all hues. While a singer elaborates a raga, she or he never loses sight of the subtle rhythms associated with that. Particularly when practising the compositions (such as varnams or kritis) we never lose sight of the tala requirement while reflecting the emotion emanating from a raga rendering. While the right brain concentrates on the emotional aspects, simultaneously the left brain is found calculating the cycle of beats.
Emotion-rich beats, rhythms and tones
It is well known that a composer manipulates rhythms and melodies to bring out emotions as intended for the listeners. As an illustration, let us take a famous masterpiece from the Western symphony: that immortal tune of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky referred to as Op. 31 SlavOnic March. This composition produced “a whole storm of patriotic enthusiasm” when it was first played in 1876 in Moscow, wrote its composer. In the Slavonic March, Tchaikovsky made use of authentic Serbian folk songs to bring in the local flavour to enhance its emotional content.
We can notice here more particularly how the tempo and style of the pace in music could create a sense of deprivation. Its seemingly faltering rhythms (which no doubt intensify its emotion) intermingled with the clear, calculated melody, made of precise tones, add to its emotional impact. The whole composition is woven around an elaborate system of ‘analytical’ melodies in their polyphonies and counterpoints, combined with ‘intuitive’ or ’emotional’ beats (with their seemingly faltering pace). The faltering music helps us visualise the wounded soldier trying to pick himself up in the war-torn battleground and walk towards his hearth and home with those faltering steps.
Music and intuition
We have seen that music mirrors not only the spread but also the depth of our mental faculty. “Music mirrors the spread and depth of our mental faculty”
Intuition often refers to an inner realisation or illumination of mind. It does not exist in the realm of analysis, as it transcends all discussions and debates. Intuition forms basically one’s own experience, totally subjective.
Indian philosophy views knowledge obtained exclusively through the organs of senses as ‘false knowledge’. On the other hand, intuition occupies a pre-eminent position in Indian thinking — being the ‘right knowledge’ or the ‘highest knowledge’. It is often described as the imperishable, infinite knowledge of truth. The ancients believed that without the development of intuition, simple intellectual growth in man could cause disaster to humanity, as such knowledge is incomplete and imperfect. It was also believed that through music, man could overcome the limitations in intellectual development. Real cultural advancement in society was attributed to intuition and not to analytical intelligence alone.
Triggers the psychic process
From ancient times, music and rhythms have been employed in rites and rituals for uplifting one’s consciousness level to higher realms of consciousness and existence.
More recently, Lehtonen (1986) made an observation that musical experience is one of the best ways of activating the psychic process. Such ancient systems like shamanism, religious chants, African drumming rituals, and nada yoga practices celebrated music through exotic practices aimed at the transport of a consciousness level with their tones, lilts, beats and tunes.
This article was published in Sruti, June 2014, Page 27, 28
Edited by Geeta Shreedar, Nov. 15, 2021