Music as Therapy

http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/music_therapy.htm


This article is about using music for many different ways of therapy and healing. It talks about using music for basically anything, from easing muscle tension to helping cure cancer. I'm not so sure about music being able to aid in the cure of cancer but I do agree with music being able to help ease muscle pain and tension. Music does have some pretty powerful ways of touching people but I just don't think it's powerful enough to cure cancer. Other parts of the article go on to say that music can help put you in a certain state of mind, it can affect your heart rate and breathing, lower blood pressure, and boost your immunity. I can easily agree with all of those things because music can do something like calm down someone who feels like they want to go kill somebody. I know that music can calm me down pretty easily when I'm pissed off or really nervous about something. I just can't believe that music can help with cancer patients. Maybe it makes them feel better for a little while but I can't see it actually helping to cure cancer. I think that doctors should try to use music as therapy more and more with their patients. It's relatively inexpensive, it's easy to use (just listen to the music), and it can be fun. Music as healing is a great idea and should be used more and more in the future. 

Portability of Music

The portability of music in the 21st century has changed so much in my lifetime. From what I remember the first thing that came out was the walkman. Yes, I had one. I remember that it was just so cool if you owned a walkman because you could either listen to the radio or listen to your cassette tape that you had whenever you wanted. I had gotten a walkman for Christmas one year and then about a week later I had to fly to Dallas and I left my walkman at the airport and of course it got stolen, but that one week I had it was pretty awesome. Next came the portable cd player. The cd player was better because you didn't have to rewind the thing once the whole album had played; it would just start back at the beginning. That and you could skip songs by the press of a button which was relatively new. The cd player was thinner than the walkman but it was in the shape of a circle to be able to hold the cd so it was a bit bulkier. And finally, the iPod. I think the iPod is pretty self explanitory. So we went from a giant cassette tape to a really thin cd to an mp3 in less than 20 years. It's amazing to think back and realize what our means of portable music used to be compared to what it is now. I can't wait to see what will happen with the portability of music in the next 20 years or so.

Music in Film

Okay so for this one I chose the movie Watchmen. First of all it has a really good soundtrack and I think that every song is placed in the movie really well. At the beginning of the movie one of the superheroes was murdered; during his funeral they play "The Times They Are a-Changin'" which not only signified that the times were literally changing but also that the other superheroes needed to be careful. In another part of the movie when something bad was about to happen they would play jumpy music that put you on the edge of your seat. When two people in love were on the screen they played soft music such as "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. But I think that all good movies play a certain type of music for a certain type of situation. People would think that it's wierd if they were playing a love song while someone was getting beaten up. I think the only exception to that is the moive American Psycho, but I can't really think of another movie in which the songs aren't what society would call "appropriate" for a certain situation in a movie.

Music Spaces

So places in which we encounter music... I'm an athlete at BSC so I'm gonna have to go with athletic events. During games in any sport, there is constantly music being played in the background even if the game is going on. Typically it isn't just any type of music that is played; it's gonna be the type of music that will pump up not only the athletes but the crowd as well. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the song "We Will Rock You" during an athletic event, but I have to tell you it never gets old for me. That's where songs like that belong and if they weren't played there then it just wouldn't be the same. Another reason that there is music being played is that it tends to keep spectators interested in the game. If one of the teams is blowing the other team out of the water then the music will keep the fans interested. With music playing they at least have something to clap their hands to, or to wave their arms to, you get the picture. Music at athleic events also helps people to connect with one another. A lot of friends are made through music and what better place to make friends than a football game, where you can meet someone who loves the same team that you do as well as the same music? So even though the music at sporting events is played in the background, it definitely plays a huge role not only for the athletes but for the fans as well.

My Top 5 Songs

Okay so for the record these songs are not in any particular order and I am not going to list them in an order either because choosing 5 and only 5 songs as my favorite is extremely difficult as it is. So the first song I chose (remember not really first but one of these songs has to be talked about first) would be Let It Be by the Beatles. I think it's a wonderful song not only because of the lyrics but because of the beat and tune the lyrics are set to. The song is just so easy to understand and straightforward for me and that's what I like about it. I loved how they placed and played the song in Across the Universe. Okay so another song, let's go with Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. I love it because one, it's Michael Jackson's song and two, it's just so catchy. It's an easy song to learn and like right away. At least for me! My next song is Shiver by Coldplay. Love, love, love this song. I just love Coldplay. End of story. Next we have Heartache Tonight by the Eagles. Like I've said before, I grew up listening to the Eagles so I guess I should have an Eagles song in here somewhere. I don't really like songs that are really long so that's why I didn't choose Hotel California, but Heartache Tonight just did something for me that Hotel California didn't. So the last song of my top 5 favorite songs. That would have to be Radio Waves by the Eli Young Band. So here's where my Texas Country comes in; I'm assuming nobody knows who the Eli Young Band is but that's okay. It's a little bit of country with rock in it and it's pretty awesome. They're starting to get pretty popular in Texas but not so much everywhere else. It's like someone will open for them in concert in Texas but in California they will open for another bigger band. But anyways, these are my five favorite songs and I would have to say this was really really hard to do!

Negative Feelings Towards Music....

So music that I have negative feelings towards...I think I'd definitely have to say death metal or anything with a lot of screaming or yelling in it. Whenever I hear it, it just sounds like it really hurts for the singer to make those kinds of sounds. It also seems extremely loud compared to other types of music. On top of that, I can't really understand what the singer is trying to say in the lyrics. I don't mean to offend anyone who likes this music or piss anyone off but I just don't get that type of music I guess. Obviously I don't understand basically anything about death metal or screamo but, and again no offense, I don't really want to understand anything about it. Another thing about death metal and screamo, I'm not into mosh pits. Now I've gone to my share of concerts that are jam packed and you can't even move and you're sweating like crazy and, you get the idea. But I'm just not into getting pushed around and possibly beaten up while I'm trying to enjoy live music. Now I could be totally wrong about mosh pits, and that they are inlcuded in death metal and screamo, but that's what I've heard about that kind of music. If someone would like to enlighten me, then please by all means feel free to, but I still don't think that'll change my mind. Usually I'm pretty open to any and all kinds of music, but I just don't get death metal and screamo. I'm sorry to anyone who loves this music and I hope I didn't offend anyone!

Buying and Selling Music

Thoughts on the buying and selling of music...I think that's kind of a broad topic. After reading the articles I think that artist, at least not-so-famous artist, aren't getting paid nearly enough. I think that during the recording process and everything else that goes into getting an album ready and advertising an up and coming artist, all the expenses should be cheaper. Either that or They need to make the price of CDs more expensive for consumers just to compensate for the money that the artist isn't getting. Making CDs more expensive probably isn't the best idea though because that would probably end up leading to fewer CDs being sold in stores and possibly more music being downloaded off the internet for free. So something should change to make sure that the artist is getting paid more than he or she is now, but I don't really know how to solve this problem. Any ideas?? I'm sure we'll be talking about this a lot tomorrow but I bet that nothing will happen to help out these mid-level artists for a long time. On buying music, I don't really think that the prices of albums should go up. I think that they are already pretty expensive. I just don't see how you can put a price on music. Of course I agree that the artist who made the song or album should get paid for the awesome job that they did but I just don't want to fork up that 12-15 bucks for a CD. And I know that we talked about this the other day too; If you do end up buying a CD you want to make sure that you get absolutely everything out of it that you can. Even if it means making yourself like a song on the album that you normally wouldn't like. I know that if I buy a CD I'm gonna make sure that I milk it for all it's worth. I'm gonna listen to every single song on that album and I'm gonna like it.

Music and Culture

I experience music everyday mainly through my surroundings. Sometimes I don't even notice that there is music playing around me. When I do something like walk around campus I can hear music playing somewhere. When I go to work out there is music in the background. When I go eat there is music playing in the caf. Of course when I'm driving there is music playing somehow. And when I'm sitting at home I can hear music from somewhere around me, whether it be from me or a roommate. I also experience music by listening to my iPod or the music I have on my computer. I usually like to have music playing at all times when I'm alone in my room, except when I go to sleep. When it comes to viewing music as an art form, I really see it when someone is performing music. Not everyone can make music that is "enjoyable" for the general population, including myself, so I find beauty and art in performing music. As for culture, when people perform music it shows you a part of their culture and where they come from along with a part of your culture. It becomes a part of your culture because both you and the artist who is performing the music share at least one thing in common: the music being performed. So both share just a little bit of the same culture in music and experience the same music as an art form. I also tend to experience music as art when I'm looking at art. Museums usually play some music in the background and when I am looking at an art piece I take in everything around me as an art form, but I think a lot of people do that too.

Music Culture

My music culture begins with the music that my parents listened to when I was younger. I basically only listened to what they listened to and then it just grew from there. Songs from my memory include "Kiss From a Rose" by Seal, anything from Journey, and "Cheeseburger in Paradise" by Jimmy Buffett during the summers at the lakehouse. Once I started to find some music that I liked on my own my taste began to deviate a little from what I had listened to in the past. So along came groups like the Spice Girls, Nsync, and of course the Backstreet Boys. Like every 12 year old girl I was obsessed at first, and then the phase began to fade. After that I got into some country music and that is just about where I still am today. Today my music culture includes country and a little bit of rock from Texas. When I was a senior in high school Texas country was all that I listened to. It got so bad that every Wednesday night I would go to a concert with friends where some band that we all knew would play for hours on end. For many 16-18 year olds in San Antonio this was all that they did. I remember listening to bands like Stoney LaRue, the Eli Young Band, Randy Rogers, and many others that I'm sure nobody here has heard of just about 24/7 and then Wednesday nights and weekend nights there would be a concert for us to attend either free of charge or at a decent price. So it all came from parents in the beginning, then from the radio and television, and finally from friends in school and around the city. So of course a big part of my music culture came from the people and friends around me, and they have definitely influenced me the most.