Musings on Music

Have you ever stopped to consider just how powerful music is?  Not even considering the lyrics, just instrumental aspect.  It really is incredible.

When I have music playing in my house, the majority of the time it is movie and video game soundtracks.  I’ve had the soundtrack for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World playing on repeat in my car for the past week (really need to find my CDs for the other two movies so the whole story can cycle through) and it really brightens my drive to work.  Back during my undergrad days, The Return of the King soundtrack was my preferred study music.  It started slow but grew in intensity before calming once more toward the end making it perfect for me at the time.

We use music to set a tone and encourage a mood all the time.  We tend to favor music with a strong, fast beat and high intensity when working out.  We listen to slow, quiet music with a gentle rhythm when trying to relax (there’s one piece of music I’ve heard of that’s supposed to be so relaxing that people are advised against listening to it while driving because it is too easy to fall asleep).  Go on Spotify or Pandora or any other music streaming site and you’ll find playlists for love songs, workouts, happy days, sad days, seasonal, weather, and many, many more.

Think of your favorite movies or video games.  How much less intense would the fight sequences be if the background music was gone?  How cheesy would some of the romantic scenes be without the soundtrack?  There’s one sequence in Guardians of the Galaxy II that I find intensely disturbing because of the music*.  Change the music and the scene would be far less unnerving.

Some early Christian hymns were actually set to the tune of popular bar songs of the time.  A notable example is “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”  These days, it tends to be sung so slowly it sounds more like a dirge than a triumphant shout.  (Imagine this song sung with the same glee as this medley!)  An inordinate number of Christian songs these days rely on only a small collection of notes and key changes.  Which makes it easier on the music leaders but can be a bit dull to listen to on repeat.  Or on a different tack, how about “Happy Birthday”?  Sing it fast and it’s kinda fun.  Slow down and you’re singing at their funeral instead.

Music has been, and still is, used for worship.  The Bible is full of times where people burst out in song because of something God has done.  For some religions, song is an intricate part of their ceremonies.  Sea shanties provided rhythm for work as well as entertainment.  Think of the Disney Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs “Heigh ho,heigh ho, it’s off to work we go!”  Or more recently, the opening song of Frozen when the ice harvesters are at work.  Ballet dancers look for smooth flowing songs with a clear beat for warm up exercises (can’t speak for other styles since I’ve only taken ballet).

So is there a point to this?  Sort of?  It’s more of an observation than anything else.  If your mood is down or you find yourself frustrated, try changing your music.  Or just put some on.  There’s a lot to choose from.

And really, be conscious of what you’re listening to.  Not just the lyrics (those can be super important too) but of the feel and tenor of the instrumental aspect.  

Happy listening!

*I’m referring to when Yondu, Rocket,and Groot break out of the ship.  It’s a slaughter scene set to upbeat, preppy, pop music which I found horrifying.  Death and slaughter is never something to be made light of.  I know Guardians takes very little seriously but that sequence went too far for me.