Michelle Ledermann
Thursday, September 18, 2014

Music and Its Emotions

Music has become an integral part of people’s daily life. People hear music all the time; when going to school, having coffee, working out and sometimes even for sleeping. Individuals tend to listen to music that fits their emotions. If they’re happy they’ll listen to upbeat music and when sad they’ll listen to slow music. People do this because music is able to change their mood from one minute to another. Whether it’s rock in the radio or opera in the library music has the power to change people’s emotions. Understanding that music can change people’s emotions is important due to the fact that emotions are important in children’s education and people’s healing process.
The brain is the reason why people’s feelings are affected by music. While most people believe the processing of music takes place only in the right side of the brain, it actually activates every part of the brain, which affects almost every body function. The processing of a sound occurs in the auditory cortex, while rhythm on the other hand, is processed in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum. Emotions that are created by the brain are due to all parts of the brain. Many simultaneous processes create different emotions in a person. One emotion leads to the other and that’s how people’s feelings get tangled up. Studying music and how emotions are created can help many people in this world.
It is important to study why music can change people’s emotions due to the fact that emotions are important in children’s education. It has been proven that when kids listen to music, chemical reactions like the spreading of chemical dopamine occur. Chemical dopamine is a hormone, which causes happiness in a person. When children are in the process of learning they tend to be stressed out and aren’t happy at all. When kids listen to music while learning their dopamine automatically is higher, which gives them a better attitude towards learning. On the other hand, music also helps children have a better memory. Memory is a very important part of learning and by listening to music the long-term memory gets better.
Another reason why it is important to study why music can change people’s emotions is because