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 |  A support forum for writers dealing with mental illness |
This is a very interesting topic! I'm excited to be making my first post having just joined this group today!   I am also a musician, making this topic near and dear to my heart!    For me (and I believe that for most people), music can be incredibly therapeutic. However, as this group is obviously noticing/acknowledging, it can heal or it can harm. Yes, I agree that today's popular music is becoming more and more sad, angry, and unhealthy. While I've been known to crank up a raging Fleetwood Mac song or something similar now and then for a release and a bit of a cathartic effect, I think there is too much angry and violence in today's music. I especially object to the statements often made about women in much of the music popular with our young people. Music truly amounts to much more than the movement/vibration of atoms; it's a unique realm where the spiritual world and the physical world can both be affected. In one way of looking at it, music has 3 components: the melody, the harmony, and the rhythm or beat. The parallels I learned about when much younger include: - - the melody represents or connects with one's spirit and/or the spiritual world - - the harmony comes from the soul and/or emotion, deeply seated in the psychological world - - the beat/rhythm represents or connects with the physical, one's body, the physical world (I'm sure some will disagree and that there are many other ways of looking at this, but this perspective works for me!) From this point of view, it is easy to see why (I believe) rap isn't truly music with mostly beat and usually has little to no melody and typically no harmony. For balance, it's usually important for the melody to not be dominated by the rhythm. From this point of view, I find it interesting that as a pianist, guitarist, alto, bassoonist, etc., I focus a lot on harmony. I love to learn the alto, tenor, baritone, and bass parts, usually in preference over the high soprano tones. (A little bunny trail there, but interesting at least to me...) Undoubtedly, music impacts one's emotions, and the lyrics plus the sensory stimulate and input can greatly impact the psyche, to anyone involved in mental health issues (in my opinion) should carefully consider music as a factor, both for good and for ill. I look forward to absorbing and pondering others' views here. Keep writing! Ruth Rodgers   RRodgersWrites P.S. - - Almost forgot to address that last question. The following songs and artists soothe my heart and soul. I highly recommend them! John Denver (Colorado girl here!) - - Anne Murray - - The Carpenters - - the Forrester Sisters - - Walela (Rita Coolidge, a sister, a niece - Native American) - - Native American flute music - - Gloria Estefan "Wrapped" (2003) - - Disney's "Animal Kingdom" soundtrack - - Tim Weisberg instrumentals (especially those on the "Tim Weisberg Band" album (1977), including "Cascade", and other greats - - album: "Mannheim Steamroller Meets the Mouse" - - Harry Potter soundtracks - - most of the "Dances with Wolves" soundtrack (some can become quite anxiety-filled) - - soundtrack to "The American President" - - album "The Young Messiah" - - some other Mannheim Steamroller albums - - many Helen Reddy pieces - - many Gordon Lightfoot tunes - - Adele (what a voice!!) - - . . . I hope that some of these become your favorites too and that I get to experience some of your favorites! |
TotW: Mental Illness & Music · 02-15-19 3:00pm
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