Potential Title: Does Violent Music equal Violent Life ?
Basically, my topic comes from the concerns many have about listening to hip hop or rap music and the influence it has on teens and their emotions or actions. I noticed when watching and analyzing the video I chose for my last assignment, there was a concerning level of suggestion of violence that encourages or diminishes the moral of facing repercussions that arises from our inner conscience.
I may believe that music can impact one’s emotions or actions because of what they represent. They establish a connection to the listener when they can relate to what is being said within the lyrics. I personally can speak to the fact that when I’m upset I listen to music to further force the feeling or emphasize the ora of sadness, guilt, pain, or more.
So the essential question to ask is how does music affect one’s personality or emotional, physical, and mental state ?
- Why does violent music make a person more susceptible to being more violent?
- How does uplifting music or positive language in music affect the individual listener?
- How can someone avoid being changed at all by the type of music they listen to?
Keywords: susceptible, affect, personality
Shahram Heshmat – 6 ways music affects your emotions
According to Shahram Heshmat, there are at least six ways music affects your emotions.
Music can make you feel good by the means of creating positive feelings, and broadening mindsets for the better. (Heshmat paragraph 2). Secondly, it can startle you; when a loud noise occurs all of a sudden our brain is wired to create an auto response to sudden sounds or noises (paragraph 3). We can also become in tune or connected to the soundwaves of the song. “For instance, dancing is moving overtly or covertly in coordination with the music”(Heshmat paragraph 4). An important effect of music on our emotions is how contagious the feelings or emotions conveyed in the song can become to the individual listening. Heshmat says “we tend to “catch” the emotions of others when perceiving their emotional expressions.” (paragraph 5). This goes hand in hand with the statement that we can become connected with the song based upon auditory appeal. The last two points include emotional events and musical surprise. Emotional events indicate when a certain song can remind someone of a certain event that highly impacts them emotionally. Lastly, musical surprise being that our brain makes predictions all the time, that moment when the unexpected beat drops, we are newly impacted by it.
I completely agree with Heshmat especially in the degree of the statement he made that the emotions of the song being listened to can affect how we feel afterwards. Overall the article further emphasized the point I wanted to make in my essay that music can affect the lives of those listening to it. However the possibility isn’t a guarantee only because I feel like I can listen to music without compromising my emotional or mental health in the process. All of the ways that he stated how music can affect you, were all ways that I know I have personally experienced first hand that can have an effect on an individual. However it is truly at the hands and conscience of that individual that they choose to not let it overcome them. A question i do have and will answer in my essay is: How can we avoid allowing it to overwhelm and control us when we listen to music that has the potential to compromise us?
Healthline – Does Music Affect Your Mood ?
After reading healthline news, mysteries will still remain as the question begs an answer that remains unfound; Does music affect your mood ? Obviously the “your” is rhetorical in this sense, especially since the question itself is a yes or no and based upon the information retained in the article, the answers as well can be surveyed as 50/50. As predicted and quite well known, music can be used as therapy. Reports show that “…music therapy programs can be designed to achieve goals such as managing stress, enhancing memory, and alleviating pain.”(Music As Therapy, 2nd sentc) It was supported that music listened to prior, during, or after surgery helped patients experience less pain and anxiety compared to those who didn’t. (Music As Therapy, 4th sentc). Another portion of the studies written in this news portal, was the ideas that supported creating music being an effective technique to establishing greater health outcomes. Researchers who conducted a study on the impact of music on those with mental health issues such as dementia, had a boost in their self confidence and an improvement in their mood overall. (Boosting Moods, 2nd sentc).
The newsletter was not as resourceful or more entertaining in comparison to the educational journal written by Shahram Heshmat. Overall I believe this could not support my project in the way I would like it to be as Heshmat’s educational article can. As most news articles, the title did draw my attention, but the facts seemed almost fragmented and the article itself seemed as if it was not finished. There were only two main focal points of research gathered to write about the topic, however this topic is not the kind to have only two points to discuss in the matter of how music affects an someone’s mood or emotions. I also believe, due to the fact that the question asked initially was a yes or no simple question, the article’s expectation had a bar set low when the perspective cannot broadened beyond a yes or no. My only question that i have for the writers of this article is: why stop here ?, where is the conclusion ?
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Hello Leeyah. This is a pretty interesting topic because I never thought that violent music would actually make some sort of affect on a person and their violent behavior. I also really like how you organized you blog it is very appealing and makes it easy to read.
Awesome topic! My parents are also against rap/hip-hop for this reason. This is also similar to a few years ago, when violent video games were thought to make a child more violent. I hope you find some good information so I can tell my parents to back off!
Hey! As a teen who grew up with my parents telling me all the time that “bad” music will make me a bad person, your post piqued my interest. Music can influence so much of our lives, but can it change who we are? I’ve actually noticed that when listening to certain music my attitude does change. And usually that why I listen to those songs. It’s kind of like listening to motivational speakers, our minds interpret what we are hearing as certain actions and can release chemicals to prepare for such (at least in my experience).
I would have loved to see more quotes from the articles just to get more of a sneak peek. Otherwise, great job!
Hello Leeyah
You’ve chosen a really interesting topic question. I have my own opinion on violent music videos but I’ve never done any real research on this topic. I wonder if after reading your paper, and learning more on this topic, if it would change my mind on this. On a side note: I think your outline might be the best organized one I’ve seen so far!
There is no doubt that violent music does play a role of influencing the listeners to that kind of music but from perspective it is solely the choice of the listener after all the listener make that choice so it is his responsibility
Hello Leeyah! As soon as I saw the topic of your paper, I got really curious because I listen to hip-hop and rap music myself. The thing that stood out to me from the first article was that certain songs can remind us of specific emotional events. I can relate to it myself and I’m sure other people that listen to music will. I totally agree with you about the second article. It is not, just as you said, ”resourceful,” but I’m sure there are plenty of credible sources that will aid you in writing your paper.