The Powerful Properties of Music
By: Danella Moncaliano
Music has been around since the beginning of time. It is consistently around us beginning from the day we are born. Music holds many purposes. It can serve as a fun distraction or a way to pass the time. Driving on a long road trip? Sing along to your favorite songs on the radio. In an elevator waiting for your floor? Listen to the calming, yet upbeat elevator music while you wait. Music also holds many more important and pertinent purposes than to just occupy the void. Music can bring peace, anger, longing, and happiness to anyone listening, depending on the record you are indulging in. Along with these emotions, music can help people of all ages to elevate their overall mood, as well as aid in treating dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other illnesses
among the elderly.
According to the Mayo Clinic, past research has suggested that either listening to or singing songs can benefit people with Alzheimer’s disease, both behaviorally and emotionally, as well as aid in treatments of different types of dementia. This is because music has the ability to relieve stress, reduce agitation, and reduce anxiety and depression.
Listening to your favorite song from 10 years ago can bring you back to the very moment you first listened to it. NPR reported a captivating story about a former dancer named Marta C. González who suffered from memory loss. A video shared by the Asociación Música para Despertar, “a Spanish organization that promotes music therapy for those afflicted by memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer's disease,” went viral demonstrating how once González heard a song from Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake, she began moving and dancing her arms gracefully and elegantly as the music sparked strong emotions and memories for her.
This inspiring event is just one example of the powerful, memorable healing properties that music holds and the joy and special moments it can bring time and time again.
