It kind of surprises me that I haven’t written on this topic already, given that I am a music teacher’s daughter and that the editor of this blog is also a professional musician. I suppose I’ve never stopped to write about it because it’s like a fish asking what water is. Music is such a big part of my life that I just sort of took it for granted growing up that everyone regularly had access to live music and a generous supply of recordings.
Of course, the pandemic has cut off access to live music. Right now, I am listening to a recording of a holiday concert that is normally performed live. The only places anyone’s listening to live music right now are at their outdoor worship services and in their own living rooms--if they happen to have a musician in the family. (Great, now I miss listening to my father practice.) For reasons that would take too many paragraphs to get into, live music truly is the most neurologically beneficial, but the recorded stuff works great, too. The fair question, of course, is why music in general tends to help with mental health. My understanding of the benefits of listening to music is that depending on the kind of music, it activates parts of the brain that are otherwise hard to access. Also depending on the kind of music, it can activate a range of emotions not easily accessible through words. Music also makes it easier to remember good words, such as those in many of the Christmas carols we experience this time of year. Perhaps most powerfully, music activates our memories much in the same way that taste and smell do. Note that much of this depends on the kind of music. Like food, some kinds of music are better for you than others. Some are healthy, and some are toxic; everyone is at least a little different in what helps or hurts them. Like food allergies, your personal history with a given song or style may have more to do with whether it is helpful to your mental health or not. While classical instrumental music is almost universally recognized to be helpful, it will hurt you if the particular song in question is tied to an excruciating memory. While heavy metal is almost universally recognized to break your brain and contribute to hearing loss at the same time, there are some people who have come to Jesus through Christian heavy metal and may associate it with finding God. Music is powerful stuff, which is why it’s important to screen the lyrics. It’s very telling that the Bible preserves the words, but not the tunes, of the Psalms. Sacred music is a wonderful way to sink deeper into the beautiful reality of God’s love, but not all the music you listen to needs to be sacred. It is enough to ask of your music, “Does this help, or is it possibly making my worry, depression, or anxiety worse?” There are some secular songs that are so uplifting that people have been singing them in churches for years despite having secular origins (for example, “You Raise Me Up”). There are also some sacred songs that are actually a little questionable (for example, “I’ll Fly Away” happens to be in the SDA Hymnal even as it teaches the rapture, which Adventists have never agreed with.) One of the best ways to employ music towards improving your mental health, though, is to make some yourself. Even if you can’t carry a tune in a bucket, singing is a wonderful discipline both for putting more music in your life and for forcing you to breathe in such a way that more oxygen goes to your brain. With the exception of percussion, keyboard, and string instruments, all music demands controlled breathing that has the side effect of reducing stress and enabling clearer thinking. Also, the process of making music forces you to be entirely “in the moment.” Think about this: music is essentially organized time. When you sing or play an instrument either from memory or from written music, you can’t jump too far ahead mentally into the future or you will misfire what you happen to be doing in the current line of music. The sound and where it’s going next fills your mind, leaving little room for your worries and cares, even if you’ve practiced the piece many times. This Christmas, since there are so many well-known Christmas carols that offer a great excuse to sing for better mental health, why not try singing along with some of your favorites? Whether you live alone or with others, this is one of the best musical seasons of the year to participate with your own voice or instruments. As you celebrate Christmas this Friday, I invite you to make it a musical one to increase your joy.
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AuthorJillian Lutes is the youth pastor at West Covina Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church. Archives
May 2020
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