THE EFFECT OF MUSIC ON THE BODY
The perception of music usually happens passively. Even if we are not aware that we are listening to music, our body still reacts to it. Music has a big influence on our physical condition and affects our body rhythms, including heart rate and intensity of pulse. As a result, music controls blood pressure and thus brain activity.
The prerequisite for influencing music is that it has a rhythmic bass guide. It should also contain dominant percussion instruments with a rhythmically repetitive base stroke.
However, the adaptation of the body rhythms to the rhythms of the music does not depend on the musicality of the listener.
The music can cause a lift or lowering of the pulse and blood pressure. Here, the pace of the basic strokes determines whether a stimulant or calming effect occurs. Normal bodily functions run at 72 heartbeats per minute. At a tempo of more than 72 BPM, music has a stimulant effect, and at less than 72 BPM it is reassuring. What is striking here is that a tempo of 60 BPM causes the strongest reaction of the human body. This leads to the greatest relaxation and relaxation. The only explanation found to date is based on the theory that 60 BPM was the original human heart rate (in a time before civilization stress).
The Bulgarian Georgie Losanov carried out some experiments. In baroque music with a base beat of 60 BPM, subjects slowed their heart rhythm by 5 BPM. Blood pressure dropped and brain wave activity dropped to relaxation levels with high mental alertness. These measurements show clear parallels to the brain wave activities of yoga during meditation.
Similar results could also be achieved with a metronome or ticking a clock. However, the subjects here quickly became aware of monotony and found it disturbing. Therefore, the uniform base beat must be “packaged” in music.
Are you looking for an organic pest control services? Visit
The unconscious perception of the music can be exploited to create a pleasant atmosphere through targeted music use. Music at home, for example, usually helps to do household work or homework more easily. Here even the complete absence of music, i.e. the total silence, can be disturbing. This is reinforced by the fact that we are used to a permanent sprinkling with music. Total silence is perceived as unnatural and associated with death.
In addition, the music has an increased effect on the limbus region of the brain. The Limbus is responsible for the formation of feelings. Thus, music becomes a trigger of feelings.
In summary, targeted music is not just about entertainment value. In this way it is possible to influence the body rhythms of the listener through music and to provoke emotional reactions
MUSIC AND WORK
People have been making music at work since the earliest times, but these are mostly certain types of singing. This music is not instrumental or functional. It does not come from outside, but arises from the situation of the people and their motivation. Rhythmic chants or drumbeats that served to coordinate the joint work have been found in a wide variety of cultures since time immemorial.
In today’s modern industrial society, this kind of self-determined music making at work has almost disappeared. For this purpose, music brought in from the outside, mostly by other determined music, gained a great deal of distribution. Functional music, which is brought to workplaces in order to have a performance-enhancing effect on workers, also has a long history.
As early as the 17th century, Jesuit missionaries used music to promote the will of the Indians to work. It was hoped that the aversion to heavy physical forced labor could be alleviated.
Even earlier – as early as the 15th century – music with similar aims was used in the European manufactory. Interest in music in work situations increased in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially in the context of industrialization. Music was soon analyzed and used from a work-psychological point of view.
The conviction that background music can increase work performance and improve the mood of the workers was already very widespread even before scientific proof.