Scientists have found that music can reduce sympathetic nervous system activity; decrease anxiety, blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate; and possibly have positive effects on sleep in regards to muscle relaxation and distraction from vexing thoughts.
It's Tuesday evening, and after a four-week hiatus, I'm finally attending chorus rehearsal again - but I haven't assumed my usual place on the risers. I'm seated toward the back of the hall, awaiting a cue from my director and trying to curtail the explorations of my new companion: an 18-month-old black Labrador.
Music is often most affecting when a performance is so natural, and a composition so well-crafted, that a listener is able to let go and relax into a state of pure experience. But what is it that allows music to bestow this state upon a listener?
With a master's degree in piano performance from Manhattan School of Music, Edith Moore-Hubert has performed in academic, liturgical, medical, and concert settings for almost 30 years. In 2010, she released a solo CD, Music to Calm Your Soul. She describes her music as therapeutic, and I asked her to share some insight into the healing potential of classical music.
As a music major at the tail end of my college career, I've led a rewarding, though exhausting, last few years. The time I spend practicing piano (my main instrument), going to lessons, classes, rehearsals, and studying - not to mention working a part-time job - can add up to 16-hour days, most of it filled with music. So it amazes me that after all that activity, listening to music is still the way that I choose to relax.
Many people turn to classical music for relaxation, but actually playing the music takes a lot of effort and concentration. What do classical musicians do to unwind after snapping their instrument cases closed?
I live where the land is on fire. Western North Dakota, the area of the country experiencing the Bakken oil boom, is marked by flares and pump jacks, oil rigs and semis, rapid development and expansion.
How many ways can you play a cello? Alison Young talks to cellists Mark Summer and Anna Clift about this flexible instrument, as well as with vocalist Tierney Sutton, who collaborates with Summer and will perform with him at the Dakota on Thursday.
South Korean composer Goomin Nam explores the emotions of longing and tranquility in his new soundtrack for the game "Monarch: Heroes of a New Age"
Clark the Caterpillar is our guide through music and emotion in this Class Notes video -- part of our standards-based series of fun, short movies about music education
