Monday, May 27, 2013
Works Cited
1. "Connection Between Pop Music and Depression." Jonathans Blog From The Source. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013.
.
2 . "Country Music Is the Top Genre for Depression and Suicide Rates." Hoofprintnet RSS2. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013.
.
3. "Depression Self Help: Music For Depression." Music For Depression. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013.
.
4. Kater, PeterMyrah, SharonHalpern, StevenBlackburn, ZacciahMenehan, Karen. "Healing Rhythms." Massage Magazine 155 (2009): 36-37. Alt HealthWatch. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.
.
5. Koebler, Jason. "Teachers Use Hip Hop to Engage Students." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 07 Nov. 2011. Web. 21 May 2013.
.
6. MOISSE, KATIE. "Alzheimer's Disease: Music Brings Patients 'Back to Life'" ABC News. ABC News Network, 12 Apr. 2012. Web. 21 May 2013.
.
7 . "Music Therapy." Music Therapy. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013.
.
8. Ninh, Amie. "Study: Are Music-Loving Teens More Likely to Be Depressed? | TIME.com." Time. Time, 12 Apr. 2011. Web. 08 Feb. 2013.
.
9. "Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive." Top Documentary Films RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013.
.
10. Stratton, Valerie N., and Annette H. Zalanowski. "The Relationship Between Characteristic Moods And Most Commonly Listened To Types Of Music." Journal Of Music Therapy 34.(1997): 129-140. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 15 Mar. 2013.
.
11. "Teen Depression Statistics - Teen Depression." Teen Depression Statistics - Teen Depression. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.
.
12. "The Talon." The Talon RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.
.
13. To People Who Are Depressed Pt 2. Dir. BriBryontour. Perf. BriBryontour, Christian Novelli, Luke Cutforth, Emma Blackery ,Jason Veeoneeye. BriBryontour, 2013.
14. "Your Secret Name – Do You Know Yours? » Alone." Your Secret Name Do You Know Yours RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Music Will Always Be There For Us
Music, no matter the genre, can be an escape from our troubles, or just an enjoyable activity that could be used for therapy. Music has the power to help people relax, to enjoy life and to beat depression. Music should be used for therapy and not taken away from the people who really need it to overcome their discontent with life. Taking away music from society destroys a part of the listener’s well-being. Music is constantly used in our everyday lives, and those who do not think it is valuable have not experienced how music can make you feel.
Music is an escape to another world. Music is fun and enjoyable, or even realistic and exactly what you need in certain moments. Music is honest and says the truth in the moment. In life, everything will not be perfect. The world will feel as if tons on our shoulders, and then fall and crumple at our feet. We cannot control the events that happen to us, but we can control the songs that can comfort us in those moments of need. Others cannot say what we need to hear, but songs can with little to no effort. The same way others are not always able to be there for you when you need them and music can be.
People say that there is no proof to show if music causes depression or if people with depression use the music to cope (Primack 1). This being because if the music was a definite factor as a cause for depression there would be proof. People do not run to music to be sad. They go to music to feel more than the current moment. They want to exist beyond the world where the music completely understands them. If we constantly went on in the world with just silence yelling in our minds, we would not be able to endure as many situations that we do. All of our emotions would be trapped inside or minds, but with music that is where all of those emotions are released. Listening to our favorite music is even healthy for our cardiovascular system. Music helps to reduce stress and increase blood vessel flow (Menehan 2). Sometimes music might help through tears, other times through dancing and occasionally through a good nice long needed laugh. The multiple types of genres of music help to find what every person needs individually. Everyone needs to embrace music in their own way.
Music in its own way is a therapy. Before surgery, classical music is commonly played for patients to relieve anxiety (Menehan 2). Everyone gets anxious, upset and angered on occasion, but music can be used to lessen or even diminish those emotions in that moment. No one needs to have the ability to play a musical instrument to relax with music. Music when used in short term segments can mediate depression and migraines that people occasionally might receive. People going through chemotherapy have been played music to help with the treatment. Music was not created to hurt us, but to help us (Bodner 1).
With Rock music, it helps teenagers to express what emotions they are feeling; give them a security in a time of need. As well as security, music helps teens to explore their own minds and understand their thoughts or actions. When teenagers are confused or lost in their own actions, the music helps to take them away for a moment and clarify their desires or needs. The Rock music helps the teenagers relax when trying to overcome their internal battles. Since the music relates to them it comforts them (Tervo 79).
Rap and Hip Hop music are typically frowned upon for their sometimes inappropriate language and connection with violence and drug abuse. Not only are there many profanities but the music also, just like many other genres, speaks of life and stressful situations that come with it. Many teens and adults go to Rap and Hip Hop when they are down because they can relate to it. Rappers and singers tend to rap or sing about moments in their lives, or events that they went through. People who have been through common situations, and enjoy the rhythm of the song, enjoy the music. Hip Hop music as well is very beneficial in keeping children engaged in their education is some schools. Teachers have found a way to mix music and education so that its fun, and educational to their students. When it comes to our memories, many people have tons of song lyrics floating around in their brains. When education is tied into those lyrics, the music can help the students be well prepared when it comes to taking a test. The children listening to music barely recognize the fact that they are learning (Koebler 11). Hip Hop and Rap are very beneficial to education as well as an understanding of your personal life situations. Sometimes just someone understanding you makes you feel a little less alone in such a big world.
Country music is another one of those huge genres connected to depression. With its soul and rhythm when speaking on matters such as loss, or regret, it can be quite obvious why the connection would arise. All the country music fans go to their favorite singers’ concert to feel the music with in them. Not to hear that listening to their favorite music will cause them to get depressed. Especially with teens or adults who already have depression. The music describes the people who listen to it and who they want to become. In the article “Country Music is the top genre for depression and suicide rates” out of the 30 participants that they surveyed, 26 of the participants said that music helps them with their depression. If over 5/6th of the people surveyed said that the music was more beneficial then it seems that if they did not listen to the music there would be higher suicide rates.
Pop music is one of the most commonly listen to music with its fun, up-beat sound that keeps listeners coming back for more. So why would it be connected to depression? With the other genres, they spoke of struggles in life and regrets that anyone could see where society had gotten the idea that those genres caused depression, but Pop music is more about feeling happy and free. When teens and adults listen to pop music they want to dance and smile. Would this not be more beneficial for people who are sad and are looking for some sort of happiness (Mckee 1)? In the article, “Could Pop Music Be Linked to Depression?”. Alan Mozez researched on pop music in American culture and how teens who listen to it have shown signs of depression. Mozez interview Brian Primack on the matter, and learned that there is no proof to show that music is a cause for depression. He learned that a lot of teens who listen to heavy amounts of music have a higher chance of having depression, but not that listening to heavy amounts of music caused depression. Other researchers even said that music might lessen teenagers’ chances of becoming depressed (Mozez 1). Assumptions fueled without proper research can be the difference between helping teens and adults with depression, or making the depression worse. Listening to pop music creates a need to dance not be depressed.
Music defines who we are as human beings. The type of music we listen to can say a lot about us, how we over come life, and where we might fit in. Common interests in music brings us together to feel free and understand others ideas and feelings. Every genre in music can be beneficial to all of their listeners in one way or another. Artists’ songs help their fans to relax, to be content and to feel the emotions that they might try to keep buried which can be invigorating. Music expresses who we are as individuals, and tries to save us from the power of depression caused by our everyday lives.
Annotated Bibliography
1.) In the article “Healing Rhythms”, by Peter Kater, Sharon Myrah, Zacciah Blackburn and Steven Halpern, they talk about how music helps people receiving messages to relax. All four of these writers work for Round Table, a magazine on massages. They learned that researchers had studied participants who listened to music while receiving a massage had an increase in blood vessel flow which is beneficial to the body. They have written it to show that people who get messages should listen to calm music to put them at ease and to make them happy.
Kater, PeterMyrah, SharonHalpern, StevenBlackburn, ZacciahMenehan, Karen. "Healing Rhythms." Massage Magazine 155 (2009): 36-37. Alt HealthWatch. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&sid=7de1cf5b-e7fa-431c-8ab8-325a9193e3b8%40sessionmgr115&hid=124&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=awh&AN=37595983
2.) In the article, “Study Are Music-loving Teens More Likely to Get Depressed”, by Amie Ninh, she interviews Brian Primack on his belief on whether music causes depression or not. Brian Primack informs her that teens who listen to a lot of music are most likely depressed, but he then says there is no proof if music causes depression or if depressed teens use music as an escape. He did a study of 106 teenagers and music was the only one to show a change in emotions. The article shows to people connecting music to depression that there is not a enough information to prove that it actuall causes depression even though it can effect mood.
Ninh, Amie. "Study: Are Music-Loving Teens More Likely to Be Depressed? | TIME.com." Time. Time, 12 Apr. 2011. Web. 08 Feb. 2013.
Rhetorical Precis
Rebecca Groom Johnson, the writer of “What’s New in Pedagogy Research”, in the magazine the American Music teacher had interviewed Karl Bruhn on Recreational Music Making for her article “Take Two Music Lessons and Call Me in the Morning” was unsure of whether Recreational Music Making was beneficial or not. Karl Bruhn had made the claim that RMM reduces how much stress affects an individual.
While Bruhn was looking over the statistics of population growth he had noticed that the elder generation, over 50, would double over the course of the years while children 15 and below would only go up 6%. He believed that this would be tied with economic changes messing with the children's mentalities whilst they age. Johnson was quite shocked at these statistics and had wanted to further her knowledge by asking Bruhn about stress in the workforce. Bruhn had informed her that out of the 19 million Americans depressed, 70% were currently in the workforce. She questioned how Recreational Music Making helped reduce stress. Bruhn himself had done research on Dr. Barry Bittman who did research on Human Genome, the information on the building and well-being of a human which helped find the genetic marker relating to stress. Bruhn had found from a group of drummers that the instrument had increases the effectiveness their fighting cells had on attacking the cancer cells and keeping them out.
A program that was branched off the RMM program was the Clavinova Connection which was created so that the participants can feel the support of a group and accomplishment from performing. This program was for adults and for teens to overcome stress with music. Bruhn had informed Johnson that the problem with the performing was that it was a creator of stress from the idea of having to be perfect. Lastly, Rebecca Johnson asks how the RMM program differs from regular schooling. Bruhn tells her that unlike at regular schools, RMM tries to lead students to create their own goals not the teachers. By creating their own goal they are not held under the stress of fulfilling a goal of someone else.
The purpose of RMM she learns is to be fun and around people who understand you and not under the stress of competition because music is supposed to liberate you and not put you under stress. This work is significant because Johnson finds how the musical instruments are used to help with stress. The RMM is very significant and helping not only teens overcome stress but adults as well. This article helps to prove that music is in fact beneficial to stopping stress and depression; not creating it.
1. Johnson, Rebecca. "The Interview." Keyboard Companion 18.2 (2007): 34-37. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&sid=7de1cf5b-e7fa-431c-8ab8-325a9193e3b8%40sessionmgr115&hid=124&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=25560535
Annotated Bibliography
1.) In the article “Healing Rhythms”, by Peter Kater, Sharon Myrah, Zacciah Blackburn and Steven Halpern, they talk about how music helps people receiving messages to relax. All four of these writers work for Round Table, a magazine on massages. They learned that researchers had studied participants who listened to music while receiving a massage had an increase in blood vessel flow which is beneficial to the body. They have written it to show that people who get messages should listen to calm music to put them at ease and to make them happy.
Kater, PeterMyrah, SharonHalpern, StevenBlackburn, ZacciahMenehan, Karen. "Healing Rhythms." Massage Magazine 155 (2009): 36-37. Alt HealthWatch. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&sid=7de1cf5b-e7fa-431c-8ab8-325a9193e3b8%40sessionmgr115&hid=124&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=awh&AN=37595983
2.) In the article, “Study Are Music-loving Teens More Likely to Get Depressed”, by Amie Ninh, she interviews Brian Primack on his belief on whether music causes depression or not. Brian Primack informs her that teens who listen to a lot of music are most likely depressed, but he then says there is no proof if music causes depression or if depressed teens use music as an escape. He did a study of 106 teenagers and music was the only one to show a change in emotions. The article shows to people connecting music to depression that there is not a enough information to prove that it actuall causes depression even though it can effect mood.
Ninh, Amie. "Study: Are Music-Loving Teens More Likely to Be Depressed? | TIME.com." Time. Time, 12 Apr. 2011. Web. 08 Feb. 2013.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
Music is Life
Life Is
Music
The
screams filled the room like thunder,
Cutting
through so simply
They were
abrasive to the heart
as knives
were to the skin.
Her eyes
watched the sun shine oh so bright.
But the
feelings inside her were drowning in spite.
The sun
set fire to her eyes
She
couldn't feel enough to smile or even to cry.
She sat
for hours and listened to their words.
And all
they did was smirk because this is what she deserved.
She
reached in to her pocket and brought out another life
Where
people weren't deceitful and ruined those who survive.
The words
were sung with passion
as the
songs ran through her ears.
Bringing
her to another world
where
pain was too weak to sear.
She could
feel the ice cracking slowly
then
falling apart.
Her heart
had begun to warm up
because
of this beautiful art.
She could
feel a sense of freedom ripping out from the seams.
she knew
that life could not always be kind,
or give
you everything you need.
As the
dark clouds inside her had started to disperse.
She could
see the sun wasn't too bright down here on earth.
She had
enough strength to go on for just another day
and
experience this last day of life and see it in another way.
This
sickness inside her would kill her body soon.
But the
music that abides within her
had freed
her from her enticing tomb.
Friday, February 15, 2013
The Listeners Statistics
Hypothesis:
While completing surveys, I expect
to find that people believe that music is not a cause of teenage depression as
said from teenagers themselves. I expect to see that they all listen to music
on a daily basis for more than one hour at a time. When teenagers listen to
music they use it to block out others while the music puts them in a more
positive mood at the same time. When witnessing their friends listen to music
they will see an improvement in their friends' mood. The music all around can
be used in any situation but would be mainly used to improve the mood of teens
after an argument.
Context:
The
target audience were teenagers since that is what my blog is about. I chose
teenagers since the topic of teenage depression is directly surrounded on
teenagers I wanted to see if they agreed. From the survey I discovered that
many teens agree with me when it comes to the fact if music is a main cause for
teenage depression. My results are
reliable and valid because I divided the respondents, since they were all teens
into music groups to see the effects a certain music genre had towards the
thoughts of the respondents. One of my questions that were not very helpful
towards the research was whether they saw a change in their friends emotions or
not. Some said they did not see a change in their friends emotions yet in the
follow up question, said that their friends became happy contradicting their
previous statement. But also, the fact that they said their friends became
happy benefited my research.
Music Genre(27 participants)
|
Question 1: Do you listen to music everyday?
|
Question 3: How long do you listen to music?
|
Rap(6 participants)
|
Yes
|
The common trend is 3-4 hours.
|
R&B(4 participants)
|
Yes
|
The common trend is 3-4 hours.
|
Pop(6 participants)
|
Yes
|
The trend is from 1 hour to all day.
|
Country(4 participants)
|
Yes
|
1- 2hours is the common trend.
|
Rock(8 participants)
|
Yes
|
The common trend with rock is 3 hours and
longer among the people.
|
Metal (3 participants)
|
Yes
|
The common trend is more than 3 hours.
|
Everything (8 participants)
|
Yes
|
The common trend with everything is 5 hours to
all day.
|
Music Genre(25 participants)
|
Question 4: Does the music you listen to effect
your mood?
|
Question 5: Music is a cause for depression in
teens, (True or False)
|
Rap(5 participants)
|
The common trend was that it did effect their mood.
|
Two said true but the rest said false.
|
R&B(4 participants)
|
The common trend was that it did effect their
mood.
|
Two said true and the rest said false.
|
Pop(6 participants)
|
The common trend was that it effected their
mood but a small amount said it didn't.
|
They all said false.
|
Country(4 participants)
|
The common trend was that it effected their
mood but a small amount said it didn't.
|
Two said true and the rest said false.
|
Rock(7 participants)
|
The common trend was that it did effect their mood.
|
They all said false.
|
Metal (3 participants)
|
The common trend was that it did effect their
mood.
|
They all said false.
|
Everything (8 participants)
|
The common trend was that it did effect their
mood.
|
One said true and the rest said false.
|
Music Genre(25 participants)
|
Question 6: Do you see a change in your
friends' mood when they listen to music?
|
Question 7: What kind of mood do your friends
go into?
|
Rap(5 participants)
|
They all said they had seen a change.
|
All but one said it was used to block people
out.
|
R&B(4 participants)
|
They all said they had seen a change.
|
All but one said it was used to block others
out.
|
Pop(6 participants)
|
They all said they had seen a change.
|
They all said it was used to block people out.
|
Country(4 participants)
|
Two said they did not see a change in their
friends yet the other two said they did.
|
They all said it was used to block people out.
|
Rock(7 participants)
|
One said they did not see a change in their
friend and the rest said they did.
|
All but two said it was used to block people
out.
|
Metal (3 participants)
|
One said they did not see a change in their
friends and the other two did.
|
They all said it was used to block people out.
|
Everything (8 participants)
|
One said they did not see a change and the
other seven said they did.
|
They all said it was used to block people out.
|
Question 8: Do you think music is used to block
others out?
Music Genre(27 participants)
|
Trends
|
Rap(6 participants)
|
All but one said it was used to block people
out.
|
R&B(4 participants)
|
All but one said it was used to block others out.
|
Pop(6 participants)
|
They all said it was used to block people out.
|
Country(4 participants)
|
They all said it was used to block people out.
|
Rock(8 participants)
|
All but two said it was used to block people
out.
|
Metal (3 participants)
|
They all said it was used to block people out.
|
Everything (8 participants)
|
They all said it was used to block people out.
|
Music Genre(27 participants)
|
Question 9: Do you blast music....?
|
Question 10: When do you think people would
most likely listen music?
|
Rap(6 participants)
|
They all said they would listen to it alone and
with others.
|
Many said that people listen to music mainly
after an argument, when bored and in the car.
|
R&B(4 participants)
|
They all said they would listen to it alone and
with others.
|
Many said that people listen to music mainly
after an argument, when bored and in the car.
|
Pop(6 participants)
|
They all said they would listen to it alone and
with others.
|
Many said that people listen to music mainly
after an argument, when bored and in the car.
|
Country(4 participants)
|
They all said they would listen to it alone and
with others.
|
Many said that people listen to music mainly
when bored.
|
Rock(8 participants)
|
Many said the would both blast it alone and
with others.
|
Many said that people listen to music mainly
after an argument, when bored and in the car.
|
Metal (3 participants)
|
One said they like to blast music with others
and two said they would also blast it alone.
|
Many said that people listen to music mainly
after an argument, when bored and in the car.
|
Everything (8 participants)
|
They all said they would blast music with
others and alone except two.
|
Many said that people listen to music mainly
after an argument, when bored and in the car.
|
Data Analysis
My
first finding was that many teens agreed that music was not a cause of teenage
depression. This is the main point I am trying to make so this is very
beneficial to my research. If twenty two people out of the twenty seven believe
this then if more surveys are filled out this statistic will grow. The teens also said that the music that they
listen to effects their emotions. If the music isn't effecting their music to
make them depressed it is putting them into a more positive mood. Twenty three
people out of twenty seven people feel that music effects their emotions. Only
on person believes that music cause depression between the ton. Yes this is
negative towards my data yet it is still just one person out of twenty
three. Twenty three people in my results
come out to 85%.
Everyone who had taken my survey had said they
listened to music every day for at least an hour. This was very substantial
toward my research since it is surrounded by music. If every single teen that I
surveyed listens to music every day then every survey can contribute towards
the research. 37% of the teenagers surveyed had listened to music for five
hours or more. This is very helpful because this is the biggest percentage out
of the amount of hours that the teens had listened to music. If 1/3 of the
teens can listen to music for up to five hours and stay positive then that
gives me hope when proving point.
81%
of the teens surveyed had said they had seen a change in their friends emotions
while they listened to music. 41% said they had seen their friends mood become
happy, 26% said their friends had became excited, 26% said that it depended on
the music and 7% said sad. This helps my data because out of all they surveyors
67% said that their friends had been brought into a more positive mood. If over
half of the surveyors are going into a definite more positive mood this shows
that they believe music is helpful and not negative towards their friends
also.
89% of the surveyors agreed that music is used to bock
others out. This is helpful to my research because that shows that music is
used to block the outside world out when it is negatively affecting you. Music
is used as an escape, and many of the surveyors agree. They blast music alone
and with friends This helps because this shows that music is positive and they
want to share it with others, but that they also just enjoy it alone, and how
it makes them feel. As shown in the survey 37% of the surveyors believed that
music was mainly used after an argument, but it was also tied with the answer
choice when they are bored. This is helpful because if they believe that music
is mainly used after argument, showing that they use it as an escape from what
went on in the argument. The fact that they also use it when they were bored is
also helpful because that means no matter how some one is feeling they will
resort to music.
Conclusion
My
conclusion from my research is that many people listen to music every day. That
no mater what genre of music that the teens listen to many believed that the
music was still positive outlet. The ones who did not believe music was
positive all the time were also from a variety of genres such as hip hop, pop,
country and also just the ones who listened to all music. I believe the point I
was making was proven since 81% of the surveyors agreed that music was not a
cause in teenage depression. If 4/5ths
of the surveyors agree that is over half and I believe it does support my research.
The only different outcome from what I expected was that some teens were unsure
ho their friends reacted to music, whether it was positive or negative. They
also believed that it depended on the music on how they felt towards the
songs. I can conclude that even though
some teens said it depended on the music 81% still said that they believe music
was not a cause of depression.
Follow Up
With
my secondary research I would continue to separate the surveyors by music genre
but also by age. I feel as if age groups
will show different statistics towards music causing depression. The five
questions that should be researched further are “Does the type of music you
listen to cause depression?”, “Does age effect ho you react to music?”, “How
can not listening to music effect you?” and “Why do people become depressed?
“My research question had stayed the same because I am still proving that music
does not cause depression no matter what genre of music you listen to, but I
had added age in to the future factor. I added age in because adults and children
will most likely react to music differently than teens would and it would be
interesting to see the outcome.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)