With any art form, there are numerous gratifying features that an audience can take away from it. For music, this can stem from thought-provoking lyrics or a memorable melody, all to create an emotional response. A more recent trend, however, has seen academics and doctors assess the neurological effects music can have on an individual, and how it can be used as a tool to improve oneself.

This notion is at the heart of our work here at Music Relief Foundation, and this post will assess the benefits of music, whether you are a performer or listener. These benefits fall under the umbrella term of wellbeing, which can be applied both generally and medically. It seems obvious to say that any one individual will be happier when listening to the music they like, but there are also therapeutic benefits to listening to music.

The most notable example of this is ambient music, a genre that stemmed from experimentation with electronic and synthesised sound, emphasising tone and atmosphere over traditional melody and rhythm. Brian Eno, a former member of Roxy Music and often considered to be the founding father of ambient music, was key to the popularisation of the genre, noting that the genre can be “actively listened to with attention or easily ignored, existing on the cusp between melody and texture”.

Though musicians are using this style as a means of artistic expression, the advent of the internet has meant that ambient music can be used as a tool for wellbeing. Several YouTube channels have been created to provide viewers with self-help and therapy, editing ambient passages into lengthy song-loops to create meditative experiences. Though it is easy to see the specific benefits of this kind of music, what of the more general link between music and wellbeing.

The one consistent relationship we all have with music is the ability to memorise both melodies and lyrics, irrespective of the song or genre. At a fundamental level, music is an abstract art form, encoded with sounds and lyrics that are packaged in a way for consumers to react to. As individuals, we all have acquired tastes, preferring a certain genre of music over another, and thus we respond accordingly, ranging from sheer dislike to admiration.

Studies have found that once we become accustomed to certain songs, our brain begins to set in motion an “anticipatory phase”, leading up to the part of a song that we love the most. Instrumentalists can use this dopamine rush to their advantage, slowing the tempo or playing unorthodox notes before coming full circle for a rousing crescendo.

As such, this can alter the state of our minds, with the combination of rhythm, pitch and tone potentially changing our mood; punk music for example, a relentlessly noisy and scatty genre, would likely make the listener angrier, which in turn is related to the social rebellion that is synonymous with the genre. Conversely, genres like neo-soul and quiet storm utilise their slower tempos and gentle rhythms to create a calm experience, and subsequently has a different effect on the listener.

Though this piece has looked at the benefits of music from a listening standpoint, it is also, for the majority of the time, a gratifying experience for the performers. The creative process is undoubtedly tough at times, but throwing oneself into work can be both immersive and rewarding.

That’s why the work we do here at Music Relief Foundation is so important, for the creative output of our young ambassadors not only improves their creative and performative skills, but also offers them a potential path for the future. You can find their work on both YouTube and the website, and we hope it impacts you in the same way it does for them.