Life doesn’t always go our way.

Unfortunately, we don’t live in a fairytale where we have our own fairy godmothers or genies to grant us wishes and there is always a guaranteed happy ending.

We all have our ups and downs, but we don’t need genies to make our lives better because we have…

MUSIC!!

Music is the best form of art because it is expressive, it stimulates the brain, and it is enjoyable.

“Let music speak to you”. Literally. You can resonate with the lyrics of a song or the phrasing of the music piece which makes you feel like you’re not alone in whatever you’re going through. One of the great music legends, Prince, always sang passionately and with emotion to emphasize the meaning of his songs.

Musicians add their own technique as a form of expression (vibrato, legato, dynamics, ritardando, etc.) to express mood. For example, ritardando means to slow down; musicians use this towards the end of a piece or phrase to express their emotion and to enhance the music.

Listening to music actually uses and activates many parts of your brain. You use the left frontal lobe to recognize rhythm or patterns,  the sensory cortex controls your fingers when playing an instrument, the occipital lobe processes what you see, which in this case, can be sheet music or lyrics, the right frontal lobe shows your creative side, and the auditory cortex processes the music you hear.

When playing/ listening to music, you use skills such as listening, reading, and even writing if you’re writing or composing a song. So basically, you’re kind of doing homework when listening or playing music, but in a fun way.

Music can resonate with our lives, bring back memories to reminisce on, or it can make us feel the emotion we want to feel (sad, happy, etc.) We all have different tastes in music, so what’s enjoyable to us may not be enjoyable to other people. Also, music can put you in a really good mood especially when you’re feeling down.

Well what if you don’t like music?

That’s perfectly okay! We all have different preferences, and you can still live your life without enjoying music. However, there are over 97 million songs in the world, and there has got to be at least one song that you enjoy. And there are roughly 1,264 genres of music, so you can definitely search for one that suits you.

 But as cliché as it sounds, music is everywhere. In the ringtone of your alarm, the chirping of birds, even in the O’Reilly Autoparts theme song-you can’t escape it.

Why is music important when it comes to building a community?

You can make friends and form a community with those who have similar music tastes as you. Forming a community also gives you the feeling that you are not alone with whatever you’re going through in life. The best part about forming a community is you can make stronger connections with other people and learn more about them, especially since you share at least one thing in common.

Why is it so crucial to use music as a coping mechanism?

Sometimes people listen to music to escape from reality. Life isn’t easy. The three minutes of the song allows them to take one step back from the stress or issues in their lives and to just savor the beauty of the song. You can also resonate with the lyrics of the song that makes you feel comforted-it’s basically free therapy! No matter what, people can always turn to music as their best friend.

Why are so many memories made through music?

Anyone can listen to and even play music! When you listen to a song, sometimes you connect it to a memory you had while listening to that song. It could be singing to “Hotel California” with your dad everyday in the car, “Congratulations” playing at your graduation, or even singing to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song with your childhood friend. And what’s great about music is that you don’t need talent to like it. You don’t have to be a child prodigy in order to enjoy music.

We don’t need to find a knight in shining armor to save us or to save a damsel in distress to feel accomplished. We are in control of our own lives and music is just a tool to help us cross bridges to the other side. Because in the end, all these obstacles we face only make us stronger. And with music as our weapon through life, we can conquer anything to find our happy ending.