Since ancient times, music has coexisted with the daily life and production activities of primitive human communities. From then on, music has continuously evolved and matured over the years. Indeed, music has a significant influence on individuals, contributing to the formation and development of one's personality.
Like other forms of art, the content of music reflects the reality of life. With its unique characteristics, music reflects life in a poetic and abstract way. Music describes objects and phenomena in life. It can also express perspectives on life and convey thoughts. Another crucial aspect of the content of music is the evaluation of reality from the standpoint of Aesthetics, meaning evaluating objects and phenomena independently of their practical, utilitarian aspects. For example, when admiring the sunrise, we appreciate its beauty without necessarily thinking about how the sun provides energy or warmth for us. It can be said that the evaluation from the Aesthetics perspective is an “indifferent” evaluation.
These are the messages that music can convey. The content of music is inherently uncertain. Depending on each individual's abilities, psychological characteristics, perspectives, preferences, life experiences, cultural background, etc., people perceive the same piece of music differently.
With the harmonious combination of lyrics, melody, and rhythm in a musical composition, music has a profound impact on the listener. Although everyone's perception of music is different and can be highly diverse, there are still commonalities within certain boundaries. These commonalities are based on the influence of music on human beings.
Firstly, music affects the physiological aspect of human beings, a nearly universally recognized impact. Through their research, Russian biologists I.M. Dogen and I.R. Tackhanop demonstrated that music influences the respiratory and circulatory systems and other aspects of the human body. Music can make listeners feel comfortable, light-hearted, and relaxed. At the same time, it can make them feel tired, distracted, or tense. Therefore, music has a non-negligible impact on labor productivity. In the past, thanks to cheerful and enjoyable tunes during harvesting, threshing, planting, watering, etc., laborers forgot about fatigue, hardship, and worked more enthusiastically. Nowadays, in factories and industries, if music is used scientifically, labor productivity can be enhanced.
Not only that, music also influences the emotions and thoughts of individuals. Music, if deeply and intelligently perceived, can impact an individual's worldview and overall consciousness. The most direct and powerful impact of music on human beings is in the realm of emotions and moods. No other art form besides music can exert such influence on the emotional world of individuals.
The reason why music has such a significant impact is because it is a form of expressive art. Its language is similar to the intonation of speech and gestures, meaning it is akin to the means of expressing emotions. Due to its abstraction and amplification of the expressive capabilities of intonation and rhythm, music has a tremendous power to affect emotions. Moreover, musical compositions depict elements that we find fascinating and interesting in reality. Music reproduces the enticing sounds of nature, expresses pleasant emotions, and satisfies our curiosity.
One role of music that cannot be denied is its participation and support in festivals and community entertainment, in collective movements (parades), and as a means of relaxation and entertainment.
Because music influences emotional and intellectual aspects, it plays an equally crucial role in educating individuals, especially the younger generation. Music can be used to educate thoughts and ethics for the listeners. Positive characters, high moral standards, and images of people struggling internally, living in hardship, and unsatisfied are depicted in music, influencing the ethical feelings of the audience and elevating them to a broad level of morality. Musical works that express high moral ideas, such as love for the homeland, country, national pride, friendship, love, brotherhood, filial piety, and maternal love, always play a particularly significant role in education. Music has awakened conscience, aroused a sense of sacred restlessness: Have I done something good? Have I lived well? Am I worthy of that beauty? Do I still have the strength to perfect myself further? These thoughts create an internal force that propels the listener towards perfection, towards self-improvement.
Besides positive influences, there are types of music that can have negative effects on individuals. Romantic songs containing unhealthy emotions or pessimistic and nihilistic feelings can greatly harm an individual's ethics. It is the subtlest path to the decay of morality and spiritual decline. Some songs, when listened to, make people feel sad, bored, weak, or helpless. There are also music pieces that overly excite the listener, making them overly enthusiastic and unable to control their behavior, leading to improper actions.
Because music has such a significant influence, parents and educators need to pay more attention to this issue. In schools and group activities, it is essential to choose music with healthy content that is suitable for the age of the students for teaching and listening. In families, parents should guide and direct their children in choosing and listening to music, teaching them how to appreciate music. Understanding the musical preferences of children in education is important. Through their musical preferences, we can learn about their temperament and ethical qualities to some extent.
In this way, music plays many important roles in social life. However, these roles are closely interconnected, sometimes blending together, making it difficult to distinguish them.
Life without music would be dull and somber. Discussing the role of music in social life is incredibly rich and profound. In this short article, it is impossible to fully express its value. To conclude, I would like to quote the words of Socrates: “Music elevates humans, makes them nobler, strengthens character, reinforces faith in the inner power of oneself, and in one's grand mission.”