Christian songs playing in the background, gentle rain sounds can be heard outside while I am writing down this article. Just like any typical Sunday, sounds of music can be heard in our house.
Whether it be old good 70s or 80s music that my dad loves to play in our living room, 2nd generation Kpop songs that my sister loves to play on repeat, or Christian songs on my end, music is one of the typical things that connects us and relaxes our soul and mind.
A common expression that we can all agree is that “music unites us all”. It is a kind of language that brings people from all sorts of background together. As people often say, what spoken words can’t tell, music will help bridge that gap.
Such a simple common statement that is so powerful that we can’t help but agree. Just like what musicians will often say, “music transcends cultural and linguistic boundaries in many ways that you cannot even imagine”.
Who doesn’t even listen to music nowadays anyway? Even those pieces composed by Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and composers during pre and post Renaissance period made long-lasting impression.
These composers are internationally known even in today’s generation. Imagine these composers are from the 17th and 18th century, yet, their tones, sounds, and melodies are still alive until this time.
Moreover, how such music, which doesn’t have any ounce of English lyrics, can be understood by a person who doesn’t even know the English language? It got you thinking as well right?
You see, considered as a universal language, it binds each and every person in the world today regardless of culture, belief, ethnicity and spoken language. It goes beyond that thin line or boundary that separates us from each other.
The main similarity between music as a language and a spoken language per se is that emotions and ideas conveyed never changes.
Why music is considered as universal language of the human soul?
Music has its own way in touching our lives. It can occur in unexpected situations or mostly in ways we cannot imagine.
Scientists and researchers, in their recent scientific studies, found out how music affects our mood, emotions, actions and way of thinking through the sound waves traveling to our brain, which the brain translates and conveys to our body.
Personally, I don’t categorize listening to music as a simple hobby. For me, music is a kind of therapy that my body, soul and mental health needs. It plays a positive role in my total wellbeing.
During today’s extraordinary times that every person in the planet is currently experiencing, music is an outlet that feeds positivity and enlightenment to one’s soul. Sounds deep right?
You might think that there are other ways that can be considered a universal language of the human soul like maybe spreading love and kindness.
However, spreading love and kindness is totally different since it’s much broader in nature and people tend to misunderstand someone’s act of kindness.
Music, the universal language that binds each and every person in the world today regardless of culture, belief, ethnicity and spoken language, is something that we can all relate to.
In the same manner, it helps boost and brings positivity to our emotional wellness which in turn feeds happiness to our human soul.
Why do you think music is considered a universal language?
A language uttered and understood by all is the main element that makes music a universal language.
It is not just through verbal communication that people binds themselves since it also has its share of cons. But if there’s one thing that can be accepted as a universal language, we can all agree that it is music.
The latter belongs to everyone regardless of social status, culture, belief, ethnicity and spoken language.
It reaches out to you not in a physical way but through your soul and emotions. It touches something deep within you that not even spoken words can express.
Imagine a world where the covid pandemic still exists and music is nowhere to be found. Just how depressing and dull will that be, right?
Whether you are going through something heartbreaking, or in celebratory mood, or unspeakable joy, these can all be expressed through music.
Everyone can definitely attest that lyrics and melodies that comes out of your favorite songs affects your wellbeing and changes your mood much faster than hearing nonsensical compliments from other people.
Throughout the years, it has been proven that music plays a vital role in our ability to communicate freely with one another.
Hence, it is accepted and considered as a universal language for we can communicate freely with music rather than through speech.
How does music become a universal language?
First and foremost, what does universal language means? A thing is considered universal, as a matter of fact, when it is understood and used everywhere.
Music is a means of communication that transcends generations. It holds us together regardless of cultural barrier, belief, values and language that we were raised with.
A millennial or GenZ of today probably knows a song or person living from the 16th, 17th or 18th century through music.
You see this is evident when it comes to songs composed by well-known composers like Mozart, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky among others.
Their compositions have remained alive until today through music, spanning generations, touching people’s lives with their mind- boggling masterpieces.
Music allows us to understand something from basic concepts to complex ones with emotion and rhythm.
What makes music beautiful is that we can respond to each other, regardless of our location, despite our age, language, and reason.
Another fascinating thing is that music has became an integral part of life and civilization that defies time and space. It goes beyond a simple sound with lyrics.
It helped people convey their feelings to one another without the need of uttering words. Effects of music are long-lasting that it is naturally preserved for the future generations.
Why is music so powerful?
Every time I listen to music, I feel some kind of peacefulness and mellowness that goes through my entire body.
It may sound weird to you but for someone who uses music for healing and therapy for my mental and spiritual health, it gave me benefits way more than I can imagine.
Emotionally, music helped me manage my stress and and sudden outburst of emotions. Music made me understand that it’s okay to be vulnerable at times.
It also helped me correct my sleeping pattern and lessened the times I keep on overthinking things.
Sudden outburst of emotions, stressful situations, and overthinking are highly destructive to the body especially on your mental health.
It gives you the inability to think straight, destroys your cognitive skills and slows down your memorization, and sadly it induces depression among others.
Hence, the power of music is there to help reduce anxiety and stress, refocus our energy and helps us memorize and hold on to precious, beautiful memories.
According to what scientific studies have shown, music is very powerful that it can affect and change people’s moods in an instant.
Someone who is undergoing chemotherapy or scheduled to have a major surgery appeared to have a renewed sense of confidence, vigor and positive outlook in life when they listen to music.
Listening to music have also enhanced people’s cognitive and memorization skills. In the same way, it helps alleviate the symptoms and tendencies of people who are clinically diagnosed with mental disorders.
What is the true power of music?
Imagine a world in the middle of this pandemic where you can only hear chaos, people’s banters, celebrity gossips and unnecessary noise.
Just imagining it, I can already feel this negative energy swallowing me physically and mentally plus this irritating feeling of having to deal with additional burden less the fun and excitement.
Now imagine that kind of world without music. Honestly, it feels foreign and smells death to me. I don’t think I can even last a day without listening to music, how much more if music is not existing anymore.
You see, listening to music has become an integral part of our lives. It’s like the air that we breathe.
Once it disappears everything becomes dark, bleak and dull. It’s like life doesn’t have any color and all you can see are black and whites.
Moreover, music boosts our physical wellness, helps us express our emotions with ease, releases built up emotional tension, keeps our memory sharp and feeds our spiritual wellness.
Music, the universal language that transcends time and generations, helps us communicate with each other freely and with ease.
No matter where you are in this planet, music accompanies you and feeds your soul with positivity and enlightenment.
Final Thoughts
I love music but what I love more about it is how it touched my wellbeing mentally and spiritually. The effect that music has on me is tremendous.
For someone who prefers being silent and has a hard time conveying feelings and emotions to other people, music helped me improved my social skills.
Through music, I learned how to convey my innermost thoughts to people. It helped me released built up emotional tension that’s been bothering me lately.
Additionally, listening to music made me realized that it’s okay to feel myriad of emotions. You can laugh, cry, be angry moderately, at all times.
Living in these extraordinary times, life lately has been extremely boring. Listening to music has become the outlet of most people to escape the stressful situations and challenges from work, school, family, and every day life struggles.
When I feel that everything is in disarray and nothing is going right according to my plans, I’ll plug my earphones to my phone, open Spotify and randomly choose a music that suits my current mood.
Lastly, music makes us feel alive and not just purely exists. It has broken cultural barriers that even a spoken language cannot do hence it only fits to say that music is indeed a universal language to our soul.