I have been thinking about this recently because I am in the process of writing my personal statement to reapply to university. I'm going for psychology and need to relate everything I put in my PS to psychology including why I play the guitar. It's also just interesting to see the psychology behind music, why we listen and why we play it- some say it's a way to connect with the soul, others say it's a form of expression. I see it, like Sherlock Holmes plays the violin, as a way of distancing myself from problems to let them digest in my head while I distract myself with another activity. But why do you think humans gravitate so much toward the concept of music (both playing and listening)- is it something spiritual or just biological (like certain vibrations played together are just satisfying)?
I like to play the guitar for a sense of achievement as i've always wanted to play and enjoy the acoustic tones its soothing. as for listening, i listen to music to relax, i don't need to do anything other than listen :)
I usually listen to music for my entertainment, but there have been times I've listened to it purely for entertainment. I find that so long as I can find something that I think has a nice beat to it I'll usually enjoy it.
I listen to music to mostly calm me when I had a bad day, or depending on my mood, I listen to it to make myself feel better or let out my emotions. One of the reasons I listen to linkin Park, it really helps. It also helps me when I'm walking home from work, I even have a playlist of music I listen to while walking.
I listen to music for two reasons. One is to help me feel in a certain mood when I am working on something. The other reason is because I... make music videos in my head. It sounds kind of odd, but I really like just imagining a story to songs. Even ones I don't necessarily like. I guess picturing the music videos helps to pass the time away, especially on long car rides. I love music for more reasons than this but this is generally the reason why I listen. (Which is why I tend to not talk to people when my headphones are on.
I listen to music for multiple reasons. To escape the world around me, to help me focus on something such as work, to simply entertain myself when there is literally nothing else to do, to listen to a song I like at the moment over and over, to feel understood about something, etc. Music is pretty much engraved into me and apart of my life. Without it, I probably would've killed myself by now (not kidding). I've gone through many things and music has saved me multiple times from the amount of depression I have. I can go all day with my headphones on. I've done it plenty of times and I actually have headphones on listening to music right now. Yesterday, I had them on for almost 6 hours, the day before that, same thing. I guess you could say I literally have a music addiction . I also play piano (but I'm not very good), simply because I like the way it sounds and because I just like playing it.
It usually varies on my side. Sometimes, the music channels I subscribed to have a new song from the artist and I listen to that. Sometimes, I'm on my way to a destination and I want to listen to pass the time. Sometimes, I found a song I enjoyed somewhere on the radio/internet and want o listen to it again. Sometimes, I'm depressed and need the sounds to ease my mind and let it even out the rough edges I'll just end it with this. Without music, I wouldn't be the person I would be today and I probably would've stayed on a hiatus from KHV for a lot longer.
Generally this is me as well. I'm constantly trying to look for new music for soundtracks for stories that'll never get written down. On top of that, it helps me be less nervous and block out unwanted stimuli.
All of the above. Music helps me get in or out of a mood whenever I want -- if I feel sad, I'll either listen to One Republic and pull myself out of it or find a song like London Calling and use it for motivation to write or edit -- and on top of that, it sort of reassures me that I'm not the only one who feels this way. It might sound really dumb, but if anyone who's going through a bad breakup listens to Adele, they'll usually think, "Oh, that's just how I'm feeling right now!" It reminds me that we all have our great and bad days, and it's a good way to feel connected to others despite a desire you might have to be alone. At least for me, there's a sense of unity within humanity, especially when you consider that the messages of songs in other languages can still break through and be conveyed, even without a complete understanding of the lyrics. It's amazing what a few notes on a keyboard or some strings can convey.
I heard an interesting theory the other day about why music is so important to us. Basically, we are social animals and, over the years, have developed a language which has become vital in our community of socialisation so we have become accustomed to the desire for sound. And this is why we connect so much with music, because it's rhythm and melody can just resonate with our beings so well. Music can also hold important memories, like, I don't know about you, but when I listen to a song that I first heard at a certain point in life then I am teleported back to that point and remember the feelings I had back then. They remind me of people, of places, of situations and of times in my life which just makes me feel nostalgic. I have to keep my iTunes in a specific order because of this- the sogns are in the order I got them and so, in essence, tell the story of my life over the last few years.
Spoiler I learned playing music because my parents subscribed me to have lessons, simple as that. I was very young, it was the same year I learned how to read at school. Most of the solfege explanations went way over my head at that age (it' s basically math) and I chose to play trombone but my arm was too short, I couldn' t play all the notes. XD I continued for, idk, six or seven years. I don' t play any instrument anymore, I forgot most of what I learned, but I love to sing and whistle. I suppose it secretes endorphins or something, I get pleasure from it. Even when I can' t sing along, say because I' m in the bus, I tap along with my feet and fingers. I can' t just be a passive listener.
I play the drums, and seeing as I suck at guitar but not at drums, it has become a friend to me. To me, the reason I play them is because I like to look cool while playing (thanks to a fave jazz drummer of mine for his inspiration). I like to play songs I like and actually play them nicely. It feels like I accomplished something.
