The Power of Music

Joseph Weston
Introduction
Narrated over various cutaway footage of relevant significance.
Narrator
One of the most powerful forces on the planet is music. The sway
it has over our minds is phenomenal. The way we recognise it fast
and associate it strongly makes it a powerful tool and has been
for tens of thousands of years. Its this ability to make us feel
different emotions from music that I would like to investigate.
In this programme, I will be taking six volunteers and take away
the one things they value most. Their choice in music.
Opening sequence rolls. Then cut to interview of the six
volunteers stating their names and subject courses. Followed by
another cut to the volunteers in a room talking to the narrator
(who is behind camera)
Act 1
Narrator
Hello everyone, welcome and thank you for volunteering to
participate in this experiment. I would like to see the affect
music has on people, on a social and mental level. To this
however, Im sorry to say, I will be taking away your usual list
of music and replacing with a different one.
Narrator hands them a piece of paper with a list on it.
Narrator
As the volunteers are finding out now, the list of songs I have
given them are entirely ones that are very sad and downbeat.
Footage of volunteers looking through list.
Narrator
We shall check back with them later in the week.
The topic of the origin of music is a heavily debated one. This is
due to the most likely first awakenings of music would have been
performed via singing, chanting and clapping and, as such, there
would be no archaeological evidence to back this up.
The best guesses that scientists have managed to come up with is
that the first songs may have been created around 30,000 to 60,000
years ago to coincide with rise of other creative works such as
cave paintings, jewellery and ornaments.

The first instrument is also a debated topic. This is an image of

a supposed Divje Babe flute, discovered in a cave in Slovenia in
1995. It is dated to be 43,000 to 60,000 years old and was carved
from the femur of a cave bear. However, the predominant form of
human was Neanderthal, and as such many scientists refuse to
believe they would have been clever enough to craft such an
object, so they speculate it was just bitten by another creature.
Evolutionary scientists believe that a musical culture would have
helped prehistoric man to survive because the music coordinates
emotions, helps important messages to be communicated, motivates
people to identify with a group, and motivates individuals to
support other group members.
Jumping forward to ancient Greece and Rome, music had become not
only a source of entertainment, but also a large part of their
mythology. Most of their instruments had origin stories related to
gods and goddesses, as well as having deities devoted to the
craft. Examples are the god Apollo who, among other things became
the god of music, and there were a group of creatures called the
nine Muses. These each represented a different craft within the
creative arts, with Euterpe being the one that was in charge of
music.
In ancient Rome, music became a huge part of enormous spectacles.
They thought it was a representation of the orderliness of the
universe. Music also became a part of a performing art known as
Pantomimus which was an early form of Ballet.
Music also has had other uses other than entertainment. It has had
prominent use in warfare, of which there were two main uses. One
was when armies were marching, and though the main purpose was to
keep them in time, it was used as a morale booster as well. One
example is the chant Hitler Only Has One Ball, which provided
confidence through comedic lyrics.
The second use was on the battlefield itself. The bugle horn would
have been used to single out authoritative commands through simple
melodies that carried across the armies. The bugle was used due to
its lightweight and ability to produce a powerful and precise
sound. Though not in use today, the bugle is used a commemorative
military occasions in memory of its original use.
I think we should check on how our volunteers are handling the
task so far.
Cut to footage of the volunteers talking about how they are faring
in the task.
Narrator
Lets see how they are at the end of the week.

One of the most major uses of music to boost morale was during
WW2. This was as a result of it being the first conflict to occur
during an age of mass distributed electronic music. Many of the
popular songs of the decade were ones created to reflect the
situations that were happening across the nation and Europe. Some
of these songs include: Run Rabbit Run, Therell always be an
England, There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover,
When The Lights Go On Again and Well Meet Again which is
playing in the background now.
Pause to let Well Meet Again play in the background for a few
seconds.
Narrator
As mentioned, all these songs were produced regarding a particular
situation during the war. When The Lights Go On Again is about
the blackouts during the Blitz, and Well Meet Again was about
the soldiers who left to go to war as well as the evacuees who had
to move to the country. Music became an escape from all the
horrible things happening overseas in Europe.
Act 2
Narrator
Recently we asked the public and our volunteers what music they
like and why.
Cut to footage of various people answering about what music they
like and why (including the experiment volunteers).
Narrator
So why does music have this much power over us? Well according
to Julian Treasure, an expert in sound and communication, there
are four main ways that sound affects us. One is physiological. If
we were to hear a sudden or loud noise, we given the equivalent of
a shot of cortisol, which is the hormone that gives us our Fight
or Flight instinct. This, in turn, affects your breathing and
heart rate. Though it isnt always unpleasant sound that does
this. An example is the sound of a gentle shoreline, which has a
similar frequency to the breathing of someone sleeping and so we
find it quite soothing.
The next is Psychologically. Music is one of the most powerful
form of sound that affects our emotional state. You may have felt
slightly happy when hearing Well Meet Again earlier, and this
is as a result of the song being in a major key. It is also due to
how we associate the sounds we hear. When you hear that song from

now on you will instantly connect it to WW2 or the 1940s.

Birdsong is very affective with this too. When we hear it, we feel
reassured or safe, as a result of many thousands of years of
learning.
The third factor we are affected by is cognitively. For instance,
if you were listening to two sounds at once, like a couple of
people talking, you have to zone-out one of the voices and focus
on the other. Humans have a very small bandwidth for processing
sound and so if you work in a workspace where the sound levels are
like this
Pause to hear sound a large crowd talking.
Narrator
You would be shocked to know that your productivity decreases by
66%.
The final way sound affects us is behaviourally. Especially with
music, our moods and actions change, sometimes, dramatically
depending on what we listen too. For example, if you are listening
to a fast paced song with a quick drumbeat, are going to feel more
intense. Some sounds make us feel uncomfortable too, and so
companies make sure that whatever jingle they have to make sure
none of the sounds are unappealing.
Well now marks the end of the first week of the experiment. Lets
see what the volunteers thought of it.
Cut to interviews with volunteers on their experience of the week.
Act 3
Cut to studio again handing out new list of songs.
Narrator
After seeing the results of the first test. We are sending the
group out again, but this time with a different list of songs.
These songs are happy and upbeat, in contrast to the previous
week.
Whilst they begin their challenge we asked the public their
predictions of the outcomes.
Footage of the interviews with the public.
Narrator

We also asked a psychology and music expert their thoughts on the

matter.
Cut to footage of the interviews with psychology and music
teachers.
Narrator
In the modern age, we have a much higher understanding of music.
We have noticed that changing such small parts of a song can
change its mood and connotations. In this video of pianist Umi
Garrett, she takes the piece The Turkish March by Mozart and
plays it with different amounts of emphasis and speed to create
different emotions through the piece.
Pause to show footage of video excerpt of Umi Garrett playing
piano.
Narrator
Actor and comedian Bill Bailey also demonstrates this too when he
plays the title song for match of the day and plays it slower to
create a Jewish Folk Dance.
Pause to show excerpt of Bill Bailey: Qualmpeddler.
Narrator
Today, music has many other uses than it used to. One of the main
ones is through advertising as either backing as a memorable jingle for their company. It also has been for medical purposes. An
experiment conducted by S. Bodeck, C. Lappe and S. Evers of the
Journal of the Neurological Sciences, tested the effect of music
on the frequency of tics that Tourettes patients exerted. They
concluded that active and passive participation in musical activity can significantly reduce tic frequency.
Furthermore, there is also medical use in people who suffer from
dementia. There is a report of a phenomenal case in which Paul
Robinson from Age UK tells of a time when he was playing for an
advanced dementia patient that used to be an organ pianist. Despite not being able to recall language or recognition, as soon as
someone started singing a hymn she sat at an organ and accompanied
it perfectly.
Now, lets check back in with our volunteers and their second
week.
Cut to footage of mid-week vlogs of the volunteers, followed by
end of week opinions from the volunteers again.

Outro
Narrator
As a result of the music that was slower or considered more
depressing, the group felt slower and more down. Their moods
reflected the music almost perfectly. They also felt more tired
majority of the time.
On the flip side, during the second week of music all of the
volunteers felt more motivated and awake. It especially lifted
their spirits during their examination period.
Music is an incredibly powerful thing, as we have seen, as it has
driven our culture for tens of thousands of years. It is so
immeasurably influential that even one second clips of some music
can make us recognise us instantly. For example, if you know this
quick clip
Play clip of Jaws Theme.
Narrator
You know exactly what is about to surprise you. Thank you for
lending me your ears and I hope you have learned how music is an
important part of our lives.
Closing Credits.