Throughout history music has made an important impact on cultures and civilizations everywhere. Within recent years, studies have shown the positive impacts music has on the human brain and more specifically, human emotion.When we listen to music, many things happen. Many of us may listen to music to get us pumped up for a workout and to get our blood flowing. Others may listen to music with the hopes of calming down and relaxing. Also, some may even listen to it to help them while they are grieving. All of these different reasons we listen to music show different ways in which music changes are mood.
According to Be Brain Fit, “listening to sad music is cathartic.” This means that we can find or experience a state of relief through open expressions of strong emotions. This also explains why we will crank up some heavy listening music when we work out. It gets us into this angry mood which begins pumping adrenaline through our bodies and helping us to get pumped for a workout. Along with being able to change our moods, music acts as a coping mechanism for a lot of people. Examined Existence, an organization specializing in neurological studies, stated that music can take the place of antidepressants by inducing your mind into a “naturally high” state.

The areas of the brain that control emotion and our mood are also the areas of the brain where music is controlled or interpreted. This is why if we are to witness an atrocity of some sort or when we watch a really sad movie, we do not feel it appropriate to have happy music playing. We feel more comfortable with a slow song that just allows us to grieve and in a way acts like it is sympathizing with us.

In order for music to really transform someone’s mood and for them to really achieve a “natural high,” they must be more focused on the journey to that stage instead of just the destination of that stage according to Healthline. This means that we cannot just hope for the end result nor can we focus on it either. From this we can learn  that if we are to be taken to a different mood by music, we have to focus on the music instead of the mood. The mood will come with the music, not the other way around.

Music has a very powerful affect on our moods and our attitudes. While music can determine our moods, there are also those days where we are jamming in our cars and we are so not in the mood for a ballad to be played. As teenagers with a passion for music, we have those times where we have control to pick what music it is we listen to. Whether we are in a very happy and excited mood so we listen to some upbeat tunes, or there are those times we are frustrated with the world so we crank something heavy to help us cope with our emotions. Even still there are times when we are in a very calm and collected mood and some very powerful music is just great.

Nevertheless, our moods can determine what music we listen to similar to how music can determine what mood we are in. As we go through our days and jam to our tunes, one thing that is very important to remember is that the music will always be there for us. Focusing on that music can help to determine our moods which can lead to important character development and a very incredible life.