Musical Notes

Guest Opinion

By Karen Mulvahill | Aug. 1, 2026

The first musical instrument was the human voice, and prehistoric people imitated the sounds of nature. About 35,000 years ago, the Neanderthals created a flute out of bone. Confucius thought musical knowledge was critically important, saying, “only the superior man who can understand music is equipped to govern.”

Britannica says the music is “art concerned with combining vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty of form or emotional expression.” That’s the what. The how is vibration. For example, the vibration of a guitar string creates waves that reach your ear and are interpreted as sound. I don’t have space here to delve deeply into it, but the speed of the vibration determines the pitch, and loudness is experienced when the wave is higher. When they reach the inner ear, the waves are converted to electrical signals and sent to the brain, which interprets them as sound.

Knowing how music impacts the brain has generated applications for music therapy.
Listening to, singing, and composing music have all been found to have health benefits. Learning to play an instrument enhances memory, creativity, and empathy.

The first time I cried to a song, it was a hot summer night. My sister, my two girl cousins, and I, 10 or 11 years old, were sitting in the car in the driveway listening to the AM radio. The Cavaliers’ hit song of 1964, “Last Kiss”, blasted through the tinny speakers. The story of the car crash that killed the singer’s girlfriend had all the melodrama, tragedy, and romance a young girl could want. To this day, that song prompts a smarting behind my eyes, testifying to the emotional resonance of music and its powerful effect on memory.

Music strongly affects the brain’s medial prefrontal cortex, which governs the brain’s reward system. “… music you love isn’t just rewarding, but it also feels like it’s ‘ours.’ It’s part of our identity.” (Psyche Loui, PhD, Northeastern University) It’s because of that link to identity, formed in adolescence, that the music of our youth resonates so strongly.

It’s said that when you’re dying, your life flashes before your eyes. That happens to me every time I listen to the classic rock station on satellite radio. I am transported from time to time and place to place and recollections of friends, some living, some gone.

I can still picture dancing with my sister in the living room, when we were 14 or 15 years old, to The Doors’ song “Light My Fire.” After the three-minute version we were familiar with, the song continued for another four minutes. This was our discovery of FM radio, specifically WABX in Detroit, and our introduction to all sorts of music that was “inappropriate” for the AM airwaves—and possibly for young teens!

Because of its obvious impact on human emotion and behavior, music has often been deemed dangerous. Plato thought certain kinds of music should be censored for their potential ill effects on the soul. Jazz, blues, and rap have all experienced censorship for representation of free thought, for political messages, and due to prejudice against Black artists.

At MSU in the early 1970s, much of the music my friends and I listened to protested the Vietnam War. It was a profound, social experience that united an entire generation. And one of the best was written by Michigan’s own Bob Seger, who recorded “2+2=?” for his first album. That song still gives me the shivers.

Music’s ability to unite people might be one of its most powerful aspects. “When you go into a church, the music takes over the mental faculties of all the people who are attending. It puts everyone in the same emotional space.” (Patrick Whelan, Harvard Medical School) In a church, the shared emotion is likely to be spiritual awe. Other music and venues unite people around different emotions, ranging from joy to rage and everything in between.

Anyone who’s ever attended a concert in a big arena knows the feeling. I was fortunate to see Neil Young’s Love Earth Tour at Pine Knob last year. Standing there, listening to one of my favorite musicians belt out “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World,” I felt the power of many people united in their love of the music and inspired by the message it conveyed.

Music can improve your mood, reduce your pain, unite you with others, make you dance, and inspire you to sing. One key to unlocking all these benefits is to listen intentionally. Too often, music is relegated to background sound.

Next time you’re watching a band, close your eyes, forget what the musicians look like or what the people around you are doing and just focus on the music. Home alone, don a pair of headphones, lay back and listen. Suggested track: “People Have the Power” by Patti Smith. Grab your sister and dance.

Karen Mulvahill is a writer living in northern Michigan. Her new book, The Lost Woman, is now available.