Question: In your time at university, you have probably encountered an incredible diversity of research conducted in all manner of disciplines. The most up to date academic research is made available through the journal article, but the readership of these articles is confined to a largely academic audience. For this assignment, you are to choose from one of the journal article choices below and explain its overall argument to a general audience using either a blog, podcast, timeline, or vlog. You will also need to provide a separate explanation of why you chose to communicate the main argument of the article in your chosen format.

My Answer:

The Purpose of This Blog

Through this blog, I will explain the overall argument of chapter 3 of a book, “Music in the Human Experience: An Introduction to Music Psychology “written by Donald A. Hodges. The title of chapter 3 is “How We Came to Be Musical.”  Throughout this chapter, readers can understand that music is present in our daily experiences, often without us noticing. The author examines this idea from multiple perspectives, looking at how music subtly but significantly influences human evolution, development, cognition, social bonds, and more in the background of life.

Donald A. Hodges is a distinguished music educator and researcher, having served as a Distinguished Professor of Music Education and Director of the Music Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is known for his significant contributions to music psychology and education, with an extensive background in academic and research endeavors, including authoring books and papers, and conducting brain imaging studies of musicians. If you want to know more about him, you can access at Donald A. Hodges – Contact Information (google.com)

“Biologically, we are musical”

People often wonder why humans like music so much and how this trait developed in us.  Many experts think that our brains and bodies are naturally made in a way that draws us to music. This is like saying we are born with a built-in ability to understand and enjoy music. The author mentions Wilson’s idea to help us understand why people like Music. Wilson thinks that every human being has “a biological guarantee of musicianship.”

Our bodies contain rhythmic systems that guide movement and behavior. The author refers to Reinberg and Ashkenazi’s research to explain even on a microscopic level, our brains track many body rhythms each day, including changes in body heat, blood sugar levels, and immune cell numbers. For example, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) acts as a conductor in our brains, synchronizing different biological rhythms to keep them in sync, as stated.Though small, this part of the brain coordinates the many rhythmic processes vital to our bodily function. The SCN is located in the hypothalamus region of the brain. You can see a picture shows where the suprachiasmatic nucleus is located.

 The author references Alexander to explain that some scientists have turned the patterns in our DNA’s rhythms into music. Rhythm is so vital to life that if it is off, it could be a sign of health problems. As highlighted by Jansiewicz and colleagues in their 2006 study, and further supported by Reinberg and Ashkenazi’s research in 2003, irregular rhythms might point to certain conditions like autism, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia; they can also suggest learning challenges like dyslexia. Here is a video on YouTube where you can hear it.

“Natural Soundscapes”

Have you ever wondered why music sounds the way it does? Scientists believe the origins of human music may actually be found in the sounds of animals in the natural world. Many animal sounds convey strong emotions – from love and jealousy to the excitement of winning a mate. Charles Darwin proposed that our human capacity for music arose from these emotional animal noises, especially during mating season. In fact, animal vocalizations share a lot of musical qualities with the songs, rhythms and instruments created by humans. By exploring some animal sounds, we can gain new perspective on how human, and animals share the musical qualifies. Let’s listen to the melodies of humpback whales, the pitch adjustments of male frogs, and the dance beats kept by a cockatoo named Snowball. Their musicality may reveal insights into our own!

The author refers to Gray to explain That male humpback whales for instance: make long, complex sounds that all the whales in a group know. The sounds whales make share many qualities with the music humans create. They show creativity and mimic each other, and their sounds have a clear beat, patterns, different pitches, structured sections, and even parts that repeat like a rhyme. These natural sounds are important; for example, they help animals find mates to continue their species. If all these animals’ sounds were jumbled up, none of them would stand out, and their purpose would be lost. So, over time, every kind of animal has learned to make its distinct sounds. This ensures that their calls are heard by the right animals. In fact, throughout the mating season, humpback whales change their songs so much that by the next year, they are singing something entirely new as the author references Payne. You can hear what humpback whale songs sound like in a video below.

The frogs actively change the pitch of their calls to match their environment, similar to how humans adjust melodies and tones. In the Borneo rainforest, male tree-hole frogs change the pitch of their calls to go well with the unique sounds of the water-filled logs where they live and attract mates as the author refers to Lardner and Lakim. Research also shows that female frogs often choose males who can make the clearest, most resonant calls. In another study conducted by Hoke, Ryan, and Wilczynski, it was found that female túngara frogs only pay attention to the calls from male frogs of their kind, ignoring other species. A special part of the female túngara frogs’ brains helps them tune out calls from other kinds of frogs. You can hear how the frogs adjust their calls from the below video.

The author explains that Krause believes that the sounds animals make in nature fit together like the
parts of a symphony. When we use a special kind of picture called a spectrogram to look at the sounds of a forest or a pond, we see something interesting. Each animal has its unique sound at different pitches, much like how each instrument in an orchestra has its own set of notes. The author says, “early humans would have heard sounds in their habitats not in isolation but holistically as a sound tapestry.” This image shows a 20-second spectrogram, and it shows various audio frequencies from Puerto Rico including the calls of these six species including some types of frogs.

Not only making sounds but also animals could follow rhythms. People used to think that only humans could follow a rhythm, but studies have found that some birds, like a cockatoo named Snowball and a parrot named Alex, can keep pace with music. They can even change their movements when the music speeds up or slows down.  There is a video called “Snowball the Cockatoo Can Dance Better Than You”.

“Parent-Infant Bonding”

Music simply supports parent-baby bonding: Human babies are born less developed because of their large brains, so they need a lot of care for a long time. It’s essential for their emotional and psychological health to feel loved. Babies start feeling and responding to love very quickly, and this love is crucial for their growth. There are different ways to show love to a baby, like talking, singing, and gentle touching. Experts often use the term “motherese” to describe the special way mothers talk to their babies as the author refers to Kuhl and Rivera-Gaxiola, which is also known as infant-directed speech (IDS), as Powers & Trevarthen noted. This kind of speech is not just helpful for babies learning words, but it’s also very important for sharing feelings. Babies are good at understanding feelings from speech before they can even talk, and this is mostly because of the musical quality of IDS. With IDS, babies react to the melody, the tone of the voice, loudness, and the rhythm rather than the actual words. For example, if you say “You are an ugly baby” gently and melodically, the baby will react more positively than if you say “You are a beautiful baby” in a loud and harsh tone. The image shows a simple way of understanding how kids can pick up on and learn from the way people talk to babies. It links different sounds and tones of speech to basic facial expressions, showing how each sound might be connected to a feeling like happiness or anger.

Babies are greatly affected by rhythm as the author refers to Ciccone. Babies exposed to movements like gentle swaying gain weight quicker, see and hear better sooner, and start having regular sleep patterns earlier. Rhythm, often experienced through music, plays a big part in this early growth. From this link, you can listen to a podcast explaining advices on how to talk to babies, why we naturally change our voice tone with them, and why those voice changes are important. This is not what the author has provided in the book, however, I believe listening to a podcast is valuable to understand the concept deeply.  Tips For Talking To Your Baby – Learn With Less

Communication isn’t just for adults; it’s a two-way street, and babies are part of it, too. They’re not just receiving love; they’re learning to show it. From the moment they are born, their cries help build a bond with their parents. Over the first few months, their cries change and start to sound like their own special baby talk, which is important for their emotional growth. These different types of cries help parents understand what their babies need and are also practiced for one day speaking actual words. Babies cry to get noticed and to share a whole bunch of different emotions. Their little cries and sounds are like music—they don’t use words, but the changes in pitch, how loud or soft, fast, or slow, these are all part of how they “talk” to us.

“The Acquisition of Language”

Music might also play a role in helping humans survive by aiding in language learning. Language is crucial for human survival, and any trait that helps us learn language could have been naturally selected for its benefits. The musical elements of language, such as melody, tone, and rhythm, are especially important. For example, when parents speak to their babies, they often use a kind of speech that naturally highlights these musical elements, which helps the infant recognize and react to sounds that are important for understanding speech later on. Babies learn from the way adults talk to them, focusing on the speech’s musical quality. They start to understand that sounds carry both feelings and thoughts. Babies learn a lot from how people talk to them, not just the words. They notice that the way we say things can show feelings and meanings without using words. This includes things like gestures and the tone of our voice. This skill in interpreting both what is said and how it’s said has been important in human evolution.

After we acquire language, musical future of language still matters to you. The article that I found on the internet says “You might be surprised to learn that your words only convey about 7% of what you’re trying to say. The other 93% is communicated through facial expressions and the tone of your voice” (Lake) Based on this data, I have made this chart. The blue part of the chart represents facial expressions and the tone of your voice, while the orange part represents what you’re trying to say. Form this chart, we can see how facial expressions and tone of our voice affect communication significantly.

Also, this article explains a study from MIT that found that piano lesion helps kindergarteners’ pitch perception and word discrimination, but not overall cognition. Children who took piano lessons showed enhanced brain responses to pitch changes and improved language processing skills. The findings indicate music training benefits young children’s language development more than extra reading time. Researchers suggest schools should preserve music education for its language benefits rather than cut programs for more reading. If you want to look up more detials, you can acess the article from How music lessons can improve language skills | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyThese two articles are not what Donald A. Hodges has cited; however, I believe this article would help readers understand this concept more deeply.

“Music as a Way of Knowing”

Music gives us an important tool to understand and express ourselves. It helps us regulate our emotions with others. Music allows people to share feelings as a group. Being able to manage emotions together through music may have helped humans survive and bond. When we must live in groups for survival, as humans do, being sensitive to others’ emotions is beneficial for evolution. We must learn to separate what we do from what we feel. For example, how can you feel angry but not act on it? Or how do you resist feelings of loneliness or despair? These are extreme cases, but for all kinds of feelings, it’s important to experience them deeply without always having to do something about them. Music is a strong way to express feelings. It helps us deal with sadness, annoyance, or anger and lets us share happiness and love through musical moments. Therefore, music’s special way of helping us understand may also be a way to help us survive.

From my own experience, I play guitar, mainly when I’m feeling stressed or tired, as a way to heal and feel better. Strumming the strings and making music helps me express and process my emotions.  When I’m happy, I also play guitar to express my happiness. Listening to music daily also lifts my mood and energy. The rhythms, melodies, and lyrics help me regulate my emotions. Music allows me to deeply experience all kinds of feelings.

I’m not alone in using music this way. Many others play instruments or listen to songs to express their feeling or feel better. Music has provided a healthy outlet since a long time ago.

“Social Organization”

Another reason to consider how music might help us survive involves how it affects our social structures. The author explains it by referring to Cross and Morley. Long ago, working together was essential for early humans to hunt, gather food, stay safe, and build families. Music could have played a role in keeping these early human groups together in two keyways: (1) It can bond people strongly. (2) It can help people remember important information.

(1) It can bond people strongly.

When everyone feels connected by common ideas and beliefs, music is a great way to express and share these feelings. Not only does music allow everyone to move together, but it also breaks the monotony of everyday life. Music has a unique power to create a sense of togetherness among people.

(2) It can help people remember important information.

As a tool for remembering, music is incredibly powerful, especially before writing was common. The author referenced Brandt and Mithen to explain that music helped preserve not just basic facts but also the emotions behind them. Stories, songs, and dances were how ancient people passed down their history and culture.

Top left panel: A group of Mexican musicians is playing for people eating at a restaurant. They’re using guitars and violins to make everyone feel happy and together. Top right panel: An orchestra playing Swedish folk music with dancers performing traditional folk dances. This shows that music and dance are important for celebrating where we come from. Bottom left panel: They’re dressed in bright clothes and they’re showing off their culture through their music. Bottom right panel: Musicians from Bombay in the 19th century. They’re helping to tell stories about their culture.

Conclusion

Music is really important in how people have grown and changed over time, and it’s a big part of our lives in ways we might not even realize. It’s not just about singing songs or playing instruments; music is there when we go about our day, even when we don’t notice it. Music is everywhere, and it’s important for people to live and grow. Music helps with important things like the way parents and babies connect, how we learn to talk, how we think, and how we get along with others. This understanding emphasizes the value of music as a fundamental, enriching part of the human experience.