By Barbara Pierce
“It’s an amazing experience!” said Bill Fahy of Rome, when asked what music does for him.
“What has music done for me? It’s opened up a whole new world! A whole new world of friends — we meet, we play music, we become friends.”
Fahy, a well-known performer and teacher in the Mohawk Valley for many years, plays guitar, mandolin, banjo and bass.
Our brains are wired for music. Music arouses strong emotions and memories. The right music can instantly alter our mood and our outlook. You’ve probably experienced that. Maybe you’re driving along; you put in a CD or turn on the radio and hear a piece of music that you loved in the past. It triggers a reaction in your brain — a reaction that can bring you an emotional peak experience.
For people with dementia, the part of their brain that responds to the music they loved is the last to go. They become alive and may sing along or dance to their favorite music, bringing a few moments of being who they used to be.
Researchers are studying just how music affects our brains, using MRI and PET scans. Advances in the technology of these tools let researches explore how the arts, especially music, impacts us. They are finding that listening to, or making music, has significant benefits to our brains.
Like exercise, eating right and getting a good night’s sleep, scientists are discovering how music is essential for our health and well-being.
For example, as mothers sing to their babies, it relieves symptoms of postpartum depression and enhances bonding by reducing cortisol, a major stress hormone. Other studies show that music can lift your mood, decrease depression, improve blood flow, lower levels of stress related hormones, and even ease pain. Listening to music before an operation even improves outcomes after surgery.
Listening to or playing music can stir emotions that reduce anxiety, reduce blood pressure, and improve sleep.
To keep your brain engaged throughout the aging process, listening to or playing music is a great tool, as it provides a total brain workout.
There are few things that stimulate the brain the many ways that music does concluded one of the researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Music activates nearly every region of the brain, suggesting why it has so much power to affect us.
Fahy confirmed this: “When I was in my 40s, I felt like I was missing something in my life. So I started playing bass. I got lost in the music. Then I got into the guitar, the banjo, the mandolin. And I got into Bluegrass.”
“Bluegrass opened up a new form of music to me,” he said. “It’s been an amazing experience. It opened up a whole new world of friends. Music opens a lot of doors.”
He’s now the president of the Mohawk Bluegrass Association and leads its monthly jam sessions.
“I’ve jumped back into it to see what I could do to increase membership,” he said. “We have monthly jam sessions — the second Monday of the month at the Rome Art and Community Center on Bluefield Street. The doors open at 6:30 p.m.; the music starts at 7. Come join in or just listen.”
Because he understands the huge importance of music, Fahy has done extensive research into the music of the Civil War.
“I’ve looked into how much music affected the soldiers that fought in the Civil War; it’s neat,” he said.
He went through the diaries, journals and letters of the soldiers.
“The diary would refer to a song; I’d find the music to that song and learn to play it. I learned quite a bit,” he added.
Fahy’s research on the music of the Civil War soldiers can be found on a YouTube video called “Soldiers Joy.”
And music has another great advantage, according to Fahy and researchers: Across cultures and age groups, music brings people together and builds social connections. There are hundreds of ways to connect with others musically.
There are chorale groups, community choruses and church choirs — most welcome singers of all experience levels. Music lessons of all kinds are available.
Karaoke is fun and a great way to meet people. Karaoke is offered in bars and venues all over. Some venues are more friendly than others; try several to find one you like.
YouTube has all your favorites, all types of music, all types of performers.
Attending concerts and music festivals is a great way to meet people while you also experience the joys of music.
So whether you’re a participant or an audience, a shower singer or a trained performer, there’s bound to be a way to enjoy music, meet new people and bring so many benefits to your health and your brain.