Music has been described by many as a way to feed the soul. So what makes a melody, sound, vibrations, and feelings powerful? Find out how music touches the soul.
Music can be referred to as magic. It captures an otherwise impermanent sentiment and transforms it into a song that can last for eternity.
If the magic of music has always puzzled you, you wish to understand why you’ve come to the right place.
Almost everyone feels its magic, but not many people understand why it affects them or how it affects them.
Let’s take a closer look at the different elements of music, how they affect you, and what parts of certain music hit you the most.
The elements of music
Music can be divided into four elements. First, look at the most popular ones often seen in modern songs.
1. Lyrics
Lyrics are the words attached to the song; they are often sung by a singer, but they can also be sung by a choir. Words can give a new meaning to a song by telling a story, professing a feeling, sharing a truth, or even asking a question.
Some people give more importance to lyrics than melody, which is okay. After all, music can also be referred to as poetry in song form.
2. Melody
The melody is the song’s tune and can go in many directions. Some melodies are designed to sound cheerful, some negative, others sad, and some with complex emotions in mind.
Melody is where the artist can play around with the song. “It sounds sad” or “it sounds exciting” are things the melody can invoke.
3. Beat
The beat is not always standard in other genres of music, but it is also a potent tool. A beat invokes movement and is usually found in club or modern genres where the beat can bring people to dance.
The thing about beats is that they closely play around with tempo. So the closer the beat is to someone’s heartbeat (or double the heartbeat), the easier it becomes for them to dance along.
4. Tempo
Songs can be fast or slow, but tempo refers to a song’s beats per minute (BPM). As explained earlier, the beat usually plays around with rhythm, and the closer it is to 128 BPM, the house genre, the easier it becomes for the listeners to dance.
A lot of genres play around with different BPMs. An example is trap music at 100 BPM or 140 BPM, and dancehall, reggaeton, and similar genres usually at 110 BPM.
How does music affect the soul?
The combination of different music parts can affect your soul, especially if you relate to it. For example, the beat and melody are happy, but the lyrics are sad; some people can resonate with this more than a sad song.
The connection happens when you hear a song and think: “This is exactly how I feel,” no matter how complicated it may be. These days, music isn’t divided into happy and sad. Instead, it has evolved into more complex things.
An example of this complicated music is Apocalyptica’s cover of Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters. Apocalyptica is a four-person cello group trained in classical music, but they often do covers of some of the most unexpected metal songs.
In the Nothing Else Matters cover, instead of the sound of electric guitars, the listener can hear classical cellos playing together to create a serene, calming, and beautiful song despite how the original piece was designed to be more chaotic.
These detailed renditions are great examples of how music can touch your soul.
Finding something that speaks the truth
Words can be limiting, which is why artists turn to art. Sometimes, it is hard for people to express how they truly feel, but they can do so when they hear something that speaks the truth about their feelings.
Certain songs can also resonate more due to experiences. For example, say a song was playing at a specific moment or attached to a particular memory or memories; hearing the music again will bring the listener closer to where they were when the memory happened.
Attaching music to memories is one way that it can affect your soul. However, the truth can also be found in the song’s relatability.
Say a person feels something strongly at the moment and cannot place it into words; some songs were written with lyrics expressing complicated but sincere emotions.
Recognizing these feelings through song is a powerful tool for connecting with your soul.
