On October 15th, 2016, I was able to partake in a pep band that played for the Walk to End Alzheimer's in Pittsburgh, PA. At the walk, a woman came up to us to chat and one thing that she said really stuck with me. She told us that when someone is afflicted with Alzheimer's, the last thing to be forgotten is music. That a person could, unfortunately, forget their children or even their own names, but if you put a pair of headphones on them and played a song they knew, they could spit out lyrics like it was nothing. This woman talked about it for a while and it really resonated with me; it made me think that if someone could remember one thing - music - it has to have some special connection with us as humans.
As an Anthropology major, I love thinking about humans. As a musician, I love thinking about music. This was a perfect storm for me, so I went and did a little bit of research on the correlation between music and Alzheimer's. According to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America website, it says, "Music has power—especially for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. And it can spark compelling outcomes even in the very late stages of the disease... This happens because rhythmic and other well-rehearsed responses require little to no cognitive or mental processing. They are influenced by the motor center of the brain that responds directly to auditory rhythmic cues. A person’s ability to engage in music, particularly rhythm playing and singing, remains intact late into the disease process because, again, these activities do not mandate cognitive functioning for success" (AFA).
If music is something that requires so little to form, one could argue that it is a natural occurrence and that as humans evolve and grow, music grows along with us. This got me to think about myself and music, and how I have grown because of music. In fourth grade, I picked up a recorder and I played it until I was blue in the face. In fifth grade, I did the same thing with a clarinet. Since the sixth grade, I've been playing the saxophone. I have been in marching band for eight years so far and all of my friends have participated with me, in high school and college. Pitt Band is my family, I met all of them through our shared love of music and I am able to connect with people all over the world because of this music. Without music in my life, I would be a completely different person, and probably not a very fun one to be around. Music has formed my life whether I liked it at the time or not, and for that I am so grateful. I like to think that music is a friend of mine and that it has given me a good life.
