It's clear from just a quick glance in any populated area how much music is ingrained in our contemporary human experience. Event organizers blast loud pop and rap tracks to get people moving, while concerts can range from orchestral melodies of grand proportions to electric shows by a particular artist. Even a single individual's day gets filled with music playing through their headphones, whether the songs are their "hype track" for a workout or their mellow tunes for a pensive evening. In nearly every waking hour of the day, the notes of music crescendo in and decrescendo out to augment our lives.
While we can no doubt appreciate all these different music genres, what we often gloss over is how those genres affect us. Music has this transformative power to influence how we move, act, and think, ultimately changing how we experience any given moment. I distinctly remember one late night of my junior year of high school when I had to complete a seven-page writing journal and decided to listen to a song to keep myself awake. I had just gotten into Spanish Reggaetón songs, so I listened to "Corazón Acelerao" by Wisin and got it stuck in my head that night. Whenever I hear Wisin or that song in my playlist, I'm brought back to the fatigue of that night and the rapid movement of pen on paper, jotting thoughts down in ink as the dim lights illuminated the living room. Music made that moment memorable for me, turning what was initially a miserable moment into one of tranquility that was a formative experience in that English class.
Nearly every event that is significant in one's life has some tune paired with it. Whether it's a rock song at a graduation party, country tunes along open fields, or an emotional ballad after a friend's departure, melodies pair with events to leave an imprint in one's life. Music takes preexisting emotions like joy, fear, or sorrow, and amplifies them through careful instrumentation and well-crafted lyrics that echo within the listener's own circumstances, creating a powerful mental harmonization between the two. In this way, music subconsciously works with our minds to create memories. The next time you listen to a song, take a moment to consider when you first heard it or why it's gained personal importance to you. Your memories will be even more valuable to you, and much like the notes of a musical score, you'll be able to read their rises and falls. Become the conductor of your own band, and, through experiencing the resonance of music, orchestrate your own concert—your stories.
