Bringing Musical Joy to Joplin

On Friday I'm traveling with 50 fellow musicians from the Warrensburg Community Band to Joplin, Missouri. Yes, the same Joplin that just last month was turned upside-down by the deadliest tornado to hit American soil.

This concert has been planned for months, yet it's significance and importance has shifted drastically as a result of the events on May 22. What originally started as a simple outdoor summer concert has now turned into a gift to the people of Joplin. As an opportunity to bring them respite and joy in their time of healing and rebuilding...even if just for an evening.

Music can do that.

Music Unites Us as Americans

Music has a way of bringing together a community through shared cultural connections. Think of the number of times when you are connected to a group of people--strangers, really--because of music. Imagine doing the following:

• Singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch
• Listening to the piccolo solo of Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" during a July 4th concert
• Singing "This Land is Your Land" around the campfire
• Listening to the "Star Spangled Banner" before the Superbowl
• Singing "Amazing Grace" in church

All of these songs and situations are examples of how music identifies us as "American" and unites us as a culture. And this occurs not only in our culture, but in all cultures, from the raga music of India to Puerto Rican salsa music and steelpan music from Trinidad and Tobago.

These musical roots provide a common bond between people. "Our" music increases our cultural pride and deepens the connection we have with one another.

Music for Social Bonding

Researchers define the concept of uniting a community as "social bonding." And there's emerging evidence about the role music plays in it.

In his chapter titled "Is music an evolutionary adaptation?", Dr. David Huron of Ohio State University explores in depth how, from an evolutionary standpoint, music may have a long history of helping strengthen the bond within peer-groups. This has implications for the endurance of tribes and other groups of people who needed each other to survive. Among other things, music helped prepare them to act in unison, bonded them through shared rituals, and helped synchronize their moods.

Recent neuroscience evidence suggests that music may increase our connection to each other through hormone modification. It seems that music listening releases oxytocin, a hormone linked to maternal behaviors (esp. breast-feeding), pair bonding, social recognition, and anxiety. By releasing oxytocin, often considered the "love hormone," music may be playing a role in group bonding and social identification.

In other words? Hearing music important to our culture can stir up feelings of cultural unity and pride.

This is why, on September 11, 2001, members of the US Congress spontaneously started singing "God Bless America" on the steps of the Capital building during a live television broadcast.

This is why, every July 4th, you'll find bands across the country playing Sousa marches and other patriotic music as we celebrate our nation's independence.

This is why I get a lump in my throat every time I hear Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" on the radio.

And this is why I'm proud to be a member of the Warrensburg Community Band as we bring the gift of music to the people of Joplin.

Follow me on Twitter @KimberlySMoore for daily updates on the latest research and articles related to music, music therapy, and music and the brain. I invite you also to check out my website, www.MusicTherapyMaven.com, for additional information, resources, and strategies.

References

Huron, D. (2003). Is music an evolutionary adaptation? In I. Peretz and R. Zatorre's The Cognitive Neuroscience of Music (p. 57-75). Oxford: Oxford University Press.