By Hasan Jadayel -Verified by Big Youth Group.

Advertising Student in University of Arts London. 21 Years old. Football and Music enthusiast, with aims to achieve a lot in life, who are we without ambition? Strong believer in the phrase “Knowledge is power”, and believe there’s knowledge in everything. Creativity is the root of advancement, I therefore aim to expose myself to as much music, art and poetry as possible for daily inspiration.

Music. Who doesn’t enjoy music? It has been around since the dawn of time.

It is believed that the first music was invented in Africa (The place of origin of the human race), prior to the dispersal of humans around the world…yes that old!

With the dispersal of humans, it has spread along with our ancestors around the world to every culture and every tribe. An epidemic, a beautiful epidemic.

For most cultures, music was something that came along the way. Music was an important factor that shaped who they were, and what they become. It was, and still is a part of rituals, celebrations and times of sadness. And with the emergence of different communities within these cultures, we even have more music created as a result of the cultural blend.

In the past 100 years, It has become more relevant in our lives than ever. It became a haven for people. It created a community and a sense of belonging for people who share the same traits.

The Rock n Rollers, the punks, the hip hopers etc. Everyone is welcome to be a part of the community.

You can hear an example for that in the song ‘Rock & Roll” by the Velvet Underground. The song explains how a young girl one day heard Rock and roll music on the radio, and just instantly felt a sense of belonging, and changed her life. And haven’t we all had an experience like that with a certain song?

Music is also more than that. It can also be a brilliant way of storytelling. Troubadours in medieval times wrote poems describing certain events and brought it to life, cementing these events across society. Making them immortal.

It’s also a tool to express your emotions, whether you’re happy, sad, excited or in love. You can find a song that can quite literally describe any situation, to the point where you can relate to a song so much, you swear that it is directed to you specifically!

Above all, music creates an atmosphere and a mood wherever its played. In fact, restaurants like McDonalds strategically play certain types of music in order to either keep customers comfortable (slow songs), or increase the pace of the costumer rotation (Fast songs). Fact.

And the same goes on a personal level. We listen to slow calming music when we want to unwind, and listen to upbeat, pump up music when we’re exercising or completing a task.

So why should you listen to music everyday?

Music motivates! It can give you that boost you need on a dull, grey day, and get you up and ready on a bright sunny day. Studies have shown that listening to music everyday benefits our overall well being, helps us regulate our emotions, and creates an overall sense of happiness.

Music relieves stress.

Listening to slow tempo (relaxing) music has shown to decrease anxiety and stress levels.

It improves our memory.

When you listen to a song that you heard years ago, it can transport you back to your fond memories. It puts you back in that memory, down to every little detail. Interesting fact – music can be used to help stroke survivors maintain their memory and cognition functions.

If that isn’t enough, Music also has a great effect on concentration levels.

Regardless of blocking the annoying sounds going around you, like those loud eaters and heavy breathers. Music actually sends signals to our brain that stimulates regions linked with paying attention, making predictions, updating memory and also pleasure. Keeping us concentrated and enjoying on our tasks, like that essay due tomorrow.

Lucky for us, we no longer have that struggle of going to a record store and pay a fortune in order to listen to our favourite songs. Thanks to services like Spotify, Youtube and Apple music, we have no excuse not to listen to music whenever we want. So why not listen to our favourite songs everyday?

And all of the above are just the effects of listening to music. Playing it is a different ball game. I personally play guitar, and speaking for myself. Whenever I pick up that guitar, it’s like I am put in some sort of a trance. Not a thing comes to my mind besides the sounds coming from that guitar, not a care in the world, and it’s a beautiful thing! Nothing can compare to it. So I highly encourage everyone to pick up an instrument of their choice and just give it a go. You wont regret it.

Conclusion

So when we have a blessing and a miracle as such, it’s a shame not to make the most of it. Especially today when we got the choice to access any type of music we like. Stretching to even medieval lute music if you’d like.

Just aim to listen to as much music as possible everyday, and you’ll see the difference. It’s liberating!