musical influences

Music has been used for many different things throughout history. It is said that music influences a person’s brain, and by doing so, has an effect on overall behavior or activity of a person. Many Indian tribes across North America used percussion instruments (drums) to contact the spirits of their ancestors. During the Renaissance period, during many parties held by royalty, “classical” music was played to keep a happy atmosphere about the ballroom. In the next few paragraphs, we’ll look at how today’s society blames Metal Music for many behavioral disorders amongst the youth.

Musical preferences are as diverse as the people who listen to them. Different types of music have different reputations; heavy metal music is often labeled as "negative," yet others find it a harmless form of music. It is my belief that music may have some sort of effect on the listener, but nothing serious and nothing damaging. The behavior of a person is purely their own, whether it be caused from their parents telling them no or a kid they hate at school spoke with them; however, this is by no means the musicians’ faults.

Like other types of music, such as jazz, blues, and even rap, the distinct style of heavy metal music can be grouped into three main sections. One popular style of heavy metal is death metal. Death metal has a darker sound and more surreal style than other forms of heavy metal. The music itself is fast, heavy, and loud, usually with a classical twist thrown in. The images that death metal portrays are death, doom, destruction, suicide, sex, and drugs. Some people may see these images as harmful or having a negative effect on the listener.

Another form of heavy metal music is speed metal. Speed metal has a more upbeat sound than death metal and isn’t as “depressing.” It’s fast paced and has a hard impact, the lead guitar following a seemingly impossible rhythm. This is in contrast to death metal, which emphasizes rhythm guitar. The last type of metal music being thrash metal. The name refers to both the thrashing sound of the music and the flailing movement of its listeners. The sound is extremely loud and has the same tone and style of speed metal. These styles however, attract certain “types” of people.

The majority of people who...

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...s behavior being caused from the music they listen to. Could we not point the finger at today’s rap industry? At least in the world of metal music, most things they endorse are fantasy and rarely seen to be realistic. In rap, children are listening to plain vocals about rape, drug use, and prostitution, among other “immoral” things. Should we not take a look at today’s most popular musical influence instead of attacking the men “out of the norm,”? I might also point out that while I did relate metal music with depression, I didn’t directly connect any of it. I did, however, say that a certain person was attracted to a certain type of music. Could the person be the depressed one, their inner emotions causing whatever it is that makes them act as they do, but not the music itself?

Also, music might be looked at as an outlet for today’s angry and energized teen. Without this outlet of stress and complete angst, maybe the suicide rate would increase, or the school shootings number would go up? Teens will continue to listen to such music that their parents loathe, nothing will change that; this may be looked at as a good thing from my point of view.