Been praying about music

[WoundedIcon]

I’ve been praying about music and art and pondering them from religious, cultural, sociological, and philosophical angles. But I missed the psychological angle. Until today, where I tried listening to some Industrial music and found that the sound of it actually triggered some of my dormant psychiatric issues. My friend has the same illness, and a similar dormancy, and told me that sometimes the music does the same thing to her as well. In our case we get confused and paranoid. So I just wanted to remind people here that we ought to take the sound into consideration too when making, listening to, and choosing music (like at Mass -_-), because it’s extremely powerful and really does seem to jump right into our subconscious mind (or our heart, if you want to put it into common religious terms.) Mind you, I’m a bit more sensitive to this stuff because of my Autism, but still.

Now, I’m not about to go condemning loud music or anything because I’m not a dualist and I believe a little excitement can be a good thing, but tread lightly. Music is an incarnational sort of thing and taps you into what it’s incarnating - it’s communication, but subconscious and on crack. Otherwise why would entire cultures be bound together by it?

On a side note, I notice that Christian musicians have a hard time with beats. No, I’m not going all Jack Chick here, but it’s something worth pondering. Coming from the angle of communication, what does a beat communicate that Christians have less of in their vocabulary? Why is it that Christian metal tends to fall apart when it tries to be heavy and fast? See my point?

 

[MarcusAndreas]

On a side note, I notice that Christian musicians have a hard time with beats. No, I’m not going all Jack Chick here, but it’s something worth pondering. Coming from the angle of communication, what does a beat communicate that Christians have less of in their vocabulary? Why is it that Christian metal tends to fall apart when it tries to be heavy and fast? See my point?

**All **music has a beat, it’s not a spiritual issue.

Christian music with a fast beat: youtube.com/watch?v=iLX02wtgi6s
Christian music with a slow beat: youtube.com/watch?v=bPnufDDPXFY

Yes, I’m aware that this is not metal, but what in the world are you attempting to convey? Take this from a certified band geek, you’re reading way too much into nothing.

 

[Splagchnizomai]

**All **music has a beat

It depends on what you mean by beat. If you mean a regular, metered one, then you are probably using the term too narrowly.

Gregorian chant has no time signature. Pieces by Satie (Gnosseines), for example, have no time signature or bar lines. There are passages in music that are rubato.

As far as the spiritual aspect, I’ve read a lot of ink on both sides of the issue. It really depends on the individual and what a spiritual advisor advises (or in the case, a therapist). I would not take any recommendations concerning this from a message board, especially since the OP appears to have a history of psychiatric issues.

 

[AnneElizabeth]

Marcus, I somewhat agree with you, but I think that the Op has discovered something, although its been discovered before.

It is well known that music has been used throughout history to ‘rev’ people up for war, or for social causes- things like that. parlorsongs.com/issues/2004-4/thismonth/feature.php
When a couple wants to ‘get in the mood’, one will often put on music conductive to that sort of action. Music is also being used as a weapon of war- by blaring it constantly to war prisoners- makes them weary, worn down… spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,672177,00.html

So in that respect, I don’t think the OP is too far off base or reading too much into it… though maybe a bit too much with the comment about Christian music and beats. I think maybe the OP hasn’t thought out exactly what his or her comment is on that.

Yes, its true that one has to be careful about what one listens to. I think these days people are FAR FAR FAR into their ‘own’ music scene. It somewhat makes their music itself an idol. I have seen how this keeps people apart and set apart too.

Also, I can remember as a teenager coming home from work or school and feeling a particular way (usually tired, worn out, bit angry) and putting on music that would suit that mood to ‘get it out’. Was it wrong? I have no idea. Was it productive?.. Probably not. Did it keep me in that mind set? Yes. I have learned, its far better to go to the Lord in prayer instead. its just the same for grabbing a bag of potato chips and filling myself up with it after a hard day of school/work, etc. These are IDOLS. They don’t fulfill.

Perhaps the OP has just noticed that they tend to use music in the wrong way. I think the OP just doesn’t have the right words to convey what they’ve discovered correctly… at that, neither do I, but I can understand their point.

My suggestion to the OP… FAST from music-especially the particular style you like to listen to. (Of course you can’t fast from music since you will hear it at church or even if you go out shopping- but you know what I mean.) Lent is coming up. Turn ALL of it off for 40 days. Pray instead of listening to it. Then come back to it and see if its something you really want to listen to. It surprised me when I did it but I was glad I did. I think some people have no idea how and where that stuff takes your mind sometimes. Its true for movies, tv, radio, and personal conversations too. This is why you will see it said in many old catholic books to be careful about what you read, watch and the people you hang out with.

 

[WoundedIcon]

**All **music has a beat, it’s not a spiritual issue.

Christian music with a fast beat: youtube.com/watch?v=iLX02wtgi6s
Christian music with a slow beat: youtube.com/watch?v=bPnufDDPXFY

Yes, I’m aware that this is not metal, but what in the world are you attempting to convey? Take this from a certified band geek, you’re reading way too much into nothing.

I wasn’t trying to say that there’s anything inherently evil about beats, I was just pondering the specifics in the difference between how Christians and non-Christians use music to communicate and bouncing the idea off of the people here, but I went about phrasing it poorly. But anyways, if you go into genres like metal or rap you’ll notice that Christian music tends to stick out because the rules of those genres are more geared toward communicating things that aren’t Christian. It seems that then makes it necessary for Christians in these genres to bend the rules a bit (or a lot) in order to make it work, and causes their music to sound odd to those accustomed to the secular material.

I think there was a discussion about this on Jimmy Akin’s blog once, actually. They were talking about the decline in the quality of Christian art, and somewhere along the line they got into talking about the rules of various genres and how, for example, it’s a lot easier to make Christian country music than rap or rock, because of the rules of the genres and their surrounding cultures.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I’ve been praying about music and art and pondering them from religious, cultural, sociological, and philosophical angles. But I missed the psychological angle. Until today, where I tried listening to some Industrial music and found that the sound of it actually triggered some of my dormant psychiatric issues. My friend has the same illness, and a similar dormancy, and told me that sometimes the music does the same thing to her as well. In our case we get confused and paranoid. So I just wanted to remind people here that we ought to take the sound into consideration too when making, listening to, and choosing music (like at Mass -_-), because it’s extremely powerful and really does seem to jump right into our subconscious mind (or our heart, if you want to put it into common religious terms.) Mind you, I’m a bit more sensitive to this stuff because of my Autism, but still.

Now, I’m not about to go condemning loud music or anything because I’m not a dualist and I believe a little excitement can be a good thing, but tread lightly. Music is an incarnational sort of thing and taps you into what it’s incarnating - it’s communication, but subconscious and on crack. Otherwise why would entire cultures be bound together by it?

On a side note, I notice that Christian musicians have a hard time with beats. No, I’m not going all Jack Chick here, but it’s something worth pondering. Coming from the angle of communication, what does a beat communicate that Christians have less of in their vocabulary? Why is it that Christian metal tends to fall apart when it tries to be heavy and fast? See my point?

I am glad that you are recognizing that certain music triggers you into psychological problems. Is it the sound itself, or the lyrics as well? I find that some music does trigger emotional states that are less than positive…And I think it is wise to keep track of which type of music causes which type of mental/emotional/spiritual state. As many of us do for food - for example, how does my body respond when I eat a salad v. eating a big bowl of Cap’n Crunch, or 3 doughnuts, or a whole pan of lasagna? Why do I turn to certain music when I am hurt/angry/feeling sorry for myself? Does the music merely reinforce my emotional state? Or does it even magnify the unhealthy emotions? A lot of the music I spent my teen years listening to reminds me of those years of isolation, loneliness, and Godlessness. I made a lot of mistakes during that time, I was floundering without much guidance, and the memories, while powerful, are not pleasant.

So I think it is good that you are aware of the very powerful effects of music and can make decisions for yourself out of that awareness.

You mentioned beat (rhythm), To me, there is music that is for the ear, and some that seems to be for the genitals. I mean, the music itself seems more sexually arousing because of the beat itself. It is not just one genre but seems to span many. I also have to watch my intake of this type of music, because it is too geared toward sexuality.