Does Music Really Touch Your Soul?

We’ve heard the phrase “music touches your soul,” but how much truth is behind that statement? Information from KHS students and scientific research reveal that music contours the brain creates emotions.

Students interviewed for this article frequently use music as a tool to shape their emotions into more positive versions of themselves. For example, Brady Zadora, a KHS student/athlete, was asked how music makes him feel, and in his response, he mentioned that music helped him reach a calm state while simultaneously changing his former moods. In a similar interview a senior at KHS, Owen Davis expressed “I feel like it can expand emotions; it can bring on new emotions also!”  

So what does music possess to have these emotion-shifting powers? What is our soul and how does music have access to it? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a soul is “The immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life.” When examined further, this quote helps us understand that someone's soul is the animating factor of someone's lifeless body. Our soul is what allows us to live and feel, including feeling the emotions that flood the brain day after day. 

So does music really tap into our soul to perform its emotional miracles? Well, not quite, the Altana Institution of Music explains. “It was discovered that music can release dopamine in two main places in the brain, the dorsal and ventral striatum. When you are having a pleasurable experience, such as listening to your favorite song, these areas of the brain light up.” This information proves that when the ears detect music, our brain has chemical reactions that cause certain moods. These reactions can be euphoric, and there are even physiotherapists that use music in a professional setting. So although music doesn't actually “touch your soul,” it can affect you in ways that can only be described as tapping into your soul. ■