Note the difference by Caroline Van Niekerk
Music’s power has been recognised and documented since before the time of the Ancient Greeks. The power of face-to-face meetings, as opposed to other means of communication - even aided by batteries of technological developments – is also widely accepted. So towards the goal of efficient and effective meetings – why not judiciously use music?
Perhaps you are worried as to whether there is time for music during meetings, in the world of work - after all, we “play” or “make” music, we don’t “work” music! Musicians and music educators worldwide complain that at government and policy levels music is regarded as a “frill”/a nice to have, but not a necessary to have; even as mere “auditory cheesecake”. Yet music’s use can be very practical – consider Haydn’s Surprise symphony, to wake participants in a meeting up if they might be feeling sleepy or alternatively not yet ready for the day!
Research on topics such as multiple intelligences (including the musical intelligence) and the so-called Mozart effect demonstrates the benefits of involvement in music for everyone, not only for the so-called musically ‘talented’ few. Even prenatally, music is now extensively used; few parents or teachers at pre– and primary school levels dispute music education’s importance. Social and cultural identity of teenagers is largely intertwined with their music; music is capable of providing joy and interest right through to the grave, soothing the sick and enhancing the lives of the elderly.
Of course, if you justify music’s use and importance by quoting well known music people, the counterclaim can be made: Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they. Yet justification comes from many non-musicians, such as the early cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead, and it is they who claim that appreciation of music is a universal feature of humankind: music-making is found in all societies and it is normal for everyone to participate. It is modern-day Westerners who unusually do not necessarily participate in music, even claiming to be unmusical. Yet the human propensity to make and listen to music can be said to have been encoded into the human genome during the evolutionary history of our species.
Musics in the modern world are ubiquitous – especially what is commonly known as muzak. So how can we claim that only limited numbers of people are musical, while behaving as if all possessed the basic capacity without which no musical tradition can exist – the capacity to listen and distinguish patterns of sound?
Evidence can be drawn together from disciplines such as archaeology, anthropology, psychology, neuroscience and, of course, musicology, to explain the origins of both language and music. Of course meetings par excellence use language. But whereas language’s function is self-evident … what is the point of music? Well, if words alone could adequately express all meanings, would the arts of painting and music exist?
Ten major functions of music are:
*emotional expression *aesthetic enjoyment *entertainment *communication *symbolic representation *physical response *enforcing community/social norms *validation of social institutions and religious rituals *contribution to the continuity and stability of culture, and to *the integration of society.
Music transforms experience; always out of the ordinary, its presence creates the atmosphere of the special. Music may heighten excitement; soothe tensions. Five specific uses of music during meetings can be for: *Cognition, sequencing and memory *Tribal glue and teamwork *Movement and stress release *Humour.
I challenge you to try organising a meeting with music, and then go back to doing one without – you’ll feel the difference for yourself!
Source: Reprinted with permission from The Meeting Professional. Copyright 2007 Meeting Professionals International.
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