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Music therapy uses music to promote positive changes in the wellbeing of an individual. These positive changes may be manifested in changes in physical development, social and interpersonal development, emotional or spiritual wellbeing or cognitive abilities.

The therapeutic benefits of music have been known and harnessed since ancient times. However, music therapy in modern times dates back to the World Wars when music was used in hospitals in the rehabilitation and recovery of soldiers who had suffered physical or emotional trauma. The University of Kansas was the first University in the United States to offer a degree program in music therapy in 1944.

Early exponents of music therapy in the 1950’s to 1970’s included the French cellist Juliet Alvin and Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins. The Nordoff-Robbins approach is still used in many countries around the world including the USA, UK, Australia, Germany and South Africa.

So, how does music therapy work?

Music is universal and connects across language barriers. Most people can respond to music in some way regardless of illness or disability.

Music has an inherent ability to generate an emotional response in the listener. It stimulates a relaxation response which can therefore lead to physiological changes in the body. Music is known to reduce stress thereby producing related benefits such as lower blood pressure, improved respiration, reduced heart rate, better cardiac performance and reduced tension in muscles.

Music is processed in both hemispheres of the brain and this stimulation has been shown to help in development of language and speech functions. It promotes socialization and development of communication, self expression and motor skills. Children and adults with autism spectrum disorder have been found to respond very positively to music and many of them display high levels of musical skill.

Music encourages verbal as well as non verbal communication and promotes social interaction and relatedness. It’s a valuable outlet for self expression and creativity. It has also been successfully used in pain management by providing a distraction from the painful stimulus as well as a means of relaxation and stress alleviation.

Children with developmental and learning difficulties,children and adults with autism spectrum disorder or special needs as well as the elderly and dementia sufferers have all been shown to benefit from music therapy. Although the benefits of music therapy have been accepted intuitively and based on anecdotal evidence it wasn’t till recently that quantitative evidence of its efficacy started to emerge.

In a recent study conducted by the University of Miami School of Medicine blood samples of a group of male Alzheimer’s patients who were treated with music therapy were found to have significantly elevated levels of melatonin, epinephrine and norepinephrine which are chemicals which act on the brain to control mood, depression, aggression and sleep. The benefits of the therapy were still evident even six weeks after cessation of the therapy and in the case of melatonin the effects persisted even longer.

Music therapy is gaining wider acceptance in the general medical community and has certainly stood the test of time. Music therapists can now be found practicing in a variety of institutions dealing with mental health, developmental and early intervention programs, correctional institutions and special education programs to name but a few. Many are having success where traditional treatment methods have failed.

Music is the rhythm of life and possesses the power to revive stale heart, mind and soul. Music has that great power of expression of an artist’s mind, his zeal, emotions and vivacity. Music can make the blood flow in opposite direction and that is why music plays a vital role in nurturing revolution by providing great motivation. Alternative rock is also that precious stone picked up from the sea of innovation. Alternative rock is essentially an umbrella term for underground music that has emerged in the wake of the punk rock movement since the mid 1980s. Throughout its history, alternative rock has been largely defined by its rejection of the commercialism of mainstream culture. The music now known as alternative rock was known by a variety of terms before “alternative” came into common use. “College rock” was used in the United States to describe this awesome music during the 1980s due to its links to the college radio circuit and the tastes of college students.

In the United Kingdom the term “Indie” was preferred; by 1985 the term “Indie” had come to mean a particular genre, or group of subgenres, rather than a simple demarcation of status. As a musical genre, alternative rock consists of various subgenres that have grown from the indie music scene since the 1980s, such as grunge, Britpop, Gothic rock, and Indie pop. These genres are unified by their collective debt to the style and/or ethos of punk, which laid the groundwork for alternative music in the 1970s. Alternative bands in previous times used to play in small clubs, at that time there was no advertising medium so it was advertised through world of mouth as a result alternative rock became popular among youth. Alternative rock does not have any particular musical style but many performers have made up their own style by including distorted guitars. Sounds range from the dirty guitars of grunge and the gloomy sound scales of gothic rock is the specialty of alternative rock.

Lyrics in alternative rock songs typically address issues concerned with society such as drugs, depression and environment. Alternative rock has that approach that can awake youth and can make them realize their potential. Alternative rock performers differentiate themselves from their traditional rock predecessors as they want to sing it for a greater diversity and experimentation in music. Alternative rock performers produce catchy as well as motivational music. Though their music–with its emphasis on distorted guitars and ambiguous lyrics doesn’t suit to commercialize society. Expressions explained by alternative rock songs are 3-4 minutes long, with catchy riffs and steady beats. Alternative rock aims to reach out to a new generation of youth with high energy, melodic music which spoke to contemporary social issues.

Defining music as “alternative” is often difficult because of the application of the word alternative. On one hand alternative describes challenging music that protest commercialization and mainstream values. On the other hand alternative word is used by music industry to mention available options. Whatever the meaning that word carries out, but the fact is that the alternative rock is exactly what present youth need to get motivated.