How Music Brings People Together

Historians believe that one of the first things we humans did even before we learned to use language, was to make music. In fact, it was probably music-making that helped languages to form! We know from the archaeological record that music was being made in the Paleolithic period, 300,000 to 12,000 BP from the ancient musical instruments that have been unearthed in Europe. Made of stone, bone, and wood, these simple instruments were still probably capable of making a good beat that was probably easy to dance to! Music brought people together, and has been an important theme playing behind the rise of civilization.

Music has been a constant companion to human life throughout the centuries, and it’s never been more popular than it is today, when we have millions of musicians across the world performing at any given hour of the day or night! Music is so good at breaking down barriers and lifting spirits that corporate team building companies have begun to incorporate it into their exercises, having teams of business people do things like work together to compose their company anthem! The team members are helped by professional musicians who facilitate their compositions, and it has proven to be a very effective tool to promote camaraderie and a sense of shared purpose!

This innovative team-building music has its roots in the past as all music does. It is another new iteration of the national anthems, work and war songs, lullabies, and other cultural music that have bound families, groups, even whole nations together! Music that is meaningful to a group of people contributes to their social cohesion and can increase the effectiveness of group action.

For example, the soldiers who marched into battle singing songs like Over There and Pack Up Your Troubles were buoyed up by the music, it helped calm them and reminded them of who and what they were fighting for. Drums and bugles have even been used as a means to direct the action on the battlefield, another way in which music can facilitate group action!

The use of work songs for people engaged in physical labours can both entertain by making the hours of toil pass by more easily, and also provide a cadence to keep the work train moving in unison.

Patriots of every nation say that they feel uplifted and proud when they hear the strains of their country’s national anthem being played, and in many cultures they automatically stand up and sometimes sing along, their hearts swelling with love of country.

The simple lullabies that mothers sing to soothe their children to sleep might be one of the oldest forms of music, predating language. It is thought that early mothers hummed and sang wordless melodies, which can still be heard in homes today! It also works in group settings, just ask the daycare workers who play lullabies to lull their charges into getting some sleep at nap time!

Music is a part of us, human beings use and enjoy music without even thinking about it, humming a tune as you go through your day is as natural as breathing, and it makes the time fly by!