The Art of Thinking with Sounds

This past October I finally made it to Zilker Park for Austin City Limits, a three-day music festival. I’ve wanted to go for years. My expectations were blown away. It was just a weekend of hanging out and listening to music, which is right up my alley. But it made me realize the significance that music holds in my life. Not a day goes by that I don’t pull out my headphones and lose myself in the Shins, Kings of Leon, or the like. I recently began thinking about the impact music has had on me and as well as my learning.

 Once during a family dinner, my brother and my dad brought up an interesting point: instead of listening to the words of a song, they listen to the instruments, beat, and rhythm. I found this to be true for myself as well. When I hear a song for the first time, I won’t remember the words, except possibly for the chorus. It takes listening to a song multiple times before the lyrics even register in my mind. Even the words of my favorite songs I may not know. For me, I find enjoyment in the instrumentals.

This explains why I like such a diverse assortment of artists and genres, from Kid Cudi and Kendrick Lamar to Noah and the Whale and alt-J. I enjoy artists that create interesting and complex songs because they capture my attention more than simpler tunes. For example, the reason I don’t enjoy country as much as other genres of music lies in the fact that those musicians invest more in their lyrics. Their lyrics overshadow less complex instrumental arrangements. For some reason, I need the complexity of the instrumentals to draw me in. My brain works in a way that needs that stimuli rather than lyrical stimulation.

Once I’ve listened to a song probably close to ten times, the lyrics finally register with me. I think I have to sort past everything else to be able to focus my attention on the words. But once I truly listen to the words, they stick with me. I think I hear certain lines in a song at moments in my life when I really need them. Certain lyrics embody everything that I’m feeling at that particular moment in time. It’s comforting to know that someone else experienced the same things and turned it into something beautiful.

For example, at the end of last semester, I was very stressed out. Finals were insane and I felt suffocated just being at TCU. One of my favorite artists, Kid Cudi, released a new album about two or three weeks before finals. Instead of listening to it immediately, I vowed to wait until I could give my entire attention to it. As soon as I got home, I locked myself in my room and listened to that album all the way through. The song “Immortal” seemed to lift me from my funk.

"Spent the last month feeling bad 'bout myself
I couldn't even speak anything of real hope
And the day came when it hit me like lightning through my veins
A sudden change in my groove, in my walk"

Music put things in perspective for me. It makes me think about things in a whole new way. Even though I don't play an instrument or study music in any way, I feel like just listening to music as much as I do has affected my cognitive abilities. I grew up in a family of music lovers. I was exposed to a variety of genres at a young age. My dad loves classic rock, jazz, and bluegrass. My mom would play 80s New Wave endlessly in the car. And my brother, much like me,  listened to everything. Constantly listening to so many different types of music and just music in general helped me as a student. I have a terrific memory and analytical skills. And I find myself to be a creative thinker. I attribute all this to the cognitive stimulation that listening to music causes.

Music will always be a part of my life. I will always be searching for that unique sound and endlessly analyzing the albums of my favorite artists. Concerts will never cease to be a borderline religious experience for me. My life becomes so much brighter whenever music plays. And my brain doesn't seem to mind either.