Opera is good for your health!

Welcome to CODA! Coda comes from the Latin word for “tail,” and in music, it indicates an additional passage at the end of a piece of music, a final flourish that complements what’s come before. CODA goes beyond the curtain call to explore this unique and astonishing art form. Whether you’re a first-time opera-goer or a seasoned audience member, CODA is for you. Biweekly, we’ll enhance your experience of opera with behind-the-scenes highlights, educational articles, listening lists, and much, much more.

When you’re feeling stressed, how do you cope??

If you pop on your headphones and blast your favorite aria, you’re onto something!?

April is Stress Awareness Month, a time to bring attention to the negative effects of stress on our health and wellbeing. In the short term, stress can make us feel exhausted, irritable, and anxious, and can cause physical symptoms like headache and stomachache. Long-term, stress has been linked to serious mental and physical health problems, like high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, depression, and diabetes. There are many ways to relieve stress – movement, meditation, watching a funny cat video – but music has been shown to be one of the most powerful.??

What music does to your brain

Studies show that most people listen to an average of 20.7 hours of music every week (but we are willing to bet our readers consume even more than that!). But what actually happens inside our brain when we listen to “Nessun dorma?”?

Music moves through our ears as vibrations, and the inner ear translates these vibrations into electrical signals. Our neurons then transmit the signals to certain areas of the brain’s cerebral cortex. But the brain doesn’t have just one space dedicated to experiencing music (that’s why scientists are so interested in studying it!). From here, different regions of the brain detect the different elements of the signals — like tone, pitch, and rhythm — and the brain combines all that information to allow us to fully experience music. Fascinatingly, the parts of the brain that processes emotions also fire up in response to music, so music is wired directly into our feelings.

Studies like this one have found that listening to music can lower your heart rate and cortisol levels, and that it causes the brain to release endorphins, a critical neurotransmitter that helps relieve pain, reduce stress, and improve your sense of wellbeing. Music therapy can also have a significant benefit in preventing burnout. A 6-week study showed that after having access to 30-minute music listening sessions each day at work for a month, operating room staff reported decreased stress levels and less emotional exhaustion.

What should I listen to??

Historically, most studies about music and stress have used lyricless music, like classical or ambient. While these studies did find both of these types of music to be effective at reducing stress and anxiety, that doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily “better” than other genres. In fact, the American Music Therapy Association states that “All styles of music can be useful in effecting change in a client or patient’s life.” The effects can vary, based on the person’s relationship to and enjoyment of the piece of music.?

Different kinds of music can sometimes be linked to different outcomes, however. Listening to music at 60 beats per minute, the same pattern as alpha waves in the brain, can cause brain frequencies to shift towards relaxed alpha wave patterns, thought by some to be the brain’s optimal learning state. Because music is so closely linked to our emotions, different genres can help us achieve different outcomes. If you’re looking to feel inspired or motivated, studies show that rap and hip-hop may help. For those seeking to work on their identities, heavy metal was shown to play a role in creating well-adjusted young adults.?

A team of musicians, neuroscientists, and music therapists have even claimed to create the “most relaxing” song ever, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.?

The added benefit of the operatic tragedy

While opera contains many soothing, beautiful moments – like the “Méditation” from Tha?s or Le nozze di Figaro’s famous “Sull’aria” – the genre isn’t exactly known for being drama-free. But if you’ve ever felt better after listening to a sad song or watching a tearjerker movie, you know that a little emotional drama can feel pretty healing (there’s a reason Taylor Swift’s breakup songs are so popular). Researchers have found that watching “emotionally arousing dramas” releases endorphins, and can even potentially boost pain tolerance and feelings of group bonding. In other words, tragedies like La bohème or Pagliacci can actually make us feel better, not worse!?

Whether it’s opera, hip-hop, or something in between, finding the tunes that resonate most with you is key to successfully using music to enhance your mood. This Stress Awareness Month, consider experimenting with different genres and styles of music to discover the ones that best help you unwind. Embrace the healing power of music and let it guide you to a more relaxed and balanced state of mind.

Coming soon: our 2024/25 season announcement! Stay tuned!?

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