One of the earliest examples of this is from ancient Greece. Orpheus, the son of Calliope, on a voyage with Jason and the Argonauts, played lively melodies on his lyric to energize fatigued oarsmen, and soothing tunes to calm them when they quarreled. Later examples of how music was able to sway people can be seen in the kings of Spain's Philip V, England's George II, and Bavaria's Ludwig. All of these kings supposedly suffered from sever bouts of depression. (Truth, 4).
Historians cite that these bouts of depression were overcome by listening to music. A better example of this was recorded by a psychologist who was treating a catatonic schizophrenic boy reported that the "eleven-year-old cried on hearing Bach's 'Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring' and spoke for the first time in seven years, to comment on the music" (Effects, 3 ). These examples might seem as not reliable; however, have we not seen people cry, especially around Veterans Day or D-Day when the national anthem of the U.S.A. is played? No hiding the fact, music does move people. Whether it be from that little boy who spoke the first time because of Bach's "Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring", to when people break down and cry over a national anthem, music does affect people and their actions. Now the question: how does music do this? Thankfully, there is an answer. .
How can music excite, calm, or depress people? Music does this by directly speaking to the emotional side of the human brain, or the right side of the brain. Once the communication has started the right side of the human brain mixes different chemicals together and serves them to the rest of the body in the form of a cocktail. For example, a happy mood appears to trigger the production of endorphins, the bodies group of peptide hormones that reduce the levels of pain and affect human emotions, so pleasing music can work like an anesthetic. Other emotion triggered regulatory chemicals can enhance or impair the body's immune response.
