We all know that loud music can damage our hearing but are there certain types of music played at normal volume that can be harmful for us?
Bob Larson, a Christian minister and former rock musician, remembers that in the 70's teens would bring raw eggs to a rock concert and put them on the front of the stage. The eggs would be hard-boiled by the music before the end of the concert and could be eaten. Dr. Earl W. Flosdorf and Dr. Leslie A. Chambers showed that proteins in a liquid medium were coagulated when subjected to piercing high-pitched sounds. (O’Donnell 1999)
Muscle Testing
In the late 1970's Dr. John Diamond made a startling discovery using applied kinesiology (muscle testing). Dr Diamond discovered that muscles would strengthen or weaken in the presence of positive or negative emotional and intellectual stimuli, as well as physical stimuli. A smile will make you test strong, while the statement, ‘I hate you’ will make you test weak.
A striking aspect of Diamond's research was the uniformity of the responses of his subjects. “ Diamond's results were predictable, repeatable, and universal.” (Hawkins, David - Power v. Force, 1995, p3/4)
Anapaestic Beat
The stopped anapaestic beat is used in some rock music. It consists of two rapid beats followed by a long beat, then a pause as in - Tahta tara pause, Tahta tara pausa, Tahta tara pause.
In an experiment using applied kinesiology Dr John Diamond played different kinds of music to people through headphones. When a stopped anapaestic beat was played volunteers would immediately lose muscle strength and have to lower their arms.
Dr. Diamond found a direct link between muscle strength and music. He found that listening to certain types of hard rock music causes all the muscles in the body to go weak. The normal pressure required to overpower a strong deltoid muscle in an adult male is about 40/45 pounds, when hard rock music is played, only 10/15 pounds of pressure is needed to push down the arm.
Dr. Diamond found that the stopped anapestic beat causes a "switching" of the brain. Dr. Diamond said this switching occurs when the symmetry between both sides of the brain is destroyed causing stress to the body. This can cause lessened work performance, learning and behaviour problems in children, and a general malaise in adults.
Dr David Hawkins also carried out research into the effects of different types of music using muscle testing.
He concludes that, “Whereas virtually all classical music and most pop music (including "classic" rock and roll) caused a universally strong response, the "hard" or "heavy metal" rock that first gained acceptance in the late 70's produced a universally weak response.”
There is a certain amount of debate about whether the stopped anapaestic beat is harmful. I know of many teenagers who do their revision while listening to hard rock and they manage to pass their exams! Many Christian web sites in the USA have picked up on John Diamond’s research in their attempt to prove that rock music is evil!
There are many factors that may influence how music effects us. These include the intentions of the composer, the lyrics used, the instruments used and the state of mind of the listener.
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