The power of music conveys, changes and connects emotions, says BYUH students
Through the experience of art you can learn about yourself, who you are and what your passionate about, said Natalia Andrade, a senior studying communications, from Atlanta, Georgia.
“Art takes so many forms but personally I think art is anything that creatively inspires me to feel some kind of emotion and be myself,” she said. “Whether that’s through music, a painting, a book or a movie, art has a way of making me feel safe and loved, while another piece of art can simultaneously make me so sad it hurts, which is what I think is the purpose of it, to make us feel.”
Senior, Joe Powell from Arizona majoring in music, similarly said, “Art is the ability to express emotions and feelings, or even to be able to inflict emotions or feelings in other people through the means of visual, audio or [our] senses.” Powell explained music is a form of rhetoric, and it’s the whole idea of expression. In music, you have it strictly educational or logical, while the other one is built specifically for emotion. Powell said, “Music is the manipulating or controlling sound for those purposes of inflicting some sort of rhetoric, some sort of emotion onto other people.”
Andrade said similar to how art moves people, music does the same job. It can make people feel all of the emotions. “One song has the power to enhance my emotions or completely change my mood. The [impact] music has on me, and many people, is so special.”
She explained she has multiple playlists created with the intention to make her feel a certain way. For example, she has a happy playlist to get her excited for the day, and a sad playlist to validate and comfort her when she is feeling down. Andrade said the process of creating music is art itself, as it consists of a singer, producer and writer. She said each person has their own role which allows them to create something so beautiful.
Dallin McKay McKinney, a junior from California majoring in theater, music and TESOL, defined art as “a form of expression of communication.” McKinney said what he finds cool about music is how it can make everyone feel something. He said people can listen to a song in any language and understand what emotions the song is meant to bring out of them.
McKinney said other forms of art bring out certain emotions for certain people and certain occasions, but with music, “it has the ability to connect, to bring out emotions for everyone. It is a form because it can bring out different emotions. It can communicate things that words can’t.”
Music as a guide
McKinney said some of his favorite songs to listen to have the message of experiencing the lows but also pushing through the hard times. He said one of the songs that does this he wrote titled “The Music” sang by America’s Got Talent’s singer Cody Lee.
“Sometimes my favorite part in music is when the sound goes away for a moment. It is just a very intimate moment and in that song [“The Music”] it went from lots of musical stuff going on to it just being the voice and the music,” McKinney explained.
Powell said some of his favorite songs that have powerful messages are from the cartoons “Steven Universe” and “Adventure Time.” The song “Be Wherever You Are,” from composer Rebecca Sugar, relays a message to be in the moment, he said. Powell explained, “I use [the song] whenever I get anxiety attacks. … I need to kind of calm down and refocus myself on the present instead of hyper-fixating on things of the future or the past, which I do a lot.”
Another one of Powell’s favorites is the song “Escapism.” He said the song’s meaning is, “escaping whatever trap you’re in, whether it was one you put yourself in or one that was forced upon you and finding your way home.”Dallin McKay McKinney singing with the orchestra playing at their winter 2023 Christmas concert.
Andrade discussed how music conveys powerful messages. For example, she said, “The song ‘Man in the Mirror’ by Michael Jackson is one of many songs that talk about how change in the world starts with you. If we want to make a change in the world, we need to look in the mirror and start with ourselves. This kind of inspirational message is important to convey. Sometimes speeches and conversations are not enough, so a song is the next best thing.”
She continued, “There are also songs that offer you [the] reassurance that everything is going to be okay, and I think I like those the most. ‘Here Comes the Sun’ by the Beatles and ‘Landslide’ by Fleetwood Mac are two of those songs that have comforting messages.”
“People don’t have to speak the same language, have the same cultural background or be from the same place to enjoy the same music. Music is universal and it is special for everyone, no matter how different we all might be,” Andrade commented. She explained how music has the power to break down barriers and tension and instead connect and bring people together. She added some things are hard to say and can be expressed easier through song.
Andrade recounted a moment when she had felt her musical performance touched people. She said when the Ho’olōkahi Chamber Choir toured Hawaii Island they had several experiences where the “music touched the audience.” Andrade said, “One [time] in particular was when we went to Parker Ranch. One of the ranchers asked us if we could sing ‘Love At Home’ because the owner of the ranch loved that song. When we were singing, she immediately burst into tears, along with many of the choir members and told us after that she could feel His spirit in the room with us.”
Ho’olōkahi means unity and diversity, Powell said. The message of the choir is having all these students from different backgrounds and different ethnicities all coming together in this choir and having one voice, he said.
He also recalled an experience from his trip to Maui with the choir. In the Hawaiian charter schools, the spirit was felt so strongly and there was unity between the schools and the choir, Powell reminisced. He said the choir started off with the Hiki Mai chant to ask permission if they can be there and in response, the Hawaiian charter school students sang their chant saying, ‘Yes you are allowed to be here.’
Powell said from his experience he felt a confirmation that “We are fulfilling this purpose in the mission our school has in going forth to serve, bringing others closer to Christ and sharing His spirit, His spirit of love and spirit of family.”
Andrade said, “I just want to share how important the arts are. Music and the arts in general allow people to be who they want to be and give people a space to be comfortable with themselves. One of my favorite quotes says, ‘Nobody comes to the theater to see you. They come to see themselves.’ I think we can apply that to any form of art. Whether it’s music, theater, paintings, pictures, dancing or any other art form. The arts inspire creativity and authenticity in each other and in the world.”
Expression through music
Powell attributed his love for music to his musically inclined family. “[Music is] always something that I did, probably because my family just all does it. That’s how my parents met. They met playing in an orchestra together. So they both played French horn and that also just happens to be the instrument that I play,” explained Powell.
He said he is the youngest of his six siblings, and all his siblings play stringed instruments such as the viola, violin and cello. He recalled, during the holidays, his family performed in mini orchestras, quartets or quintets.
Powell said he creates voice memos of different melodies that come to his mind, to express himself through music. These memos are a reflection of what he is feeling or thinking at the moment, he explained. Other ways Powell said he expresses himself is through instruments, especially through the French horn or brass. He said through those instruments he can be very expressive.
Like Powell, Andrade said her ties to music began through family. She said her mother first introduced and welcomed her into the music world. Andrade said her mother would always play music and musicals and take her and her siblings to see shows. Andrade said her mother worked at a performing arts school where Andrade was immersed in singing, dancing and performing, which developed her love for music and performing. She stated the program, “allowed me to be anything I wanted and definitely shaped me into who I am today.”
“I use music to express myself by helping me feel my emotions instead of burying them,” said Andrade. She explained music is a form of expression for her, because it allows her to emphasize the emotions she feels. She said through music, she can either emphasize what she is feeling or she can change her emotions for the better. “If I am in a sad mood and want to just sit in my sadness for a bit, I will put on some Adele. Or I could be having a really bad day, but if I listen to a happy song or playlist, it can really shift my whole day for the better,” Andrade said.
McKinney explained his journey of beginning to play instruments. He said, “It was the summer, our air conditioner was broken, and I was laying down on the floor. I remember I had all these questions, ‘What am I going to do with my life?’ and then I heard my sister playing piano. I remember at that moment I knew that that was what I was going to do. I remember feeling peace.” From then on, McKinney said he had taught himself how to play the piano, ukulele and guitar.
McKinney said the way he expresses himself the most in music is how he writes his music. “The song comes to me as if it were already written. I start with the music [and] everything should be based on emotion. I’ll sit down at the piano and play different chords until it makes me feel something. Then based on the emotion, I allow myself to hear a melody that brings out that feeling,” he said.
He said he then would play with words until the lyrics and music felt right to him. He said the message is directly based on the music. Though the words play a part, he said, it is the feeling the music gave him that inspired him to write it.
McKinney said he had written over 160 songs since he used to work in the music industry in Los Angeles. He worked with celebrities like Ariana Grande, PrettyMuch, Polo G and NLE Choppa. He said some of the music he had written, can be heard ob Spotify like “Can I Hold Your Hand,” which his most-played song on the app, with “Party on My Own” following closely behind.
McKinney expressed gratitude for the opportunity to have gone on tour in Europe. He said his fans funded the trip, and he was able to perform in 10 countries in Europe in about 30 days. The countries he toured were Amsterdam, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Scotland, Luxembourg and the cities of Manchester and London in England.