It’s almost impossible to think about Christmas without thinking about music! Every year, Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas Is You” rockets back into the charts. At the time of writing, it’s currently at number seven of the top ten!
But why is music so important to us at this time of year? What is it about the darkness creeping in, the cold mist over the hills and the short days that makes us want to sing along to a Christmas song or listen to the beautiful tones of the choristers as they sing Christmas carols?
The History of Music and the Holidays
Historically speaking, we know that 40,000 years ago, human beings were creating musical instruments.
We know that winter celebrations that involve music go back much longer than Christmas in the British Isles. Humans have observed the winter solstice since as early as the Neolithic era, since around 10,200 BC. Important historical landmarks like Maeshowe in Scotland and Stonehenge in Somerset tell us that the winter solstice has been honoured since the stone age, since these monuments were aligned with either sunrise or sunset on the winter solstice.
We also know that the pre-Christian Romans celebrated Saturnalia around the winter solstice, the ancient Inca empire in Peru celebrated Inti Raymi and the ancient Norsemen in Scandinavia celebrated Yule. Many of these celebrations included music!
Music, Winter and Hope
It has long been suggested that the reason human beings celebrate in winter is to insert joy and hope during a time which, for ancient civilisations, would be dangerous. A time when crops wouldn’t thrive, and they needed to survive.
So, what is it about music that became, and has stayed, such an important part of our winter celebrations?
Scientifically, we know that music has amazing capabilities for healing. In some of our past blogs, we’ve looked at its ability to promote positive mental health and healing and how it can literally help our children’s brains develop!
At Front Row Music, we see the transformational power of music in children’s lives every day. It’s a powerful thing that has, for generations, given humans great benefit. The oldest example of the contextual use of music comes from ancient frescos that are from around 4,000 BC, which feature priests who used music played on the harp in their healing practises.
So it’s not really a surprise that when the darkness of winter sets in and we feel low, we turn to music!
In a study led by Terry Pettijohn, psychologists found that the change of seasons and our music tastes are linked together. Just as animals start to hibernate in winter and our gardens fade as plants die off for another year, our own music tastes respond to the colder weather and lack of sun. During the winter months, people are drawn to more ‘reflexive and complex ‘genres of music even though, the study posits that listening to upbeat and high-energy music in wintertime can help improve our mood.
Celebrating Through Music
It’s no surprise then that whilst sadder, slower Christmas songs like ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham and ‘Do they Know it’s Christmas’ are two of the top five most streamed Christmas songs, nothing can bump the truly upbeat Mariah Carey banger ‘All I want for Christmas is you’ from the top spot!
Music taps into a primal moment inside our humanity, a need to celebrate and sing and hum and feel hopeful, even in the darkest of times. When the nights are long and the days are short, a good singsong in the car or carol singing with the family isn’t just a way to pass the time. It’s a moment to let music fill our souls, improve our moods, shake off the darkness and bring some light and levity into our lives.
At Front Row Music, we believe in the power to change us and in this case, the change it brings is simple and wonderful: in the darkness, music brings us hope.
Merry Christmas from the Front Row Team!
About Front Row Music
Front Row Music specialises in primary school music tuition, teaching thousands of students in schools across the globe. Founded by British recording artist and musician, Dave Fidler, Front Row Music is committed to making music as fun and accessible for young people as possible, using songs that they already know and love.
Whether it’s guitar, ukulele, keyboard or beyond, Front Row Music’s lesson plans are specially designed to encourage and support students as they grow both in talent and passion for music.
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