How Music Triggers Nostalgia
- Lex Bogdanski
- Jul 29
- 2 min read
Have you ever had a song bring you back to a core childhood memory? Music has the power to bring back specific memories in one's life. Whether it be a person, a place, or a time, music brings you back to those moments.
How Exactly Does Music Trigger Nostalgia?
When you're playing an instrument or listening to the radio, the song you are hearing can draw you back to a certain memory. Music does this through association, meaning you link songs to specific moments or people in your life. You also create an emotional connection when certain songs play, and listening to a song again can draw you back to what you were feeling in a certain moment. The dopamine release you get from enjoying music partially comes from nostalgia and your ties to your past.
Music can also trigger nostalgia through its melody and lyrics, and through a personal connection that you may have with a certain artist.
What Effect Does Music and Nostalgia Have?
Nostalgia can trigger positive emotions, which helps to reduce stress and anxiety. Listening to a song that brings you back to a good memory will allow you to feel what you felt in that moment. However, music also has the power to bring you back to times that may not have been so great. Through its control over emotions, music and nostalgia help build a strong sense of personal identity. It's common to find people who bond over shared experiences with nostalgia.
The nostalgia you feel through music allows you to retrieve memories that you may have begun to forget, helping the mind thrive. Music is a great tool for people with dementia because of its nostalgic abilities.
Conclusion
Whether it be the best or worst day, music will trigger the nostalgia that brings you back and allows you to reconnect with those moments. We build a strong sense of who we are with music's nostalgic powers through playing our favorite songs on the radio and playing them ourselves. If you ever want to learn a song that brings you back in time, stop by the Keen School of Music for a lesson!
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