Music is really just a reflection of what’s inside of us. This is true in almost any setting or genre. For example, as I read scripture over the years there was always this debate from the Pharisees about eating “unclean” foods, as if what we put into us made us unclean. But, Christ then explains, “It’s not what you put into yourselves that makes you unclean, but rather the evil that comes out of you that makes you unclean.”

The same can be true with our music because it reflects what is inside of us, not the other way around. So, when we hear aggressive, angry music, that is an emotion that must come out of us either through music, exercise, literary, or through our outward actions.

I know for me, playing metal gigs is like going to the gym, it’s a way to release energy. Playing and singing the songs in a high volume setting is a great way to release. I’ve read more than a few interviews with Hard Rock and Heavy Metal drummers where they are asked what they would be doing if they weren’t in a band, to which many respond, “I’d probably be in jail.” I always took this to mean that by pounding out Metal beats on a drum kit helps them get out their aggression in a constructive, rather than a destructive, way.

Further to this, I was a worship leader in church a few years back, and I found that music set the tone for the congregation to have an experience with the Spirit. It was an intentional and methodical way to move people into a time of worship to receive the Word and Sacrament. Which is why the opening songs at modern contemporary churches are usually up beat, followed by the third or fourth song as the mellower introspective songs, designed to bring the room of people into a more reflective period. Clearly, this is a period of time to receive love and be open to forgiveness.

If we write songs of hate we are letting the listener see the hate within us. Negativity is contagious because hate breeds hate. Conversely, if we write songs that are uplifting, we are encouraging the listener and that can have a positive impact on them which can spread out to many more people.

Music in major keys has an uplifting effect on our spirit, too. Especially so, the keys of G, D and C Major. Likewise, minor keys have a melancholy or darker effect on us and impact our moods accordingly.

There is a terrific book written by a Japanese author named Masaru Emoto about the effects of sound on water. Because the human body is something like 80% water, Emoto set out to see how a water crystal changes under a microscope when various sounds and even phrases were spoken to it. Thus, if water changes due to sound, our human bodies and emotions might change due to sound, too.