LWL | Music and Nature: An Unexpected Correlation

By Jana A. Abounaga

Music, a commonly known term that has embedded itself into a great portion of our lives; or rather, that we have embedded into our lives. See, music doesn’t just stem from man-made creations - it has a root. That root is nature. When comparing elements of music and naturally occurring phenomena, we found drastic similarities between the two such as tempo, beat, rhythm, and variation, just to name a few.  In addition, as it turns out, there is such a thing as the “sound” or “music” of nature - nature really does produce sounds that scientists can officially classify as “music”. But the biggest aspect that ties music to nature is one that you may find shocking: playing music in ecosystems has an effect on plants, and might actually serve as a potential benefit for them.

Music plays one of the biggest roles in human life. The music industry is one of the biggest, and music has proved to be beneficial to humans in many ways. Music for humans is so powerful for many different reasons. For some, it acts as a way to stimulate the brain and lessen the effect of mental health disorders such as depression, and improve mood, focus, intelligence, memory, and thinking. For others, it is like a way to treat an overstimulated brain. It calms the brain down and encourages mindfulness, especially with genres like classical or jazz. It helps decrease anxiety. Some research has even shown that music can help with blood pressure and heart health. (“Keep Your Brain Young With Music”) (9 Health Benefits of Music | NorthShore) Music has probably embedded itself into your life too; think of the amount of times you’ve turned on a song when you needed to focus on your work or studies, a dance song when you needed a pick-me-up, a classical piece when you felt overwhelmed, or a sad song when you needed a cry. Music has even become part of generations of cultures and societies around the world. Many big aspects of cultures around the world revolve around music; in fact, music is probably one of the biggest things after cuisine that has truly shaped a vast majority of cultures. (Peralta, “How How Does Music Affect Society?”) It encourages togetherness and emotion; think about concerts and parties where everyone is just there together to enjoy the mood of the music. There has been so much variation created when it comes to music too: there’s genres that range from classical to heavy metal, and we have established a time and place for each type. Music has become an aspect of every part of our lives; we hear it everywhere from weddings to festivals to clothing stores. So, no doubt have we established that music is a key, essential aspect of human lives. But let’s take a step back and observe how music has ties with nature. Does nature have an effect on music as we know it today? Can music somehow exist in these ecosystems?  Can music somehow play as important a role in ecosystems as they do in our lives? Do plants have a ‘prefrence’ when it comes to music, like we do? How exactly does music affect nature?  Does it have similar effects on them as it does on us? And can we strategically place specific music in specific ecosystems in order to achieve a desired effect? Turns out, a lot of music is inspired by nature, and music really does exist in their ecosystems. In addition, scientists have found there may be effects that stem from implementing music in these ecosystems.

How music exists in nature

Humans cannot perceive sound from plants, so we have always just assumed that plants were silent and never made any noise. However, recent studies using small, highly sensitive sound receivers have proved that plants do in fact release sound emissions from their xylem, which is plant tissue that transports water and dissolved minerals from the roots to the rest of the plant and also provides physical support. (Petruzzello, “Xylem”) 

What’s more is that sounds of nature can actually be classified scientifically as music! Certain natural music like bird’s singing, cricket’s chirping, bees buzzing, and more is referred to as “green music”. What’s more is that there may be significance behind this green music.  It has been proven that specific frequencies of bee buzzing induce the release of pollen from plant anthers. (Jung et al., “Evidence for sound-evoked physiological reactions in plants”)  Green music has even been shown to increase oxygen intake and organic compound content in chinese cabbage. (Ghosh; Mishra; Choi. et al, “Exposure to Sound Vibrations Lead to Changes in Arabidopsis”) 

How music is inspired by nature

To start off, the energy created through music is very similar to that created in an ecosystem. (Parks, “Ecosystems and Music”) An ecosystem is an environment that consists of many different aspects - the sounds of birds chirping, the wind blowing, the ocean’s waves crashing, even the colorful sights you see such as butterflies in flight and gardens of flowers blooming - which all come together to create what is known as the “Music of Nature''. (''Ways of Listening | Music of Nature”) Now compare it to an orchestra, where many different people play many different instruments, which create contratsing sounds that somehow come together to create a harmony. You could even compare it to a piano, where different keys stike together, ten fingers each playing different notes and creating chords, two hands each playing different chords, with the edge of white keys and depth of black keys, which are all unalike but still all join in and create not just a piece of music, but an experience. That’s what listening to music and immersing yourself in the sounds and sights of nature have in common, they’re both an experience. 

Music is also similar to nature scientifically: both are sounds produced with vibrations that vary in frequency - the higher the frequency, the higher the pitch. Vibrations are used very often in nature - think whales communicating or the echolocation of bats. There is also the mathematical aspect of both - both have a tempo, pitch, volume, and rhythm. (“The Science of Music and Sound!”) 

There are also many musical compositions that are directly related to or inspired by nature, one of them being one that will definitely ring a bell: The Four Seasons, by Antonio Vivaldi. In this musical composition, Vivaldi aims to capture the essence of nature, specifically its four distinct seasons. The Four Seasons is a compilation of four different pieces, each of them portraying the overall mood of each season. You’ll notice that his Spring sounds more alert, awake, and joyful, like the feeling of waking up on a beautiful day with the sun pouring, cool breeze blowing, birds chirping, and colorful flowers blooming. His Winter, however, is the polar opposite - it is serious, sharp, and quick - like a nip of frostbite on a dark, howling night. Vivaldi is noted for creating these four pieces that perfectly pull the emotion out of each of these seasons - and to think, he would not have ever even thought of this revolutionary composition if it were not for the beauty and art of nature. (Stewart, 24)  

How music can affect nature

Turns out, music really can affect nature! Well, it wasn’t the music exactly, See, some scientists suspect that music’s effect, at least for humans, ultimately stems from its vibrations. They found this out from the many scientific studies done on cerebral palsy patients whose motor function improved when treated with vibroacoustic therapy, which is when low frequency sound is used to produce vibrations that are applied directly to the body. (Fink, “Why and How Music Moves Us”) 

So, with this information, a recent study was done on plants to test the effects of sound vibrations, which showed that plants exposed to these sound vibrations produced increasing amounts of mRNA. This showed in specifically two genes, the fructose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (ald) and Rubisco small subunit (rbcS) genes, both of which play critical roles in photosynthesis, and they increased after being exposed to 125 and 250 Hz of sound. (Jeong et al., “Plant Gene Responses to Frequency-specific Sound Signals.”)

 There have been countless other studies done to test the effects of sounds, vibrations, and music on different types of plants. For example, sound-treated tomatoes showed 13.2% increased growth. (“Jung et al. Beyond chemical triggers: Evidence for sound-evoked physiological reactions in plants”) When carrot cells were exposed in suspension to 28 kHz continuous wave ultrasound for 40 seconds, it was found that their growth increased by 75% (Wang et al., “Carrot Cell Growth Response in a Stimulated Ultrasonic Environment.”)

Another study showed the concentration of the salicylic acid increased in Arabidopsis, or a mustard plant, exposed to the sound of 1000 Hertz, which increased plant disease resistance and defense. (“Ye et al. Evidence for the role of sound on the growth and signal response in Duckweed”) 

But why does this occur? Well, scientists have been able to, through many studies, come up with reasons as to why exposing plants to sound frequencies caused improvements. They found that there was increased carbon dioxide absorption and improved photosynthesis, which helped enhance growth. This music also surprisingly helped reduce stress in plants exposed to adverse conditions. Funny how plants and humans are similar in that aspect, isn’t it? Sound exposure also influenced gene expression in plants, triggering responses related to growth and development. (Murray, “The Power of Sound Frequencies”) 

However, studies have also shown that the type of music matters. In the study that showed an increase in genes related to photosynthesis, they found that those levels only increased when exposed to 125Hz and 250Hz whereas levels decreased significantly with treatment at 50 Hz, indicating a frequency-specific response. (Jeong et al., “Plant Gene Responses to Frequency-specific Sound Signals.”) 

From these many studies, scientists have somewhat been able to identify correlations between specific frequencies and alterations in the plant: 125Hz was shown to stimulate sprouting and root growth in plants, 250Hz promoted the elongation of plant stems and leaves, 500Hz improved overall plant growth and development, 1,000Hz encouraged plant photosynthesis and nutrient absorption, and 8,000Hz enhanced flower and fruit production of some of these plants. (Murray, “The Power of Sound Frequencies'') 

Studies have also shown that specific species tended to enjoy specific genres of music: for example, roses reacted best to violin music. It has also been proven that, when exposed to music, some genres of music promoted growth, while others actually had an opposite effect. For most plants, more calm genres such as classical or jazz music caused growth increase, while harsher metal music induced stress and actually had an adverse effect on the plants’ conditions. This may be because the vibrations were too intense, and stimulate cells a little too much, causing unwanted damage to these cells. (Nursery, “Should You Sing to Your Plants?”) 

Conclusion

Turns out music and nature are more related than one would originally think. Music can be used in so many ways to improve ecosystems and their overall health. Even though this is not a widely researched topic by scientists in labs, the research done has already shown astronomical results in terms of growth rate, development, nutrition, resistance, and overall health of plants, just to name a few. Once more research is done on this topic to analyze which music is best for each plant, as well as research to hopefully negate any side-effects that may stem from the use of music in ecosystems long term, it will no doubt become a key element in agriculture and gardening.  So much of music ended up having ties with nature, and, ecosystems really do have a “sound”. Music is just as much a part of nature’s life as it is ours, and with how much music is embedded into our human lives, it’s no wonder. Music has always been a natural phenomenon - we just took it and made it our own. The aspects of nature are so coinciding with those of music that it’s a wonder we don’t notice them more often: the ebb and flow of its beautiful rhythms; the continuity and regularity of its tempo, like the unheard ticks of nature’s intangible clock; its never-changing patterns, such as the interchangeable rising and falling of the sun and moon, the changing of the seasons, the life cycles of organisms, and the circle of life. But the most important aspect tying the two together is the variation of it all - contrasts that somehow find a common ground. Nature has all come together, from tiny microbes like bacteria and fungi to mere insects and ants to small prawns in the sea to gigantic gorillas on land. From delicate buds to bright tulips to towering palms to fuzzy firs to ancient, mysterious oaks, a story seemingly written on the textured bark of their trunks. From golden peaches to bright red pomegranate seeds to subdued yet tangy green apples to soft and mushy dates. From the sounds of bees buzzing to birds chirping to crashing, powerful waves to the blazing hot sun and the soft, kind, gentle glow of the man on the moon. They all work together in harmony; in blissful, elegant, perfect harmony.


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