Music and the Soul

The ancients used to put a lot of emphasis on music as healthful or harmful to the soul. Having sung nearly four years in the St. Andrew's Academy choir, three years in my college choir, and all my life in church, I'm beginning to understand why. The following categories become familiar in the soul by learning to perform good music, and they become familiar in a way different from reading, thinking, or being told about.

The Beauty of Harmony
Sing your own note without letting the other parts throw you off. All the parts are necessary.

The Beauty of Unity
Sing the same note as others in your group. Discord is ugly.

The Beauty of Blending
If your voice is the one you hear above all others, change volume or tone.

And furthermore,
Wait for the right time, and Follow the conductor.

This also convinces me more and more of the harm in a lot of rock music (no, don't leave; really!), at the very least when people are still in the developmental stage. (Maybe even beyond that; one of the best things I did was give up rock music for a while. I brought it back, but it doesn't have the hold it used to.) Who needs to have his soul subject to more influences toward discord, toward selfishness, toward undisciplined sensibility? Not me.