Trivia of the month: 10 facts about music that will astound you!

A case study by Harvard University proves that ‘Music is a universal language’. And it is true. Music is a kind of language that transcends all boundaries and finds its way to connect all of us through its melody. We derive a certain joy from listening to music, even if we are listening to a song in a foreign language and don’t understand a word of it, we can still feel the music and relate to it. Simply put, there is no human culture that is devoid of music. 

There are amazing benefits of listening to music. Many of us use music to concentrate at work or even to fall asleep! Sometimes, a particular tune or lyric touches us deeply and leaves us with goosebumps. Just with a single note, music can evoke a sense of calmness when we are stressed. Do read our article on how our ‘Brain and Music’ are linked <hyperlink> to understand the connection between them better. 

Did you know that there are a lot of fun facts and trivia about music? Are you interested in knowing those facts?

Here are 10 amazing facts about music that we bet you didn’t know. 

Yes! You read it right. In between the years 1912 to 1948, musicians battled for medals at Olympic events. Along with music, painting, literature, poetry, and architecture were also part of the Olympic Games.

When mathematicians hit the computer laboratory to study and modularise pop music, they ended up creating computer algorithms. Computers now can not only write pop music like songwriters but can also identify elements of the pop song that tend to make it a super hit. 

Yes! Our heartbeat mimics the tempo of the music we listen to. For instance, if we are listening to music with fast beats, our pulse rate will automatically increase to match with the tempo of the music. This is the same reason why people listen to fast or energetic music while exercising and slow music while meditating. Try this as an experiment – listen to different types of music and check your heartbeat count with your DIY Stethoscope.

If you are a plant parent or you love to assist your parents with gardening, here’s a tip for you. A case study in 2000 found that classical music can help your plants grow faster.  

Earworms, also known as ‘sticky music’ or ‘stuck song syndrome’, are those catchy tunes that auto-repeat in your head long after you have stopped listening to them. Did you know that you can get rid of these earworms by listening to the entire song or by simply distracting your mind by humming a short tone in your head, like the Intel music or the Window startup sound!

Inspired by a musician who produced music by arranging wine glasses filled with different proportions of water, Benjamin Franklin (the famous innovator and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States) invented his own harmonica (the Italian word for harmonica is armonia, which means ‘harmony’) with 37 glass bowls. His harmonica was so famous in Europe that Mozart and Beethoven composed music for it.

Music composer John Cage composed the piece called As Slow As Possible in 2001, which has a duration of 639 years. If you visit the city of Halberstadt in Germany any time before the year 2640, you can hear a part of the music. 

The classic song Jingle Bells, which is sung at Christmas, was originally written for Thanksgiving. Written by the songwriter James Lord Pierpont, it was first published in 1857 under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh”.  

Fun Fact

Did you know that ‘Jingle Bells’ is also the first song played in space, nine days before Christmas in 1965? The song was played by two astronauts on an 8-note Honer harmonica with a handful of bells. This was broadcast live during NASA’s Gemini 6A space flight.

None of the Beatles band members were able to read or write music. Although they wrote words and chords to remember their tunes.

You might have been singing ‘Happy Birthday To You’ to wish your friends on their birthdays, but you might be singing it wrong! The Hill sisters originally composed this song as ‘Good Morning To All’ for a kindergarten school in 1893. Here’s how the lyrics go by:

Good morning to you,

Good morning to you,

Good morning, dear children,

Good morning to all.

Fun Fact

There is a copyright on the happy birthday tune which is why movies don’t usually have it. Instead they sing ‘He’s A Jolly Good Fellow’.

And there you have it!

We hope this article helped you learn many facts about music that you didn’t know before. How does music help you in your day-to-day activities? Tell us in the comments below.

Want to learn more about music? Read these stories:

The Sound of Music – How Music Storage Has Changed Over the Years

Music and its Many Genres

Weird But True: 5 Musical Instruments You’ve Never Heard Of