Music is not always just used as background noise for other activities, according to the program director of music therapy at Eastern Michigan University Doctor Debra Gombert. The right song for the right person can affect both their mental and physical well-being in the long run, she believes.

 Whether it is strengthening someone’s mind, or using the song’s rhythm to help with movement, Gombert has used music therapy for every age group and type of person. She actively uses music therapy across the broad spectrum that it can provide help for.

“If I was working with somebody who has dementia, I might be using music to help them remember things from earlier years,” Gombert said. “I might use music to help with end of life review and build a legacy. If I was working with somebody who has Parkinson’s disease, I might be using music to help them with breath control or with walking, and I mostly work with early childhood and adulthood, but it can be used at every stage in between.”

Outside of music therapy itself, music can still provide a pillar of hope, North choir director Peyton Weil believes. As someone who experiences the healing properties of music daily, she thinks music lets people look inward as well as build deeper relationships with others.

“Choral ensembles require a sense of connection and community,” Weil said. “Because singing is one of the most vulnerable art forms, it’s so important for a singer to feel comfortable in their ensemble and feel safe. For this reason, we spend so much time working on connecting with the other people in the room, making friends across the ensemble and talking about how we can make personal connections to the pieces we sing together.”

Outside of choir, North provides many more musical activities for students. As a student in multiple band groups at North, senior Zac Pellegrini acknowledges that learning and performing music is not always an easy pastime, but both the band class and the extracurricular marching band group improve social skills and add an enjoyable part of the day for students. In a survey of 110 North students, 99 percent said that music positively impacts their day-to-day life. 

 “Band [class] and marching band are fun and uplifting most of the time,” Pellegrini said. “They can be challenging sometimes, but when we overcome our struggles, the final result is awesome.”

Simply listening to and connecting with certain songs is something that Gombert views as life-lasting. She fondly remembers her grandmother playing piano to her and her father singing to her as a child, proving that rhythmic tunes truly stay deeply rooted in the heart for life.

“I’m aware of many ways that music is embedded for me with so many rich memories and important ideas of my own self-concept, important memories of events that I was at or things that I did, memories of specific people and memories of ways that I felt at specific times,” Gombert said.

Besides remembering the past, Weil believes that music can also help people appreciate the present moment, letting all other feelings of stress or sadness leave the body through song.

“Music often feels like that cathartic release,” Weil said. “When we start singing, we can escape those struggles and focus on something that brings us joy.”

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“When I'm driving around, I like to listen to music so I'm not too bored, and when I'm doing work in school, I like to listen to music to focus a little more.”