Children can be surprising adventurous when it comes to entertainment choices for themselves. Instead of the same old nursery rhymes and bedtime stories, kids want trucks, dinosaurs, and Satan as their entertainment options.
Although music may affect children in different ways, experts agree it has a positive influence on cognitive development. Furthermore, beginning to play musical instruments early can be invaluable experience for them.
It helps babies sleep
Music can be an excellent way to help babies sleep. Its soothing sounds, rhythmic beat and ability to mimic sounds from within the womb all combine together for an effective lullaby or white noise routine before bed that helps prepare babies for restful restful slumber while relieving anxiety. Some parents worry that music might become their child’s only means of falling asleep – although this concern may not always come to fruition.
music can certainly comfort babies, but selecting the appropriate songs and volume levels are critical in providing relief for fussy infants. Experts suggest playing no louder than 65 decibels to avoid hurting baby’s ears and allow for maximum relaxation.
Heavy metal music evolved during the 1960s and 70s as an amplified form of rock music with roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock, violent or fantastical themes, and powerful instrumentals such as guitar and drums. Finding suitable songs to help your child fall asleep may prove challenging but there are some excellent choices out there, including “Hold On” by Dio and Killswitch Engage’s “Holy Diver.” In fact, several music videos specifically targeted toward children such as this one by Slipknot can even help get them drift off!
Not only should soothing music play an integral part in bedtime routine, it is also vital that parents create a consistent bedtime ritual for their infant. A set routine could involve dimming lights, reading to their child or simply playing soothing music to aid sleep and promote healthy development. This may involve turning off lights, reading stories or playing soothing music as bedtime approaches.
Mary OBrien posted a clip to TikTok that shows her infant daughter crying uncontrollably as her father gently rocks her. But when Jezebel by Memphis May Fire was played, the infant became calmer and eventually fell asleep. Heavy metal music can help soothe colicky babies by mimicking the loud rumbling sounds they experienced in utero.
It is calming
While lullabies and nursery rhymes can help soothe babies, some parents may want something edgier for their baby to sleep to. Rock, metal or hard rock music might sound intimidating at first, but it actually has the opposite effect; rock can actually help calm babies! In fact, one viral TikTok video by Mary O’Brien showed this by showing her baby crying before stopping when listening to heavy metal music from Mary O’Brien’s father before suddenly falling asleep once listening to heavy metal song.
Though some media reports may portray metal music as inciting devil worship, drug abuse, and crime, such allegations are false. Metal is actually an effective form of catharsis which can alleviate stress and depression while simultaneously uniting fans together into a cohesive community; its beneficial cognitive functions also help decrease cortisol levels significantly.
Metal’s lyrics often depict violence and misogyny, leading some people to worry it could lead to aggressive behavior. Unfortunately, correlational evidence cannot be used as proof of causation – one study revealed that men who listened to metal with violent lyrics showed increased aggressive cognitions and aggression than those listening to nonviolent music.
Metal music may cause depression. While this can be a serious condition, there are steps you can take to improve your mood such as exercising regularly, getting enough rest, and eating well. If you find yourself suffering from depression it’s wise to consult with a therapist or counselor as soon as possible.
Heavy metal music may have an intimidating reputation, but most listeners find it quite soothing. According to research, heavy metal can relieve stress, improve concentration and elevate mood – plus it’s great fun for dancing! So the next time your mood needs an uplift, turn on some heavy metal.
It is aggressive
Heavy metal music has long been associated with violence, aggression and hatred; yet there’s also an element of creativity and rebellion present within this genre. While its negative connotations is well known, there’s no concrete link between heavy metal music and suicide or violent acts. Other factors play a role in contributing to such behaviors such as depression, drug abuse or family issues; therefore further research must be conducted into emotion regulation to gain a fuller understanding of its role within heavy metal.
Black Sabbath and Deep Purple pioneered this heavier sound early on. Both bands blended blues rock with an aggressive and darker sound to form what later became known as heavy metal music. Other bands soon adopted the style with their own influences – from Led Zeppelin’s multioctave singing of Alice Cooper to Aerosmith & Van Halen’s flashy guitar leads and party rock. Over time, however, heavy metal evolved further with subgenres including glam metal and power metal becoming staple genres within it’s ranks.
Early on in heavy metal history, small bands found it difficult to gain label support. Instead, they had to produce and release their albums independently – creating an underground scene filled with creative bands experimenting with unique sounds. Over time however, the industry began giving metal bands the exposure they deserved.
Heavy metal has quickly become one of the world’s most beloved musical genres over time. Its distinctive mix of screaming vocals and frenetic drum beats appeals to young audiences worldwide and has amassed an extensive fan base worldwide – including Black Sabbath, Metallica and Motorhead to name just three well-known metal acts – while it has expanded into death metal and hardcore punk genres as well.
Studies linking heavy metal music with suicidal behavior are inconclusive at best; furthermore, most were conducted outside clinical settings and therefore may contain bias due to numerous uncontrolled variables that cannot be taken into account when making clinical decisions. It would be prudent for clinical decision-making bodies to conduct careful reviews prior to making clinical decisions based on this research.
It is fun
Heavy metal music may seem violent and aggressive at first, but its childish charm makes it ideal for watching with kids. Not only can you enjoy listening to it together but there are even movies like Wayne’s World or 3TEETH available that provide enjoyable family entertainment.
In the 1980s, heavy metal bands and fans came under severe attack from political and academic bodies. Critics accused them of contributing to crime, violence, depression, and suicide – however critics failed to see that heavy metal’s exploration of madness and horror simply represented a way for its practitioners to express complex emotions through art.
Heavy metal has survived its detractors for many decades despite criticisms that may arise against it. Pioneers such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple pioneered an original sound that mixed blues rock with an aggressive edge; later modified by American bands such as Def Leppard and Saxon who introduced gender-bending music into heavy metal; as well as punk rock bands like Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses adding flashy guitar riffs and rock ‘n’ roll spirit.
Studies have demonstrated that listening to heavy metal music can have a profound effect on one’s mental health, by stimulating brain activity and making you more alert. Listening can also help relax and reduce stress; but too much heavy metal could prove hazardous to your wellbeing.
Heavy metal music has another benefit for babies: it can aid sleep. Loud sounds can stimulate the brain to make it work faster, which is beneficial to your baby’s development. Heavy metal also improves memory and intellectual capacity due to increased blood circulation to the brain and increased oxygen distribution.
As infants and toddlers can gain musical knowledge through songs they are familiar with like lullabies, nursery rhymes, or children’s tunes, it is wise for parents to broaden their children’s musical palette beyond these staples. Although it may initially cause discomfort for both parties involved, doing this will eventually pay dividends when their kids embrace genres they would have previously shied away from.
One rocker mom decided to bring her infant daughter along for the Download Festival; however, she quickly faced trolling online.
Multiple studies have confirmed the therapeutic value of music to soothe and calm newborns, though genre and musical characteristics must also be taken into account.
Loudness
Heavy metal music tends to be loud and boast an energetic bass-and-drum sound, with subgenres often emphasizing these characteristics or leaving some out (Loxton et al. 2016). Furthermore, lyrics often include themes of violence and aggression (Loxton et al. 2016), leading some listeners to worry that listening may impact negatively upon mental health and problem behaviors; however correlational evidence (i.e. links between listening music and behaviors) cannot provide sufficient proof for causal inferences.
From blasting Slipknot in their car, dancing around their house to Powerwolf or rocking out to it in their sleep – many find metal music helps them get through their day and manage stress better. So why does it provoke so much controversy?
One concern over heavy metal music listening may cause aggression among adolescents or young adults is that its lyrics depict acts of aggression, violence and misogyny which might increase anger and aggressive cognitions in adolescents or young adults. While anger refers to feelings of frustration and hostility while aggression represents acts with hostile intent.
Heavy metal music could potentially contribute to psychotic disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Some studies have identified an association between heavy metal genre and psychotic symptoms (Lozon & Bensimon, 2014); however, other research does not support this link and determining genetic versus environmental influences can be complex and hard to discern when considering risk of such illnesses.
As such, existing evidence regarding the impact of heavy metal music must be treated with extreme caution, due to research into its short and long-term effects being limited and generally non-experimental in nature. Furthermore, observation doesn’t limit itself only to fans of heavy metal music genre.
At the end of the day, it’s up to parents and caregivers to decide what music their children listen to – the key being making sure it’s not too loud or contains violent lyrics. If your baby’s hearing is at risk, consider white noise machines instead – these provide soft noise that can calm infants down quickly while helping them sleep through the night.
Volume
Heavy metal music is defined by loud, distorted guitars, emphatic drum beats and powerful vocals. Originating in England and the US in the late 1960s/early 1970s with bands such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath as founding bands; subgenres often focus on one or more of these attributes for greater effect.
Heavy metal music often has an extremely loud volume, and can have adverse effects on babies with sensitive auditory systems. Furthermore, its rhythm and melody may stimulate infants and young children and increase arousal levels; this is especially problematic for newborns who do not yet possess cognitive ability to manage their reactions to music.
Newborns depend on soothing music to fall asleep quickly, and studies have demonstrated that slow and soft musical styles may aid this process. However, researchers have also observed that the impact of any given style varies depending on its particulars – these factors may include its frequency or duration as well as any individual characteristics of that style itself.
Researchers have revealed that classical music tends to soothe newborns while rock and roll can have stimulating effects and pop music can raise arousal levels; therefore, choosing music to play for a newborn is an important decision.
Heavy metal has long been associated with violence and Satanist imagery, prompting moral guardians to oppose its popularity. Dee Snider, founder of Twisted Sister band, claims his music can actually serve as “harmonious therapy”. Studies have also demonstrated the intricate harmonic structures found within heavy metal songs – pedal points provide sustained tones in the bass range which provide harmonic bases for other notes within them.
Other musical genres such as blues and jazz don’t utilize pedal points to produce such complex harmonic structures, leading to speculation that heavy metal songs have greater emotional impacts than other types.
Content
Some types of heavy metal music explore aggressive and violent antisocial themes. Critics have accused these genres of glorifying violence and featuring satanic imagery, prompting community groups, parents, and mental health professionals to express concern over its potential effect on adolescents and young children; however, correlational studies limit our ability to draw strong causal inferences (C. Baker & Brown 2016). Furthermore, individuals experiencing psychological challenges often turn towards such music because it offers comforting feelings of community belonging.
Musically, heavy metal music can be identified by distorted guitars, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats and high-octane singing with growling, screaming or shrieking vocals. Unfortunately, its loudness may damage infants, toddlers or young children’s hearing and some lyrics or themes may not be appropriate for young audiences.
Metal music has gained widespread international popularity and can even thrive in unexpected corners of the globe, like Scandinavia. There, melodic death metal bands like In Flames, Amon Amarth and Children of Bodom have found particular success; metalcore is another genre which has experienced rapid growth during this century with hardcore punk elements combined with melodic elements; while Japan boasts Visual Kei which marries androgynous styling with intense emotional content.
Though metal musicians were traditionally male-dominated until the mid-1980s, women have made notable strides toward breaking into this field over recent years. Particularly power metal and symphonic metal subgenre female rockers have seen tremendous growth.
Heavy metal artists express themselves not only through music but also with visual and physical displays that include headbanging, moshing and body contact dancing – these gestures being often associated with heavy metal artists themselves as they use visual and physical language through physical gestures and body language such as headbanging. Clothing styles associated with heavy metal include combat boots, jeans and T-shirts bearing logos or words depicted on them.
My son loves his iPad time, which usually involves opening Spotify and starting Powerwolf (his all-time favourite band). Either dancing along or just taking time to relax with music he appreciates; for him this experience is visibly rewarding, engaging him deeper with its lyrics than I do so why should I deny him this enjoyment?
Themes
Studies have linked heavy metal music and violent themes with aggression, delinquency and other antisocial behaviors in adolescents. Unfortunately, correlational evidence cannot infer causation and these relationships may be complicated by psychosocial factors; for instance adolescents who prefer heavy metal may identify more with its social group which could explain why they exhibit externalizing behaviors over time.
Some parents worry that heavy metal music glorifies violence and satanism, with references to drugs, death and sexual content that some parents find disturbing. Moral guardians have voiced objections against this genre as many parents find parental warning labels on albums to be unnecessary. Yet many fans are middle class, gainfully employed adults who despite its explicit lyrics do not act aggressively towards one another or others when listening.
Coyne & Padilla-Walker (2015) have found evidence linking rock music with various mental health conditions, such as suicidal thoughts, drug use and depression; negative stereotypes often play a part in diagnostic decisions at community and psychiatric facilities (Coyne & Padilla-Walker 2015). While correlational research does not prove causation directly, Selfhout et al (2008) conducted a longitudinal study where preference for rock/metal music predicted higher externalising behaviors over an initial 12-month period even when controlling for initial levels of externalizing behaviors at baseline (Selfhout et al 2008).
If your pregnant friend enjoys metal music, as long as she does not put herself or her unborn child at risk, let her continue listening! After all, if it makes her happy and seems safe for baby then why shouldn’t it? In fact, softly playing music might even help soothe an unruly infant! Babies have an intuitive understanding of emotion; therefore if the music calms both mother and child it should be okay; just something to consider when planning a rock and roll themed baby shower!