Ah Yes, I Remember It Well |
Top 5 Jams of December 2024
By Rapha Conrad
You’re Christmas shopping or listening to the radio while driving to Grandma’s, and suddenly, you’re transported back in time to that memory whenever that certain Christmas song is playing. Maybe that memory of you receiving a puppy that you’ve always wanted as a kid comes to mind whenever you hear “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole. Maybe you reminisce that Holiday Firework show at The Magic Kingdom or Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Walt Disney World whenever you hear “Carol of the Bells” by either David Foster or Trans-Siberian Orchestra. How about this one for my fellow dancers? You’re watching TV while wrapping presents. A Christmas commercial is on and it’s playing Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy in the background. Immediately, years of rehearsals and performances of the Nutcracker replay in your mind (sometimes cheerful, sometimes stressful, if you know, you know).
We carry so many memories especially of and during the holiday season. As mentioned in my past blogs, music can make a make impact with your minds, emotions, and our bodies. Most importantly, music can really help with creating memories, both short-term and long-term. Can you guess which parts of the brain are in charge? All together now in three, two, one… The Hippocampus and the Pre-frontal Cortex! Located in the front, the Hippocampus creates the memories, while the Pre-frontal Cortex retrieves and manages the memories. This will be a great time to remind you to protect your noggins and keep them active by proper diet, vitamins/supplements, and drinking (lots of) water. Again, music depending on the frequency and meter (which will be discussed more in the upcoming vlog) is very beneficial for the mind. Yes, for creating and keeping memories, but helping to concentrate and calm down.
Music therapy has excellent for senior citizens or people dealing neurological disorders or brain injuries. According to an article by Northeastern University, Associate Professor of Music, Psyche Lou, stated this.
“Music is essentially creating an auditory channel directly to the medial prefrontal cortex, the brain’s reward center. It’s one of the areas to lose its activity and functional connectivity in aging adults, especially in folks with dementia. Music that was both familiar and well-liked tended to activate the auditory and reward areas more. The music people select provides a stronger connection between these two areas of the brain.”
That’s why dementia patients or people dealing brain injuries often retain musical memory, even when other forms of memory are significantly impaired. Music from a patient’s past can often unlock forgotten memories. It’s not a cure, but it’s an invaluable tool in the therapeutic arsenal, enhancing the quality of life.
Yes, music can bring the mood to any environment, especially if it’s a song we are familiar with or can vibe with. That’s why as mentioned in October’s blog that we listen to the same songs because of comfortability/we feel safe and can put us into that mindset/mood. I guess by listening to those yuletide jams while unlocking and/or creating memories gives us that comfort and joy (get it?).
Here are this month’s picks to include to your holiday playlist, whether if it’s for once a year or all year round:
Rapha Conrad’s Top 5 Songs of December 2024
1. “White Christmas” by Michael Buble and Shania Twain
2. “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” by Lindsey Stirling
3. “Christmas Lights” by Coldplay/ “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” by Jacob Collier 4. “Under the Mistletoe” by Kelly Clarkson and Brett Eldredge
5. “One Sweet December Night” by Cooper Phillip
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Be on the lookout for my Top 5 song for January 2025!
References:
https://www.levinemusic.org/about/news/how-music-affects-memory-and-concentration https://news.northeastern.edu/2022/07/18/music-impact-memory-brain-pathways https://research.gatech.edu/feature/music-and-memory
A native of Dothan, Alabama, Rapha Conrad has been trained in dance, music, and theatre. She took dancing and acting seriously after attending Tremaine Dance in 2009. Since then, Rapha has continued with dance training, along working with many choreographers from Justin Conte to David Moore. Plus, she has made appearances in movies, tv shows, and YouTube (like “Marvel’s Captain America 3”, “Dynasty” on the CW, “Good Mythical Morning with Rhett and Link”). Also, she has traveled from Atlanta to Los Angeles as a freelance choreographer and dance teacher for ten years. Besides dancing and acting, she is an online content creator and is working on her first documentary film called, “For the Kommunity” (which will premiere in 2025). Her mission is to inspire those to be their authentic selves and keep on pursuing new realms of possibilities with a joyful heart.
Social Media Links:
Instagram.com/raphaconrad
Youtube.com/@RaphaConrad