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Music matters

Explore our week of stories on the power of music to transform and enrich lives. From those living with dementia, hearing impairments and mental health issues, to those investigating the language and psychology of musical expression, these stories prove that music matters for us all.   

  • Series
A male rap artist dressed in a black leather hat and jacket is holding a microphone, dancing with his arm outstretched in front of him. The room is filled with smoke and blue and red lighting effects highlight his movement.
Wellinton the rapper, Steven Pocock. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
  • Article

How hip-hop can save your mental health

Hip-hop is an unusual tool in the mental health professional’s armoury. But fans and performers can testify to the sympathetic and restorative powers of the genre.

  • In pictures

Writing the language of music

The earliest surviving attempts to notate music date from the 10th century, and became increasingly precise and complex over the following millennium. Discover the visual beauty of music manuscripts through the ages, and how they help musicians interpret composers’ intentions.

  • Article

Defying deafness through music

Did you know that Beethoven’s profession meant he was ashamed to admit to being deaf? Find out how similar prejudices persist today and how our writer is helping to break them down.

  • Article

Rocking psychiatry with R D Laing

Turn on, tune in, drop out. Discover how six rock songs from the 1960s and 1970s link the ideas of famous therapist R D Laing with the era’s counterculture.

  • Article

Dementia playlists and musical memory

Listening to the right music can provide both solace and pleasure for someone with dementia, helping them to reconnect with the world around them. Grace Meadows makes the case for more music in dementia care.