Music And Stress Management Among Obafemi Awolowo University Community Members

Stress is a phenomenon common to mankind. Lack of its management naturally leads to several diseases which include hypertension, Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) among several others. However, the ability to prevent or manage stress increases a healthy lifestyle. Though there are some studies on the use of music for health-related issues mostly in traditional health centres among the Yorubas, very little scholarly studies are directed at reducing stress through music among the community members of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife. This paper as part of Medical Ethnomusicological Discourse, focuses on the use of music by randomly sampled campus community members to reduce or manage stress. A qualitative method was employed for this paper. These include interviews of academic and non-academic staff, market men and women and artisans in the campus community. Also, the content and context of some music that respondents used and listened to were transcribed, translated and analyzed based on Femi Adedeji Transformative Musicology theory. This paper suggests that music as a source of stress management serves as a therapy, encouraging, educating, and entertaining giving hope and managing stress among campus community members.