Does Instrumental Music Arouse Emotions in the Listener?

Does Instrumental Music Arouse Emotions in the Listener?

            Job 17:6, “He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.”  The figures of speech in this verse gives us evidence that, at least during the time Job lived, Jewish musical instruments were connected with emotions.   It is evident from the use of the Hebrew word topheth (8611) here translated tabret was connected to the emotion of mirth or joy.  We do not know with specifity from this mention of the topheth whether or not they considered the actual sound of this instrument aroused the emotion of mirth or joy. 

            Topheth was doubtlessly a drum because of the meaning of “smiting” or striking and because it is derived from the word taphaph (8608) which is a primitive root word that means “to drum”.  From this knowledge we safely hypothesize that the ancient Hebrews believed that drumming aroused emotions.  One of the hot philosophical topics in this century is the heated discussion of emotion and meaning in music.  Since the use of musical instruments have since antiquity been connected to the arousal of emotions in the hearer Christian musicians should give serious consideration to what kinds of emotions instrumental music arouses in the psyche of the listener.