Music Research Areas part 6

Thanks for visiting musicfromthestart.com topics and conversations. Here I want to address music therapy issues and concepts as they relate to education, health and wellness. Also, I want to let everyone know that my new site: musicfromthestart.com, still in it's infancy, is in the process of producing more offerings. Right now there are two music albums available, David's Basics in Education and Lyrical Imagery. This second album, Lyrical Imagery, is a free download for a limited time.


Hopefully this week I will have my third offering available, a video lecture for expecting parents titled The Purposeful Use of Music From Pregnancy Through Toddlerhood (including Labor and Delivery). The main thrust of this information will be to support moms (and dads) as they put together their own music listening playlists or CDs to support rhythmic breathing, act as a positive diversion from pain and stress, etc., to be used during labor and delivery.

For this weeks post I want to continue explaining the 14 music research areas introduced in part one. These are the last two.  I refer to this information piece often and address it's content specifically in the upcoming video lecture The Purposeful Use of Music From Pregnancy Through Toddlerhood...

So lets finish up with #s 13, and 14!!!

David Putano, HPMT, MT-BC

Music Therapist – Board Certified

 email: vol@bex.net

www.musicfromthestart.com

RELATED MUSIC RESEARCH AREAS

          Music has been clinically proven to:

13. ACT AS AN EMOTIONAL STIMULUS, ELICITING INSTANT FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS (primary cognitive experience)

As mentioned a few times thus far, an aspect of music that I see affect people often, no matter what the age, is that of music being a primary cognitive experience. What this means is that when we hear music we have no control over the feeling and emotions it gives us. All sensory experiences are like this. When we hear, see, smell, feel and taste things, again, we have no control over the feeling and emotions sensory experiences give us. For example... if we are in a mall and a fragrance that reminds us of our grandmother gets our attention, whether we want to think of our grandmother or not, we will think of her.

So, consider identifying favorite music of yours that you know you have personal, positive associations with and listen to it as needed and often.

14. INCREASE COGNITIVE (brain) AND PHYSICAL ENERGY AND DECREASE FATIGUE

In the early 1960s the prominent French ears, nose and throat doctor Alfred Tomatis was called to investigate incidences at European Monasteries where it was reported that monks were experiencing depression, being less productive, sleeping more than usual, etc. Other doctors tried things that did not work. When Tomatis decided to consider what in their lives had changed recently he found that a lot had indeed. In the early 1960s the Vatican II charter had modified the church customs and traditions from age old formal Latin practices to more modern ones. Tomatis found that one age old ritual, chanting (Gregorian Chant – sacred vocalizing with no instruments), was now done much less than previously. When Tomatis had the monks go back to their daily chanting practices they were all amazed to see their reported symptoms subside. They reverted back to their high energy, highly productive and spiritual selves, and went back to being able to function nicely on moderate amounts of sleep. So Tomatis went about finding out why vocalizing for many hours per week was so energizing. Through his research he found out that our brain receives 80% of it's sensory energy from sound. And particularly our own voice, with it's rich mid range frequencies, charge or energize our brain similar to how an alternator charges a car battery. Consider this... what is the classic characterization of an opera singer, one who vigorously uses their voice daily? They usually are very energetic, erect, confident, boisterous and with loud, clear voices. Now, what is the classic characterization of someone who is depressed? In a depressed person we often see someone who is slumped, tired, un-enthused and with a soft, monotone voice.

So our own voice, live music (particularly Mozart) or recorded music listening, in that order, are the sound sources that energize us.

 

In upcoming posts I will continue elaborating on: music research items, using music listening for labor and delivery, the benefits of music experiences for the pre-school, special needs and autistic populations, music listening during surgery and more! As a reminder, the MT Research Sheet addressed in this post is located in the Resource Center, lower left of the home page, at musicfromthestart.com.

My prescription this week??? For something completely different, pull out or download some Mozart or Gregorian Chant music and give it a listen. If this is foreign to you do not evaluate it after one listen, give it a few days then evaluate. If it's not "your cup of tea" check it off your list a say you tried it. If you like it... relax and enjoy!!!!

 
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