The Whole Music Experience

Try Listening to Miles Davis Kind of Blue While music consciousness experts tout Bach and Mozart as the pinnacle of healing music vibrations (along with sacred chants and sound healing recordings), we're all at different ports of call when it comes to consciousness. It's best not to judge where we're at and go a step higher on the musical vibration ladder. I find myself judging people who listen to rap music with misogynist lyrics or heavy metal with its wailing guitar and vocals. And I certainly don't want to expose my mind-body-soul to those types of music (which I refer to as noise). However, on an attraction level, why am I even encountering those types of music in the first place? The music we encounter is similar to synchronicity or part of the synchronicity flow so there's a message there. The message usually revolves around our state of mind. Meaning, if I'm hearing angry and hateful music, is there some part of me that is feeling fearful or am I...

In 2005, I came up with the concept of Power Songs because as a journalist, I noticed the effects of certain music on my daily activities and moods. Then shortly after that, I came up with the concept of keeping a  music diary based on the food elimination diet and food allergy journal. So I'm surprised to find a book published in 2012 that combines brain science with music playlists. Your Playlist Can Change Your Life by Galina Mindlin, Don Durousseau and Joseph Cardillo (Source Books, 2012) , offers an easy and flowing read that revolves around using everyday music to boosts moods, relax the mind, organize the mind, create more dopamine in the brain, and so on. The authors also include exercises which are basically how-to sections on how to change your brain and neurological patterns without side effects (though some of the songs on their playlist have text messaging I wouldn't want floating around in my brain's pathways). While I do understand that including lis...

Wikipedia We've all known someone who experienced music being used in a hospital, hospice, peace vigil, peace rally, or other situation that involves healing. The wisdom of the ancients in regard to music has also returned to us via sound healing practices and music therapy, even in our daily lives.  However, even knowing that music has a powerful transformational effect on our lives isn't enough unless we use music with intention and purpose. Obviously, we know that when we attend a rock concert or even a jazz concert we do so for entertainment. But often when we attend a world or traditional music concert or festival, the musicians usually educate us about the history, text, and even sometimes the healing properties of songs that they perform. In fact, it was when I delved into global music starting in 2003, that I learned about ancient history of musical uses. And we can visit the healing of music through several avenues whether that's new age sound healing or a...

Recently, I spoke to a woman on the bus about the rise in popularity of music therapy. I told her about brain and music studies from the last decade. The most remarkable aspect of music as medicine is that it has no side effects and if you find the right music for the condition, miracles happen. So what do we focus upon these days? I believe that we will continue with the brain-music science and that will play out in the medical community in larger ways. I doubt pharmaceutical companies will enjoy competing with sound vibration, especially purposeful sound vibration, but with fewer side effects and research to back up the healing power of music, why would we toss out this healing tool? Of course, there is the danger of companies creating formulaic music or musical formulas to heal various ailments which they'll find a way to package and market. If people find that they're getting the right results this is not a bad way to go, however, let's not lose the organic qualitie...

Love, Gratitude & Enchantment: Improvisations & Compositions by Peter Kater Prior to receiving Peter Kater's latest CD Love (Mysterium Music), I had heard the pianist-composer's work on numerous Silver Wave and Canyon Record albums as well as, having associated his name with new age music.  When I received his lengthy biography of achievements and the CD, I was more interested in the music speaking to me. After all, I spend most of my time reading and writing which leaves me with stress and migraines. It's rare that I can read through an entire bio these days. Thankfully, Kater's CD brought some healing to my head and my heart so I listened to the album several times (I don't often do this with albums mainly because I have over a thousand recordings, most of which I have reviewed over the past ten plus years). I opened the windows of my apartment allowing the music to drift outside where people could stroll by and absorb the enchanting piano and love ...

Circumstances of the past two years have forced me to sit on my unpublished book, Whole Music.  And now I'm ready to publish it the traditional route.  I also thought it would be fun to share an audio clip of an excerpt from the introduction. I used images from album covers of artists I reviewed on this blog and Wikipedia images.  So here, I guess you can watch an unveiling of a book that was published then unpublished yet the saga continues.

I found this video on Ted Talks. The Healing Power of Music

Whether you're trying to heal a nation, a child, or an animal, or yourself, music offers many avenues of healing.  Visit YouTube, type in your healing music topic and watch what appears on your screen.  I will get you started with 5 videos that range from healing communities and the planet to healing dogs with behavioral problems and children with disabilities.  I hope these videos inspire you like they inspire me.  We have the power, it's available to all of us, and it's called music consciousness. 1. Christina Stevens, short documentary drum circle in Iraq http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyOhJREauDw 2. Joshua Leeds, Through a Dog’s Ear Project http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTILg0V-r8Q&playnext=1&list=PLCD4DF3DE5E1FF127&feature=results_main AND http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zytCL33Mf2Q&feature=related 3. Music Therapy for Children with Special Needs, BBC http://www.you...

Christine Stevens Music Medicine The Science and Spirit of Healing Yourself with Sound Sounds True (publishing date: August 1, 2012) I joined my first drum circle at a Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle during the 1990s.   A master Brazilian percussionist handed out exotic percussion and drums, gave us a quick lesson, then off we went.   The drum circle took place in a large tent that vibrated with polyrhythms of the 20+ drummers and percussionist that gathered. While I felt self-conscious, I still enjoyed myself and all the drummers participating in the circle.   You didn’t even need to know the others’ names and still feel bonded to them. Flash forward to 2009, when I interviewed master percussionist Will Clipman, mainly known for his musical contributions to Canyon Records artists, especially R. Carlos Nakai.   Will opened up the world of drumming to me with his masterful global percussion practice and his debut solo album, Pathfinder....

The Power of Music and the Flu I woke up on a Saturday night (Feb 5) with a dry cough, thinking it was nothing but allergies to dust coming from the heater, I fell back asleep. But the next day I experienced overwhelming exhaustion and a persistent cough that grew in intensity as the day wore on, I ended up back in bed, barely able to lift my head from the pillow. However, I made a decision to pursue music sessions (listening to specific CDs) as adjunct therapy along with herbal teas, and plenty of liquids (mostly warm) and Dr. Sha's Soul Mind Body medicine (but try chanting when you're coughing). What I found on the first weekend with the flu is that I needed comfort. In Chinese medicine, the lungs are associated with grief, which I felt my share of while recovering from the flu. I also wanted to open my heart and throat chakras which were blocked, though my head chakras were open. So I drew from my small stash of CDs which I had placed near a CD player at my bedsid...

Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon Soul Call Om Namo Narayanaya Self-Release When I first heard about vocalist Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon’s Soul Call , I thought I’d received a kirtan CD in the mail. So I felt surprised when I received a famous healing chant set to Indian pop music. Krishnamurthy Tandon sings the same chant throughout the nine tracks that appear on the invigorating CD. It’s not surprising that the overall feel compares to a Bollywood soundtrack since the producer and musicians recorded it at a soundtrack studio, with orchestral arrangement duties handled by Tejendra Narayan Majumdar. The Grammy-nominated album has received a devoted following at the Soul Chants website (site listed at the end of the review). Visitors cite the healing effects the chants have had on them. According to the liner notes, “The powerful healing mantra translates to, ‘I surrender all to the Divine Protector; I salute the Divine Maintainer of all; I belong to the Divine Grace that ...

Healing with Holiday Music; Practicing Cultural and Spiritual Diversity Depending on your cultural and spiritual perceptions, holiday music can provide healing through nostalgia, relaxation, and joy. However, this includes a few caveats. An overdose of holiday music (heard in shopping malls, banks, and post offices), could lead to overkill and brainworms (a song hook repeating itself incessively).  Nostalgic elements work best with people who have happy memories of the holidays, but those individuals who lost love ones or suffered a tragedy during the holiday season won't find holiday music particularly healing.  They might avoid it entirely. Don't make the mistake of thinking that everyone practices the same religious rituals as you do. Holidays from a variety of religious traditions, including Judaism (Hanukkah), Christianity (Christmas), South African (Kwanza), Islamic, and pagan (Solstice) are practiced by people among us.  Each of these traditions ha...

According to a short news clip in the April 2010 issue of Natural Solutions magazine, denists are now employing music to relax patients.  "A 2009 study in Canada found music reduces pain and anxiety in children undergoing dental procedures; and a 2007 study in Spain found music as effective as diazepam (Valium) at relieving preoperative anxiety..." http://www.naturalsolutionsmag.com/ April 2010, p. 75.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart joined the Freemasons in Vienna.  He dabbled in metaphysics and knew about the healing power of music.  So is it any wonder that we would be exploring the Mozart Effect in this century? Check out this website: http://www.mfiles.co.uk/composers/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart.htm

A visitor to this blog forwarded this article to me . I was surprised to find this on a mainstream news site. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30990170/