The Whole Music Experience

Explorers of Music via Nature During my years of listening to hundreds of recordings, including field recordings of indigenous musical traditions, I discovered a few musical traditions that still amaze me today.   While these traditions range from the didgeridoo ritualistic music from Australian aboriginals to the hula tradition of Native Hawaiians to folk songs of the Okinawan people of Japan, I’m focusing on three groups for this essay including the Wulu Bunun (Taiwan), the Saami (Nordic countries & Russia), and the Baka pygmies of the Congo/Cameroon and Gabon.   We enjoy a myriad of ways of connecting to the natural world through the sound vibration.   We whistle at birds, sing like birds, perform trance music (drums) that connect us to the heartbeat of the earth or we can perform a vocal tradition that connects us to people, places, and creatures, as in the case with the Saami’s spiritual chant, the yoik.   As modern human beings we often look at in...

photo by Patricia Herlevi My stress levels have shot through the roof lately.  I jumped into self-publishing a book with no idea the amount of hours I would need to put in or the learning curve that it takes to publish for new media.  Recently I gave advice to my writing colleagues to take breaks, even music breaks.  But I haven't been following my own advice.  So now after I complete my morning meditation, I listen to music for 30 minutes over headphones. Today I gave myself a massage with essential oils sandalwood and geranium in coconut oil.  Then I listened to Bezuidenhout and Von der Goltz "Medelssohn Double Concerto for Violin and Piano," the first two movements.  Since the first movement is lively, usually the case with concertos, I focused on the quick tempo music instead of my racing thoughts.  The adagio movement calmed my mind and I almost fell back to sleep.  For that moment I truly felt relaxed.  But when I returned to my...