The Whole Music Experience

  Marrying astrology to sound healing isn't new. Ted Andrews in his book, Sacred Sounds connected the notes of the Western scale with the astrological signs on a Zodiac Wheel. What I'm proposing is using planetary tuning forks (frequencies as opposed to musical notes) to unleash tension in a Natal Chart. This is just a launching point to exploring the intersection between the Natal Chart and sound healing. Let's use my Natal Chart as an example. While you can't see the lines on this Solar Return chart, it contains a Mutable T-Cross with the Saturn and the Moon in Pisces in the 2nd House opposing Uranus/Pluto in Virgo in the 8th House and Mars in Gemini in the 5th House squares everything. As you can see I'm in my 50s now and this T-Cross has provided me suffering (power struggles) and pitting myself against authority figures. So, how can I work with the flowing aspects in this chart using tuning forks? Well, one thing I could do is to apply the Jupiter tuning fork b...

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...

Music acts as a bridge to inspiration As many of you know writing represents a lonely road. But what if you enhance your writing experience with the right music or set the mood if you're a fiction writer? Most of my previous writing revolved around music, but I listened to the music I was reviewing or researching which didn't give me options of setting a mood or music therapy when I felt stressed. In fact, I recall in the early days of music writing, reviewing louder music while recovering from migraines (not pleasurable). I'm going to include six practices you where you can combine music with writing. I recommend instrumental music as opposed to music with text as I have found that the lyrical music interferes with the writing process in the form of typos and losing one's train of thought. I also recommend slower to medium tempo music unless you can think super fast and type even faster. Faster music pumps the adrenaline which leaves you exhausted later, kind o...

Photo courtesy of Haris Gershom Musical Saws & Mind Machines as Music Therapy Since I began hosting the Linked In group Musical Healers, I have met an array of sound healers, musicians, and music therapists from around the globe. They have collectively introduced me to modalities and instruments beyond my imagination, which gives me hope for healing us and the planet. Dr. Haris Gershom who combines science with the arts brings a novel approach to music therapy involving a musical saw with elongated notes (Harishophone), and the H.R. Mind Machine which induces desired brain waves, mainly Alpha Waves for people who engage the machine.  A retired professor from a science college (Vallabh Vidya Nagar), in Gujarat, India, Dr. Gershom plays his musical saw with a violin bow and by doing so, has played three octaves and performed music from western and India classical traditions. Dr. Gershom takes college students to retirement and leprosy homes once a year to give music th...

Photo by Michael Shumate As part of the Whole Music Experience 21st Century Musical Healer series, I introduce you to sound healer/drummer/vocalist Karen Renée Robb who I met through my Linked In group, Musical Healers. Karen has participated regularly with the group as well as, doing unique sound healing work with the frame drum and vocals.  In many ways, she reminds me of Christine Stevens who also employs the drum towards peace and well-being. Whole Music Experience: You gave up your corporate career to pursue a mission of sound healing and promoting the healing benefits of drumming. What event triggered this bold move for you?   Karen Renée Robb: Music and singing have been an important part of my life since I was a little girl. I started out as a voice performance major in college, but ended up with a business degree. I spent 25 years in the high-tech, digital music and musical instrument industry. In the summer of 2012, I was researching music therapy for a techno...

Image found on Wikipedia For the past the year, my life experiences have taken a toll on my well-being.  The stress has caused me to suffer illness at times. Each time I found myself turning to music to create healing in my mind, body and spirit.  Then I realized, wait a minute, I've been doing this my entire life. For anyone with access to the Internet and YouTube, there is literally a world of music as an offering to boost well-being.  Sometimes, curiosity and delving into music from other cultures or traditions gets our minds off our worries and problems.  When we redirect our minds, our bodies heal themselves. Another practice revolves around listening to favorite songs, either current or past favorites because if the songs stoke our hearts we raise our vibration.  As you know when we raise our vibrations we heal ourselves on a deep level.  However, make sure those favorite songs do not contain negative text or any abrasive sounds in them. ...

By Patricia Herlevi Every song we've ever heard has a memory or memories attached to it.  Some songs remind us of first loves, choosing a partner to dance with at a middle school sock hop, or college graduation.  Some songs remind us of weddings we attended or scenes from favorite movies, while other songs cause our hearts to ache with the memories that surface. As to be expected, we gravitate towards songs with happier memories or that relax us some way or lull us into daydreams.  But, the songs with painful memories attached claim treasures too.  In fact, they act as a treasure map to our wounded places where we shed new light if we choose.  When we head over to these wounds, we give ourselves the opportunity to clear away old beliefs, patterns and the root of grief and depression.  Perhaps, these songs lead us to the releasing of repressed anger or sadness. I recommend working with a music therapist when dealing with deep wounds or deeply repress...

While we normally make the connection between virtuoso musicians and classical music, we find virtuosos in a variety of musical genres.  We could explore the lives of virtuosos and delve into the character traits and intelligence of virtuosos, but I have a better idea. Often when I feel depressed or in a deep funk, I head over to YouTube and watch a virtuoso performance. Usually, I watch a soloist performing a concerto with a symphony orchestra, but sometimes, I tune into folkloric or jazz virtuosos in which there are many to choose.  Ever watched a virtuoso Colombian or Venezuelan harpist perform?  As I watch these performances, often times holding my breath, I lose myself in the performance and by the time the video ends, I forgot my worries and fears.  I walk away feeling elated (and a bit envious of the talented performer that wowed an audience). To get you started, I'm including five videos representing five different genres in which we witness a virtuoso ...

Heads up, this coming April promises a lot of stress.  We'll need to pull back, gather our senses and find ways to relax.  Why not create a power music kit in the same way as a medicine chest or cabinet? Basically a power music kit provides us with a go-to music library during a crisis, a stressful experience or just for the sake of pleasure. I recommend including a variety of genres and music of higher frequency that raise vibration of minds, bodies and hearts.  The higher our frequency, the more centered we become and when we feel centered, world events don't devastate us. Below I'm including inspiration in the form of genre lists and some artists I have found helpful in my life.  I will list the music by moods or actions needed. Invigorate, uplift, help move tension out of the body through movement such as dance: Latin Music from the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, Central America, and the American Southwest such as Tex-Mex and Native American Chicken ...

When I first started researching music for healing and consciousness purposes, I worried too much about the frequency or vibration of music.   While there are still some musical styles I still find offensive to my nervous and immune systems, I felt like I was limiting myself when it came to popular music genres, such as 1960s pop.   While research has revealed that the rock n’ roll beat has ill effects on the heart because of the way our bodies entrain to dominant beats and rhythms, on emotional and mental levels, listening to rock or pop music from our past brings a different type of healing. I thought I could live in an ivory tower of Bach and Mozart along with field recordings, but then I started slipping on visits to YouTube and I had to hear music from my early childhood, my teen and young adult years.   When I listened to these songs, memories were triggered and I could work through the hardships from those times in my life, clear garbage out of m...