The Whole Music Experience

I found an interview with French Pianist Helene Grimaud where she discusses the nuances of classical music and musical training. She also discusses a connection to nature and wolves in particular. All music lovers and music therapist s benefit from watching this video (in English).

On the day of the Pisces Lunar Eclipse, I had a sudden urge to listen to recordings of bird songs. Although I live in Bellingham, a city known for its natural surroundings, I live in a residential neighborhood with little nature and a lot of concrete. So until I can take a walk in one of the parks, listening to nightingale songs suffices. This brings up the concept of starting one's day with nature recordings. You can find just about every nature call on YouTube from birdsongs to wolf calls, to whales and dolphins galavanting under water. I also enjoy ocean waves and other water sound recordings. We are, after all, connected to nature. We regain balance when we immerse ourselves in these sounds even if we live on the 14th floor of a tall building.  So here are a handful of recordings I found on YouTube to get you started: Nightingale Songs Whale Songs   Dolphin Songs Wolves Ocean Waves Happy exploration of nature sounds. 

I have suffered from post trauma. And in the past year, I have undergone therapy to create new neuropathways in my limbic brain. And I wondered how music could help in this regard. So I'm currently rounding up articles on this topic, starting with this article by the late Oliver Sacks.

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...

photo by Patricia Herlevi For people who are more sensitive, walking into a store or other business that plays background music can disturb their auras. As we awaken consciousness through sound vibration businesses for the most part lag behind. It's so tempting to stop frequenting those businesses, yet, there are other ways to protect your personal frequencies. And as we move deeper into the Aquarius Age, frequency is where it's at. In the future, I will post on the harmful effects of background music as well as, links to articles promoting the psychological effects of background music (used to sell more product and influence customer's behavior). But for now, I'm concentrating on ways you can protect your personal vibration when exposed to harmful sounds and text. My other concern has to do with natural foods and even organic foods exposed to rock and pop music. The first time, this consideration popped into my mind was in 2007. I had already launched the Who...

I have been concerned with lower vibration or frequencies that bombard each of us. Since I am sensitive I can tell when my vibration has lowered.  Electrical fields, loud music in shops, profanity, news reports, violence, and aggression of all kinds lower vibrations. When our vibration lowers we become susceptible to disease and depression.  We lose a sense of empowerment and others find it easier to manipulate and control our thoughts and behavior. However, in contrast to that, we raise our vibration when we engage in harmonious relationships with others. We raise our vibration when we sing, play music, dance, listen to life-affirming songs, certain instruments (such as harp, flute, and drums, as opposed to drum machines), when we hang out in nature, when we eat high vibrational (organic and ethically-raised food) and when we practice self-care. Prayer, meditation, and yoga also raise vibration. I have also worked with photography and video making to raise my vibra...

When I suffer from anxiety attacks or fear in general, I listen to particular vocalists because their voices act like an audio massage. The tone and texture of voices differ for each of us. Some people find male voices more soothing, some find women's voices more soothing; some people enjoy the singular voice while others lift their vibration with vocal harmony. I find the African and the African-American vocals most soothing, followed by Native American vocals and then women's harmonies. But this all depends on the day and my circumstances as well as, the strength of the negative emotions I wish to relieve. Some times sacred music lifts me higher and other times I find comfort in a nostalgic pop song. Here's an example of an African song that soothes my anxiety by Samite When I was going through a particular rough time Native American musicians Mary Youngblood and Joanne Shenandoah came into my life (post 9-11). I recall listening to Youngblood's Under a ...

Ever so often, I get a song that I hadn't heard in decades playing on the repeat mode in my brain. I used to complain about these ear worms, especially since they are usually rooted in songs I never actually liked, but that had strong text. Then one day a woman that I met in passing told me to pay attention to the text because it's carrying messages. So here's the practice. Pay attention to songs that pop into your thoughts, especially after you have prayed or meditated on a situation or asked a question to the Universe. Not only that, pay attention to songs you hear in the background at stores or at least any snippets you might have picked up. You could also encounter these synchronicity messages on YouTube in your feed or someone could mention a song, or a song comes on the radio or plays in the soundtrack for a movie. Since we're all busy we could forget about these songs during the course of the day. So I recommend carrying a small notebook that you can use as...

I'm re-posting this article which also appears in my book, Whole Music . For whatever reason, I woke up thinking about Samite today and the beautiful music he has graced us with. Add caption WM From the Heart of the African Bush: Conversation with Samite Mulondo Other journalists besides me have felt the soothing lullabies of Ugandan multi-instrumentalist Samite Mulondo. The storyteller -musician-humanitarian takes his audiences on journeys to the African bush and also deep into the human heart. Listening to his recordings provide an intimate musical experience and seeing Samite in concert provides a different type of emotional experience that opens eyes, ears and hearts. I first came across Samite when I was seeking African recordings to review for my former website, Cranky Crow World Music. Tunula Eno landed in my mailbox and as I listened to a beautiful set of songs I traveled through a gamut of emotions, from sweet humor to grief (the CD was dedicated t...

As some of you might know, I'm not only a music journalist-researcher, I'm also an astrologer. I track the effects that the planet Neptune has on trends revolving around cinema and music. I've found that music plays its biggest role when Neptune is in aspect with other outer planets or several planets are transiting in Pisces. I would like to give heads up on what I call the Neptune Effect for March 2016 because we will experience a Solar Eclipse in Pisces with a cluster of planets transiting in Pisces. Jupiter is also involved since Saturn transits in Jupiter's sign, Sagittarius and the planet Jupiter transits in Virgo along with the North Node (moon node) which is the opposite sign of Pisces. So we could witness new therapeutic effects for music used in hospitals, rehab facilities, prisons, hospices and other domains that fall under Neptune and Pisces. I say this because Virgo, Pisces opposite sign represents service, including social work, nursing, and creatin...

Conversation with German Early Music Specialist Klaus Miehling After I posted an announcement for music awareness interviews on the Linked In group Music and Emotions, German composer/musicologist/musician (harpsichord and vocals), Klaus Miehling contacted me. I know Klaus briefly from my interaction with this fascinating group where musicians discuss how music affects the brain, nervous system, and ignites our emotions. Klaus comes from the realm of Early Music, but he also composes music for modern instruments (as well as early music instruments). He did his undergraduate studies at Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in the 1980s and he earned his Doctorate (musicology and art history) at the University of Freiburg, where he currently resides. He is the author of several books and 250 compositions for historic and modern instruments. Whole Music Experience : With so much awareness now with brain science and music or musical effects on our physical, mental, and emotional ...

While I went out walking today I wondered what topic I would write about next to build music consciousness. Then I saw the lyrics to Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" written out with colorful chalk on a log. Thus began my brief exploration of happy songs. There appears to be two camps when it comes to using happy songs to change a mood. In one camp, you change an angry or sad mood gradually by introducing songs that have slightly more uplifting moods than the previous one and work your way towards happy. The second camp believes that we can choose to be happy now since happiness is just a state of mind controlled by our thoughts. In that case, we can change our mood swiftly by singing or listening to a happy song. I guess it depends on the individual and the deepness of their particular funk. Meaning, if someone suffers from chronic depression or anger management problems, then it would be the equivalent to plastering a band aid on a gaping wound to expe...

"Tranquility" by Patricia Herlevi People have told me that certain music that irritates me might actually be healthy for them. It's true we all have varying musical tastes and different bodies. Some of us have thicker skin than others, but there is some music that is toxic for everyone. Still, how do you know what is right for you? First, you must pay attention to your body sensations, emotions/feelings/moods when exposure to music or even sound frequencies. I have yet to meet someone who isn't bothered by the noise of airplanes flying overhead, leaf blowers, or power lawn mowers. Most people just shut out these noises and tell themselves that they are part of the modern and urban lifestyles. Unfortunately, we have little control over music or noise that we encounter throughout the course of our day. However, we can decide what will play in the background or foreground of our homes. We can set the volume to a level that won't cause harm to our hearing or n...

Listen to Tibetan musician Nwang Khechog's recordings As the frequency on the planet continues to rise and more people discover the connection between sounds and their physical well-being, why not join them? Raise your consciousness through the art of listening to music. The best way to do this, and I've mentioned it already in numerous posts, is to keep a music diary or journal to track physical, mental, and emotional effects of music. Basically, any notebook or journal will work. Create three columns and write "Physical," "Emotional" and "Mental" at the top of the columns. Then on the left hand side write down the piece of music or genre you heard, location where you heard it, and time of day. Granted, since we live in a world wallpapered with music and sound frequencies, you're not going to be able to cover every soundbite you hear throughout the day or evening. However, if you are at the grocery store or mall and you notice strong r...