The Whole Music Experience

currently unpublished seek publisher Here is an excerpt from Chapter 6 of Whole Music (Soul Food for the Mind Body Spirit). I wrote this chapter based on my fascination with interspecies music. My fascination began when I read one of Masaru Emoto's water crystal books in 2006. If water has consciousness and registered vibrations with words and music, what else was possible? This is not a Bugs Bunny Cartoon Those of us brought up with logic-brain thinking and whose parents told us that we have an overactive imagination, will feel at odds with the interspecies music.   On one hand, jamming with animals feels like an enchanted dream come true.   On the other hand, we feel kind of silly taking our instruments to a city park to play duets with songbirds. However, David Rothenberg who has jammed with whales and cicadas after first exploring wild bird jazz recommends taking our instruments to the animal kingdom.   Why not play music at a zoo? “It shou...

photo by Patricia Herlevi Ever so often I wake up with an idea for a new blog post for working with sound and music.  Today while meditating, I started paying attention to how my body responded to the songbirds outside my window.  Then I pondered the question, what constitutes music? Since I have listened to music from around the world in a variety of modes, scales, and structures, I understand that when even 3-notes are repeated in a pattern, this constitutes music.  Since all of this music came from humans there was no question as to its status as music.  But when we deal with nature do we consider the frog and bird songs actual music? And what about the frequencies contained in these nature songs, how do they affect our health and well-being? Do you ever wonder? To indigenous musicians and people this is a no-brainer.  To them of course nature provides music and healing frequencies.  Indigenous people the ancients believe that the world is made...

My article on animal communication, music, and spirit animal guides appears in the February 2013 issue of the New Spirit Journal . http://www.newspiritjournal.com/an-animal-carnival-the-music-animal-connection/

Birds do it, dogs do it, and children do it.  And before humans develop our analytical and rational minds, we also responded to music and sometimes without inhibitions.  Put on some Cuban or Brazilian or really, any type of music then watch what happens to a room full of toddlers.  They don't get out pens and paper, grab music theory books, or pontificate about perfect fifths.  They are the lucky ones who respond to music purely and in an uncomplicated manner. A few years back, David Rothenberg (a musician/philosopher turned researcher) wondered why birds sing.  Yes, they sing for survival, mating, and defending of territory, but did they also sing for pleasure? Rothenberg leaned towards yes.  More recently, while reading Elena Mannes book The Power of Music--Pioneering Discoveries in the New Science of Song ), I learned that Thai elephants can play music and that cockatoos among other creatures can synchronize to the rhythms of human made music....

This image is of an 18th century engraving found on the Wikipedia site. WM Why Birds & Saami Sing: Conversation with David Rothenberg In this blog conversation with David Rothenberg, a connection between birds, the natural world, the Karelian and Saami people are explored. Recently during a radio interview for KSVR-Mount Vernon, Finnish and Saami magical yoiks, and music came into the conversation. While this topic did not fit into the actual radio interview, I thought that the conversation could continue on this music consciousness blog. If you enjoy this conversation, please tell your friends. Also the Saami music article on this site has attracted some traffic, so those readers will enjoy this article as well. Life is magic and music can lead us all on that path of enchantment if we choose the right songs, and the right fork in the road. In other words, learn to think outside of the musical box. WME: When I first listened to your CD Why Birds Sing, I thought of exp...

David Rothenberg Why Birds Sing Terra Nova Birds have inspired musicians, poets and artists of various discipline for centuries. Birds and their joyful songs have enlightened saints, prophets and mystics, not to mention bird watchers and ecologists. Birds have been the subjects of songs, entire music compositions and Alfred Hitchcock's film, but obviously, old Alfred did not quite understand the bird kingdom--he was a product of a paranoid society. (And I don't care much for that film). However, David Rothenberg, musician, author, professor and philosopher has chosen to befriend the bird kingdom through its musical language. Not only did he write the book, Why Birds Sing (reviewed on this blog), but he also co-produced a remarkable CD of the same title that combines nature with modern technology. While I am not into electronic music myself, (I do not find it healing due to the electromagnetic fields), the music on Why Birds Sing recalls sacred yoiks of the Saami...

Book Review Why Birds Sing David Rothenberg Penguin/Allen Lane I come from a family of bird enthusiasts. This year for my birthday, my sister surprised me with David Rothenberg's amusing and informative book, Why Birds Sing . Rothenberg marries his musical and philosophical talents with an unusual quest. Yet, he is not alone since he cites scientists, poets and others who also took similar quests at one point or another. Rothenberg takes us through a little history of songbird science as well as, noting improvements in technology that still for whatever reason, cannot fathom why birds sing. Do they sing for pleasure? Possibly. Do they enjoy the music of humans? Possibly. Rothenberg explores mimics of the bird kingdom from the common starling, (were you aware of the talent of this bird?), to the less common Albert's Lyrebird of Australia. We learn a little about finches, mockingbirds, canaries and blackbirds, among others. And in this fascinating quest, we m...