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Components of Healing Music: Modes, Whole-tone and Pentatonic Scales

June 24th, 2010 · music and spirituality, Music and the Mind-Body, Music Healing, Music Medicine

Today is the final lesson in this series on the components of healing music.  The component I’ve chosen is similar to yesterday’s lesson on Major and Minor but goes back in time hundreds if not thousands of years!

In the 800-700’s BC, the music played in ancient Greece was not played in major and minor scales, Greece, Rome and other cities and civilizations used scales that sound very different to our ears.  In those times, every physician knew about the healing powers of music and rhythms and instruments and often times a prescription for healing, also had a musical prescription as part of it!

There are seven basic Greek modes that are easy to hear or play if you have a piano:

Aeolian is A-A

Locrian is B-B

Ionian is C-C

Dorian is D-D

Phrygian is E-E

Lydian is F-F

Mixolydian is G-G

Each mode was thought to have specific healing powers and if a person was depressed, for example, the physician might suggest that the listen to a lute for an hour or so in the evening, playing in the Dorian mode.

Many modern English composers such as Vaughn-Williams, Elgar, Holst and Delius have written beautiful pieces that have a distinctly modal flavor and are exceptionally healing and calming to me. I’ll add a YouTube video of one of my favorites now!

If you are a musician you will recognize the characteristic “lowered 7th” that immediately give the piece it’s modal flavor, i.e. the Dorian mode in this case.
Another tool used by many “New Age” composers is the whole tone scale with is composed using all whole steps. You can hear this on the piano by playing C-D-E-F#-G#-A#-C. If you play this ascending through several octaves, with the damper pedal down, you will get a good idea of the “feel” and “mood” that a whole-tone scales sets.

Another scale used in much folk music and in healing music as well is the Pentatonic Scale. This can be found on the piano by simply play the five different black keys: C# D#F#G#A# and using them in any order to make a melody and/or harmony as well. Both of these scales do not have a strong sense of a tonic or “home” key and thus allow the listener to just bathe in the sounds with no expectation of a final cadence.

If you have any questions about this particular component of healing music, please leave me a comment or question and I’ll certainly do my best to answer it for you! I do hope you’ve enjoyed this series and will tell others about it as well as leave me lots of comments!

Also, please tell me what else you would like to know about healing music and what it can do for your own health, wellness, and healing!

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Components of Healing Music: Major or Minor Key

June 23rd, 2010 · music and spirituality, Music and the Brain, Music and the Mind-Body, Music Healing

Today is lesson nine of the series on components of healing music and I want to start, as always, with a disclaimer:  my thoughts and ideas about components and definitions of healing music are not absolute.  They are my own subjective ideas based on a lifetime of being a musician, a teacher, a performer and a clinician.  Other writers could choose other components or choose the same ones with different definitions or explanations.  These are mine, as I understand them.

You’ve probably heard people say “this is in the key of C major, or d minor; or G major or f minor.  Each of the first 7 letter names of the alphabet has a major and a minor key that goes with it.  Then there are the sharp and flat keys, but we won’t even go there!

The important thing, really, is to understand the difference between major and minor.  When I taught piano to children, years ago, we used to say that major keys were the “happy” keys and minor keys were “sad” or sometimes “scary” keys.  Of course these are great oversimplifications, but the idea is right!

A simple melody, with or without harmony, in a major key, at a slow or moderate tempo, is likely to be pleasant for someone who is resting or trying to relax.  A simple melody, with or without harmony, in a minor key could well feel sad to wistful to the casual listener.  To put these two things into songs you jay already know, think of these:

Major:  Happy Birthday to You, You Are My Sunshine, Yankee Doodle

Minor:  Greensleeves, When Johnny Comes Marching Home, God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman.

Of interest, I think, is the fact that a major triad and a minor triad have just one 1/2 step difference.  For those who read music, it’s just the difference of C-E-G vs. C-E-flat-G.  But what a difference that little 1/2 step makes!!

Tomorrow is the final lesson in this little series and I’m going to talk about other scales that are often used in more “New Age” healing music… the whole tone scale, the pentatonic scale, and the ancient Greek modes.  See you back here tomorrow!

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Components of Healing Music: Ostinato

June 22nd, 2010 · Classical Music, Music and Relaxation, Music and the Mind-Body, Music Healing, Music in the Hospital

While teaching my “Intro to Healing Music” class the other day, the topic of the ostinato came up.   We were talking about the importance of people feeling “grounded” in order for healing to take place. 

When people feel like they are connected to something stable and solid, then they can relax enough to let go of stress and tension and their bodies can begin to repair themselves.

The human body is a miraculous creation you know.  If we break a bone or cut ourselves, or get a cold, we really don’t have to go to a doctor.  With time we will heal.  it’s just that we might heal faster or straighter (in the case of a bone) or without infection (in the case of a cut) if we go to a doctor and take a “medicine.”  But a big part of healing, I believe, is just relaxing and grounding the body enough so that natural healing processes can begin.

Listen to this brief example of an ostinato in the Pachelbel Canon:

What exactly is an ostinato?  The website www.creativemusicworks.com defines it as “a repeated sound or sound pattern. It can be verbal, rhythmic, textural, or tonal in nature. It can be used to further a set harmonic or rhythmic structure, in the way a bass pattern or a dance rhythm would be used in early music or contemporary jazz. In its simplest use, it can avoid a set harmonic structure and continue on much like a drone or pedal point, for as long as the improviser chooses. If one accepts all experiments, listening with an “open ear,” one can develop a unique musical vocabulary by exploring with melody over a simple ostinato.”

Whether you choosing a piece of music for its healing properties or composing your own  healing music, think about the grounding power of the ostinato.  The predictability factor is always a plus.  When listening to the Pachelbel Canon, you know that the bass line will always be the same throughout.  This allows the listener to relax, lean back and enjoy the flow of the beautiful melodies above. 

Many music professionals, it seems, do not care for the Pachelbel Canon because they believe that it has been so over-played and over-used.  For most of us, though, it is still a beautiful, healing piece of music.

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Components of Healing Music: Instruments

June 21st, 2010 · Healing Music Travel, Music and the Brain, music and the heart, Music and the Mind-Body, Music Healing

Good afternoon and welcome to lesson 7 of “Components of healing Music.”  Today we get to the important topic of instruments!

Healing music comes in many different shapes and forms.  Healing music can be familiar, it can be unfamiliar.  It can be soft and quiet or it can be full and swells and lulls (crescendos and decrescendos).  It can be a single instruments, a small ensemble or a full orchestra.  It could also be a single voice, a small vocal ensemble or a large chorus.

There are many, many variables and (as I said yesterday) a lot depends on a person’s previous life and also their musical experience to that point.  When talking with other experts about healing music, one of the “hot topics” seems to be whether acoustic instruments are a must, or whether or not synthethesized sounds can also be healing.  This is a very controversial topic because even though synthesizers have really improved a lot over the past 25-30 years, they still lack the vibrational richness and intention that is created with acoustic instruments and, of course, the human voice.

Still, there are many composers whose synthesized music has been very powerful for me and my journey.  Particular favorites for me include Don Campbell’s “Crystal Meditations,”  Constance Demby’s “Through the Stargate,” and Steve Halpern’s “Chakra Suite.”  My experience is that I can enjoy and benefit from either.  The effect is very different because I grew up exclusively on acoustic music but have become accustomed to enjoying and appreciating good quality synthesized sounds and music.

By the same token, I have come to love, enjoy and benefit from the sound healing experiences with crystal bowls, tuning forks, and other very non-traditional instruments.  I would love to know and hear about your experiences and preferences for healing music instruments!

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The Components of Healing Music: Tempo

June 20th, 2010 · Music and Relaxation, music and the heart, Music and the Mind-Body, Music Healing, Music Medicine

Today is the sixth lesson in our series of “The Components of Healing Music.”  Please remember that these components are not absolutes and are definitely open to interpretation.  Music as a whole is very personal and each of us has our inner filters that we bring to our own interpretation of a piece of music and how it affects us.  We each hear a piece of music in the context of what we’ve heard before.

Think about it:  if you grew up hearing classical music or country music or New Age music, then hearing a new piece or song in the genre you’re accustomed to might be new, but not startlingly new!  If you grew up on country or classical, hearing your first piece in the NEW genre will likely be memorable and there’s a fairly good chance that you won’t like it.

We all tend to like what we’re familiar with because there’s a comfort level that goes along with familiarity.  We humans tend to like what we’re familiar with and that applies to music, food, people, climate, and on and on.

In healing music, traditionally, you want to have a tempo that is between 50-70 beats per minute.  This would be the range of beats per minute for the healthy, resting heart-beat.  The tempo, or rate of speed, thus, is very important so that the music slows down and stabilizes a rapid heartbeat and helps the person to calm down and relax.   A person cannot really begin to heal until the body can relax and release stress and tension in the muscles.   Choosing music that has a slow, steady tempo will be very important to getting the most healing effect from music.

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Components of Healing Music: Timbre

June 19th, 2010 · Music Healing

When you think of healing music, what instrument or voice do you think of?  Thing of a simple tune that you love:  “The Gift to be Simple,” “Amazing Grace,” or a beautiful lullaby.  Now imagine that melody sung, played by a flute, played by a trumpet or played on a violin.  If you can close your eyes and hear it all the way through on each of those instruments, I think you would agree that each rendition has its own effect on you and its own unique sound.

That’s what musical “timbre” is about.  Each instrument or voice has it’s own unique sound characteristics.  You can hear a favorite melody played on a unusual instrument, let’s say the bagpipes, and easily recognize that it’s not a flute or a piano, or a tuba.  That’s because each instrument, even though playing the same tune at the same tempo, same key and same melody sounds different, depending on the timbre of the instrument chosen.

Today, when you listen to music on the radio, iPod or whatever, pay attention to the timbre of the instruments and how that affects you!

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Components of Healing Music: Dynamics

June 18th, 2010 · Music and the Mind-Body, Music Healing

When choosing healing music for yourself or someone else, one important thing to consider is the dynamic level.  Dynamics are simply the loudness or softness of the music and are defined with Italian words such as those to the left.

Of course if you or a loved one are feeling ill you are not going to want to have loud or boisterous music playing at the bedside.  Dynamics are typically marked with levels ranging from very, very soft to very, very loud.  Most music utilizes multiple dynamic levels as the dynamic level is rarely static for long.  We also use the “crescendo,” which means gradually getting louder and the “decrescendo” which means gradually getting softer.  Dynamics are one the many facets of all music that help it to be expressive, interesting, and in this case, healing.

Please feel free to comment or ask a question.  If you’d like to know more, please download the 60-minute workshop I did on “The Healing Power of Music.”    Music is complex, but understanding the individual components can help you to choose or create your own healing music more intentionally!

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Components of Healing Music: Rhythm

June 17th, 2010 · music and spirituality, Music and the Mind-Body, Music Healing, Music in the Hospital

Of all the components of healing music that you might be familiar with,  rhythm is the one that can often hook people into a healing experience the fastest!   Rhythm is simply a pattern of long and short notes, sometimes fast, sometime slow, that creates a repetitive sequence that encourages predictability and a feeling of being “grounded.”

One of the most important qualities of rhythm in healing music is steadiness and regularity.  If a person is not feeling well physically or emotionally, they need a rhythm and a tempo that is slow, steady, regular, and predictable.  A good example of this would be Pachelbel’s “Canon in D.”  Another example would be the rhythms which are played in drum circles, on the most popular group musical experiences for the last several decades.

Of course drum circles are ancient and the millions of rhythmic combinations possible make it quite powerful in every culture possible.   If you’d like to know more about drum circles and how drumming can be used for health and wellness, I have written an ebook all about it!  Click here to learn more!

Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the next element in healing music:  dynamics.

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