Archive for the 'music' Category

Reflections on Sound and Music Alliance Symposium 2010

Published May 4, 2010 music , personal Leave a Comment
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A couple weeks ago I trekked to Wisdom House Retreat Center in Litchfield, CT to join in a weekend symposium for the newly formed Sound and Music Alliance (SAMA).  This was  a weekend like no other as I spent it with 100 of the most influential forces engaged in the intentional use of sound and music. SAMA is a technically a non-profit membership organization, but I feel it is best described as a community in the most real sense. People who care about a common cause, and are willing to invest themselves into the betterment of the community as a whole before their own self interests.

I had the opportunity to reunite with old friends, current colleagues, leaders who I have always wanted to meet, and bright young stars who will help us propel the awareness of the transformative power of music and sound for coming generations. Physicians, pediatric therapists, music therapists, listening therapists, psychotherapists, musicians, product developers, and a host of other specialists shared their vision, ideas, and creative wisdom to envision the future of this diverse field. What is the vision? From my seat in this very wide circle of influence it is clear… the unequivocal acceptance and understanding that the right sound and music can profoundly change your life.  That incorporating  sound health practices into your daily diet can help you to achieve wellness, happiness, and a longer, more fulfilled life.

There is much more to say, but for now I will share I am truly inspired by that weekend, and as I write listening to a Haydn String Quartet performed by the Arcangelos Chamber Ensemble and recorded by my dear departed friend and  former Music Director for Advanced Brain Technologies Richard Lawrence that I compel you to take note of the sound in your life and see its potential to change it for the better.

Please visit SAMA online and consider supporting the work of this fine organization by becoming a member.

Sound and Music Alliance

Published April 14, 2010 music Leave a Comment
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I am attending the first Sound and Music Alliance (SAMA) symposium in Litchfield, CT this weekend as an invited panelist. This is an exciting new organization advancing the intentional use and transformative power of sound and music.

SAMA, a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit membership organization is an interdisciplinary alliance of therapists, clinicians, educators, musicians, researchers, sound and music practitioners, indigenous teachers, program developers, and product manufacturers.

Learn more about SAMA

Healing the Brain 2010

Published February 1, 2010 The Listening Program , brain awareness , brain research , music , music research Leave a Comment
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The Klinghardt Academy of Neurobiology is holding a conference in Bellevue, Washington this month called Healing the Brain 2010. I will be presenting a talk titled Applications of Music Listening Therapy.  If you are interested in leading edge protocols for brain health, this conference will be well worth your time.

HEALING THE BRAIN CONFERENCE 2010
February 19-22, 2010
Hyatt Regency Bellevue, SeattleIn recent years ALS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s disease, autism and other disorders of the central nervous system are increasing exponentially. Something is happening. What is it?

This conference will explore the hidden causes of brain dysfunction and illness in both children and adults and also carefully discuss available diagnostic and treatment options. Practitioners will come away with a synthesis of new ideas and new, cutting-edge protocols to put into their practice right away.

Healing the Brain is sponsored by the Klinghardt Academy of Neurobiology. Invited guests include Neurologist and Author Eric Braverman, MD, Daniel Amen practitioner Brian Goldman, MD, Master Herbalist Donald J. Yance, Lab Analysis Expert Mark Schauss, Australian Brain Integration Expert Charles Krebs, Coagulation Expert David Berg, MAPS (system to repair brain dysfunction) creator Claudie Gordon-Pomares, Color and Light Therapy Expert Alice Nixon, LCSW and Alex Doman, founder and CEO of Advanced Brain Technologies. Alex will be presenting The Listening Program® method of music listening therapy as it is widely used as an approach to support brain health and performance. A practical understanding of this fusion of art and psychoacoustic science including a discussion of air and bone conduction delivery of sound will be explored.
 
For more information about this conference:
 
TO REGISTER:  (303) 499-4700  (303) 499-4700 or
http://stores.homestead.com/klinghardt/StoreFront.bok

Webinar-The Listening Program and Autism Spectrum Disorders

Published December 18, 2009 The Listening Program , auditory system , autism , music 4 Comments
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If you have an interest in learning more about The Listening Program® method of music listening therapy please join me for a live webinar this Sunday organized by the Akhil Autism Foundation.

The Listening Program® (TLP) is a music listening therapy that provides engaging brain stimulation to improve performance in school, work and life. This introductory webinar is free and will provide an overview of  the auditory system, auditory processing, and how music listening therapy can help improve the life of a child on the autism spectrum.

Date: Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009
Times: USA  11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST (Eastern Standard Time)
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM MST (Mountain Standard Time)
India    9:30 PM – 10:30 PM IST (Indian Standard Time)

TO REGISTER: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/790568674

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about the Webinar.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
PC
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Mac
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

iPod Therapy Opens Memories for Alzheimer’s Patients

Published November 26, 2009 Alzheimer's , brain research , music , music research 1 Comment
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Music works, music heals; it unlocks our emotions, creativity, spirituality, and the infinite potential of the brain.  It is also a way to tap into the memories of someone suffering with Alzheimer’s Disease according to Dr. Concetta Tomaino, who has studied the therapeutic effects of music for more than 30 years.

Caregivers have observed for decades that Alzheimer’s patients can still remember and sing songs long after they’ve stopped recognizing names and faces. Many hospitals and nursing homes use music as recreation, since it brings patients pleasure. But beyond the entertainment value, there’s growing evidence that listening to music can also help stimulate seemingly lost memories and even help restore some cognitive function.

“What I believe is happening is that by engaging very basic mechanisms of emotions and listening, music is stimulating dormant areas of the brain that haven’t been accessible due to degenerative disease,” says Concetta Tomaino, executive director of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, a nonprofit organization founded at Beth Abraham in 1995. 1

Read the complete article by Melinda Beck in The Wall Street Journal.

1Retrieved November, 26, 2009 The Wall Street Journal “A Key for Unlocking Memories” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704538404574540163096944766.html

What is The Listening Program?

Published October 26, 2009 The Listening Program , auditory processing disorder , auditory system , autism , music 2 Comments
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I just wanted to share a new video released today called What is The Listening Program®? It includes interviews with professionals and others that have used this music listening therapy to improve their lives.  If you have 15 minutes please take a look and let me know what you think! Video Link

Therapeutic Power of Music

Published April 13, 2009 The Listening Program , music , music research 2 Comments
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I just ran across an article published in Scotland on Sunday titled “Doctor Beat”. The author Janet Christie highlights some of the current research findings uncovering the therapeutic  power of music. Included within is a spotlight on the music research conducted by my friend and colleague Vera Brandes at the Paracelsus Private Medical University in Salzburg, Austria. Her study demonstrated clinically significant  improvements in heart-rate variability after patients followed a specific music program 2 x 30 minutes a day for five weeks. Heart-rate variability is an indicator of autonomic nervous system function.

Coincidently the article also highlights the story of young Ethan, a boy diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome who benefited from listening to our very own The Listening Program® method for 2 X15 minutes a day for eighteen months at his primary school in Midlothian, Scotland. His mother, Wendy Brooks shares ”The music helped with his concentration and social skills, which is a huge thing when you’ve got Asperger’s. He used to get frustrated and upset really quickly but he became a lot calmer and it became easier to get through to him. He’s a maths whizz, so that became more focused too, because he can concentrate better. Before the program, he just wasn’t listening,” she says. “It has had a very powerful effect because he hasn’t been as difficult to deal with and his conversational skills are very good now. You’d never know how he was at three years old.”

While the article focuses on varied examples of the healing effects of music including music therapy, interestingly it concludes with a list of music that is reported to inflict pain and distress by military and law enforcement agencies. I would have never considered the theme of Sesame Street as torture, however I can see repeated exposure to the Bee Gees “Staying Alive” as being a detriment to my cognitive and emotional state. 

Read Article http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/spectrum/Doctor-beat.5162577.jp

The Musical Cure

Published March 29, 2009 music 6 Comments
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Will music ever be prescribed as a remedy to treat or even cure chronic disease?  Perhaps, and recent research indicates we may be closer to the musical cure than previously thought imaginable.

 

We all recognize music has a salutary effect. Who hasn’t used a tune to relax, focus, or improve their mood? Our understanding of music is emerging. The wheat is separating from the chaff as we move beyond pseudoscientific claims of music effects, to clinical trials that demonstrate the benefits the right musical prescription may hold.

 

My colleague and dear friend Vera Brandes, is director of the research program in music and medicine at the Paracelsus Private Medical University in Salzburg, Austria. Vera has been principal in the charge to apply real scientific methods to music research. Today her efforts are featured in an article in The New York Times Composing Concertos In the Key of RX.

 

Article Excerpt

In a pilot study, which in 2008 received a citation at the annual scientific meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in Baltimore, Ms. Brandes and international associates investigated the effects of music on patients suffering from hypertension for which no organic cause can be found.

 

“Conventionally hypertensive patients are treated with beta blockers, which suppress In their symptoms,” Ms. Brandes said. “Music can address the psychosomatic root causes.”

 

According to her study, listening to a specially designed music program for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, for four weeks, patients experienced clinically significant improvements in heart-rate variability, a major indicator of autonomous nervous function. In her next study Ms. Brandes will subject these findings to a full-fledged clinical trial.

 

Read on Composing Concertos in the Key of Rx

 

The evidence that music is good for us will continue to expand and one day in the not so distant future you may have a music prescription written for you. Until then, keep listening and know music is good for more than your soul.

 

Addendum- Having read a comment on twitter and FriendFeed about this post let me be clear. MUSIC WORKS!!! I have spent 15 years researching and developing psychoacoustically based music programs. This post, and the article it is about is highlighting the fact that music research has reached a new level entirely!

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