music paper

music -conclusion
this paper is made to make you ask questions.


It is no new concept that music can heal us. Though
when we as massage therapists choose the music for our sessions- do we
fully understand or recognize the impact of our music on our
clientele? We are not versed in music therapy. Would we benefit from
that knowledge? Music will heal whether or not we understand it's
impact; however knowledge is power and will make our intent more
potent. Choosing the correct music for your intention of the session
will enhance your client's experience a great deal. So where do we
start understanding how music heals? What is the purpose of music?


There are two contradicting concepts I have come across in my
studies. Being raised by musicians, the first concept rings true to my
upbringing:

"From the first artistic records drawn across cave walls in a panorama
of line and color, little musical significance is recognizable, with
the exception of the innate desire to communicate." (pg1 music and the culture of man sharon scholl, sylvia white)

However the second concept makes as much sense:

"The principle aim of all art styles based upon the contents and
manipulations of the mind is to free the imagination from the demands
of premeditated or reflective logic." (pg274

Can
both of these concepts be true? The first, says that the aim of music
is communication and the second says escapism. Listening to Yo-Yo Ma's
Cello Suites, what is being communicated with these cello
instrumentals? Or more importantly, what is it being communicated to?
Conversely, what are we escaping from when we listen to music? The
quote says"demands of premeditated or reflective logic,"; the first
thought I have is of the super ego. Though some would debate saying
that music theory indeed stimulates the super ego, your average person
responds to music whether or not versed in music theory. What we
respond to the most is the rhythm and patterns. It communicates with
our base, our id, but also interferes with our frontal lobe. We forget
about our money issues, our relationship problems, and our
disabilities. We are able to refocus, overcome obstacles and reach
goals that get in the way when we let our super ego do too much of the
thinking. There are different levels of consciousness to take care
of. Not to mention with holistic healing it


"The embedding of words, skills, or sequences in melody and meter is uniquely human" (239)
"Aniruddh
Patel at Neuroscience Institute has recently pointed out that 'In every
culture there is some form of music with a regular beat, a periodic
pulse that affords temporal coordination between performers and elicits
synchronized motor response from listeners." (239-240)

Furthermore he has found, "There is not a single report of an animal
being trained to tap, peck, or move in synchrony with an auditory beat."
Humans
do not need training. Reaction to music is innate. However, "Research
has now shown that so called responses to rythm actually precede the
external beat." (240) Which means, our minds and bodies pick up and
anticipate beat and tempo. Our memories soak in music, which explains
why music stays with humans after dementia defeats all of our other
functions and abilities to communicate.

"Does the loss of one's self-awareness or some aspects of mind,
constitute loss of self?" (336) This question hit me hard. I think
the most difficult thing to bear is not being able to communicate. It
is so key to try and use music for communication purposes in extreme
situations, because if someone cannot directly communicate with another
being, at least they can touch another's soul/ prescense; or be
touched, or share.. which lessens the lonelyness of not being able to
directly communicate.


Samuel S. a patient of Oliver's, had a stroke in his late
sixties and was thereafter completely speechless. He was involved with
intensive speech therapy for two years with no improvment, when the
music therapist, Connie Tomaino, found him singing "Ol' Man River" very
tunefully with great feeling articulating two or three words of the
song, outside of her office. She worked with him and soon he was
singing all of the words to "Ol' Man River" and was working on other
ballads and songs he grew up with from the 1940s. Then he showed
beginnings of speech. "Musical perception, musical sensibility,
musical emotion and musical memory can survive long after other forms
of memory have disappeared." (337)


"Evidence in case studies: Cowles et al.,2003, Cuddy and Duffin,
2005, Foranazzari, Castle, et al.,2006, and Crystal, Grober, and Masur,
1989"(337)

"Music of the right kind can serve to orient and anchor a patient when almost nothing else can." (337)

A few years ago my grandmother was very near death with an extreme case
of alzheimers. She stopped responding to much of anything. The last
time I saw her, I brought my guitar and sang to her. My relatives told
me about how she was "captured" by my music, and how she smiled. I'm
glad I got to do that for her before she died.


A disease where the patients are very attached to music is Williams
Disease. The patients have elfin features and IQs less than 60. They
are extremely sociable and friendly and love to tell stories and
absolutley love music. The defects are in the heart and great vessels,
which causes retardation. Though there is retardation, they are very
articulate. There is this longing to connect and bond with others,
they will study your face and pick up on people's moods. They are
indifferent to nonhumans and dont care about judging obstacles or
steps, or get how things should be arranged, which makes them in some
ways the oppisite of autism patients.

"Music calls to both parts of our nature- it is essentially emotional, as it is essentially intellectual." pg 285

Listening to music is not just auditory and emotional, it is motoric as
well: 'We listen to music with our muscles,' as Nietzsche wrote. pg xi
"What
is more remarkable is their finding that listening to music or
imagining it, even without any overt movement or keeping time,
activates motor cortex and subcortical motor systems, too"

Evidence: Malonnie Kinnison, competitive cyclist-
"Orpheus
In The Underworld' by Offenbach started playing in my head. This was
wonderful- it stimulated my performance, settled my cadence at just the
right tempo, and synchronized my physical efforts with my breathing.
Time collapsed. I was truly in the zone, and for the first time in my
life, I was sorry to see the finish line. My time was a personal
best." (241)

Further musical muscle control is shown in tourettes. John S wrote to Oliver Sacs:
"Music
is a huge part of my life. It can be both a blessing and a curse when
it comes to ticcing. It can send me into a state where I forget all
aboutTourettes, or it can bring on a surge of tics that is difficult to
control or bear."


Some people- a surprisingly large number- "see" color or "taste" or
"smell" or "feel" various sensations as they listen to music- though
such synesthesia may bee accounted a gift more than a symptom. pg xii
Dr P suffered from an early and primarily visual form of Alzheimers. His wife explained:
I
put all his usual clothes out, in all the usual places, and he dresses
without difficulty, singing to himself. He does everything singing to
himself. But if he is interrupted and loses the thread, he comes to a
complete stop, doesnt know his clothes- or his own body. He sings all
the time- eating songs, everything. He can't do anything unless he
makes it a song." (237)