Music Therapy Articles

According to Indian traditions, in the beginning of creation, the sound `om’ (or ‘aum’) arose as the primal vibration. It is from this `om’ arose fifty `matrikas’ (called ‘mother sounds’), each associated with particular ‘chakras’ (or the psychic energy centres) located in the various regions of the human body.  Each of these chakras is associated […]

Life is short but life’s journey can be tedious. The process of living is full of challenges, ups and downs, expectations and disappointments, pleasant and unpleasant – feelings. People come and go, events occur all leaving an imprint in the mind space. While some of them are pleasant, some others could be unbearable and irreconcilable.

`Musick  is a tonick to the saddened soul’- Robert Burton (1577-1640)  Autism is a developmental disability of the brain. Though many autistic people tend to function as mentally retarded, they are frequently quite intelligent. It is estimated that 1.5% of the human population suffers from one or other sort of autism.  The symptoms of autism

Book Condensation Music, especially Indian music, is not merely a pleasant pastime, a way of devotion or an expression of bhava. It has therapeutic value and is capable of transforming our thinking process, mood complexes and attitudinal traits into a healthy pattern. Vibration forms the very core of our existence. Rhythm is an intrinsic part

‘Music has the power to mould human behaviour and character.’ — Aristotle  “There is a tremendous nexus between a musical piece and our moods. Sometimes when we are depressed, a musical piece, which wafts through the air, lends us a sudden energy to overcome depression, forgetting our worries. Psychoacoustics essentially refers to a study of

‘Nada is music, which plays in the body without strings.’ – Kabir   The roots of therapeutic music in India, though mostly anecdotal, have been firmly established in the Indian soil since time immemorial. Great Sanskrit and Tamil treatises on music, traced back to ancient times talk about the art and science of music and also

Creative Art Therapies which includes music therapy has gained neuro-scientists’ attention in recent years.  Dance, music, art, creative writing or speaking and other means of imaginative expressions are increasingly found to have therapeutic impact in the overall development of personality and behaviour norms, quite useful in the human social milieu.  They are also known for

Silence has become a rarity in the modern world. In 1996, Maxwell Davies spent a month in Antarctica Hoping to find absolute silence for his eighth symphony.  “Once the air was filled with music.  The young have never heard silence.  In our polluted world they will never be able to hear it.” A professional music

‘Ivaiha Ivaiha’ “here itself, here itself”- Adi Sankaracharya (The usage of these words are attributed to Sri Adi Sankaracharya to emphasize the fact that the spiritual bliss can be right here and right now, provided we want it to be so. Although there are many levels at which we learn to compare, perhaps the most

Human activities follow a pattern of rhythms.  As we talk, there is a rhythm. The thinking process, movements of limbs and body —all involve rhythm. The basic pattern followed in all forms of music—folk, modern or classical—cater both to our intellectual curiosity and our emotional needs.  Even by unconsciously following any musical pattern, our thinking

“We try to hear the acoustic environment as a musical composition and further, we own responsibility for its composition” … Murray Schafer (1977)  Acoustic ecology is an emerging discipline, which is concerned with the right kind of atmospheric sounds which are healthy to the human and the animal populations. Also referred to as ‘soundscape ecology’,

Recent advances in science and giant strides made in neuro-imaging techniques have opened up new horizons for our understanding of brain functions. Scientists are developing research that shows clear physiological links between melody and the mind – a connection which was well known to the followers of an ancient Indian healing tradition, Nada Yoga.  A

Music goes hand in hand with meditation. The ancient spiritual practices had included sound intonation in religious ceremonies and worship. Music has been an inherent part of all religions. Nada yoga viewed the sound intonation or nada as the representation of God, as in ‘nada brahma’. Why do We Meditate?  We come across many disappointments

Acoustic activism is a new age concept involving volunteers who seek to reform the soundscape of the cities and towns. It aims at bringing in sanity in the noise levels of the cities and to minimize the metallic noises of the automobiles, trucks and aircrafts of high decibels that affect the mindscape of the citizens,

‘Modern science should shed off its orientation towards a science of possibilities in the physical nature. It should aim at becoming a science of human possibilities.’ – -Sir Julian Huxley. What we call loosely as ‘sound’ is seriously and devotedly referred to in the Sanskrit language as nada. The term nada would literally mean ‘to

The raga system is a contribution by the Indian sub-continent unique to the World of music. Matanga, the ancient Indian musicologist (9-10th Century AD) was perhaps the earliest writer to define a raga. ‘Raga’, he said ‘is the kind of sound composition consisting of melodic movements which has the effect of colouring the hearts of

The meaning of music is Intrinsic and lies within self. It can be extracted only through an act of musical understanding and not by an assignment of values of the kind provided by Semantic Theory…  R.SCRUTON, Aesthetics of music Musical Intelligence  Musical Intelligence allows a listener or a performer to discern or interpret nuances of

I know that twelve notes in each octave and the varieties of rhythm offer me opportunities that all human genius will never exhaust – Stravinsky Music therapy literature is replete with the idea of correlation between the body rhythms and the rhythms in-built in a musical piece. It is normally understood that rhythms in music

The Universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper – – Eden Phillpotts. In recent years, psychotherapy has started integrating music in its fold – more particularly for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Widely referred to as ‘music psychotherapy’, the treatment approaches generally involve three methods: using

‘At least, part of the thrill of music seems to come from the release of endorphins, the powerful opiate-like chemicals produced in the brain that induces euphoria.’ – – David Sobel Not only the religions of the Indian subcontinent, but also those which appeared to bring in a sense of discipline in the otherwise meaningless