That's why I think of music as a primal gift. It has literally been in our bodies and brains since the beginning of time. We beat logs in rhythms to communicate, we chanted and sang stories as part of our oral history before the written word. These stories have been passed down unaltered sometimes for centuries.
You may be thinking how can music be in our bodies and brains? We remember songs that we have stored in our memories sometimes for a long time, that's for sure. But, I am referring to what music is made of - vibration - that has a physical and emotional effect on our thoughts and general well being. For us musicians, it sounds a little crude to think of our precious passtimes as "making vibration", but that's the way our ears receive it. Because music is vibration and vibration is converted to electricity, it literally reaches every cell in our bodies.
Knowing that the music we listen to affects our entire bodies, what an amazing healing tool we have right at our fingertips!
It's well known that classical music opens up our minds. There's has been discussion saying that babies that listen to classical music from when they are born are smarter. That's not exactly true. What is true is that classical music "primes" babies brains for complex tasks, like putting together puzzles and other spatial activities. If one of those activities is learning to play an instrument, that can improve their spatial tasks by up to 30%.
Conversely, loud rock music has the opposite effect. I'm not saying that children shouldn't listen to rock music. Hey, I grew up in the 60s! It's just that rock music doesn't prime the brain for learning the way that classical music does. An interesting study took two of the same kind of plants and put them two separate aquariums. One had a speaker with classical music, the other had a speaker with rock music. The classically-fed plant grew toward the speaker while the rock-fed plant grew away for the speaker!
At its most fundamental level, we are made of music (vibration). Everything in our world vibrates, even things that we would never expect, like rocks and the earth itself. Eastern teachings say that the earth emits a determined tone - the tone of Ohm. This is why mediation and sound healing often use the sound of Ohm as a core part of the practices. These teachings go on to say that man, as part of the earth, is also tuned to the tone of Ohm, and that Ohm is the basis of everything, eventually evolving from its Sanskrit origins to the Jewish and Christian "so be it" - Amen.
So, this Christmas when you are listening to and singing "Silent Night" and "The First Noel", think about how these beautiful carols make you feel. Feel the peace that is within you and appreciate the gift of music that has been given to us all.
Credits:
- What is Healing Music? Amrita Cottrell
