Root Tones: Getting to the Root of People, Places and Things Musical

Music Therapy

In the last installment of Root Tones TM we explored some of the mechanics of sound healing with a focus on the concept of harmonic resonance. We also looked at the work of, Milford Graves who does heartbeat analysis from the perspective of a musician to help his patients return to a state of "soundness" and we revisited the writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan who taught us that in Ancient India, musical instruments were out of tune, society would soon begin to reflect this disharmonic state. Let's continue to broaden our understanding of the history of sound healing and music therapy and how it evolved and is applied today. 

The idea of music therapy is quite ancient. The oldest known documentation of medical practices, referred to as Kahum papyrus, is actually a hieroglyphic document taken from Ancient Kemet, This ancient papyrus refers to the use of incantations for healing the sick. The incantations made reference to songs played with musical instruments and sung with the human voice specifically to affect various mental and physical disorders. The phonetical sound for the word healing (or to heal) in the Ancient Hieroglyphic language was "Suunu" (sounds like sue-new). The word for song sounds like "Hayza". It is plausible that these words could have been a part of such an incantation. In Ancient India they chanted hymns of the Vedas with similar intent and purpose. Later, Greek philosophers Pythagoras and Plato, as students of the Kemetians, would write about the power of music for affecting ones temperament and well-being. It is well documented that the Greeks, as conquerors of Kemet, assimilated the culture of the conquered peoples—not the antithesis. This is most clearly shown by the fact that Greek Mythology mirrors the Cosmology of the Ancient Kemetians. The point of this is that much of Greek philosophy would thusly tend to reveal much of what they had learned from Kemetians. As stated in the first installment of Root Tones TM, there are numerous medical tools and pharmaceutical cures in use today by practitioners of Western medicine, which were depicted on reliefs (drawings) inside one ancient pyramid; drawings created in chambers with no natural light and with no evidence of a carbon based light source (the assumption being that they used battery power lighting of which there is also evidence). 

What we refer to as modern music therapy and modern medicine has its roots deep in Ancient Kemet. It was also known that while certain types of music could have a positive effect that certain music could actually have an adverse effect. Our modern sense of the psychological effects of music is exemplified in film scores. A good film score is said to be felt and not heard. Nevertheless, the mood of such music can mirror, telegraph and amplify a vast range of emotional states from, impending trepidation, to blissful love. This can be accomplished just as effectively with a single instrument as with a symphony orchestra. Il music as a medium can evoke such a wide range of emotional responses, then certainly it has the power to affect our body and mind as per the intention of a intuitive, sensitive and well informed practitioner. 

The typical modern day curriculum for a Bachelor's degree in Music Therapy requires a basic liberal arts education as well as a relatively small amount of credit hours in music therapy research, music theory. arranging, performance combined with several psychology courses and one physical anatomy class. Ancient practitioners of sound healing were musical shamans. They incorporated spiritual practices and strong intuition, which are key elements in energy healing. The fact that such a degree curriculum omits any type of intuitive training or even energy training (such as Reiki natural healing practice) means that a practitioner's work will be largely theoretical and technically oriented and without the esoteric foundation which is characteristic of the Ancient's work. This is not to say that such practitioners are ineffective. Nor is this to infer that the Ancients were not technicians. In fact they were technicians in the highest sense, but their work was undoubtedly well informed and non-theoretical in nalure. One definition of Music Psychotherapy is, ...in the most inclusive sense, the use of absolutely any technique, in this case music, or procedure that has a palliative or curative effects upon any mental, emotional or behavioral disorder. " If the music—any music—possesses the frequencies, melodic, proper harmonic, rhythmic and tempo values to positively effect the emotional, mental, and physiological state of a person or group, then the music itself is the "sound medicine" irregardless of the preparation of the practitioner. 

Eddie Mason, a Chicago based "music therapist" exemplifies the above stated principle. Although Mr. Mason doesn't hold a degree in the field he has, nevertheless, successfully sustained a business for 15 years that focuses on nursing home residents in an interactive music workshop program that is praised by doctors and State nursing home Surveyors and Activities Directors. Mr. Mason combined his background as a social worker with his skill as a musician and created a program that is medically and psychologically documented to have a profound effect on minds and bodies of senior citizens with whom he works. He accomplishes this by using familiar music from the 1920's through the 1960's. The music taps into the memory banks of the seniors as they are "conducted" by Mason and/or one of his certified workshop facilitators as each participant plays band held percussion instruments. Further mental stimulation occurs as the seniors are quizzed about music trivia with regard 10 the selection being played Psychologists have reported that one Mason Music Workshop session does more for the physical and mental well being of seniors than weeks of psychotherapy sessions. The unique thing about Mason's work is that it is done under the auspices of activities and not therapy. Nursing home Activity Directors mostly contract "entertainment" for seniors. Mason's work is that while being interactive and highly therapeutic. 

Eddie Mason's program relies on the senior citizens' familiarity with the music that is used for therapeutic purposes. How then is it possible to reach the same group of people with music or sound that is non-engaging in the sense of memory —music sound that is, nevertheless, created by professional music therapists with the intention of healing the mind and body? Stay tuned as we discover the answer to these and other relevant questions as we "get to the root". Until then, B natural and C# (see sharp).