Root Tones

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

In the last installment of Root Tones™, we explored Kahum papyrus from Ancient Kemet, which is the earliest known documentation of medical practices including music therapy. We subsequently discussed the psychological effects of music and modern-day music therapy practices including the work of Eddie Mason, a Chicago-based practitioner who conducts therapeutic music workshop sessions in nursing homes. Mason's work relies on senior citizens' memories of music from their teenage years and young adulthood. The question was posed, "Is it possible to reach this same group of people with music created by professional music therapists with the intention of healing the mind and body-music that is non-engaging in terms of its power to tap into the memory banks of seniors?" We will explore this question as we examine the history of music therapy and how and why music affects us.

Modern music therapy as a profession is said to have begun during World War I and World War II as psychiatry became more acceptable as a form of treatment. Hospitals are thought to be the first to utilize music, initially, as part of a strategy for treating mental illness stemming from the wars. This would explain why modern-day music therapy curriculums (outlined in the last installment of Root Tones™) stress an emphasis on various types of psychology studies. This is just a natural outgrowth of the beginnings of music therapy as a practice. Music, nevertheless, is known to have a profound psychological effect on the human psyche.

Why is this so?

The answer to our questions will, perhaps, be found within the properties of music and sound and how we respond to those properties - specifically those of mode, rhythm, tempo, and dynamics.

Mode as it applies to music theory refers to the overall harmonic "quality" of the music in question. Major modes generally evoke a feeling of lightness, happiness, and even exuberant joyousness in some cases of major modal classical music. Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto #1 Allegro (Spring) is a good example of this. Atonality refers to a piece of music that has no tonal center. Atonal music feels minor modal in nature but with more dissonance. The atonal Nocturne #1 by contemporary French composer, Erik Satie elicits a sense of searching and uncertainty. These perceptions are a direct result of the uncertain search for an anchoring tonal center by which to "ground" the listener. Brahm's Piano Concerto #1 in D minor has a feeling of darkness and sadness, yet it also has a majestic air due, by and large, to the rhythmic treatment of the introduction and the pathos of what follows. It is thought that this piece was composed to commemorate the death of his dear friend, Robert Schumann.

There are only twelve tones in the Western system of music, however, rhythm is infinite. Variation in rhythm holds endless possibilities. Rhythm is the carrier of melody. If a melodic phrase is lilting, it is because the rhythm makes it so. The same notes with a different rhythmic content would produce a completely different perception. This is a nuance used by composers who create variations on a theme-same melody-different rhythm.

The psychological and physiological effect of rhythm has a profound effect as shown by the work of Milford Graves who after recording the heartbeat of his patients', composes "corrective" rhythms and plays them back to the patient via wires connected to acupuncture needles placed in the appropriate meridians. The phenomenon of rhythm entrainment causes the heart to adopt the corrective beat. The heartbeat is the ultimate rhythm machine, as it pumps out an average of 4,193,280,000 rhythmic beats over an 80-year lifespan (not counting the heartbeats while a child is in the womb). This calculation is based on a heart rate or tempo of 100 beats per minute.

The tempo of music can have an effect on our heart rate. Larghetto tempos (from 60 beats per minute) are used in super-learning programs to slow the brainwaves down to the alpha state. This is the natural state of the brain as we relax just before going into deeper states of relaxation and eventual sleep. The brain or rather the subconscious is more receptive to input in the alpha state, thus, memory retention is enhanced. When addressing a client's problems with sound healing, this is an important factor, as a practitioner will want the patient to be completely receptive to the "sound prescription". Allegro tempos (around 120 bpm) and prestissimo tempos (200 bpm) are very fast tempos that are good for aerobic workouts but not for relaxation.

The last factor in our perception and response to music and sound is the dynamic range. How many times have you turned up the volume to hear a soft passage in a classical piece only to be jolted by a sudden triple forte explosion of sound that scared the ba-gee-ba's out of you? The shock effect of wide dynamic contrast is used primarily by classical composers often as an, almost, obligatory nuance. A gradual crescendo would allow one to adjust to the volume level and prepare for the louder passage. A technique referred to as contrapuntal (referring to counterpoint or simultaneous opposite directions) dynamics can cause a tender musical passage to almost speak in a way that can tug at the heartstrings of the listener. Mahler is best known for carrying this technique to great lengths. If the soft passage is a sound sedative, loud punctuated phrases are then "sound acupuncture". Stay tuned as we further examine this enormous music tree, its branches, and its fruit.

Eventually, we will "get to the root".

Until then, B natural and C# (see sharp).