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Article 1: https://www.uwhealth.org/news/the-healing-power-of-music
Article 2:
https://musical-bags.com/en/music-does-not-heal-but-predisposes/

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Article 1: https://www.mghclaycenter.org/parenting-concerns/families/the-power-of-music-to-feel-heal-and-connect/#:~:text=Music%20has%20also%20been%20shown,even%20improve%20general%20thought%20processes.

Article 2: https://www.uwhealth.org/news/the-healing-power-of-music

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By Gene Beresin, Executive Director

Posted in: You & Your Family

Topics: Healthy Living

You can also hear more about the power of music therapy as a clinical practice. Listen below, or search for "Shrinking It Down" wherever you stream.

"The best music is essentially something to provide you to face the world with." Bruce Springsteen"Music doesn't lie. If there's something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music." Jimi Hendrix

I dropped out of medical school to be a musician. Well, at least I tried.

In retrospect, I was not ready to become a doctor, and I avoided class by playing music with a sitarist. He told me about an opening in the Philosophy Department where he was a junior professor. It seemed like a great opportunity, even though I only took two philosophy courses in college.

So, I tried to drop out of medical school. My Dean refused to let me withdraw, told me to take my time, and put me in a dual-degree program so that I could take time to study philosophy and then return to my medical education. Reluctantly, I agreed. It turned out to be the best decision I ever made, and I'm forever grateful to him.

After just two years, I re-entered medical school. But those two years gave me the time and chance to hang out and play with other musicians - not for money, but for fun. Those hours and hours of just making music changed my life.

I learned to listen. I learned to play what came to me in the moment. I learned not to be scared to play the wrong note. And most of all, I learned how to connect with others and help them sound good in the process.

Fast forward about 15 years. I became a doctor and had four kids. And what's most precious to my family is sitting in a living room around the piano singing with a bunch of friends. It's a holiday tradition. There would be no Thanksgiving or any other celebration without our getting out the guitars and any other available instruments.

Mind you, it's not always pretty. Our harmonies are usually off. Our timing is generally poor. But we get wrapped up in it and go on most of the night. Everyone feels great - and we're feeling it together. That's the power of music. That's the magic of music.

Music Has a Human Effect, Across Cultures

There's something universal about the creative arts that's good for health, and mental health in particular. Visual arts, drama, literature, music, despite their differences, all have some things in common - they make us feel, provide meaning, stimulate reflection, and bring us together.

Let's focus on music.

Our brains are wired for music, and this is likely one of the major reasons for its universality. Research has shown that the pentatonic scale, in all cultures, is a means of coordinating infant and maternal communication. The pentatonic scale is commonly used in traditional music around the globe.

This has led many scientists to postulate that the way our brains are constructed is receptive to this particular scale. Studies show that we are attracted to and utilize scales, like the pentatonic scale, that are built upon the natural harmonic series of notes.

There is more evidence. Researchers have found that we are drawn to certain intervals of notes (two notes played together or in sequence) because it resembles speech. For example, the minor third which has been known to convey sadness. Studies have shown that the very same interval is one in which sadness is perceived in human verbal communication. If the minor third is universally evocative of sadness, it not only suggests how our brains are wired, but also reinforces the fact that music causes us to feel certain emotions.

The bottom line is that in all cultures, all over the world, music has a special place among humans (and other animals as well), and it affects us in characteristic ways. We've all felt it, in some way. We don't need science to tell us this!

Music Makes Us Feel

The fact that music evokes emotion is obvious. And not only does it make us feel happy, sad, or want to get up and dance, but certain melodies are embedded in our memories.

So, when you hear a tune from a scene in one of your favorite movies, it immediately takes you back to the same feeling you had watching that scene. I bet you can come up with one immediately.

Or when you're driving in your car and an old song comes on that you heard with your first teenage love, it brings you back. That song - maybe even "your song" - still has meaning, long after the relationship faded. You still feel the feelings. Even though he or she broke up with you and you were devastated, you might smile because when you were in the car together you felt good. Or maybe it's sadness you feel in hearing the song again, in a nostalgic way.

Or think about how you feel when you're in the ballpark and are singing the national anthem, and tears come to your eyes; or in the seventh inning stretch when you chime in to "Take me out to the Ball Game," and your tears well up, because you remember singing it with your dad.

Or consider when Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring was first played in Paris and it sparked a riot.

You get the point.

Music Helps Us Heal

Music is the best studied of art therapy, and helps to lower anxiety, depression, trauma, psychosis and stress. Important components of music therapy are the meaning of lyrics, improvisational music playing, active listening, and songwriting.

But it's not just in psychotherapy.

While many of us cringe at the horrors of "elevator music" or the awful music we hear waiting on the phone after all the prompts, music has been shown to have a soothing effect.

For example, it is frequently used in dentist's offices and in operating rooms. Music has also been shown to reduce pain, and even have a positive effect on symptoms of stroke and dementia. And for patients with Alzheimer's disease, its benefits may well be that singing and listening to music improves mood, helps retrieve old memories, and could even improve general thought processes.

Music Fosters Change, Especially When We Start Young

Music has a unique ability to inspire changes in individuals and society.
For kids, teens, and young adults, music promotes positive development.

Studies show that music helps with learning and attention. The ABCs are a great example - combining a song with the letters of the alphabet enhances memorization. And TV shows such as Sesame Street have long used music to help children learn colors, numbers, and other important material. For older kids, combining musical rhythm and pitch enhances focus and memory.

In addition to enhancing learning, teens identify with music as an integral part of their growth and developmental changes. It embodies who they are, capturing individual and group identity. Whether its rap, hip hop, heavy metal, pop, country, or bluegrass - it earmarks an important phase in their development. Every parent knows better than to comment on or, God forbid, criticize a teen's musical preference.

Kids of all ages developmentally need an outlet for self-expression - yet another key place for music in their lives. While many will drop music lessons, if they take them (it's not easy to have the discipline to really learn an instrument), most regret giving up their mastery of an instrument later as adults. However, many schools offer opportunities for kids to be involved in a chorus, or drum circle, as a class or as an extracurricular activity, which can be another outlet for both self-expression and community involvement.

Beyond the individual, music plays a vital role in society, and in social change.

What movement in history is without an anthem - a theme song. Whether we're going to war (Yankee Doodle, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, It's a Long Way to Tipperary) or whether we're fighting our own battles at home (Union Maid, That's What Friend Are For), music serves as our foundation.

And think about how we use songs in our own lives to mark major changes - births, deaths, anniversaries. It's why the first dance at a wedding is so important.

The power and the ability to change ourselves and change the world is almost always coupled with a soundtrack of one kind or another.

Music Connects

So, back to family holidays, or remembering young love, or being in the ballpark. In these scenarios, the music is about feeling connected.

The euphoria of a concert is not just that great music is playing. In fact, the last time I went to a concert in a large venue, I could hardly hear the music - certainly not as well as I could with my headphones. Concerts like this create unity.

The same is true in church, temple or in most spiritual communities. There's something really special about the way the music sounds. It's not just the acoustics of the cathedral. It's the power of music to make us feel communal. And it may be that which unites us through music also connects us with something bigger than ourselves -that helps us feel a part of something beyond this planet.

As a musician, let me close with one request.
Encourage your kids to make and experience music with others. And if they'll let you, make music with your kids.
I don't care how good or bad you or your kids are at it. Join in. Become a part of the music.

Making music will make you feel your humanity. It will ease your pain. It will make you feel alive.

Thanks for visiting the Clay Center. We are entirely funded by visitors like you. We receive no financial support from Massachusetts General Hospital or Harvard Medical School. Your support of our work helps us to continue to produce content on mental health topics that support the emotional well-being of young people everywhere.

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The Power of Music: To Feel, Heal, and Connect - MGH Clay Center

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By Gene Beresin, Executive Director Posted in: You & Your Family Topics: Healthy Living You can also hear more about the power of music therapy as a clinical practice. Listen below, or search for "Shrinking It Down" wherever you stream. "The best music is essentially something to provide you to face the world with."

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https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S1569199316300212?token=A794E8B54A094C08D80E632C852AC9E08969FD6119E22FB35955D924FA0BD8C73090D516AF4A68E0B379A095B3538934&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20221101180149 // Luis Arturo

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https://www.recoveryunplugged.com/when-classical-goes-clinical-the-best-composers-to-listen-to-while-healing/

https://www.indiatoday.in/information/story/music-therapy-5-ways-in-which-music-can-help-you-heal-1773081-2021-02-25

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Music Therapy: 5 ways in which music can help you heal

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Music Therapy is the most convenient way to calm yourself. Here are 5 ways in which music can help you heal.

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Music therapy is increasingly used to help patients cope with stress and promote healing.

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Andrew Rossetti, a licensed music therapist in New York, uses guitar music and visualization exercises to help calm patients undergoing medical treatments. Credit... John Smith

"Focus on the sound of the instrument," Andrew Rossetti, a licensed music therapist and researcher said as he strummed hypnotic chords on a Spanish-style classical guitar. "Close your eyes. Think of a place where you feel safe and comfortable."

Music therapy was the last thing that Julia Justo, a graphic artist who immigrated to New York from Argentina, expected when she went to Mount Sinai Beth Israel Union Square Clinic for treatment for cancer in 2016. But it quickly calmed her fears about the radiation therapy she needed to go through, which was causing her severe anxiety.

"I felt the difference right away, I was much more relaxed," she said.

Ms. Justo, who has been free of cancer for over four years, continued to visit the hospital every week before the onset of the pandemic to work with Mr. Rossetti, whose gentle guitar riffs and visualization exercises helped her deal with ongoing challenges, like getting a good night's sleep. Nowadays they keep in touch mostly by email.

The healing power of music - lauded by philosophers from Aristotle and Pythagoras to Pete Seeger - is now being validated by medical research. It is used in targeted treatments for asthma, autism, depression and more, including brain disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy and stroke.

Live music has made its way into some surprising venues, including oncology waiting rooms to calm patients as they wait for radiation and chemotherapy. It also greets newborns in some neonatal intensive care units and comforts the dying in hospice.

While musical therapies are rarely stand-alone treatments, they are increasingly used as adjuncts to other forms of medical treatment. They help people cope with their stress and mobilize their body's own capacity to heal.

"Patients in hospitals are always having things done to them," Mr. Rossetti explained. "With music therapy, we are giving them resources that they can use to self-regulate, to feel grounded and calmer. We are enabling them to actively participate in their own care."

The Healing Power of Music

"A Song for Wayne," performed by Edie Elkan and written as she played at the bedside of a student who was dying.

Even in the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Rossetti has continued to perform live music for patients. He says that he's seen increases in acute anxiety since the onset of the pandemic, making musical interventions, if anything, even more impactful than they were before the crisis.

Mount Sinai has also recently expanded its music therapy program to include work with the medical staff, many of whom are suffering from post-traumatic stress from months of dealing with Covid, with live performances offered during their lunch hour.

It's not just a mood booster. A growing body of research suggests that music played in a therapeutic setting has measurable medical benefits.

"Those who undergo the therapy seem to need less anxiety medicine, and sometimes surprisingly get along without it," said Dr. Jerry T. Liu, assistant professor of radiation oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

A review of 400 research papers conducted by Daniel J. Levitin at McGill University in 2013 concluded that "listening to music was more effective than prescription drugs in reducing anxiety prior to surgery."

"Music takes patients to a familiar home base within themselves. It relaxes them without side effects," said Dr. Manjeet Chadha, the director of radiation oncology at Mount Sinai Downtown in New York.

It can also help people deal with longstanding phobias. Mr. Rossetti remembers one patient who had been pinned under concrete rubble at Ground Zero on 9/11. The woman, who years later was being treated for breast cancer, was terrified by the thermoplastic restraining device placed over her chest during radiation and which reawakened her feelings of being entrapped.

"Daily music therapy helped her to process the trauma and her huge fear of claustrophobia and successfully complete the treatment," Mr. Rossetti recalled.

Some hospitals have introduced prerecorded programs that patients can listen to with headphones. At Mount Sinai Beth Israel, the music is generally performed live using a wide array of instruments including drums, pianos and flutes, with the performers being careful to maintain appropriate social distance.

"We modify what we play according to the patient's breath and heart rate," said Joanne Loewy, the founding director of the hospital's Louis Armstrong Center for Music & Medicine. "Our goal is to anchor the person, to keep their mind connected to the body as they go through these challenging treatments."

Edie Elkan plays the harp as part of the music therapy program at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Jersey. Credit... Edie Elkan

Dr. Loewy has pioneered techniques that use several unusual instruments like a Gato Box, which simulates the rhythms of the mother's heartbeat, and an Ocean Disc, which mimics the whooshing sounds in the womb to help premature babies and their parents relax during their stay in noisy neonatal intensive care units.

Dr. Dave Bosanquet, a vascular surgeon at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, Wales, says that music has become much more common in operating rooms in England in recent years with the spread of bluetooth speakers. Prerecorded music not only helps surgical patients relax, he says, it also helps surgeons focus on their task. He recommends classical music, which "evokes mental vigilance" and lacks distracting lyrics, but cautions that it "should only be played during low or average stress procedures" and not during complex operations, which demand a sharper focus.

Music has also been used successfully to support recovery after surgery. A study published in The Lancet in 2015 reported that music reduced postoperative pain and anxiety and lessened the need for anti-anxiety drugs. Curiously, they also found that music was effective even when patients were under general anesthesia.

None of this surprises Edie Elkan, a 75-year-old harpist who argues there are few places in the health care system that would not benefit from the addition of music. The first time she played her instrument in a hospital was for her husband when he was on life support after undergoing emergency surgery.

"The hospital said that I couldn't go into the room with my harp, but I insisted," she said. As she played the harp for him, his vital signs, which had been dangerously low, returned to normal. "The hospital staff swung the door open and said, 'You need to play for everyone.'"

Ms. Elkan took these instructions to heart. After she searched for two years for a hospital that would pay for the program, the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton, N.J., signed on, allowing her to set up a music school on their premises and play for patients at all stages in their hospitalization.

Ms. Elkan and her students have played for over a hundred thousand patients in 11 hospitals that have hosted them since her organization, Bedside Harp, was started in 2002.

In the months since the pandemic began, the harp players have been serenading patients at the entrance to the hospital, as well as holding special therapeutic sessions for the staff outdoors. They hope to resume playing indoors later this spring.

For some patients being greeted at the hospital door by ethereal harp music can be a shocking experience.

Recently, one woman in her mid-70s turned back questioningly to the driver when she stepped out of the van to a medley of familiar tunes like "Beauty and the Beast" and "Over the Rainbow" being played by a harpist, Susan Rosenstein. "That's her job," the driver responded, "to put a smile on your face."

While Ms. Elkan says that it is hard to scientifically assess the impact - "How do you put a number on the value of someone smiling who has not smiled in six months?"- studies suggest that harp therapy helps calm stress and put both patients and hospital staff members at ease.

Ms. Elkan is quick to point out that she is not doing music therapy, whose practitioners need to complete a five-year course of study during which they are trained in psychology and aspects of medicine.

"Music therapists have specific clinical objectives," she said. "We work intuitively - there's no goal but to calm, soothe and give people hope."

"When we come onto a unit, we remind people to exhale," Ms. Elkan said. "Everyone is kind of holding their breath, especially in the E.R. and the I.C.U. When we come in, we dial down the stress level several decibels."

Ms. Elkan's harp can do more than just soothe emotions, says Ted Taylor, who directs pastoral care at the hospital. It can offer spiritual comfort to people who are at a uniquely vulnerable moment in their lives.

"There is something mysterious that we can't quantify," Mr. Taylor, a Quaker, said. "I call it soul medicine. Her harp can touch that deep place that connects all of us as human beings."

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The Healing Power of Music (Published 2021)

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Music therapy is increasingly used to help patients cope with stress and promote healing. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.

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"Across the history of time, music has been used in all cultures for healing and medicine," explains health psychologist Shilagh Mirgain, PhD . "Every culture has found the importance of creating and listening to music. Even Hippocrates believed music was deeply intertwined with the medical arts."

Scientific evidence suggests that music can have a profound effect on individuals - from helping improve the recovery of motor and cognitive function in stroke patients, reducing symptoms of depression in patients suffering from dementia, even helping patients undergoing surgery to experience less pain and heal faster. And of course, it can be therapeutic.

"Music therapy is an established form of therapy to help individuals address physical, emotional, cognitive and social needs," says Mirgain. "Music helps reduce heart rate, lower blood pressure and cortisol in the body. It eases anxiety and can help improve mood."

Music is often in the background just about anywhere we go - whether at a restaurant or the store. But Mirgain offers some tips to help use music intentionally to relax, ease stress and even boost moods.

Be aware of the sound environment. Some restaurants use music as a way of subtly encouraging people to eat faster so there is greater turnover. If you're looking for a location to have a meeting, or even a personal discussion that could be stressful, keep in mind that noisy environments featuring lively music can actually increase stress and tension.

Use it to boost your energy. On the other hand, when you need energy levels to be up - like when exercising, cleaning or even giving a presentation - upbeat music can give you the lift you need. Consider using music when you're getting ready in the morning as a way to get your day off on the right beat.

Improve sleep. Listening to classical or relaxing music an hour before bedtime can help create a sense of relaxation and lead to improved sleep.

Calm road rage. Listening to music you enjoy can help you feel less frustrated with traffic and could even make you a safer driver.

Improve your mental game. Playing an instrument can actually help your brain function better. Faster reaction times, better long-term memory, even improved alertness are just a few of the ways playing music can help. Studies have also shown that children who learn to play music do better at math and have improved language skills.

Reduce medical anxiety. Feeling stressed about an upcoming medical procedure? Consider using music to calm those jitters. Put your ear buds in and listening to your favorite tunes while sitting in the waiting room can ease anticipatory anxiety before a medical procedure, such as a dental procedure, MRI or injection. Ask your health care provider if music is available to be played in the room during certain procedures, like a colonoscopy, mammogram or even a cavity filling. Using music in these situations distracts your mind, provides a positive experience and can improve your medical outcome.

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"Across the history of time, music has been used in all cultures for healing and medicine," explains health psychologist Shilagh Mirgain, PhD . "Every culture has found the importance of creating and listening to music. Even Hippocrates believed music was deeply intertwined with the medical arts."