Music Therapy-A Piano Player In The Lobby Of A Hospital

You don’t have to believe this; you’ve done it. How many times have you turned for solace to your favourite song when you were not feeling too good? Hey presto you’ve been practicing a form of music therapy most of your life. 

The Deal

New-age philosophy believes in the power of images and audios.

Listening to and seeing positive images and songs can give you a happier outlook to life. Conversely, there are songs and movies, which have left such an impact on people’s sub-conscious that they have led to suicides and depression. 

The right kind of music can be used in many ways to uplift your spirits and to lift you out of depression. How many times have you left home after listening to a zippy tune and felt good and peppy all day long? You will find that just replaying that tune in your mind will refresh you and make you feel happy again, when your spirits flag.

The Technique

Listening to your favorite song is not actually the correct way to approach this therapy. Your favorite song might not be your best song. The ideal tune is soft, calm and not stressfully full of too much guitaring and drums.Various beats and taals and their combinations trigger different emotions. The right music should detach you from your problem. It should make you feel rejuvenated and happy. A ‘good’ song can in fact become your anthem and keep you happy all day. Play your song and lie back to relax, for about 15 minutes everyday. The difference is pretty obvious. 

Watch Out

Stop listening to pessimistic and sad songs. Such songs release negative emotions and leave you teary and even more depressed.

Try These

What works for me is Talvin Singh’s ‘Light’ from his album OK. But then that might not be your best song. Recently, a geo-scientist, Frank Scherbaum, has even turned violent noises made during earthquakes and volcanoes into music. You can try these albums and see what you get:

• Chants of Shiva
• Music for Meditation
• Earth, Wind, Fire and Space
• Music Therapy
• OM
• Osho Oorja Kirtan
• Basho’s Pond
• Tibetan Music
• The Music of Deep Forest