Music Makes You Smarter: Graphic from OnlineCollege.org

Leap off the Music Springboard: Yesterday Once More

Music itself triggers emotional responses, but there's much more involved.

Sometimes its seems that everyone has the same emotional response to a piece of music, but then sometimes it's just you. Why? Because, you can't help but connect that melody to a memory.

You think a song is romantic because you danced a memorable slow dance to it in High School.
You think organ music is oppressive because you hated church when you were young.
You love that advertising jingle because your daughter danced to it when she could barely walk.
That heavy metal song makes you wistful, because it makes your moody teenage son dance.

The Carpenters song, Yesterday Once More was about listening to old songs and remembering the past.

When you're taking a walk down memory lane, it helps to have a soundtrack. Playing old songs will spark old memories. When you feel like you need a memory boost, make a playlist of old songs and leap off the music springboard into the past. Beware: those memories will come with all the emotions surrounding them too.

Every sha-la-la-la
Every wo-o-wo-o
Still shines
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling
That they're startin' to sing's
So fine.

All my best memories
Come back clearly to me
Some can even make me cry.

Just like before
It's yesterday once more.

Young, Cool and Worldly in Toronto

A song can make you feel a certain way, or it can trigger a memory that can make you feel certain feelings.
This song makes me feel happy and cool, and I remember shopping at a cool shop selling exotic stuff of some kind upstairs in the Eaton Centre in Toronto, hearing this song and staying to listen to several songs from the album, and then asking the salesperson for the name of the artist so I could buy the album. It was Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra. I think I went directly to the record store and bought the cassette. (My daughters will laugh here, because I still call the place where you can buy music " the record store" and they think it's hilarious. They'll probably think it's equally ridiculous that I bought a tape at the record store.)
For some reason, that made me feel grown up and cool and worldly. This music was a flamenco-type fusion-ish new thing, and this Ottmar guy was so wonderfully exotic: American, he was born in Germany to a German-Chinese father and Hungarian mother, and into Spanish guitar. The music is relaxing and pleasant to listen to, great for dinner accompaniment, and also makes me want to dance. I bought the second album too, on tape.

Raffi: Cool It! Happy Earth Day!

Raffi is best known for giving the world Bananaphone and other cute and gentle children's songs, but he's also a really good guy who's using his talent and fame to promote individual and community action on a number of global themes. His website is called : Centre for Child Honouring! I love that.

In honour of Earth Day, I'm posting Raffi's cool new song, Cool It!

Cool It: The Global Cooling Song is a positive and fun song with a catchy chorus that you'll want to sing along with. And, hopefully you'll also be inspired to respond to his plea:


do it for the children, do it for yourself
everybody’s needed, everyone can help

we can do it, turn this world around, cool it cool it down
cool it, cool it, cool this planet down, cool it cool it down

Powerful emotional moment singing in NZ Parliament for equal marriage

This is awesome! Such a powerful, moving moment in history! The power was there, a great thing had been done, but the song brought out the full meaning and emotional power of it and underscored it like only music can. The spontaneous singing was stunning!

On April 17, 2013 New Zealand's Parliament voted in favour of equal marriage. After the vote was announced, people on the floor congratulated themselves and each other with applause and hugs and kisses and flowers. That alone was endearing. Parliament. Then, the people in the public gallery above broke out in song!!! The began to sing a Maori love song, such a beautiful thing to do, and such a haunting song that it made me cry. There will never be a more beautiful version of that song, Pokarekare Ana.

Perfect Kids' Song: Bananaphone

You've got to love Raffi. He's got great songs and he's a good guy. And, this is a perfect super-duper kids' song that you want to sing along with, and it makes you feel silly and goofy, just like a kids' song should.
Boop-a doop-a-doop! Ring-ring, ring-ring, ring-ring-ring, Bananaphone!

It's a-peeling!

He's committed to honouring children, and Raffi's music certainly speaks to the child in me.

Freaky Sunday School Video: Fun song, but do kids like it?

I'm not sure what to think about this Hillsong Kids song and video. I laughed. It was funny. And, I guess I understand what they're trying to say with Jesus being a bigger superhero than all the popular kids' heroes. But, I'm not really sure how I feel about it and how it makes me feel.

Boost your weight loss, immunity and happiness with music! 

By Natasha Turner, ND | Chatelaine

Here's another article about the benefits of music, this one from Chatelaine written by naturopathic doctor Natasha Turner. She talks about how music eases anxiety, decreases blood pressure, heart rate and breathing rate, reduces cortisol and increases endorphins. Music helps to keep you motivated in an exercise program and helps you to lose weight. It's good that she mentions that choice of music is important, not only tempo but your perception of how joyful or stressful it is. She offers some tips which I like:

1. Listen to music during your workouts. Pick up beat tempos to help you work harder and maximize your fitness results.

2. Play soothing music in your car to reduce tension, anxiety or pain. Combine chilled-out music with 15 minutes of down time at the end of your day. You will be amazed at how well this reduces cortisol levels - even in the midst of traffic.

3. Listen to music for an added mood and pain reducing boost when you go out in the morning for your daily dose of sunshine.

Vivaldi's Spring from the 4 Seasons: Glory, Glorious

Vivaldi's Spring

Happy Easter!
Wishing you new beginnings whenever you need them.

Another sobbing-in-public song for Good Friday

This sobbing-in-public story happened at church. It was a Confirmation Sunday, when young people become adult members of the church.

A young woman sang this song and I cried, and gasped and sobbed. It was so beautiful, that even thinking about it makes my eyes fill with tears.

Mary Did You Know is often sung at Christmas time, but I think Easter is more appropriate. And, it was very appropriate at that ceremony that celebrates the beginning of adulthood, the end of childhood.

On that Sunday, I knew all of the Confirmands. I had taught them Sunday School. I cried because they looked so grown-up in their special clothes and in their special roles on their celebration day. Who knows what they will be, what wonderful things they will do?

Of course, I cried for my babies. When I kissed their baby faces, I was kissing the face of God. When I see their beautiful almost-grown-up faces, I still see God. Who knows what they will be, what wonderful things they will do?

Benefits of Tequila: Removes shyness, enhances voice!

Yup! Listen to Tequila.

They always say alcohol is bad for singers, but there are some benefits.
It's certainly not a good idea to get drunk and then try to perform. We've seen a few rock stars try that and it's not pretty. But, one regular drink can be just the thing to reduce your inhibitions, and help you to sing out with feeling.
I used to tell my adult ESL students that a shot of something strong before class would probably help them to  loosen up and speak English better. When I was studying Linguistics at York University, I read about a study that measured the relationship between alcohol consumption and learning a language. They gave people different amounts of alcohol and then measured their performance in a second language, and the optimal amount was 1 1/2 ounces, an average shot.

Here's a link to an article about drinking and learning a new language.
I bet that would work for singing.

15 Studied Effects of Classical Music: It's really good for you!

This illustration is from the article 15 Studied Effects of Classical Music on Your Brain | Online PhD Programs which you can read by clicking on that link. (update: that link died and I can't find that article again! Sorry. And, now I don't have a way to acknowledge the creator of that image.) It's a great visual representation of what goes on when you listen or perform classical music, or any music, really. The article goes on to show how classical music is beneficial to our health and well-being in many ways, and gives scientific support. I wish that there were more studies done with different kinds of music. People don't all respond to music the same way, and different music can have similar benefits.

Happy St. Patrick's Day- Happy Irish Music in a bar

Now, this is music. Love the bar, the band, the dancing, clapping, hooting, everything. It's fun and happy and you just want to join in!

Gregorian Chant: Tranquility

According to Wikipedia, if you want to calm down, "conventional wisdom" prescribes Gregorian Chants:

In 2008, the Cistercian Monks of Austrian Heiligenkreuz Abbey released the CD Chant – Music for Paradise, which became the best-selling album of the Austrian pop charts and peaked #7 of the UK charts. In the US, the album was released under the title Chant – Music for the Soul and peaked at #1 on the Billboard classical charts.

It became conventional wisdom that listening to Gregorian chant increased the production of alpha waves in the brain, reinforcing the popular reputation of Gregorian chant as tranquilizing music.

When you follow the link to Alpha Waves, Wikipedia says this: 

Zen-trained meditation masters produce noticeably more alpha waves during meditation. This fact has led to a popular trend of biofeedback training programs for everyday stress relief.

So, when we listen to Gregorian Chants, we get more alpha waves and when we have more alpha waves we can be as calm as a Zen master meditating.  

Here is a link to a  video of a chant from the Cistercian Abbey Stift Heiligenkreuz in the Vienna Woods and there's a link to the Abby's website if you're interested in learning more.

The Gregorian Chants are not the only chants that are reputed to help us relax. If you search on YouTube, you can find all kinds of other chanting and they're all supposed to help us meditate, relax and become peaceful. 

Here is a video of Tibetan chanting:

Chanting is really just singing together. When people chant at a protest or at a soccer match or hockey game, they're definitely not trying to calm everyone down. Singing together is powerful for the singers and for those listening. I know that from singing in a choir and at church and at sports events.

The Gregorian chants and the Tibetan chants that people listen to when they want to relax are spiritual and have their own special power. 

Word Power: Imagine the power of music

This picture-quote that I saw posted on Facebook expresses the power of words, and advises us to choose our words carefully. 

It makes me think of all the people who are out there texting and posting every word that comes to mind, without thinking of the power of their words. It's cool that we are reading and writing more and more to express ourselves to communicate electronically, but the result is that a lot of stuff that would have gone unrecorded, lost to the wind as soon as it's out of the mouth, now has the potential to be kept and shared forever. The four-letter word that slipped out, the hateful words, angry words, unformed thoughts, careless things are out there reflecting on you and affecting others. That's the messy side of this power of words thing.

The awesome side of this is how it relates to music. Music has special powers. It can create smiles or frowns and generate laughs and tears. A melody can do that. So can the the lyrics. Add them together and include a powerful performance by a bunch of musicians, and the power increases exponentially!

When you are making music, be aware of the power you are wielding.

Think of the power of music when you choose what to listen to. I think it should be like choosing what you eat. Choose the things that will make you healthier most of the time and have some fun or scary or simply awful stuff too in moderation. If you're a parent, consider what you're feeding your children, what they're being exposed to, and how it will affect their health. 

Choose your music carefully.

Joy: the music and the sharing of the music: Som Sabadell flashmob

Balance is everything. I've been listening to too much sad music.

It's good to have lots of sad songs to help us to deal with our own sadness, and to help us appreciate our relative gladness. We love sad songs, but we also look to music to lift our spirits and to keep our spirits up. So, this is about Joy. The deep sadness of the last couple of posts deserves to be balanced out, not just with happiness, but with great joy.

What better piece of music to demonstrate joy than Beethoven's Ode to Joy? And, what better vehicle than this video of the famous flash mob created by Banco Sabadell to celebrate their 130th anniversary!

This excellent flash mob features over 100 people in the Vallès Symphony Orchestra and the choirs of Lieder and Friends of l’Opera and the Choral Belles Arts.

BTW I get impatient with people who believe flash mobs should be done spontaneously, and get all bent out of shape when they're planned. How do they think anyone does it without planning and rehearsing? And, flash mobs aren't allowed to have a commercial connection because music is supposed to be free, right? Have they tried to buy a cello or a bassoon? What about rehearsal space? Only ice-time is expensive? Grr.

The video shows that we experience music with our eyes and our mouths and our whole bodies, using all of our senses and all of our previous experiences to appreciate the performance. You can see people with cameras, people pushing forward to see better, and a little girl climbing a lamp post so she can see better. Music isn't just about listening. You see the little girl up a lamp post later conducting. I love it! People are singing along, moving to the music. I'm sure that in their imaginations, they're playing with the musicians, upbowing and downbowing, moving the trombone slide in and out, and conducting like only the children dare to do. This is just what David Byrne was taking about in his book "How Music Works" when he wrote about mirror neurons and music!

We need more of this! We need the orchestras and bands to become buskers, taking their music to the street, taking their music to the people. If we can experience live music made by people that look just like us, then we'll appreciate it more, not less. Even just the video of this performance has affected millions of people!

Can you imagine that there are people who only experience orchestral music through recordings or sitting still in a concert hall dressed in their best and probably least comfortable clothes?

People should be given opportunities to make music and get up close to musicians more often. Musicians must share the joy.

When I was young, band or orchestra were compulsory at least for 2 years. I played clarinet in band and envied my friends who played string instruments in orchestra. Yes, there were 2 full-time music teachers. We never got together for a big orchestral experience. Too bad. In high school, music was optional and there was only band. So, in the end I was lucky because I was able to continue playing my instrument until the end of high school, Grade 13 at the time.

My children are fortunate to have gone to a school where they had an excellent music teacher and lots of band instruments. The students' concerts were awesome, and made me cry because I remember the joy of playing in a band, making great big music with my friends. Too many schools have no band instruments, no full-time music teachers, not enough time dedicated to music. That's sad!

I am also fortunate to live in Newmarket where we have a Community Choir. I get so much joy from participating in the choir! And, I get an even greater joy from sharing the joy of music in performances in the community.

Public funding for music is sooooo important. I would go so far as to suggest that putting music back in schools, giving children and their families a few years of experience making music and playing in an orchestra, will increase peace and decrease crime. In addition, the number of well-paid musicians with stable careers will help to increase the value of music.

Fado: Portuguese Sad Music

Fado is the Portuguese folk music that sounds super sad, mournful, dramatic and tragic. It's a really old genre, but there are modern Fadistas, like Mariza:

This Fado song is called Primavera. (Note that I've posted a song called Maledetta Primavera) Check out the words! So sad! Why is it so good to hear such sad music sometimes? It is good, isn't it? 

It kind of makes the blues sound happy. I'll be on the lookout for some really sad blues next. Fado can't seriously beat the blues at being blue, can it?

Gloomy Sunday: Compelling Despair

This has to be here, a song known for being so sad that it inspires suicide. It's even stronger because of the video with pictures of the tragic Marilyn Monroe with the song playing.

I love that people believe that music is so strong that it can lead you to great acts of violence. It's been said of heavy metal music and rap music.

Gloomy Sunday is so sad that it is said to have pushed people over the edge several times. I wonder if Fado has been blamed for any deaths?

Originally called "The End of the World", it was written in Hungary in 1932 by Rezső Seress. Below is a video of an English group called Budapest Cafe Orchestra performing it. They've got something very cool going on. The gypsy violin sound is probably more heart-wrenching than pictures of Marilyn. 

On Wikipedia, it says:

Seress initially had difficulty finding a publisher, mainly due to the unusually melancholy nature of the song. One potential publisher stated:

"It is not that the song is sad, there is a sort of terrible compelling despair about it. I don't think it would do anyone any good to hear a song like that."

Empathetic neurons-they make it work

I'm going to quote David Byrne again. I just finished reading his book, "How Music Works." Great book. He talks about a study by neurologists that found that " visual and auditory clues trigger empathetic neurons". When we see someone smile, our facial muscle neurons fire and so do our happy neurons. It's an essential part of communication.

I learned about that when I studied Linguistics too. Its part of why it's easier to hear when we're wearing our glasses, and harder to communicate by telephone. Language isn't just sounds put together to make words. We get information about what is being said from watching faces. We spend a lot of time looking at people's mouths instead of looking them in the eye when they're talking.

Here's the quote about empathetic neurons and music:

"These emotional connections might help explain why music has such a profound effect on our psychological well-being. We can use music (or, for better or worse others can use it) to regulate our emotions. We can pump ourselves (or others) up or calm others (or ourselves) down."

This also explains why we play air guitar, pretend to play the piano or trumpet, or conduct when we hear some music. It's a mirroring thing.

There's more, and I encourage you to check out the book. It's full of interesting ideas about how and why people create the kinds of music they do, and how it gets distributed too. There's a fair bit of biographical stuff as well.

In the meantime, let's listen for music that pumps us up and calms us down. Maybe you'll want to make a couple new playlists for yourself. Maybe you've already got a calming music playlist?

O Fortuna - Carmina Burana - Epic indignation

This is such a cool piece of music! I looked at a number of videos on YouTube and there are some really interesting ones. There's a Star Wars one and horror ones, Andre Rieu, and lots of choirs. I like this one because you have the words to sing along with and a translation, and the video is good. Knights are good. I imagine some kind of violent religious rite, a passionate sacrifice, when I hear this, so it works for me.
Heavy metal lovers should like this. O Fortuna has the same elements of anger, indignation, and violence that a lot of metal pulses with.