Listening for the rhythms of well-being

Music has provided a tool for healing in many cultures. In hunter gatherer societies, the shaman played a central role as the village healer, and the shaman's drum was the primary instrument used in healing rituals.

What role does music play in healing minds, bodies and spirits in modern, industrialized societies? Would you get the same effect from an iPod as you would from a live drumming ritual?

I asked Deborah Brown, a music practitioner, to explain how she goes about using music to help heal the sick in our contemporary, high-tech society. Brown is a certified music practitioner and uses both live performance and recorded music in her Madison Valley-based healing practice, Sound and Wellbeing.

She plays live music on her 15-string psaltery for patients in hospitals, hospice and residential health care centers in the Seattle area. Brown also uses recorded music for people not in a hospital setting. She has treated people with anxiety and depression, as well as those grieving for lost loved ones, people with ADHD and even premature infants in neonatal units.

How does this modern-day shaman know what kinds of music to play for her patients? Brown explains that she uses a principle called "matching," which attempts to find music that closely mimics that emotional and physical state of her patients. You might assume that a person dealing with anxiety would need to hear something calming and soothing. Not so, Brown says.

"Highly active music is better for anxiety than calm music," she explains. "You have to match the anxiety. Then the anxiety goes into the music."

If a person's heart rate and breathing are fast, Brown prescribes something with a faster tempo. Once the heart rate and breathing slows down, she might then match that with a slower tempo. If a person just had surgery, calming music might prove soothing and relaxing.

The principle of matching is based on evidence from the past 20 years of research in the field of music therapy. Evidence in neuroscience research also points to the powerful effect of music on our brains

Brown recommends the recently published "Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain" by the famous neurologist Oliver Sacks, author of "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" and "Awakenings."

Brown also recommends checking out the work of drummer Jeff Strong of the Rhythmic Entertainment Institute (REI). Strong learned African drumming from a master drummer, and now uses polyrhythms in custom-made CDs he creates to heal specific ailments.

Strong has identified 600 different rhythms-100 for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) alone. About 20 years ago, Strong was asked to play African drumming for a 7-year-old autistic girl. After 10 minutes of drumming, the girl became noticeably calmer.

Strong then made her a recording of his complex, polyrhythmic African drumming. She listened to it every day, and eight weeks later experienced reduced anxiety levels, increased eye contact, as well as improved language and social skills. Ten years later, this woman occasionally listens to the most recent CD made for her; she has eliminated her diagnosis of autism and now is attending college. Strong claims an impressive 97-percent success rate.

Deborah Brown is a licensed distributor of Jeff Strong's custom designed CDs. If you are interested in learning more about Deborah Brown and Sound & Wellbeing, email dbrown2559@aol.com or call 322-9477. Her web-site is at gentlemusiccompany.com.