The Mozart effect: the healing power of music. Music to improve brain function and memory in adults and children

Scientists have long known about the influence of music on humans. Music was soothing and healing. But special attention to its effect on human brain activity arose at the end of the twentieth century. Research by American scientist Don Campbell has determined that classical music can not only heal, but also increase intellectual abilities. This effect was called the "Mozart effect"

because the music of this composer has the most powerful influence.

Various studies have been conducted that have shown that even ten minutes of listening to Mozart's music increases IQ by 9 units. In addition, it improves memory, attention, math skills and It has been tested on students whose test scores improved after listening to it.

Why does this particular music have such an impact? The Mozart effect occurs because this composer maintains loudness intervals in his works that correspond to the biocurrents of the human brain. And the sound range of this music most closely matches In addition, Mozart wrote mainly in major tones, which is why his works attract listeners so much and facilitate the work of the brain.

For many years, experiments have been conducted on the influence of music on children. The Mozart effect is that his smooth and charming music has a calming effect, improves mood and stimulates the creativity of the brain. When children under three years old often listen to this music, they develop better. It improves speech, learning abilities, coordination of movements and calms nervous overexcitement.

The Mozart effect for newborns has also been proven. Listening to his music even before

birth, children are born calmer, less irritable, and their speech is more developed. Such children are easier to calm down and are better trainable. In addition, if you turn it on during childbirth, it will be much easier.

Scientists have conducted numerous studies on the influence of classical music on animals and plants. The Mozart effect extends to them too. For example, plants produce larger crops, cows have increased milk yield, and show better results in tests of level of thinking.

There are many examples where listening has healed people from many illnesses. For example, the Mozart effect helped Gerard

Depardieu to recover from stuttering. Listening to sonatas by this composer can help patients with Alzheimer's disease and reduce the intensity of epileptic seizures.

Mozart's music is used in the treatment of neurological diseases and to improve fine motor skills of the hands. It improves hearing, memory and speech, and also helps cope with mental problems. What is this connected with?

Scientists believe that Mozart's music has this effect because it contains many high-frequency sounds. They resonate with the frequencies of the human brain and improve thinking. These sounds have also been proven to strengthen ear muscles and improve memory.

Mozart's brilliant music is bright, pure and unusually sincere. It is no coincidence that the Austrian composer Wolfgangt Amadeus Mozart is called "sunny composer"

A. S. Pushkin in his little tragedy “Mozart and Salieri” put into Salieri’s mouth the following wonderful words characterizing Mozart’s music: “What depth! What courage, and what harmony!” This succinct assessment celebrates the best qualities of the great composer's music.

P. I. Tchaikovsky wrote in one of his diaries: “In my deep conviction, Mozart is the highest, culminating point to which beauty has reached in the field of music. No one made me cry, tremble with delight, from the consciousness of my closeness to something that we call an ideal, like him.”

“Eternal sunshine in music, your name is Mozart,” exclaimed A. G. Rubinstein in his book “Music and Its Representatives.” Modern scientists have decided to use their scientific methods to find out what is so attractive about Mozart’s music, what makes it unique.

Independent studies have been conducted around the world by numerous physicians, psychologists and other specialists. They all eventually came to one thing - Mozart’s works are not only harmonious, deep and sunny music, it has a unique healing effect.

American scientists used brain scans (MRI) of people who listened to various music, including Mozart. All types of music activated the part of the cerebral cortex that perceives vibrations in the air caused by sound waves (the auditory center), and sometimes stimulated parts of the brain associated with emotions.

But only Mozart’s music activated almost ALL areas of the cerebral cortex (including those involved in motor coordination, spatial thinking, the visual process and higher processes of consciousness). As the scientists themselves noted, In a person listening to the music of Mozart, literally the entire cerebral cortex begins to “glow”.

The presence of an abundance of high-frequency sounds in Mozart's music makes it the most healing among all classical music. Sounds with frequencies from 3000 to 8000 Hz and higher cause the greatest resonance and carry the most powerful energy charge for the entire body.

Mozart is the “most suitable” composer for kids

A huge number of scientific studies conducted in many countries around the world indicate that Mozart’s harmonious, bright and exquisitely simple music has the strongest positive impact on the development of the child’s psyche, intelligence and creativity.

Perhaps Mozart, being a musical genius by nature, became a composer at the age of 4, which brought to his music a pure childish perception, which is subconsciously felt by all “admirers” of his work - including the youngest listeners.

Interesting Facts aboutthe amazing properties of Mozart's music

Mozart’s music mobilizes all the natural abilities of our brain.” (Gordon Shaw, neuroscientist and physicist from the USA)

• In clinics in Sweden Women in labor are allowed to listen to Mozart's music- Swedish scientists and doctors are convinced that it was she who helped them sharply reduce early childhood mortality in their country.
• Scientists from the USA and Bulgaria independently found out that Mozart's music enhances brain activity and increases intellectual level.
• Immediately after the results of these scientific studies were made widely public, CDs with his musical creations became top sellers in many countries.
• As European scientists have proven, Mozart’s music increases the mental abilities of all people without exception who listen to it (both those who like it and those who don’t like it).
• According to authoritative world-class experts, Mozart's music helps get rid of mental problems, improves speech and hearing.
• Among the great admirers of Mozart’s work is the famous otolaryngologist Alfred Tomatis (Paris, France). One of his patients was the young Gerard Depardieu, the future famous French film actor. At that time, a young and unknown artist came to conquer Paris, and he would have had every chance for this, if not for serious problems with his speech (severe stuttering) and memory.
• A. Tomatis, during the first medical examination of Gerard, determined that he had serious problems with his right ear, and advised him to listen to Mozart’s music every day for 2 hours a day in the coming months. The results of these self-guided music therapy sessions were simply amazing! Gerard Depardieu completely and forever got rid of defects in his right ear, stuttering, and memory problems, which allowed him to become a great world-class film actor in the future.

Although scientists have been able to identify some of the secrets of Mozart's music, most of them, fortunately, have remained hidden in areas incomprehensible to the human mind, and are unlikely to ever be revealed!

The beneficial effects of classical music on humans have already been discussed. Pregnant women are even advised to listen to such music so that the baby develops well and can reveal his talents. And since the 90s of the 20th century, simply amazing information has appeared about the unique impact of Mozart’s music on the human brain. The unusual influence was called Mozart effect. Scientists are still arguing about the nature of this phenomenon. Nevertheless, very interesting facts have already been collected.

Activation cerebral cortex

The first experiments in this direction were carried out on rats. For two months they were “forced” to listen to the same thing for 12 hours a day – Mozart’s sonata in C major. As a result, the rats “got wiser” and began to run the maze 27% faster and made significantly fewer errors (37%) than normal rats.

As for people, here scientists studied brain activity using magnetic resonance. Research has shown that any music affects the human brain. Those. it excites the area that is the auditory center. In some cases, areas of the brain associated with emotions were also stimulated. But ONLY listening to Mozart’s music activated almost ALL bark As scientists figuratively put it, almost the entire cerebral cortex began to glow.

Scientific theories

The power of the influence of Mozart's music on the brain has been scientifically proven in two areas: the frequency of rhythm changes and the actual frequency of sound.

The first is due to the fact that our brain has cycles in its work. The nervous system, in particular, has a rhythm of 20-30 seconds. Scientists have suggested that resonance in the cerebral cortex can be caused by sound waves that vibrate at the same frequency. The University of Illinois analyzed the frequency characteristics of the music of almost 60 different composers to determine how often waves of 20-30 seconds in length occur in the work. When all the data was combined into one table, it turned out that the authors of primitive pop music were at the very bottom, but Mozart took first place from the top.

It is in his music with its unique nuances, tints and flow of sounds that 30-second waves are repeated MORE OFTEN than in any other music. Those. This music maintains the treasured 30-second “quiet-loud” rhythm, which corresponds to the biorhythms of our brain.

On the other hand, it has been proven that high-frequency sounds (3,000 - 8,000 Hz) receive the greatest resonance in the cerebral cortex. And Mozart's works are literally saturated with high-frequency sounds.

Music, increasing intelligence

Activating the cerebral cortex is not just a scientific miracle. This is an objective process that stimulates thought processes and improves memory. Increased brain activity significantly increases a person's intellectual level. American scientists have shown that if you listen to Mozart's music for just 10 minutes, your IQ will increase by almost 8-10 units. So, at the University of California, a very interesting experiment was conducted on how music affects students passing a test. 3 control groups were selected:

1 – sat in complete silence;
2 – listened to an audiobook;
3 – listened to a Mozart sonata.

All students took a test before and after the experiment. As a result, students improved their results

1 – by 14%;
2 – by 11%;
3 – on 62% .

Impressive results, aren't they?!

European scientists have proven that under the influence of Mozart's music, mental abilities increase, regardless of how one feels about it (like it or not). Even after 5 minutes of listening, people noticeably increase their concentration and focus.

This music has a particularly strong effect on children. Children develop their intelligence much faster. In the USA, children were monitored for 5 years. Those children who attended music lessons for 2 years in a row showed significant development in spatial thinking.

In adults, the effect of exposure has significant inertia. For some, brain activity disappeared with the last sounds. For others, the effect lasted longer, but then the brain returned to its original state. Hence the conclusion - we must constantly maintain youth.

A stunning example of the triumph of the influence of Mozart's music

First of all, high-pitched sounds strengthen the microscopic muscles of the middle ear, which leads to improved hearing and speech. And our example is about this.

Probably, few people know that the world famous actor Gerard Depardieu had a severe defect in the 60s: he stuttered and remembered little. Fortunately, a doctor met in his life who determined that Gerard had serious problems with the middle ear, and assigned him... several months of daily listening to 2 hours of Mozart's music. The result was stunning and we all know it.

Gerard completely got rid of his stuttering and improved his memory, which allowed him to become a great actor. Then he will say: “Before meeting Tomatis, I could not complete a single sentence. He helped complete my thoughts, taught me synthesis and understanding of the thinking process itself.”

We hope that this article has made you want to listen to Mozart. In Canada, at the state level, works by Mozart are played in city squares (to reduce the number of accidents). In our streets you won’t hear classical music. Yes, it’s even difficult to find a radio station with normal music here. But what’s stopping you from giving yourself at least short music therapy sessions using Mozart’s amazing music?

For more information about the Mozart effect, the principles of the influence of music on human health and the brain, and about the ancient origins of music therapy, read a fragment of the book “The Mozart Effect” by Don J. Campbell.

The book talks about the powerful healing effects, the colossal life-giving energy of music (and not only music) and offers stories and advice that will help everyone become a healthy, cheerful, happy person. By refining the perception of music and sound, using the voice as the most effective instrument, a person is able to achieve not only balance in the physical body, but also increase his intuitive, creative abilities, and know himself.

The meaning of music

For many years I have been studying the Nature of the human soul, asking myself questions about what is eternal and ephemeral on Earth, what is the essence and what is superficial. As a musician, I was looking for that main melody or key that elevates and holds the entire Universe. I knew that since time immemorial, sounds and music have always been associated with creativity, creation, those vibrations, fluctuations that are characteristic of the Universe itself. The epic tales of the Mahabharata tell that from the incredible primordial chaos came symmetrical and numerous variations, on the basis of which all physical structures were built. In China, the book I-Ching (Book of Changes) reflects a similar understanding of harmony. In Western religions, it follows from the Gospel that “in the beginning was the word.” In Greek, the word logos means not only “word”, but also “sound”. When ancient people listened to the sacred lyre of David, Orpheus or Apollo, they set to music the mystical poems of the Sufist Rumi Jalaleddin (a Sufi poet who wrote in Persian. Lyrical collections and the poem “Mesnevi-i Manavi” contain interpretations of the main provisions of Sufism) or tried to reproduce legendary music from the higher realms, they lived in the hope that music would heal them. Since ancient times, music has been considered a mysterious and powerful tool for improving the state of mind and body. Over the years, as I studied the ancient customs of the peoples of Haiti, Japan, Indonesia, India and Tibet, I spoke with shamans and healers, and saw them use sounds and music in healing rituals.

It's safe to say that you already have a deeper musical upbringing than you might think. And this happens to each of us. The world itself is musical. Permeating through all ages and epochs, all men and women, all races, religions and nationalities, music is a universally understood language, built from universal components. “Musical” speakers have long and forever surpassed all the great talkers in Japanese, English, Hindi, Spanish, Russian and other languages ​​of the globe combined. Music rises above all segments of the population, regardless of income, social class and education. Music speaks to everyone - not only to humans, but also to animals and plants. Birds themselves create it, snakes are fascinated by it, and whales and dolphins serenade each other. With the advent of the space age, the music of the higher spheres, the music of the Universe, becomes a reality. The Voyager spacecraft carries an audio cassette tape of music including Bach, Beethoven, rock and jazz, along with folk music from several countries in case it encounters extraterrestrial civilizations that might enjoy listening to it.

Music is becoming the unified language of the modern world. People today spend much more money, time and energy on music than on books, movies or sports. The most popular cultural icons of our era are not the faces of saints, but images of singers and musicians. Along with our commitment and passion for rock concerts and CDs, stereo systems and MTV television programs, our behavior patterns are also largely based on music.

Today, millions of people are trying to find alternative treatments for themselves. They try to find methods and wellness programs that will help them improve their health, stabilize their emotional background, and protect them from the most common ailments. If you are one such person who is looking for healthy alternatives, then you don't have to look far. Your own internal sound system (your ears, voice, and choice of music or self-generated sounds) is the most powerful healing and healing environment you can find. It costs practically nothing, it is not under the control of any specialist or guru, and you can always have it with you. In the book, all this is called the “Mozart effect,” which is an advanced form of auditory influence.

Mozart effect

The power of Mozart's music first came to public attention through pioneering research at the University of California in the early 1990s.

"Mozart's music can 'warm up the brain,'" suggested Gordon Shaw, a theoretical physicist and one of the researchers, after the results were announced. “We hypothesize that complex music excites equally complex neural patterns that are associated with higher forms of mental activity, such as mathematics and chess.” Conversely, simple and monotonous intrusive music can have the opposite effect.”

Builders, decorators, landscapers, pilots, golfers, and other visually-based workers use what Howard Gardner, a professor of education at Harvard Graduate School, called "spatial intelligence." Researchers at the University of Irvine, California, found that listening to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos enhanced these abilities. I prefer Mozart's violin concertos, as well as other string music. My experience shows that these works have a greater effect.

Proposing an explanation for this effect, scientists suggested that listening to Mozart's music helps to "streamline the firepower" of neurons in the cerebral cortex. This particularly enhances the creative processes of the right hemisphere, which are associated with space-time thinking. Listening to music, according to scientists, acts as a “model exercise”, improving the symmetrical organization that is associated with the higher functions of the cerebral hemispheres. In simpler terms, music improves concentration, enhances intuitive thinking and, in golfer's parlance, allows you to achieve results in fewer shots.

Research by Alfred Tomatis, MD, has identified the most significant factors in the healing effects of sound, music, and the “Mozart effect” in particular.

This French doctor devoted fifty years to researching what the human ear is, how diverse the dimensions and indicators of the listening process are. Aides consider him the Einstein of sound, the Sherlock Holmes of sound detection. For many patients, he is simply “Dr. Mozart.” His innovative approach to the study of the human ear led to the creation of new methods of training, healing and rehabilitation.

Tomatis' achievements are many. He was the first to understand the physiology of hearing as opposed to the concept of hearing. He clarified the importance of the predominant role of the right ear in the control of speech and musical abilities and developed special methods to enhance its functions. Made the discovery that “the voice can only reproduce what the ear is capable of hearing,” a theory that is widely used in the development of human speech. At first it was mocked, and then it became generally accepted, and the “Tomatis effect” was registered in the French Academy of Medicine. He developed a new model of the human ear and vestibular system, and also showed its effect on a person's ability to balance and regulate muscle movements.

However, his most significant contribution to science was his recognition that the human embryo has the ability to hear sounds while in the womb.

In his early thirties, Tomatis' scientific curiosity led him into the world of embryology, where he discovered that the mother's voice served as an invisible sound link to the developing fetus and an essential source of nutrition. This further led to the development of a special technique, which he called “the second sound birth.” Its essence is to reproduce the sounds that the fetus heard in the womb in order to further develop the child’s auditory and emotional abilities in order to eliminate all kinds of diseases.

“The fetus is capable of perceiving the full range of low-frequency sounds,” Tomatis explains in his book The Conscious Ear, which is essentially his creative autobiography. - The space of sounds in which the embryo is immersed is distinguished by an extraordinary richness of all kinds of shades... Internal noises, the movement of lymph during digestion, heart rhythms that are galloping in nature. He perceives rhythmic breathing as the distant sound of surf and water currents. And the mother’s voice flows into this context.” Tomatis compares this entire “concert” to the sounds of the African prairie or bush in the late afternoon, when they are full of “distant calls, all kinds of rustling and flapping of wings.” When such audio-voice communication is organized correctly, the human embryo gains a sense of security based on this constant dialogue, which guarantees its harmonious and calm maturation.

Tomatis further noted that after birth the baby is often in a passive state for only a short time until the mother begins to speak. “At this moment, the child comes to life and reaches out to his mother with his whole body... The newborn reacts to the sound of a specific voice, the only voice with which he became acquainted while still in the womb. Instinctively feeling this, the mother begins to sing songs to the baby, lulling him to sleep, holding him to her chest to the sound of sweet melodies, using all kinds of nursery rhymes to speed up his development.

Believing that breaking this natural chain of sound contacts could cause childhood illnesses, Tomatis began to look for ways to recreate the entire sound background that existed around the baby in the womb. Before birth, the baby hears sounds while immersed in a liquid environment. Ten days after birth, when the liquid membrane of the fetus dissolves, the baby begins to hear in the air. The outer and middle ears become accustomed to the air, while the inner ear retains the aqueous environment of the amniotic fluid in which it has been immersed for nine months. Using primitive electronic devices, Tomatis reproduced the sound environment that affects the developing fetus. Having recorded the mother's voice, he used special filters to isolate all low-frequency sounds, thus recreating the sound of the voice as it was perceived in the womb. The results were amazing: instead of his mother’s voice, he suddenly heard sounds reminiscent of a soft call, echo and rustling, similar to the sounds of the African savannah, which he had already identified earlier.

Over the years, Tomatis has improved his system of “sound births,” but the essence of the method remains the same. The preparatory "sound return" phase is accompanied by a musical theme, usually the music of Mozart. As a substitute for an absent parent, Mozart's music is most effective. “Mozart is a wonderful mother,” says Dr. Tomatis. - Over fifty years of clinical and experimental practice, I randomly went through a large number of composers. I still continue to experience new musical forms and musical arts, such as choral singing, folk music, classical works, but the power of Mozart, especially his violin concertos, has the greatest healing effect on the human body."

Anatomy of sound, hearing and hearing

Sound is energy that can be organized into form, patterns, shapes and mathematical proportions. A sound or a word is what our ancestors called “the beginning.” This is what is called “om” in the East, and “ward” in the West. It is the very first noise of galaxy formation, a symphony of wind and water, the eternal companion of trains and moving objects, and the dialogue we have with each other (and with ourselves).

Sound travels through air in the form of waves and is measured in frequencies and intensities. The concept of frequency refers to the tone, high or low qualities of sounds and is measured in hertz (the number of vibrations per second that a sound wave makes). The higher the tone, the faster the vibration; the lower the tone, the slower the vibration. Sound waves, which are extremely low, are much longer and cover vast areas. You may have seen organs with large copper pipes that reach lengths of thirty-two or sixty-four feet (9.8 or 19.6 meters).

The human ear can perceive sounds in the range of 16-20,000 hertz. On a piano, for example, the lowest key produces a sound at a frequency of 27.5 hertz, and the highest key produces a sound at a frequency of 4186 hertz. The threshold for hearing sound also depends on the culture of the people and the environment. In Africa, the Maaban tribe lives in such silence that they can hear whispers from a distance of more than thirty meters. There is no doubt that they would recognize the ability of New Yorkers, Parisians and other modern tribes to carry on a conversation on a roaring subway train or in a busy supermarket as an amazing feature of human nature. Tomatis believes that high-frequency sounds (3,000 to 8,000 hertz and above) cause resonance in the brain and affect mental functions such as reasoning, spatial imagination and memory. Sounds in the mid-frequency range (from 750 to 3000 hertz), he believes, stimulate cardiac activity, breathing and the emotional background. Low sounds (125 to 750 hertz) affect physical movement. Low-frequency buzzing can make us angry. Low rhythmic music makes it difficult to concentrate or calm down.

The intensity or volume of sound is measured in decibels (after Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone). The rustling of leaves is estimated at 10 decibels, a whisper - up to 30 decibels. A quiet environment in a home or office is usually rated at 40 to 50 decibels, and a conversation at normal volume is about 60 decibels. Traffic flow during peak hours is loud at about 70 decibels. Screaming, the sound of a jackhammer and the roar of a motorcycle are rated at 100 decibels, the sound of a chain saw is 110 decibels, loud rock music and a car horn are about 115 decibels. A rocket can produce a sound of up to 180 decibels when launched. Pain in the human ear begins at a level of 125 decibels. The decibel loudness scale, like the Richter scale for measuring the intensity of earthquakes, is a logarithmic scale, where an increase of 10 decibels doubles the previous value. Loud music at 110 decibels is twice as loud as a jackhammer at 100 decibels, and thirty-two times louder than a normal conversation at 60 decibels. The volume ratio between the faintest and loudest sounds that the human ear can perceive is a trillion to one. As for music, the range of perceived sounds is a million to one.

Another fundamental characteristic of sound is its timbre - the quality of a voice or instrument that sets it apart from others, regardless of frequency or intensity. There is no scientifically valid scale to measure timbre, as it is primarily a property of the sound wave. Subjective ratings, like those used by gourmets when assessing the taste of wine ("rich", "vibrant", "dull"; "rich", "bright"), are often used to describe timbre. The Stradivarius violin, for example, has a clear, warm tone compared to a typical mass-produced violin.

Shape of sound

Sound has mystical properties. It can take on physical form and contours that can affect our health, consciousness and behavior. In his work Cymatics, which describes how sound and vibration affect matter, Hans Jenny, a Swiss engineer and physician, proved that complex geometric shapes can be constructed using sound. For example, he caused vibration in crystals using electrical impulses and transmitted it to a medium such as a plate or string. He also obtained oscillating figures in liquids and gases.

The shapes and contours that can be created by sounds are infinite and can be changed by changing the frequency, harmonics of the tone and the material that vibrates with the sound. If you add strings to this, the results can be either miraculous or vice versa. The low sound "OM", for example, creates several concentric circles with a dot in the center, and the high sound "EEE" creates many circles with blurred edges. These shapes change instantly when the note or tone of the sound changes.

The Art of Listening

The ability to hear correctly - in the entire spectrum of sounds of the surrounding world - gives us the opportunity to be aware of our presence at a given point in space at a given moment in time. Developing the ability to hear correctly is the main theme of this book and the secret to comprehending the “Mozart effect.”

The difference between listening and hearing cannot be underestimated. Unlike listening, which is the ability to perceive sound information through the ears and other organs, hearing is the ability to filter, selectively focus on, remember, and respond to sound. Along with receiving sounds and transmitting them to the brain, the ears provide us with additional capabilities, including the ability to determine distances and the spatial relationship of objects. There is nothing miraculous here. While in a crowded and noisy restaurant, you somehow manage to hear your friend’s words and whispers. However, if you turn on a portable voice recorder in the same restaurant, it will record only an intricate symphony of clattering plates and unintelligible conversation. Hearing is an active process, and listening is a passive process. Often we listen but don't hear. We can perceive a conversation, news broadcast or music without paying attention to the information contained in them. Improper hearing (listening) is the cause of many problems in personal, family and business life.

Right ear, left ear

When a crisp and clear vowel sound enters the right ear, the listener's voice becomes stronger, his posture becomes more upright, and stress decreases. The same sound directed to the left ear sometimes causes a disturbance in the rhythm of the listener's speech and a decrease in his attention. However, the left ear perceives emotional speech and lower tones just as well as the right ear. The right ear is dominant because it transmits auditory impulses to the speech centers of the brain faster than the left ear. Nerve impulses from the right ear go directly to the left hemisphere of the brain, where the speech centers are located. Nerve impulses from the left ear travel a longer path through the right hemisphere of the brain, where there are no corresponding speech centers, and only then enter the left hemisphere. The result is a slow reaction time, measured in milliseconds, as well as a certain loss of attention and a change in the timbre of the voice.

These discoveries have many practical applications. If you talk to the person sitting to your right, or press the telephone receiver to your right ear, this will improve the quality of your hearing, focus your attention and enable you to better assimilate and remember information. In the classroom, sometimes it is enough to move the student so that the teacher is on the side of his right ear, and this will significantly increase his attentiveness and academic performance. Rearranging your home or office stereo system to face the right side can have the same effect.

Hearing and posture

The human ear, like a choreographer, “choreographs the dance” of the body, regulates its rhythm and pattern of movements. From the simple movements of a jellyfish to the most complex activities of homo sapiens, the ear acts as a gyroscope, a central processor, like an orchestra conductor for the entire nervous system. The ear integrates the information conveyed by sounds, organizes language, and gives us the ability to sense horizontal and vertical lines. Good hearing creates a range of positive effects, including improved voice control, energetic behavior, better orientation, and even improved handwriting and posture. Deviation or weakening of the vestibular system can lead to speech problems, poor motor coordination, and difficulty sitting, standing, and moving.

Through the medulla oblongata and spinal cord, the auditory nerves connect to all the muscles of the body. Thus, muscle tone, balance and flexibility are also directly influenced by sounds. The vestibular function of the ear also affects the eye muscles, affecting vision and facial expression. It also affects the desire process and taste. Through the vagus nerve, the inner ear connects to the larynx, heart, lungs, stomach, liver, bladder, kidneys, small and large intestines. This suggests that sound vibrations from the eardrums are transmitted through the parasympathetic nerves and can regulate, control and "sculpt" all the major organs of the human body.

A sitting or standing posture, with the head, neck and back positioned vertically, provides maximum control over the listening process, tunes and stimulates the brain to absolute attentiveness. This position turns the human body, according to Tomatis, “into a wonderful receiving antenna that vibrates in unison with the sound sources.”

For fifteen years I have experimented a lot with different listening positions that allow me to reach a new level of music perception. The best audience, in my opinion, is one where you can actively move around before listening to music. Dancing or active gymnastic exercises for five to seven minutes before listening to chamber music fills our ears and brain with blood, the body “listens better” to the music.

Two harps playing in unison

The importance of proper listening cannot be underestimated. To listen is to vibrate with another human being. In Thai treatises, Lao Tzu compares two people in harmony to harps that play in unison. When we listen to a good speaker or singer, we begin to breathe deeper and our muscles relax, leading to deeper balance and peace. On the other hand, an unsuccessful speaker or a bad singer makes us tense. The muscles begin to contract, as if trying to protect us from irritating and unpleasant sounds.

This process begins from an early age. Scientists have concluded that infants perceive musical sounds in the same way as adults, preferring harmonious tones to harsh, dissonant sounds. Thirty-two four-month-old infants were exposed to short excerpts of obscure European folk songs. Harmonious and inharmonious versions of the same melodies were played. When listening to harmonious melodies, the infants' concentration increased and they cried less. When disharmonious versions of melodies sounded, infants tried to move away from the source of the sound.

The expression “original mind” used in the East means a person’s ability to observe the world with fresh eyes with the purity and spontaneity of a child. Even if you are unlucky enough to live near one of the Tomatis centers, the first step towards good listening is to listen with childlike admiration. As Gandhi, who was one of the most patient listeners, taught us: “If we have attentive ears, then God will always speak to us in our language.”

The healing properties of sounds and music

People understand the concept of “healing” in different ways. For me, healing and healing is the art of restoring the balance of spirit and body, feelings and soul. I best achieve this balance through daily exercises that keep the different aspects of my life evenly balanced. But we have different needs, and yours may not be the same as mine.

Healing not only means feeling present in this world, it means finding wholeness, harmony and balance. Although holistic healing systems are based on this concept, it seems quite abstract. How can we become more whole?

It is much easier to define the concept of integrity in musical terms. To do this, we must step over the modern model of the human body, according to which it is a well-oiled mechanism. You can think of yourself as an orchestra that perceives and reproduces a symphony of sounds, chemical reactions, electrical discharges, colors and images. When we are in health, all the instruments of the orchestra play in time. When we feel unwell, it means that one of the instruments is out of tune. Part of the body was out of rhythm. Each organ can perform its part well, but there is no overall sound of the orchestra. Imagine that all the instruments in our “orchestra” are playing as loud as possible. This will be the most nightmare of concerts. But there is another extreme - absolute silence implies that the body does not show signs of life.

Bringing the body into balance requires careful observation of the orchestra in all its diversity - this is taking into account the current state and past experience, its strengths and capabilities. The true genius of healing lies in teaching your body, brain and heart to discover and perform your music, not the standard tunes that social norms dictate to us.

It is important to understand that healing is not always synonymous with cure. Eliminating disease or reducing pain may be the goal, but the main task of healing is to unite the conscious and subconscious. This process is ongoing.

How music affects us

Many of us love to listen to music without fully understanding its impact. Sometimes it overstimulates and becomes intrusive. Whatever our reaction, music has a mental and physical effect. To better understand how music heals, we need to understand what exactly it does. Once we know this, we can - regardless of our level of musicality - change the load on our “sound channels” as quickly and efficiently as we switch television channels to find the desired image.

Music can slow down and balance brain waves. It has been demonstrated many times that the waves produced by the brain can be altered by music and spoken sounds. Consciousness is made up of beta waves, which vibrate at a frequency of 14 to 20 hertz. Beta waves are generated by our brain when we are focused on daily activities or experiencing strong negative emotions. Elevated sensations and peace are characterized by alpha waves, which travel at a frequency of 8 to 13 hertz. Periods of peak creativity, meditation, and sleep are characterized by theta waves, which range in frequency from 4 to 7 hertz, while deep sleep, deep meditation, and unconsciousness generate delta waves, which range in frequency from 0.5 to 3 hertz. The slower the brain waves, the more relaxed and peaceful we experience.

Like meditation, yoga, biofeedback and other methods aimed at unifying the mind and body, music with a rhythm of about 60 beats per minute, including some baroque and modern orchestrations, can shift our consciousness away from beta waves and towards alpha range, thus increasing overall well-being and alertness. Playing music at home, work or school can create a dynamic balance between the more logical left hemisphere of the brain and the more intuitive right hemisphere of the brain - the exchange of thoughts is the basis of creativity.

If you are “wandering in thought,” daydreaming, Mozart or Baroque music played for ten to fifteen minutes will help your consciousness gain clarity and increase your level of mental organization.

Music affects breathing. Our breathing is rhythmic. Unless we are climbing stairs or lying on our stomachs, we typically take twenty-five to thirty-five breaths per minute. A deeper, slower breathing rhythm is optimal, promotes peace, controls emotions, deeper thinking and better metabolism. Rapid, labored breathing can lead to shallow and distracted thinking, impulsive behavior, and a tendency to make mistakes.

As practice shows, listening to fast, loud music after a “diet” of slow music can lead to this effect. “My objections to Wagner’s music are physiological,” Nietzsche once said. “I find it difficult to breathe when Wagner’s music affects me.” By slowing down the tempo of a piece of music or listening to slower music, you can deepen and slow your breathing and allow your brain to calm down. Gregorian chants, modern orchestrations and folk music usually produce this effect.

Music affects heart rate, pulse and blood pressure. The heart rate can be adjusted using sounds and music. The heartbeat responds to frequency, rhythm, and volume, which can speed up or slow down the heart rate. The faster the music, the faster the heart beats; The slower the music, the slower the heart rate. All this, of course, is within reasonable limits. Just like your breathing rhythm, a slower heartbeat calms your brain and helps your body heal itself. Music can be called a “natural peacemaker.”

Rhythmic music can lift us up and fill us with energy, but research conducted at Louisiana State University reveals the dark side of rock. Researchers have found that listening to rock music increases heart rate and reduces performance in athletes. Conversely, listening to light and smooth music calms your heart rate and allows you to exercise longer and more effectively.

Music can influence our heart rate, but the opposite is also true: our heart can determine our musical preferences.

Music reduces muscle tension and increases body mobility and coordination. Through the autonomic nervous system, the auditory nerves connect the inner ear to the muscles of the body. Therefore, strength, flexibility and muscle tone are dependent on sound and vibration. The rhythm and accuracy of the movements are very dependent on the rhythm and tempo of the musical piece.

All sounds and music have a subtle but powerful effect on our body temperature and therefore the ability to adapt to changes in temperature, heat and cold. A nasty creaking door, howling wind and unpleasant sounds can cause goose bumps. Hollywood horror films use these effects and enhance them with irritating, dissonant music in the scenes of suspense, danger and violence that appear so often on screen. Divine music can fill us with warmth, loud music with strong rhythms can raise the body temperature by several degrees, while soft music with faint rhythms can lower it. As Igor Stravinsky noted: “Drums and basses... act like a central heating system.” On a cold winter's day, warm music (especially music with a strong rhythm) helps to warm us up, while in the heat of summer, abstract, abstract music can "cool" us down.

Music can boost endorphin levels. The brain's own opiate, endorphin, has been the subject of much biomedical research in recent times. Some of the results suggest that endorphin may relieve pain and create a “natural high.” There is a theory that "musical pleasure" - the feeling of uplifting that comes from listening to certain music - is the result of the release of endorphins. It is produced by the pituitary gland and is the result of electrical activity that spreads to the brain and is associated with the activity of the lymphatic and autonomic control centers.

Music regulates the release of stress-reducing hormones. Anesthesiologists report that the level of stress hormones in the blood is significantly reduced in those who regularly listen to relaxing, calm music. In some cases, it can replace medications. These hormones include adrenocorticotropin (ACCT), prolactin, and human growth hormone. Politicians, lawyers, surgeons, teachers and people in other professions who often work under stress understand that music can calm and relax them. “I don’t have the opportunity to listen to music often,” Lenin said after listening to a Beethoven sonata. “She encourages me to say kind, stupid things to people and pat them on the head.”

Music and sounds can boost immune function. If the body is able to successfully resist disease, this is because all its systems work in harmony: blood, lymph and other fluids circulate correctly; the liver, spleen and kidneys work as a single mechanism. Recent research in the field of immunology suggests that a lack of oxygen in the blood may be a major cause of immunodeficiency and the development of degenerative diseases. This is where the “Mozart effect” can come into play. Certain genres of music, as well as singing and reciting, can increase the oxygen content of the body's cells. Buddha Geras, a researcher from Lake Montezuma, Arizona, has developed a system of vocal exercises that can increase the rate of lymph circulation in the body three times. The scientists concluded that preferred music “can induce deep positive emotional experiences, which in turn stimulate the production of hormones that help reduce factors that accelerate the progression of the disease.”

Music changes our perception of space. Research into the Mozart effect in Irvine has shown that certain music can enhance brain activity in perceiving the world around us, forming images, and recognizing differences between objects. In other words, music can influence how we perceive the environment around us. Slow music contains more space than fast music. When we feel pressed for time, stuck in a traffic jam on the highway, or in a confined space, chamber music by Mozart or light music like Stephen Halpern's Spectral Suite can create an expanded space for calm and relaxation around us. In this sense, music is “sound wallpaper”. It can give us the opportunity to feel the environment lighter, more voluminous and more pleasant. It can create a more streamlined, efficient and active environment for us. In hospital recovery rooms, music can help reduce feelings of withdrawal.

Music changes the perception of time. We can choose music that “speeds up or slows down” our actions. Harsh music such as a march can speed up the pace. Classical and baroque music provokes slow behavior. Music of high romanticism or modern orchestrations help soften the tense atmosphere. In some cases, such music can make time stand still. On the other hand, in a hospital or clinic, where minutes seem like hours, bright live music can speed up the passage of time.

Music can improve memory and learning. We have seen that doing exercises to music improves our well-being and tone. The same is true when it comes to studying. Listening to light music (such as Mozart or Vivaldi) in the background helps some students concentrate for long periods of time. It may distract others. If you listen to Baroque music while studying, you can improve your memory, memorizing new and foreign words, as well as poetry.

Music improves productivity. Research into workers and their memory has led to a radical shift in thinking about how music can be used in the workplace.

Music improves subconscious perception of symbolism. Film directors are well aware that the “sound track” of a film ensures success. Often sound can create and maintain tension in a film better than what's happening on screen, evoking various symbols and appealing to the viewer's subconscious. Similarly, new experimental treatments use relaxation combined with music to "break through" into the patient's subconscious region and heal traumas that have been "locked" inside the body for a long time.

Music helps develop a sense of security. "Safe" music is not always beautiful or romantic. This is music that provides peace to the listener. My parents and my parents' parents "found their safety" in the sublime hymns they knew by heart. With the help of these prayer-like songs, it was easier for them to overcome the Great Depression, world wars and other tragedies. Today, youth use music as a refuge. By turning up the volume, listening to high-energy music, modern hip-hop, rap, punk and grunge, young people isolate themselves from the outside world, which seems to them too materialistic and hypocritical.

Vibration, rhythm and image

Music is characterized by impulsiveness, like all living things, impulsiveness means flow, a steady flow of energy that surrounds us. The structure of our lives is built as a complex network of ebbs and flows, periods of activity and rest. To feel the pulsation of music means to feel or tune into the pulsation of the listener’s body.

We do not synchronize our behavior with music when we listen to it, but musical impulses inevitably influence the rhythm of our thinking and behavior. In dance, for example, music stimulates body movements. Different styles of music can make us move in different ways.

However, whether we focus on it or not, music subtly shapes and defines the boundaries of our physical, mental and social environment, influencing how energetically, harmoniously and smoothly life flows within and around us.

A concept closely related to rhythm is step. A fast or slow “pitch of sound” can determine whether we feel healthy, determined, relaxed, ready for trouble, or depressed. Music that does not have a standard, clearly organized step may inspire us, but soon begins to irritate us. The pitch of the sound affects our internal metronome, our ability to coordinate physical and mental functions.

Music creates many images at the same time. The structure and sequence of its tones affect the human body and movement, while the changing harmonies and strings can excite our emotions. Lyric poems or stories set to music can take us back to the past when we were happy. That's why we love to listen to the songs of our youth. Music brings back pleasant memories.

Music can be delicate and calm, but it is never dead. Even a melody that lasts for hours carries a pulsating wave that affects the brain and body on various levels. What we put into each sound is also vitally important. From a healing perspective, the “Mozart effect” extends beyond pure sound or performance. In the end, it is the listener who determines the final impact: you yourself are an active conductor and participant in the process of “orchestrating” your health.

Every person has his favorite music, which affects his soul most effectively. Keep in mind that within each genre there is a variety of styles. Some of them are active and bring energy, others are passive and help to relax.

Voice

The human voice is a wonderful means of healing, one of the most accessible sound medicines. Even a single sound can massage the muscle tissues of the upper body and make everything vibrate from the inside. Every movement of the human body, in turn, affects the way we inhale and exhale, thus affecting the characteristics of our voice. However, we rarely pay attention to our voice until we start using it in unusual ways, such as learning a new language. When we are not distracted by the content and meaning of the sounds we pronounce.

The basis of the voice is breathing. We inhale air, it passes through the lungs, and then we exhale it. In many religions, breathing implies spirit, soul. The Hebrew word ruach means not only the one spirit of the Universe that floats over the earth, but also the breath of the Lord. Similar meanings of these concepts can be found in many languages. As we find ways to express our soul through the voice, we notice that our breathing has a certain melody, as do the movements of our body. I suggest that you think of your breath this way: it is prana, ki, or life force, on which the voice is based. With each breath you take in the same air that Buddha, Jesus, Shakespeare and Mozart breathed.

I give signals - I exist

Laurel Elizabeth Keyes' book Toning: The Creative Power of the Voice contains many stories of people being healed through toning (making a sound by saying a vowel sound for a long time).

Although my successes with this technique have been much more modest, I have observed how thousands of people can relax from the sound of their own voice, become more focused, get rid of fears and other negative emotions, and are freed from physical pain. Over the past eight years, I have observed people using toning for a variety of practical purposes, ranging from relaxation before a major test to relief from tinnitus or migraines. Toning can relieve stress before surgery, reduce blood pressure and breathing rate, and reduce stress in those undergoing an MRI or CT scan. Toning is good for insomnia and other sleep problems.

Any form of vocalization, including singing, reciting, chanting poetry, yodeling, humming, silent or closed-mouth singing, reading prose or poetry aloud, or simply talking, can be therapeutic. But I have found that nothing beats toning. Other methods, especially singing and recitation, move the vibrating epicenters so quickly that the sounds have little time to "catch" or cause resonance in any organ. Toning oxygenates the body, deepens breathing, relaxes muscles and stimulates energy flow. If you perform toning with a voice rich in timbre, it can massage the entire body.

In the 1940s and 1950s, several of the biggest innovations in the field of voice therapy were made by Dr. Paul J. Moses, Professor of the Speech and Voice Clinic in the Department of Otolaryngology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He believed that the voice is the main form of expression of individuality. If you listen carefully, neural patterns can be analyzed, observed, and treated. Like the annual rings on a tree, intonation, modulation, intensity and other objective characteristics of the voice provide a simple clue to the analysis of the life history and fate of each person.

By analyzing tape-recorded conversations with various people, Moses learned to make a medical diagnosis for each patient based on his voice. Based on the range and symmetry of each person's voice, the predominance of certain intonations in it, the way the voice expresses melody and rhythm, as well as volume, clarity, accents and other variables, he built a complex physical and psychological model (profile) of the voice. “Voice dynamics are an accurate and reliable reflection of psychodynamics,” he concluded. “Every human emotion has its own vocal expression.”

Singing Cure

In the fascinating book The Singing Cure, Paul Newham, founder of the International Voice and Movement Healing Association in London, explores the therapeutic differences between speaking and singing. The development of free associations in patients provides a “direct path” to their subconscious. And the singing voice provides much more direct access to the subconscious. The general task of a psychoanalyst is to remove the protective function of consciousness in order to see in what natural voice the subconscious speaks. The next step forward is to move away from verbal communication and allow the voice to express itself directly (for example, in the form of singing).”

Another approach to voice healing was pioneered by Alfred Wolfson, a German singing teacher whose research is at the forefront of voice healing science. Having suffered mental illness from the sounds of artillery cannonade, which he heard enough in the trenches in the First World War, Wolfson cured himself of auditory hallucinations by reproducing and imitating those nightmarish sounds that ruined his psyche. Thus, he expelled from himself the demons of fear and guilt. Having discovered that he was able to produce a wide range of sounds - from joy and bliss to horror and suffering - Wolfson continued to develop therapeutic methods based on the method of "opening" the voice. After fleeing Nazi Germany to London, he opened a small research center there, where he taught students and patients how to break through their own “sound barriers” and reproduce a wide range of spontaneous noises, including the sounds made by animals, birds, even cars and mechanisms.

Wolfson vigorously objected to the classical singing tradition of dividing voices into types: soprano and alto for women; tenor, baritone and bass for men. Based on Jung's concepts of anima and animus (feminine in a man and masculine in a woman), Wolfson taught that by expanding your vocal range through exercise and singing, you can discover the opposite sex in yourself, thereby unifying your psyche and healing psychological and physical disorders and ailments.

In 1955, to demonstrate the range of the human voice, Wolfson demonstrated one of his students, Jenny Johnson, whose voice range was recognized by scientists and doctors to be between eight and nine octaves. Johnson could sing all the parts from Mozart's The Magic Flute, from the high soprano of the Queen of the Night to the bass of the sorcerer Sarastro.

Throughout his long and extremely productive life, Wolfson was able to show that personal development can be deepened and enriched through the development of the voice. “The truth is that the natural human voice, freed from artificial restrictions, is capable of covering all these categories and registers, but can do much more,” the scientist concluded.

The Power of Gregorian Chant

Gregorian chant traces its origins to a specific form of song in the Roman Catholic Church that originated under the auspices of Pope Gregory. Born at the end of the 6th century, Gregory remained in the memory of Christians for his gift of singing directly from the altar, representing the Holy Spirit sitting on his shoulders and singing in his ear.

Gregorian chant is fundamentally different from modern forms of musical art. They do not have the rhythm characteristic of classical and rock music, this steady, foot-beated beat that gives us the opportunity to move to the beat of the sounds. Their rhythm is rather organic, natural, based on the flow of text, breathing and tonal patterns based on elongated vowel pronunciation. The chants do not require accompaniment; they do not have rich string sections. True Gregorian chants are monophonic. This means that everyone sings in the same key. They may involve a call and response interaction between the canter, priest and choir. (Beware of those Gregorian chants that have organ accompaniment or harmonic singing. This is not an authentic reproduction of them.)

Gregorian chants can create a positive atmosphere in the workplace, home or car. They don't have many notes, just slight variations of a simple motif. Long, often single-note phrases require a long exhalation. Whenever a vowel sound is sung, it smoothly changes its shape, like incense spreading its fragrance through the air. It seems incredible that some syllables can be stretched over dozens of notes. Remember, for example, the delightful intonations in “Hallelujah” - the pinnacle of sacred chants. It can be repeated for hours. You don't have to be a monk to admire and enjoy and benefit from the peace that the long vowels of this chant bring with them.

Gregorian chants instill in us even, relaxed breathing. Melodies have a repeating pattern or even pattern made up of several words. By using just three notes and repeating the same phrases many times, we can feel the enormous effect of chanting.

Church chant in Latin is full of pure vowel sounds, in contrast to the complex diphthongs of English (or triphthongs of Texas English). The chants stretch out vowel sounds, which cause reverberation on the skin and bones. These vibrations stimulate the anterior lobes of the brain. Singing along with a recording or composing your own Gregorian-like songs is like getting a regular brain massage.

Singing in overtones

Perhaps you have listened to the singing of Tibetan monks who manage to sing in two or three keys at the same time or make sounds that expand the sound octaves. In contrast to the high-frequency nature of Gregorian chants, Tibetans produce low-frequency, guttural sounds that bear little resemblance to what we call music. But it is precisely this type of singing, known as overtone singing, that can be extraordinarily healing.

Singing in overtones is not unique to Tibet. The singing culture of India, the Philippines and China also pays tribute to this style. In the city of Tuva, singing competitions in overtones take place every spring.

Jonathan Goldman, founder of the Sound Healing Association, believes that vocal harmonics calm the body and clear the brain more effectively than any other form of sound.

Spiritual Toning

One of the most common forms of vocals today are mantras, or short chants consisting of a single syllable or phrase that are repeated over and over again. The Sanskrit mantra Om, chanted by millions of people every year, is popular not only in India but throughout the world. By making this ohm sound as slowly as possible, you gain unity with all living things on earth.

This remarkable syllable, which is usually transcribed phonetically as "om" in the West, is best represented by the three letters "aum", as is done in the East. The sound “a” is pronounced like “ah” and represents the beginning of inhalation at the same time as the sound is made. The sound "u", which is pronounced as a long "o" with a glide and transition into a short "u", is the full, elongated body of the sound itself. You can call this sound the middle of the word and the heart of the mantra. It contains a vowel sound and extends the exhalation to the final "m" sound. This moo, pronouncing the sound “m” with the mouth closed, comes out as a long “m”. It is the fading part of the cycle and represents, as it were, the dissolution of the entire spiral of life, breath and sound. These three parts of the mantra represent the triune aspect of God in Hinduism: Brahma, the creator, is personified by the first part, the sound "a"; Vishu, the preserver, with the sound “u”; Shiva, the destroyer, with the sound “m”. Thus, one simple sound, like all sounds on the planet, represents the origin, maintenance of life and its completion. The Judaic-Christian tradition has its own version of the mantra: “aum” - “amen”.

The Legend of the Primitive Song

Scientific and historical evidence shows that dancing, vocal tones, and songs predate articulate speech. This means that music is the primitive and original language of humanity. The researchers found that about two-thirds of the cilia (microscopic hairs in the inner ear, which sits on a flat surface like piano keys that respond to sounds of varying frequencies) respond to sounds in the high musical range (3,000 to 20,000 hertz). This means that once upon a time, people communicated primarily through songs or high-frequency tones. The flute, the oldest known musical instrument in the world, was made from bone 43-82 thousand years ago. This instrument was found in the mid-1990s in Slovenia.

In the West, there are myths and legends that say that even before the construction of the Tower of Babel, there was a universal alphabet that consisted of tones and rhythms. There is scientific evidence that this primitive song consisted of series of two or three notes connected by different tones. Any person could understand them.

The roots of shamanic and magical music go back centuries, when the sound of a drum, rattle or other primitive instrument brought people together, preceded the start of agricultural work, heralded the changing of the seasons and sent tribes to battle. Music was used to celebrate birth, marriage, the entry of a new person into life, and also death. The art of shamans (a large category of ancient healers) awakened the greatness of the spirit, capable of healing and protecting both individuals and entire tribes and families. Sounds were the medium through which prayers, invocations and unifying stimuli spread. One can imagine that music and sounds were the magical means that united the “tops” and “bottoms” into a single community. The shaman served as a bridge between worlds, allowing him to call upon his subordinates and appeal to those in power.

In the most ancient healing systems, the spiritual world predominated. It was believed that the spirit or spirits were responsible for creating (and solving) the most important and complex problems of life. Therefore, ancient healers, unlike modern doctors who simply diagnose and prescribe medications, sought to build a bridge between ordinary and higher consciousness, most often with the help of talismans, music and sounds. Ceremonies and rituals, such as the Navajo chants that cover themselves with war colors and shouts, allowed art, music, and other healing processes to be integrated into a whole.

Healing was a drama of high art, consisting of three elements: the shaman or practitioner, the patient and the invisible (spirit) who had to do his work between these two worlds. The ancients understood how important it was for the patient, family and community to become part of the healing process. Bringing to life the subconscious symbols that were shared by the entire society and which embodied its myths, they used various images, totems, signs of power and dreams in the healing process. Music was used by clergy, as well as healers whose actions were not based on faith, to help the sufferer unite spirit and body and focus on the causes of illness. Such sound therapy made it possible to speed up the patient’s recovery by bringing together his will, directing it towards healing from physical and mental ailments.

Music therapy in China

In China, traditional music therapy is being adapted to modern diseases and disorders. I was recently shown a series of audio recordings entitled: Obesity, Constipation, Insomnia, Relaxation, Stress, Liver, Heart, Lungs, as well as additional orchestral pieces that I called it “Urerenal Suite” to myself. Most albums feature traditional Chinese instrumental music that is performed without pauses.

Over the centuries, healing systems developed in the medicine and philosophy of the Far East on a pentatonic or five-note musical scale associated with the seasons, the organs and functions of the human body, and specific foods and tastes. These five notes represent different instruments, compositions, and performance styles. The Chinese music described above is pentatonic.

Indian healing music

Originating in the Himalayas, the tradition of combining music and medicine received fertile ground for development in India. Sacred music and songs in India are considered a gift from the gods. According to myths, the god Shiva created music and dance from the primordial sound and taught it to the goddess Parvati, his wife, who shared this sacrament with other gods and goddesses. Taking pity on human beings, the god Brahma brought music to earth as the fifth Veda, Samoveda. The god Narada, meanwhile, invented the vina, a harp-shaped instrument, and the god Bharata introduced the ragas chants into the classical teaching of natyashastra. Since then, Hindus have worshiped Goddess Saraswati, the wife of Brahma, as the goddess of music, knowledge and speech. Over the centuries, genres and schools developed, among them the art of ragas in Alwars, using the Tomil language in South India.

A raga is a traditional composition of devotional music with improvised toning, rhythmic patterns and melodic formulas. Unlike Western music, where the notes are clearly separated, the intonations in ragas, like most other pieces of Indian music, seem to flow together to form a soothing single sound.

In hospitals, universities and healing centers throughout India, traditional Indian music is the subject of research and a means of active therapy. In Madras, at the Raga Research Center, a special multidisciplinary group of doctors, neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists and musicians was created, actively experimenting with various ragas, using them in music therapy. Researchers have written two ragas that are particularly effective in treating hypertension and mental disorders.

The energy of African-American music

The basis of traditional African music is the ring - a circle in which people stand to sing, dance and shout joyfully to the accompaniment of rhythmic drums. In his book The Power of Black Music, Samuel A. Floyd, director of the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College Chicago, traces the paths of many styles of African-American music, including preaching, jazz, blues, sacred music and rap. “For Africans,” he writes, “songs and dance were phenomena of religious cults. They were taught from childhood to music and dance as a means of maintaining contact with their ancestors in order to “preserve the power of their self-expression or perish.” For African-Americans, spirituals were a musical vehicle that united them as a nation, as these songs were “the repository of the African cultural spirit” and also became the basis for the development and dissemination of African cultural values.”

In Africa, drumming has become a high art. By using two drums at the same time to beat out a kind of binary code like Morse code, skilled “talking drummers” could convey complex information to listeners within a radius of up to sixty miles. Fearing uprisings and riots, South African planters quickly realized what was happening and began to ban drumming when slavery migrated to America. Although the ring and circle were destroyed, the religious tradition also disappeared. African musical traditions continued to develop in the form of field and hunting calls, elements of Christian prayer, black songs and other forms of vocal expression accompanied by the banjo or fiddle, which replaced the drums as the main musical instrument. The “corn voices” with which slaves conveyed information echoed back to the African savannahs of the Congo Pygmies, the African Bush People. Shouts, shouts and screams, rich in emotional expression, began to be used for information communication between people. Black folk songs, songs about work, songs about love, songs for children, hymns and other musical works were distributed by local musical healers. Often these runaway slaves, who found their way north with nothing more than a cheap fiddle, became poets, journalists, historians, humorists, and chroniclers during the first phase of Africans' arrival in the Americas.

Spontaneous healing with music

You should know that the physiological mood of the listener or patient, the individual sound environment and what can be called the “magic of the moment” can interact in the most incredible ways. This is very difficult to replicate in research. The fact is that modern medicine views all human organisms as comparable machines that can be "repaired and tuned" with modern operating instructions. It is much better to compare the human body to an orchestra of highly sensitive musical instruments. Each of them has its own musical and artistic properties, as well as methods of “tuning”. In modern brain-body medicine, healers typically emphasize the importance of an intuitive, spontaneous, and spiritual approach. Here healing must be considered as an art.

In his popular book Spontaneous Healing, Dr. Andrew Weil says that over the years he has received hundreds of testimonies attesting to the special powers of individual plants, special foods and diets, vitamins and supplements, yoga, prayer, music, chants, and other alternative therapies. . “Like many of my colleagues, I often questioned the overly simple cause-and-effect relationships that emerged from these messages and hesitated before putting them into practice,” he explains. - Unlike most others, I do not throw away these reports. All these evidences are important signs of the main thing. This is a necessary confirmation of the power and strength of healers and individual products. They highlight the extraordinary power of the human spirit and its ability to heal. No one will argue that the human body is capable of healing itself. If you ignore this fact, then the doctor destroys the source of optimism and self-healing.”

Music and dance

Movement and dance often enhance the healing effects of music, so healing drama has been created from mythological stories, specific movement patterns, and ancient songs. Rudolf Steiner, an early 20th-century Austrian mystic, helped create a form of healing known as rhythmics. Combining movement, music and poetry, rhythm is a special ritual. Slow, graceful movements promote improved health and are used to treat asthma, stuttering and respiratory problems. Doctors teach patients to move in a circle, accompanying the movements with gestures that symbolize musical intervals and intonation colors, while an experienced accompanist plays the piano. Some modern forms of psychotherapy also include the use of gentle movements accompanied by music, singing, or toning. All this is aimed at ensuring that the information contained in the human body passes into consciousness and plays the role of a healing process.

Imagery: not only visual

Many people understand the concept of “imagery” to be purely visual. But the term covers all kinds of senses and all kinds of “sense memory” (memories of sounds or voices, smells, expected taste of food). Images, many of which are sensory, pop up in our subconscious and dictate to us to do things, from getting a new haircut to planning our closet in the house. Imagery can be stimulated externally, for example when you watch TV or drive past an advertisement. It can appear spontaneously when you are sleeping or dreaming about something in reality.

Images evoke physiological and psychological reactions in us: they determine blood pressure, can cool us down or evoke memories. Some words evoke a figurative experience - fire, house, mother. And some images go beyond concepts. We call them archetypes if they are associated with abstract concepts such as goodness or evil. They resonate deeply within us, pointing to the deepest mysteries of life. We call powerful images icons when they are generated by religious or cultural associations - the image of the Virgin Mary, a reproduction of the Mona Lisa...

Many forms of prayer and meditation use imagery, including archetypes and icons, as tools to focus and concentrate energy. Psychoanalysts often use free association to “unleash” the power of imagination and bring subconscious thoughts and feelings to the surface. This is also what advertising does, which essentially manipulates images. Nowadays, mind-body therapy, like traditional healing methods, makes extensive use of visualization and imagery to treat a variety of conditions, from back pain to blood pressure, from a sluggish immune system to tumors. Truly, imagery has tremendous power and can change our lives.

Music increases the energy and power of imagery, multiplying the physical, mental and spiritual impact. Music is capable of creating a stream along which images move, at the same time it can catch an image in its “nets” - fix it so that it can be analyzed and in an instant “sent” back into oblivion.

Release the images into the wild

Each organ of our body has its own memory. Research shows that the way our muscles contract and relax, the way we sleep, talk, think and worry, is recorded inside us - not only in our minds, but also in the cells of our body. Dr. Deepak Chopra explains that all the atoms, cells and tissues of the body are in an "invisible connection" that is microscopic vibrations - what traditional Indian medicine calls "primordial sound." Those microscopic vibrations that hold DNA together, he argues, are the greatest force in nature. However, there are times when the sequence and order of the DNA molecule is disrupted, for example as a result of disease or accident. “In this case,” says Chopra, “traditional Indian medicine recommends that we use a specially selected primordial sound as a form or template, put on the damaged cells and allowing them to be put in place, not purely physically, but with the help of vibrations or sounds that reach to the heart of every cell."

Experts in traditional Chinese medicine and philosophy agree that sounds and images are perceived, stored and transmitted not only through the brain, but also through other structures and functions of the body. This means that as a result of illness, accident or trauma, painful emotions and negative experiences can become locked inside the body, remaining there for weeks, months or even years, waiting to be released. In many cases this can be achieved through the correct use of sounds and images.

Music and the “inner landscape”

Music can change the perception of space. This is one of the greatest achievements of the synthesizer. Until the 1960s, composers and performers relied on cathedrals, watersheds, and echoing mountains to create a sense of architectural space and give their music dimension. Gregorian chants, enhanced by long reverberations in monasteries, chapels and cathedrals, as well as repetitive Buddhist chants, are examples of sounds that were used to heighten a person's sense of self-awareness, prolong prayer and increase concentration. Slow compositions from the Romantic, Classical and Baroque periods also provided balm to the soul, allowing the brain to float freely in the currents of sound. With the advent of the synthesizer era, composers were able to recreate various sound effects that occur in a confined space in order to awaken the memory that lies dormant in the human body.

Traditional Indonesian folk orchestras, known as gamelan, came to Paris in the 1960s. In my opinion, no sound has had such a profound influence on the new musical art of the West, however, not everyone in the West is familiar with such a musical phenomenon as gamelan. On each of my trips to Bali, one of the most beautiful Indonesian islands, I was reminded of the power of ancient Hindu myths, which is reflected in the metallic sounds of gongs and xylophones. The sounds of gamelan with their desperate cascades and smooth flashes awaken the depths and heights of our spirit.

As we embrace new electronic forms of deep listening, bringing together environmental music, brainwave synchronization, and minimalist structures, we increasingly discover the importance of slowing down in order to remain in touch with ourselves. “As our world becomes more dynamic,” writes Joseph Lanza in The Music of Uplift, “our music becomes increasingly space-filled to align its running with our internal body clock.” Environmental music is not created to entertain or stimulate the intellect. It is designed to influence the human body and feelings, allowing us to restore our “inner landscape”, give our life a sense of space and reunite with the rhythms of nature.

Music education and Orff school*

Studying music can be just as important for nurturing a child's intelligence and emotional development as learning to the accompaniment of music.

In the 1930s, Carl Orff, the progressive composer who wrote Carmina Burana, developed a system for integrating human nature into the “world of movement, expression and sound.” His approach, called the “Orff school,” includes teaching combined with rhythm, recitative speech, the art of gesture and movement, as well as improvisation with singing and playing simple percussion instruments. Thus, in the classroom, children recite rhymes, stories, while at the same time moving around the classroom and playing drums and xylophones. The folk tradition of understanding music without having to read music "on paper" helps to learn music through movement, song, dance and playing instruments, rather than through complex analytical thinking.

“Just as humus in nature makes plant growth possible, so elementary music gives a child the foundations that cannot be laid in him otherwise,” Orff explained, citing an analogy from the natural world. - At primary school age, the child’s imagination should be especially stimulated; Opportunities for emotional development, which contain the experience of feeling and the energy to control the expression of these feelings, must also be provided. Everything that a child experiences at this age, everything that awakens and is nurtured in him, is a determining factor for his future life.”

Through the Orff Method, children awaken to a world where the musical vocabulary is transformed into a vocabulary of movement, speech, rhythm and music. Currently, more than three thousand schools in the United States of America use the Orff school model in their elementary school programs. International activities in this area are coordinated by the Orff Institute, which is located in Salzburg (Austria).

Bridge between life and death

From the primordial explosion of the Universe, from the formation of the first cosmic bodies, from the first sound of the Logos, sound served as both a fact and a metaphor. Sounds and vibrations pulsate and breathe, transforming energy into matter and creating time in the vast, endless depths of outer space. Planet Earth is musical in its essence, and all living things on it listen to music. So far we have explored music and sounds in relation to the cycle of human life - from the appearance of the fetus in the womb to the birth of a person and his behavior at school and at work. Now we will bring the symphony of human life closer to the music that accompanies death and the transformation of souls.

For many people, music is a kind of bridge between life and death. Stories about death or moments experienced on the verge of death are accompanied by stories about a mystical tunnel of light and sound with illumination, where after death the soul goes on its journey.

Tibetan Buddhists believe that at the moment of death a person must remain awake so as not to interrupt the endless and eternal cycle of reincarnation (reincarnation). They consider life to be an eternal process requiring constant preparation, memory and freedom. From the “Tibetan Book of the Dead,” monks and nuns memorize and perform chants throughout their lives, so that at the time of death they do not fall into the illusion of non-existence. Prayers and chants performed around the deceased act as a kind of tower for the soul that leaves the mortal body. The nuns, with their voices, guide the soul flying through the air to its eternal refuge.

From childhood, Catholics are taught to repeat the prayer: “Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the moment of our death. Amen". In this way, they are preparing to hear the nakedness of the Mother of God in their last moment before going to hell or heaven. Protestants sing the traditional refrain to the hymn: “Isn’t it true that the circle of life will never be broken, O God, never, never?” Thanks to such traditions, it is easier for a person to go out on his final journey, while someone's voices continue to sing and pray for him.

Gregorian chants, perhaps, best prepare for such a journey and provide the opportunity to live simultaneously, as it were, in two worlds. The Fundamental Law of the Benedictine Monks, or trellis, has governed monastic life for a millennium and a half. Trellis reminds the monks that when they chant they are among choirs of angels. When they praise the angels and saints, the Lord blesses them to prolong endless prayerful inspiration.

At the end of each day, Benedictine monks perform the vespers service, the last of the canonical hours, which signifies "closure." Since the daytime chants end at six o'clock in the evening, this prayer is the final one and is read not in the chapel, but in a secluded cell. “Its final chorus, “A peaceful night and a beautiful end to the day are given to us,” as Brother David Steindl-Rast writes in his inspiring book The Music of Silence, “connects the end of each day with the end of all life. He argues that the rhythms of each of our days are parallel to the rhythms of our entire lives. The way we live every hour and every day determines the nature of our lives. The rhythms of our clocks teach us how to structure the rhythms of life.”

Music-related spiritual practice is not unique to Tibetans, Buddhists, Catholics and Hindus. American psychiatrist Edgar Cayce noted the importance of chants, calling them “an outpouring of the soul.” In her book Music as a Bridge, Shirley Rabb Winston quotes the sleeping prophet: “Mumble, hum to yourself, and let no one hear you, but listen to yourself.”

Listen to Mozart's music and can download it here:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 in the Austrian city of Salzburg. Mozart's musical genius manifested itself already in early childhood. He wrote his first symphony when he was not yet 10 years old, and his first successful opera by the age of 12. In his short life (Mozart died at the age of 35), the composer created 40 symphonies, 22 operas and more than five hundred works in other genres. He spent 10 of his 35 years of life traveling to more than 200 cities in Europe.

During his short life, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart created hundreds of solo and orchestral musical works that inspired Beethoven, Wagner and other composers.

“Mozart is something incomprehensible in music,” Goethe told his friend Johann Peter Eckermann, “an image so alluring that everyone strives for it, and so great that no one can achieve it.”

Every day we listen to music for our own pleasure, but it turns out that its sounds can help people in the treatment of certain diseases.

The healing properties of music have been known for a long time. For example, the Bible describes how King Saul of Israel, possessed by an evil spirit, called David and asked him to play the harp. “David took the harp, played, and Saul felt better.”

One of those who first stated that music cures diseases and scientifically explained the healing effect of music was... Pythagoras, who argued that music obeys a higher law (mathematics) and, as a result, restores harmony in the human body. Once, Pythagoras even managed to use music to calm down an angry husband who, in a fit of jealousy, was trying to burn down the house, while none of his relatives could stop him. And the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates treated insomnia and epilepsy with music.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the famous psychoneurologist Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev began to study the influence of music on the human body. The scientist came to the conclusion that music heals diseases - it can relieve fatigue and energize a person, and have a positive effect on the circulatory and respiratory systems. Academician Bekhterev believed that it is not without reason that mothers sing to their babies. “Without a lullaby, the full development of a child is generally impossible,” the scientist wrote.

Recently, music therapy methods (the use of music to treat patients with certain psychological or somatic problems) have gained wide popularity. In the West (and even in some places in Ukraine), many specialists have already been trained to study music therapy methods.

There are passive and active music therapy. During the first, the patient is offered to listen to various musical compositions that correspond to the state of his mental health and the stage of treatment. In the second case, the person himself takes part in the performance of the music: plays musical instruments, sings, beats the beat with his foot or claps his hands.

Music therapists note that individual melodies need to be selected for each specific patient, but there are also “healing melodies” for a specific psychological condition or disease.

What music heals? - Classical music heals.

Eg, to set the mood It is advisable to listen to “Rondo in Turkish style” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, “Habanera” from Georges Bizet’s opera “Carmen” or “Triumphal March” from “Aida” by Giuseppe Verdi. Forget about troubles and problems"Ave Maria" by Franz Schubert and "Lullaby" by Johannes Brahms will help you.

If you have a hard time getting up in the morning, the concerts and sonatas of Antonio Vivaldi and the serenades of Franz Schubert will drive away drowsiness.

The feeling of morning freshness will fill your soul“Morning” by Richard Strauss, “Morning Mood” by Edvard Grieg, symphonic sketch “The Sea” by Claude Debussy, “The Awakening of the Birds” by Olivier Messiaen.

For sleep disturbances“Plays” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, “Melody” by Christoph Gluck, “Dreams” by Robert Schumann and “Sad Waltz” by Jean Sibelius will help.

Religious music gives people a feeling of peace and spiritual enlightenment, helps them win or relieves pain.

"Waltz of the Flowers" by Tchaikovsky and the music of Mozart treat stomach and duodenal ulcers. Migraine will help you overcome “Humoresques” by Antonin Dvorak and George Gershwin, “Spring Song” by Felix Mendelssohn, and a headache, associated with emotional overload, will decrease when listening to the “Masquerade” suite by Aram Khachaturian, “Hungarian Rhapsody” by Franz Liszt and “Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Magical music of Mozart

I don’t know if it’s true that angels only play Bach in the presence of God, but I’m sure that in their home circle they only play Mozart./Karl Barth/

Mozart's music is generally special. Neuroscientist Gordon Shaw, after a series of experiments, claims that Mozart's music mobilizes the capabilities of the human brain. The scientist believes that “such bright and varied music facilitates the functioning of the brain, in particular helps mathematicians and chess players.”

This positive effect is explained by the fact that the musical works of this composer maintain a 30-second “loud-quiet” interval, and it exactly corresponds to the nature of the biocurrents of the human brain. The brilliant Austrian composer wrote his music mainly in major tones, so it constantly attracts the attention of listeners. His symphonies and violin concertos seem so joyful and sincere that there is a natural desire to succumb to this joyful mood and sing along.

French doctor A. Tomatis in his book “Why Mozart?” writes: “Mozart’s power is inaccessible to others. His music frees the soul. Its healing properties are so strong that it makes Mozart the greatest of composers.”

The music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is useful for everyone to listen to. It soothes infants and expectant mothers. It helps children develop speech, calm down when nervous, and learn better.

Scientists have proven that if you take 10-minute musical breaks with Mozart while studying the material, learning efficiency increases. For adults, Mozart’s musical works will help them overcome mental problems and improve their hearing and eloquence.

And you don't need to listen to this

But even among classical music there is music that is useless for a person’s emotional health. After listening to it, a person feels weak and exhausted. For example, some nocturnes by Frederic Chopin (despite their unconditionally high aesthetic value) evoke deep sadness and nostalgia in listeners. It is believed that in these works the composer gave a powerful outlet to his own melancholy.

Instead of pills - musical instruments

Not only certain melodies, but also certain instruments help a person feel better. So, it is believed that harp harmoniously affects the functioning of the heart.

Drum also helps a sick heart to normalize its rhythm and treats the hematopoietic system.

Tender violin heals the soul and promotes self-knowledge of a person.

Noble organ harmonizes the activity of the spine and “puts things in order in the head.”

It is not for nothing that works were performed on it mainly in churches and temples, after which people came out with cleared consciousness and pure thoughts.

Piano normalizes the functioning of the thyroid gland, flute expands and cleanses the lungs, and the mysterious saxophone justifies its reputation as the sexiest instrument, since under its influence a person’s sexual energy is activated.

How to listen

And finally, some tips on how to listen to music. Your own intuition is of great importance when listening to music. If a melody that improves the mood of others takes away your strength, it is better not to listen to it, but to find a melody for yourself with which you could go through life.

It is best to listen to music without straining, in a comfortable position, with your eyes closed.. It’s not so difficult to devote 10-15 minutes a day to combine business with pleasure. Music helps precisely when it is listened to, as if passing through oneself, filling thoughts and consciousness with melody.

Adjust the sound. Even stimulating music should not be turned on at full volume - it is harmful to the body.

Don't overdo it. If you listen to Beethoven's symphonies for more than an hour, the effect may be the opposite. Such listening will not only not relax you, but will also cause fatigue and irritation. Ten minutes is enough for one session.

Mozart helps raise children and... bacteria

An “ecological” innovation has been introduced at wastewater treatment plants in Germany: playing the music of the great Mozart is introduced into the technological process. Since the results of experiments conducted by German scientists in a small German company Mundus showed that the music of the Austrian composer, thanks to the special ratio of harmonies and rhythm, stimulates the activity of tiny organisms that break down waste.

Why Mozart?

The uniqueness of the great composer’s music and its utilitarian influence on living organisms, by the way, have long excited scientists’ minds. Since people have long noticed that, for example, babies listening to Mozart calm down, and schoolchildren study better. Experts have found that Mozart's concerts and symphonies contain a lot of high frequencies and, thus, carry an increased energy charge. Computer analysis of his music confirmed that the composer preferred mainly major tones.

In addition, the music of the great composer is pure, harmonious and emotional; it does not force the brain to “overstrain”, unraveling complex sound series that are present, for example, in the works of Bach or Beethoven.

In 1993, an American college experiment showed that college students performed better on spatial-temporal tasks if they listened to a sonata by an Austrian composer for 10 minutes a day. This phenomenon is called "Mozart effect".

Austrian scientists have long been using the “Mozart effect” for therapeutic purposes, creating in each specific case individual programs from excerpts or entire musical works by Mozart containing the desired frequencies. Thus, the human ear gradually gets used to picking up those frequencies that it did not perceive before. Moreover, such ear training makes it easier to learn foreign languages, each of which has a special set of typical frequencies. English, for example, is easier for those who perceive high frequencies better. With the help of such training, children overcome problems with coordination of movements and speech, and nervous excitement goes away. For adults, Mozart also helps improve hearing and calm the nerves.

The amazing effect of Mozart’s music has long “stepped over” the borders of Austria. Russian teacher Vadim Shirin forces his students to listen to Mozart, and assures that this improves children's immunity. School doctors also agree with him. And numerous experiments show that even a short listening to any work by Mozart significantly increases the results of the test subject’s IQ tests.

Miracle? No, ordinary physics

Neuroscientist Gordon Shaw of the University of California has found that individual human brain cells and their connections produce output signals of a certain frequency and shape. Having converted these signals into sound, the scientist discovered that they were musical in nature. To test the opposite effect, that is, the influence of music on mental processes, various classical musical works were used. The results from Mozart's music exceeded all expectations! While listening to works by other composers had virtually no effect on human brain activity.

Israeli scientists from Tel Aviv University were able to establish that listening to the composer’s sonatas has a beneficial effect on the nursing of premature babies: they gained weight faster and restored their naming system, compared to babies who did not listen to Mozart.

Scientists’ research has already been adopted by athletes of “intellectual” sports, such as chess or poker. In general, the scientists’ summary states that the spiritual and physical power of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s music contributes to a person’s more effective problem solving in almost all areas of his activity: from memorizing foreign words to working with complex technological equipment, wherever increased concentration of attention and activation of thinking are required processes.

In general, all systems of a living organism operate according to strict rhythms.. Pulse is also a rhythm. Even in ancient times, doctors tried to catch the rhythm of the pulse and subordinate it to a musical rhythm. There was even a special medical theater, where they were treated with different melodies. Aesculapius recommended the sounds of the pipe to patients in a depressed mood. Depression, as we would say today. And singing lessons treated asthma sufferers.

The French doctor Joseph Recamier recommended that his patients eat to the sound of a drum, because... It turned out that “the stomach loves rhythm.” Today, music therapy is most in demand in psychiatry and neurology. To change behavior, psychopathological individuals are given listening to Tchaikovsky, Chopin, and Schubert. Dvořák’s “Carnival Prelude” helps with depressive psychosis, Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” revives melancholic people, and the feeling of anger is accompanied by Wagner’s chorus of pilgrims.

However, all scientists agree that Mozart's music has a universal positive impact. It surprisingly accurately finds various “pain” points and organically integrates into the most invisible corners of the soul and body of every person.

Concert hall for bacteria

Environmental biotechnology has long proposed the use of living organisms to recycle hazardous waste and combat environmental pollution. For example, some fungi are used to neutralize toxic byproducts from the paper industry. Other microorganisms that inhabit toxic waste dumps break down compounds such as polychlorinated biphenyls into harmless compounds. Technologies are now being studied with the help of which microorganisms inhabiting river mouths could purify water from chemical contaminants.

Methods of environmental biotechnology provide more effective disposal of a variety of toxic waste compared to traditional approaches, and also significantly reduce our dependence on waste disposal methods such as incineration and the creation of toxic waste storage facilities.

Mixed bacterial populations have been used for wastewater treatment for over a hundred years. All living organisms (animals, plants, bacteria, etc.) absorb and digest nutrients to maintain life and release the resulting waste products into the environment. Different organisms require different nutrients to maintain life. Some bacteria happily consume chemicals found in waste, while others feed on toxic chemicals such as methylene chloride, detergents and creosote.

In some cases, the waste products of microorganisms - fighters for a clean environment - themselves have beneficial properties. For example, bacteria that break down sulfur compounds produced during paper production produce methane.

Currently, specialists in the field of environmental protection use two methods of bioremediation of land contaminated with organic waste: they introduce specialized strains of bacteria into the contaminated soil, or nutrients that stimulate the activity of microorganisms already present there. Bacteria absorb toxins and break them down into harmless waste products. Once the entire supply of toxic compounds has been processed, the population of cleansing bacteria returns to normal levels or they die.

Now they are going to use music to speed up the processes of such beneficial life activity of environmental bacteria. As an experiment, at a wastewater treatment plant in the city of Treuenbrietzen (Germany), a disc with Mozart's music was played every day for two months. And it turned out that simultaneously with the artificial saturation of wastewater with oxygen, music forced bacteria to more actively process organic residues. In addition, the station engineers noted that during the two months of the experiment the level of silt deposits sharply decreased!

Mundus has calculated that in this way treatment plants will be able to save up to a thousand euros per month on the electricity needed to process waste! At the same time, renting the equipment necessary to play music will cost factories approximately 400 euros per month.

Recently, there has been a wave of “debunking articles” in the media saying that Mozart’s music does not make children smarter. But no one has ever claimed this, emphasizing that this music only has a positive effect on the body, helping it develop and improve. This was once again confirmed by German bacteria.

Elena Nepokora

• The effects of classical music on the brains of young and old people have been studied.
• Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major causes changes in brain activity.
• This increase in activity is associated with memory, cognition, and problem-solving abilities.
• But Beethoven's “Fur Elise” failed to cause significant changes in the brain.

Recent studies have shown that Mozart's music can improve memory and learning ability. Scientists have proven that after listening to classical music by this composer, brain waves associated with memory, understanding of the world and the ability to solve problems increase. But Beethoven's music did not have a similar impact. Therefore, scientists believe that there is something special in Mozart’s works that can influence our brain.

Scientists from the Sapienza University of Rome say: “The results indicate that Mozart's music is able to activate neurons in the cerebral cortex responsible for attention and cognitive functions. But not all music causes such an effect.” The experiment, the results of which were published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition, is based on recording the electrical activity of the brains of volunteers using EEG.

There were three groups of volunteers of 10 people in total. “Young” healthy people with an average age of 33 years, “Older” healthy people with an average age of 85 years, and “Elderly” with moderate cognitive impairment and an average age of 77 years. Brain activity was recorded before and after listening to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major K448, as well as before and after listening to Beethoven's Fur Elise.

The scientists concluded that Mozart's sonata K448 increases the strength of alpha waves in the brain and the frequency index of background MF activity in the “Young” and “Healthy Elderly” groups. Both of these indicators are associated with Intelligence Quotient (IQ), memory, cognitive abilities, and success in problem solving. Beethoven's music did not cause any changes in the brains of all groups studied.

That is, Mozart’s works have a positive effect on the brain, but not any music.
This effect requires further research, but for now scientists believe that Mozart’s music can activate neurons in the cerebral cortex that are responsible for attention and cognitive functions. Moreover, the effect is observed not only in young people, but also in healthy elderly people.

Perhaps a rational, clearly organized construction of a sonata “reflects the organization of the cerebral cortex.” One of the characteristic features of Mozart’s music is the frequent repetition of a melodic theme. Therefore, the listener is practically deprived of “surprise elements” that can distract his attention from the rational line, in which all the components of the development of harmonic and melodic tension are foreseen by him.