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One of the questions I get asked all the time is, “What are the most common questions you get asked all the time?”

I haven’t addressed these issues in a while in my monthly updates, and I know we have a lot of new readers. So this month, I’d like to give a brief recap of the overall scope of this column.

As long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by the way sound affects me. At an early age, I began my quest to learn as much as I could about how sound affects us humans. In the process, I explored both the positive and negative sides of the issue. (This was especially relevant for me because I’m hypersensitive to sound, and particularly impacted by noises in my environment (including those that others do not hear).

When I began my search in 1967, I was one of the first (and only) contemporary researchers to address issues relating to the healing powers of sound, psycho-acoustics, and the effects of sound on consciousness, meditation, relaxation, well-being and “sound health” in general.

In fact, to quote the old adage, “I wrote the book on it” years before most anyone else: Sound Health (Harper & Row, 1985).

Throughout the past 35 years, I’ve offered workshops and lectures around the country, to a wide range of audiences. From holistic health practitioners, health-conscious New Agers or cultural creatives, yogis, dentists, executives, coaches or spiritual organizations, the same concerns are always raised.

People tell me: “I know I’m affected by music, but I don’t know how.” And, “How can I use music more effectively in my life?”

The overall strategy that I suggest to one and all is to become more aware of “what is.” I draw your attention to how you respond to various fundamental aspects of sound and music, namely rhythm, resonance (and melody), harmony, tone quality, compositional structure and intention.

By becoming aware of how you as an individual respond to these universal factors, you’ll be able to make wiser, more life-affirming and enhancing choices.

My discussions often focus on what has come to be called, for better or worse, New Age music, but also include observations on pop, rock, jazz and classical music as well. I tend to limit my remarks to instrumental music: words are so powerful all by themselves that they make it impossible to identify specific musical factors.

Things We Never Learned in School

If music hadn’t been entirely dropped from the curriculum when you were in school, you probably still didn’t get exposed to much more than a very limited, left brain approach to analyzing structure, and reading little black dots written on white paper (usually compositions by dead white European males).

Unless you were in my class, you probably didn’t participate in any interactive drumming circles years before they were popular. You may never have formally considered, “how do you know if you’re relaxed?”

How do you know if a particular selection of music is relaxing you? To answer that question, I designed the first of its kind, research-based, graduate degree program.

Recently, there’s been a profound reawakening of the public’s awareness of the role that sound plays in our overall health. But with all the conflicting claims, dis-information, mis-information now cluttering the field, how can you separate the truth from the hype?

Rhythm Entrainment

I find the most easily observable responses are those to rhythm. In my workshops, I ask participants to take their own pulse, or at least get a sense of how fast their heart is beating.

Then I ask them to notice what happens when I began snapping my fingers at an ever-increasing rate. Obviously, you can’t hear me doing that right now, so let me suggest you try this out with another person as soon as you can. These remarks will be much more meaningful when you actually experience the phenomenon of rhythm entrainment on your own body.

If you don’t have anyone handy, I’ll have a brief audio demo soon at my website, to be your “virtual finger-snapper.”

If you’re like most people, you’ll notice that your heartbeat speeds up as the pace of the finger snaps speed up.

You do not have a choice in the matter. This is an involuntary response of your nervous system. Loud rhythms, soft rhythms — it doesn’t make a difference. Remarkable, isn’t it, that something so fundamental and powerful isn’t taught in any school music program?

A note to nurses: If you have the radio on when you’re taking a patient’s pulse, you’re not really taking their pulse, but rather, their pulse as manipulated and controlled by the external rhythmic stimulus. My suggestion is to turn off the music when you’re taking the pulse, and you’ll get much more accurate results.

Resonance

Everything in the universe vibrates. What we hear as sound is a function of how fast something is vibrating, within the range of 20-20,000 cycles per second. Unless you’ve had a hearing test recently, chances are you don’t hear much above 16,000 cycles per second (Hertz, or Hz for short).

If you have a piano handy, play a note two octaves below middle C. Notice where in your body you feel that resonating.

Now, play middle C. Notice where you feel it.

Now, play a note two octaves above middle C. Notice where you feel it.

Different frequencies resonate in different areas of the body. Low tones resonate in the lower part of the torso and thighs. (It’s no wonder rock and rap have such loud bass and drums, considering the sexual nature of that genre.)

Midrange sounds you’ll feel in your stomach or chest.

High sounds you’ll feel in your head.

This is a broad overview. Within a given octave, it is also possible to identify specific areas of resonance, but we’ll consider that, and identify the tones that resonate each major organ and chakra, next time.

For now, it’s enough to become aware that your “human instrument” responds to the frequency range of other instruments — or your voice — in this manner (unless you have an injury or energy blockage that will modify your experience).

Until next time, begin listening to the music you enjoy and simultaneously observing your responses to rhythm and vibrational resonance. You’ll also notice that the specific quality of the tone makes a big difference. In fact, the same note played on two different instruments may have very different effects on you.

For extra credit, check out the amazing work by Dr. Hans Jenny on Cymatics (on book or video) that presents breathtaking visual demonstrations of the effects of tone and frequency on solids, liquids and gases.

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Steven Halpern is one of the world's leading composers of music for healing, wellness, and inner peace. His latest recordings include PERFECT ALIGNMENT, featuring Grammy award winner Paul McCandless, and INNER PEACE II, with Madeleine Singer. Look for them at Borders, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, your neighborhood independent retailer, or online at www.innerpeacemusic.com. For a free catalogue call 1-800-909-0707

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