Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Empathic People and Music


Changing my career from a full time non-profit accountant and software trainer to a therapeutic musician eight years ago has been a huge positive influence on my good health and well-being.  I enjoyed studying to become a Certified Clinical Musician and keep up with the latest research on music not only for patients but also for the therapeutic musician.

A recent collaborative research study on highly empathic people and music found evidence supporting a neural account of the music-empathy connection. Also, it is among the first to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore how empathy affects the way we perceive music.


"Those who deeply grasp the pain or joy of other people and display “higher empathic concern” process music differently in their brains, according to a new study by researchers at Southern Methodist University and UCLA. Their paper, “Neurophysiological Effects of Trait Empathy in Music Listening,” was recently published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience."



Thursday, June 7, 2018

Centenarian

When I provide therapeutic harp music in facilities, it is typical that I do not have information on the patient or resident other than name and age.  Last week I was thrilled to provide the joy of music to a Centeraian, 100.5 years old!  She had two daughters with her, chatting, trying to keep her spirits up.  When I showed up with the small harp and ukulele, I knew right away only the harp would work as she had only one hand she could use.  She sat up a little straighter, raised her hand to meet the strings on the harp that laid on the table before her and stroked it as her eyes started to sparkle and smile.  Her daughters told me that music was very important to her in her life, that she played the piano before and how this little harp seemed to make all the difference to her in that moment.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Accessible Harp Music

In addition to providing therapeutic harp music and instruction to those with challenges, I have been publishing No-C-Notes audio music described score for 30 years now.  Most of the music I have transcribed from print into audio has been per request from a musician, student or teacher which has been copyrighted.  That means I could not resell it to anyone other than the requester.  I have such a large library of transcribed works, but major publishers have yet to give me permission to resell it.  Obtaining permission is my 2018 goal!

I have coached many new harpers with learning how to play a lever harp and they have asked if they could have Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp by Sylvia Woods in No-C-Notes audio.  She graciously said Yes! and the project is now complete.  This book and Laurie Riley's Play the Therapy Harp in No-C-Notes have excellent instruction and music exercises and songs for beginners through intermediate players.

Check out both of these books in the No-C-Notes Harp Store along with some single copy harp sheet music audio described at: https://www.xinamusic.com/no-c-notes-store/no-c-notes-harp-music/

Want only melody with chords, then check the Lead Notes for lead sheet music large selection:  https://www.xinamusic.com/no-c-notes-store/lead-notes/

I am excited with Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp now available in No-C-Notes version.  I have been slowly finishing up some public domain, mostly Celtic, harp music to offer so keep checking the catalog pages.

My future blog postings will be keeping you up-to-date with new audio score availability, response to questions and requests and interviews with harpers with disabilities and teachers.