Key concepts
What is music therapy
How and where to use music therapy
Music therapy or melotherapy is used for dealing with behaviour, emotional, schizophrenic, depression disturbances or to increase creativity and improve communication among others. This kind of therapy involves emotions and can be active (interaction with the music) and passive (listening to music).
It is said that music is the only sensorial experience that can activate all the brain areas simultaneously. Various researchers lead to the conclusion that music increases cognitive performance, trains the brain cells and supports them to process the information more efficiently.
The Mozart effect
This effect associated the increase of intelligence levels with classical music listening. K448 Sonata for two pianos belonging to Mozart for 10 minutes it was shown to present various rational and spatial abilities significantly better compared to reading instructions with or without music.
When to use melotherapy?
Music evokes emotions and stimulates the awarding centres of the brain, and so it is beneficial for any condition related to the balanced mental and body health, as well as a good self-development, such as:
Depression;
Anxiety, stress;
Chronic pain;
Schizophrenia;
Addictions;
Autism;
Personality disorders;
Insomnia;
Dementia;
Aggression and impulsivity;
Coordination or movement problems;
Breathing problems;
Emotional disturbance;
Self-reflection
Trauma rehabilitation;
Develop of own identity;
Improving communication abilities;
Low self-esteem;
Learning difficulties.
A therapy session is usually 40-45 minutes, once per week, where you listen to the music to engage with the rhythm of your own body, then of the language, and of the song. It has been proved that while listening to your favourite music dopamine is released in higher quantities and so it positively affects the state and well-being.
Recommended songs as home remedies
Relaxing the nervous system: Concert no. 5 for piano and orchestra of Beethoven, Persival ouverture of Wagner;
Relaxing: Animals’ apocalypsis of Vangelis;
Recreation: Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp of Debussy, Clair de luna of Debussy, Chopin’s nocturnes;
Neuromuscular relaxation: Swan Lake of Tchaikivsky, Serenade by Chopin, Pastoral Symphony by Beethoven, Dream of Love by Liszt;
Calming, tranquillity: The Seasons by Vivaldi, Ave Maria by Schubert, Imperial Concerto by Beethoven, Waltzes by Chopin -for insomnia: Bach's Goldberg Variations;
Combat fatigue and overwork: the symphonic poem Vltava by Smetana, Morning by Grieg;
Depressive states: Dvorak's Carnival;
calm the agitated states: Ode to Joy by Beethoven, Pilgrim's Choir by Wagner;
treatment of asthenic neurosis and vegetative disorders: Little serenade and Symphony no. 41 by Mozart;
calming the great sufferings that occur after tragic events: Dvorak's Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky's Pathética;
tonic, optimistic music: Hungarian Rhapsody by Lizt, Grand Waltz from Tannhauser by Wagner, Actul Vdin Faust by Gounod.
Recommended vocalisations to practise at home
The vocalisations help the respiratory system so you can use:
A - acts on the cranial box, the upper parts of the lungs and the vocal cords;
E - acts on the thyroid gland, the larynx and the vocal cords, it is recommended for singers and actors;
I - acts on the head, nose, larynx, ribcage, ear, the vibrations being transmitted upwards, contributes to the elimination of pathological products from the lungs and relieves headaches;
O - acts on the ribcage and the lungs, which it stimulates, it is recommended for chronic lung patients, singers, artists;
U - acts on the abdominal organs (stomach, liver), regulates the activity of the intestines, is recommended for constipation;
Mmm... - has action on the head, sinuses, indicated in headache, sinusitis.
The therapy through music is not a self stand alone therapy and should be accompanied with various other rehabilitation processes, yet it has been proven to improve the results with its help.