Author: Dianne Hammerand

Last week we talked about Love Songs, and while we often think about music lessons as necessary for the development of the brain, music is also used in diagnosing and even healing the (physical) heart.

Some of these arrythmia are so close to Beethoven’s work, some scientists believe that he was in tune with (due to his deafness) his own irregular heartbeat.

Understanding that passion and heated moments change how a heart functions, cardiologists study how emotions affect the conductive properties of heart cells and mental stress changes how the heart cells recover after every heartbeat. This leads research into new ways of looking at the heart and involving music in healing.

The human heartbeat provided the standard measure of musical time, until the mechanical metronome replaced it. One reason music moves us is it links us to the primal intuition of our own heartbeat. Music changes our heartrates, breathing, and blood pressure. Music-induced physiological changes have been traced to a central spot in the brain linked with the nerve responsible for unconscious regulation of bodily functions.

There’s so much to be learned from these and other discoveries about the heart and music. We may be close to getting music prescriptions for both physical and mental health.

So many of us think of love songs around Valentine’s Day, and it is a time for love to be in the air. Everyone has their favorites – don’t be afraid to share with us, in comments or on our Facebook page.

The oldest known love song is the love song of Shu-Sin, which was discovered in the library of Ashurbanipal in Mesopotamia. It’s about romantic and erotic love. It predates Solomon’s Song of Songs from the Bible.

Wiki defines a love song as a song about romantic love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings surrounding these experiences.

Looking for a love song that’s new to you?

https://www.timeout.com/music/60-best-love-songs

While I’d heard most of them, I’m going to try a few I’m not familiar with. If you’re a streaming music subscriber, you can request love songs on your platform.

Romantic love and falling in love are very specific to the people it happens to, so don’t worry if your favorites aren’t on the list. Feel free to make your own list, share with someone you care about, and sing (or play) with them when that feeling strikes.

Here’s one of mine that didn’t make the list:

In the lab this week, the challenge for students is to write at least one minute in both monophony and polyphony on your own instrument or even one you’ve never played before. New words for music support people? Monophony is a single melody line. Polyphony is multiple melody lines.

There are many songs in popular music where there is a single (sung) melody line, and at a later point in the song the earlier melodies are layered together. (I’ve got We Don’t Talk About Bruno stuck in my head, but every song sung in the round starts with a monophony, turns into a polyphony, and ends in monophony. Please save me from my earworm and comment with your favorite songs that blend both of these. Adele – Rolling in the Deep and Happy – Pharrell Williams)

Have a blast in the lab with the medieval music theme. We’re looking at music styles between 500 and 1400 AD. Many common examples include Gregorian chants and church music.

The theme this month is Medieval Music! Music history and music composition will focus on the ideas that make medieval music what it once was – the longest running era of classical music. It’s also the first documented era of music and a great way to start January.

The five characteristics of medieval music are monophony, music notation, instruments, troubadours and trouvères, and rhythm/modes. Some of those are new words for me and maybe you, too. Monophony refers to one melody line, often vocals sung with or without accompaniment. Music notation, far from what we read as music today, was to show where to have the vocal melody rise or fall. Instruments included a flute (with holes, not keys), recorder, lute, dulcimer, and lyra. Troubadours are traveling musicians and trouvères are poet-musicians. Medieval music was not organized as modern music; instead, the time period used rhythmic patterns called modal scales – and there were eight of them.

As always, for our youngest students we offer new seasonal coloring pages and other age-appropriate activities.