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Home » Posts tagged "Music"

Tag Archives: Music

Music and Me by Isaac Peterson (Part Two)

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Kim Thompson Posted in Brain Injury Awareness, Our BEST Stories Leave a comment
(Editor’s Note: Writer and stroke survivor Isaac Peterson shares his love of music, before and after his brain injury, as well as the positive impact it’s made on his recovery. Enjoy this two-part series! KT)

The author and his guitar (courtesy photo)

Although I don’t play music any more, music still a big part of my life. I feel it’s played a huge role in my recovery.

And though I didn’t realize it for a long time, just like other things I’ve inadvertently devised as part of my personal self-care program, it seems I came up with my own individual music therapy. I wrote before about my former life as a guitarist; now I’ll write a little about how music influences my current post-stroke life.

I’ve had a couple of people recommend music therapy since I’m so into music. I tried to read some about it but after a couple of websites that used descriptions like,  music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program, I gave up.

But I did learn some useful information about music therapy, things like how music therapy was useful in the speech recovery process for Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who suffered from a bullet wound to the head.

Music therapy is useful for:
1. Lessening the effects of dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
2. Reduce asthma episodes.
3. Reducing pain in hospital patients.
4. Improving communication skills in autistic children.
5. And lots of other conditions.

But I couldn’t find many examples of actual music therapy music–although I admit I didn’t look very hard.

One place where I was able to find a good example of how I envision music therapy music is found on the site of my UK friend and fellow blogger Michelle Munt’s website. It’s at jumbledbrain.com and automatically plays background music that I think is very relaxing (Michelle is also a brain injury survivor, blogger and life coach–check her out).

As for me, I was talking with my long-time friend and caregiver, Nancy. I mentioned my intuition about how my music has helped me in my recovery. Nancy said the kind of music I listen to tends to be a bit complex, melodic, and layered. Those qualities, she thinks, stimulate my brain and penetrates to my higher brain functioning. She mentioned that people with musical aptitude often have heightened math ability. Not me, but often when I lay down and listen to music in the dark with my eyes closed, I can see geometric patterns and see the different melody lines moving with and against each other. I know that sounds goofy, but I don’t know how else to describe it.

I wonder sometimes if the music I listen to might release endorphins–hormones released in the brain that do a lot of beneficial things for you like make you feel calm and happy, and increase energy. They also ease pain and do lots of other positive things. I write a lot about having a positive attitude and releasing endorphins in your brain can help a bit with that. I think music might help with increasing one’s endorphin output.

I tend toward positive, optimistic, life affirming music–but there is a lot of music out there that I view as negative and angry. That kind of thing might be kind of cathartic to some people, but to me, even a few minutes of it can leave me unsettled for the rest of the day. (I won’t mention any particular bands or artists because I might name somebody you like a lot).

Here are three examples of some music I’ve been listening to. I’m tending to lean toward more instrumental music these days. I still like guitars, and these tunes have guitars but are very melodic and for me, very expressive, uplifting and emotional.

The first is by a British band called Sky and is absolutely one of my favorite all-time compositions. It has intricate interplay and to me it is very hopeful, optimistic and relaxing. I have described that this composition as what my heart and soul sound like.

This one is by the group Santana.

And the third is by another British group called Camel. The guitar isn’t prominent but it’s there.

These are just three examples of music I think has been instrumental in my recovery, but not by all means, not all. This is what works for me–something else may be right for you. I hope you will give my examples a try. I don’t expect you to like it, but I sure do.

It keeps me at peace with myself and the world and gives my brain fertile ground to do its work recovering.

Do feel free to listen to whatever works for you.

So what are you listening to?

Isaac Peterson grew up on an Air Force base near  Cheyenne, Wyoming. After graduating from the University of Wyoming, he embarked on a career as an award-winning investigative journalist and as a semi-professional musician in the Twin Cities, the place he called home on and off for 35 years. He also doesn’t mind it at all if someone offers to pick up his restaurant tab. Peterson also welcomes reader comments. Email him at isaac3rd@gmail.com.
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Isaac Peterson Music Music Therapy

Music and Me by Isaac Peterson (Part One)

Posted on December 6, 2018 by Kim Thompson Posted in Our BEST Stories Leave a comment

(Editor’s Note: Writer and stroke survivor Isaac Peterson shares his love of music, before and after his brain injury, as well as the positive impact it’s made on his recovery. Enjoy this two-part series! KT)

By most accounts it seems that the rapidity of my recovery from a stroke so far has been pretty remarkable, at least judging by the number of comments I hear all the time.

I like hearing that my improvement is something people can see, but it’s not happening all by itself. I credit my progress to self-care. I’ve talked about what I do for my own self-care program but I haven’t really said much about how I think music has been part of my recovery. It looks like I’ve discovered my own form of music therapy.

I’ll explain how I currently use music in my personal self-care program, but something is making me want to talk first about how music has been a big part of my life. I think I’ll have to do two blog entries, the first one about then and the next part about now.

I’ll skip over the part about my early addiction to popular music on the radio. I could write books about how much I was into that and my addiction to the radio as a teenager.

I will say, though. that my intense interest made me want to be a musician as far back as elementary school. But my parents wanted me to focus on school and didn’t want to pay for music lessons anyway.

I did get my father to spring for a portable keyboard eventually, an electronic organ that folded up like a suitcase. It didn’t take long before I figured out how to play by ear. By the end of high school I had taught myself songs like A Whiter Shade Of Pale by Procol Harum (turns out it was based on a piece by Bach called Sleepers Awake).

But when I started college, I couldn’t have my organ in my dorm room, so I took up the guitar. I learned a few basics then proceeded from there to playing by ear, as I had done before on organ. For years I pretty much only played when I was alone.

Then after I got my bachelor’s degree and moved to Minnesota, I finally started playing in bands. My first real band was called the Reactors (I never liked that name but I was outvoted by the other guys in the band. I can’t remember the name I wanted–it might have been the Dust Bunnies or Iron Grease Sucking Machine or something.)

The Reactors was a band that would play anywhere, any time, partly to get our name out there, partly to try to make a little money (and the money was very little). We played parties, a wedding once, a few corporate gigs, and lots of bars.  The thing I liked most about the Reactors was that we played mostly our own original music but I didn’t contribute much at first.

The author and his double-neck guitar (courtesy photo)

Then I got the double neck guitar you see in the picture on the left.  The bottom neck is six-stringed. the top one has twelve. I really wasn’t that good a guitarist until that point; that guitar seemed to open up something inside me and my playing took off. Sometimes I felt like I could fly while I played it. I got my hands on an old surgeon scrub outfit and dyed it black. That outfit and guitar was my calling card. Some people called me Guitar Doctor.

And I finally started writing music.

The very first music I ever wrote was called Dancing With A Mannequin. The keyboard player and the bass guitarist wrote the words to it, but the music was all mine, and it was a real crowd-pleaser. It got so that women would come up sometimes to dance with me while I was playing it–not that I ever complained.

People would come see us just to hear  that tune and would holler out, Play Dancing With A Mannequin!

There were people in the crowd who would sing along. You can hear a studio recording of the song right here on this page (Invite your friends over. Invite your neighbors. Invite your friends’ neighbors.)

http://www.brainenergysupportteam.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/03-Dancing-With-A-Mannequin.mp3

That tune was a real workout for the band and became our signature tune.

But we never made much money; I always had to have a day job. We never did put out any recordings. Sometimes somebody would ask me if we had a record and my standard reply was, Yeah, we got a record–most consecutive gigs without gettin’ paid.

People loved us and other bands hated to have to come onstage after us. We always had enthusiastic audiences but our problem was that we couldn’t be easily categorized, and people running venues and signing bands to record couldn’t classify us, so the only people who knew us was our cult following and our friends.

I look back on those days with fondness. As I said, I never made much money playing music but it was good for my heart and for my soul. At least I won’t be an old man wondering with regret what it would have been like to be in a performing band.

I told you all that to tell you this: That was a big part of the life of the pre-stroke me. I get prodded to get back into playing and I would but for two things: I don’t feel the need to do it any more. My new creative outlet is my writing. I find writing words and writing music to be similar processes. And the other reason is that since my stroke and TBI I just don’t have the strength, coordination, or dexterity in my fingers to play. I miss it, but at the same time I don’t. I can revel in the memories, but that’s what they’ll have to stay: memories. I can enjoy those memories but comparing my old life to my new one is a nonproductive game that would keep me from focusing on my new life and what I need to do with it. Besides, even though I kind of felt like a rock star when I was playing, the feedback I get from writing this blog makes me feel like a rock star all over again.

I can’t dwell on my past or have regrets about not playing, but I can look forward to the future I’m carving out for myself and focus on that. The first time I attended my support group I remember being asked about my prospects for recovery. My reply was this: I intend to recover–I still have amazing things left to do.

And I intend to do amazing things, like recover beyond all outside expectations.

All right. Enough about what I did musically in the past. Next time I’ll talk a little about how central music is to my life and recovery in these days and times.

The second part of this piece is coming soon to a computer monitor near you.

Isaac Peterson grew up on an Air Force base near  Cheyenne, Wyoming. After graduating from the University of Wyoming, he embarked on a career as an award-winning investigative journalist and as a semi-professional musician in the Twin Cities, the place he called home on and off for 35 years. He also doesn’t mind it at all if someone offers to pick up his restaurant tab. Peterson also welcomes reader comments. Email him at isaac3rd@gmail.com.

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Isaac Peterson Music

BEST Superhero of the Month July 2018

Posted on July 31, 2018 by Kim Thompson Posted in BEST Updates, Brain Injury Awareness, Community News, Our BEST Stories, Special Events Leave a comment

Andy Dovey (courtesy photo)

Our BEST Superhero of the Month for July 2018 is a superhero whose superpowers are both words and music that have made a difference in the lives of others.

BEST wishes and congratulations to our newest BEST Superhero of the Month, Andy Dovey!

Andy has served a regular BEST guest blogger and contributor. On this blog and on his personal blog, he has shared his personal journey forward as a stroke survivor and as a stroke awareness advocate.

Andy is also a longtime professional musician who is using his musical talent to share stroke awareness around the world.

Here’s what Andy’s nominator had to say:

Andy Dovey has a beautiful way with words.

His honest, powerful, positive and empowered personal essays have been a key driver in getting awareness and education about stroke into the public eye. 

Besides Andy’s writing, he is an accomplished musician who is using his time and talents to share stroke awareness and his own personal journey forward in this art form as well. 

Andy has been a guest blogger for BEST, and his writing has been enjoyed and shared by the BEST community. We are so fortunate to have Andy on our writing team and so appreciate his valuable contributions he makes to the brain injury community, near and far, each and every day! 

Many thanks to Andy for all of his support of the brain injury community!

Know a special real-life superhero in the brain injury community? We’d love to hear about them. Click here to learn more and nominate someone today!

 

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Andy Dovey BEST Superhero of the Month Blogging Music stroke Stroke Awareness Writers Writing

A Happy Friday Holiday Classic!

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Kim Thompson Posted in Uncategorized

Check out this holiday classic performed by enchanting and jazzy singer-songwriter and TBI survivor, Melody Gardot! Happy Friday one and all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oehOOoMHxG8

 

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