More benefits to playing music

A few days ago we were talking about the fact that people who listen to music use more of their brain. People who play music use even more of their brain! Right now we're in one of the biggest holidays seasons of all and every one of these celebrations focuses on special music. Want to create warm, wonderful positive memories for your children and grandchildren? Put the music on, or even better, pull out the old sheet music, guitar, violin, flute or whatever! Music reinforces all of the poitive behaviors and thoughts that you are creating every minute of every day. Don't waste a moment!

By the way, I'm having a big holiday sale on my website. If you buy a CD, tape or book, you'll get a free electronic copy of the product and you'll get free shipping though the 25th of this month! I'm also having a special on individual, personal consultations: If you buy a 30-minute consult, you'll get an additional 15 minutes free; if you buy a 60-minute consultation, you'll get an additional 30 minutes free. Don't wait! Go to http://www.healingmusicenterprises.com/NeedSomeLast-minuteGifts.htm

Want to use more of your brain? Play music!

At the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Los Angeles several years ago, Dr. Lawrence Parsons of the University of Texas-San Antonio discussed the results of his research which showed that significantly more of the brain was being used during music making that previously thought. We have been taught for years that most of us use very little of our brain but it's not because we don't want to...it's because we don't know how to access more of it! If playing music will help us use more of our brain, bring out those instruments: drums, piano, horns, harps! Let the music begin!

"An understanding of the brain locations that represent the separate aspects of music will help us identify the neural mechanisms that are specific to music, specific to language and are shared between the two," says Parsons. "The finding that there is a right brain region for notes and musical passages that corresponds in location to a left brain region for letters and words illustrates how a neural mechanism may be present in each of the two brain hemispheres becomes special adapted for analogous purposes but with different information contexts."