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Creative Writing

Monday, 15 August 2011
Absurdity of 'Thinking in Language'
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Music and Your Body: How Music Affects Us and Why Music Therapy Promotes Health
Research has shown that music has a profound effect on your body and psyche. In fact, there’s a growing field of health care known asmusic therapy, which uses music to heal. Those who practice music therapy are finding a benefit in using music to help cancer patients, children with ADD, and others, and even hospitals are beginning to use music and music therapy to help with pain management, to help ward off depression, to promote movement, to calm patients, to ease muscle tension, and for many other benefits that music and music therapy can bring. This is not surprising, as music affects the body and mind in many powerful ways. The following are some of effects of music, which help to explain the effectiveness of music therapy:
· Brain Waves: Research has shown that music with a strong beat can stimulate brainwaves to resonate in sync with the beat, with faster beats bringing sharper concentration and more alert thinking, and a slower tempo promoting a calm,meditative state. Also, research has found that the change in brainwave activity levels that music can bring can also enable the brain to shift speeds more easily on its own as needed, which means that music can bring lasting benefits to your state of mind, even after you’ve stopped listening.
· Breathing and Heart Rate: With alterations in brainwaves comes changes in other bodily functions. Those governed by the autonomic nervous system, such as breathing and heart rate can also be altered by the changes music can bring. This can mean slower breathing, slower heart rate, and an activation of the relaxation response, among other things. This is why music and music therapy can help counteract or prevent the damaging effects of chronic stress, greatly promoting not only relaxation, but health.
· State of Mind: Music can also be used to bring a more positive state of mind, helping to keep depression and anxiety at bay. This can help prevent the stress response from wreaking havoc on the body, and can help keep creativity and optimism levels higher, bringing many other benefits.
· Other Benefits: Music has also been found to bring many other benefits, such as lowering blood pressure (which can also reduce the risk of stroke and other health problems over time), boost immunity, ease muscle tension, and more. With so many benefits and such profound physical effects, it’s no surprise that so many are seeing music as an important tool to help the body in staying (or becoming) healthy.
Using Music Therapy:
With all these benefits that music can carry, it's no surprise that music therapy is growing in popularity. For more information on music therapy, visit the American Music Therapy Association's website.
With all these benefits that music can carry, it's no surprise that music therapy is growing in popularity. For more information on music therapy, visit the American Music Therapy Association's website.
Using Music On Your Own:
While music therapy is an important discipline, you can also achieve benefits from music on your own. This article on music, relaxation and stress management can explain more of how music can be an especially effective tool for stress management, and can be used in dailly life.
While music therapy is an important discipline, you can also achieve benefits from music on your own. This article on music, relaxation and stress management can explain more of how music can be an especially effective tool for stress management, and can be used in dailly life.
Music Articles And Life Enrichment
Whether you admit it or not, music imbeds our daily life, weaving its beauty and emotion through our thoughts, activities and memories. So if you're interested in music theory, music appreciation, Beethoven, Mozart, or other composers, artists and performers, we hope you'll spend some time with here and learn from these music articles of note for all ages and tastes.
When I first started studying the history of music, I did not realize what I was getting into. I had thought that music history was somewhat of a trivial pursuit. In fact, I only took my history of classical music class because I needed the credits. I did not realize how completely fascinating music history is. You see, in our culture many of us do not really learn to understand music. For much of the world, music is a language, but for us it is something that we consumed passively. When I began to learn about the history of Western music, however, it changed all that for me. I have had some experience playing musical instruments, but I have never mastered one enough to really understand what music is all about. This class showed me.
When most of us think about the history of music, we think of the history of rock music. We assume that the history is simple because the music is simple. In fact, neither is the case. The history of music, whether you're talking about classical music, rock music, jazz music, or any other kind, is always complicated. New chord structures are introduced bringing with them new ways of understanding the world. New rhythmic patterns are introduced, bringing with them new ways of understanding time. And music reflects all of it.
Even when the class was over, I could not stop learning about the history of music. It had whetted my appetite, and I wanted more. I got all the music history books that I could find. I even began to research forms of music that had not interested me before in the hopes of enhancing my musical knowledge further. Although I was in school studying toward something very different – a degree in engineering – I had thought about giving it up and going back to get a degree in musicology. That is how much I am fascinated by the subject.
If you have never taken a course in the history of music, you don't know what you are missing out on. The radio will never sound the same to you again. Everything will seem much more rich, much more luminous, and much more important. A new song can reflect a new way of being, and a new way of imagining life in the world. This is what learning about the history of music means to many of us.
When most of us think about the history of music, we think of the history of rock music. We assume that the history is simple because the music is simple. In fact, neither is the case. The history of music, whether you're talking about classical music, rock music, jazz music, or any other kind, is always complicated. New chord structures are introduced bringing with them new ways of understanding the world. New rhythmic patterns are introduced, bringing with them new ways of understanding time. And music reflects all of it.
Even when the class was over, I could not stop learning about the history of music. It had whetted my appetite, and I wanted more. I got all the music history books that I could find. I even began to research forms of music that had not interested me before in the hopes of enhancing my musical knowledge further. Although I was in school studying toward something very different – a degree in engineering – I had thought about giving it up and going back to get a degree in musicology. That is how much I am fascinated by the subject.
If you have never taken a course in the history of music, you don't know what you are missing out on. The radio will never sound the same to you again. Everything will seem much more rich, much more luminous, and much more important. A new song can reflect a new way of being, and a new way of imagining life in the world. This is what learning about the history of music means to many of us.
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What is Healing Music?
If you look on the Internet or go into your nearby audio store you're likely to find music labeled “Healing Music.” The section may include music for relaxation, meditation, stress reduction, pain relief or tapping into one's soul. There may be a variety of instruments or sounds from a forest or the ocean.
So what makes this music “healing music?”
Music has a way of stirring our innermost feelings and all of our senses, of tapping into parts of ourselves unlike anything else. Music is a universal language that has the ability to speak to us deeply and uniquely.
If you've paid much attention to how you respond to a variety of music, you may have noticed that some music seems to energize you, some music can move you to tears or spark a special memory of a time, place, food, or perhaps a certain person. Some music seems to make you relax, feel less stressed, and feel happier. And some music fills us with deep spiritual attunement.
The following are some examples of what I mean.
1. Tapping into our innermost feelings:
Think about some of the movies you've seen. “Jaws” wouldn't be the same without its daunting, low, repetitive sounds that makes you sit on the edge of your seat waiting for the shark to attack from somewhere. Then there's “Titanic” and its gorgeous love theme that permeates throughout the movie and throughout ourselves with its bittersweetness, generating the beauty of love and the tragedy of the massive ship's sinking and loss of so many lives.
One aspect of “healing” music is to stir our feelings, to help us deal with grief, sadness, anger or other feelings. By allowing ourselves to FEEL those feelings, the intensity will eventually lessen and even dissipate, resulting in being healing for us. When we avoid our feelings (consciously or subconsciously) they nonetheless tend to build up inside. They don't just go away. Music can be a tool to help us deal with feelings within us, whether we're aware of them or not. This is one of the wonderful ways music can be incredibly healing.
2. Music for an energy boost:
I recall the late 1970's when I did housework to the Doobie Brothers' latest album, “Minute by Minute.” It would help keep me energized and cheerful while I did the laundry, dusted and straightened (not my favorite things in the world to do). Remembering that, I recently bought the CD and I find that it still works to energize me. Handel's Messiah is also a very energizing piece, or the last movement to Beethoven's 9th Symphony, the famous Ode to Joy.
In The Mozart Effect, Don Campbell talks about using music in a variety of ways throughout the day, in the morning to help energize us, throughout the day to help us focus or concentrate better, music to help our intelligence, and in the evening to help us relax.
3. Music for relaxation:
Sometimes I have trouble falling asleep, so I listen to relaxing music, which can be a tremendous help. Lately I've been listening to some wonderful Native American flute music by Scott Cunningham (visit his website at http://www.oginali.com) to help me go to sleep as well as recently during some very busy days to help me not feel so stressed out. I've also drifted off to sleep listening to a guided meditation by Ron Mann, Ph.D., Sleep. You can check out Ron's tapes athttp://www.ronmann.com/. I've listed more listening ideas at the Bibliography and Discography section of my website.
What exactly is “relaxing” music? Whether we are aware of it or not, music that's relaxing tends to slow down our heart rates to about one beat per second. If we're feeling stressful, angry, anxious, or irritable, our heart rates tend to increase. Music can actually help our heart rates slow down to a more relaxing pace, changing our physiology. This phenomenon is what can help me fall asleep more easily. It's what is found with many meditation tapes or other music specifically designed for stress reduction or relaxation.
4. Music for spiritual attunement:
Chanting has existed for centuries. For example, there are wonderful recordings of Gregorian chants, chants from India, chants sung by Catholic or Buddhist monks and other religious or secular groups. They tend to be repetitive with the goal of deepening our spiritual lives, whatever they may be, or at the very least, to help bring peaceful feelings into our beings.
There is a large variety of music that taps into our souls. For example, I am almost finished recording music that I've written for a new CD (or audio tape), Journey Within. It has been a truly inspirational journey, one that has been incredibly healing. It was all written from my soul, and those qualities are heard throughout every piece. You can listen to sound clips at my website at http://shirleykaiser.com/music/. The recording should be available sometime this winter.
5. Choosing Music
How do we know what music to choose to be healing for us? What about the variety of musical tastes that we each have? I have some suggestions on my Bibliography page to help get you started. There are also several books listed there, such as Hal Lingerman's, The Healing Energies of Music, which lists music categorically, a tremendously helpful resource.
If you don't already, I encourage you to pay attention to your responses to a variety of music - physically, mentally, spiritually. To refer to when you need it, jot down the music that helps you in different ways, such as some of the examples I've mentioned above. That can be a valuable tool to use when you need it.
How To Profit From Giving Away Free Music
If there is one thing clear about music and the internet, it’s that there are no clear options for distribution. Rather, there are hundreds of varied strategies that may work depending on who you are and what your situation is. Creativity and understanding of how the web works are the two things that will help you the most.
To most people the idea of releasing free to use music may sound unprofitable and wasteful, but when looking at the bigger picture it turns out to be a very smart move. There is no better way to spread your music than to release it for free. In most cases you wouldn’t be making much from selling it anyway. Just like in any business, you need to have a customer base before you can make any profit.
Assuming you are a musician who can perform live as well as produce studio recordings, the ways to make money in the modern music environment will not be from album sales. The album as a concept is slowly but surely disappearing, as music is no longer released on disks and more emphasis is being places on EPs and singles. These are harder to sell for considerable profits, and by offering them only for payment, you limit how many people will obtain them.
Instead of trying to go against the unstoppable juggernaut of illegal file sharing and music downloading, go with it. Give your music away and watch it spread as far as it can. Keeping in mind that you could only make so much off it anyway, in the beginning at least, the positives outweigh the negative.
In return for passing out your music free of charge, you obtain promotion and reputation in return. In other words, you get more fans. Fans are what lead to profits down the line if you are a musical act, and they are the most important thing when it comes to the business side of the equation. So the move is to get your music out there in any way that you can if you think it will lead to promotion and new fans.
New fans can lead to increased albums sales, concert ticket sales, and music placement in commercials or films, and that is when the money will be coming in. But if you started off selling a few albums for $10 a piece, you would be sitting around with $50 and five fans. That $50 is nothing compared to the long term income obtainable from establishing yourself as a popular musical act.
So when you are thinking about how to make a living with your music, think about how to get fans before you think about monetization. Look for sites like freeusemusic.net that work to get people’s music out there and their names recognized, and use any tool you can find. Creativity in promotion is the name of the game on the internet, and the key to getting your work heard.
Sunday, 7 August 2011
The Best Giclee Prints
A solution to express 1 is through art. Several persons collect art and seeks for the finest abstracts, landscapes or even photography. There are actually particular qualities of fine art that makes 1 be calm whilst in the exact same time, it beautifies the surroundings at home or in an workplace. In the present time, there are nonetheless original art 1 can buy directly from the artist or by means of a gallery, but most of the loved art is already challenging to locate and high priced. Giclee prints, fine art prints and limited edition prints are getting provided by some printing presses. The question now is exactly where to seek for that best publisher to print such lovely art.
Loads of people who loves art are on the market looking for for specific masterpieces. Giclee prints are made if the art works they’re seeking for are not out there already. These serve as an alternative for the original art that’s hard to obtain already. It utilizes each leading of the line paper and ink to produce a mirror image of the original art.
Fine art prints are produced frequently these days. These are commonly displayed to decorate one’s property or offices. Art pieces are eye candies to loads of persons. If the original art wants to be reprinted, it’s essential for it to be printed on the ideal top quality brand paper to capture the genuine image of the original art.
A well-liked top quality brand of paper that is employed by the best artists or publishing providers is the Somerset brand. It can be known globally to complement the hues of one’s work. This paper is created up of pure cotton that is crafted at St. Cuthberts Mill in England. Restricted edition prints are finest printed on this type of paper since of its lighfastness that allows to capture the accurate colors of the original art, generating an precise duplicate in the procedure.
If 1 desires to purchase giclee prints, it can be vital to bear in mind the significance to purchase it from a dependable publisher who utilizes only the best equipments and supplies for printing. Art is costly but if it’s regenerated to appear like the precise mirror image with the original art, then the capital spent is worth it. Image South Fine Art is really a publishing provider delivering good quality printings for art.
Image South Fine Art will be the leading publisher for limited edition prints, fine art prints and gliclee prints. Aside from printing, it also sells original fine art from leading artists. It uses top quality equipment and supplies to print the art to. To satisfy their customer they use the Somerset brand of paper for the most effective results. Image South Fine Art is a publishing firm to make sure your demands are met with printing your preferred art.
Getting fine art paper prints online can often be difficult. I have found some of the best fine art are right in front of our face.
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