The Healing Energies of Music, New Edition

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 292 pages
• Published by: Quest Books
• Edition: 2nd Edition May 25, 1995
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0835607224
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0835607223
• Book Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 14.7 ounces

Midwest Book Review
Music affects human beings. A lively Bach concerto encourages attention and clear thinking, while a CD of harp music and the sounds of ocean waves relaxes us and relieves stress. The Healing Energies Of Music can help determine just the right music to complement a state of mind, heal an emotional or physical ill, or further spiritual yearning. Musical therapist and teacher Hal Lingerman's The Healing Energies Of Music presents a wealth of resources for choosing and locating just the right music for just the right purpose. With comprehensive lists of current recordings (including new and remastered CDs), Lingerman's exhaustive sourcebook will guide the reader in finding music to benefit their temperament, lifestyle, and spiritual aspirations. The Healing Energies Of Music includes Women's Music, World Music, the Music of Nature, and Angelic Music. The Healing Energies Of Music is a unique and valued addition to any personal self-help or music appreciation collection.

Book Description
A compendium of music recommended for healing body, mind, and soul.

Reader Reviews
THE HEALING ENERGIES OF MUSIC. By Hal A. Lingerman. 292 pp. Second Edition. Wheaton, Il.: Quest Books (The Theosophical Publishing House), 1995. ISBN 0-8356-0722-4 (pbk.) The title of this book might lead one to expect the sort of deep exploration plus practical treatment of music and sound that is found, for example, in the books of Jonathan Goldman, Don G. Campbell, and Katharin Le Mee. These are important books that bring us astounding knowledge about the nature of sound and the powerful and important effects it has on us, knowledge that will be complete news to most. The present book, in contrast, is rather superficial, and does not really tell us anything about sound and music that we don't already know. In fact, this book is little more than a catalogue, and one with a powerful Christian agenda. Each of its twelve chapters follows the same pattern - general (and occasionally gushing) comment followed by a discography. The twelve chapters are as follows : 1. Music and you - A Closer Relationship; 2. Music for Better Health and Well-Being; 3. Finding Your Music; 4. Music for Daily Life; 5. Music for Home and Family; 6. The Music of Nature; 7. Angelic Music; 8. Music and Global Spirituality; 9. Gallery of Great Composers : Composer Keynotes; 10. The Deeper Mysteries of Music; 11. Music for the Future; 12. Women Composers. The book is rounded out with three Appendices, and with a Bibliography in which I note the striking absence of Katharine Le Mee's extremely important book on Gregorian Chant. Although personally I haven't found the slightest use for this book at all, I can see how it might be of some value to people looking for advice about what to listen to. Its intended audience would seem to be the Christian who either has extremely deep pockets or access to an enormous library collection of recordings. My biggest problem with this book, however, is that it assumes a totally passive audience, an audience that simply wants to listen while waves of beautiful sound wash over them. Not that there's anything wrong with this as such, but nothing at all is said about our own power to create music by using the finest instrument that is available to anyone - her or his own God-given voice. Few of us have the ability to sing well. But all of us can learn how to tone, to produce single notes of amazing power and beauty. And I wonder whether the production of such a note, simple and modest as it may seem, may not be doing as much or more for us than a mere passive listening to even the most ravishing symphony or concerto. The modern world is filled to overflowing with experts, whose main effect seems to have been to convince everyone that everything is best left to them. This, however, may not be altogether true, and may have helped to destroy a great deal of individual initiative and creativity. We all have a voice and the innate power of producing marvelous sounds. If, after reading Lingerman and enjoying some of the very fine listening he recommends (his lists, so far as they go, are excellent), you'd like to learn about the real mysteries of sound and how to make hugely enjoyable sounds of your own, try taking a look at these titles : HEALING SOUNDS : The Power of Harmonics. Revised Edition. By Jonathan Goldman. New York : Harper Collins, 1996 (1992). ISBN: 1852308486 (pbk.) THE ROAR OF SILENCE : Healing Powers of Breath, Tone & Music. By Don G. Campbell. 134 pp. Wheaton, Ill.: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1994 (1989). ISBN 0-8356-0645-7 (pbk.) CHANT : The Origins, Form, Practice, and Healing Power of Gregorian Chant. By Katharine Le Mee. 169 pp. New York : Bell Tower, 1994. ISBN 0-517-70037-9 (hbk.) The wise understanding of sound shared by these books goes further than anything in the present book, and since practical instruction is given in the first two, you may discover that you didn't really need Lingerman's lists after all. Comment | Permalink | (Report this)