Healing Tones vs. Feeling Tones: Is Musical Healing Pseudo-Science or Real Science?
Healing Tones vs. Feeling Tones:
Is Musical Healing Pseudo-Science or Real Science?
Two of my greatest passions in life are art and science. So, what happens when the two collide? A cautiously approached topic for me, is the postulation that certain sounds or frequencies can have healing properties. Immediately, questions arise; mainly, how? Digging deeper might provoke questions like, ‘does this change our perceptions of art or science?’, or ‘how legitimate can this actually be?’
So, I pose the primary question: is musical healing pseudo-science or real science? The short answer is a very hesitant sort of… In a way, it depends what you are healing from.
A quick Youtube search and you can find all sorts of gimmicky videos with vague descriptions claiming the audio can heal DNA and an array of other bizarre things that you never even knew needed fixed.
Maybe you’ve heard of the ‘Miracle Tone’, a frequency pitch at which (apparently) our bodies resonate with in a very nice way. It’s the most popular go-to if you’re looking for a quick DNA M.O.T., at least I think it is.
This tone at 432Hz or 528Hz can apparently resonate with our bodies, repairing damaged DNA. It’s an interesting premise. Videos that you can usually find by way of instantly recognisable thumbnails, usually consisting of geometric and fractal pattern designs to suggest it’s holistic nature. For those curious with the quantum world of particles, it’s no surprise to hear that all particles, all the time, are vibrating or interacting with each other in some shape or form. You might go as far as to say that the matter we are made of, acts as a giant vibrating chord.
This is not my interpretation of how particles, matter, cells or sound work, but one might argue that sound waves are a form of perturbation through the semi fluid-like medium our bodies are made of. The idea is that non-auditory cells might be kicked into some kind of life again by way of certain frequencies that changes the listeners internal fluid pressure, resulting in the apparent healing qualities.
Personally, when listening to sustained tones or sounds, it’s easy to find yourself becoming ‘hypnotised’ - like meditating with a Chinese singing bowl. There is an obvious relaxing quality with such a practice, as well as a physiological reaction (slowed breathing, reduced heart rate) but does it mean that the listener is being healed?
I find that it ends up inviting more questions rather than answer them. What is healing, really? How can air vibrations even do such a thing? Why is it only certain frequencies? What happens when we play lots of frequencies over each other… like a song? Are there tones that are destructive to our bodies (or DNA)? Maybe these are things that need to be figured out before claiming the healing benefits of sound.
You could take the angle that science doesn’t prove pseudo-science wrong, rather it just doesn’t dis-prove the idea. This is exactly what you would expect to hear, as by denomination, science does in fact prove a lot of pseudo-science wrong, it’s just that most of it hasn’t yet been falsified because of lack of testing. In science it’s important to take an idea and then devise a way to test it vigorously.
Whereas a quick dismissal can seem unscientific. Does the un-testability of these ideas mean that the outcome cannot be correct? What about areas of cosmology or quantum physics? These are other areas that we can’t physically test but believe we have a strong understanding of. Bear in mind that this is not a new revelation. There has been an ongoing debate within the fields of science and phycology about defining the ‘healing’ qualities of sound. Although, it seems to be a result of how your mind and body responds to sound in tandem.
Let’s now move away from holistic healing and take a more serious approach...
Music Therapy is a slightly different ball game, and has a more legitimised basis for belief. Actually, it’s a growing and exciting field in psychology. Typically consisting of ex-musicians, savvy with provoking those all important emotional responses from the listener, wether it be an emotional relief or for the purpose of soothing a subject. It can help in the following ways:
Reduction in anxiety - Playing audio in a stressful, or anxious scenario can help shrink the feelings of discomfort. This is particularly useful when considering the lack of requirement for general anaesthetics (not removing the need for them entirely though, I should note). You may have heard that low tones relax us and higher pitches are more likely to stimulate us (although everyone’s biology is different). Higher sounds relate back to animal calls and a stand to attention.
Speech Restoration - Following damage on the left side of the brain from a stroke or something similar, music can help the recovery process and can help restore speech patterns and language memory. This down to the structure of our brains, where the ability to sing is stored in the right side of the brain, making it possible to derive information from the side not effected.
Pain relief and recovery - In a similar fashion to the use of audio in reducing discomfort, it is also used to help in the treatment of chemotherapy and various cancer treatments. It has been proven to alter our perception of pain and decrease the intensity of such feelings, even an increases rate of healing (Study from University of Salzburg).
Chronic Sleep Conditions - According to one study sleep quality improved when listening to music or sounds, even listening to audio books can help chronic sleeping disorders and generally sleeping better overall.
Physical Therapy - Maybe the most obvious and most relatable, music is also used to motivate those going through physical therapies. For example, I’m sure we’ve all felt the lacklustre appearance at the gym after forgetting your earphones! Whereas listening to upbeat music can trigger a biological response.
Schizophrenia + more! - On the more extreme end of the mental health spectrum, conditions such as schizophrenia, depression and chronic pain has also been shown to be under better control following musical treatment - please do take with a pinch of salt and do not rely solely on this to treat such conditions. If you have them, go to your doctor!
The idea that music can help with memory, understanding language and keeping our brains healthy is a massive step forward in our growing knowledge of what music is capable of.
Although, most of the research up to this point seems to be in a tug of war between communities, it has been shown that the same parts of the brain’s system work to understand music, language and memorising information. The benefits of such research with patients who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer's could be invaluable, and in many ways might help the restoration process. Supposedly even helping the ageing of the brain and working to keep it healthy!
Fortunately for us musician types, a study at the University of Kansas showed that those with the pre-existing musical experience, or who studied it growing up, can have a permanently positive effect on the brain. Those who came from a musical background scored higher on cognitive ability assessments than those with no musical experience. Compared to non-musicians, individuals scored better when testing the brains ability to adapt and understand new information, naming objects and even our visual and spacial memory. The effects remained even when the subjects had stopped playing an instrument.
This means that all those years smashing instruments during your youth was not in vain. Yay for us! You could take this even further. You thought having to deal with a New Year diet was bad? Ever considered trying a healthy sonic diet? Websites like Help Guide encourage this, noting,
“When choosing locations to eat, hold. Business meetings, or visit with friends, be conscious of the sounds environment including the noise level and type of music that is played”
Loud noisy environments, as much as we try to ignore them, can contribute to unconscious stress and tension build-up without us even knowing it. Junk food clogging your system? Well so are your junk sounds. Apparently, anyway.
The platform of which we can share and experience music in this day and age makes it a tantalising topic for further research, meaning that it might be easier for less advantaged communities to benefit.
However, on a more biological level, listening to music can have an actual positive impact on the body, producing changes to your heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels. On top of this, the types of lyrics, tempo or pitch can lead to a pro-social mind set, leading to an increase in positive thinking and more empathetic, considerate behaviour. Of course on the treatment of mental health there are other accessible mediums, like meditation, yoga and even practical creativity.
However, because of music’s unique ability to root itself in our societies and communities, there is a strong pull towards bringing people together and improving a groups collective and individual mental health. Throughout the history of music it has been said that it contains healing properties. That is to say, certain types of music can heal the soul, exercise your demons or find peace within.
It can also be used to treat mental illness. Most of us will suffer from a mental health illness at some point in our lives, however almost half of people will most likely not be treated for it. If the claims that music can really help in the area of mental illness are to be believed, there might be a music more cost effective solution to this.
Music connects with the automatic nervous system and our brains limbic system. So the connection between your actual brain function and emotions are connected! When you play upbeat music, the chances are your body will begin to mimic this in an increased heart rate, release of endorphins etc. Whereas if you play slow music, your body will slow down to mate the rate of the rhythm in the heart, even blood pressure drops. Specifically in regards to patients suffering from dementia, it is recommended that any one in the early recovery stages of a stroke should listen to music every day, helping with cognitive and emotional recovery.
Ultimately, there is a whole ton of pseudo-science out there and with the advent of easy-to-access information, it’s becoming a lot harder to know what to believe. It also highlights the importance of remaining open minded but remaining sceptical and most importantly, staying grounded. With ‘miracle tone’ healing, there’s not particularly much harm in in. It’s not like you would use it as a primary source to heal physical ailments… or at least I hope not.*
SD
*People who practice such holistic, pseudo-science techniques with the beleif they are ‘healing’ potentially fatal conditions, of course should be condemned. It it a dangerous falsehood that has unfortunately become associated with scientific reality.
If you are seeking treatments for a condition please seek the advise of your general practitioner first.