Melodic Medicine

JUSTISIA SHIPENA
Diana Hamalwa

They say music heals the soul. Well this saying has some truth in it as there is Music Therapy. Music Therapy is described as utilizing music as a therapeutic treatment that is prescribed by certified therapists and trainers for patients to help them overcome social, emotional, physical and intellectual handicaps. It can be used to reduce stress, promote well-being and healing and for people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

There are two fundamental methods for this Music therapy. There is the receptive, listening, based method and the active method. The receptive method is when a patient is played music to or listens to recorded music in order to soothe the mind, whereas the active method is when the patient is plays the music themselves.

Nowadays there are applications used for music therapy such as Singing Fingers, Shiny Drum, Zoozbeat and many more.

A study was done on a group of people to see which songs helped them through stress or a period of trauma. Here is a list of the ten songs that came up the most:

1. All I do is win by Dj Khaled

2. Beautiful u r by Deborah Cox

3. Walk away by Bad Religion

4. Fighter by Christina Aguilera

5. Cherish the day by Sade

6. Titanium by David Guetta

7. Hold on by Wilson Philips

8. I won’t back down by Tom Perry and The Heartbreakers

9. Keep your head up by Tupac

10. Thunder by Imagine Dragons

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything,” this is a quote by Plato. Most learners say that they can not live without music. This statement might be true.