Music on prescription could help treat emotional and physical pain

"The impact of a piece of music on a person goes so much further than thinking that a fast tempo can lift a mood and a slow one can bring it down. Music expresses emotion as a result of many factors," says audio engineering specialist Dr Don Knox, project leader. "These include the tone, structure and other technical characteristics of a piece. Lyrics can have a big impact too. But so can purely subjective factors: where or when you first heard it, whether you associate it with happy or sad events and so on. Our project is the first step towards taking all of these considerations -- and the way they interact with each other -- on board."

I have known this since I was a child. I was acutely aware at an early age of how music of different types affected people in different ways at different times. Many people I have known have turned to music at some time in their life for comfort and as a way of understanding what was happening to them. The scarcity of music in mainstream education is disturbing and has had a major effect on the social fabric of our society. I challenge anyone to sit a child in the middle of a symphony orchestra and watch how that child is moved and changed by the sounds and emotions.

Let us all hope that this research encourages more people to go out and make music and get involved.

The Portal of Healing.