Music Microdose

Microdosing is having a moment, with people from many sectors of society reporting that they are successfully utilising its capabilities.

Harvard Health states that “Many people share the idea that microdosing [taking a subperceptual dose] with psychedelics enhances one’s mood, creativity, concentration, productivity, and ability to empathize with others.”

This blog will suggest that music, Stress Less Music in particular, has the same potential: that small, meaningful interactions with music specifically created to help you to feel better can have an immediate and cumulative benefit to your sense of wellbeing.

Given the relatively small commitment of both time and money, it’s an idea worth exploring.

Microdosing: a useful concept

To me the attraction of microdosing (which is not a part of my world, just to be transparent) is the concept it embodies.

Rather than indulge in a blowout – with alcohol, drugs, exercise, sex or work, for example – if you mircrodose, you can create a small but meaningful experience which is easily integrated into your day, rather than you needing to ‘carve out’ a couple of hours to participate in your experience.

So how do you microdose with music? A bit of background first…

The ubiquity of music

Most people love music in one form or another; it’s an integral part of our lives.

New mothers all over the world sing to their babies, whether a wordless coo or a light-hearted rendition of Baby Shark.

Music features at birthday parties, weddings, funerals, Olympic medal ceremonies, in religious ceremonies, when setting the mood in a film, and when setting the mood for a romantic dinner. From the most sublime to the most mundane situation, music is often there either in the background or as the focal point of a key moment.

While music in one form or another is almost ubiquitous, there is a condition called musical anhedonia where people recognise music but derive no enjoyment from it. Such a concept seems unimaginable to those of us who prepare for an exam or a date or a difficult meeting while listening to a specially selected piece of music.

Additionally, most of us love at least one musical genre so much that it’s actually quite difficult to understand how other people may actively dislike it. My love of Casta Diva makes you question my sanity, while your love of Heard It On The Grapevine makes me question yours. [Actually, I love CCR: for purpose of example only!]

I, Musician

Generally speaking we each have at least one piece of music which – if we listen to in times of stress – will help us to feel better. Whether it’s rocking out to Death Metal, listening to what some would call a cheesy love song, or swooning to a favourite operatic aria, music can and does change our state.

You might cry or rage or laugh, but whatever the emotion, you can deliberately alter the way you feel because of and with the right piece of music.

So in many ways, we are all musicians.

Most of us wouldn’t say that of ourselves because we don’t play a musical instrument or don’t play at an elite level, so we see ourselves as the audience while the real musos strut their stuff on stage or in a recording.

But to my mind this is diminishing our sense of self and what we are, innately.

Music – rhythm, frequency, pitch – is part of our lives almost from the moment of conception (we hear our mother’s heartbeat, absorb the tone of her voice, and are subject to all manner of sounds while still in the womb). Our enjoyment of the sound of a waterfall, or birdsong, or falling rain points to the importance of recognising this innate part of our humanity. Hence suggesting that we are all musicians.

Also helpful to know is that it’s because most of this innate musicality that a program such as Stress Less Music can be delivered so successfully, with such ease. We innately recognise beautiful music. Even if we can’t articulate it, we feel the actual symmetry and structure of music (the relationship of the frequencies of individual notes, chords and form, discussed in Blog Three), and respond to it the same way we respond to a beautiful flower, even if we don’t know what it’s called.

We know what pleases us, musically speaking. And for many, the desire to enhance our love of music by learning to play an instrument is strong, as noted below.

A recurring conversation

Part of the inspiration for creating Stress Less Music was a conversation that I’ve had possibly hundreds of times over the decades.

Them: So what do you do?

Me: I’m a musician.

Them: Really? What instrument do you play?

Me: Piano.

Them: Wow, you’re so lucky. I’ve always wanted to be able to play.

I usually respond to this last point by saying that being a musician is 99% time on task, and that very little luck is involved. Most people could be a musician if they put in the time.

It's true that hours and hours of practice are required to play a a complex classical piece from memory, even for the world’s best musicians. It’s not just about understanding the music, the theory, the structure and its place in history which informs the interpretation, it’s also about teaching one’s fingers to recreate particular patterns which are of course different from one piece of music to the next. It takes time!

So to summarise: being able to play an instrument is not magical (although music seems to be fuelled by magic when you watch and listen to an expert musician).

Playing an instrument well is not just about talent. (Although it’s true that some people have a gift for music, they still need to work hard to master their instrument.)

And to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever woken up one day being able to play a musical instrument without ever having played before. (Except perhaps Bill Bailey.)

But!

Waving a musical wand

Given the number of times I’ve heard people say they wished that they could play, and given the fact that undertaking a standard music education does take so much time, I thought a lot about:

1) how people could make beautiful music without the traditional '10,000 hours' it takes to master a skill, and

2) the idea that there must be some sort of short cut.

Turns out there is, if you create it!

Your mindset matters

Referencing the Harvard article once again, it’s probably an ideal time to reference your mindset further to the idea of a short cut to playing beautiful, beneficial music.

Typically, when we are stressed, creativity goes out of the window and we self-soothe by binge watching the latest Netflix series, or indulging in food/alcohol/drugs/sex, or maybe all of those things at the same time!

Instead, you are invited to rely on the “expectancy effect”.

Once you trust the science behind the Stress Less Music concept (which will be explored in the next blog), once you’ve experienced the benefits of Stress Less Music, once you

consciously use your breath in combination with the music to bring your stress levels down, you can use the “expectancy effect” which is described thus: “…most people who take a daily pill that they fervently expect will help them feel happier and smarter, will feel like they are happier and smarter – just from taking the pill, regardless of what’s in it.”

Expect to feel better during and after playing Stress Less Music.

Deliciously, it’s possible to get to the place where you can actually feel better simply by imagining and remembering the music, breathing in time with the music which is playing in your mind, and start to feel better. Mind over matter indeed.

A few FAQs

Just before we go into the final nitty gritty bits of information, here is a list of questions asked by new clients, some of which might be in your mind right now.

If you have further questions, do write to us via the Facebook page, Instagram or via email at caroline@stresslessmusic.com.

We really love hearing from you!

Do I need to be able to read music?

Stress Less Music does not require you to be able to read music. As noted previously, you can simply watch and copy the mini videos. Easy.

You could learn to read music by watching the video and following along with the written music (which we provide) and/or work your way through our easy-to-understand music theory program, but this is purely optional. Rather, you could start today as an absolute beginner who knows nothing about playing music and be playing a simple, beautiful soothing piece before you go to bed.

Do I need to practice?

We never talk about practice. You play an idea through a few times, and once it’s mastered, play it for the pleasure and for the healing benefits. Definitely no scales or finger exercises or grinding repetition required. We don’t talk about piano technique, and really, it’s like my dear Uni piano tutor, the Late Brian Michell, said to me during our often lengthy lessons: “Frankly my dear, it doesn’t matter if you play it with your nose as long as it sounds good.”

Can I pick this up if I learned as a child?

Certainly. You will almost certainly progress more quickly than someone who is an absolute beginner, but the wonderful news is that the program is self-paced, so it is suitable for almost anyone.

Should I buy a piano or a keyboard? Which is best?

Either will work, and both options have their advantages. A piano is a beautiful object as well as creating a gorgeous sound. But it can be problematic if you live in an apartment and want to play late at night (as I often do).

A keyboard allows you to play anytime (especially if you have a set of headphones), is cheaper to buy, and doesn’t need tuning. If you choose this option, just ensure that the keys are full-size, and are weighted (so they feel like piano keys rather than weightless bits of plastic).

How do you know that this works?

I’ve been teaching music and training or mentoring other music teachers for a very long time, and have worked with thousands of students: children, their parents and adult musicians.

During the heyday of the WA Music Academy, we had 450 children attending class each week, plus kids and adults taking individual instrumental lessons. As Director I didn’t teach them all, but knew most of them and their parents (who attended classes with their kids) by name.

I often observed highly (IQ) intelligent kids becoming frustrated because they couldn’t immediately conquer music in the way they could maths or spelling.

I watched kids who struggled with the school system blossom with confidence as they created their own music or mastered a difficult piece.

And I watched adult beginners quickly understand musical patterns and progress through their musical journey with joy and satisfaction.

So in short, I’ve distilled decades of experience as a teacher and a musician and bring it to you now in the form of Stress Less Music.

Additionally, thanks to technology created by the HeartMath Institute, we’ve been able to measure things like Heart Rate Variability (please see our next blog) and take clients' blood pressure readings to ascertain “before and after” readings when engaging with Stress Less Music.

So we know that this works.

How to use music to destress

Research shows that simply listening to music with 45 to 60 BPM (beats per minutes) such as typically found in the slow movements of Baroque, Classical or Romantic symphonies, sonatas or concerti, and breathing in time with that music, will help to lower your blood pressure reading. Here’s a list of pieces which you may enjoy.

· Ravel: Piano Concerto in G 1st movement

· Schumann Fantasie: (for piano) Last movement

· Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No 2 Adagio

· Chopin: Piano Concerto No 1 Romanze

· Mahler: Symphony No 5 Adagietto

· Mozart: Piano Concerto No 24 2nd movement

· Beethoven: String Quartet Opus 132 Molto Adagio

· Rodriguez: Guitar Concerto 2nd movement

· Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, Prelude

· Beethoven: Piano Sonata No 32, 2nd movement

· Brahms: Violin Sonata No 3, 2nd movement

But if you’d also like to engage with music in a more active capacity, you can enjoy Stress Less Music, where we take experiencing music to another level.

When you play and later create music yourself, you experience an exact match to where you are in the moment and offer yourself the opportunity to move to where you want to be, to feel how you want to feel, easily.

With Stress Less Music, you don’t have to turn up to a music lesson at a nominated time, either in person or online.

You can simply watch one of our clips, replicate it on the keyboard, play it through a few times, and then play that music (or a variation of that music once you’re a little more confident), and manage your stress without anyone else being in your space.

(Of course, if your stress levels are significant, please do seek professional medical assistance. Stress Less Music does not purport to take the place of your doctor’s advice or suggest that you should stop taking any prescribed medication. Please seek medical advice and support.)

What’s next?

You may be ready to jump in and start the easy, joyful process of playing your very own beautiful, healing music at the keyboard.

Try this:

· Sign up to receive our free e-book '10 Steps to Stress Less Music" with embedded 'how to' YouTube video clips

· Gain access to a keyboard

· Start to familiarise yourself with the notes of the keyboard (using the free e-book as a guide)

· Learn by watching the video clips and copying the examples

Once you’ve learned to play a few simple note combinations and you learn how to synchronise your breath in time with the music, you can go to the keyboard at any time and actively, measurably, lower your stress levels. You’ll soon be able to improvise simple, beautiful music, and self-soothe with ease.

Lastly, you’ll be supported every step of the way, through this blog, our videos, our e-books and our community.

Stress Less Music. It’s only a breath away.