Music as a Change Agent.

Unlock the Power of Purposeful Music.

So, just what does that mean?  That music should have a purpose?  Not necessarily. But the fact is, it often does have a purpose.  Sometimes it is simply to get you to buy more stuff.  (In departments stores for example.)  Or to get you excited, or to calm you down, or to move you, or to set the mood in a movie.  We are often deeply touched by music.  It triggers something in us.  

Perhaps “music as a change agent” says it better. I mean positive change.   (Not to change your original intentions so that you end up with a cart full of unwanted items.)  But it does work on us subliminally (in the background), and even subconsciously.  Sometimes I even get messages in old songs that I find myself singing in my head.

My first experience of music as spiritually helpful was …

My first experience of music as spiritually helpful was when I found it being used to support various kinds of meditations!  Until that point, meditating had been sitting quietly on the floor with eyes closed.  Now, that is one way to meditate, but using music to help things along was a real eye opener!  (Third eye opener perhaps? Lol!)

Here’s an example

Here’s an example of a short version of a meditation where the music really helps you to SHAKE!  You can literally shake off your cares, blocked feelings and frustrations, leaving space for meditation to happen afterwards.
It has a few words of explanation at the beginning, but after that, it’s up to you!

I especially loved playing the music meditation in the early morning

…in India. That meant getting to Buddha Hall at 7 a.m., setting up and being ready to play by 8 a.m.  Playing morning music was absolutely divine!  The sun was just starting to rise and the birds were just beginning to chirp. Such a great way to start the day.  🙂

When I was touring with a meditation teacher in Europe, I played music before and after the meetings. The music created a space so that when you arrived, you could leave your cares behind you before the meeting started.  At the end, the music maintained the quiet space so that you could take the depth of the stillness from the meeting home with you.  A sacred space was created, often in the middle of a big city.

The music I played was mostly improvised.

If I played with others, we usually had a kind of loose structure, a chord progression, a melody or simply a scale for example.  But when I was alone, sometimes I would just put my hands on the keyboard or take my flute and without any previous planning, play whatever presented itself.  

That music came directly out of the moment that we were all in together and I was almost always pleasantly delighted at what came out.  

Here’s one piece that came out especially well, …

Here’s one piece that came out especially well, so well in fact that it was like watching someone else doing it as my hands dance around on the keyboard! I called the piece “Presence” since that’s what I felt imbued with while playing it.  It’s on this album, and you can hear it by clicking on the image:

Recently, I started recording guided visualizations with music as a support to help deepen the meditation.  I really enjoy this since the music is like a dance with the words and meaning and really fun to create.  
Here’s an example:

Small Heavenly Circuit Meditation

This one is a master meditation and is the oldest and most powerful technique for enlightenment in the Daoist tradition.

It has been practised for thousands of years to improve health and raise spiritual awareness.

Practising this circuit is like doing all other meditation practices simultaneously! Just click on the image below:

I’ll be giving a course on “Meditative Music Making”

So, those are a few examples of Music with a Mission!

My wish is that more musicians will make music like this, not only for their own benefit, but for the benefit of everyone who might hear it.

I’ll be giving a course on “Meditative Music Making” in the near future, so stay tuned to this newsletter!