Listening to music is a form of music therapy, which is a new name for a practice people have done for centuries. Many cultures contain vibrant musical histories, with ancient songs and dances. Cultures also include musical aspects with a history of singing, dancing, and drumming. Many ancient cultures even used music for healing. The action of playing music together allows people to connect with others and with themselves.

“If you look back into your own lineage, you would find some of these things where people are singing, either repetitive songs or chants, and so I use a lot of that [in my work],” said Jennifer Berezan, a music healer. 

During the World Wars, it was common for musicians to play songs for wounded and traumatized soldiers. Music was able to aid in the healing process, as mentioned by the Community Music Center of Boston (CMCB). 

In the present day, listening to music in the car on the way to work, playing music in the school band, or singing in a choir are ways that music enters everyday aspects of people’s lives. However, many don’t understand the true power music has.

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Part of what it means to be human is to be able to engage in music

— Jennifer Berezan

Music therapy consists of listening to, playing, and writing music. But it’s not just a music class. It’s a way to help people connect to their emotions and past by firing up their brain. According to Brian Harris, music is one of the only sensory experiences that can access almost all parts of the brain.

“When you listen to music or engage with music in any way, all the different lobes in your brain are firing and lighting up. This doesn’t ever happen in any other medium other than music. So it’s really the only thing that can access your entire brain,” said Erin Blanchette, a music therapist at Timberline Knolls residential treatment center.

When someone has a neurodegenerative disease, like dementia or Alzheimer’s, music causes neurons in the brain to change and adapt. Blanchette has seen this firsthand while using music to help patients with various mental illnesses and diseases.

Bang! Clap! The sound of palms hitting drums filled the room as Music Therapist Marlys Woods led a drumming session. These drumming sessions were not meant to be structured music classes. Instead, participants walked up to the center of the drum circle whenever they felt ready and released their sadness, anger, stress, and worry into the music they made on their drum. 

One client, a tall, muscular man, participated in Wood’s Drumming group. Although he was not usually a very active member in the drum circle, the client walked up to the center of the drumming circle with his small drum. 

With a deep breath, he banged and pounded the drum with all the emotion he had inside of him. Anger shifted into music notes, and by the end of his performance, the client was teary-eyed.

 “He was quiet for a second, and then he said, ‘Wow, that’s all the anger I’ve been holding inside of me for six years. This is the first time I’ve been able to express it,'” Woods said.

Music has the power to heal those struggling with anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, and many other forms of mental health disorders. It has also proven valuable for people with memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. 

Music therapy helps people express emotion, and, as mentioned in “Alive Inside,” it can help heal neurons in the brain, leading people to live a more expressive and full life.

 “Don’t be afraid to express yourself. Music is a powerful coping skill and can bring out the deepest thoughts and emotions out of someone,” Domingue said.