Over the past several months I have found myself giving a multitude of presentations. In every presentation, I talk about the definition of music therapy, the history, where can you find a music therapist, what we do and how to get music therapy. My favorite part of the presentation is when I talk about WHY music works. Not only is music motivating, familiar, adaptive, in every culture and age appropriate, but music is processed in both hemispheres of the brain.

Why is this so special? Well, it’s particularly powerful when working with individuals who have suffered trauma to a specific part of their brain, perhaps due to a stroke or traumatic brain injury. Should damage occur to the speech centers in the brain (Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area), individuals are often rendered without the ability to speak. However, music can often utilize other pathways that have not been damaged to access words and help the individual sing complete songs!

Last week, I worked with a gentleman who had suffered a stroke the week before. When I entered and asked him his name, he replied, “uh”. When I asked him another question, he responded, “uh uh”. The look in his eyes showed his frustration with his current state. I explained that music is processed in both hemispheres and often people who can’t talk can still sing. I asked him to try it with me. We sang Happy Birthday, and he sang every word to the song, even though seconds before he was unable to articulate his own name. From there we sang the alphabet, days of the week, and several spiritual gospel songs that were his favorites. When the speech therapist entered, he asked how things were going. The gentleman replied, “uh”. I said, “Let’s try that again, only with a song”. I placed the words, “I am fine” to a simple melody. I repeated the melody two times and on the third try, the gentleman sang, “I am fine” in response to the question, “How are you”?

I love seeing people’s faces when I talk about this in my presentations. It seems like a modern miracle every time it happens! What is really happening though is that music engages several parts of the brain all at the same time, so if one area is damaged, there are still other areas on which to draw. So, sing away and strengthen all of those connections in your brain!!!