Guitar Day falls on 11 February each year, an opportunity to highlight guitar’s huge contribution to music of all kinds. For while guitars might most immediately conjure up pop or rock, there’s great diversity in guitar music, and this sheer diversity gives guitar real scope to boost wellbeing. Not only is there acoustic as opposedContinue reading “Good Mood Guitar”
Tag Archives: Music
Generation Sound
By disrupting schooling, Covid 19 highlighted a surge in mental health issues among children and young people – but this has been growing for some time, before the pandemic began, for many different reasons. So I’ve been thinking about ways children interact with music, and how this could help – or hinder. Music is suchContinue reading “Generation Sound”
O Come All Ye Faithful
For me, as for so many people, Christmas comes with a soundtrack – not a playlist, because it’s more about what we all hear at this time of year. There are carols, sung in church or around a tree or heard on the radio. Then there are Christmas songs, old and new. Some people thinkContinue reading “O Come All Ye Faithful”
Mirroring My Mind
When music can creare and convey a mood with just a few beats, it’s no wonder that emotions and music & song are deeply interwoven on different levels. And this throws up many questions, exploring how and why music mirrors what we think and feel – or do we mirror the music? One way musicContinue reading “Mirroring My Mind”
Off The Scale
Last Monday was World Opera Day, so I’m writing here about opera – another in my occasional series of posts highlighting particular music genres and how they might boost wellbeing in different ways. I’ve already considered musicals, ballet, folk and jazz – now it’s opera’s turn. Opera is high drama. Costumes, sets and lighting allContinue reading “Off The Scale”
At The Keys
As Piano Month draws to a close, I’ve been thinking what might be distinct about the piano as an instrument, and why it holds such an important place in many people’s musical memory & imaginations. Piano music conjures up so many different moods. It can be joyful, triumphant, fun, playful, lively, wistful, dreamy or contemplative.Continue reading “At The Keys”
And All That Jazz
Hearing a tribute the other evening to Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong (marking 120 years since he was born and 50 years since he died), I thought I would focus this blog post on jazz and how it can help health and wellbeing. It’s another in my occasional series of posts on different music genres’ impacts, fromContinue reading “And All That Jazz”
Innovate To Integrate
With the Paralympics only a month away, and Wimbledon’s Para Championship starting today, I remembered Paraorchestra, an ensemble I heard of recently for the first time, and thought I would focus my blog post on this. Paraorchestra was founded ten years ago by Charles Hazlewood, with the goal of integrating disabled musicians further into theContinue reading “Innovate To Integrate”
Creative Company
Maybe one of the main ways music, art and nature can boost wellbeing is by drawing people together, creating common ground to share. This can help combat loneliness: and this is Loneliness Awareness Week (14-18 June). This year’s theme is Acceptance, highlighting that everyone feels lonely sometimes. The idea is that by talking more openlyContinue reading “Creative Company”
Strike A Chord
Different music genres’ own unique contributions to wellbeing have been the focus of recent Medley blog posts on music, from musicals to folk to ballet – and I hope to return to this theme to explore other genres. But this time I want to look at music for wellbeing from another angle, by concentrating onContinue reading “Strike A Chord”
Medley 