Mindful Music/Mindful Artists

Living Room
#1

I was wondering if anyone had recommendations on a sort of ‘mindful artist’ or music they listen to. I found Brett Dennen to be a good example of this, especially his self-entitled album.

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#2

I use to listen to Wim Mertens - Belgian compositor.
I feel interesting to hear the sound of his voice without any lyrics.
It’s repetitive modern classical music.
Hope you can enjoy it.
In an other genre I think that Leonard Cohen have beautiful texts.

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#3

Greetings, Gaetane! I love Wim Mertens, thank you for the reminder. My partner often listens to Meredeth Monk, and it is haunting. So much depends on proclivity and taste… whether one wants vocals–with or without words, what sorts of instruments–electronic. It has changed for me through the years, but has always contained some sense of what touches my heart–and different pieces and artists for different moods.

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#4

Hi, on a related theme, does anyone play piano or guitar say or another musical instrument and use a mindful practice? It can be hard to find concentration to say practise piano and be in the present etc. Any thoughts?

#5

Hi Gaetane, nice to find you here!!
I like Snatam Kaur songs also.

#6

Here is someone who you probably know well:

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#7

Hi @colin47, I grew up playing the violin, long before starting my mindfulness practice, and have noticed a number of similarities both in terms of helping to develop concentration (mind wanders, bring it back to playing), and learning to let go when I’ve made a mistake (notice urge to beat self up, how it just makes things worse, bring it back to playing). And I agree, that it can be hard to find concentration to practice -in both music and meditation!

Relatedly, a colleague (who went to Juliard to become a professional before switching careers to psychotherapy) and I have a paper titled “reconceptualizing music making as mindfulness practice” that will be published in Medical Problems of Performing Arts in the near future. I’ll aim to post it here when it is published.

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#8

Thanks Jud, I enjoyed reading your reply and look forward to your article with great interest.

#9

Hi! I really enjoy Eckhart Tolle’s music compilations called “Music for Inner Stillness” and “Music to Quite the Mind”…

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#10

I look forward to reading it, Jud. I was listening to Bach’s B Minor Mass the other night on my way home from teaching class 7 at Copper Beech (an instance where turning on the radio was a really good thing!), and I was remembering my years of singing early music in small (8-16) music ensembles. That experience provided a “practice” of sorts in that it predictably brought about unity consciousness, the sense of separateness falling away as we made music together–often singing in a half-circle, facing each other. It reliably brought me to a still point–both concentrated, but also open and awake to others, the audience, the sound, my body–all the typical objects of focus. A beautiful memory on a spring night–and a reframing of that experience toward, and as practice.

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#11

And here’s the article:

Steinfeld and Brewer 2015 Psych benefits of music as mindfulness practice.pdf (76.1 KB)

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#12

Thank you so much for this Jud and I look forward to studying and benefitting from it as a mental health professional and an amateur musician.
Kind regards
Colin

#13

Thanks for your post, Colin. As it turns out, sound/music making is an important part of my mindfulness practice. Although I spend some time reading music and playing existing compositions either by memory or ear, mostly I practice without a preconceived musical map or destination. Working with my voice or an instrument, I allow myself to listen deeply to sound vibrations and to become aware of physical sensations related to vocal production, fingers on keys or strings, lips on a vibrating reed, etc. For me, this is a rich field of experience and discovery. The realm of sound production and perception appears to be an infinite one.
Cheers, Bob

#14

Thanks, Jud. Great article! In light of your text, I am reminded to mention that a substantial portion of my music/mindfulness practice consists of holding “musical” sounds in my mind–that is, imagining notated and yet-to-be notated tones and series of tones without actually playing them on an instrument or singing them. In fact, I find this to be among my most profound musical experiences. The mental imaging of individual sonic vibration and multiple sonic vibrations in relationship with one another is such a subtle, delicate event, perhaps not unlike the sensation of caressing air. The sound of one hand clapping…?

#15

Thanks Bob, for a very inspiring insight into your approach and it is certainly one that I will try to develop along similar lines. I had been trying to find practical ways to bring mindfulness into music making and I believe I can fruitfully do so now. I agree with using the voice as an instrument too and I had been exploring this loosely but you offer a more methodological way forward than my Om’s and Ah’s!
Thank you for sharing, warm regards Colin

#16

Hi all,

Very interesting topic. I’ve often felt that when singing or playing music and when I am able to stay open and present, that new discoveries and possibilities emerge. (sound familiar?) If anyone is looking for a song that has lyrics which speak to the process of mindful practice, this one really resonates for me: Jason Mraz Living In the Moment. http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jasonmraz/livinginthemoment.html. Enjoy!

#17

Great! Please let me/us know what you find. OMs and Ahs are good, too!
Bob

#18

Along similar lines, Jud, has anyone written about/done research on the relationship between doing math and mindfulness practice? I am aware that some research has been done on math test scores increasing for students trained in mindfulness practice, but I am thinking more about the math itself as a mindfulness practice. Thanks in advance, Bob

#19

I have had several MRI’s, and I always keep my eyes closed and spend the entire time singing inside my head, mentally rehearsing a song I’m working on. It has been wonderful to keep my spirit bathed in music, both sound and the poetry of the song, while I’m in that machine. I’ve come out of my MRI’s quite relaxed!

#20

Thanks, I will check out Wim Martens, and others, and also reading the article link…

Recently, I discovered Sam Baker - he’s a singer songwriter in the Country Alt/John Prine vein. I heard him on a Terry Gross Fresh Air, (here’s the link:
http://www.npr.org/2014/05/06/310089151/sam-baker-finding-grace-in-the-wake-of-destruction

He’s quite something, rather Zen like. Here’s his song Pretty World, but all the more meaningful after hearing his story…Sam Baker Pretty World - YouTube

As a musician in one form or another since childhood, I long felt that music and meditation were very much akin, in the ongoing moment to moment attention/awareness of the gestalt of sound and sense coordination, and oh yes, the great great kindness needed during the many challenges faced in the learning process. (This kindness was certainly not a part of my musical upbringing, resulting in the addition of deeply embedded physical tensions that are not easy to keep in awareness during playing).

Thank you all, I look forward to following this conversation…
Gail

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