Celtic Woman Comes to Louisville!

Tonight I went to the most fantastic concert! I've been seeing the advertisement on TV for several months. When I heard that the group was coming back to Louisville this year I knew I had to go. I waited until almost a week ago and when I checked the ticket prices I gasped…they were $88 and $102.00 I will tell you that tonight I was able to get a better price than that and even though I was up in balcony 4 I could see very well. The energy and beauty of this program was unmatched by any concert show I’ve ever been to and you know that I’ve been to a lot. The young woman that dances around with her violin, playing all the while, is simply amazing! I’m thinking seriously of going back again tomorrow night. At the end of the concert tonight they actually did 4 encores!!! Each one was better than the one before. If you have a chance to see this brilliant group of singer and instrumentalists, do NOT miss it!!

New Research on Music with Stroke patients

Demonstration of activity in separate auditory regions for processing phonetic information (red), speech intelligibility (yellow), and voice pitch and intonation (white). a, left hemisphere. b, right hemisphere.

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This week a very important study of the benefits of music with stroke patients. The study reports the findings of a Finnish study published Wednesday that showed the benefits of music for stroke victims. “Patients who listened to a few hours of music each day soon after a stroke also improved their verbal memory and were in a better mood compared to patients who did not listen to music or used audio books, the researchers said. Music therapy has long been used in a range of treatments but the study published in the journal Brain is the first to show the effect in people, they added. … The study involved 60 people who recently had a stroke of the middle cerebral artery in the left or right side of the brain. This is the most common stroke and can affect motor control, speech and a range of other cognitive functions. One group listened to their favorite music every day or used audio books while another did not listen to any music. All volunteers received standard rehabilitation treatment. Three months after stroke music listeners showed a 60 percent improvement in verbal memory compared to an 18 percent benefit for those using audio books and 29 percent for people who did not listen to either.”

Please share this information with friends and family. It can make a big difference in recovery and quality of life!

Classical Music Helps People to Sell

Speaking as a long-time consumer, I've noticed that the music that advertisers on TV use to sell, dramatically influences my willingness even to consider their product. Have you noticed this?

For example, several years ago, a variety of products were using classical music, specifically the Pachelbel Canon in D to seel everything from luxury cars to fine wine to hospital services. What do these things have in common? Well, first thing that pops into my head is that these are all things that cost a lot of money. Fo whatever reason, classical music in our Western world is considered with "the finer things in life." Can you imagine selling gutters or tires or lawyers services with a beautiful classical piece? Of course not!

Interestingly though, there are other classical pieces that might sell:

• Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" makes us feel uplifted
• Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" creates a "man on a mission" feel
• Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" brings on a frenzied feeling
• Copland's arrangement of "The Gift to be Simple" brings on a dependable and virtuous image.

Just notice this when you're watching a commercial. Let me know if you hear some more good ones! Happy shopping!

Merry Christmas from Washington, D.C.

Merry Christmas from D.C. where I'm spending the holidays with my middle daughter and son-in-law. We had a fun time this morning opening presents and eating delicious Christmas goodies and drinking coffee and hot chocolate with marshmallows. Yum!! We've been listening to Christmas music for the past 24 hours and all are really in the Christmas spirit!! Hope you're having a wonderful Christmas Day too!

Christmas Comes to Eden Terrace

Well folks, we're back in Spartanburg for my mother's 82nd birthday and it also was the night of the big Christmas party at EdenTerrace. Tumpy (my mother) had pulled together a choir of her peers. She's never conducted a choir before but did a nice job I thought. Music is powerful! Music is healing! Enjoy this performance!

My Thanksgiving Healing Music Special for you

Hope you've had a fantastic Thanksgiving Holiday and enjoyed singing all of your favorite Thanksgiving songs like:

• Come Ye Thankful People Come
• Over the River and Through the Woods
• We Gather Together
• Now Thank We all Our God

For me, singing is as important at Thanksgiving as eating, and a lot healthier! Because I have four fantastic new products that I want you to enjoy and benefit from, I am offering them to you at a huge discount...would you believe 50%??!! Please don't miss this opportunity...it will be gone in another day!

Click HERE to get the fantastic cornucopia of music healing programs and products!

Fun Music Activities with Golden Agers

With the graying of the babyboomers, assisted living ommunities are booming, along with adult daycare centers, and nursing homes. These places have come a along way from when I was a child in the 50's, visiting great-aunts and grandmothers who needed more care. The place where my mother is in S.C. is a beautiful facility with lots of fun, stimulating activities and lots of music.

One of my favorite games to place with folks in their golden years (60-99) is a song title completion game. Some of the favorites are: 1. In the good old....

1. Let me call you ....
2. In my merry....
3. We were sailing along....
4. Nothing could be finer than....
5. When the red, red, robin comes....
6. Tip-toe through the ....
7. Ain't she ....
8. You must have been a beautiful....
9. Down by the ....

There are hundreds of songs that can be tapped. The key is to figure out when people were in their "courting years" and find out the popular songs of that day. Of course you can also do this with hymns, fight songs from college, nursery rhymes...most anything!

Have fun and enjoy this activity!