Music can facilitate mediation. . .But what kind of music?

Poster I made from drums at studio of Colorado Jazz Workshop

Although I have not blogged in a while about the use of music in conflict resolution, I still research the topic with much enthusiasm and discuss it with a few of my colleagues who have knowledge of music. (Click to read previous posts from here at BonP.) For those of you who are like me—also interested in this use of music—I bring to your attention today a post from Denver Music Therapy; it includes some hints about music choice.

From "Music and the Brain: What kind of music is 'best' for you?":

There are all sorts of studies looking at music preference for both sociological and therapeutic reasons.  The use of preferred music evokes a stronger emotional connection and activates the emotion centers of the brain; generally people remember and have stronger responses to music that they like and are familiar with (Green, Baerensten, Stodkilde-Jorgensen, Roepstorff & Vuust, 2012; Stalinksi & Schellenberg, 2012).  This is one of the main reasons that familiar music evokes strong memories, even in people suffering from dementia.

Click to read the rest.

 

Denver's own Hugh Ragin