The idea of music as a healing modality dates back to the beginnings of history, and some of the earliest notable mentions in Western history are found in the writings of ancient Greek philosophers. Robert Burton wrote in the 17th century in his classic work, The Anatomy of Melancholy, that music and dance were critical in treating mental illness, especially melancholia.
Music Therapy is considered one of the expressive therapies.
In its current/modern form, it has existed in the United States since around 1944, when the first undergraduate degree program in the world was founded at Michigan State University and the first graduate degree program at The University of Kansas.
I have seen the beneficial
health effects of music in my work with the
elderly at nursing homes all across Southern
California. On
Valentines Day at a nursing home I sang for
a group of married couples where one of them
had Alzheimer's disease. They were being
given a romantic luncheon. I was to sing
love songs while they ate, then sing amongst
them after they ate. I was singing "Let Me
Call You Sweetheart" at a table and the
wife, with the disease, sang the entire song
with me. (I always encourage my residents to
sing with me) Her husband was in tears,
lovingly watching his wife sing with me.
Later he came to me and told me, that I had
no idea the gift I had given to him that
day. He told me his wife had not spoken more
than four words in the last couple of years
and yet today sang that entire song. He told
me that song was special because his wife
sang it to him on their wedding day and
every anniversary following until the
Alzheimer's disease hit her.
I would love to share
with you a great story.. Recently during
our horrid fires, here in Southern
Calofornia, I was singing at a
nursing home that was getting
ready to evacuate. My residents were
nervous and scared. ( The name of
my act is, "LOVE TO SING WITH ODEY" and
the reason is I always encourage these
people to sing with me if they know the
song. I also have made up song books
with the words in large print for those
who can handle them.) So, I had everyone
singing with me on this frightening day
and when I was through I was told I had
made them forget their troubles and they
no longer were afraid.... WELL, the
memory hit me suddenly about my
grandmother. You see, I was named for
her stage name. She was a singer/dancer
in Vaudeville and her stage name was
Odey LeMar. Then she married a comic and
they became a team. Their act was
called, "FORGET YOUR TROUBLES"
My grandmother wanted to
be an entertainer because of what she
saw music do for the frighten people
during the 1906 earthquake and fire in
San Francisco. She was 6 years old and
had become separated from her older
sisters. She was wandering around when
she came upon a large group of people
who were hysterical, frighten and
crying. She stood in the middle of them
and started singing a hymn. One by one
others joined in singing with her until
everyone was singing. Calm took over.
They all held hands singing, watching
their beloved city burn down. My
grandmother knew right then and there
that she wanted to entertain to make
people feel better.
I thought of her and
realized I was, sort of, doing the same
thing, singing to calm while the fires
burned all around us, only 101 years
later.