Mountain Rose Music

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My Favourite Sounds

Like the song, “My Favourite Things,” we can all make a list of our favorite things. Some of mine are my guitar, my singing bowl, my little water fountain in the living room.

Most people can easily make a list of their favourite foods. Does chocolate get you salivating? Spaghetti? Popcorn? Brussels sprouts? (Just kidding)

And what about scents? One of my favourites is rose. Since graduating from university, I have planted roses around every house I have lived in. Even Mountain Rose Music reflects my love of roses. Many people love the smell of fresh baked bread. And how about a forest, just after a rainstorm?

Most people like the feel of softness, like a rose petal, a silk shirt against the skin, a baby’s cheek.

The other day, I sat down to ponder my favourite sounds. Many of us have favourite songs, but when you take the songs out of the picture, what’s left? I really had to think for this one.

It’s easy to make a list of sounds that people don’t like. Imagine fingernails scraping down a blackboard, the dentist’s drill, the squeal of feedback from a microphone, a screaming baby, an alarm clock buzzer that doesn’t get turned off, noisy fluorescent lights.

I remember several years ago when Kellogg’s cereal had a special offer for a free alarm clock if you sent in enough box tops. It had the Kellogg’s rooster on it and instead of a buzz, it crowed like a rooster. In a weak moment, I sent away for one for my kids. Well, after enough of those “cock a doodle doos,” that thing got hidden away where no one would ever find it. I still haven’t found it.

Here is a list of some of my favourite sounds: laughter – especially from a baby, wind chimes, wind swishing through pine trees, waves – both soft and crashing ones, trickling water, a mockingbird’s song, rustling leaves, raindrops on a tent.

Of all the senses, hearing has deep connections to the rest of the body. Your brain has twelve main cranial nerves. These nerves carry instructions to many parts of your body, such as the senses, throat, heart, lungs, stomach, liver, bladder, kidneys, intestines and more. Ten of these twelve cranial nerves travel through the auditory system. This means that all of these parts of the body are receiving sound vibrations mixed in with the instructions carried by the nerve. Sound doesn’t just vibrate your eardrum. It vibrates your whole body!

The effect of music and sound on our emotions is well studied and documented. It is not as well known that many sounds resonate in different parts of the body. An exploration of how sounds around you affect your body can give you some useful information. The next time you are at a concert, listening to someone play a musical instrument, listening to your favorite CD or just walking outside, I invite you to explore listening with your whole body. Where do you feel the low sounds? Where do you feel the high sounds? If someone is singing, where do you feel the voice?

 

Namaste,

Sharon Carne

October, 2009

 

Sharon's blog: Sound Sense: www.sharoncarne.wordpress.com

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