In a paper from the Beckman Research Institute in Durante, California, January 5, 1988, geneticist Susumu Ohno, while searching for the chemical origins of life found something else: A WALTZ.

Bored with  tedious math equations, he decided to convert chemical formulas for living cells into music notes. He felt listening to the complex genetic codes would make elusive patterns easier to detect.

He found genuine music, Baroque and romantic-era music, uncannily similar to works of great composers. A Chopin Nocturne, a waltz, but a quicker tempo. Ohno felt certain melodies seemed 'sad' some 'happy' (humans are predisposed to hear them that way). Cancer-causing oncogene sounds were somber and funeral. The gene that bestows transparency to the lens of the eye is filled with trills and flourishes, airy and light.

Monika Rice, in  recent article in the April 2005  issue of Spirituality & Health Magazine writes of further research in sound  done in the laboratory. She says that in observing the pulsating cells, researchers concluded it is the rise and fall of the cell wall that creates the 'singing.' Temperature, too, affects the cellular harmonics, speeding them up or slowing them down.  According to chemist Gimzewski, healthy cells 'sang' about two octaves above middle C, in terms of music.

There is still much to be learned in the realm of 'sonocytology,' a term (from Rice’s article) Gimzewski has coined to describe the discovery of cytological music. This brings new light to creating new ways of assessing and treating disease.

We are rapidly moving toward a new science of music...Music Medicine.

Walt Whitman once said "Music is what awakens in us when reminded by the instruments."

This conveys the essence of the answer to the question: "Why use music in healing?" It is indeed our own healing energies that awaken in us when activated by music.

The whole universe is one great symphony and everything in it resonates to that symphony, in its own voice. We create a cacophony and dissonance in our body and world when we do not experience this harmony. As we relearn how to "hear" again, through the introduction of beautiful harmonies of music and sound, we are ultimately drawn into our very center and, once again, manifest our lives in harmony with the greater whole.

In music.....lies the power to complete the great circle of the evolution of human consciousness.

The concept of music as a healing force began through one philosophical concept held in common by shaman, priests, and ancient prophets: that all that exists in manifestation has a complimentary unmanifested form at its source. The sound of music, therefore, represents a macrocosm of the order of the universe...the movement of galaxies, stars and planets, sun, moon, cycle of seasons, days, nights, ocean tides, birth and death of all cellular life. A system relating musical sounds of the order of the universe had been developed by as early as the 3rd century BC. If one would listen or practice music, one would understand better these universal harmonies, and experience their fluidity and let it teach how to flow with life and each other.

Healing sounds naturally occur in nature. Taking walks in the wilderness, or parks or countryside in quietness, without talking, just listening and breathing the freshness is very healing. All creatures of the earth emit their song, aloud or silently. Ants and spiders sing, termites whistle, flies scream and birdsongs flapping their wings.
Think about it! The song of birds, trees in the forest, waterfalls, rivers, mountains....all have their own perfect harmonious sound. When we hear perfect rhythm...there is an opportunity to let it adjust cellular structure, electromagnetic fields. It makes the mind alert and free of tension...and the result is that nature then harmonizes the cells of the body. All this happens when we walk in nature, naturally allowing the healing activity to operate. Bird song is a necessary awakener of plants in nature, in the Spring. The sound of the birds sends electrical currents that are received by the plants and trees, and this stimulates growth of leaves.

"What makes us drawn to music is that our whole being is music; it is our mind, and our body, the nature in which we live, the nature which has made us, all that is beneath and around us. It is all music, and we are close to all this music and live and move and have our being in music." (Inayat Kahn,Sufi master)
"All nature is song", Carlyle said. "See deep enough and you see musically, the heart of nature being everywhere music, if you can only reach it." Music is of the Soul, and as the Soul responds to the things of itself, it always responds to music. And every individual Soul has its individual musical key, certain music appealing to it to a greater degree than any other music".

Studies show there are more connections to our life through the sound environment than was thought in the past. We are continuously surrounded by sounds and influenced by them every moment.

1. Electrical currents transporting energy for the telephone, electric wiring in houses, appliances, the refrigerator, clocks, computer, TV...anything plugged into an electrical unit.

2. Sounds from transmitting stations, sounds of the traffic, airplanes, reconstruction teams of buildings, factory machines, crowds of people.

Sound and music patterns deeply affect the brain, mind and body. Since sound is nonverbal and preconscious, we are affected subliminally by sounds beyond the sensitivity of the nervous system. But they are as real as anything else in the world. All the cells in the body have vibratory properties and are capable of being sound receptors.

The choice we make of listening to music should be as discriminating as the type of foods we choose to eat.