Music hath power

We're undergoing a bit of a Renaissance in two households that has been helping us in wondrous ways. First of all, completely out of the blue, Dad announced he was going to learn to play the banjo.

Now, I'd never heard him mention this before,and have no idea how long he was cogitating on this idea.  But I was thrilled to hear it.  Talk about stimulating the senior brain and getting a little fun into your life - what's better than learning an instrument? And the banjo, at that!

When he noticed that Mom enjoyed hearing him pick through tunes, Dad asked her if she'd like to learn to play piano. She'd had a few years of lessons as a kid and even last year could still play a little. She happily agreed, so he rushed out and bought her a small 60-key piano for beginners. She's able to play on it some, but needs  beginner books with notated chords as yet.  There's no doubt that music is attractive to her; I noted when she was here last time that she enjoyed listening to our radios, be it kitchen and car, and could sing perfectly clearly to the Oldies, remembering every word, and even dance on occasion.

I did a bit of research, and discovered via the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function (who knew there was such a thing?!) that music therapy is indeed helpful for those with Parkinson's, stimulating neurotransmitters that are harmed by the disease. Here is the lovely Oliver Sacks explaining more about why music helps those with Parkinsonian diseases.

On our home front, we painfully coughed up some cash last month to buy a badly needed new piano. We purchased the piece (a study Yamaha P22, pictured here) mainly for our daughter, who looks to be a serious piano student (so far), but also for myself.  I studied classical music for nearly a decade and voice for two years; while only achieving a moderate degree of proficiency in each, nothing was quite so mesmerizing as my antique upright piano.  I spent a good hour each day practicing.

Once I started tooling around on this new piano, I realized how much I'd missed playing, however badly; how essential music is to my well-being - producing it as well as listening to it.  If I'm feeling fretful, I head over to the keyboard, and the act of playing is thankfully absorbing and often joyful. Singing is next for me.  That forces deep breathing as well as opening physically and emotionally.  I'm not quite ready, but I'm working on it.  I'd like to join a local choral group, but lack the guts to try out at present.

I'm not sure if music is universally therapeutic , but I definitely think it's worth a try, for both PSP patients and their caregivers.