By Paul Roberts
Special to The PREVIEW
Join musician and music therapist Paul Roberts for a free hand-drumming class at the Pagosa Lakes Clubhouse on Tuesday, April 24, at noon.
The class offers a welcoming environment that encourages fun, creativity, playfulness and connecting with others. Drums are provided for those who do not have one.
Communication takes place on levels that we have yet to fully understand. There are different channels of communication, verbal and nonverbal.
Imagine a group of people in which everyone is talking at the same time. The result would be cacophony. Verbal communication can only be comprehensible when one person speaks at a time.
Imagine a group of people in which everyone is drumming and singing at the same time. Through music, everyone in a group can communicate simultaneously.
Even just listening to music, a group of people can come into synchrony with each other.
Last month, at a Cognitive Neuroscience Society meeting, new research was reported showing that when individuals listen to music as a group, their brain waves actually synchronize.
Research studying the interaction of the brain and music is revolutionizing our understanding of the human connection to music. Scientists have found that music stimulates more parts of the brain than any other human function. A free form of self-sustaining, revitalizing energy, music is one of our greatest natural renewable resources. Music is a health food for the brain that has enormous potential benefits in the healing arts, education and interpersonal relations.
You don’t need to be a neuroscientist to appreciate something about how drumming in a group affects higher brain functioning. As soon as you try it, you become aware of the cognitive process of integrating your sound with everyone else’s.
In communication, words are only part of the story. In the drumming class, participants share meaningful communication that doesn’t rely on words. The drumming class provides an innovative and easily accessible approach to the benefits of music.
For more information, email banjocrazy@centurytel.net or call 731-3117. The Pagosa Lakes Clubhouse is located at 230 Port Ave.
