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Music

Nath Development - Piano Blues Clip

Currently developing a blues piano piece for Nath (that's her T-shirt design in the box up there on the right!)

I'm working at 57 beats per minute and beginning to get a feel for the tempo; theme hunting will start soon.

Paying members of music2work2 got the full 11 minute version of this piece as a bonus on the release of Coyote.

If you want to try listening to music at work, you can become a free member of music2work2 and download the Writer's playlist - over 78 minutes of music and it contains Frustration - the most popular music2work2 track to date.

Piano Music Improves Sense of Balance

Clearly this doesn't work if you're listening to the piano after work in the pub, but a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that if you're getting on in years this might just be what you need to stay on your feet.

Dalcroze Eurhythmics

Sure, this may sound like a sweeter version of an 80's pop group, but it is actually a form of music and movement education. Developed a century ago by the Swiss composer Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, it is a way of using your body to gain a fuller understanding and deeper meaning of musical expression. It sounds a little weird but actually makes a huge amount of sense and you naturally do it anyway when you're tapping your toes or waving your hand to the beat. If you want to learn more there's a great write up and explanation on the Dalcroze Society of America website.

Back to the research

The study, conducted by Dr. Andrea Trombetti included 134 adults over the age of 65 who were at an increased risk of falling. Over a 6 month period the study group performed a series of multitask exercises that challenged the body's balance control system, these included walking in time to piano music and responding to changes in the music's rhythm. The study found that not only did those in the study group have fewer falls than the control group, they also increased their walking speed and stride length.

Music to Walk to

I think this is brilliant and is just one more piece of information that supports the idea of music being good for you. If you would like to try this out with some piano music I would recommend you try out the Solo Piano Playlist. You can stream the music directly from the site or become a member and download the tracks to your iPod.

Sign up for Free Membership - Download The Writer's Playlist

Sign up for Annual Membership $15 - Download all Playlists including the Solo Piano Playlist

Here's one of my favorite piano pieces - written for a very brave lady who survived cancer:

Emma – 20 minutes 4 seconds

Piano track written for a friend who was fighting cancer at the time - Liner notes