The baby came too soon.
Its heart was beating too fast.
But as his parents sung a lullaby the baby’s heart rate slowed. The wails hushed.
A 2013 study of 272 premature babies found that lullabies, a soothing drum meant to mimic sounds a fetus hears in the womb, and ocean sounds calmed infants, helped them sleep and, as you might guess, lowered the stress levels of the parents.
“There’s just something about music — particularly live music — that excites and activates the body,” states the study’s lead author Joanne Loewy in an article published by the American Psychological Association.
“Music very much has a way of enhancing quality of life and can, in addition, promote recovery,” she states.
With the soothing properties of music in mind, students at Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School are preparing to hit the stage Thursday, June 15, for a show that will benefit Music Heals, a B.C. charitable foundation that supports music therapy programs across Canada.
The KGMS Has Talent Show 2017 is being organized by music co-ordinator Rafe Haines, but the concert is “student driven and student directed,” he says.
“Each of the performances have something to do with music therapy or how music helps us,” he says.
In a series of posters, students describe how music makes them feel inspired and excited but also confident and calm.
“A lot of these kids that come to our school, they have learning differences,” Haines explains. But music plays an “incredible role” in helping the students focus on tasks and connect to the outside world, he says.
When a student picks up a guitar or plays that first snatch of melody on a piano, Haines says you can see confidence taking root.
“It’s all about helping them develop as people and develop as students and feeling good about their own individual strengths and abilities.”
The year-end show is a great way for students to showcase those strengths and abilities, Haines explains.
With abstract art festooned about the gym, the show is set to begin with a large choir followed by wine glass instruments and a karate demonstration, as well as a 1970s-themed video where Kenneth Gordon is reborn as a disco paradise.
“A lot of the ideas come from the kids,” Haines says, explaining those are just the performances he knows about.
“A lot of the kids are keeping it hush, hush.”
However, Haines suggests there will be at least one Caribbean tune, some video game music, and that Rocky III standby, Eye of the Tiger.
“We try to get as much variety in the music as possible,” he says.
But beyond the music, the concert is about allowing students a chance to feel a sense of accomplishment.
“A lot of these kids are performing for the first time,” Haines says. “If there’s anything these kids need the most it’s that emotional component, that confidence.”
Many students are petrified before setting out on stage, but when the show is over, Haines says many students come to him with the same realization: “It wasn’t that hard.”
And the next time, it’ll be even easier, Haines explains.
“It’s not just about music, it’s about developing that confidence that these kids need because they have more ability than they ever thought.”
Students and concert goers can donate a used iPod or put a few dollars in a cash box – all of which will be donated to Music Heals, according to Haines.
Music therapists use melodies and harmonies to improve communication and lengthen attention spans, and sometimes to assist with pain management.
Learn more about the charity at musicheals.ca.
