Every movement we make requires rhythm-based coordination from a designated part of our brain's core. Language is rhythm. Play is rhythm. Music is rhythm. When I improve my rhythm, I make other areas of my life easier and more enjoyable. 
Music is innately connected to many students' most challenging subject, math! In fact, I like to say that music is mathyou can feel. 
In my playful, mindful music studio, pianists, vocalists and percussionists develop steady rhythm and an appreciation for the math of music. We may tap or move to the rhythm of a song before playing or singing it. We talk about rhythmic cycles, and how songs are divided into groups of beats. 
Because of their strong foundation in rhythm, my students transition well to choir, orchestra, bell choir and other musical activities outside the studio, where they enjoy social connection as well as musical satisfaction. What most people don't know is that by helping to enhance the brain's rhythm system, we prepare it to create the most sophisticated rhythm of all: attentive stillness.
Get started on music math at home witha simple find-the-beat game you can play anywhere!

Playful Mindful Music by Elisabeth Swim at Sounds Like Me Inc

Right after high school, I was privileged to spend time in a small farming community. My job there was to take care of the children's petting zoo. Seems like fun, yes?

Most of the job was cleaning up after hundreds of animals, work that felt repetitive and never ending. So I sang. All kinds of songs every day until my work was through when I would walk cheerfully up a hill to my dorm to shower and study. Neuroscience confirms that the singing and not the scent of scat that made me feel so at ease. 😉

The extended out breaths you need for singing cue the heart to slow down, supporting a calm physiological state. The accessible and fluid sounds of singing send signals to the body-mind that support calm readiness to engage with self and life. (Stephen Porges)

Sometimes I do the same thing now while I'm stuck in traffic or doing anything that requires seemingly endless repetitive effort. I just sing. ​​​​​​​

You may know that I host a non-performance singing group for people who, like me, simply want to sing. I’m so grateful to have the support of the Houston Arts Alliance to continue our meetings throughout the 2018-19 season.
Our next meeting is coming up soon. Sign up here for more info!  

Could you use an extra tool for calm? I've got a mindfulness tip for you that's all about low sounds, which are different from quiet sounds as my students learn. 

Let's start with high and low sounds. High-pitched sounds include birds chirping, swooping car alarms and kitten meows. Instruments that play high sounds include flutes, piccolos, violins and chimes. They are called high because their sound waves happen at a high frequency or quickly, and look a little like this:

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Low-pitched sounds such as a mature cow's moo, the chuff of a train engine or a tiger, or a ship's fog horn have lower frequency sounds waves, which means they happen more slowly than those of high-pitched sounds. Their sound waves look roughly like this:

/''''''''\____/"""""\____/"""""\____

Bass guitar, tuba, bass drum, bassoon and didggery-doo all make low sounds.

For kids, it's easier to hear high sounds with clarity than low sounds (because of the way both brain and ear develop). But adults can hear low sounds more acutely. And low sounds have deep emotional significance: they are the first steady rhythmic sounds humans hear in the womb as mama's heartbeat.

This brings me to your mindfulness tool. Because low sounds have such a harmonious relationship with the oldest parts of the brain, listening to low sounds can calm your system. In a celebrated relaxing song by Marconi Union, low-frequency sounds are used continuously. It's probably not a good idea to listen to this while driving, because it is so relaxing. 

Even without cuing up a snooze-inducing sound bath, you can still experience the benefits of active listening to low sounds. Most mainstream music features some kind of bass or percussion sound that is steady throughout each tune. There are also a range of higher and lower sounds in the ambient noises of daily life, from the working din of a cafe to the sounds on a television to the noises of a busy street. 

Your mindful mission, if you choose to accept it, is to listen for low sounds throughout your day. Want to train your ear to hear low? Listen to Bach's cello suites (mostly bass sounds) Chaka Khan's Tell Me Something Good or Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah (slower bass) or Charles Wright's Express Yourself (quicker bassline). Listen for the steady sounds that outline the beat of each song. 
​
This will train you to hear and name low sounds. Over time, you will be able to use your ears, even in what seems like chaos, to find a focal point for your mind. This can reduce irrititation in the moment, and stave off overwhelm to keep you more contented all day long.

​Rhythm is the first thing I work with in my students’ early lessons. We improvise (play spontaneously) based on fast and slow rhythms. I teach them the basic musical note shapes for 1 (one) beat and 2 (two) beats.

For young children, movement words are excellent to cue rhythm through speech. I teach my students to move in a walk and say “walk” with each step, while pointing to a quarter note (see above). Or I teach them to clap and with each clap, say “walk.”

For two-beat notes, I teach a child to step and stay to the chanted word “stand-ing”. To clap a half note, we clap on the first beat and squeeze hands together on the second beat.