Authors: Robert Lawrence Friedman, Shi-Hong Loh
ISBN-13: 9780941677875, ISBN-10: 0941677877
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Pathway Book Service
Date Published: August 2000
Edition: 1st Edition
The Healing Power of the Drum is an authoritative yet easy to read book that shows how everyone can achieve health benefits from the increasingly popular activity of hand drumming. The raison d'etre for the book is to raise awareness of the hand drum from merely a musical instrument to a tool that can be used by individuals to attain psychological, physiological and spiritual well-being.
The book explores the drum from a multidimensional perspective, explaining the drum's ability to release anger, create joy, alter brain rhythms, induce trance, and create empowerment. Research and anecdotal reports provide validation of the benefits of personal drumming.
The Healing Power of the Drum provides a springboard for readers to use the drum in exciting and innovative ways to enhance their own wellness. The book reflects the very qualities of drumming. It is easy to read and non-technical, fun, and yet it provides depth, meaning and purpose for the reader. As the drum provides seemingly limitless ranges of emotions from deep relaxation to extraordinary aliveness, the book accordingly explores the vast range of experiences offered by drumming, from its ability to create euphoria to its deep and sacred power to heal.
Contributors of world renown include:
Acknowledgments | vii | |
Foreword | xii | |
Part I | The Limitless Healing Drum | 1 |
Chapter 1 | Hand Drums and Healing | 3 |
Psychological and Physiological Applications | 4 | |
The Symphony of Rhythm | 5 | |
Who Should Read This Book? | 6 | |
Chapter 2 | My Journey to the Drum | 9 |
There's a Baby on the Drummer's Path | 9 | |
Drumming Away My Mother's Migraines | 10 | |
My Fifteen Minutes of Fame...Ouch | 11 | |
You Did What With Bobby McFerrin? Sing?? Why??? | 12 | |
Omar Hakim, and Me, or Whose Concert Is it, Really? | 12 | |
The Experiment Begins | 14 | |
The Drum Unites Parents and Children | 15 | |
Drumming and Oneness | 16 | |
The Drum, So Powerful--Yet So Simple | 17 | |
Chapter 3 | The Ancient Calling | 18 |
Words from a Master Drummer--An African Perspective | 19 | |
The Hungry Soul | 21 | |
Rhythm, Both Within and Without | 23 | |
In the Beginning, There Must Be Rhythm | 24 | |
Shifting the Sands of Time | 25 | |
Rhythm is a Given | 26 | |
Chapter 4 | The Personal Experience of Drumming | 28 |
Finding Your Drum | 28 | |
Drumming Alone | 29 | |
Drumming in a Group | 29 | |
Your Joyful Inner Child | 30 | |
Drumming and the Family | 35 | |
The Psychology of Drumming | 36 | |
Intuitive Drumming | 41 | |
Entrainment | 42 | |
The Discovery of Entrainment | 43 | |
The Unifying Quality of the Drum | 46 | |
The Alchemy of Drumming | 50 | |
Part II | Complementary Medicine and Rhythm | 55 |
Chapter 5 | Drumming and Physiological Conditions | 57 |
Alzheimer's Disease | 57 | |
Cancer | 65 | |
Multiple Sclerosis--Two Personal Stories | 66 | |
Paralysis | 70 | |
Parkinson's Disease | 70 | |
Parkinson's Disease Research | 75 | |
Speech Problems | 77 | |
Stroke | 78 | |
Chapter 6 | Drumming and Psychological Conditions | 80 |
Addictions | 80 | |
Disabilities | 84 | |
Psychiatric Rehabilitation | 86 | |
Stress Management | 88 | |
Chapter 7 | Drumming for Specific Populations | 91 |
At-Risk Adolescents | 91 | |
Drums Not Guns | 93 | |
Corporate Employees | 95 | |
The Corporate Tribal Meeting | 98 | |
Prisoners and Detainees | 100 | |
Drumming Detainees | 102 | |
Senior Citizens | 104 | |
Vietnam Veterans | 106 | |
Chapter 8 | Drumming and Children | 111 |
Healing Children's Grief Through Drumming | 111 | |
The Drum Helps a Distraught Child Choose Life | 114 | |
Autism | 115 | |
Down Syndrome | 122 | |
William's Syndrome | 123 | |
Rhythm Profiles | 124 | |
Chapter 9 | Skeptics and Visionaries | 130 |
Counterpoint | 132 | |
Visionaries and Rhythm | 132 | |
Physioacoustics | 134 | |
The Future of Drumming | 140 | |
An Ancient Healing Instrument Meets the Future | 141 | |
Part III | Bringing Drumming Into Your Life | 143 |
Chapter 10 | Practical Techniques and Rhythm Exercises | 145 |
Chapter 11 | Drumming Exercises from Music Therapy | 158 |
Chapter 12 | Conclusion | 167 |
References | 171 | |
Rhythm and Percussion Resources | 174 | |
Index | 188 |