Meditation music is music performed to aid in the practice of

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

. It can have a specific religious content, but also more recently has been associated with modern composers who use meditation techniques in their process of composition, or who compose such music with no particular religious group as a focus. The concept also includes music performed as an act of meditation.

History

Modern meditation music in the 20th century began when composers such as

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading f ...

Stuart Dempster Stuart Dempster (born July 7, 1936 in Berkeley, California) is a trombonist, didjeridu player, improviser, and composer. Biography After Dempster completed his studies at San Francisco State College, he was appointed assistant professor at th ...

Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for ...

La Monte Young La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music. He is best k ...

and Lawrence Ball began to combine meditation techniques and concepts, and music. Specific works include

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groundb ...

's '' Inori'' (1974), ''

Mantra A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ...

'' (1970), ''

Hymnen ''Hymnen'' (German for "Anthems") is an electronic and concrete work, with optional live performers, by Karlheinz Stockhausen, composed in 1966–67, and elaborated in 1969. In the composer's catalog of works, it is No. 22. The extended work is ...

'' (1966–67), '' Stimmung'' (1968), and ''

Aus den sieben Tagen ''Aus den sieben Tagen'' (From the Seven Days) is a collection of 15 text compositions by Karlheinz Stockhausen, composed in May 1968, in reaction to a personal crisis, and characterized as " Intuitive music"—music produced primarily from the i ...

'' (1968), and

Ben Johnston Ben Johnston may refer to: * Ben Johnston (rugby union) (born 1978), British rugby player * Ben Johnston (composer) (1926–2019), American contemporary composer of concert music * Bennett Johnston, Jr. (born 1932), Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist ...

, whose ''Visions and Spells'' (a realization of ''Vigil'' (1976)), requires a meditation period prior to performance. R. Murray Schafer's concepts of clairaudience (clean hearing) as well as the ones found in his ''The Tuning of the World'' (1977) are meditative. Stockhausen describes ''Aus den sieben Tagen'' as "

intuitive music Intuitive music is a form of musical improvisation based on instant creation in which fixed principles or rules may or may not have been given. It is a type of process music where instead of a traditional music score, verbal or graphic instructions ...

" and in the piece "Es" from this cycle the performers are instructed to play only when not thinking or in a state of nonthinking (Von Gunden asserts that this is contradictory and should be "think about your playing"). John Cage was influenced by Zen and pieces such as ''

Imaginary Landscape ''Imaginary Landscape'' is the title of a series of five pieces by American composer John Cage, all of which include instruments or other elements requiring electricity. The series comprises the following works: * ''Imaginary Landscape No. 1'' (19 ...

No. 4'' for twelve radios are "meditations that measure the passing of time".

Relational effects

Music can provide many psychological benefits including

stress reduction Stress management is a wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person's level of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of and for the motive of improving everyday functioning. Stress produces n ...

, improved memory, and general improvement to

cognitive Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought ...

performance. Research shows that the activity of listening to music can aid in detaching a person from their surroundings and help focus on their own thoughts and actions. When applied specifically to a meditative setting, music can aid in

mindfulness Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one's attention to the present-moment experience without evaluation, a skill one develops through meditation or other training. Mindfulness derives from ''sati'', a significant element of Hind ...

, visualization, and

contemplation In a religious context, the practice of contemplation seeks a direct awareness of the divine which transcends the intellect, often in accordance with prayer or meditation. Etymology The word ''contemplation'' is derived from the Latin word ...

. According to the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

, these qualities can increase personal awareness and help identify signs of stress and anxiety. Practicing mindfulness can help a person be more observant of their present thoughts and actions. Research shows that meditation music can improve confidence during the practice of meditation. In a July 2018 study, volunteers between ages 60–80 who were listening to healing music and meditating for 1–2 hours a day and eating a sugar-free healthy diet exhibited sharper memory and cognitive skills with happy and cheerful behavioral patterns compared to those who were not. Meditation music can help improve focus while doing mechanical tasks. A June 2019 study that observed

neurosurgeons Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and per ...

performing microsurgical training bypasses with and without meditation music showed a slight improvement in the total time utilized by novice surgeons. While the total time utilized by experienced surgeons remained unchanged, the thread length used in the training bypasses was significantly different for both surgeons. Meditation music can have positive effects on people recovering from

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...

. In general, spiritual meditation may promote addiction recovery as well as improve the psychological and mental health outcomes of drug addiction; this includes reducing depression, anxiety and stress symptoms. In a January 2020 study, it was concluded that meditation music conducted by Young-Dong Kim can be useful therapy to prevent the reinstatement of

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamp ...

addiction during abstinence in rats.

Christian meditation music

Some Christian faiths, particularly the Catholic Church, reject meditation practice from outside their traditions, particularly new-age music. However, the Olivier Messiaen piece referenced above is explicitly Christian, and Messiaen himself was a practicing Catholic and a church organist.

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century. His m ...

's '' Quartet for the End of Time'' (1941).

Zen meditation music

Specific works include

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as '' Top Gun'' (1986), '' Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''D ...

's '' Music for Zen Meditation''.

References

Cited sources

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