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Healing Sounds: The Power of Harmonics

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HEALING SOUNDS : The Power of Harmonics. Revised Edition. By Jonathan Goldman. New York : Harper Collins, 1996 (1992). ISBN: 1852308486 (pbk.)

Not being either an 'expert' nor a scientist in the field of sound, I was able to approach this book with an unclouded mind and one free of preconceptions and fixed ideas. And the most obvious thing about Goldman's book is that it is not a scientific treatise and should therefore not be judged as one. It is primarily a practical manual which sets out to teach us how we can use our voice, and our ability to create harmonics and tones, in some very interesting and beneficial ways.

Although Goldman has a great deal of experience in various forms of chanting and toning and is a teacher of the subject, it's altogether possible that, from the point of a view of a pretentious, reactionary, and mechanistic official science, his views may be unorthodox in some respects. Personally, I don't give a hoot. It's a long time since I grovelled at the shrine of official science.

The human voice is an amazing and beautiful instrument and all of us have one. Sadly most of us are totally unaware of the power and beauty of our own God-given voice. Goldman's book remedies that ignorance. It gives us detailed and precise instructions for toning - "the singing of prolonged sounds, usually simple vowels, on a single note" (Le Mee)- which anyone can follow.

When used, preferably in conjunction with his practice tape of exercises which can be ordered separately, you will soon be amazed to find yourself producing the most incredible and beautiful sounds. You will also find that it's huge fun, lightens your mood, clears the mind of its usual clutter, and that it can help alleviate certain minor physical problems such as headaches and perhaps even a few major ones. In short, it's great fun and makes you feel GOOD!

Its main effects are to balance the mind, emotions, and body, and if you persist in practice you will learn how to direct certain frequencies to different areas of the body where the sustained natural vibrations of your voice can be used to produce a wide range of beneficial effects.

This makes perfect sense because all things, ultimately, are vibration. Modern Physics and Ancient Science both concur in this. The body is a complex and delicately balanced pattern of vibrations and energy flows which can very easily become disturbed, and which need continual fine-tuning and adjustment to be kept in top condition.

I think that's what toning does for us. I also think that is why wolves howl. They don't howl, as some believe, because they are lonely or to announce someone's death. They howl to rebalance the energies in their body and to re-center themselves. In other words, they love to howl because it makes them feel GOOD!

Human beings are gifted with a much finer vocal instrument than God has seen fit to give to wolves, and Goldman (who has probably never thought of this wolf analogy anyway) is of course not asking you to howl but to tone. My advice would be to give Goldman and toning a try.

Goldman has something very important to teach us. His is one of the best of several books I've looked at on the subject (a related and excellent book is Katharine Le Mee's 'Chant'). And I think that if, as I did, you give it a try you'll find toning enormous fun.

Humming and singing are of course unconscious forms of re-centering, though few of us have the ability to sing well. But when it comes to producing not songs but individual notes, you'll be surprised at how well you can do and how good it makes you feel.

The first part of the book provides an overview of toning and harmonics as practiced, mainly for the purposes of healing, in different cultures: Mayans, Native American Shamans, among Tibetan Monks; as well as use in different esoteric traditions - e.g. Kabbalah, Sufi chanting, Gregorian chanting, etc.

This is followed by an entire section on balancing chakras with sound and suggestions for your own experiments with toning.

A very insightful book that dived into many area's of healing music. A good portion of the book deals with harmonics, and how they affect the body and also how Gyume Monks of Tibet use overtone chanting. A must read for people intrigued with sounds and their healing properties.

An excellent introduction to music as medicine, Healing Sounds examines the effects of sound on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. The author is an expert on music theory, psycho-acoustics and the use of sound in cultural traditions like the Sanskrit (his album Chakra Chants is a gem), Tibetan, Kabbalistic & Western, with emphasis on Gregorian chants. In addition, he reviews the latest scientific research on the physiological effects of music & sound.

Goldman defines overtone chanting or vocal harmonics as the capacity of the human voice to sound two or more notes simultaneously. Virtually all tones produced by musical instruments, voices or other sonic sources are blends of tonal frequencies called 'partials'. The `fundamental' is the lowest frequency whilst partials of higher frequency are `overtones.' Together these create the particular sonic color or timbre of an instrument.

Scientific research into sound includes Cymatics which is the study of the impact of sound on matter, which Goldman investigates with reference to the work of Peter Guy Manners amongst others. Healing Sounds also serves as a practical manual which offers training on how to use your voice, harmonics and vowels as mantras for personal transformation. Sound ought not to be restricted to entertainment but also used to heal & communicate.

Jonathan Goldman's impressive body of sacred sound albums includes masterpieces like Ultimate Om and Holy Harmony. For those interested in the Kabbalistic & Indian traditions, I recommend Ecstatic Kabbalah by David A Cooper and Healing Mantras by Thomas Ashley-Farrand. Another thought-provoking work on sound and music therapy is Sacred Sounds by Ted Andrews.

Healing Sounds is a terrific primer for anyone who wants to understand the overall benefits of sound healing. Goldman has experienced the powerful impact harmonics can have on our physical and emotional well-being, and digs deep into many ancient traditions as to how sound was employed for healing.

The section on using vowel sounds as mantras was also extremely well written and easy to understand. Toning various vowel sounds provide many benefits because our own voice helps strengthen a more profound connection to ourselves. Toning and creating vocal harmonics before meditation can also help deepen a meditation practice. Highly recommended for anyone interested in exploring the healing power of sound.

Over the years I have written, read and spoken a lot of words and never once paid much attention to the vowels -- that is until I read Jonathan Goldman's work and put his exercises into practice. Each of those five vowels -- A, E, I, O, U -- have tremendous healing powers when toned, or chanted like a mantra. As Goldman explains it, all harmonics are found within every vowel, and because each voice is quite unique, we all pronounce vowels slightly differently. As one chants an individual vowel, you can feel a distinct and beneficial change happening in certain parts of the body. This is Goldman's style. He takes something from the realm of science and academics and presents it in every day, understandable English. This book should be a basic in colleges and schools.

This book gave me a great introduction into the world of sound healing and the various theories behind it. If you are musically minded then you would probably get more from the book than I did about the physics of harmonics but my lack of ability of understanding of how it worked didn't detract from the fascinating introduction to this topic.
The book covers ancient uses of harmonics, the science of harmonics, the various spiritual uses of harmonics in chanting and such like and exercises to create your own vocal harmonics or using vowels as mantras. I've been using some of the sounds from this book in my healing practice and they have proved to be very powerful.
An amazing book from somebody who knows their stuff and loves their work.
Totally recommended.

The information in this book about the healing power of sound is not new - the ancient civilisations knew it, respected it and used it. We have lost this knowledge and it is time to re-learn it.

I am a musician and acoustician with decades of research in overtones and harmonic structure. My response to "Healing Sounds" is a bit like Will Rogers' remarks about President Herbert Hoover: "It ain't what he don't know that bothers me -- it's what he knows for sure...that just ain't so." Goldman knows a lot of stuff that just ain't so, and his faulty grasp of science in general and acoustics in particular makes this a regular cavalcade of foolish claims based on inadequate research and an inadequate concept of rigor. Wishful thinking, alas, never translates as science.

Delivery service is excellent and the book is teriffic! A MUST read for sure.