Healing Sounds: The Power of Harmonics (Revised Edition) [Paperback]

Jonathan Goldman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1996

This work examines the capacity of sound to affect peoples lives on all levels - physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. The book looks at the transformative and healing powers of harmonics, from both the scientific and spiritual point of view. It explains to readers how to perform vocal harmonics, and contains practical exercises showing how to use sound in healing and meditiation. It also describes how listening to harmonics can be used as "sonic yoga" for meditation and deep relaxation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The creator of Dolphin Dreams and Chakra Chants recordings examines the purest form of therapeutic sound--harmonics--in his latest book, Healing Sounds. . . . His personal revelations and direct writing style make this an exceptional introduction to a fascinating field."
(Whole Life Times )

"Healing Sounds is a great gift for humankind. It is of benefit now and for the future."
(Kitaro, Grammy Award-winning composer )

"Gives a glimpse into the incredible potential of vocal harmonics and toning as a tool for self-health and transformation." (Nexus, September-October 2003, Vol.10 No.5 )

"A scholarly treatise on the subject of harmonics plus a concise how to guide, all in one volume."
(Christina Eisenberg, Pangaia, Winter 2003 ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

MUSIC / HEALING

“The creator of Dolphin Dreams and Chakra Chants recordings examines the purest form of therapeutic sound--harmonics--in his latest book, Healing Sounds. . . .His personal revelations and direct writing style make this an exceptional introduction to a fascinating field.”
--Whole Life Times

Healing Sounds is the first book to express the scientific and spiritual viewpoints about how to use the transformative power of sound for healing on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. The Mystery Schools of Egypt, Greece, and Rome understood that vibration is the fundamental active force in the universe, and they developed specific chants and tones for healing the mind, body, and spirit and achieving altered states of consciousness. Overtone chanting--also called vocal harmonics--is the ability of the human voice to create two or more notes at the same time. Healing Sounds, an innovative work in the field of sound healing and vibrational medicine, explains how to perform these vocal harmonics and experience their transformative and curative powers.

An internationally recognized master teacher, the author provides diverse examples of sound healing systems incorporating both mystical and medical traditions--from Tibetan monks’ use of Tantric harmonics to Dr. Alfred Tomatis’ use of Gregorian chanting. Practical exercises demonstrate how to use sound in healing and meditation, such as “Vowels as Mantras” and “Overtoning,” techniques pioneered by the author and utilized worldwide.

JONATHAN GOLDMAN is director of the Sound Healers Association, president of Spirit Music, and has over twenty years experience in sound therapy. He is the author of Shifting Frequencies and The Lost Chord and has created numerous albums including the first studio recordings of the Dalai Lama’s Gyume Tibetan monks, the first recording featuring dolphin sounds, and the award-winning Chakra Chants, 1999 Visionary Album of the Year. Jonathan leads Healing Sounds® Seminars throughout the United States and Europe and lives in Boulder, Colorado. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 174 pages
• Publisher: Element Books Ltd; Revised edition (July 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852308486
• ISBN-13: 978-1852308483
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,400,864 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

163 of 169 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Toning as a means of re-centering self., June 30, 2001

By 

tepi "tepi" - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Healing Sounds: The Power of Harmonics (Revised Edition) (Paperback)

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.

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Overview of Healing with Sounds with Practical Instructions, November 5, 2004

By 

Laura De Giorgio "hypnotherapist" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Healing Sounds: The Power of Harmonics (Paperback)

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.

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An indepth look into the vibrations, and intent of sound, September 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Healing Sounds: The Power of Harmonics (Revised Edition) (Paperback)

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.