Issue #3 Notes from The Music Hub March 23, 2025

Emotional Flexibility & Music

I have listened to a LOT of live music this month.

The way things work for composers is if you submit a piece to a festival or conference and it is chosen for performance, you must go.

Happily, I have had several pieces selected for performance. Which means I've been traveling A LOT.

March 6-8 I was at the International Festival of Music by Women. This past weekend I was at the Region 4 Regional Conference for the Society of Composers, Inc.

This coming week, I will be at the TUTTI New Music Festival.

The first festival had 15 concerts over 3 days, for a total of 18 hours.

The second conference had 5 (1hr) concerts in 24 hours.

The upcoming festival will have at least 10 concerts (admittedly, I have not counted them all yet.)

That's a lot of music. A LOT.

I don't necessarily recommend that anyone make a habit of listening to that much music all at once.

But the experience of listening to (or performing) music is always beneficial, no matter how much.

One of the most important things music can do is make us more emotionally flexible.

What does that mean?

As an herbalist, I learned that something called heartrate variability is a measure of health. Essentially, when you breathe in, your heart rate should go up a little and when you exhale, your heart rate should drop back down. This is the body's response to an influx of oxygen which is then sent out throughout the body.

If you pay attention to how it feels when you take a deep breath, you can even feel the sensation of your muscles "waking up" with fresh air.

The responsiveness is the measure of health. If your body doesn't respond to an influx of oxygen, that can be an indicator of deeper problems.

I believe music has the ability to help us maintain emotional variability, the ability to respond to being moved emotionally.

But it doesn't just happen with casual listening to whatever happens to be playing through the speakers at a restaurant or grocery store. It takes active listening.

The same way only a deep breath is going to send oxygen throughout our bodies.

But when we listen to music on purpose, to really experience it, it can massage our emotions and move them around, keeping us limber and flexible.

If we develop emotional variability when we listen to music, we can then access it when we play, letting how we feel the music come out in the way we play it.

The next time you listen to music or practice, here are a few questions to ask:

What color is the music?

What temperature is the music?

What images come to mind when you hear it?

The music doesn't have to tell a story but these questions can help you understand the mood it creates.

Let me know if you try this and how it impacts your listening or playing!

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What's new inside the app!

Success!

Lesson 20 is in the app! You will find a PDF of all the songs, with an instructional video and a demonstration video on how to play all the songs!

This week's lesson is all about triplets, a new rhythm.

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Thank you for being a valued member of The Music Hub Community!

Please contact me by responding to this email if you have any questions or concerns!

Happy Music Making!

Heather Niemi Savage, composer, pianist & educator

Founder of The Music Hub