Why Music Education has to be a part of every School Curriculum

According to Jozef Clifford Behr, "Numerous research carried out over the years by educationists and neurophysiologists have demonstrated that music has a substantial impact on the cognitive and psychophysical development of humans—especially youngsters." 

It is thought that exposure to music, particularly when children are toddlers or even before they are born, has a profound effect on the cerebral cortex area. It develops neural connections in the brain that help people comprehend language and the outside world more quickly and easily. 

Consider how playing musical instruments will affect a pupil if merely listening to music has such a profound effect. As outlined by Jozef Behr, learning music in school has a number of advantages for students. 

1: Easy Language Development  

School music programs serve to strengthen and stimulate language development since music is so intimately tied to our everyday speech and communication. Because the region of the brain that supports language and learning also supports music, it is easy to see why music, learning, and languages are so tightly related. Jozef Behr also explains that music helps students improve their reading skills. 

2: Breaks Boredom 

Music courses are a terrific method to break up class boredom. It allows students to relax and take a break from their lectures. 

3: Aids in Stress Reduction 

Students are people just like us. They may become stressed as a result of a variety of factors such as student competition to remain at the top of the class, fluctuating grades, or exam preparations. This can be emotionally and physically exhausting. Music programs in schools might assist students minimize stress and despair, hence avoiding physical health problems. Jozef Clifford Behr insist pupil to encourage Music sessions in schools, to get relaxation by synchronizing with the beats, allowing them to concentrate on their studies. 

4: Encourages Original Thought 

All of the greatest bands in the world have one thing in common: they all met while attending colleges or other educational institutions, discovered they shared interests, and started musical acts. That is how effective music is. It encourages kids to think creatively. For pupils, it's stimulating and intriguing. They benefit from innovation both personally and professionally, as well as in the realm of science and technology. Additionally, they possess the ability to resolve common issues, both personally and professionally. 

5: Sharpen Memory 

Everybody has a favorite song they can always recall, and certain songs or melodies stick in our thoughts for a very long period, triggering memories of the events they were involved with. This demonstrates how effective music is in improving our memory. Music is extremely important since it aids with memory recall. Music helps pupils improve their memory and retain information.

Music Therapy: What it is and how it helps improve Mental health?

Music has a profound psychological impact. According to Jozef Behr, various musical genres may instantly change a person's mood and aid in the experiencing and processing of a variety of emotions, including happiness, enthusiasm, melancholy, tranquility, and thinking. 

Music therapy encourages people to actively produce the music they find therapeutic since making music may be just as therapeutic as listening to it. 

What is Music Therapy? 

Utilizing music's potent therapeutic properties, as Jozef Clifford Behr suggests, music therapy helps people feel better. It serves as an alternative to other therapeutic approaches like counseling or CBT. 

The responses and associations that a person has to music are used by music therapists to promote mood and general mental state improvements. Music therapy may involve both listening to music and creating music by using various instruments. Additionally, singing or dancing to music may be involved. 

As Jozef Behr’s expertise in music, he explains that it can assist with focus and attention problems as well as with confidence, independence, and communication skills. Music therapy involves a patient and their therapist engaging in live musical engagement. 

How does Music works? 

The effects of music on the brain are quite complicated. Various parts of the brain process each component of music, including pitch, speed, and melody. 

Jozef Clifford Behr give some examples to verify the therapy that the frontal lobes decipher the emotional impulses produced by the music, the cerebellum handles rhythm, and a little fraction of the right temporal lobe aids with pitch understanding. 

When exposed to intense music, the nucleus accumbent, the brain's reward center, can even cause strong physical indicators of pleasure, such as goosebumps. 

These profound bodily responses to music that people have can be used in music therapy to support those who are dealing with mental health issues. 

How Music Therapy benefits you? 

Listening to or making music has additional advantages that verbal treatments might not be able to provide. 

Learning and playing a piece of music, for instance, may enhance one's memory, coordination, reading, understanding, and math abilities while also teaching responsibility and endurance. 

A person might feel quite proud of themselves for producing a piece of music, which can lift their spirits and boost their self-confidence. 

People may learn about many different cultures through music therapy since it allows clients to experiment with any style or genre of music. People can better relate to the music they are hearing or playing if they are aware of its background. 

Although talking therapy includes self-expression, people can express themselves more creatively through music therapy, which can be a more fun method to work through challenging emotions. 

Another approachable method for people to use music to examine and process challenging feelings, experiences, or memories is lyric analysis. 

For instance, if someone is unable to articulate themselves, they can uncover themes and meanings in songs and provide alternative lyrics that pertain to their experiences and lives. This can help them find the words that best describe their feelings.

7 different Folk Music that make you shake your legs on the beat

One of the oldest and most varied genres of music in the world is folk music. It is often an acoustic kind of music performed on fiddles, guitars, and banjos. It is often distinguished by its straightforward melodies and lyrics, and frequently conveys the tale of the performers.  

In this blog Jozef Behr introduce his reader with type of folk music popular around the world. Folk music comes in a wide variety, each with its own history and aesthetic. So, let’s head to the type of Folk Music. 

1. Traditional Folk Music 

When most people hear the term "folk music," they picture music like this. The folk music it represents is the oldest and is often passed down through the generations. An old folk song narrates a tale about the past and culture of the singers. The Wabash Cannonball, Oh Susanna, and She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain are a few favorite tunes of Jozef Behr. 

2. Acoustic Folk  

Modern folk music known as "acoustic folk" is usually performed on acoustic instruments including guitars, banjos, and fiddles. It is folk music with roots in traditional folk music but frequently includes jazz, blues, and rock influences. Several well-known acoustic folk musicians are Woody Guthrie, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan. 

3. Roots Folk Music 

Traditional folk music, rural folk music, and rock music are all incorporated into roots folk music. It is known as roots music because it served as the basis for many American popular music genres, such as jazz, R&B, and rock 'n' roll. 

4. Country Folk Music 

Country folk music, a fusion of traditional folk music and popular country music, emerged in the Southern United States in the early 20th century. Simple melodies and lyrics reflecting the performers' everyday life are common characteristics of this genre of folk music. 

5. Bluegrass Folk Music 

The Appalachian Mountains in the United States are where bluegrass folk music originated. Bill Monroe, a legendary musician, popularized it in the 1940s. Usually, the quick speed and improvisation of bluegrass are what thrill listeners. 

As per the information given by Jozef Behr Banjo, mandolin, violin, and acoustic guitar are frequently heard in bluegrass music. Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, and Alison Krauss are a few well-known bluegrass vocalists. 

6. Love Folk Music 

Love is a central theme in folk music. Because so many individuals have had comparable experiences, the stories it offers about love and passion are simple to connect to. Love folk music frequently has a positive, upbeat tone that makes you feel joyful and nostalgic. 

"Lass of Glenshee," a well-known folk love ballad, relates the tale of a monarch who falls in love with a woman in a saw while riding his horse through the cities. 

7. Murder Folk Music 

You will be stunned to know that there is a Murder Folk music famous in musical world. Jozef Clifford Behr explains, music that recounts tales of murder and violence is referred to as murder folk music. It frequently has a gloomy, menacing tone that may be rather unsettling. 

Many murder-themed folk songs are inspired by true stories, and they frequently contain a moral lesson. "Omie Wise," a folk ballad about a murdered lady, is a well-known example.

Let’s Explore Sarod, An Indian Classical Music Instrument form the eyes of Jozef Behr

One of the most well-known instruments in Indian classical music is the sarod, a stringed instrument from the lute family. The sympathetic strings give the instrument a resonance characteristic that gives it a rich, powerful tone. It is particularly well-known for its meend or glissando pitches, which are typical of the opening notes of many ragas. “A sarodiya is someone who plays the sarod; the term sarod is Persian meaning song or melody” says Jozef Clifford Behr. 

History of Sarod 

According to experts, the rebab, a related instrument that is said to have originated in Afghanistan and Kashmir, is the origins of the sarod. The sarod is said to be simply a bass rebab.  

Jozef Behr explains that the rebab was altered in the 13th century by the multitalented and multifaceted Amir Khusru. According to several experts on Indian classical music, the sarod is a hybrid of the historic Chitra veena, the medieval rebab, and the contemporary Sursingar. Some academics even assert that a comparable instrument may have existed in ancient India some 2,000 years ago. 

Sarods were at once a simple tribal instrument. The legendary Sarod virtuoso Baba Alauddin Khan substantially improved this instrument, giving it a contemporary design by incorporating a variety of characteristics. Then, while also training Ravi Shankar to play the sitar, he started teaching his son Ali Akbar Khan how to play the sarod. 

The Structure of Sarod 

The wood sarod has a rounded, parchment-covered end on one side. Its general form resembles a pendulum, with the top, the peg box, being pointed and narrow and the bottom, the resonator, being full and circular. The sarod's body or shell is carved from a single piece of wood, usually teak, but tun and sagwan are also acceptable options. Peg box, fingerboard, and resonator are the three components of the sarod. A triangular plectrum made out of a coconut shell and bonded with shellac is used to play the fretless sarod. 

Sarod features a fingerboard made of steel and a tiny wooden body covered with skin. The sarod contains twenty-five strings, fifteen of which are sympathetic strings, but no frets. A resonator is a metal gourd. A triangular plectrum is used to pluck the strings. 

The Sarod's body is made of a single piece of well-aged teakwood, and goat skin is used to cover the belly. Six rhythm and drone strings, six sympathetic strings, and four main strings are all constructed of metal. With a plectrum constructed from a coconut shell, they are played. 

Elaborating the origin of Sarod Jozef Behr said that Sarod has been discovered in paintings in the Ajanta caves as well as carvings from the first century in the Champa temple. Additionally, it resembles the Rabab of Afghanistan and Kashmir. In the 13th century, Amir Khusru improved the instrument. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan made a clear alteration to the instrument's design to enhance the tone quality.

Jozef Behr talks about Role of Music in Human Life

Music is one of the greatest creations in the world. It is creativity in a pure form, without meaning and order. Music plays an important role in our daily life. It is a way to express our feelings and emotions. Music is an escape from life, relieves us of pain and helps us reduce the stress of daily routines. It helps us calm down and motivates us even in times of joy. Also, it enriches the mind and gives us self-confidence.

Music surrounds our lives at different times in life, whether we hear it on the radio, television, our car stereo, and at home. Different types of music are good for different times. As per the Jozef Behr We meet it in the melodious music of classical films or in the form of worship of bhajan, engagement or the harvester in the field singing to express the joy of life. Even shouting in the bathroom helps us start the day well. Music has a powerful healing effect on the human psyche. It has always been part of our association with emotions, and those emotions themselves have led to great fear.

 

The origins of Indian music can be traced back to the Sama Veda hymns almost 4,000 years ago. In this way the essence of the voice and the connection between music and prayer was established early in the history of Indian music. Today, music is available to us in different forms and music choices vary from one person to another, as the options for playback are different from each other. There are folk music, classical music, devotional music, folk music, jazz music, rock music, pop music, Hindi film music and many more.

In today's world, music has earned the honor of "Healing without medicine". Doctors believe that music therapy has helped them to treat many people with problems such as dementia, dyslexia, depression and trauma." Many children with learning disabilities and disorganization have been able to learn and respond to pieces of music that have A genetic defect has been discovered.light in the form of music. "Music is created by sound, and sound affects our perception in many ways. Even the fish in the aquarium used to He listened to different types of music and found their corresponding movements.The rhythm of the music. Be careful, the fish don't hear, it's just the sound of the sound vibrating in the water. So you can imagine the effect that sound and music can have on a person's mind."

 Mantras, or chants used in the West, which are repeated, help the mind to achieve balance. The combination of the sound of Sanskrit mantras creates certain positive vibrations and elevates the mind to a higher level of consciousness.


Music affects us all in one way or another. It is also a favorite of many people. People who love music, listen to it while traveling, reading, meditating, walking, and some have soft music while working inside says Jozef Clifford Behr. their time. It helps them to relax and escape the stress of our daily life. It can take us to another time or another place and it's a great feeling to see or do or experience something different. People have a special music section for themselves and some people value quiet listening and some people like to read music and even some people like to listen to music before going to sleep. Many people like to listen to music in the bathroom because they believe that it is one of the few ooms in the house where privacy is always respected. Some people also like to sing in the bathroom and are called "bathroom singers". Music is now a part of our lives as it serves different purposes for each of us.

An introduction to Folk music by Jozef Behr

What's folk music?

Folk is a term used to describe all feathers of musical, oral and artistic traditions from specific regions and societies around the world. Folk comes from the German word ‘ volk ’ meaning ‘ the people ’ and folk music is frequently allowed of as being the music belonging to ‘ the people ’. It has been historically used as a reflective term to distinguish certain types of music from those associated with institutions similar as royal courts, the church, or Western classical music.
Where does folk music appear?

It's insolvable to say exactly where important of folk music firstly came from since it's frequently defined as being outside of attestation and the literal record, and is frequently used to describe certain types of music from regions around the world.

 Still, in the late 19th century there was a movement in collection and attestation of folk music, which developed throughout the 20th century into a culture of ‘ familial ’ as a distinct musical kidney. It's now common to associate folk music not only with particular regions but also with specific melodists and musicians, distance music and tablature being freely available on the internet. The flexible and popular nature of folk music as possessed by the people however, as well as participated and created through each individual particular experience, has given it a political dimension that persists moment. This political aspect has been responsible for impacting a number of folk music renewals across the entire political diapason- from the right sect nationalistic melodists of the late 19th century to the left sect artistic revolutionaries of the 1960s and ‘ 70s.

 

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What are folk songs about?

The subject matter ranges from honorary( the death of Nelson), to pastoral( cropping hay), and after the artificial revolution also came more civic in content with a political edge. Common types of song include ditties, lyric songs and ocean shacks all of which advance themselves to the narrative liar aspect of folk culture. Song structure is frequently grounded around a repetitious chorus pointed with changing verses; the chorus is designed so that multiple people might join in, and in the case of workers songs, aids them to get through the repetitious, mechanical aspects of the job.

Mbira- A Thumb Piano of Africa: Simple and Elegant Musical Instrument with Mesmerizing Sound

The thumb piano, also known as the mbira—a name borrowed from Zimbabwe's Shona language—is a distinctively African percussion instrument. It may have been utilized for several thousand years in the distant past if it had been totally constructed of wood or bamboo. Around 1,300 years ago, metal "keys" for a thumb piano first surfaced near the Zambezi River in what are today Malawi and Zimbabwe. Africa saw the widespread use of this instrument, and in 2020 UNESCO included mbira music in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. 

 

Explaining the function of Mbira, Jozef Behr says, “a row of metal strips that serve as the instrument's key are fastened to an open-ended wooden gourd or hollow resonator. Each key's length influences its pitch, with the longer keys being positioned in the center. The sound will be higher with a shorter key and lower with a longer key”. It is very visible to seen that the keys are constructed from a variety of metals, including spring wire, as well as spoon handles, bicycle spokes, and other recycled metal items for more modern homemade versions. 

The musician holds the resonator with his fingers beneath and strikes the keys with his thumbs to play the instrument. It makes noises that are calming and wonderful. By simultaneously or alternately plucking the keys, one may produce melodic or rhythmic sounds. To create an impression akin to that of an orchestra, complete and rich in quality and sound, tones might be overlaid. 

Jozef Behr also enlightens the uses of Mbira in its early days. He claims, “Mbira was used for religious rituals, such as calling on spirits and asking for their guidance, as well as ceremonial events like marriages, funerals, and celebrations in honor of important persons”. The tribe would hold a religious rite in which they would sing, dance, and play music nonstop until the spirits showed themselves. When the ghost entered the room, the ritual would pause momentarily, and would resume when it left. In order to draw the spirits to earth, the mbira needed to make a sound that would "project into the skies." 

The mbira's fundamental design hasn't changed throughout the centuries, but different individuals from all across the continent have produced variants by changing the style and name. A modest collection of thumb pianos from various cultural groups that display variation in size, construction, and designs may be seen at the Australian Museum. These include thumb pianos from the Congo, such as the likembe and sanza, as well as Uganda's kadongo and akogo, Kenya's kalimba, and specimens from Zambia. 

Summing up his quest over Mbira, Jozef Behr says, “the African thumb piano was embraced by modern musicians in the second half of the 20th century, particularly in Europe and the Americas. It has a lengthy past, but it also has a bright future”.