Benefits for Patients

There are numerous ways in which exposure to live music aids in the healing process for hospital patients. Listening to live music helps patients heal physically by lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and reducing anxiety, and also contributes to general emotional well-being.

Firsthand Experience

In the summer of 2018, I was fortunate enough to shadow Kate Tamarkin in her role as a therapeutic musician and Musician in Residence at the UVA Hospital. I accompanied her for a morning at the university hospital to observe her play the harp for multiple patients. While her music fostered beautiful moments for every patient she played for, one interaction especially stood out to me as a clear example of how live music aids in a patient’s healing process.

The experience of the patient that stood out to me was that of a newborn baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Mrs. Tamarkin kindly asked permission to play some soothing music for the baby and their family, and began weaving a medley of calm notes and familiar nursery rhymes. I closely observed the infant’s monitors and the family’s response, and noticed the following after about fifteen minutes total of exposure to the live music:

  • The baby’s heart rate lowered from 120 beats per minute to 116 beats per minute within the first five to ten minutes of music.
  • The baby's respiratory rate lowered from an initial 90 breaths per minute to levels between 35 breaths per minute and 75 breaths per minute with some fluctuation. Towards the end of Mrs. Tamarkin’s time playing, the baby’s respiratory rate was between 20 and 30 breaths per minute.
  • The woman I perceived to be the baby’s mother began rocking her child and singing along with the music, and visibly relaxed in her movement and began to smile.
  • The baby’s toddler-aged sibling began dancing and singing with the music and reached to touch the strings of Mrs. Tamarkin’s harp.

Mrs. Tamarkin’s soothing harp music created a beautiful, tranquil moment for a family experiencing stress. In just about twenty minutes I was able to observe an evident shift in both the baby’s physical health and emotional well-being of the family.


How Does Music Heal?

Music can aid in the healing process for a person in physical or emotional distress.

As stated by Music by the Bedside:

Music has always maintained an important connection to healing, and in recent years its role has been rediscovered and embraced. Music has the ability to bring a stressed body into harmony. There is a strong correlation between musical rhythms and the inner rhythms of the human body. Music encourages the release of endorphins to help stop pain and has been shown to reduce blood pressure, boost the immune system, and provide emotional release for both patients and those who care for them.

The following statement is from Travis Lively:

Music is a uniquely human emotion. Not all music has the same effect on each person, but each person has some form of music which speaks to them. I have seen the healing effects of music in geriatric patients with dementia who showed a flat affect but who were awakened by a song from their youth and in students with developmental disabilities who through the use of drumming improved motor skills and socialization. The data showing that music produces marked improvement to achieve certain therapeutic goals can be found in music therapy research literature.

How Do Patients Benefit When Music is Presented in a Public Area of the Hospital?

According to Todd Frazier:

Patients in particular benefit from this (music listening in public areas of the hospital) as a distraction from their routine and time to reflect, relax, normalize their experience through some socialization, and also inspire them as they continue their healthcare journey. It also makes an impression on them that speaks to the values of the organization or hospital, often associated with positive memories of the institution and appreciation of their effort to support a holistic environment of care.

Mr. Frazier additionally stated:

The kinds of treatment in cancer centers often require a lot of waiting time, where that time is filled with anxiety and often levels of pain, not just for the patient but for families including siblings, all who can benefit from an arts interaction which because of it refocusing their attention, has the ability to make time pass, to lower the level of focus on pain so that it is perceived as less, to normalize the experience for some of the children, offer socialization, and supporting bonding and activities between the parents and patients.

According to an article, "Music’s Relevance for People Affected by Cancer: A Meta-Ethnography and Implications for Music Therapists" from the Journal of Music Therapy,

Music is popular because it eases stress, supports identity development, passes time, and controls mood (...) Music listening has been reported as the second most common self-care strategy by cancer outpatients, after prayer. Music listening alleviates cancer-related fatigue, pain, and sleep difficulties.

Evidently, having musicians perform at the ECCCC could greatly improve patients' and families' experience passing time in waiting rooms, and help reduce stress associated with anticipating appointments and/or treatment. Additionally, since music listening is proven to be a method of self-care used by cancer outpatients, live music in the ECCCC will most likely have a desirable effect on cancer patients' emotional experience at the ECCCC, contributing to an overall improvement in the healing process.

Why Is It Important That Music Is Performed Live?

As stated on the Music for Healing & Transition Program website:

Live music played on an acoustic instrument generally results in greater effective patient responses over responses to recorded music. This is believed to be, at least in part, because of the increased vibrational quality of most live music relative to vibrations of recorded music, and the compassionate presence of the CMP.

(CMP stands for Certified Music Practitioner).

While this statement references CMPs (trained musicians who provide music by the bedside; therefore not the same as a volunteer musician who is not trained, and performing in a public space), the impact of live music versus recorded music and the presence of a human being providing the music applies to the importance of having volunteer musicians perform live music at the ECCCC. Kate Tamarkin emphasized in an interview that live music often has a more desirable effect on patient healing than recorded music because, "there’s a loving, living presence," delivering the music. She went on to say that when a musician performs live, they are somebody who is present, who is giving, and who cares, and that has great importance to those listening.

Additionally, Grant Frazier stated, "By playing music to those in need, it gives them a sense of hope and joy. Having them know that they are loved and cared for by so many allows them to know they're not alone in the illness they're fighting."

Live music not only surpasses recorded music in its ability to impact healing through vibrations, but also because of the presence of a musician delivering the music, which brings compassion and a higher level of meaning and connection along with the music played.

Cancer and Music Relate

The following segment is taken from "Music’s Relevance for People Affected by Cancer: A Meta-Ethnography and Implications for Music Therapists," an article from the Journal of Music Therapy:

Cancer can be symbolically represented by music experiences in ways that language cannot represent: both can be unpredictable, elusive, mysterious, and nonverbal experiences that inhabit body and psyche. Cancer is usually life threatening; music is almost instantly lost. Music can therefore touch, understand, and alter cancer’s effects, and offer hope for survival because it can continue in the mind’s ear. Music maintains continuity of pre-illness identities by connecting with healthy physiological processes and life memories. It can therefore allow one to imagine life beyond cancer, and render life worth living. In the adult study, 27% believed that music was essential for health or survival.

An Anecdote: Grant Frazier and Harmonies for Healing

There's one story I love to tell on how it (Harmonies for Healing) impacted the lives of other individuals/patients. On one of my shifts, a mother of one of the patients approached me and asked if I could come and sing a couple songs to her daughter. She was clearly in distress and was dealing with some difficult health related issues. After I started playing a song, her face brightened up and I could almost see this life brought back in to her. She was laughing and singing along with her family. After I finished playing, the mom came back over to me and said that was the happiest she'd been since being admitted into the hospital. She thanked me for my service and to this day I will never forget that moment. This is why I created this program - To bring joy, happiness and a sense of healing to those who truly need it the most.

Harmonies for Healing is an integral part to the success of the hospital as a whole. It allows patients, doctors, nurses and staff to sort of take a breather from the hectic and stressful challenges that come with being in this sort of environment. We're able to create that warming sense of environment and healing to the hospital so patients can heal and doctors, nurses and staff can help heal. During one of my shifts at the hospital, a nurse came up to me after one of my songs and told me how thankful she was to have musicians at the hospital. She said us musicians help keep the nurses "sane" when things can get a little bit hectic on the floor. Because of that I'm so thankful for the ability to offer our talents and time to Transitional Care Hospital and the Cancer Center to create a more warming and healing environment.

Music in the Hospital Setting: Tried and True

An excerpt from an interview with Todd Frazier, the Director of the System Center for Performing Arts Medicine at Houston Methodist Hospital

Mr. Frazier's responses to the following questions validate music's healing potential:

1. How has the presence of live music at Houston Methodist Hospital helped patients and staff?

"Our primary goal for music (and all the arts) in the community/public areas of the hospitals are to offer a place of solace to lower anxiety and rejuvenate. In the public community areas of a hospital one encounters patients, families, visitors and staff, all of whom experience benefits from music in support of their journey of caring and caregiving."

2. Have you noticed a shift in the atmosphere or the general mood of the space (after incorporating regular live music into the public areas of the hospital)?

"Absolutely. It (music) creates a welcomed distraction that, if programmed purposefully with the goals of arts in health in mind, offers a unique and rewarding support to the ongoing activities of a busy hospital."

Benefits of Therapeutic Music

Disclaimer: Performing live music in a public space, even within a hospital, is not therapeutic music. Although, many of the benefits listed below could potentially result on a smaller scale from music listening in a public space.

Excerpt from "What is Therapeutic Music?" from mhtp.org (https://www.mhtp.org/what-is-therapeutic-music/):

According to the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Music➚, benefits of therapeutic music can include, but are not limited to:

  • Distracting and disassociating from the present situation
  • Refocusing attention
  • Altering the sense of time
  • Relieving anxiety of the critically ill
  • Reducing stress and stabilizing blood pressure of the chronically ill
  • Augmenting pain management
  • Bridging communication between loved ones
  • Relieving body and mental tension of the pre-surgery patient
  • Accelerating physical healing of post-surgery and injured patients


For more information on therapeutic music, please view this article from UVA Today about Kate Tamarkin's work as a therapeutic musician.

"Attention is love."

Kate Tamarkin