Ep. 190: I Heard There Was A Secret Chord – Dr. Daniel Levitin on His New Book and the Science Behind Music as Medicine

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In this episode, we’re joined by the renowned Dr. Daniel Levitin, neuroscientist, musician, and bestselling author. We dive into his brand-new book, I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine. Dr. Levitin reveals why he wrote the book, how he chose the title, his definition of music, and this new book’s relationship to his earlier best-selling book, This is Your Brain on Music. Discover the fascinating science behind music’s power to boost healing and wellness, regardless of where you are in your health journey.

Guest

When people hear that I’m a podcaster and what my podcast is about, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked, “Have you heard about that book, This is Your Brain on Music?” YES, I’ve heard of it and I love it! It was published almost 20 years ago; its author has written four MORE bestselling books, and just released a new book TODAY called, I Heard There Was A Secret Chord: Music as Medicine. I’m thrilled to have the author with me today, Dr. Daniel Levitin, to tell us about this new book. Dr. Levitin is a neuroscientist, cognitive psychologist, and musician. He is Founding Dean of Arts & Humanities at Minerva University in San Francisco, and Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Neuroscience at McGill University. As a musician, he has performed with Bobby McFerrin, Rosanne Cash, Sting, Renée Fleming, Neil Young. He has produced and consulted on albums by Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, and Joni Mitchell.

Notes

We discuss:

• Dr. Levitin’s new book: What is it about and what prompted him to write it?
• How he came up with the title, and the meaning behind it.
• The neuroanatomy of music; why is music so effective and powerful?
• Music’s benefits for amateur vs. professional musicians.
• If music is so healthy, why do we see so many professional musicians with substance abuse and mental health issues?
• How late is too late to reap the brain benefits of music?
• Some of Mindy’s favorite quotes from the book:
  • “We may think of science and art as standing in opposition to one another, but they are bound by a common objective. Science seeks to find truth in the natural world; art seeks to find truth in the emotional world. Medicine fits some-where in between, bridging science, art, and the emotions that move us toward the will to survive, to heal, to take our medicine, exercise, and put in motion all those things that keep us healthy.” (Daniel Levitin, PhD, FRSC in I Heard There Was A Secret Chord)
  • “For all of its seeming precision, the practice of medicine is both a science and an art… In medicine, every case is different; no two cases of a disease or injury present in exactly the same way. Good medicine relies on clinical judgment, refined through the same sort of trial-and-error and creative problem-solving that artists and scientists use.” (Daniel Levitin, PhD, FRSC in I Heard There Was A Secret Chord)
  • [David played for Saul in biblical times.] “It is a recent feature of Western society that we have separated these two, healing and music. We tend to see healing as the province of doctors, and music as entertainment. Perhaps it is time to reunite two of the most intimate parts of our lives. Scientific advances in the past ten years have provided a rational basis for this reunification, opening a dialogue between health care workers, health insurance companies, and all the rest of us. The research allows us to take what had been speculation, anecdote, and observations untethered from evidence, and join them in equal partnership with prescription drugs, surgeries, medical procedures, psychotherapy, and various forms of treatment that are mainstream and evidence-based.” (Daniel Levitin, PhD, FRSC in I Heard There Was A Secret Chord)
  • “I Heard There Was a Secret Chord will show you what we know, how it can be explained, and how we can harness the potential of music for healing and for staving off disease in the first place; for relieving pain; for helping us look forward and reimagine our lives.” (Daniel Levitin, PhD, FRSC in I Heard There Was A Secret Chord)

Connect/Other Resources

• Dr. Levitin’s website and linktree
• I Heard There Was A Secret Chord: Music as Medicine
• Dr. Levitin’s other books (including This is Your Brain on Music)

Other episodes we mentioned or that you may enjoy:

• Ep. 4: Music Rewires the Brain (Maegan Morrow, Gabby Giffords’ music therapist)
• Ep. 96: Restoring function and quality of life for those with Multiple Sclerosis; with Betsy Hartman, MT-BC
• Ep.39: Parkinson’s Disease Interventions with Music; “Music provides structure for movement.” Marion Haase, M.M.
• Ep. 148: Applying music’s healing powers to the challenge of eating disorders, with Annie Heiderscheit,PhD, MT-BC, LMFT
• Ep. 150: Chronic pain relief and management through music; with Nancy Jackson, PhD, MT-BC
• Ep. 143: Harness the Power of Music to Stay Sober, with author Tim Ringgold, MT-BC
• View all episodes related to Science & Health

In-Episode Promo

JAMBAR: If you’re a regular listener of this show, you know that my favorite energy bar is JAMBAR. One thing I love about JAMBAR is that the four original flavors are separate and distinct — unlike some bars, whose different flavors seem to all taste the same, there is no flavor fatigue with JAMBAR. (This was especially helpful when we moved recently and were eating them even more than usual!) I love all the flavors, so it took a while for me to settle on my favorite; just as I decided Musical Mango was my favorite, JAMBAR came out with a fifth flavor, Tropical Trio. This bar is like taking your taste buds on an exotic island escape, and it’s definitely right up there with Musical Mango as my favorite. These Certified Organic whole food bars are non-GMO and gluten-free; and include vegan, dairy-free options. Support your active life – and your tastebuds – with JAMBARs. Available at Amazon, select retailers, and jambar.com.

SONIX: This is a quick break to tell you about Sonix, the service that I use to transcribe these episodes. Sonix is an artificial intelligence transcription service that automatically converts audio and video files to text – and can translate to over 40 languages. I transcribe these episodes to make them more accessible. I tried multiple services, and chose to stick with Sonix because of their accuracy, affordability, and because their site is just so easy to use; that’s a big plus for me, to not need to spend a bunch of time figuring out one more platform! While I love podcasts, I do tend to be a very visual learner. I figure other people probably are, too; and having that written form of your work just makes it more versatile. Sonix transcripts make the most of your hard work and can increase traffic to your site. Sonix is spelled s-o-n-i-x. You can check them out with a free trial PLUS an extra 100 minutes of free transcription by using the link sonix.ai/invite/enhancelife100. There’s a link in the show notes. Again, it’s sonix.ai/invite/enhancelife100 for a free trial AND an extra 100 minutes of free transcription. 

Coda

Dr. Levitin shares the background of his song, There is Delight:

Closing Words

And that is a little bit of Dr. Levitin’s “There is Delight.” You can listen to the full song, including that piano solo, with the YouTube video in the show notes. Thank you so much to Dr. Levitin for his research and for translating and disseminating to us laypeople the many compelling studies on music’s healing power. There is a link to his book, I Heard There Was A Secret Chord, in the show notes, as well as links to his other books (including This is Your Brain on Music).

I want give a quick shout-out to Dr. Sheetal Ajmani. Dr. Ajmani is a physician and fellow podcaster who recently had me as a guest on her show, Essential Self-Care, to discuss the power of music as a self-care tool.

You can always connect with me on email (mindy@mpetersonmusic.com), Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Until next time, may your life be enhanced with music.

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