July 4, 2009 - No show today.

I intended to do a special Holiday Edition of the show this week, but I am working on a new product that I hope to share with you all next week and I don't want to lose that momentum! So here is the information I was going to share on the show:

Music is essential for life. Otherwise, why would people bother making music after traumatic experiences, like the Oklahoma City Bombing, when a music therapist was asked to sing Amazing Grace over and over again to provide some comfort for the people in her building a few blocks from the Federal Building? Or why would quartets be written in Nazi concentration camps by Messiaen?

So making music for yourself or with others is important and each week I will share with you information about how music will affect your life and how to make music a part of your healthy living. Since this weekend is Independence Day, let's look at patriotic music and incorporate some ways to use it this weekend.

How many patriotic songs do you know? There are four primary patriotic songs that most people know: America (My Country 'Tis of Thee), America the Beautiful, The Star-Spangled Banner, and God Bless America. (I also like to include Take Me Out to the Ballgame as a patriotic song!) Singing these songs with your family can help bring the family together, and can help teach your children some patriotic concepts (not to mention vocabulary). Whenever you attend a sporting event where the National Anthem is sung, be sure to sing out with pride, whether you can sing in the key that the performer selects or not! This is our song and we should sing it with pride.

Here are five tips for using patriotic music this weekend:
• Play some Sousa marches as background music for your 4th of July cookout
• Sing God Bless America with your family before heading out to see the fireworks
• Attend a parade and see how many patriotic songs you can identify
• Play name-that-tune with songs of each branch of the military
• Listen to America the Beautiful (or play it on your favorite instrument) and reflect on what makes this nation great, remembering that what you think about, you bring about

Thanks for listening! Let me know what you think.

Janice