THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC, by John Fettaro

''They told me I could never walk again. But when I listened to music, I forgot all about the pain. I found a strength I didn’t know I had.” Ninety-two-year-old Tina Goodman, who regained her ability to walk, thanks to music. This is just one of the many stories in Fettaro’s book “The Healing Power of Music.” Fettaro tries to show just how important music is in our lives and how it can help us be healthy and happy. According to Fettaro, music can make sick people well again. In fact, his book comes with a CD of recordings, each one specially designed to help with a number of health problems. Fettaro, a well-known music therapist, promises that by reading his book, you will be able to develop the healing power of music in your life. He says this will help you fight headaches and back pain, as well as reduce stress, high blood pressure and many other common illnesses. Certainly, I accept that listening to certain types of music can help with particular problems, such as stress. I am comfortable with Fettaro’s claim that by reading his book you’ll be able to create a peaceful environment to help you relax in your home. I found the relaxation and breathing techniques very useful. Similarly, his claim that music will help you sleep better seems reasonable. Yet when he goes on to promise his music therapies will help cure depression and even cancer, he begins to sound a little bit unbelievable. Nevertheless, for those of you who are interested in the power of music to heal, this is a great book to buy. It’s a thorough introduction to the history and practice of music therapy. Fettaro writes in a simple, easy to understand way and shows clearly how music can affect us all positively. His basic message-that music can improve our lives- is well presented and clear. It may even be true that certain techniques covered here can help some people recover from some unpleasant health problems. However, his promises of “amazing results” seem impossible to justify. Robert Lee / Director, Institute of Music Therapy / Beijing, China