The main focus of the therapeutic musician is to provide unobtrusive, soothing music to one individual patient at a time. The musician plays live music at the bedside for patients who are faced with physical, emotional or spiritual challenges. The sessions are not entertainment, but a service and can be considered a auditory massage. The idea is to help individuals to relax, alleviate anxiety and pain, to help distract the mind and allow a person to drift away from their situation and bring comfort.
The art of being a musician in a healthcare setting is key to comforting the ill and end of life patients. The power of music has a number of therapeutic attributes and is a healing tool in many clinical settings. Healing is defined as the restorative, realization and/or maintenance of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wholeness. Music allows us to communicate to patients whether conscious or not by vibrations penetrating the entire body. To enhance the experience, I tune my instruments to Verdi's A (A=432Hz). This tuning transmits the most beneficial healing energy, because it is a pure tone, a natural vibration of the universe and assimilates well with our bodies. In doing so, 432Hz tuning can offer a greater calming, relaxing state and support healing.