Music – a therapy worth singing about

By Jennifer Harpham

If you're trying to get rid of a migraine, don't open the Advil bottle just yet.  Rajasree Mukherjee, a singer/songwriter and music therapist, says

music can relieve many ailments such as a headaches.

"I had several disorders and had originally started treating myself 23

years back," Mukherjee said.  "There came a time when I became very sick and allopathic medicines were adversely affecting my immune system. It was then that I noticed certain musical phrases and compositions had a

very soothing effect on my body.  This led me to research extensively on the therapeutic effects of music and formal launching of my vehicle – the composition of music for healing."

Mukherjee, with the help of her son, Shubhayan Mukherjee of Shubhayan Entertainment, has released five music therapy CDs since 2005 that have sold more than 100,000 songs online.

"I've been interested in her music all my life," said Shubhayan.  "We never thought of it as a business until recently, by accident, because she would send me tapes or little clips and I played it for my friends and they said, "Why don't you release a CD?"

Although Mukherjee lives in Kinshasa, Congo, she sends Shubhayan, who lives in San Diego, her music and he produces the music and makes the CDs. Her music can be purchased everywhere from Best Buy to Target and even on iTunes.

Mukherjee, 47, graduated from Lady Brabourne College in Kolkata, India, with a degree in zoology. She then went on to Rabi Tirtha School of Music and Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh where she excelled in her studies of Indian music. She founded the Ma Sharda School of Music in Nairobi, Kenya, where she trained young singers in Indian classical and traditional music. 

She has performed in the United States, India, Kenya, Tanzania and Canada to audiences between 400 and 1300 people and written lyrics for more than 125 film and non-film songs. In 2004, she performed for the President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. 

"But more than performing I have found interest in teaching music," Mukherjee said, by "using it to reach deep within the human psyche to heal, using music as a therapy."

Music has a great effect on a person's body because the roots of the auditory nerves are more widely distributed and have more connections

than any other nerves in the body, according to Mukherjee.  For example, sustained chords lower blood pressure, while crisp, repeated chords raise it; music that has the tempo of a normal heartbeat, 60 to 80 beats a minute, soothes, and fast rhythms raise the heartbeat and excite the whole body, according to Mukherjee's website.

Music therapy has been known to help get rid of stress-related tension, anger and high blood pressure. It has also been effective with the physically handicapped, those suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and people with speech problems or learning disabilities, said Mukherjee.

"I remember [a] Nairobi child… a girl of 8 years, with muscular atrophy, paralyzed from the hip down and unable to speak legibly.  She started showing improvement after the first dozen sessions and two years later she became a public performer in a wheelchair singing in front of thousands, and not only that, she showed a drastic improvement in her school grades and became a leader and a champion in helping and training young disadvantaged students," Mukherjee recalled. 

Shubhayan admitted that some people are unsure the CDs will work.

"I think we had more skeptics at the beginning," said Shubhayan.  "They say, "I don't think it works very well." So I send them a free CD and they listen to it and then they change their minds…You're going to listen and you'll feel calm and feel good about yourself.  Universal acceptance of the CD is high, and after listening, I don't think anyone says they don't like

it."

Mukherjee said even though the lyrics are in a different language, Americans with their busy and stressful lives can benefit from the soothing sounds of her music. 

"I have sung in several African and Indian languages and have found people responding to the flow and the beat even when the language is totally foreign to them," she said. "Music is a matter of the heart. True music has the power to reach out and join hearts across world."