David Key Music: Sound Therapy

Visit my Workshop Offerings page for info about my latest Zoom offerings.

Sound Immersion: Earth Sanctuary will be offered Friday, February 12, 7-8 pm

The Healing Potential of Sound will be on February 27, 4-5:15 pm

Thanks to those who took advantage of my special discounted private sound therapy sessions. That special pricing has ended, but do consider a half hour or hour-long private session in 2021! Please see my Private Sessions page for more info.

In support of the safety and health of all, Sound Immersions and Private Sessions will be offered through the Zoom format only until further notice.

Feel free to contact me if you would like a private Sound Immersion, a Sound Immersion for a group, or private Sound Therapy Session. I can arrange a Zoom meeting for any of those options.

Two videos of me playing a beautiful African Rosewood Flute in C, made for me by Casey Burns. It is an instrument I am still developing a relationship with for my work as a therapeutic musician. I asked for a simple system flute (no keywork), lower than the traditional one in D, for a deeper sound. With all of my therapeutic sound and therapeutic music instruments, I sometimes create sounds and music in the moment, just for myself.

The first video captures one of those moments. Think of it as "improvised sound therapy." The second video is a meditative, less rhythmic version of "Both Sides Now."

The linked video below is an improvised flute "song" on my Native American style Buffalo flute. This flute was made for me by JP Gomez, Heartsong Flutes, Sedona, AZ, in 2001. I asked for the Medicine of the White Buffalo for the totem carving, as well as the choice of white cedar for the flute. I also requested 2 bands of pipestone at the bottom end, in honor of the Earth Mother, and as a connection to the root chakra, and 2 bands of turquoise near the top to represent Father Sky and the 5th chakra of expression. The total number of stone bands is 4, a sacred number. I offer these sounds in a sacred way as a prayer for the Earth Mother and all beings.

Visit my Audio Downloads page for an audio of me playing this Innate (a multichambered ocarina) accompanied by crystal bowls. You can listen at the site, or download the audio for your personal use.
Many find they shift into a deep meditative state with the vibrations of this sound offering.

Elk hide rattle

The photo below shows me with a rattle I created some 25 years ago. It is an important sound tool in my group and private sessions, and can help recipients shift from the chatter of "Monkey Mind" to a quieter place of listening and feeling. Use quality headphones or speakers to listen to this brief recording of this Elk hide rattle. Take a few deep breaths prior to listening, noticing how you feel, then allow the various simultaneous sounds of the rattle to shift you from a place of thinking to a place of feeling. Allow your listening to broaden, and notice how you feel when done, as you take a few breaths again.

audio recording of this rattle

A sound offering to help us feel our Wild Power
and find our Grounded Center, recorded live in my home.
This is my own composition, inspired by horse, followed by some wild improvised vocables

HORSE DRUMMING SONG
As I run, I breathe.
With each breath, I burn.
With my sweat, I grieve.
With my strength, I return.

I am the Hawk in flight, I'm the Dolphin on Earth.
I'm burning Sunfire bright, I'm drumming from birth.
I am the Hawk in flight, I'm the Dolphin on Earth.
I'm burning Sunfire bright, I'm drumming from birth,
I'm drumming on the Earth.

In the Circle, we breathe.
With each breath, we burn.
With our tears, we grieve.
With our strength, we return.

I am the Hawk in flight, I'm the Dolphin on Earth.
I'm burning Sunfire bright, I'm drumming from birth.
I am the Hawk in flight, I'm the Dolphin on Earth.
I'm burning Sunfire bright, I'm drumming from birth,
I'm drumming on the Earth.

Moments From a sound immersion at braithe center

Music and sound have been used for healing in all cultures, for thousands of years. Those working with sound as a healing modality know that we respond at the cellular level to sound itself. The healing ability of the parasympathetic nervous system is engaged with intention-filled positive vibration. The number of scientific studies dealing with sound and the brain continues to grow. Many of those studies reinforce the understanding of sound therapists that our brains "entrain" to beats and frequencies, allowing sound to shift our brainwave state.

During a waking state, our brains vibrate at a frequency in the range of 14-30 Hertz (Hz), or cycles per second. When we sleep, our brains vibrate between .5 and 4 Hz. The brain's relaxed, healing states are Alpha (8-13 Hz), and Theta (4-8 Hz), which can be induced through the physical law of entrainment. When a rhythm or frequency is introduced, the brain will respond, vibrating at the same frequency. Your brain "gets in step" with that frequency, and there is a shift in brainwave state. A sound therapist uses this automatic response to facilitate these deeper states of awareness and relaxation.

David Key, M. Mus., is a Sound Therapist and a Certified Clinical Musician (CCM), accredited by the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians. He facilitates group workshops and sound immersions, and offers private sound therapy sessions. As a CCM, David provides therapeutic music bedside for hospice patients and residents of memory care and assisted living facilities.

Intention Breath Vibration
When we use intention and breath to create vibration,
we access the deep healing potential of sound and music.

David Key Music
17 Indigo Court
Hampstead, NC 28443
910.200.2820

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