Mystery Over the Bronx Expressway

Before the music began for my world premiere in Tucson last week, I was interviewed on stage.

I briefly spoke about one of my favorite subjects – how much sound effects our mind and body.

At intermission I was approached by several scientists from local universities who wanted to share their experiences and interest in this important topic. I was even invited to speak at a 2 day conference in March.

One told me a story I had not heard before. It’s quite something.

Back in the 70’s a scientist learned about an apartment building that was built Over the Cross Bronx Expressway in New York City. He found out many of the children living in the building had learning disabilities.

So he measured the range of frequencies the traffic was making. Then he took note of every child’s response in school.

Children living on the lower floors did very poorly in school. After the first few floors, things got better and better the higher the children lived. But he didn’t stop there. Remember, he measured the frequency range the traffic noise made.

What he found was truly astounding.

First, let me explain the noise levels are not loud enough to cause damage - all the children had normal hearing. What the study showed was a strong link between the floor level and reading development. The kids’ coping skills were also affected.

Here’s why. The children on the lower floors where tuning out words and phrases in a certain frequency range. They just ignored those words. Yes, the frequency of the traffic had robbed those children of the ability to ‘hear’ some of what their teachers were saying. If any word or phrase was spoken within the range of that traffic noise – the child automatically Tuned It Out.

It’s not that they literally couldn’t ‘hear’ the words. Their brain had created a protection against the damaging low frequency rumble underneath their homes by tuning it out. Once you tune out a frequency, your brain won’t tune it in, even if the origin of the sound has changed. In this case, the other origin was the human voice.

So those children and their teachers had a big dilemma.

Because this loss of language skill also leads to loss of reading skill. Which explains the children’s low reading scores.

How amazing and pertinent this study still is to this day. Imagine how much we all tune out because of noise over-stimulation.

Low frequency noise is dangerous to your mental health. If you’re exposed to it frequently, make sure you have quiet time. Balance out low frequencies with high frequency music. Listen to any of the five CDs in The Secret Power of Words and Music and experience what the Secret really is: high frequency sound.

If you want to relax and feel good, then good sounds are unlike anything else to get you to that happy place. Get your five CDs here now.

For a free package that includes ALL 5 Secret Power CDs and more, join the Sounds of Gold Inner Circle as an annual member here.

Warm Regards,
Tania Gabrielle French

P.S. If you’re in the Washington D.C. area today, then come to the Library of Congress tonight. I’ll be speaking at a pre-concert presentation at 6:15pm. At the 8pm concert you can hear the East Coast premiere of my 3rd String Quartet "Luminescence" performed by the Artis Quartet from Vienna, Austria. For all of you who can’t join me tonight, you won’t miss out. The music will be included with the Sounds of Gold Inner CD and Newsletter. Take an easy one month Test Drive today.

Why Worry Can Be Deadly

While waiting at my dentist’s office recently to get my teeth cleaned I came across this Time Magazine headline.

"Why We Worry About the Wrong Things"

I immediately thought, ‘what a worrying message. Not only am I wrong about what’s worrying me, but also I should be more worried about some other more important things.’

Here’s the article in a nutshell. Stop worrying about dying in a plane crash, being bit by a deadly snake, or being devoured by a shark. Oh, avian flu and mad cow disease get a lot of attention too, but so far no one in the U.S. has died of those.

You see, the article claims, you’ve got it all wrong. Here is what you should worry about. Heart disease and cancer which cause half of all deaths in the U.S.

Okay, but something blatantly obvious is missing here. The act of worrying is toxic to your immune system. Not only that, it’s emotionally unstable to worry. I know, that’s a strong statement, but think about it. Worry is irrational. It doesn’t help anyone, especially you. All it does is to create stress - the precursor to all disease.

So how do you control your worries? What can you do when fearful thoughts about your future creep into your thinking?

You give your mind a calm distraction. A distraction so emotionally powerful that you can’t resist its beauty. A dose of instant happiness. At first it might just feel like a tiny spark. But keep distracting your mind with it, and soon you’re flooded with a consciousness so serene, you’re worries have disappeared.

Since your mind can’t think about two things at once, these ‘feel-good’ distractions are vital to emotional and mental health.

They are truly delicious and fresh food for the mind.

Luckily for me, the dentist’s office had just such a distraction. As I found myself looking at that Time Magazine headline, the speakers in that waiting room were playing a beautiful string quartet by Mozart. Perfect. As I began reading the article I took a birds eye view of the whole worry story. The music wafting around me kept me calm.

You can do this too. I used to be an expert worrier. Now I slay those dragons with meditative music. It’s your ticket to feeling well under most any circumstances.

Turn positively-charged music on while reading the paper or fretting about lack of time. Keep it playing to keep from choking on the heavy chains of worry and stress.

Be sure to have a steady stream of beautiful music arriving at your home. The Sounds of Gold Music CD and Newsletter will give you that powerful tool every month. It’s worth its weight in gold.

Sign up here and don’t waste another minute of your life worrying.

Warm Regards,
Tania Gabrielle French

P.S. There are gifts and there are GIFTS. Go take a look!

Some of Our Greatest Presidents Were Musicians

Today is Presidents Day here in the United States. A time to celebrate leaders like Lincoln and Washington.

Did you know several of our most famous and greatest Presidents were avid musicians. Under the famous category let’s start with saxophonist Bill Clinton and pianist Richard Nixon.

Then there was:

John Quincy Adams played several musical instruments, including the violin, harp, guitar and flute.

Benjamin Franklin, though never a President, was a great statesman, scientist, inventor and founding father of the United States. He also played several instruments, including guitar, violin and harp.

When it came to writing our great Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson would sometimes hit a mental block. To keep going, he would take out his violin and start to play. The music calmed his mind and energized his body. He would then walk back to his desk in a heightened state of mind and continue writing. Jefferson, our 3rd President, also played cello and clavichord – a precursor to the modern piano.

Also a violinist was the 28th president, Woodrow Wilson. That was news to me too.

President Warren G. Harding organized the Citizen's Cornet Band, available for both Republican and Democratic rallies. ‘I played every instrument but the slide trombone and the E-flat cornet,’ he once boasted.

Most Americans don’t know that President Harry Truman was planning on a career as a piano soloist before he got side-tracked by politics. He never stopped playing his beloved piano.

It’s NO coincidence so many Presidents kept their focus and creativity alive with music.

Music is not only a gift to humanity, it is a POWERFUL tool for the mind. Furthermore, it’s a tool You can use every day. In our age of iPods, computers and CD players, listening to music is easier and more beneficial than ever.

For a fresh and potent monthly package featuring the best music for your body, mind and spirit, take a look at this.

Whether you decide on a one-month test drive or join as an annual member, the music you’ll receive on your doorstep every 30 days will blow you away.

Revitalize your life the easy way by listening to this great selection of positively-charged music Now.

Warm Regards,
Tania Gabrielle French

P.S. There are gifts and there are Gifts. Check out what you receive just for signing up today. Don’t take my word for it, go and see for yourself!

How Music Makes Love

Tchaikovsky was on one of the greatest composer of romantic music - ever. His Nutcracker ballet score is a classic. So are Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.

Lesser known, but no less beautiful, is Tchaikovsky’s great violin concerto. In the middle, coddled by two powerful opening and ending movements, is a poignant love song. The solo violin performs a gentle melody - so tender, it makes my eyes tear up every time.

If it were played on a major movie soundtrack, this music would be a sure worldwide hit.

Luckily I have a spectacular live performance of the violin concerto by my husband, the great violinist Clayton Haslop. His stunning rendition of the slow middle movement forms the centerpiece on this month’s Music for Meditation CD. Also included are 3 Love Songs I composed along with two additional ‘bon bons’ - an affectionate term for happy encore music.

February’s CD and Sounds of Gold Newsletter is being shipped today. If you’ve responded to the special I’m having – THANK YOU. If you haven’t – there are two easy ways reserve one of the few remaining issues.

Enroll today and you get all of the above, plus much, much more.

1. Go to The Sounds of Gold Inner Circle and enroll as an annual member.

or

2. Go sign on for a monthly Test Drive.

Both ways will enable you to use the gift of great music to meditate your mind.

Warm Regards,
Tania Gabrielle French

P.S. There’s no better time than Now to jump on board.

World Premiere Celebration

Exactly one week from today my 3rd string quartet will receive its world premiere in Tucson, Arizona. On a concert series that has attracted the greatest chamber musicians for over 50 years.

I composed the music for the famous Artis Quartet who are flying in from Vienna, Austria for the performance.

Of course I’ll be there too, rehearsing and preparing these four wonderful musicians for this stellar occasion. The following week Peter, Johannes, Herbert, Othmar and I are off to the Library of Congress where the East Coast premiere will take place.

If you’re in the D.C. area, join me before the concert when I'll be talking about my life as a composer in a special panel discussion.

As we keep traveling East, one month from today, my new quartet receives its European premiere. This time in the most famous concert hall in the world - the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria.

Of course I’m over the moon about these events.

And I want you to join the celebration too. So I've gone out of my way to give away a sublime selection of music. Go Now to see how you can claim your beautiful gift package.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Warm Regards,
Tania Gabrielle French

P.S. You will notice there are new photos up as well. Check out what’s keeping people around the world so happy and serene.

Protect Your Brain

I’ve written to you about this once before. But recently a large study gave a strong warning about a common little indispensable gadget.

Everyone knows smoking cigarettes is really unhealthy. Now scientists are saying using cell phones next to your ear is Just as dangerous.

I know it sounds ludicrous. How can an addictive substance like nicotine and blackening your lungs be compared to holding a harmless mobile phone next to your ear. Well, as it turns out, there is a case for doing just that.

Scientists examined more than 1,500 people with gliomas, little tumors next to your ear, and an additional 3,300 people who did not suffer from the cancers.

At first they found no link between cell phones and tumors. Then they specifically reviewed the medical histories of patients who had been using mobiles for at least a decade. They’re conclusion – 39 percent of long-term cell-phone users are likely to develop glioma cancer on the side of the head where they hold their handsets.

Due to the results in this study a massive follow-up study looking at 200,000 long-term phone users over the next five years is being undertaken by British expert Professor Lawrie Challis.

However, there’s no reason to panic. The easy solution is to always use a headset or your speakerphone. And to not make your cell phone your primary phone.

I’ve said before that cell phones have always given me an ear ache within a few seconds of use. So I only use mine when I go out. It stays in my purse, headset attached. Notice, I’m not carrying it on my body. This is not recommended for obvious reasons.

It may sound like a lot to change your phone habits, but when you think about the dangers vs. the benefits of using a headset or your speakerphone when you talk on your cell phone – you’ll agree, this may be the only way to go.

What’s more important than protecting your brain, your health and your life.

Warm Regards,
Tania Gabrielle French

P.S. Always protect your ears. From noise, negative sounds and music, cold weather, harsh words, and now cell-phones. This news was not sent to scare you, but to protect you from something you may not be aware of. It’s a lot harder to quit smoking than it is to change your cell-phone habits. So remain calm and relaxed by listening to these brain-enhancing sounds - changing any habit under calm conditions is Much easier.

Blind Student ‘Sees’ With Music

Victor Wong had a dilemma. In order to continue his graduate studies at Cornell, he had to read colored weather maps of the upper atmosphere as part of his research.

You see, Wong is blind.

Imagine you can’t see. Then, suddenly, your world changes because you found a way to ‘see’ with music. This is an amazing story about a blind Chinese student from Hong Kong studying at Cornell University who did just that.

Unless Victor could explore all of the tiny fluctuations in color he wouldn’t be able to create mathematical models of ‘space weather’.

He tried a lot of solutions. Fellow students described the maps to him. They even tried to print them in Braille.

Nothing worked.

Then Wong had the idea to translate each color into music. He collaborated with a computer graphics specialist and another student. They developed software that turns colors into musical notes.

‘The images have three dimensions and I had to find a way of reading them myself,’ Mr Wong told BBC News.

‘For the sake of my own study - and for the sake of blind scientists generally - I felt it would be good to develop software that could help us to read color images.’

To test his invention, he explored the photograph of a parrot. Wong first got an exact reference to the screen by using a pen and tablet device.

Then the music began to play. Here’s what he heard.

One of 88 notes on the piano is assigned to each colored pixel. They range from blue on the lowest end of the scale to red on the highest. By hearing how the notes progress, Wong ‘sees’ the corresponding color changes.

‘As the notes increase in pitch I know the color's getting redder and redder, and in my mind's eye a patch of red appears.’ The result – he can now read weather maps.

Hearing in color is nothing new. Many musicians and composers have the ability.

But this is different.

Giving a blind person the ability to ‘see with music’ is an extraordinary union of light and sound. ‘Seeing’ pictures by hearing notes on the piano is, well - creating magic in the best sense of the word.

What about the rest of us who aren’t blind. Everybody can create powerful imaginary pictures in their mind while listening to great music. Pairing positive imagery with music is a sure way to create a great future for yourself.

The fact is, music will always take you on a journey. So you want your journey to be a good one.

You can be assured of a great journey when you listen to any of the 5 CDs in the The Secret Power of Words and Music package. It’ll feel like you went from monochrome to colorful splendor - Instantly.

Go and experience the difference yourself.

Warm Regards,
Tania Gabrielle French

P.S. People invest in the stock market. They put aside money for the future. But many forget to invest in feeling enriched Now. Here is one of the soundest investments you can make in your immediate AND long-range futures. You’ll never underestimate the power of sound again!

Why Conductors Live So Long

Did you know orchestra conductors live longer than nearly any other group of people? It’s true.

Many of the famous conductors of the past lived well into their 80s and 90s during a time when the average life expectancy was 50 years old.

Like Leopold Stokowski, 95, Pablo Casals, 96, Nadia Boulanger, 90, and Arturo Toscanini, 89.

There are two reasons. Conductors flap their arms around for many hours a day. Upper body exercises are a great cardio-vascular workout, because they expand the muscles of the chest and open the lungs. Plus, the movements cause your heart to pump strongly, so blood and nutrients flow to your muscles and organs.

The result – conductors have low blood pressure. Their minds are sharpened because they get more blood circulation to their brains.

But there’s one more vital ingredient that explains why conductors enjoy longer and healthier lives.

Think about it. Why are they flapping their arms? What’s being generated as a result? A cascade of gorgeous orchestral music. Beautifully arching melodies with superior rejuvenating powers. Intricate harmonies that create new brain cells and higher IQs. Alpha-state inducing rhythms that calm and sustain inner peace.

Day after day conductors repeat this life-enhancing exercise.

Still going strong to this day is the 98-year old famed conductor Blanche Honegger Moyse. Born in 1908, she was forced to retire as a violinist 40 years ago due to a bow-arm ailment and began conducting. Moyse made her Carnegie Hall debut 20 years later at age 78 and is still conducting concerts around the world.

Though these men and women didn’t necessarily follow the best diets and were the original jet-setters, what they did have - upper body exercise coupled with a huge daily dose of positively-charged music – packs a powerful double punch of mental, physical and spiritual health.

Attending live concerts, especially with the greatest orchestras and conductors, will give you a dose of this musical elixir.

I received just such a healthy shot of good vibrations last month. One of the great orchestras in the world paid a visit to Asheville. The Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Franz Welser-Moest, made a deep and lasting impression. Recalling that special evening still gives me goosebumps.

Music is a trigger. For greatness, for inner peace, for motivation and for joy. Don’t neglect its supreme power to change you.

Warm Regards,
Tania Gabrielle French

P.S. The Secret Power of Words and Music is just such a vehicle for inner peace. Experience the magical sounds in this best-selling package Now.

You Have a Magical Spiral in Your Ear

As promised, today I’m going to tell you about an amazing discovery I made earlier this week. You’ll definitely want to read to the very end, because there’s a surprise in store for you.

Deep inside your ear lies a beautiful spiral. Up until last year, scientists thought this snail-shell curve didn’t affect hearing. They wrongly assumed this beautiful spiral was just a way for the body to pack a lot of membrane into a small space.

Not so any more.

A team of engineers found out that the spiral inside your cochlea has a very important function. This tight little coil is critical to you hearing deep vibrations.

That begs the question - why wasn’t this noticed before now.

It has to do with an assumption about sound waves. Very simply, sound waves were always treated as if they only traveled in a straight line. I can tell you for certain - this assumption is now buried forever.

But because of the assumption, the tiny spiral in your inner ear was ignored. Only month’s ago the scientists announced that it was precisely because of the tight curve of the spiral that we are able to hear deeper vibrations. Like the bass trombone, tuba, cello, timpani, bassoon and bass drum. And thunder, the roar of the ocean crashing on the surf, and a lion’s roar.

As sound travels through the spiral and turns tighter and tighter, it acts like a whispering gallery. The curvature is the key, because the more the curve changes, the more focused the energy is.

If you ask me, the spirals in your ears are no coincidence.

Spirals are beautiful shapes and may be the oldest of humankind's symbols. They have been found in cave paintings 10,000 years old. The spiral represents birth, death, and rebirth, the wheel of the seasons. In addition, the spiral represents the flow of physical and spiritual energy and continual change.

But is there more to it than that? Do these spirals have an even deeper significance?

Absolutely! Picture in your mind what the yin yang symbol looks like. You’ll recall yin yang is a Double spiral. The two spirals operate in unison – there is no yin without yang and no yang without yin.

Since the spirals in our left and right ears coil in opposite directions, they may actually be Physical Manifestations of yin and yang inside our ears.

Upon further investigation, my hunch was confirmed. I know this may sound esoteric, but take a moment and think about it.

Your inner ears, which directly connect to your brain, contain an ancient symbol. Not just any symbol but the Taoist symbol representing the interplay of forces in the universe. In addition, since your ears hear sound at precisely the same time, like two stereo speakers, the double spiral is activated in unison.

And that’s just a start. The rest of the stunning details – and the secrets they reveal – are published in February’s issue of the ‘Sounds of Gold’ Newsletter.

I am so convinced you’ll benefit from and be thrilled to know the secrets unveiled in this month’s issue that I’ve decided to make your membership to the exclusive ‘Sounds of Gold Inner Circle’ irresistible. Here’s how.

I’m giving away 87 complimentary copies of my best-selling ‘The Secret Power of Words and Music’ 5 CD package when you join the Sounds of Gold Inner Circle as an annual member. For a limited time your annual membership has also been heavily discounted.

Order now and receive 1 of the 87 Free ‘Secret Power’ 5 CD packages set aside for this very special offer. Go and claim your FREE copy Now.

Warm Regards,
Tania Gabrielle French

P.S. You can also sign up as a monthly test-drive member. I’m giving away my critically-acclaimed ‘Chamber Music’ CD featuring Grammy-Award-winning musicians, when you register Now.