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Waking the Spirit: A Musician's Journey Healing Body, Mind, and Soul
An Oliver Sacks Foundation Best Book of the Year Selection, Finalist for the Books for a Better Life "Best First Book” Award, and a People Magazine Pick in Nonfiction.
The astounding story of a critically ill musician who is saved by music and returns to the same hospital to help heal others
Andrew Schulman, a fifty-seven-year-old professional guitarist, had a close brush with death on the night of July 16, 2009. Against the odds―and with the help of music―he a medical miracle.
Once fully recovered, Andrew resolved to use his musical gifts to help critically ill patients at Mount Sinai Beth Israel’s ICU. In Waking the Spirit , you’ll learn the astonishing stories of the people he’s met along the way―both patients and doctors―and see the incredible role music can play in a modern hospital setting.
Schulman expertly weaves cutting-edge research on neuroscience and medicine, as well as what he’s learned as a professional musician, to explore the power of music to heal the body and awaken the spirit.
The astounding story of a critically ill musician who is saved by music and returns to the same hospital to help heal others
Andrew Schulman, a fifty-seven-year-old professional guitarist, had a close brush with death on the night of July 16, 2009. Against the odds―and with the help of music―he a medical miracle.
Once fully recovered, Andrew resolved to use his musical gifts to help critically ill patients at Mount Sinai Beth Israel’s ICU. In Waking the Spirit , you’ll learn the astonishing stories of the people he’s met along the way―both patients and doctors―and see the incredible role music can play in a modern hospital setting.
Schulman expertly weaves cutting-edge research on neuroscience and medicine, as well as what he’s learned as a professional musician, to explore the power of music to heal the body and awaken the spirit.
304 pages, Paperback
First published February 2, 2016
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632 people want to read
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May 18, 2018
Waking the Spirit is an educational and uplifting look at music therapy from a world class musician who, not only plays for a critical care unit at a hospital, but was also saved by music himself.
I've always known about the healing power of music for the spirit, but I didn't realize that it had such marked effects on the body itself. When I'm having a bad day or just need to relax, I plop down in front of the piano and play the stress out.
What I did not know, and that Andrew discusses at length in this book, is that music has been used throughout history to treat sick people and the astonishingly positive effects that it has on the critically ill.
The idea behind music therapy in the ancient world is that everything is vibration.
If you play harmonious and balanced music, the human body will, in turn, put itself into harmony and alignment. Sickness was viewed as a simple imbalance: "Early records have been discovered from ancient Egyptian medicine, Babylonian medicine, Arurvedic (Indian subcontinent) medicine, and classical Chinese medicine that incorporated musical healing. The ancient Greeks valued the relationship between music and medicine in the god Apollo, whose gifts included both the musical and healing arts, and the first use of the term "musical medicine" began with Pythagoras, the fifth-century philosopher-mathematician. The Romans are said to have used musicians in their battlefield hospitals as a form of anesthesia."
Before I read this book, I didn't realize that music therapy was even a "thing" in hospitals.
It seems like, at least here in the U.S., and this is entirely my opinion, that medicine has moved ever so much farther away from holistic treatments. The preference is for high cost drugs and highly educated doctors to perform surgery... something concrete that people can hold in their hands and say, "Look! This is what I paid for. This thing right here."
If something, like music therapy, works, but we can't explain why it works, then people don't value it as much. That's where Waking the Spirit comes in.
Andrew provides tons of examples of beneficial music therapy treatments as well as studies to back up his real life experiences. I think this book could be helpful to doctors, nurses, or anyone who is looking to try something inexpensive to make the environment within their institution more appealing.
Take this experience: the patient was in pain and talking to herself (a side effect of the brain surgery she had just undergone). Then, Andrew shows up with his guitar: "At the sound of the first note she turned her head toward me, looking at my face and then at my right hand as it plucked the strings of the guitar. Gone was the scattered expression from her face as her eyes gained focus. She stopped talking, her mouth half-open in surprise, silent. Her face and shoulders relaxed, and she smiled. Not the plastered grin of before but a real smile of pleasure. She was here now, in this room, and not wherever she'd been for the past few hours. Something was connecting. We were just ten seconds into the music." Powerful.
"Over the years, I've witnessed the most remarkable ways in which music can help the healing process, the ways it can calm a patient or lift their spirits, or reach them when they seem locked in a place that no one else can access. It can soothe a staff member's exhaustion or anxiety and let them refocus on helping a patient, and it can provide a connection for a patient's family, perhaps bring back old memories and open pleasant topics of conversation."
Bringing beauty and dignity back to medicine with music.
In this passage, Schulman is talking to Dr. Richard Kogan, a professor of psychiatry, about how just the act of composing music has soothed individuals who are suffering from mental illness and then, their masterworks have gone on to help others: "While it's important not to overromanticize mental illness- most depressed individuals are too paralyzed to write a symphony and most psychotic individuals are too disorganized to produce a work of art that is coherent- the suffering associated with mental illness can led to bursts of creative inspiration that are less likely to come from an individual that is emotionally content. For many of the greatest composers, music has been profoundly therapeutic." In other words, artists who used their music to alleviate their own suffering composed some of the greatest music ever written, which in turn as the effect of ameliorating the suffering of others." It's a circle of healing.
You don't have to be a musician to fully enjoy Waking the Spirit. I recommend it for anyone who's interested in non-traditional treatments for pain and suffering. Thank you to NetGalley and Picador for a free digital ARC of this book.
I've always known about the healing power of music for the spirit, but I didn't realize that it had such marked effects on the body itself. When I'm having a bad day or just need to relax, I plop down in front of the piano and play the stress out.
What I did not know, and that Andrew discusses at length in this book, is that music has been used throughout history to treat sick people and the astonishingly positive effects that it has on the critically ill.
The idea behind music therapy in the ancient world is that everything is vibration.
If you play harmonious and balanced music, the human body will, in turn, put itself into harmony and alignment. Sickness was viewed as a simple imbalance: "Early records have been discovered from ancient Egyptian medicine, Babylonian medicine, Arurvedic (Indian subcontinent) medicine, and classical Chinese medicine that incorporated musical healing. The ancient Greeks valued the relationship between music and medicine in the god Apollo, whose gifts included both the musical and healing arts, and the first use of the term "musical medicine" began with Pythagoras, the fifth-century philosopher-mathematician. The Romans are said to have used musicians in their battlefield hospitals as a form of anesthesia."
Before I read this book, I didn't realize that music therapy was even a "thing" in hospitals.
It seems like, at least here in the U.S., and this is entirely my opinion, that medicine has moved ever so much farther away from holistic treatments. The preference is for high cost drugs and highly educated doctors to perform surgery... something concrete that people can hold in their hands and say, "Look! This is what I paid for. This thing right here."
If something, like music therapy, works, but we can't explain why it works, then people don't value it as much. That's where Waking the Spirit comes in.
Andrew provides tons of examples of beneficial music therapy treatments as well as studies to back up his real life experiences. I think this book could be helpful to doctors, nurses, or anyone who is looking to try something inexpensive to make the environment within their institution more appealing.
Take this experience: the patient was in pain and talking to herself (a side effect of the brain surgery she had just undergone). Then, Andrew shows up with his guitar: "At the sound of the first note she turned her head toward me, looking at my face and then at my right hand as it plucked the strings of the guitar. Gone was the scattered expression from her face as her eyes gained focus. She stopped talking, her mouth half-open in surprise, silent. Her face and shoulders relaxed, and she smiled. Not the plastered grin of before but a real smile of pleasure. She was here now, in this room, and not wherever she'd been for the past few hours. Something was connecting. We were just ten seconds into the music." Powerful.
"Over the years, I've witnessed the most remarkable ways in which music can help the healing process, the ways it can calm a patient or lift their spirits, or reach them when they seem locked in a place that no one else can access. It can soothe a staff member's exhaustion or anxiety and let them refocus on helping a patient, and it can provide a connection for a patient's family, perhaps bring back old memories and open pleasant topics of conversation."
Bringing beauty and dignity back to medicine with music.
In this passage, Schulman is talking to Dr. Richard Kogan, a professor of psychiatry, about how just the act of composing music has soothed individuals who are suffering from mental illness and then, their masterworks have gone on to help others: "While it's important not to overromanticize mental illness- most depressed individuals are too paralyzed to write a symphony and most psychotic individuals are too disorganized to produce a work of art that is coherent- the suffering associated with mental illness can led to bursts of creative inspiration that are less likely to come from an individual that is emotionally content. For many of the greatest composers, music has been profoundly therapeutic." In other words, artists who used their music to alleviate their own suffering composed some of the greatest music ever written, which in turn as the effect of ameliorating the suffering of others." It's a circle of healing.
You don't have to be a musician to fully enjoy Waking the Spirit. I recommend it for anyone who's interested in non-traditional treatments for pain and suffering. Thank you to NetGalley and Picador for a free digital ARC of this book.
September 14, 2016
Once I started reading this fantastic book, it took just a few evenings to devour, and it would have been fewer if I hadn't been so strict about bedtime ;) . What a lovely mix of powerful memoir, compassionate portraits of patients helped by music (including some stunning coincidences or not so coincidental depending on what you believe), and scientific insights about the connection between music and healing. The book starts with his wife, Wendy, desperately seeking any thread of hope as he lies in a coma, and discovering that teeing up Bach's St Matthew Passion on his iPod was just the right medicine to bring him back to life and inspire him to use her insight to help many other ICU patients. Andrew Schulman is an engaging writer, and his and Wendy's story is both harrowing and inspiring. Five stars!
May 2, 2016
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
In "Waking the Spirit", Andrew Schulman traces his odyssey through recovering from surgery with music helping him and subsequently coming back to play guitar for other patients in the SICU. This book deals with some scientific/medical terms, but a lot of it is anecdotal, talking about pieces he has played for patients, their reactions and responses, and how it is healing for the listener as well as the performer.
This book touched me in a number of ways. First of all, as a musician, I'm keenly aware of the power of music and the effect participating in a musical experience has on my body and mind and soul. Music touches an inner place, but the signs shown may be external in a lot of ways. I also remember hearing a hospital musician play when one of my family members was in the hospital. Somehow the music evoked pain, hope, things that we couldn't express out loud. It felt healing in a way that I hadn't experienced before. Andrew Schulman does a nice job of illustrating this in his book, and I enjoyed reading about this experience.
Fans of Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain will probably enjoy this book, though it doesn't have as much science built into it as that book - however the music anecdotes are powerful. Enjoyable read.
In "Waking the Spirit", Andrew Schulman traces his odyssey through recovering from surgery with music helping him and subsequently coming back to play guitar for other patients in the SICU. This book deals with some scientific/medical terms, but a lot of it is anecdotal, talking about pieces he has played for patients, their reactions and responses, and how it is healing for the listener as well as the performer.
This book touched me in a number of ways. First of all, as a musician, I'm keenly aware of the power of music and the effect participating in a musical experience has on my body and mind and soul. Music touches an inner place, but the signs shown may be external in a lot of ways. I also remember hearing a hospital musician play when one of my family members was in the hospital. Somehow the music evoked pain, hope, things that we couldn't express out loud. It felt healing in a way that I hadn't experienced before. Andrew Schulman does a nice job of illustrating this in his book, and I enjoyed reading about this experience.
Fans of Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain will probably enjoy this book, though it doesn't have as much science built into it as that book - however the music anecdotes are powerful. Enjoyable read.
December 19, 2016
Best book I've read in 2016, best book out there about what incredible power music has to heal! I still can't find enough superlatives to describe what a beautiful transcendent narrative it is. I built part of a course I taught around it, and if you want a preview of the book, here is the first of two blog posts I just wrote: http://www.jcsmusicsbest.blogspot.com...… Do please check it out -- you'll be glad! Happy Holidays to all!
November 12, 2016
Five stars to Andrew Schulman for so eloquently sharing this inspirational memoire about the miracle of music as a physical and psychological healing force. Each chapter begins with a quote from other studies and practices throughout ancient history and the Middle Ages that indicate the how long music therapy has been practiced to sooth critically ill and injured patients and save lives. Some examples from Jacqueline Schmidt Peters’s Music Therapy: An Introduction: “In many primitive tribal civilizations in Africa, singing was often an indispensable part of the healing process” (21) and “Among the notables of Greece who subscribed to the power of music were Aristotle, who valued it as an emotional catharsis, and Plato, who described music as the medicine of the soul” (73). Schulman, a professional guitarist with a long history of performance, shares the remarkable story of his own near-death experience after suffering anaphylactic shock post-surgery. He was virtually given up for dead by the hospital staff at the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital in New York City when his desperate wife Wendy asked if she could try music therapy. She tuned her husband’s ear into his iPod set at one of Schulman’s favorite pieces, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Within minutes his condition began to improve, and he went on to a full recovery. (He was left unable to memorize the guitar pieces he used to know by heart, but even that ability returned to him in time thanks to his constant playing and rewiring of his brain over the course of a year). Subsequent chapters abound with personal stories during which Schulman returned to the SICU at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and to share his gentle guitar playing (instrumental only; Schulman insists he is not a worthy vocalist) be it Bach, Brahms, the Beatles, Ellington, Debussy, Gershwin, Jobim, the Rolling Stones, etc., at the bedsides of critically ill patients. He describes numerous heart- and soul- warming stories of how music improved patients’ vital signs, eased them out of comas, alleviated pain, and saw most of them through to a full recovery. When one patient, Mr. G., a musician himself, was in severe pain, Schulman’s playing “[did] more than the sedatives had been able to accomplish . . . . Mr. G. had reengaged his life and reconnected to a core part of himself. He was pulling himself up from the bottom of the well” (83). Schulman suggests that insurance companies need to include music therapy as a covered service (242). In an Afterward, Dr. Marvin A McMillen, observes that when people receive devastating news about their health, many are so frightened and traumatized that they lapse into dystopia and can barely function. Music therapy is particularly vital in these cases. “The shock of the diagnosis acts like malware in a computer program—the computer has to be rebooted or reprogrammed to move forward. Music has the power to help us reboot . . . [it] might reconnect us to a time in our lives when all things seemed possible” (254-55).
May 19, 2018
Six stars! I read this with special interest since I am a music practitioner (not a music therapist) as a member of the Charlottesville Threshold Singers which sings for hospice patients and others in need of strength, comfort, and peace. I also play guitar with a small group that sings for memory care and nursing facilities.
I have recommended this book to so many friends. Especially fellow musicians.
The author, a professional guitarist for many years, had a catastrophic medical situation landing him in a coma. He believes it was ultimately resolved by music. (Specifically Bach's St. Matthew's Passion.)
Once he had recovered sufficiently (although he had brain damage that had erased the many hours of music he could play by memory: only four pieces remained that he had learned before he was 20), he returned to the SICU (Surgical ICU) where he had been and plays thrice weekly.
The book includes medical anecdotes, medical explanation, and many wonderful quotations showing how music was an integral part of healing for centuries until Medicine (with a capital M) took over in the late 1800s.
Thoroughly wonderful, even for non-musicians. He believes you should include a playlist with your Advanced Medical Directives. I'm making mine. Mary Youngblood, the Native American flute player, Russian Sacred Music, and of course, Bach. (He also says Bach is the very best for organizing the brain to help the body recover.)
I have recommended this book to so many friends. Especially fellow musicians.
The author, a professional guitarist for many years, had a catastrophic medical situation landing him in a coma. He believes it was ultimately resolved by music. (Specifically Bach's St. Matthew's Passion.)
Once he had recovered sufficiently (although he had brain damage that had erased the many hours of music he could play by memory: only four pieces remained that he had learned before he was 20), he returned to the SICU (Surgical ICU) where he had been and plays thrice weekly.
The book includes medical anecdotes, medical explanation, and many wonderful quotations showing how music was an integral part of healing for centuries until Medicine (with a capital M) took over in the late 1800s.
Thoroughly wonderful, even for non-musicians. He believes you should include a playlist with your Advanced Medical Directives. I'm making mine. Mary Youngblood, the Native American flute player, Russian Sacred Music, and of course, Bach. (He also says Bach is the very best for organizing the brain to help the body recover.)
August 29, 2016
Waking the Spirit: A Musician's Journey Healing Body, Mind, and Soul is an amazing story of a professional musician who, after experiencing a near-death experience, literally returns 'to life' and playing music by the healing power of music. Moved by this transformative experience, the author tells how he was compelled to return later to ICU to heal others through performing live music at patients' bedsides. Supported by scientific information from experts in neuroscience medicine and references to recent research in the field of music and medicine, these deeply personal and compelling anecdotal stories will prove to be an inspiration to musicians and health care professionals alike. I highly recommend this touching book for the general public as well as performing musicians who believe in the magic of "live" music and health care professionals who may consider the inclusion of "musical prescriptions" as part of a therapeutic plan for both palliative care and healing.
May 26, 2017
If I could give a book more than 5 stars, this one would be it. It's not that the author is an extremely talented writer (he just told his own true story), but Andrew Schulman is a talented musician and his story of music and healing is incredible! "For millennia, music has been known to have a powerful role in the healing process. This moving and inspiring book tells the tale of a man pulled from the brink of death by music and who, in turn, uses music as medicine to help heal others." This book had me looking up and listening to pieces by Bach and Gershwin. The message of the power of music to heal and the scientific evidence behind it including countless stories from the author's own experiences as the resident musician himself, inspired me to want to learn to play the guitar and widen my repertoire of music and help others using music. The last story he tells even brought me to tears. Bravo!
October 24, 2016
Waking the Spirit: A Musician's Journey Healing Body, Mind, and Soul
by Andrew Schulman, Marvin McMillen (Afterword )
I found a perfect summary in the publisher's note below.
"For millennia, music has been known to have a powerful role in the healing process. This moving and inspiring book tells the tale of a man pulled from the brink of death by music who, in turn, uses music as medicine to help heal others."
Our medical musician is Andrew Schulman, a professional guitarist, who has among other venues, the Surgical Intensive
Care at Mount Sinai Beth Israel (New York City).
He himself was called back from death's doorstep by music.
With guitar, he returns to this surgical unit to comfort and provide
his healing stimulus to the critically ill.
A heartwarming read.
Goodreads giveaway
by Andrew Schulman, Marvin McMillen (Afterword )
I found a perfect summary in the publisher's note below.
"For millennia, music has been known to have a powerful role in the healing process. This moving and inspiring book tells the tale of a man pulled from the brink of death by music who, in turn, uses music as medicine to help heal others."
Our medical musician is Andrew Schulman, a professional guitarist, who has among other venues, the Surgical Intensive
Care at Mount Sinai Beth Israel (New York City).
He himself was called back from death's doorstep by music.
With guitar, he returns to this surgical unit to comfort and provide
his healing stimulus to the critically ill.
A heartwarming read.
Goodreads giveaway
April 19, 2017
I received a free copy of Waking the Spirit via a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you, Goodreads! Waking the Spirit is a fantastic read. Andrew Schulman weaves his personal experiences as both patient and healer seamlessly, taking the reader through an in-depth analysis of the powerful, ancient connection between music and medicine. He offers personal anecdotes alongside medical knowledge and psychology research without coming off as preachy, biased, or new age. The insight is specific without too much technical jargon. As someone passionate about music and with a close connection to medicine, I am biased in loving this book. But I would highly recommend it to anyone, regardless of their background and experience with either aspect of the book.
January 5, 2017
Fascinating book on the universal healing power of music itself. I have always been interested in the concept of using music as a healing power, but have never read such a personal and benevolent account of a man whose love for performance and listening was used for a greater purpose; to heal others. A great quick read for anyone who wishes to learn about the neurological, physiological, and physical effects music can have in an ICU setting for patients whose last grips are held within music itself.
September 15, 2016
An amazing story of a man's struggle to heal after being hospitalized and almost dying. How he heals is quite the interesting story,and along the way he finds a way to give back to others who are now in the grave position he once found himself in. Heartwarming, with a dose of reality as to how life can throw us unexpected twists and turns. Sometimes, not the way we think, but sometimes, for the better. I could not put this book down!
November 10, 2016
Waking the Spirit is a truly amazing story of a professional musician’s journey to recovery after a near-death experience and the incredible impact that music had on his healing. After fully recovering the author was inspired to dedicate his life to help heal patients in the ICU through live music. I really enjoyed reading all the stories from doctors and patients he met along the way. It’s apparent that music has the power to transform and heal in extraordinary ways.
August 25, 2016
Fascinating personal experience with the importance of music in our lives. Would have liked more frequent discussions of the science and research behind the relationship of the music on the body. Links to recordings of the songs listed during the book would have helped those of us unfamiliar with the music cited.
April 6, 2022
A beautiful, detailed story of the healing power of music, based on the author's experiences as a patient and subsequently as a medical musician in the same SICU where he literally died and was brought back to life by music. A great read.
October 10, 2016
Fascinating
October 21, 2016
I enjoyed this book and felt inspired to return music to my life. It brought a lot of emotion to the surface.
Not a higher rating only because the writing style did not grab me.
Not a higher rating only because the writing style did not grab me.
December 14, 2019
Classical guitarist Andrew Schulman's memoir about his experiences sharing his music for the most critical patients in the SICU of a New York hospital is an inspiring read to say the least. Schulman's decision to volunteer to provide musical therapy to these patients came about because of his own brush with death in the same SICU, in which his wife intuitively decided to play a recording of one of his favorite musical pieces as he lay in a coma after a serious medical emergency. Somehow, the power of Bach's St. Matthew's Passion, and it's emotional connection for Schulman succeeded in bringing him back, quite miraculously, to the land of the living. Wanting to give back in the best way he knew how, he decides that he will volunteer his own talents as a guitarist for the benefit of others in very similar critical conditions.
Waking the Spirit is a powerful and wonder-filled account of the healing magic that music can bring in times of serious illness, to patients as well as to their traumatized loved ones. With the strong insight and deep sensitivity Schulman brings to each patient's case, he caters his musical choices and playing to their very specific needs in a way that shows the depth of his own understanding of what they are experiencing. His personal anecdotes about connections he made with some of his patients and their families is fascinating, and often involves ties to the greater world of music and even to other musicians more well known them himself.
Waking the Spirit is a truly remarkable book about a remarkable musician doing his best to share his many gifts in ways that make a very big difference.
Waking the Spirit is a powerful and wonder-filled account of the healing magic that music can bring in times of serious illness, to patients as well as to their traumatized loved ones. With the strong insight and deep sensitivity Schulman brings to each patient's case, he caters his musical choices and playing to their very specific needs in a way that shows the depth of his own understanding of what they are experiencing. His personal anecdotes about connections he made with some of his patients and their families is fascinating, and often involves ties to the greater world of music and even to other musicians more well known them himself.
Waking the Spirit is a truly remarkable book about a remarkable musician doing his best to share his many gifts in ways that make a very big difference.
October 29, 2021
This book has fanned a flame sparked by a moment of frustration after a lifetime of playing music. Earlier this year I wanted to give up playing music even after it had been a vital definition of my self and my character over the last twenty years. In that moment of wanting to abandon any dreams of playing music, two words came to mind: music therapy. After researching some university programs, I realized music therapy is what I have been wanting to do with my gift and my life for quite some time, but I never knew it actually existed!
Enter this exquisite book. I hope one day to be able to credit this book with the ignition of a long, fruitful, meaningful career in music therapy. It has given me insight, heart, and intelligence in every single page. It has helped me fall in love with music as medicine, as the key to unlock the “lost.” It is amazing to read how our bodies are meant to receive music and how vital it can be to our well being. God really is a brilliant creator and I’ve read evidence of it in this book.
I applaud Andrew not only for his dedication to the craft but to the ears and hearts of every person who heard him play. And I was also brought to tears in many of his full-circle moments as he made his way back to a healed brain. I am so inspired and can’t wait to see what lies ahead.
Enter this exquisite book. I hope one day to be able to credit this book with the ignition of a long, fruitful, meaningful career in music therapy. It has given me insight, heart, and intelligence in every single page. It has helped me fall in love with music as medicine, as the key to unlock the “lost.” It is amazing to read how our bodies are meant to receive music and how vital it can be to our well being. God really is a brilliant creator and I’ve read evidence of it in this book.
I applaud Andrew not only for his dedication to the craft but to the ears and hearts of every person who heard him play. And I was also brought to tears in many of his full-circle moments as he made his way back to a healed brain. I am so inspired and can’t wait to see what lies ahead.
June 8, 2022
this was a touching, beautiful, and deeply insightful memoir on the profound effects of music on the human condition. andrew masterfully weaves knowledge of neuroscience, music, psychology with his own personal experiences in the SICU in order to bring everything to life. a very inspiring piece that motivates me to learn more about the way music interacts with our lives and inspires me to channel my musical passions to better the lives of others.
June 4, 2018
Andrew Schulman was a professional classical guitarist. He went into the hospital to have a biopsy but an allergic reaction to medication while in surgery led to him spending time in a coma in the surgical ICU. He was nonresponsive to anything until his wife started playing his favorite playlist of music for him. After his recovery, he started to research the links between music and healing. He also returned to the surgical ICU three days a week to play for an hour.
I've been lurking on some music therapy harp groups on Facebook. I like the types of music that these musicians seem to play and I was actually looking for good sources of music for relaxing harp pieces. I know a lot of it is improv. In this book, Andrew Schulman does some improv but finds himself mostly playing three types of music - Bach, Gershwin, and The Beatles.
There are a lot of stories in the book that show how small of a world the New York music world must be. He meets family members of composers, Gershwin scholars, and people who performed on his favorite recordings. Along the way he is shocked to find that he starts to heal the brain damage that his time in a coma caused.
I liked the incorporation of the science along with the stories. He will talk about seeing music calm pain responses and then will get a scientific opinion on why that works.
You'll finish this book believing that Bach should be playing in every recovery unit in the hospital. Even if you don't play an instrument, this is an uplifting story about how the body can heal itself and how not every medical intervention needs to be using drugs.This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story
July 15, 2017
You’ve probably heard the stories of people being miraculously healed by prayer. You may not have heard stories of people being healed by music. However, Andrew Schulman’s work in the field of music and healing bears out that it is possible. Being healed by music even happened to him: it saved his life! In 2009, Schulman underwent an operation to remove a pancreatic tumor that turned out to be benign. However, he had a reaction to something in his blood transfusion during the surgery and immediately went into cardiac arrest as soon as he left the OR. He was clinically dead. Doctors put him into a coma just to keep him alive. While he was under, a few days later, his wife would plant his iPod ear buds into his ear and play the first thing on the playlist: a piece by J.S. Bach. He began to recover slowly immediately.
After Schulman was healed, he came back to the same surgical intensive care unit (SICU) that he, himself, was a patient of to play classical guitar for other patients — as a way of giving back. This book journals his successes (and some failures) in this regard. And it is a fascinating read. It turns out that Schulman suffered some brain damage that prevented him from memorizing any new music and he only retained memory of six pieces, all learned before the age of 20. So, in order to come back, he had to carry around a rather large book of sheet music wherever he went. That’s just one of the elements that make Schulman’s narrative so fascinating. He was damaged, but he didn’t give up in helping others. By the end of Waking the Spirit, he is regarded as just as much an integral part of the SICU team as the nurses and doctors.
Read more here: https://medium.com/@zachary_houle/a-r...
After Schulman was healed, he came back to the same surgical intensive care unit (SICU) that he, himself, was a patient of to play classical guitar for other patients — as a way of giving back. This book journals his successes (and some failures) in this regard. And it is a fascinating read. It turns out that Schulman suffered some brain damage that prevented him from memorizing any new music and he only retained memory of six pieces, all learned before the age of 20. So, in order to come back, he had to carry around a rather large book of sheet music wherever he went. That’s just one of the elements that make Schulman’s narrative so fascinating. He was damaged, but he didn’t give up in helping others. By the end of Waking the Spirit, he is regarded as just as much an integral part of the SICU team as the nurses and doctors.
Read more here: https://medium.com/@zachary_houle/a-r...
May 2, 2022
Written by a musician, who was saved from the brink of death by music, who then goes on to use his gift. Schulman played his guitar for the sickest of patients in the ICU as a way to give back, and learned just how much music positively effects the sickest. An interesting story of the measurable benefits of music therapy.
From a poet/patient: "Wordsworth once said 'poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollect in tranquility.' And that's what you just did for me with music."
From a poet/patient: "Wordsworth once said 'poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollect in tranquility.' And that's what you just did for me with music."
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September 12, 2016Well I'm now convinced of the healing connection between music and the body. Andrew Schulman is a professional guitarist. In 2009, he was a hairsbreadth away from death after a bad reaction to surgery. In a last ditch effort to save him, his wife asked if she could play his ipod for him. First up was Bach's St. Matthew's Passion - a favorite of Andrew's. The music 'brought him back.' In subsequent years, Schulman has given back by playing for patients in the surgery intensive care unit at Beth Israel Hospital three days a week. This book is a combination of some of the latest research on the connection between music and healing and of Andrew Schulman's amazing experiences with real patients. It seems to me that our country's health care could be improved if all doctors and insurance company executives gave this a read.
December 22, 2016
You don't have to be a musician to know that music is a powerful force unlike any other. Everyone has those songs associated with powerful memories and those that they turn to for a pick-me-up. Not only does Schulman share his own moving and inspiring story of how music saved his life, he shares powerful stories of music at work in medicine while also enlightening the reader about the latest research in the field. This book also calls for more awareness about the power of music to heal and advocates for better coverage for music therapy in insurance, and readers will feel called to take up the banner after turning the last page, especially fellow musicians.
July 9, 2018
As a practicing musician, I found the concept of this book intriguing - every musician has felt the therapeutic effects of music at some point. It’s admirable that Schulman wanted to share his talent with others who were suffering, but the tale was a bit bland. Parts of the book tried to offer technical explanations of how the brain works and why music is soothing, while other parts were over-simplified. And if I read the words St. Matthew Passion one more time, I might’ve hurled the book across the room.
Music Therapy by Jacqueline Schmidt Peters was quoted at the beginning of nearly every chapter, maybe I’ll look for that.
Music Therapy by Jacqueline Schmidt Peters was quoted at the beginning of nearly every chapter, maybe I’ll look for that.
March 4, 2018
I would give, Walking the Spirit, 6 or more stars if possible!
The Story of Andrew Schulman's illness, his recovery, and healing through music was nothing short of a miracle. His personal story, plus the stories of the many people he met and helped over the past decade is simply awe-inspiring! It gets technical in places, but necessary to explain the connection between the brain, spirit, and music.
This book touched me deeply and it is a story that I will carry with me and share with others.
The Story of Andrew Schulman's illness, his recovery, and healing through music was nothing short of a miracle. His personal story, plus the stories of the many people he met and helped over the past decade is simply awe-inspiring! It gets technical in places, but necessary to explain the connection between the brain, spirit, and music.
This book touched me deeply and it is a story that I will carry with me and share with others.
March 21, 2017
As a healthcare professional who is also a audiophile, I use music almost daily in my practice and have my own stories on it's success. I feel this book, with it's strong examples of the healing power of music, interwoven with science to back up those anecdotes, should be required reading for anyone going into or already in healthcare, especially for those working with vulnerable, hurting or critically ill patients.
September 17, 2018
This was entertaining and intriguing read -- full of anecdotes but also historical and research-based findings about the connections between mind, body and music. Among the things I had never heard of were ICU delirium (p. 139, scary!), the effect of Schubert's Ständchen on all kinds of people, and Bohemian Rhapsody, too! I need to check out Berstein's 1962 version of St. Matthew Passion after reading this book. Get your iPods ready in case you are ever in critical condition!
November 23, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. It's an easy read that has made me decide to add an addendum to my health directive to include music in my medical treatment, should I become unable to speak for myself. With suggestions for music to play, especially Bach. I might even do what one person in the book did and create a special iPod for the purpose.
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