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Music Maker

The benefits of keeping the beats

Cognition
The Sweetness of September

Rictor Noren on August 29, 2015

John Field guides us gently through this change of seasons, and invites us into a deeper conversation with ourselves.

John Field guides us gently through this change of seasons, and invites us into a deeper conversation with ourselves.

Anxiety
Anxiety and the Art of Listening

Rictor Noren on May 6, 2015

Whether or not music dulcifies our anxiety, it can provide a place to put it, a storyboard where ideas are worked out, massaged, and sometimes discarded.
Listen to Schumann’s narrative without prejudice, as a child would, and remember what it was like to hear for the first time.

Whether or not music dulcifies our anxiety, it can provide a place to put it, a storyboard where ideas are worked out, massaged, and sometimes discarded.
Listen to Schumann’s narrative without prejudice, as a child would, and remember what it was like to hear for the first time.

Loneliness
The Loneliness of January

Rictor Noren on January 10, 2015

Sitting with a companion like Rachmaninoff can make our lonely moments less lonely.

Sitting with a companion like Rachmaninoff can make our lonely moments less lonely.

Attention
Find Your Swoon

Rictor Noren on October 7, 2014

“Can’t you hear it? Won’t you pay attention?” I wanted the world to know what I knew, and to feel what I was feeling.

“Can’t you hear it? Won’t you pay attention?” I wanted the world to know what I knew, and to feel what I was feeling.

Anxiety
Anxiety of Influence

Rictor Noren on August 12, 2014

If we often live our lives between anxiety and boredom, music can help.

If we often live our lives between anxiety and boredom, music can help.

Career
Moments Less Apparent

Rictor Noren on May 10, 2014

Listen to Schubert as you would look at a watercolor. Fill in the details as you need, and know that all that you see isn't all that there is.

Listen to Schubert as you would look at a watercolor. Fill in the details as you need, and know that all that you see isn't all that there is.

Alcoholism
Measuring the Day Through the Classical Era

Rictor Noren on February 22, 2014

Classical music reminds us of the value of order, the contentment of disciple, and the threads that hold us together.

Classical music reminds us of the value of order, the contentment of disciple, and the threads that hold us together.

Play
Listen to Bach, Listen to Life

Rictor Noren on September 24, 2013

Bach has the power to help us reflect, change, grow, and bring us back to our center as we face increasingly busy and sometimes overwhelming lives.

Bach has the power to help us reflect, change, grow, and bring us back to our center as we face increasingly busy and sometimes overwhelming lives.

Relationships
Creating a Salon, Creating a Community

Rictor Noren on June 3, 2013

Move away from isolation by creating a forum for new thought, and a greater understanding through community. Invest in a salon as you invest in your well-being.

Move away from isolation by creating a forum for new thought, and a greater understanding through community. Invest in a salon as you invest in your well-being.

Beauty
HealingThrough Bach

Rictor Noren on April 19, 2013

In troubled times, find solace in the music of J.S. Bach.

In troubled times, find solace in the music of J.S. Bach.

Meditation
Sitting With Sound

Rictor Noren on March 4, 2013

I would like to suggest the profoundly changing nature of music practice meditation as a way of organizing one’s thoughts, centering one’s attention, and tuning in to the ways in which the body responds to corporal memories.

I would like to suggest the profoundly changing nature of music practice meditation as a way of organizing one’s thoughts, centering one’s attention, and tuning in to the ways in which the body responds to corporal memories.

Play
Music Over a Lifespan

Rictor Noren on February 6, 2013

From cradle to passing, culturally we define certain music that brings us closer to experiences and passages.

From cradle to passing, culturally we define certain music that brings us closer to experiences and passages.

Motivation
Counting Your Music Calories

Rictor Noren on January 23, 2013

Though I identify myself in many ways through the lens of music, there are times when all of us want like to escape organized sound entirely.

Though I identify myself in many ways through the lens of music, there are times when all of us want like to escape organized sound entirely.

Education
The Adult Learner

Rictor Noren on January 16, 2013

Before I was old enough to harness the power to adjust the egg timer that sat in judgment over my daily organ practice (my mother had a poor sense of time), I slavishly divided my attention between “The little brown church in the vale” and the tick, tick, tick of the 30 minutes which, to a five year-old, seemed an eternity.

Before I was old enough to harness the power to adjust the egg timer that sat in judgment over my daily organ practice (my mother had a poor sense of time), I slavishly divided my attention between “The little brown church in the vale” and the tick, tick, tick of the 30 minutes which, to a five year-old, seemed an eternity.