Keyboard pedagogy and the future: lessons from human genome research: an interview with Barry B. Bittman, M.D. and Karl T. Bruhn

American Music Teacher, Oct-Nov, 2005 by Gary L. Ingle

A groundbreaking study published in the international research journal, Medical Science Monitor (February 2005), demonstrated for the first time that learning to play a keyboard instrument reversed multiple components of the human stress response on the genomic level. The study's principal investigator, Barry Bittman, M.D. of the Mind-Body Medical Center explained that these unique findings shed new light not only on the value of active music participation, but also extend our understanding of individualized human biological stress responses on an unprecedented level.

The following interview conducted by MTNA Executive Director Gary Ingle, presents a concise overview of the research in practical terms and highlights its importance for the future of keyboard pedagogy.

GI: Gentlemen I'd like to thank you for accepting our offer for this interview. I'm certain that the research we're about to discuss is extraordinarily important for our membership. Dr. Bittman, your inspirational keynote presented at our annual meeting continues to spark ongoing interest and excitement. I personally believe that all of our members need to become aware of your fascinating work. Could you begin by explaining your reasons for performing this study.

BB: Gary, allow me to begin by thanking you and your organization for this exceptional forum. It has been, and continues to be, an honor to present our work to MTNA. The impact your organization and its members have on the future of music education in our society cannot be underestimated. The underpinnings of this study clearly extend the lifetime work of Karl Bruhn, who is often referred to as the "Father of Music Making and Wellness." Karl's dedication and commitment to extending the joy of music making throughout the world inspired the performance of this and the other research studies we've conducted over the past seven years.

Our principal objective is to scientifically explore and demonstrate the inherent value and health benefits of active music participation. In addition, we strive to inspire people who are erroneously convinced they are not "musical" to discover the joy and health benefits of playing a musical instrument. We've set forth to steadily build a solid foundation of biological and psychosocial evidence that establishes recreational music making's value as a practical, affordable and sustainable strategy for preserving or reestablishing the gift of a healthy life.

GI: Karl, as a highly respected music products industry leader, you've committed a great deal of your life to extending the benefits of music making throughout the world. Your work with Dr. Bittman is clearly changing our overall perception of the value of learning to play a musical instrument. How did you get started?

KB: Gary, your question takes me way back to my childhood. My career began when my mother was told I had asthma. In those days we didn't have the kind of treatments that exist today. Our family doctor instead prescribed a move to a dryer climate and wind instrument lessons. I suppose that prescription changed my life. It's still working today.

Reflecting back over my early years as a musician, there's a part of me that always appreciated the value of playing a musical instrument. As a music products industry executive, not a day's passed without an inspirational story of how playing a musical instrument changed or saved a person's life.

In my retirement, it's been very clear to me that such an awareness must be extended to the many people who can potentially benefit from playing a musical instrument, especially in these challenging times. My work with Dr. Bittman is simply a way of giving back to society even a fraction of what I've received through music.

GI: Dr. Bittman, before we discuss your landmark study, could you provide a short overview of the research that led to this study?

BB: Essentially we began in the late 1990s with an exploration of the biological benefits of group drumming. That study, published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine in 2000, as the first controlled scientific investigation to demonstrate a statistically significant boost of immune function attributable to playing a musical instrument. The activity of "natural killer" cells, specialized white blood cells that seek out and destroy cancer cells and virally infected cells, increased in our subjects who participated in what later become known as the Remo HealthRHYTHMS protocol.

Based upon our findings, we proceeded to explore the multidimensional benefits of recreational music making in a highly stressed long-term care workforce plagued by excessive turnover. Our study, published in Advances in Mind Body Medicine in 2003, demonstrated remarkable reductions of mood disturbances and employee burnout that persisted after completion of a six-week group-based program that incorporated hand drums and a Clavinova. A comprehensive independent review of our data performed by a leading healthcare economic consulting firm projected enhanced employee retention and remarkable cost savings attributable to the intervention. Actual savings exceeded these projections. Close to $500,000 was ultimately saved in a long-term care facility as a result of our intervention.