Musopathy is a fast emerging quantifiable health science arena which owes its origin equally to the Science and Math of Sound on the one hand and to Music Therapy (MT), Breathing Exercises, Meditation, Mindfulness and other techniques.  It is distinctive from the typical approach of MT, which largely focuses on providing personalised palliative solutions using diverse genres like Western & Indian Classical, Rock, Jazz etc.    

Vision

To transform music-based healing into a precise, universal and quantifiable health science by analysing and applying the fundamental universal scientific and mathematical principles of sound and researching into the mechanics behind its efficacy upon humans, animals and plants even at a cellular level in a culture-genre-region neutral manner.

Mission

To develop multi-combinational participatory interventions to promote wellness among billions across the planet including music agnostic communities. 

In short, Musopathy neither demands knowledge or preference for music or other practices from its potential beneficiaries nor does it attempt to teach these to them, making it accessible to almost everyone. 

The Musopathy Triad

Musopathy has three principal elements, the first two of which are Participative (where subjects are actively involved in the interventions) while the last one is Receptive (where subjects only listen to audios).

1. Tonation Breathing Techniques (TBT)
2. Musopathy Aural Neural Engagement Techniques (MANET)
3. Medical Music: A whole new genre of “Fundamental Music” created for Health research as an alternative or compliment to the current practice of using “complex” music meant for entertainment or devotional purposes.  

Musopathy Laws and Principles 

There are a few important principles that Musopathy leverages upon.  Briefly, these include: 

Law of Musical ROI: “The Return on Investment (ROI) of Music and Musopathy is directly proportional to the extent of one’s association with either or both of them.”  This principle applies to almost any beneficial pursuits of life.  Typically musicians tend to enjoy many more benefits from music than listeners.  

Law of Entertainment vs Research Paradox: “The more entertaining the music is, the harder it is for health research.”  To be aesthetically and intellectually engaging, music has to often be sophisticated but that makes breaking down and studying its various components all the more challenging.  This was the trigger for Musopathy Medical Music. 

Law of Natural Tuning: “Every person is innately tuned in to a particular Pitch and Tempo range and the best way to prevent or minimise stress is to maximally operate within it.”  This pitch and tempo has nothing to do with musical training and can be seen even while a person of normal health talks, walks, jogs or does anything unselfconsciously.

Benefits 

Preliminary observations and studies testify to the potential of Musopathy in both Clinical and Extra Clinical settings. 

• Clinical:  Combat Blood Pressure, High Sugar, Sleep Disorders, Respiratory Issues (and improvement of SpO2 levels, which proved to be particularly useful for hundreds during Covid),  Muscular Tension,  release muscular tension of neck, shoulder etc, aid in emotional management including Stress, Anxiety and Depression as well as Pain Management including Headaches of various types and Dental, Facial and Mandibular pains and aches, and promote Heart Rate Variability (HRV), provide supplementary care to patients afflicted by cancer, Moyamoya disease etc and improve cognitive functions and prevent or combat cognitive decline. 
• Extra-Clinical: Musopathy can enhance overall Quality of Life (QoL) and promote individual, organisational and social Wellbeing by heightening self-awareness, improving focus, attentiveness, self discipline and mind control, boosting innovativeness and decision-making abilities, promoting team spirit and inter-personnel camaraderie, curbing mental fatigue and burnout,  building resilience against daily stress triggers,  enhancing energy levels and promoting both internal and inter-people peace and positivity.

Genesis 

Musopathy was proposed in the mid-1990s by Chitravina N Ravikiran who initiated discussions with medical and academic professionals regarding the limitations and pitfalls of choosing music created for entertainment or devotional purposes for therapeutic research in various parts of the world.  Though every music-based health experiment across the globe since then can certainly not be attributable to Musopathy concepts, it is pertinent to note that more studies aligned to its essential rationale are being undertaken including research using various single musical frequencies.  

Research and Courses

Musopathy is an exciting area for original research with vast therapeutic, commercial and social potential.  The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi has pioneered a full fledged Musopathy MS and PhD program to enable Musopathy research on several fronts.  Aspiring Musopathists need to carry out rigorous research in these and other areas to explore its full potential.  

A Musopathist may be defined as “A person with a Health Science Degree plus a Musopathy degree from IIT or successful completion of an Exam based Musopathy Certificate Course offered by the Musopathy Foundation or by its collaborating institutions”. 

Allied Areas

For those interested in interdisciplinary Musopathy Research and careers, areas that it intersects with include general Medical Science, Neuroscience (esp Alzheimer’s symptom relief, pain management, and motor rehabilitation, supported by fMRI studies on TBT-induced dopamine release, Cognitive rehabilitation and sharpening), General Health Science, Biomedical Science, Music, Yoga and other Therapies to name a few.