Making Music Praying Twice

04/20/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18KKUCqkJh/

Most parents sing lullabies because it works — the baby settles, the night quiets, the routine feels complete. What almost no parent realizes is what's actually happening inside their baby's brain during those few soft minutes.A single lullaby activates more than 20 regions of the brain simultaneously. Memory networks. Language processing. Emotional regulation centers. Sound pattern recognition. All firing together, all being wired and strengthened, in what looks from the outside like a sleepy, unremarkable moment in a dark room.Mobiles, rattles, even peek-a-boo — none of them come close to the neurological complexity triggered by a parent singing to their child. The combination of melody, rhythm, repetition, and the specific voice a baby is most attuned to creates a uniquely rich form of sensory input that shapes how the developing brain organizes and learns.Every repeated lullaby gives the brain something predictable to hold onto — familiar words and rhythm that strengthen phonemic awareness, support memory consolidation, and build the foundations of early language. Babies who are sung to regularly are getting daily practice in listening, pattern recognition, and language processing, wrapped in the sound that makes them feel safest.The physical closeness and the oxytocin released during singing deepens the bond simultaneously. The steady beat helps regulate the stress response through the vagus nerve. And the brain reads the familiar rhythm and tone as a signal of safety — calming the nervous system in ways that support deeper, more restorative sleep.It doesn't matter if you sing off-key. Your baby's brain is tuned specifically to your voice — not to perfection.Bedtime isn't just about quieting the night. It's one of the most neurologically powerful moments in your child's entire day. Sing anyway. Every time.

12/02/2025

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=122163550844767455&id=61573023674287&post_id=61573023674287_122163550844767455&mibextid=CDWPTG

Trust me, when you’re 70-80 years old, you’re going to either regret that you didn’t or be grateful that you did do everything in your power to nourish your brain when you were in your younger years of life. Studies have revealed that playing a musical instrument (learning and practicing) builds more new neural connections (neuroplasticity) in the brain than almost any other activity on the planet.

Playing an instrument engages nearly every part of the brain at once, including auditory (sound), motor (movement), and visual (reading music) areas. This simultaneous activation strengthens neural pathways and the connections between them.

The process of translating written music (visual) into precise finger movements (motor) and hearing the correct sound (auditory) forces the brain to integrate information from different sense. This improves cognitive flexibility and the ability to multitask.

Unlike skills that are learned and then automated (like tying your shoelaces), playing music involves a continuous process of learning new techniques, memorizing passages and improvising. This constant challenge of mastering new skills maintains and strengthens neuroplasticity throughout life.

Additionally, long-term musical training can lead to both structural and functional changes in the brain. For example, studies show musicians often have larger gray matter volumes in areas related to motor, auditory, and visuospatial processing, as well as a larger corpus callosum.

Also, the act of learning new music helps create new synapses (connections between neurons), while repetitive practice strengthens existing ones. This is a key mechanism of neuroplasticity that allows information to be processed more efficiently.

Playing also requires complex cognitive control, including planning, attention and working memory. The brain strengthens the neural networks associated with these functions, which can lead to better focus and organization in other areas of life.

PMID: 29213699, 38178844, 20889966, 33776638, 25725909, 24672420

11/09/2025

Music is a vehicle for prayer and an opportunity to teach the truths of our faith.

01/26/2025

01/22/2025

Lucky baby. He can hear the music, feel the breathing and phrasing, all in the safety and warmth of his grandma.

01/10/2025

The power of faith and music. Lord, have mercy on the city of the Angels and send your messengers to heal us.

Video of spontaneous performance of ‘Regina Caeli’ goes viral.

01/02/2025

08/20/2024

04/30/2024

The arts are under attack in every possible educational environment. While anything concerning STEM, including manual coding is getting funded and pushed while the arts are getting decimated.

Not to mention AI is going to make much of manual coding obsolete soon enough. all you will need to be able to do is tell AI what you want to code and it will code it all for you and debug it. Faster than any human being ever could. Will people code in the future by hand for pleasure? I’m sure there are a few super nerds out there who will. But if we’re talking, reaching the human heart and organizing the Brain, there will be people playing piano for pleasure much more than there will be those writing C++ For for that dopamine hit by hand.

Manipulating a musical instrument for self satisfaction of the artistic heart will never be replaced. That relationship is often formed in primary schools. In public education.

Every study everywhere forever has always given us this data. Children who play musical instruments score better and do better on every test imaginable. Their brains are organized at a higher level and what they learn playing an instrument makes everything they do academically stronger. We’ve seen the data forever on this.

 A lot of people will say why can’t it be “and” instead of “or” and it’s because only one side of this equation is getting ripped out of schools. And it is not tech and coding. We’re going to have an apple to Apple discussion about accessibility let’s not pretend the arts are not being cremated right in front of our eyes. 

And this is coming from a nerd who loves everything to do tech.

But It won’t matter, because the adults jagoffs of today who run our education system - have turned the primary schools of today into college recruitment programs. They were the exact same anti art bollards of 30 years ago who weren’t in band then and they don’t advocate for band now. These are the people making decisions where the money goes.

They don’t understand and they never will because if they did, we wouldn’t be where we are right now—with band programs on life-support more and more every single year.

*** this post has gone viral (unfortunately) and some people do not understand that I expect you to be able to do some of your own research but since some of you can’t just say into your phone “show me the MIT study on how music affects a child’s brain“ I’ll have to do the work for you. here is a link to an article that has even more associated links within it.

 you’re welcome.

https://awarenessact.com/if-you-want-smarter-kids-teach-them-music-not-coding-according-to-mit/?fbclid=IwAR3C3Pv6giFV9zpgZOyPJYjk4HBVCGb0MTj_dKhQ078C_2XooetcY7QoJwM

01/06/2024