1. What is
Recreational Music Making?

2. "Recreational Music Making refers
to playing musical instruments alone
or in a group without the goals of
mastery or performance."

3. RMM Philosophy
• Recreational Music Making is about
the experience of making music
more than it is about the outcome
• Recreational Music Making should
provide a fun, inclusive musical
experience for everyone
Source: http://www.wannaplaymusic.com/rmm

4. RMM Philosophy
 Everyone should experience the joy and benefits of
music making
 Music making can be enjoyed without stress and
performance requirements
 Music making can nurture the whole person and
improve quality of life
 Music making is beneficial to the health of the
participant
 Focus on individual student progress not competition
 All solo playing is voluntary

5. Music is Good for the Body
 Playing music reduces stress and has been shown to
reverse the body's response to stress at the DNA-
level (Dr. Barry Bittman)
 Playing music "significantly" lowered the heart rates
and calmed and regulated the blood pressures and
respiration rates of patients who had undergone
surgery (Bryan Memorial Hospital in
Lincoln, Neb., and St. Mary's Hospital in
Mequon, Wis.)
Source: http://www.wannaplaymusic.com/why-play-
music/seniors

6. "When listening to our favorite songs, our body
betrays all the symptoms of emotional arousal.
The pupils in our eyes dilate, our pulse and blood
pressure rise, the electrical conductance of our skin
is lowered, and the cerebellum, a brain region
associated with bodily movement, becomes
strangely active. Blood is even re-directed to the
muscles in our legs. (Some speculate that this is
why we begin tapping our feet.) In other
words, sound stirs us at our biological roots.”
“The Neuroscience of Music”
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/01/the-neuroscience-of-music

7. Music is Good for the Soul
“Many have been the times when I sat down at the
piano and played away my blues. When my heart was
aching and all I could do was cry, playing the piano
always brought a certain amount of comfort and
stability to my world.”
“Music is a gift that lasts a lifetime. While not everyone
possesses the natural talent for playing well, the way I
see it, a little music is better than no music at all.”
Excerpt from a guest editorial in the Dallas Morning News by Dayle
Shockley

8. The Survey Says…
 According to 2009 U.S. Census data, only about 8
percent of Americans play musical instruments
regularly and another 5 percent sing in a chorus or
chorale
 According to a 2009 Gallup poll conducted by the
National Association of Music Merchants
(NAMM), 85 percent of the Americans who do not
play musical instruments wish that they did

9. For more information about RMM visit:
http://www.wannaplaymusic.com/rmm