Balkan Music
Briefly, the music from southeastern Europe deserves a mention in the realms of music useful to sound healers. A remarkable infusion of various cultures has led to spirited blending of styles and sounds from the upper Middle East, Mediterranean cultures, southwestern Russia, and the Slovakian countries. It is gypsy in style as well as folk in spirit. It is music of the people. The haunting vocal styles of the Bulgarian singers owes to their harmonizing musical seconds, an interval typically frowned upon by the Western ear. The upbeat gypsy feel is infectious and uplifting. As music to stir the heart, liven the feet, and inspire the release of the irrelevant past it is unparalleled. Voice, guitar, fiddle, accordion, horn, and percussion are typical instrumentations.

Western European
When music reached western European hands thus began an evolution in the intellectualization of sound. Understanding and evolving and improving became an unspoken influence upon the music from the beginning of the Medieval period in 500 AD to the end of the Romantic period in 1910. Though beautiful music has survived from the times, the high brow societal element has distanced the impact upon the common folk. The rise of sound healing under the umbrella of Music Therapy has given compositions from the 1500 year periods new ears and new light.

Early Medieval music surfaced as the monastic motif  that gave vocal to hymns and chants of the Catholic Church, Gregorian Chant. The style is immediately recognizable and extremely useful to the sound therapist as the pitch range is exactly that which stimulates the Vegas nerve that runs through the body touching all the major organ systems, resulting in energetic awareness. It is useful in the process of learning as it keeps one alert and focused. Of note also, Gregorian chant was the first music to be notated, giving beginning to the formal process of musical notation that allowed music to be repeated as written by the composer, rather than being memorized by musicians and being passed on by sharing, a process that resulted in many variations of the original composition. Thus the same song could be made available to the masses.

Polyphonic, or multi-voiced music, grew out of the monophonic Gregorian chant and gave way to the Renaissance period in 1400. This period is characterized by greater use of instrumentation, multiple interweaving melodic lines, and the use of the first bass instruments Social dancing became more widespread, so musical forms appropriate to accompanying dance began to standardize. Typical stringed instruments of the Early Period include the harp, lute, and psaltery, while wind instruments included the flute family (including recorder, shawm (an early member of the oboe family), trumpet and the bagpipe. Simple pipe organs existed, but were largely confined to churches, although there were portable varieties. Though still with sacred overtones, the music became more secular as it infiltrated the common folk to some degree. Minstrels became the carriers of story and tradition and the folk song became a viable musical motif. Renaissance music has survived as court music in the form of vocal madrigals and chansons. Music of this period heralded the growing use of the third and fifth musical intervals, which , as we shall see, had a significant effect on the vibrational make up of the listener.

In 1600 the first strains of the Baroque music were heard, characterized by a return to simple melody alongside a basic accompaniment, which soon gave rise to a figured bass technique, the precursor of the extensive use of harmony and chords. At least one instrument capable of playing chords must be included, such as a harpsichord, organ, guitar, lute, and harp. In addition, any number of instruments which play in the bass register may be included, such as cello, double bass, bass viol, or bassoon. As the period evolved, so, too, did the styles of presentation, moving through chamber music to opera to concerto to symphony. At the end, Bach surfaced first as a renowned teacher and later as prolific composer who pioneered technique and assimilations of known styles into a celebration of the period. His fugues and toccatas are unparalleled. Paired with Vivaldi and Handel, these three created timeless concertos, sonatas, and operas that have long stood the test of time. In music therapy, their work is applied often to alter the moods and expressions of the client. The sound healer would be wise to gather samples form all three to be prescribed as a remedy for innumerable ailments.

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