ABOUT 

MusicsEnergy is the brand name for an evidence-based approach to teaching, learning, enrichment, and group therapy that leverages the broad appeal of popular music and media to facilitate youth-friendly dialogue and instruction. When evaluated in repeated studies, it was determined that MusicsEnergy builds competencies in five key areas of human development. These areas are: cognitive, behavioral, emotional, moral, and social competencies. Self-expression and self-reflection is encouraged and rewarded.

MusicsEnergy: Learning and Literacy Curriculum (ME: LLC) consists of a sequence of topic-driven activities and learning objectives that enable health education and media literacy, providing the foundation for prosocial learning in a group setting. We are intentional about highlighting connections between historical roots and contemporary manifestations of dis-ease. ME: LLC is comprised of three courses: 

• MusicsEnergy: Reducing Dis-ease in America™

• MusicsEnergy: Messages in Music™

• MusicsEnergy: Songwriting with Young People™

MusicsEnergy: Messages in Music™ [ME: MIM]

ME: MIM helps young people achieve higher levels of competence in five key areas of human development. The five areas are: cognitive, behavioral, emotional, moral, and social competence. Specific skills in these five areas are targeted and measures are taken at timed intervals to assess the uptake of knowledge, shifts in behavior, and behavioral intentions.

ME: Reducing Dis-ease in America™ [RDA]

ME:  RDA helps young people improve their self and social awareness by deconstructing race, class, gender, and sexual orientation/sexuality from a historical perspective through the contemporary lens of the Information and News Industries, and Media Entertainment [INIME™] with special attention to themes and messages in popular music multimedia. Over the course of seven units of instruction, participants achieve higher levels of media literacy, self and social awareness, by focusing on the origins of poor health, economic disparities, and bio-psycho-socio- vulnerability domestically and internationally.

Participants gain a greater awareness and understanding of the origins of violence, aggressive behavior, trauma and culture, including individual and group adaptive and maladaptive responses. Participants learn the protective and destructive roles of cultural norms and cultural attributes, historically and currently. Contemporary music from is used as prompts to facilitate dialogue and introspection about media’s role in shaping and reflecting perspectives about “realities”. Participants learn to clarify and express their individual values – especially those values that align with or conflict with optimal bio-psycho-sociocultural and economic health and wellbeing.

Participants also learn to identify common stressors and coping strategies to mitigate negative outcomes linked to anger, stress, sadness, attention deficits, and other mood disorders. Additionally, participants gain an understanding of the bio-psycho-socio-cultural and economic contexts that create health disparities in the United States and other nations.

ME: Songwriting with Young People™ [SYP]

ME: SYP introduces participants to fundamentals of songwriting, music composition, production and recording technology. Instruction is from a socio-cultural perspective and encourages entrepreneurship, over the course of Levels I and II. Emphasis on creative, personal and social responsibility and marketing. Participants take part in seven units of instruction to help them achieve higher levels of awareness and mindfulness regarding the current role and potential role music may play in four areas of human development during adolescence. The areas are: 1) Identity Development; 2) Values Clarification; 3) Effective Coping Strategies; and 4) Communication Norms. 

ME: SYP Levels I and II challenge young people to become conscious consumers, armed with knowledge, skills, abilities, and a heightened awareness of music and media’s powerful potential to change, shape, or shift attitudes, beliefs, choices, and perceptions, especially perceptions about self, others, and the world around us.