Active Programs

Believe Music Heals’ teaching artists

Healing through music is a powerful way to help individuals treat, cope, and transcend physical, emotional, cognitive and social challenges. Music can be a portal.

It can rekindle memories and make new ones. It can create a point of focus that, in effect, lifts a person into another way of seeing and experiencing life and the world around them. It can help manage pain and ease fear. It can help one process and navigate heartbreak, grief, and other complex emotions. It can lift spirits and can be a profound avenue for creativity, self expression and transformation. Music can become one’s legacy.

Here you will find our current active programs and information will be added as new programs become available.

By The Bay Health

Music Enrichment Program

This program invites residents into a creative space where music becomes a companion for healing, connection, and self expression. Through voice lessons, instrument instruction, songwriting support, and opportunities for live performance and recording, participants explore new abilities, rediscover confidence, and experience the calming, restorative nature of music. Each session nurtures presence, courage, and creative flow while offering practical skills that strengthen memory, focus, and emotional well being. Classes may be individual or group based, with professional guidance provided throughout.

San Quentin Prison Ongoing Program

20 week Finding Your Voice Songwriting Program

Our classes introduce the participants to the benefits of meditation, healthy vocal technique, musical instrument instruction, songwriting skills and recording — while at the same time we guide them on a path towards introspection, self reflection, truth telling, healthy living, self care, compassion, empathy, and discipline through creativity.

We aim to create a safe space, a circle of trust, where community is born. Time and time again we witness barriers falling and fears, resistance, and self doubt being replaced with honesty, humility, and open hearted sharing. The process requires vulnerability, stepping out of your comfort zone, hard work and leaps of faith.

Along the way, friendships are born. People begin to reveal their true selves, often for the first time. They feel seen and heard, encouraged and supported. The songs become vehicles for expressing feelings and thoughts that oftentimes have never been voiced before. Apologies, declarations, promises, amends, proclamations of love, expressions of regrets, memories or dreams voiced, a wish sung. Affirmations, prayers, questions, truths laid bare. Life stories told in song. Stories of heartbreak. Stories of crushing loss and defeat. Stories of healing and redemption. These songs are not your typical radio hits – they are acts of courage and bravery that not only transform the lives of the people who created them, but have the potential to create a ripple effect of positive change in communities and families, near and far.

I believe these songs are catalysts that will inspire people to rethink their choices, to turn towards healing themselves and others, to find forgiveness and compassion, and to ultimately turn lives around.

Read Participant Testimonials

The participants original songs will be curated with uplifting messages of hope, healing, and stories of personal transformation. Recordings of these songs will take place during this class series and will comprise a full length album for release to the public.

BEGINNING CLASS CURRICULUM OUTLINE

20 week program, 2 hours per class

Block 1 (Classes 1-4): Getting Started

Class 1: Breath & Voice
Class 2: Play An Instrument
Class 3: Play An Instrument Part 2
Class 4 : Accessing Creativity Through Song Form and Lyrics

Block 2 (Classes 5-8): Songwriting

Class 5: Song Structure / Rhythm
Class 6: Rhyme Schemes
Class 7: Tempo
Class 8 : Melody

Block 3 (Classes 9-16): Recording

Class 9: Record finished songs while other participants continue to write and woodshed performance skills. Practice singing and playing. Guided and curated band workshops.
Class 10-16: Recording (Continued)

Block 4 (Classes 17-20): Rehearsal & Performance

Class 17-19: Live Performance Rehearsal
Class 20 : Final Performance

ADVANCED CLASS CURRICULUM OUTLINE

20 week program, 2 hours per class

Block 1 (Classes 1-4): Re-entering The Healing Space of Music

Class 1: Intention, Breath, and Vocal Techniques
Class 2: Play An Instrument + First Songwriting Assignment: Dictionary
Class 3: Play An Instrument 2
Class 4: Accessing Creativity Through Song Form and Lyrics

Block 2 (Classes 5-12): Songwriting Assignments and Feedback

Class 5: Song Structure + Assignment: Dream On
Class 6: Songwriting, Assignment: Adapted Idioms
Class 7: Songwriting, Assignment: Metonymy
Class 8: Songwriting, Assignment: Titles
Class 9: Songwriting, Assignment: Oxymoron
Class 10: Songwriting, Assignment: House
Class 11: Songwriting, Assignment: SIBL
Class 12: Songwriting, Assignment: Celebrity

Block 3 (Classes 13-18): Recording

Class 13: Recording: Record finished songs while other participants continue to write and woodshed performance skills. Practice singing and playing. Guided and curated band workshops.
Class 14-18: Recording (Continued)

Block 4 (Classes 19-20): Rehearsal & Final Performance

Class 19: Live Performance Rehearsal
Class 20: Final Performance

Ligaya Day Program

Day Services for People with Learning, Behavioral and Psychological Disabilities

You will learn to:

Navigate and grow your vocal range, accessing and seamlessly transitioning through chest, mix, and head voices with a variety of healthy vocal techniques
Improve pitch, tone, placement, and develop your unique identity and authentic expression
Learn techniques to anchor and support our breath
Set clear intentions and create structure to attain your goals moving forward
Silence the inner critic
Listen to carefully chosen literary selections written by great authors and celebrated songwriters – read aloud – and use them as prompts to jumpstart free writing exercises generating kernels that spark new original creative works
Learn to write more engaging lyrics with an emphasis on imagery, metaphor, story telling and honesty
Break into pairs for a guided collaborative songwriting experience that will yield a completed new song
Perform your new composition for the group
Build confidence as performers
Become better communicators by giving and receiving constructive feedback
Develop and build connections with other creatives

The goal is to create an inspiring and safe space for participants to have fruitful, nourishing creative experiences.