If you had Parkinson’s disease or had a love one suffering from this debilitating disorder, I am most certain you would want to do anything and everything to maintain your ability to communicate as long as possible. I know I would. So, a group of researchers decided to make a music therapy group specifically for Parkinson’s patients who were experiencing hypokinetic dysarthria and test how using Neurologic Music Therapy techniques could have an impact on their speech. For those of you who do not know specifically what this is, I searched online and found out that it is “Dysarthria associated with disorders of the extrapyramidal motor system resulting in reduction and rigidity of movement, causing monotony of pitch and loudness, reduced stress, and imprecise enunciation of consonants” (https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com). What this means in layman terms is that the muscles, including your tongue, lips and jaw, effect your ability to say words clearly and your voice tone is flat and monotonous. As a practicing music therapist, singing is a great way to exercise these muscles and help improve your speech!