Book Review: Amplified Transformation Through Music

The latest book by award-winning songwriter and producer, Frank Fitzpatrick, is a tour de force of the immense power of music and sound to transform lives.

Amplified is all at once a historical narrative of how music has transformed societies, organizations and individuals, as well as a reimagining of a more positive future using the power of music.

The book is rich with powerful anecdotes showing the role of music in achieving peak performance among elite athletes at the Olympics as well as containing many practical 'How To' guides for how to incorporate music and sonics in everyday routines to achieve your goals - whether that is deeper relaxation, sustained focus, peak performance, or to convey a more powerful message.

Drawing on his experience as a pioneer in the field of music and exponential health, Fitzpatrick introduces the concept of music as an exponential technology, supported with advances in music streaming, hardware technology and the advances in healthcare, showing we are just on the brink of a new revolution.

Clearly written and easily accessible for musicians and non-musicians alike, it offers fresh new insights about music for all readers.

Amplified is more than a book - it is a leadership guide, a calling and a manifesto for a movement with music at its core.

Music is universal

Fitzpatrick starts by highlighting how foundational music is to all cultures. This is far from a Western-centric discourse.

Amplified highlights examples throughout history of how music influenced philosophers such as Plato in ancient Greece, deities from ancient India, change in the Middle East, acoustic architecture of cathedrals across Europe, as well as how music inspired rebellion, protests and change in modern America such as the 1970s 'War Against Disco.'

Using his own personal journey, Fitzpatrick highlights the importance of music to religions and spiritual practices around the world, and even offers glimpses to how important music is in the animal kingdom.

There is no right way to listen to music

With forty years of experience, Fitzpatrick emphasizes that there is no right way to listen to music. Music and sound is very personal and has very different meaning for every individual.

He takes care to ensure that whether you are a newcomer to music or a passionate connoisseur, there is no such thing as 'too early' or 'too late.'

Amplified introduces the 'Seven Faces of Music' and the role that music can play in each of our lives as Entertainer, Friend, Healer, Dancer, Teacher, Muse and Messenger. The book is full of experience from the who's who of music royalty, with whom Fitzpatrick has worked over the years. They all share the same passion and joy for the power of music to transform lives - young or old, newcomers or experienced listeners.

Music as Medicine

One of the most profound insights from the book is how music should be considered as medicine, in the same as one takes a daily vitamin to revitalize mind and body.

Fitzpatrick and his collaborators offer a range of ways that music can be used to improve happiness and wellbeing from the very youngest child, to those in advanced years, and everything in between. The book is rich with the science behind how music can be used in different personal circumstances, and why it is vital that music be central in any modern education curriculum.

The exercises contained in the book are simple (such as the 'Black Notes' exercise for the piano), can also be carried out without any instruments in the house, and immediately implemented.

Music to reimagine the future

Fitzpatrick draws on his experience as an international speaker, social entrepreneur and faculty member at Singularity University to paint a compelling narrative for how music should be incorporated in modern business, education and home settings.

This book will appeal to leaders seeking how to transform their leadership and their organizations in novel ways, as well as to parents and teachers looking to inspire a new generation of children for why music is so important in their lives by experiencing music and sound in joyful ways.

Amplified is sure to be a trusted companion to those seeking deeper meaning on their own musical and transformational journeys.

Amplified is available on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. The book was published in September 2021, and more details are available on AmplifiedBook.com