In-Person Music

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Shapesounds LLC provides flexible, personalized, in-home music lessons and music therapy to people of all ages and abilities in the San Francisco East Bay.

Since first starting to teach music while an undergraduate, James Crocker has worked for over 30 years with many hundreds of students in private practice, as well as through Arabesque Conservatory, the Community School of Music & Arts, and Devon Youth Music.

All sessions begin with the goals and needs of the student in mind, with flexiblity for changing energy levels, emotional state and interest. Whether the focus is on musical development, personal expression, mood regulation, or physical movement the student will always find a positive and encouraging environment.

With such a wide variety of needs, strategies can vary greatly, from student to student, session to session and moment to moment. Sometimes the best approach is the structure of traditional music lessons, with emphasis on technique and repertoire. Other times call for an informal jam session, where improvisation is used for self-expression, and where the student can be guided to experience musical concepts first-hand. Somtimes we sing to aid language development or listen to gentle sounds to soothe the nervous system. In some cases, music lessons can include other family members or friends. If you have questions about how a music session might look for you or your child, please use the contact form here. Typically, our time will include elements from the following areas:

Instrument Instruction

Learning to play an instrument is both challenging and rewarding, providing many well-documented  benefits, including:

  • improved attention and focus
  • more control of emotional regulation
  • boosted confidence
  • greater discipline and persistence
  • enhanced coordination and fine motor skills
  • social connection
  • help for language development
  • improved memory
  • better pattern recognition and problem-solving
  • increased brain plasticity
  • ...and, perhaps most importantly, it's fun!

Decisions on the direction of learning are made together with the student and families, Material is age and developmentaly appropriate. Whether learning guitar, piano, ukulele, drums, keyboards, recorder or another instrument, the focus is on developing confidence, musicality, and self-expression.

Music Therapy

Neurodiverse learners can benefit greatly from being connected to music through singing, dancing, playing, and listening. Approaches may include simplified language, softer instruments, increased repetition, slower pacing and specialized repertoire.

Individuals with memory loss, depression, anxiety, or other mental health challenges can also benefit from musical engagement, aiding regulation, communication, and emotional integration. Self-expression can be encouraged with improvisation and composition.

Music Theory

Developing an understanding of the ideas underpinning music is important for any musician or music lover; music theory helps make sense of what we hear. From do-re-mi to complex harmony, and encorporating the physics of sound, music history and musical traditions, there is a lot to discover at every stage of learning!

Playing with Sound

For younger or neurodiverse musicians, sessions may focus on creative interaction with sound and experimenting directly with music fundamentals:

  • Dynamics
  • Pulse
  • Pitch
  • Timbre
  • Meter
  • Rhythm
  • Melody
  • Texture
  • Harmony
  • Form

Simple games, exercises and pieces help the student experience these fundamentals and experiment with them. This approach encourages curiosity and play-based learning, and can also be very useful for non-verbal and language-delayed students. Orff

Recording

Students can explore the basics of recording, sampling, sequencing and sound synthesis; developing an understanding of how the music they hear everyday is produced.

BioRhythmic training

These are original and precise sound patterns that entrain fundamental body rhythms, including breathing rate, heart rate variability, and neural activity. From the gentle waves of sound emerges a desired state of relaxation or alertedness.

Try for yourself here....

BioRhythms

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With the Shapesounds BioRhythm System, sound is used as a therapeutic tool for developing self-regulation and nervous system awareness. Custom-designed meditative audio is carefully engineered to guide and synchronize multiple physiological rhythms simultaneously, including:

  • Heartbeat rate - the overall speed of the heart's contractions
  • Heart rate variability (HRV) - the natural beat-to-beat variation in the time between heartbeats
  • Breathing rate, depth, and shape – the full pattern of the respiratory cycle
  • Systolic interval – the time elapsed between the first heart sound (S1, "lub") and the second heart sound (S2, "dub") within a single heartbeat
  • Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) – the natural phenomenon in which heart rate increases slightly during inhale and decreases during exhale
  • Mayer waves – slow, rhythmic oscillations in blood pressure occurring at roughly 0.1 Hz, reflecting autonomic nervous system regulation
  • Brainwave activity – multiple frequency bands (e.g., delta, theta, alpha, beta) that reflect different states of arousal and consciousness

Through sophisticated and interdependent combinations of rhythm and pulse, harmonic movement, psychoacoustics, and subtle modulation, listeners are gently guided toward states of calm, focus, emotional balance, sleep, or heightened alertness, depending on individual needs and therapeutic goals.

The approach is grounded in principles of physiological entrainment and neuroplasticity - the natural tendency of biological systems to synchronize with external rhythms, and adapt through repeated experience. Research has shown that rhythmic auditory stimulation can directly influence breathing patterns, heart-rate variability, autonomic nervous system activity, and brainwave states. Slow, stable rhythmic cues can encourage parasympathetic nervous system activation associated with relaxation and recovery, while more stimulating rhythms can support alertness, attention, and cognitive engagement. Controlled breathing patterns are closely linked to heart-rate variability (HRV), vagal tone, emotional regulation, and stress resilience.

Unlike passive relaxation music or one-dimentional entrainment audio, the Shapesounds BioRhythm System is designed to build long-term self-regulation skills rather than reliance on the audio itself. The entrainment process functions as guided practice for the nervous system, helping listeners develop awareness of healthy internal regulation and physiological balance. With repeated use, sessions can gradually transition to shorter adjustment periods and lighter entrainment as regulation abilities strengthen. Over time, the goal is for these states to become increasingly self-generated through breath control, attention, and body awareness alone. In this way, Shapesounds BioRhythms serve not only as an immersive therapeutic experience, but also as a training system for emotional regulation, focus, and mind-body connection.

There are multiple layers of interconnected audio that can make up one bioRhythm track:
  • a breath wave, with a high, bright, wide inhale and low, dark, narrow exhale.
  • a heartbeat, subject to variation from the breath wave, a Mayer frequency target, and random drift. Additionally, there is variation in the systole
  • brainwave entrainment, in the form of the tremolo/fluttery pink noise.
  • ambient noise, to provide comfort and prevent fatigue.
  • a drone, to help with feeling grounded.
  • music, to comfort and help alieviate boredom. Either chance-based or very repetetitve music works well. Importantly, it must align with the three primary layers: brain, breath and heart, otherwise the conflict will hamper any entrainment. This means music must be custom made for each bioRhythm, but then elements of the music and the qualities of the sounds themselves can be influenced by these body rhythms, enhancing the overall experience.
  • a guiding voice, this can be instructional, a guided meditation or simply a calming and reassuring presence. This layer happens live to best meet the needs of the student in that moment.

Preferences of the student can be incorporated; for example, choosing different ambient noises, catering to music tastes, deciding on overall duration, adjustment time (how quickly to get to the target), talking and so.

Try a sample Relax BioRhythm!

This audio is calibrated for an adult or older teen. The adjustment time is long, suitable for beginners, and many different variables gently transition to their targets over about 15 minutes. Find a place to sit or lie down where you wont be disturbed. You can use headphones or speakers, not too loud. Be warned: it might sound like little is happening - just a slightly basic take on typical meditation or entrainment audio - but the bioRhythms are carefully calculated to induce physiological coherence and relaxation is naturally emergent. All changes are subtle and happen gradually, so for some students, a vocal layer is vital for keeping their interest from wandering. None is included here because the choice of words, amount of talking and tone depend so much on the listener. Just breathe and let the layers of sound wash over you.

If your breathing is already slower than the opening rate, there is no need to force yourself to match it. Simply breathe naturally and allow the bioRhythms to meet you. Please read the disclaimer below.

Please share your thoughts and questions here

Scale Guides

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COMING SOON

Rhythm Games

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COMING SOON

Backing Tracks

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COMING SOON

Printables

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COMING SOON

Listen

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The Red Dragonfly

A solo fingerstyle guitar piece written for a Dragonfly who visited every day during the Covid lockdown

The Accelerando Illusion

The Neural-Correlate Society shortlisted this experimental piece for their Best Illusion of the Year Competion in 2023. It was the first audio illusion ever shortlisted! It is similar to a Risset Rhythm, but by using probabilities instead of volume the beats can be less repetetive. Try clapping along!

The Chatter and the Noise (with Along came Jones)

Hear the whole album here

Infinite Scales : Descending

An original audio illusion, using aleatory music to create a constantly downward pitch gravity

Listen to Infinte Scales (Ascending) here

Dagda's Harp (with Tempest)

Hear the whole album here

Mother and Child (with Equation)

Contact

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