Music at My Fingertips

I am currently listening to music from Ellis Paul (one of my favorite artists at the moment), streamed through electricity and the invisible signals from my wi-fi setup. I got this music through a service that my Dad pays for and has invited me to use as part of his "family" plan (makes sense, since I am part of his family). All I had to do was say, "Alexa, play Ellis Paul," and she did!

Now, if you are not my age, then this idea of specific music whenever and wherever you are is not something to marvel at, but if you are my age, it truly is a miracle.

Music is now at the fingertips of everyone who can link up to this thing we call the world-wide web. You can stream it, purchase it, sample it, record it, upload it, share it, and link it to others without much in the way of electricity or effort. It is amazing how much we use this, and how much we take it for granted.

I matured, as a music therapist, in the beginning of the time of CDs. If you wanted a specific playlist for a session, you had to record the music from the CDs onto a cassette tape and make a mix tape. Then came the days of ripping music onto your computer and burning mix CDs. Now we skip the physical representation of music completely - we just stream things.

Now, I don't stream music for work - mainly because the WI-fi signal at work is horrible and cannot be trusted in my corner of the facility - but also because I figure I have a responsibility to songwriters, lyricists, and composers to purchase their music when I am using it as part of my work. I know that I would like to be paid for my music, so I still go to iTunes, and I still rip music to my computer and to CDs. It's a good thing, too. (What do you do when the WI-fi goes out? Can you pull out your music from your bag? I can!!)

Currently, I'm listening to One Kiss Could Do Me In. I'm finding all sorts of songs that I want to have all the time - I guess I'm going to be spending some money at iTunes today for some personal music!!

I use streaming services for new music exploration. I listen for free on the subscription (that Dad pays for because he wants to have every single service that he possibly can - I don't think he knows how to use the service, but I'm learning. I'll teach him when I get home at Christmas - he's already planning his tutorials...), and then I choose what to purchase. This routine allows me to find music that I like and it limits my extraneous purchases.

Back in the day, if you heard a song that you liked on the radio, you could sometimes find it as a single, but most often had to purchase it as part of an album. Then, you had eleven other songs to get to know. Some were good, some were pure crap, and you never knew what you would get.

I have a bunch of songs on CDs that I would never have purchased these days if I could have listened to them first. I now have the ability to pick and choose single tracks without even thinking about it. So, I sample a song from this artist, and another from a different artist.

That's how I found Ellis Paul.

I am more likely to purchase a compilation album or a soundtrack album than an entire album from an artist. I like variety in my music, and soundtracks often give that without having to wade through the extraneous music available. My first exposure to Ellis Paul was on the soundtrack to Me, Myself and Irene. Now, I didn't much like the movie, but I fell in love with the song, The World Ain't Slowin' Down. When I heard that song, it was the perfect thing for me - the words worked with the music, the melody supported the words, everything just clicked.

That song is one of the songs that I keep only to myself. I don't share it with my clients because of the way it speaks to me. I don't want it to be something shared, a tool. I want it to be my song. So, it is.

Anyway, something about Ellis Paul's voice just reached me. So, I spent lots of time listening to that one song. As most gateway experiences do, repeated exposure to a small bit of something led me to crave more. As a result, I often choose music by Ellis Paul when I want to hear new music.

I've strayed from the original topic here.

In a world where music is constantly there, just waiting to be allowed to play, I think that we, as music therapists, are becoming (simultaneously) more and less relevant to the world. 

Let me explain.

In a world where anyone can access any type of music at any time of day or night, we have to be increasingly aware that we do not own music. At one time, the only time that clients like mine would have been able to browse through lots of different kinds of music would have been in the music therapy room. That is no longer the case. Every type of music is now at our fingertips.

At the same time, music therapists are becoming more relevant to the world by enriching the music listening experience in ways that make the music the vehicle of change that clients often look for when they are in therapy. In music therapy, a piece of music changes from a passive experience to an active one - music becomes more than a signal. It becomes a shared event, a way of being, a way to communicate, a way to share thoughts that are not easily expressed verbally. We are able to take what was once just regarded as a song and change the thoughts of the person listening to interpret that music in a different way.

I'm going to mull over this concept a bit more. Ellis Paul is singing about Ben Franklin and Plastic Soldiers, and I need to shift my attention to my upcoming presentation for the AMTA National Conference, so it is time to use my fingertips to stop the music and start typing (I can't really work well with music on in the background - even good music makes me distracted from what I have to concentrate on...). 

Time to say, "have a great day, all!"

I hope you have a chance to listen to a piece of music that you truly love.