TME Tuesday: Starting My Halloween Planning

I am not a big fan of Halloween.

There, I've said it. I don't like the dressing up (never have liked people in costumes, even...make that ESPECIALLY Santa Claus), I don't like running around, I don't like having to give people things for interrupting my routine, I just don't like the way we celebrate the holiday.

As a result, I don't do lots and lots in my music therapy sessions about the holiday. I figure that my clients get enough hoopla, and I try not to go overboard about all of it. Also, some of my clients have real difficulty distinguishing between real and pretend, so I try not to confuse them.

Having said all that, I am taking out my Halloween resources to see what I can do with them next week.

I have Pumpkin carols (Google it to find lots of sites that offer these carols), I have a Pumpkin carol choice board, I have pumpkin visual aids, I have Halloween books, and I have ghost stories.

The best thing that I do, for me at least, is that I change the modes of our familiar songs to unfamiliar modes. Our typical opening songs turn into melancholy drones when we move from major to minor. It stretches my music theory skills and offers a different sound to my clients. We process the same old music a bit differently when we hear it in an unfamiliar mode.

I think I'll add my Halloween choice boards, Pumpkin carols, and a lyric scramble to my session strategy for next week. Maybe we'll put together a emotion pumpkin visual aid. I'll put all my ideas onto my strategy notes and will decide what to do with each group as they enter the session. I will actually not start things until Wednesday so I can get the once per week groups a chance to "celebrate." Everyone else will wait until the following Monday and Tuesday.

Sorry that there isn't a fully-formed TME today. I'll return to that process next week (probably...you never know around here...).

Happy Tuesday.

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