Preparation for Tomorrow's New Series

Welcome to the other side of the first holiday mountain that we traverse every single year - that of Halloween angst and anxiety. With this particular holiday over, my work place will go back to "normal" for a little bit before the next holiday hoopla begins. Fortunately, I get to go to conference and then straight to Thanksgiving in the middle of all that hoopla, so this next holiday doesn't register too much on my radar.

Anyway, now that Halloween is over, I am happy to be able to concentrate on a brand new series for Sundays at this blog. I think I've decided to call it - Song Conversion Sundays - and the idea is that I'll choose a song at random from my music library and then develop it into some therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) for use with my clients and with other clients. It may take me a bit to get into my groove here, but I think that I will probably use one song per month and really go deep into how I can use the song for therapeutic gains, outcomes, and development. If things go as planned, I should (goblin word) come out of this process with at least three new TMEs for my file, using one song to unite them all!


I do my best work when I have a plan, so here's the outline for what I want to get done during this series...
  1. Choose a song: I will take a random book or recording from my music library (believe me, I will NEVER run out of materials here!) and select one song.
  2. Find the music: I will search for sheet music and/or recordings of the song to share with others. At the very least, I will always cite my reference from the book or recording that I used. That way, anyone else who wants to use the music in a session can find it without having to search every where.
  3. Analyze the musical elements in the song: I do this. I think about all of the elements of each song, and I identify options for how to use the music with specific clients. If you want to see some examples of how I'll be doing this, search for Sing A Song Sunday. This label will show you how I think about these things and will give you a glimpse into my graphic organizer and the song charts I have already done.
  4. Think about the clients that I work with to start focusing on goals and objectives: This is such a crucial part of this entire procedure. I'll be trying to come up with things to do with my clients, but I will also be brainstorming ways to use these songs with other client populations.
  5. Develop TMEs that include the song and use the musical elements to assist clients in accomplishing their goals: self-explanatory?
I anticipate that this will take several weeks for each song, so I am going to take my time as I start this series of thoughts.

Picture of Bella-cat because I couldn't find one of me where I looked tired enough
I hope that you will join me in using these songs in music therapy sessions (as appropriate for our respective clients, of course) and make lots of comments about thoughts that you have during the process - I believe the more we share, the greater we become as individuals and as a profession!

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