The Simpler, The Better
For the last couple of weeks, we've been engaging some of our groups in a very simple therapeutic music experience (TME). We've been using the wooden rhythm instruments and following a play and pass pattern. We establish how many beats we will play and how many beats we will pass. We then set a rhythmic pattern on the keyboard and start our pattern. We play, and then we pass, and we make an entire circle until we end up with the instrument we started with. Then, keeping the beat going on the keyboard, we process. Did we have enough time to play? To pass? How should we adapt the experience? Should we change the number of beats? Or the tempo?
This has been a very successful TME for my groups - the small ones as well as the older ones
It amazes me how getting back to the very basic of basics, AKA rhythm/tempo, can transform a group of individuals into a group that functions as one. The act of entrainment is a simple one, but without entrainment, a group of people doesn't work as a group but as a bunch of individuals.
I call this by several names - group cohesion, entrainment, social-musical engagement - but the simple fact is that you cannot really engage in a group experience without some way to organize, and rhythm/tempo is the great organizer.
I have always suspected that each person has a "golden tempo," a speed at which he or she is most effective. I've wondered if we chose our favorite songs based on this preference, but research did not bear that out. I wondered if it was possible to ask people to perform tasks to see if they would do things at a set tempo - but, my research career ended before I could get to that question. All I can say is that I have found several tempi that work with different clients. When musical stimulation was organized in that tempo, the client would react in predictable manners. When the tempo changed, the predictability also changed. It was fascinating.
The TME that I described above has provided some interesting insights about my clients and the groups they are assigned to at school. Each group was able to entrain and work as a group. Some tempi were better for some groups and less effective for others. There was a tempo that each person responded to, but their peers did not respond the same way, but each group had one pattern that worked for everyone. Sometimes it was a specific tempo - 85 bpm. Other times it was a combination of tempo and pattern - 90 bpm with a pattern of play -16 beats and pass - 8 beats. It was fascinating to watch and analyze.
Simple - focus on tempo, focus on rhythm, find the tempo that works the best with each client - individually and as a group.
This has been a very successful TME for my groups - the small ones as well as the older ones
It amazes me how getting back to the very basic of basics, AKA rhythm/tempo, can transform a group of individuals into a group that functions as one. The act of entrainment is a simple one, but without entrainment, a group of people doesn't work as a group but as a bunch of individuals.
I call this by several names - group cohesion, entrainment, social-musical engagement - but the simple fact is that you cannot really engage in a group experience without some way to organize, and rhythm/tempo is the great organizer.
I have always suspected that each person has a "golden tempo," a speed at which he or she is most effective. I've wondered if we chose our favorite songs based on this preference, but research did not bear that out. I wondered if it was possible to ask people to perform tasks to see if they would do things at a set tempo - but, my research career ended before I could get to that question. All I can say is that I have found several tempi that work with different clients. When musical stimulation was organized in that tempo, the client would react in predictable manners. When the tempo changed, the predictability also changed. It was fascinating.
The TME that I described above has provided some interesting insights about my clients and the groups they are assigned to at school. Each group was able to entrain and work as a group. Some tempi were better for some groups and less effective for others. There was a tempo that each person responded to, but their peers did not respond the same way, but each group had one pattern that worked for everyone. Sometimes it was a specific tempo - 85 bpm. Other times it was a combination of tempo and pattern - 90 bpm with a pattern of play -16 beats and pass - 8 beats. It was fascinating to watch and analyze.
Simple - focus on tempo, focus on rhythm, find the tempo that works the best with each client - individually and as a group.
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