Sing A Song Sunday - Urge For Going

The other day, I was sitting at my desk at work searching for something to do. I had finished all of my clinical duties and had some time away from the computer (only one of us can use the work server at a time, so it was my intern's turn at the work computer). I happened to look over to see my most favorite songbook of all time - Rise Up Singing.  Inspiration struck!

I know many of these songs, but I don't know them all. I have worn through two copies of this book and am considering purchasing a third copy so I have one in good shape to carry around with me. This book thinks like I think - in chords and lyrics - there is just enough information about the song to replicate it.

When you thumb through my copies of this book, you'll find dots next to many of the songs. Those are the ones that I know, ones I can sing with familiarity or with just a little bit of thought. There are many, many songs that I don't know well. So, now I'm going to learn those songs.

The first one that I chose (randomly since I like that process) was Urge for Going by Joni Mitchell. I don't have much history with Joni Mitchell and her music, so I didn't have a clue what the song sounded like or what it was. Off to YouTube I went, and here is the song. Next step? Sheet music, of course.

You can find many examples of sheet music on the web, but I happened upon a free version. I don't know where it was since I am not at work right now, but I found a full copy for free. (If I find it again, I'll post the link here.) The sheet music and the recording by Joni were a bit different, but I had enough information to move into the music element portion of this song.
www.musictherapyworks.com

I don't have any ideas for how to use this particular song with my clients at this time, but I really like it. This song, and learning the music from Rise Up Singing, is probably going to be for my own enrichment first before I use the music clinically.

After listening to this song again, I can see myself using this to encourage rhythmic breathing, relaxation, and calming with my students. They probably won't have any prior experience with the song. I think some of the poetry could be changed to make the lyrics more relevant to my students. We might be able to change the words in a trauma-oriented session to address issues or situations that occurred in the lives of my teens, but I need to get much better at the song before I attempt that.

Join me as we go through the music of Rise Up Singing? I've got lots of songs to learn.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear AMTA

Dear American Music Therapy Association: I am debating long and hard about remaining in this relationship. I have been in this relationship since college, and this is not a decision that I am taking lightly or without great cost.  I am not happy with what you are bringing to this relationship. Now, I have been a selfish partner over the past several years - mainly because I am not feeling like we share a common mission anymore. It is easy for me to place the blame on you, but I know that this is not all on me. I have tried to be invested in communication and support and understanding, but everyone comes to a time where enough is enough. I am trying very hard to decide if the benefits that you provide to me are worth the feelings that I have about where I think you and I are going. I am not sure that our destination is the same anymore, and this makes me sad. To be completely honest, I am only in this relationship these days for the music therapy interns. I don't think that is a hea...
Read more

Songwriting Sunday: Repetition

Image
One of the things that I find to be helpful with my client population (children, adolescents, and young adults with dual diagnoses) is repetition of phrases, lyrics, and music. As a result of 30+ years of working with this population in various iterations, I have found that my clients respond the most to songs with three repeated phrases to prime their responses with a different phrase to communicate the important part of the experience. DISCLAIMER: This is not a definite way to write music for clinical interactions. This is what seems to work well with my particular group of human beings. Don't go to your supervisors and tell them that I told you that this is the ONLY way to write music - It is NOT! You have to find what works for your clients and for their clinical goals. Since my clients respond well to this type of song, I tend to write songs in this format more than any other. What I have found is that my clients remember these songs more than the ones that I do in different f...
Read more

Being An Internship Director: On Hiatus

Image
It has been long enough since I have had an intern that I am seriously feeling like I have little to say on the subject. At the same time, I am currently writing Chapter 5 of my general internship handbook, so I am able to write about being an intern and what types of things to think about during this important time in our professional development. It is a strange place to be in, and it is one that is a bit challenging for me. Right now, I have had three vacant internship positions since the beginning of the calendar year. I will have a vacant position next month and that will be an entire year of rejected offers. In the past nine months, I have offered positions to three applicants who have declined. It is interesting how people complain that there aren't enough internship programs, but programs like mine are empty. I guess there aren't enough internship programs that pay large stipends (which mine cannot) out there. I get it. It is interesting to me how we have moved from an ...
Read more