music, therapy, and me

Today's song is on page 120 of Rise Up Singing . It is by Peter Yarrow, one of my favorite performers and composers. You have to know Peter Yarrow - he's Peter from Peter, Paul, and Mary and wrote songs like Puff the Magic Dragon and many, MANY others. Today's song is Weave Me the Sunshine . I have to admit that I didn't know this song until today. Like most of Peter Yarrow's songs, this one sounds folksy and follows a predictable pattern of chorus and verse. Unlike most of Yarrow's songs, it starts on the Subdominant chord and ends on the Dominant chord rather than finishing all nice and neat on the Tonic chord. It seems to be designed specifically for a fade rather than a definite ending. This song seems to go on and on and on. I will need to spend several hours listening to this song before I can replicate it in any specific form. I wonder if it is written down in any of my fake books... I've never heard it before now. I am thinking that Sing A...

It's that time of year again. Registration for the Online Conference for Music Therapy (OCMT) 201 5 is now open and running. **Now in the interest of full disclosure, I want you to know that I'm a founding member, the continuing education director, and the treasurer of OCMT, so keep in mind that most of this post is written from the point of view of someone who is deeply involved in many of the things that happen at the conference. There you go! ** When I answered a post on the music therapy listserv in 2010, I never imagined that I would still be as involved in this conference as I am now. I was nominated by my fellow founding members, John Lawrence (who was the first founder), Aksana Kavaliova Moussi, and Demian Kegotuk, to be the treasurer. I protested. I thought I would be better as the conference organizer, but the simple truth was that I was the only American music therapist, and all of our bills required payment in United States currency, so I got the job by defaul...

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm trying to think of something that I can write about today. I started this post with a diatribe about Black Friday, and then I realized that I didn't have to sink into that particular morass of thought, so I broke out of that post into this one. So, today I'll write about 4X6 index cards - my favorite type of index cards! If you are still reading, bear with me. I think it will get more interesting. My love affair with the 4X6 card started in the Spring Semester of 1989, when we were assigned to start a TME (Therapeutic Music Experience) file in our Music Therapy Observation class. We had the freedom to choose the type of index card that we wanted to use, and I started my exploration of what was out there. It was a Goldilocks-type deal. I bought a package of each type of card and went to work.   I tried the 3X5 cards. They were just too small. I ended up with 5-10 cards per TME. I couldn't get enough stuff on them to make them doa...

This morning, I awoke at my usual time (translation - very, VERY early) and spent some time trying to deny that I was awake and spent some time listening to my mind wander. It's my own kind of mindfulness , I guess. I spent some time paying attention to where my brain was going. It started with, "I don't have to wake up this early. I don't have to go to work today," and then went down the road of "I need to get green chiles for dinner tomorrow." That morphed into "Thanksgiving is on Thursday," to "Mama Icie would have been 103 last week. Thanksgiving was her favorite holiday. I remember all the years of having to toe the Mama Icie celebration line..." Remembering my grandmother, Mama Icie, led me into some of the conflicting feelings that I have about this holiday. I love the idea of a day of giving thanks, but I don't think that I can only be thankful when I'm faced with green bean casserole, turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin p...

This may just be me, trying to stave off the icy reality of winter, but here is an Autumn improvisation idea for this cold, windy November morning. Autumn Song TME Mary Jane Landaker, MME, MT-BC All rights reserved. Purpose : To increase awareness of environment; to engage in creative improvisation; to address social interaction; to provide opportunities for decision making and executive function; fine and gross motor skill development; symbol-meaning association; social interaction; increase knowledge of electronics and music production Source : Original idea. © 9/6/2011 by Mary Jane Landaker, MME, MT-BC Materials : place to write ideas for use by group; writing implement; instruments (Orff instruments, rhythm instruments, or other instruments to be used in the improvisation; OPTIONAL: guitar for accompaniment purposes; recording equipment Environment : Group members within group setting, easy reach of instruments, and with eye contact with the therapi...

This is the 700th post on this blog. It amazes me that I've been able to come up with 700 topics to write about in the past eight years. The best thing about titling the blog, "music, therapy, and me," has been that I can write about anything and everything on this site. And, I do. One of the things that frustrates me greatly in the music therapy blogosphere is when I find a blog that I like that has only two or three posts with the promise of more, but no more. In my early years of writing, that was me - only, without the promise of more or even anything good to say. I had to practice my writing in order to figure out what I wanted to say here. It took time and practice to find my pattern.  So, here's what I do these days. I wake up every morning, log-in to my spot, and start to write. Some days, I have good ideas. Other days, it's a struggle, but I keep writing. I write about ideas to do with my clients, about my thoughts about music therapy as a profession,...

Today's song is on page 88 of Rise Up Singing . It is part of the "Good Times" section which makes me laugh just a bit since the words aren't particularly happy but the musical presentation is very happy - lilting and skipping and all. Here is a link to Charlie Poole playing the song - it does get to the words eventually. Here's the link to the melody line. Just another chart about the therapeutic elements of music... I like this little song. It has a melody that just lilts along. I could have used it quite a bit over the past 17 months of moving from here to there. As I listened to the song this morning, what struck me was that, even though they are getting kicked out of their living quarters, the singer is pretty happy. That started me wondering, "Has this happened to them before?" I know a person who refuses to own more than she can cram into her car. I wish I could be like that, but I cannot. Movin' Day for me takes a couple of months...

This is the time of year to be thankful (here in the States it's almost Thanksgiving), so I think I'm going to post the things that make me thankful about being a music therapist. I am thankful for my clients . Without them, I would not have found this wonderful profession. My clients challenge me, learn from me, and teach me every single second of therapy. Their engagement with and through music makes my life rich. They laugh with me, cry with me, get angry with me, and teach me about the importance of being authentic and human. I am thankful for music . I love that there are no "wrong ways" to make music. I can make music however I want or need to during the moment. I can find a song to match the mood that I have at any time. If there isn't a song already out there, then I can make one up... and I do! I am thankful for employers who recognize the benefits of providing music therapy to their consumers with the services of a trained music therapy clinician . I...

One of my favorite music therapy authors is Kenneth Bruscia. I have three different editions of his book, Defining Music Therapy , and I enjoy reading them all. I just received the last edition - and he swears it will be the last edition coming from him - right before conference, and I read bits and pieces of it throughout the conference. As a result, I am thinking quite a bit about the things that he writes about in his books. For me, one of the best things about this text is Bruscia's description of how he approached the writing process for this new edition. He essentially recruited a bunch of music therapy professors and clinicians to go through the past two editions and start to talk and discuss what we music therapists use as a definition. My second favorite part of the book is the list of definitions of music therapy from all around the world and history of music therapy. Most of the time, I find Bruscia really easy to read, but not always so easy to understand. I struggl...

My music therapy friend, Beth Schwartz , from Raising Harmony, posted an interesting link today. The link takes you to Brain.mic which is a collaborative link between GE and Mic. One of the elements of the page states that this is a one-month Spotlight Series that "explores the universe in our heads." The thing that drew me into the site was the "Map Your Mind Quiz." I found it absolutely fascinating - I even posted the results on Facebook (which I RARELY do with the quizzes that I take). The best part of the quiz, in my opinion, was that it displayed areas of the brain that were probably activated during the decision process. I thought that was particularly interesting. My result was "You are the child of Abraham da Vinci" implying that I have characteristics of both Abraham Lincoln and Leonardo da Vinci. How can I argue? I am looking forward to delving into the rest of the Brain.mic site. I've already found an article about the difference betw...

It's been more than a week since the end of the AMTA Conference, and I am still trying to get back into my regular routine. I forget how much I rely on the Thanksgiving break to help me finish my processing, chores, and conference experience until I don't have that time immediately after conference. I keep remembering things I need to do when I'm driving myself to work, but I can't do anything about those things in the car, so they keep jumping to the AMTA To-Do list. The problem with this list is that I haven't actually written it down, so I forget that there is a list until I'm back in the car. Good news, though, Thanksgiving break is in five work days, so I should be able to start and finish my To-Do list next weekend. Whew! Since I've returned, lots of things have happened in my music therapy life. I've moved into my new music therapy space. My schedule is now full of individual sessions, adapted music lesson master classes, and the group sessio...

Today's TME seems really apropos for me as I am in a "Future" kinda mood. Enjoy!! The Future Mary Jane Landaker, MME, MT-BC Purpose : To introduce the topic of long-term planning; creativity; abstract thought; timeline concepts; social interaction Source : Original song. © 2002 by Mary Jane Landaker, MME, MT-BC Materials : Guitar, body percussion; OPTIONAL: large piece of paper or paper for each group member; magazines, glue sticks, scissors; colored pencils, crayons, and/or marker; other art materials as desired Environment : Group members need to have enough space to complete the project and still be within hearing range of the therapist providing the music Song/Chant/Words : The Future.pdf       I                  vi                   ii     ...