Song Switch Sunday - I Resolve - Tempo
Disclaimer - I wasn't able to do a video today since it was either blindingly bright or twilight dark in my home (Happy Solstice, Everyone!), so I am trying to figure out how to add an audio link to this blog platform. It may have to be a link to my website...hmmm...at least this is getting me to learn more about blog platforms and Windows...
Anyway, Tuesday's TME was called I Resolve. You can find the sheet music here. It's a simple little song that addresses planning, responsibility for one's actions, the practice of making personal goals, and social interaction through sharing one's goals with others.
(UPDATE: I finally figured out how to convert an m4a file into an mp3 file. Let's see if this will work...I think it did...here is the link to the page Ideas and Experiences)
The therapeutic element for today is tempo. This has a story associated with it and it all starts with a client with a diagnosis of advanced dementia. This client was showing my practicum student very uneven responses. One song would elicit full engagement, smiling, eye contact, changes in posture, full sentences, and the next song would find the client slumped over, no eye contact, little to no response to interaction. We were stumped.
One day, my student had a background beat going on the keyboard so she could use an instrument with the client. The beat was going, the therapeutic music experience (TME) was going well, and the client was engaging at an optimal level. The student completed the TME, set the instrument down, and changed the tempo on the keyboard. With the changes, the client slumped down and stopped engaging. I sat and watched this transformation and had a brainstorm.
Maybe it wasn't anything more complex than the tempo of the stimulus.
So, I asked the student if I could set the tempo of the background beat, changing it between verses of her song. She agreed, and we started off the beat at 85 beats per minute. No response from the client. I slowed the tempo to 80 bpm. The client sat up, looked at the practicum student, reached for the instrument, and engaged in singing. I slowed the tempo to 75 bpm. Complete withdrawal again. I sped it up to 80 bpm, full engagement. I tried 160 bpm, 40 bpm - both had some engagement, but not the full engagement that we observed at 80 bpm.
Needless to say, we spent the rest of the semester working with the client at 80 bpm!
I left that client and went back to work with my primary population - persons with developmental and intellectual disabilities including those with diagnoses on the Autism Spectrum. I started observing when students would engage with me most readily. It, again, seemed related to the tempo of the musical presentation. One client would respond at 130 bpm, another at 88 bpm, and yet another at 90 bpm. My students still do this which makes large group treatment difficult, but doable as long as you provide everyone with some interventions and TMEs at "their golden tempo."
Watch your clients when you are also thinking about the tempo of the music that you are presenting or sharing. You may find some hints about what your client's "golden tempo" is in how they respond to the music.
I'll write more about this later this week. The concept of a "golden tempo" is not mine, but it is something that I wish I could prove...
Anyway, Tuesday's TME was called I Resolve. You can find the sheet music here. It's a simple little song that addresses planning, responsibility for one's actions, the practice of making personal goals, and social interaction through sharing one's goals with others.
(UPDATE: I finally figured out how to convert an m4a file into an mp3 file. Let's see if this will work...I think it did...here is the link to the page Ideas and Experiences)
The therapeutic element for today is tempo. This has a story associated with it and it all starts with a client with a diagnosis of advanced dementia. This client was showing my practicum student very uneven responses. One song would elicit full engagement, smiling, eye contact, changes in posture, full sentences, and the next song would find the client slumped over, no eye contact, little to no response to interaction. We were stumped.
One day, my student had a background beat going on the keyboard so she could use an instrument with the client. The beat was going, the therapeutic music experience (TME) was going well, and the client was engaging at an optimal level. The student completed the TME, set the instrument down, and changed the tempo on the keyboard. With the changes, the client slumped down and stopped engaging. I sat and watched this transformation and had a brainstorm.
Maybe it wasn't anything more complex than the tempo of the stimulus.
So, I asked the student if I could set the tempo of the background beat, changing it between verses of her song. She agreed, and we started off the beat at 85 beats per minute. No response from the client. I slowed the tempo to 80 bpm. The client sat up, looked at the practicum student, reached for the instrument, and engaged in singing. I slowed the tempo to 75 bpm. Complete withdrawal again. I sped it up to 80 bpm, full engagement. I tried 160 bpm, 40 bpm - both had some engagement, but not the full engagement that we observed at 80 bpm.
Needless to say, we spent the rest of the semester working with the client at 80 bpm!
I left that client and went back to work with my primary population - persons with developmental and intellectual disabilities including those with diagnoses on the Autism Spectrum. I started observing when students would engage with me most readily. It, again, seemed related to the tempo of the musical presentation. One client would respond at 130 bpm, another at 88 bpm, and yet another at 90 bpm. My students still do this which makes large group treatment difficult, but doable as long as you provide everyone with some interventions and TMEs at "their golden tempo."
Watch your clients when you are also thinking about the tempo of the music that you are presenting or sharing. You may find some hints about what your client's "golden tempo" is in how they respond to the music.
I'll write more about this later this week. The concept of a "golden tempo" is not mine, but it is something that I wish I could prove...
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