TME Tuesday - Improvisation to Spur Creativity
I - IV - V7 - I - IV -V7 - I - V/V - V - I - IV - V7 - I
What is this? Oh, dear reader, this is the chord progression that I used yesterday to improvise several songs with clients yesterday. As a result, I wrote two new songs - one that I remember and wrote down and another that has been blown away into the annals of history and memory.
The best part of improvisation is loosening up.
Starting a chord progression - ANY CHORD PROGRESSION - offers enough structure for me to create.
Are you wondering how this works for me?
Here's a description - sorta - about my process.
The first thing to do is to start the progression.
Play through it a couple of times, just to hear how it all works together. Listen to the music - where it goes, how it moves.
Start to sing about any topic that is needed at the time. I often sing about what group members are doing in front of me or about what group members need at the moment. The song that has blown away from yesterday? That was a song about rocking and breathing - something that we really needed to do during the session to defuse some situations. I matched the tempo to the rocking of one client and then encouraged the others to meet us in the music. It worked well.
A good music therapist has to be able to use music to meet the needs of each and every client. There are times when improvising is the best way to meet those needs.
The thing about improvising is that it seems to refresh my creativity. I have a couple of new ideas for TMEs that I'll be developing pretty soon.
Go out there and improvise, good music therapists!
What is this? Oh, dear reader, this is the chord progression that I used yesterday to improvise several songs with clients yesterday. As a result, I wrote two new songs - one that I remember and wrote down and another that has been blown away into the annals of history and memory.
The best part of improvisation is loosening up.
Starting a chord progression - ANY CHORD PROGRESSION - offers enough structure for me to create.
Are you wondering how this works for me?
Here's a description - sorta - about my process.
The first thing to do is to start the progression.
Play through it a couple of times, just to hear how it all works together. Listen to the music - where it goes, how it moves.
Start to sing about any topic that is needed at the time. I often sing about what group members are doing in front of me or about what group members need at the moment. The song that has blown away from yesterday? That was a song about rocking and breathing - something that we really needed to do during the session to defuse some situations. I matched the tempo to the rocking of one client and then encouraged the others to meet us in the music. It worked well.
A good music therapist has to be able to use music to meet the needs of each and every client. There are times when improvising is the best way to meet those needs.
The thing about improvising is that it seems to refresh my creativity. I have a couple of new ideas for TMEs that I'll be developing pretty soon.
Go out there and improvise, good music therapists!
Comments
Post a Comment