I Wrote Half a Song Yesterday

I found a melody and some accompaniment yesterday before my first session. I wrote everything down (with some basic rhythmic notation) and am trying to figure out what words go with the song.

I absolutely love when I find a song.

It doesn't happen often, so when a song arrives in my brain, I try to capture it as soon as possible. These songs seem to be the songs that my clients remember years and years after I've introduced them. This one is not complete yet - there are no lyrics to go with the melody - but the foundation is there and is sound. 

My documentation was finished early yesterday, so I arranged the music therapy room for my centers and then sat down with the guitar. I started to scat a bit - singing random notes along with a simple guitar accompaniment. I found a phrase that resonated with me. I repeated it several times and then expanded on it. I was able to write it all down as well!

The song will spend some time in my head until I figure out what words will fit the song the best. I trust that lyrics will show up at some point.

This is one of the reasons that I keep a therapeutic music experience (TME) file. I tuck ideas into that file and keep them until I find a therapeutic purpose for them. When I was an intern, I had an idea for a TME for a particular client. The lyrics came first in that instance, but the melody didn't develop until several years after I left my internship. No one else knows that that particular TME was written for my client, but I do. I know. I wish I had been able to share that song with the client it was written for, but I like to think that he would approve of my using it for others at this time.

I feel more songs coming on.

I have my songwriting kit near me at all times. Does that sound fancy? Songwriting kit? It's really just a pencil with a good eraser and either a stack of 4X6 index cards or some super-sticky post-it notes. I have a stack of those post-its on just about every table, desk, and cup holder that I have around me. The index cards are present on my desks. I write things down in a quick shorthand that I've used for years - mostly solfege notation. I'm not sure that anyone else would be able to make sense of my chicken scratching, but it works for me. Once I have a complete idea, I transfer it to my notation software and formalize it into a full TME plan. Until that point, I keep it in my TME box or in my "Ideas for Development" digital folder.

I think I'll take my kit into sessions with me today. It seems like a good day to compose something.

Meanwhile, I'll continue to practice the song that showed up yesterday. The lyrics are out there somewhere. I'll find them eventually.

Go out and make some music today.

Happy Wednesday!