It's Always a Journey: The Song Is There...Drifting Around the Edges of My Mind

Ever have an idea that just sits on the edges of your brain, not really moving on or out? I am in that particular situation right now.

Let me explain.

So, I am currently involved in a songswap challenge run by the good folks at Music Therapy Kids. Our first challenge was to share a song that addresses communication - I shared one that I use quite often, but it started my composition process going.

I have an idea for a song that incorporates articulation drills with Halloween, but it hasn't really solidified for me yet. I know most of the words that I want. I can hear the harmonic progression in my head and can put it onto the guitar, but the melody has not firmed up yet. It probably won't become reality until I take some time to sit down at the piano and make an effort.

This is a common situation in my music therapy journey. I will get ideas, write them down, work on them a bit, find that they just don't gel for me, and then leave for a while. I keep all of my scraps of paper that have composition ideas in my card file, and I pull them out periodically to see if they come together. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. I really want this one to finish up, though, because it is almost Halloween and the best time to use this song is now!

So, how do I get a song from idea to therapeutic music experience (TME)?

My process involves super sticky post-it notes (I am VERY picky about my post-it notes!), a pencil, a piano, my computer (and good composition software) and some time.

For some reason, it is easier for me to compose at the piano, finding discrete pitches, than it is to use the guitar to compose. Once I play a song on the piano, it is mine completely. If I am noodling around on the guitar, I don't seem to make the music stick as well. It has to be the piano. I usually start with improvisation. I find a key that I like (at the moment), I vocalize a bit, I start to come up with melodic phrases and lyrical patterns, and then I just play a bit. I interrupt my play to write things down - I use a shorthand notation system that makes complete sense to me but seems to baffle others. I continue to do this until the song is complete. After that, I take my post-it to the computer.

I am hopeless when it comes to rhythmic dictation. I can hear when things are incorrect, but I can't identify where I have made incorrect notations on my post-it until I hear the computer play it back to me. The piano is my melody tool and the computer is my rhythm tool. Once I have transcribed the rhythm that I hear in my head into the computer, I start the TME development process. 

For me, a composition never just stays in isolation. I don't write music for performing groups or simply for music's sake. I write poetry for the sake of writing poetry, but not music - strange isn't it? Anyway, I am constantly thinking about how I will use a specific song with specific clients almost all the time. For example, this song is going to be the focus of a TME that addresses multiple goal areas, but will be primarily an articulation TME - working on beginning sound production during the musical event. I already have some really cool visual aids to go with the song, but the song will stand alone - it doesn't need those visuals to work. 

So, I start to think about the clients that I have in music therapy sessions right now. I start to think about their desired outcomes and immediate goals and objectives. I try to figure out what I will have to do during the song to accommodate their therapy needs. I write down adaptations for specific clients. I spend time trying to anticipate how they will respond and react to the song and to the goals. (I never anticipate all of their responses - that's most of the fun of doing music therapy - clients change EVERYTHING!) I go through my task analysis process to figure out how I will introduce the song into the therapy session. I write everything down into my TME format, and then I am ready to go!

Today is the day that I formalize this song into something concrete. I don't have any documentation to do, so I can go into my office, get the computer, my post-its, my pencil, and head over to the piano. If I get really fancy, I may hook up the keyboard to the computer and work that way, but I probably won't be all that fancy. 

If the song does become a reality, I'll share it on my YouTube channel. Make sure to subscribe to get announcements of all of my videos (there are exactly two up right now!!).

Happy Wednesday!