5444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444 The Cat Wrote the Title...

So, I am going to go with it. I was thinking that it was time to get back to writing a bit more about my ideas of the future and of music therapy. The cat, of course, stepped all over the number pad of the computer and now I am going to write something about 5/4 time. That works. Here we go...

CHAPTER SOMETHING OR ANOTHER - PUT INTO SOME OF THE "CLASS" OVERVIEW SECTIONS

"5/4 time," Persephone was muttering to herself, "What can I include in 5/4 time??"

Persephone turned to her music database and started searching for songs that she could learn for her Repertoire class. She had been assigned the meter 5/4 in class on Monday and had to find a list of songs suitable for her clinical population of older adults by the next Monday. She had to find the sheet music, practice transposition, and learn the melodies to present to her small group cohort later. The good part about this project was that they were all sharing their lists so she would end up with song recommendations for all types of music therapy populations. She would have to find her own copies of the sheet music for all of the others' lists, but she would have so many options when she moved from older adults to those other populations.

She was off-topic again. That was one of the problems that she had when trying to focus on her repertoire assignments. She would get side-tracked into thinking about her future clients and the music she could use then that she would spend valuable time just daydreaming. It had to end.

"5/4 time. What songs would Gram know that are in 5/4 time?" Persephone narrowed her search terms to 5/4 music from 1960-1990 and started her search. 

This looked promising - the Theme to Mission Impossible, released in 1967 and written by Lalo Schrifin, the meter happened at about 172 bpm and would satisfy the requirements of music from a soundtrack as well as instrumental music. The song title went on the list and Persephone moved to the next criteria.

Ten songs in 5/4 time for use with your current clinical population. Must include songs from the decades most likely to be preferred by your clinical population, and must also include the following: songs from movies, popular songs, songs from the following genres: jazz, classical, popular, rock, country, alternative, and other genres specific to your population's preferences. Gather sheet music and learn melodies to share with cohort by Monday. Practice transposing songs into keys as indicated on your syllabus.

Over the past three weeks of class, Persephone had compiled other playlists and sheet music collections, but this was the first one where meter of the music was the primary consideration. She had found songs in specific genres up until now and had found those playlists valuable when she was in her clinical observation course. She was understanding some of the reasons why the clinicians leading the sessions were choosing specific pieces of music. It was just her luck that she had drawn 5/4, but it could have been worse. She knew that 7/4 was in the mix because Bentley had pulled that one and was struggling to find enough songs to include for his assignment. In two weeks, when they had to start another playlist compilation, they would search for music using another musical element such as form or lyric theme or harmonic structure.

The next song on Persephone's list was one that she enjoyed. I Don't Know How to Love Him by Andrew Lloyd Webber was a song that Gram sang. Mom and Dad sang it as well. The musical that it came from, Jesus Christ Superstar, was a staple in Persephone's household. Mom and Gram would fire up the soundtrack every year during Holy Week, and the entire house would reverberate with the electric guitar and the music from the rock opera. That song was already memorized and transposing would be easy as well. Persephone sent off a quick text to her mother, letting her know that the family tradition was helping with her assignment.

The difficulty with this particular assignment was finding music in the various music genres. It was a bit difficult to find music in 5/4 in the country and popular music genres, but she would persevere! At the end of it all, she would have lists from 29 others that cover all of the strange meters out there. 290 songs to add to her 10. It seemed to be a pretty good use of her time.

Oops. Another tangent. Back to work.

Some of the songs that were going onto her list were not quite within the time frame that Persephone had established, but she felt she could justify their inclusion based on parental or children exposures. She found her list, purchased the sheet music that she did not already have, and moved to the next task on her homework list.

Repertoire was done for the evening. Time to move into reading for Continuum. She grabbed her stylus and laid on the floor to read the next part of her assignment.