TME Tuesday: I Have a Different Idea for This Series, Because...Well, I'm in a Mood for Changing Things!

For the near future, I am going to take something - some object, instrument, or visual aid - and develop TMEs through the use each thing. This is a concept that I share with music therapy interns during one of my presentations, and it seems to be a huge revelation for many of them. I'm not sure why that is, but if you are one of the people out there who have never really considered some of these things, then allow me to show you what I do and how I think about my materials within my music therapy session.

I have some ground rules for my brainstorming and a form that I put things into when I am ultra organized (as I laugh to myself about the ultra organized part - I am NEVER ultra organized!!). I share this with my webinar participants on a regular basis, and I am going to add it to my internship bundle on my Teachers Pay Teachers store and into the Internship Handbook that I am still writing for music therapy interns...

Anyway, here are my ground rules...

• No idea is "wrong."
• No list is ever completely finished.
• Clients will change my thoughts through their own contributions and use of the materials.
• Watch how other music therapists use their materials for more ideas.
• Generic TMEs are perfectly fine - for example, a "Novel Instrument Exploration" TME works really well for all sorts of instruments.

With this perspective firmly in place in front of me, I go into my process of brainstorming and listing things.

Here's the procedure:

1. Gather materials for use - I get my form, a pencil (because pencil is easy to erase, if needed), and the object that I want to develop.
2. I start off by using my senses - all of them but taste because, ew. How does this object feel? What does it look like? What sounds does it make? How do I move it? Does it have a distinct smell? I write all of my observations down on my form.
3. What does the sensory brainstorming indicate about specific goal areas? Will my clients be working on fine motor skills? Gross motor skills? Other treatment domains? How can I incorporate specific client goals with use of this object or material? Write those ideas down in the treatment domain and use section.
   
4. I then go into brainstorming mode. What TMEs do I have that will work with this object? What ideas come to my brain when I think about my clients using this object? Are there any songs that come to mind? Write them all down on the form.
5. Transfer my pencil writing into my TME file and the digital form that I have so things look a bit more professional and a bit less like chicken scratching.

That's it. 

So, today, let's make an example form for you. 

Object: rhythm sticks

Sensory Chicken Scratch:

• Sight/Visual - some of my sticks are different colors, but most are either red, blue, or natural wood colored. They are in two different sizes - the ridged sticks tend to be a bit longer than the smooth sticks
• Touch/Tactile - some sticks are splintery (I should be sanding those and repainting them). Others are nicely smooth. The others are ridged but still pleasant to handle. They are light in weight and easily balanced in my hands. I can easily hold them with two fingers and manipulate them. When you click them together, you can feel the impact through the arm muscles. You can also rub them together, and if you have one smooth and one ridged stick, it makes a different feeling than if you have two ridged or two smooth rhythm sticks. You can also hit them on the floor which offers a different proprioceptive experience.
• Smell/Olfactory - They do not have much of an odor (fortunately).
• Sound/Aural - the sounds produced with the instrument varies based on how much strength you use to play the sticks. The sound is high in pitch which may be difficult for some clients to tolerate in a clinical session. Using the sticks on the floor mutes the sound and may be a better aural experience for sound-sensitive clients.

It is time for me to go, so I will have to finish this up later, but I am sure that you are starting to get the idea. These are object-focused TME development processes, and another way to think about how we use what we use with our clients in our music therapy sessions. 

I am hoping that this shift in focus for this series will be helpful to those of you who are wondering what you can do with stuff. Let me know, please...