TME Tuesday: Just Sitting with the Guitar and Singing Things Through the Door

This week has already been long, and it is only Tuesday before dawn right now! The thing is, I have lots to do, only 24 hours in each day, and all sorts of things happening at the moment that require some extra attention. I am being dragged from thing to thing with little to no time in between to think about stuff. I am also trying my best to prepare for something coming up soon. In between all the "hurry up and get this done" stuff, I have some time to sit and listen. This time is happening at work since all my other stuff is home-based and personal, so I have my guitar at hand.

I have been improvising quite a bit based on the sounds and noises that are going on in the classroom next door. For some reason, my neighbors are in a crisis situation all the time now. So, things are pretty loud next door. This, more than anything else in my job, inspires my need to improvise. I have been singing songs about being a bully (there aren't many of those songs out there) and consequences for actions through the door as one particular client screams and kicks the adjoining door between our rooms. I'm not sure that the client can hear it, but it is cathartic for me to express what I want to tell this client through my most comfortable medium - music.

The folks next door will not be coming to music therapy today. They are going on a field trip, so things should be pretty quiet. I will have an extra hour to work on things which is good because I haven't finished my documentation from last week. Too many things to do and not enough time to get them done last week. This week, I have a bit more time, but things have piled up. So, I may be able to get that documentation finished today during the time that I would have seen the two groups that will be field tripping. I can get lots of things finished up in an extra hour. I will see three groups and two individuals today.

After my work day, I will return to make a couple of appointments - car stuff and dentist stuff - and then eat some dinner. I am enjoying the opportunities that I have to make those calls from home because I am getting home earlier than I do when I have interns. It's nice to have that extra hour for leisure and to contact businesses before they close at 5pm. I may make a mandatory self-care hour something that my future interns do. One day per week, leaving at 3pm for self-care activities. That's something to consider.

Let's return, however, to the point of this TME Tuesday post.

One of the things that I wish I could do with my clients is to work with them when they are in crisis. That doesn't happen often in the music therapy room - if I can be heard, I can help decrease the crisis situation with music. I can't be everywhere, but I would love to be able to go to where clients are angry and work on those emotions with music. It would be lots of improvisation, but I find that reflection through music tends to cut through the crisis quicker than other ways of intervening. With my service delivery model, though, doing that type of therapy is not realistic. So, I sing through the doorway when I have the time and the space to do so.

To improvise, I start with a repetitive chord progression. After I have my tempo, rhythm, and progression going, I start singing the message that I want to express.

That's it. That's all improvisation is to me. Singing what needs to be sung.