Fun Friday: Let's Bring This Back

I want to focus on some fun things, and what better day (especially with the alliteration that I love so much) to focus on fun than on Fridays? I am filling out my blogging schedule with some themes, and this is one that I want to bring back.

My word for 2024 is "play." I have been trying to focus on things that bring me joy and fun, so I think I will take Fridays as a day to focus on the things that I find fun in our profession - there are plenty of things that are a natural part of this job that are SO MUCH FUN!

Today, I want to talk to you about improvising.

(How many of you felt a cold chill up your back when you read the word, "improvising." like I do?)

I promise, this is a good thing. I had a jazz band director that made me very afraid of improvising way back in junior high. That fear made me very anxious each and every time anyone told me to improvise in any situation because I was convinced that I could not do it. My internship director, Sheryl Kelly, fixed that for me when she told me just to just make my music sound like what my clients were doing. I didn't have to follow any of the rules that my band director insisted on (but didn't teach us how to follow those rules). I could just make music. I was finally free of my anxiety reaction when I heard the word "improvisation!" I try to demystify the process as much as I can for others because I was very afraid and am no longer!

I was remembering a session that I had back in 2013 or 2014 where I had a large group of clients who were mainly non-speaking and who did not really engage in much singing or vocalizing. We were sitting in a big circle in the living area of the building that we were using during renovations. I started the 12-bar blues and passed a box of novel instruments around the group. Group members selected the instruments that they wanted, and I kept the blues chords going. I didn't sing anything other than instructions to play and to change instruments at will. We engaged in a 20-minute improvisation group musicking experience where we were all focused on the music that we were sharing and creating. At one point, we had everyone going with their instruments and one client was singing, "whee-oo, whee-oo, whee-oo, I'm a fire alarm" over and over again in a semi-meditative state. It was one of those moments where the music just took over, and we were all in the midst of creation in the moment. It was a moment that I will never forget.

Next week, I am going to talk to music therapy students about on the spot songwriting. We are going to make music together and go through some of the exercises that I have learned and used over the years. I hope that my experiences and views will help others who have improvisation anxiety to approach these things with more confidence and less anxious reactions. We will see.

I get a chance to show off my songwriting kit next week. I always want to be prepared for everything and anything that can happen, so I have small sets of things that help me with that preparation. My songwriting kit is something that I always have around me and consists of mechanical pencils, erasers, post-it notes, and now, some staff paper pads! I found some printable staff paper, and printed off several sheets of it. I have not been able to figure out how to print on both sides of the paper, but that is my next quest! I have cut the sheet music paper into smaller sections and then bound the pieces into small pads. This fits in my R2-D2 pencil pouch and can go with me anywhere and everywhere! It now has a home in my Always bag.

I am always interested in what other people think is fun in this job. I love improvising with my clients and my interns. There is something wonderful during the moments when the music happens. Do I make mistakes in my chord progressions when I am improvising? You bet I do, but after my learning with my internship director that the moment matters more than the rules of music do, I am able to keep going with it all.

Happy Fun Friday!!