TME Tuesday: Creating Never Ends

One of the things that is interesting about this job of music therapy is that there are creative needs that never really end. I just finished my sing about the ocean packet (available here, by the way!), and now it is time to finish up the next sing about songs edition for the month of October. If you are unaware, I try to release my monthly subscription about three months in advance so you have the resources available well before the month arrives.

I find that composing music and coming up with ways to use songs in sessions with a variety of clients keeps me engaged and thinking. When I talk with other music therapists, I hear things like "I feel like I'm in a rut with what I do with my clients," and I get that. I understand that and have written about it over and over for many years now. Ruts happen, especially when the rigors of the job demand that the creative process take second place to working on the actual act of therapy.

So, one of my projects for this week is to write three songs for sing about October. I have the ideas already, but the actual composition has to come next.

This is the best part about writing these sing about songs editions - the actual creativity that has to happen to make them work. I spend time both making visual aids and composing songs before I start to write the therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) to go along with my creative impulses. I love this process from start to finish, and I want to share it with others!

October is an easy month for TME creation because there is all sorts of inspiration that goes along with how most people celebrate Halloween. I am not really a huge celebrator - but others do so much that there are opportunities for creativity all around! I have lots of clip-art that will go nicely with the ideas that I have for TMEs. I need to sit down with the piano and start playing with words and melodies. Once I start the improvisation process, the songs start to arrive. I need my staff paper pad and my composition software, and then I will be ready to go!

Time to compose and make some stuff!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Anticipation Builds...

Ask any school teacher about the week before break and you will get the same response each time - ugh. We are entering that week at my place of work. I am dreading it, but am also looking forward to it. My plan is as follows - clients choose what they are going to do in (some) sessions. Last week, we played Name That Tune. Now, I always fix the games where I get points when my students display unsportsman-like behavior or inappropriate interactions with each other or where I stump everyone in the room with my music selections. I also always cheat at the end with the reckoning of points. Always. I lost. We set it up so that they get to choose what happens in the next session (with guidance from me) if they win. If I win, it's business as usual. Three of my groups will be choosing what they are going to do during their therapy hours. I anticipate lots of karaoke and movie watching during those three hours. I am getting ready for a short week as well as experiencing the week...
Read more

There's Always Something...

I am starting to fill up the gaps in my music therapy schedule with individual music therapy treatment times. This is a great feeling. I'll start individual treatment on July 11th when we come back for our second session of our Extended School Year. I'll get things going for three weeks, reevaluate, and then start up again when the regular school session starts. I am excited about getting back into this type of therapy. I've missed it, but there's something else going on. I'm a bit scared. You would think that my 23+ years of being a therapist would make things lots easier for me to jump back into this type of therapy interaction, but I am a bit scared still. I think most of these feelings have to do with forced light duty and almost a year of being out of my comfortable routine. I know that some of these feelings are rooted in fears of being hurt again. I don't want to be hurt again. I know that many of these feelings are somewhat irrational, but they sti...
Read more

Going on a Squeegee Hunt

One of the songs that I sang over and over and over again as a song leader in Girl Scouts was "Going on a Squeegee Hunt ." Now, you may be wondering what a "squeegee" is - good question! It is an imaginary creature that was probably invented by some obscure girl scout in Southern California many, MANY years ago! Anyway, similar to the traditional children's song of " Going on a Lion/Bear/Tiger Hunt ," the song takes you through a sequential process over, under, around, and through various obstacles towards a goal. Today, as I am sitting here writing, I am thinking about the poor squeegee being hunted. It is just in its cave, trying to do its squeegee things without interruption, when suddenly, BOOM! Some Girl Scout arrives to poke it! The poor squeegee does what it can - it jumps up and chases the Girl Scout all the way home!! This has not been a good work week. It is amazing how people will make mountains out of molehills. Here is the deal. I se...
Read more