music, therapy, and me

I would really like to have some dedicated time to work on my songwriting, but I just don't do it. This is a situation where my brain thinks something that my heart just isn't interested in. My brain has many of these types of thoughts. Writing songs, even the types of songs that I write, takes time. There is no way around that. To get a song from concept to print, it takes time. I need at least an hour to take an idea from concept all the way to publication every time I sit down to write TMEs or just to write songs. Now, my songs are not complicated. They tend to be no more than 30-36 measures, they have lots of replicated elements, and my music is not extremely sophisticated. That is what my clients respond to the most, so that's what I write. Easy songs for my clients to understand and to sing. So, if my songs take at least an hour, imagine what the songwriting experience is like for longer, more complex songs. One of the things that I have learned through my songwriting...

For a long time now, I have been writing songs for thematic TMEs (therapeutic music experiences) and collecting them in my ideas book - the TME section. I haven't put them into a formal collection, but I am on the verge of getting this project started. There is lots of discussion about thematic programming in my parts of the music therapy world. There are loud voices both for and against using themes. I am neutral in the conversation - I am always for whatever makes any music therapist's life a bit easier. If you are a thematic music therapist, I would love to hear what themes are your favorites. If you are not, then do what you do and do it well! I have some themes in my clinical practice at the moment - they tend to be music education themes more than any other, but I also use my umbrella goal areas as themes for programming. As an educational enrichment specialist, I have great latitude in how I arrange my music therapy sessions, so themes help me stay organized. I tend to t...

When I am writing music, I tend to do one of two things. I either start with a specific client in mind and write for that client's goals and objectives, or I start with an idea and let the idea grow regardless of the clients that I am serving at the time. I spend time with lots of hypothetical clients - thinking about the vast number of clients and their unique goals as I develop songs and therapeutic music experiences (TMEs). Today, though, I would like to start with the first focus - that of a specific client and his or her or their goals. Currently, I am sharing a wall with a class of students who are experiencing lots of life and school changes. Two students have transferred from residential care to home care and are now day students. One student is brand new to the classroom. Another student recently left the class. All of these changes have shifted the dynamics in the classroom group, and old behaviors of concern have reemerged as well as finding new behaviors to contribute. ...

One of the things that I have nearby me both here and at work is my songwriting kit. It isn't fancy, but it is something that I have found that I use when I am in a songwriting mood. My kits reside in the pencil bags that I have collected as part of my love of stationery items, and they are small enough to fit into my bag. Inside my kit, you can find post-it notes of various types, pencils (of course), erasers (of course!), index cards, and sheet music. I have decided to make some stickers to go onto my index cards or my idea books to help me keep the music going and flowing.  Making stickers is not something new to me, but making sheet music stickers is. I have stickers for project management, TPT files, and all sorts of things, but I have never made sheet music stickers. This is a bit of a "duh" moment for me. So, how do I do this?? I use labels and my printer. It is really simple to make these types of functional stickers. I use Word or Powerpoint most of the time. It ...

There is nothing better than getting into a creative routine. That being said, it is not something that I have been doing very much of lately. It has been difficult to navigate a world where no one seems happy. I got notice that a music therapy acquaintance of mine is in hospice care, the government seems to be floundering in ways not seen for four years, and it is cloudy here. Very cloudy. More snow is coming. All of these things have had an effect on my creativity. I am somewhat snowed under with emotion, and I am not sure that all of the things that I am feeling are mine. I am a highly sensitive, empathetic introvert, and when things get emotional and unsettled, it is best for me to move into my cocoon until I can navigate the world again. I am trying to emerge at the moment, but who knows... Perhaps I should think of myself as a joey instead of getting into a cocoon. Back into the pocket of nurture rather than a caterpillar/butterfly. I like the idea of having a place to retreat to...

Ooh, boy. Songwriting is not for everyone, and that is okay. It is not always easy, but I think it is an essential skill for music therapists to be able to write goal-focused songs for clients. Like every other element of music, this is one that gets better when we practice. And practice. And practice. So, if writing songs is challenging, there are some tasks that you can do to make it easier. Here are the ones that I use, but I would love to hear what you do when you need a new or very specific song to support your clients in achieving their goals. When I get into a situation where the creativity just isn't happening, I take as many elements out of my decision tree as possible. I use dice or pull notes from a hat. I use piggyback songs. I write nonsense songs about strange pictures. I get into a repetitive chord progression and go into some word association strategies. I have figured out things to do that shake me out of my slump and back into composition. These are skills that I ...

Welcome back to routine, everyone! I am hoping and hoping that we will actually be able to get places in my part of the world tomorrow. We had a snow week last week (one school day, but I had to take personal time because there was too much snow on my driveway for my low-slung car), but I am now ready to get back into a work routine. That hasn't happened for a long time - I have not felt ready to get back to work for years and years. So, let's hope that the roads are cleared and ready for us to head back to school tomorrow morning! ANYWAY... It is Sunday, so it is time for me to think about songwriting. Today's topic is chant. I am not a rapper. I can make up rhymes for a bit of time before my brain freezes and gets overstimulated, but I can chant with the best of them! What's the difference? There really isn't much different on a structural view, but there is lots of difference in my brain! Chants are wonderful for music therapists - they are ways to incorporate rh...

When I sit down to compose something, I tend to write the music in C Major or a minor, but I rarely use those keys when I sing the songs I write. This simple thing is based on the idea that it is easier to write music when there are no accidentals, but C Major and a minor are not keys that are good for my voice. I do better with D, E, and A major and e minor as my singing keys, but transposition is especially important when I am working with my singing clients. When my clients are singing with me, I keep an eye out for muscle strain, head posturing out of optimal positioning, and I listen for client who are not able to sing at the pitches that I am using. If any of these things happens it is my job to transpose the music to a better key for my clients - ESPECIALLY when the goal is for my clients to sing or use their voices. I think that there are two different camps out there for transposition. In my experience, this seems to be split between those who play guitar before piano and thos...

Inspiration comes from strange places. I got inspired by cat videos and a song came out. It is always interesting to trace the origins of songs, and mine usually come from two sources - silly things or client goals. This one came from silly cat videos and is called "Naughty, Naughty Kitty Cat." I paired it with a "Match the Ornament" game during one of my groups. Before the start of my music therapy day, I tend to spend about 15 minutes tuning my guitar and engaging in some random strumming. I think about the day that is ahead, and I either play songs that I know really well or I settle into a chord progression and just start to make music. Usually, good or fun songs emerge right before a group enters the room. Now, I've been doing this a long time, and I know that I will NOT remember a good song if I do not write it down. Since this is the case, I have post-it notes and a pencil in a drawer right next to my guitar stand. When inspiration strikes, I write down l...

It is almost the end of the semester at my job. I am getting ready for almost two weeks off from working in the school within a psychiatric residential treatment facility, and I am also thinking deeply about what I want to do next year in all areas of my life. This post is about my work role as music therapist in my particular job. I do group music therapy for all students at our facility. All students have to attend 60 minutes of music therapy per week as part of their educational programming, so there are some clients who are not interested at all in anything that I have to say, do, or offer. This can be somewhat disheartening, but there is a challenge in figuring out how to engage these clients. So, what does this have to do with songwriting on a Sunday? I am tired of many of the songs that I have been using lately. I am on a search for new songs to learn, adapt, and share. Now, this isn't client-focused. Many of my clients come for less than a year with us, so they find all of ...

Two weeks ago, I shared music from people born in the month of October with my students as part of our Musicians of the Month series. One of the musicians that I shared was Weird Al Yankovic - one of my favorite people since I met him in a sandwich shop at 2am in West Hollywood in 1986. I put "Eat It" on the playlist, and my clients got angry! They were upset that the song that they were listening to sounded like Michael Jackson's song, but it wasn't. For those that were able to listen rather than just engage in bluster, I explained the concept of a parody song, and I remembered that I haven't written about this valuable tool in this blog series. I combine the concepts of piggyback and parody songs into one. It just makes sense that I am doing the same thing when I use a melody for a piggyback song or a parody - they are the same things. I have used piggyback techniques for myself, with my clients, and with my interns over the years. How do I do this? I strip the ...

Some time ago, I set myself a TME challenge and then found it difficult to keep up with because I was really disinterested in the challenge itself. This happens to me on a regular basis. I set myself a challenge and then don't bother to do it. I still try, though. Perhaps I just like failing - who knows? I do, though, continue to develop new TMEs (the term that I use to describe what I do with my clients during sessions - therapeutic music experiences), I just don't write them down which is a shame because I could easily get my TME challenge finished if I just sat down and wrote them.That is where the difficulty lies - sitting down and writing my ideas down. I have started to look around for a music notation app that I can use on various devices to help me finish up my notation and that allows me to hear the rhythms the way they need to be presented. This is the most time-consuming part of any composition for me - getting the rhythm on the page to match the rhythm in my head. A...

One of the things that I find to be helpful with my client population (children, adolescents, and young adults with dual diagnoses) is repetition of phrases, lyrics, and music. As a result of 30+ years of working with this population in various iterations, I have found that my clients respond the most to songs with three repeated phrases to prime their responses with a different phrase to communicate the important part of the experience. DISCLAIMER: This is not a definite way to write music for clinical interactions. This is what seems to work well with my particular group of human beings. Don't go to your supervisors and tell them that I told you that this is the ONLY way to write music - It is NOT! You have to find what works for your clients and for their clinical goals. Since my clients respond well to this type of song, I tend to write songs in this format more than any other. What I have found is that my clients remember these songs more than the ones that I do in different f...

There are times when I have little to no creative inspiration but still need to be writing music for clients. If I try to force things, I often feel more upset and more blocked than when I go through my techniques to help me figure out a way around or over my blocks. My favorite technique is writing a silly song. Silly songs do not have to make sense, they don't have to have any sort of therapeutic benefit, and they don't have to be shared or even written down (though my clients have often loved my silly song results, so I try to record the songs in some way - who doesn't love to be silly?). I usually start the entire process by focusing on something I can see. I tend to respond well to visual input, so looking at an item or a picture helps me in my process. I have a book of magazine objects that I have collected over the years that has provided lots of inspiration. I also just do random things that I see. Once I have the item selected, I just start my improvisation. The be...

A long time ago, I did a survey with the interns in the Midwestern region (where I live) of the US. One of the questions I asked was, "what advice would you give to current music therapy students about what surprises you about being an intern?" Almost everyone responded with a variation of "don't sell your music theory book back." They went on to comment about how much they needed the theory that they had learned and then forgotten after their last final. This is a truth that I come back to over and over. Music theory is important in the life of a music therapist. I know, having to relive the days of dictation and sight singing, keyboard harmony and learning typical progressions is not always a happy thought for many of us, but it is important to know those foundational expectations when you are trying to interpret the "can you play that one song? You know, the one that goes  duh, duh duh duh, duh." Well, keep singing as I figure it out... I use theory...

Once again, it is Sunday, and once again, I am writing about my process of making up my own songs. It is time to revisit my Songwriting Kit - pictured here - and talk a bit about why I have it to begin with... I sing about all sorts of things in the progression of the sessions I lead, and I collect all sorts of ideas for therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) when I am outside of those sessions. Ideas will pop into my brain at any given time, and I've found that having a dedicated kit to songwriting and another one to writing down TME ideas and others for other ideas help me remember and act upon those ideas. When I try to rely on my memory, I am often disappointed with myself. Writing things down helps me to remember, so that's what I do. The kit offers me a chance to write things down in my solfege format, in formal notation, and as plain old ideas - in pencil, of course, because every musician knows to use pencil rather than ink. I like the kit because I can use it anywhere - ...

Well. It is time to get back to writing after a break. I noticed that my last post had about twice as many views as I usually get, so I suspect that some of you may have been checking to see if I've been posting. It has been a long two weeks, but I am feeling the call to write again, so here goes. Today is Sunday which means it is time to think a bit about songwriting. I haven't done much songwriting lately, so I will get my handy songwriting kit and my keyboard to help me in my process. I need some inspiration, so I am going to head over to my clip-art collection to see what I can use to spark some ideas. Maybe something Autumn in nature... In my Autumn clip-art collection, I have options for bats, for scarecrows, for sharks, for a village, lots of inspiration. So, I have some ideas now for what I can compose about and some visuals to go along with it all. I tend to be inspired more by pictures when I am composing something, so having pictures helps me come up with ideas. I ha...

I wrote an opening song this week and turned it into a therapeutic music experience. I also spent some time just singing things and trying to stretch my vocal cords a bit after being an alto all summer rather than singing in my soprano range. As I was singing and composing and writing up procedures, I was thinking about this post series and how it has changed how I think about songwriting. Songwriting is something that I enjoy, but I didn't always want to do this part of our job. I don't think that many other music therapists want to do it either, at least based on the number of times I read requests for songs to be given and shared. AS I became a bit more confident in my skills, I found songwriting to be a great way to engage my clients in therapy. We compose songs together - I used to do this regularly with my clients, but I have stopped recently - perhaps I should start that up again... I find that there are many things that I enjoy doing as a composer. I am a great composer...

I recently saw a request for s specific type of song for a specific goal, and I did not respond to the request because my response would have been rather snarky. I wonder why people do not make up their own songs in these types of situations. I really do. Why do you need to ask for songs when you could write your own? Were these music therapists not taught to write music as students? Are they laboring under some imposter syndrome symptoms that tell them that they cannot write their own songs? Is it easier to ask for others to give them something than it is to spend some time making their own thing? After I abstained from responding in a vein similar to the paragraph above, I started wondering if I just do this because I haven't always had the ability to ask others for their work.  Gather 'round, children, as I tell you a tale from the 20th Century...   In the days afore email, social media, and home computers, we music therapists had to create our own songs, take them to confe...

Let's do some songwriting today. It has been some time since I have written on this topic, but it is time to get going again because I am getting ready to move back into my school contract and my regular work routine. That starts with writing about composing on Sundays. Here we go! I haven't been doing much formal composition lately but I have been improvising during sessions. My favorite way to improvise is to start a familiar chord progression and then sing what I see happening in the session. I have several familiar chord progressions that I use often - I, vi, IV, V7; I, V7; IV; 12-bar blues. These progressions are my foundation for my improvisations. Once I start with the chord progression, there are no further rules to follow. The lyrics, melodies, and every other element are allowed to go where they want to go. These songs are ones that are destined to be in the moment and not captured for further use. My brain just doesn't work to remember those elements once the ses...