TME Tuesday: Things Do Not Need to Be Complicated
Every so often, I am reminded that simple is often better than elaborate. Sure, visual aids are wonderful for reinforcing concepts and assisting with comprehension, but my feeling is that any therapeutic music experience has to be able to work without those aids. Visuals are to enhance the music, not take over for it. If the music doesn't work without the visual aid, then the music becomes the secondary therapeutic medium - an enhancement, if you will. This week, we are listening to the music of performers born in this month. We have been also playing instruments. I have been selecting the instruments this week rather than letting my clients pull whatever they want from the cabinets, and I've picked some strange ones as well as some really cool instruments that are often overlooked. After a very short demonstration for the unfamiliar instruments, we go into selecting songs and playing instruments. I do not use any visual aids in this part of our interaction, but the next part, ...