Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Why Music??? part 12 Music Therapy and Song Writing

Thanks for visiting musicfromthestart.com topics and conversations. Here I want to address music therapy issues and concepts as they relate to education, health and wellness.


This is part twelve of my blog posts where I describe music therapy interactions I've had that are indicative of why music is so healing, meaningful, enriching and sometimes life changing!

This post describes a series of music therapy sessions with a woman on our hospice service. This elderly woman, diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, loves music and her Christian faith.

Our chaplain first told me of “the new patient who recites a poem or psalm that she (the patient) says 'was given to her by God...' “ The chaplain emailed me the religious poem. My initial thought was that I would put music to her words, a task I have done with music therapy clients for years. Her lyric was very organized and very easy to put music to.

The next day I was excited to visit with “song in hand” to play it for her. I was excited because so often in the past, when I would put music to clients' words, seeing their reaction was most often priceless. Our patient was very receptive to hear her song but after I played it she said “it's nice but the melody's not right...” What I failed to realize was that she also had a melody to her words. She said “God gave me the words AND the music...” So I was very pleased to support and encourage her to sing the song as I recorded it so I could then write out the accompaniment. In a faint, frail voice she sang the song. After recording it on my phone I finally put accompaniment music, her music, together with her words. The next visit I was very excited to play the finished song for her. After playing it she said... “it's good, except there is one wrong note...” I was so pleasantly surprised because she supposedly has Alzheimer’s. I then slowly went through each line with her until she pointed out the “wrong note.” We then easily fixed that note and when I played it for her she sang and was very pleased. The experience for me was again priceless. Next visit I will have a CD and printed out lyric sheet of her song for her and her family.

So, "Why music??"... To provide a “platform” and opportunity for an individual to share life experiences. In this case, the woman described a spiritual experience that has a deep effect on her hopefulness, security and her feelings of productiveness as she shared her important message with me and others. For her it is not only sharing the literal message of the song that affected her but it is important for her to help others understand that she “received a gift from God.”


Also, I want to let everyone know that my new site: musicfromthestart.com, still very new, is in the process of producing more offerings. Right now there are three offerings, i.e., two music albums available, David's Basics in Education and Lyrical Imagery and one educational lecture titled The Purposeful Use of Music From Pregnancy Through Toddlerhood (including Labor and Delivery). The second album, Lyrical Imagery, and the childbirth lecture are a free download for a limited time.
As a reminder the main thrust of the music therapy/childbirth lecture is to support moms (and dads) as they put together their own music listening playlists or CDs to support rhythmic breathing, act as a positive diversion from pain and stress, etc., to be used during labor and delivery.
Also, I'm looking forward to recording my second music album this year. This is music for child development, autism and special needs. As a reminder, one song, “High 5,” from David's Basics in Education (music album #1) is still a free download for a limited time.



In upcoming posts I will continue with other music therapy/health and wellness related blog posts.


My prescription this week??? Pray and listen for the voice of God... Maybe He'll place a song on your heart.
 
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