CALLING ALL MT BLOGGERS!

If you have a music therapy blog, I want to post a link! Please, if you would like to share, leave a comment somewhere where I will see it. Leave a comment here on the blog, write a note on Facebook, or message me on Twitter.

Thank you!

Friday Five! 5 + 1 MadLib songs

Best Friday Five EVER! And it's not just because I'm giving you six activities. This session was a lot of fun. Remember to review adjectives, nouns, and verbs with your group!

You remember the old MadLibs... One person asks another person or group to name a noun. That person says "Skunk!" and suddenly you have an awesomely hilarious story. Well, if you remember the old childhood game, then this activity is pretty self explanatory. Just remember to sing the song for your patient(s) after you're done!

1. What a Wonderful World MadLib
2. I Can See Clearly Now MadLib
3. Eye of the Tiger MadLib
4. Don't Worry Be Happy MadLib
5. I Wanna Hold Your Hand MadLib
6. My Girl MadLib

Friday Five: Video games & MT goals

Video games have gotten a bad rep. Are we losing our minds to the television screen and gory blood battles with friends? I don't know. Are America's butts getting big because we stare with mouths agape at overstimulating amounts of light and sound for hours on end? Maybe.

I really don't know how to answer these questions. But instead of focusing on these criticisms, I want to shine a new light on video games. Can the powers of a video game be used for good rather than evil?

Well, I would certainly say so! These days I play more video games than I ever did in my youth. I don't own a Wii, but the Adolescent Unit at BHC does! At BHC, the kids can earn points which can be spent playing video games (as well as other things like leaving the unit for meals, playing outside, etc.). But occasionally, we'll break out the Wii in MT session. Why? Just think of all the skills that can develop when playing a music-based video game: focus of attention (that's an important one), self-esteem (another biggie), appropriate socialization (sharing, good sportsmanship, team-building), cognitive stimulation and mental alertness, motor skills (fine and gross), and knowledge of music education. If you're thinking that your clients could benefit from some of these, consider the following music games:

1.Just Dance! My favorite! Players mirror the movement of a silhouette on the screen. Points are for accuracy of movement and timing. You'll be seeing a new version in stores October 12! There is a mode in the game where players are directed to start/stop dancing (think impulse control!).
2.Karaoke Revolution Players sing along to popular songs and are given points for accuracy of pitch. There are quite a few releases of this game in stores.
3.Wii Music Players can learn about various musical instruments. They can express creativity by creating a band and jamming together. They can also be tested cognitively in the Minigame mode.
4.Donkey Konga Tests rhythmic accuracy. There are a couple versions of this in stores. The game comes with a set of Wii conga drums!
5.Rock Band Doesn't everybody know about this game by now? Its cousin, Guitar Hero, is equally as popular. The game comes with Wii guitar, drum set, and microphone. Players battle for points by testing finger dexterity and rhythmic accuracy.

Yes, I am citing Wikipedia.

Visual aids in MT

Many of us have taken those personality tests at some point in our life that tells us how we learn best. Some people need to hear the information to absorb it, some need the information in visual form. The most difficult part of school is figuring out how to best study information so that it is stored long-term (or at least until the test is over).

This can be transferred to your own MT session. I find that it is so helpful to use visual aids, especially when the goal of my session is to teach coping skills, positive thinking, time management, etcetera. Having something concrete when teaching a rather abstract concept really helps to get a message across. Sometimes you just have to lay aside the music to be a therapist.

Today was a day for discussing goals, coping skills, and support. We sang songs and played instruments to begin with: "You've Got a Friend" by Carole King, "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong, and "Dreams" by the Cranberries. After these songs, the instruments and music sheets were put aside, and our real project began. The group worked together to create a mural, a "Garden of Life." Each person was told to complete one flower, one rock, and two or more seeds for the mural. Each piece had a special meaning:

The flower=goals
The rock=support
The seeds=coping skills

Goals
The song "Dreams" talks about how the singer's life is changing everyday. While these changes are often hard to accept, there is a lot to gain from them. We learn from change in our life, and so we grow. Because a healthy flower is always growing and reaching for the sky (ok, maybe not all flowers), the flowers we draw represent our goals; we always need a goal to reach and grow toward.

Support
"You've Got a Friend" talks about how there are people and things in our life that will "take your soul if you let them." You must nurture relationships with people or places that steer you in a healthy direction. Our rocks are strong and unable to be moved. They are always there in rain or shine. Who or what can you turn to in your own life through thick or thin? This may be a friend, family member, the hospital or shelter, a counselor, the church, or something else spiritual.

Coping Skills
In "What a Wonderful World," the singer is taking time to notice all the beautiful things that exist in our lives. A healthy coping skill is something that will lighten a burden and NOT add stress in your life. We need a lot of different coping skills to choose from when life gets bumpy. Seeds are plentiful, and they are necessary to nurture growth. A coping skill may be talking with a friend, playing music, exercising, etcetera.

Each patient drew on colorful paper a flower, rock, and seeds. They identified the three things mentioned above, and wrote them on their pictures. Then they cut and pasted onto the mural.

After the project, we hung the mural on the wall. I mentioned its importance not only in inspiring them during their stay at the BHC, but that the mural will inspire patients that come after them. One of the most powerful goals we had today was a patient who wanted to write: "I want to get better so that I don't try to kill myself or overdose again." She grew tearful, and I told her that this will really mean something to other patients going through similar thoughts. It was really touching for everyone to see that mural. Rather than simply talking about all these important concepts, we put it on paper as a visual aid. There is no avoiding it once it is all on paper. Like a contract, there is a paper that binds them to their words about getting better.

Lady Gaga on Boomwhackers

I've been meaning to share an activity for you to consider from Kat Fulton, who writes a blog (Rhythm for Good). Kat is a fantastic arranger of pieces for Boomwhackers. Her most recently posted Boomwhacker project is a Lady Gaga remix. Listen to the piece while watching Kat's very own homemade music video:


Kat was kind enough to email me the arrangements for this and the Black Eyed Peas' "I Got a Feeling." She invites anyone who is interested in these arrangements to email her as well. Check out the blog post for more information.

Thanks again to Kat for sharing! And I suggest to anyone who is reading this to consider transcribing their own popular song for a Boomwhacker.

Yay!

Beyond the Music has a new face!

Wake Up and Sing

My aunt shared with me a wonderful article about a music therapy program in Atlanta. Wake Up and Sing provides services for children with visual impairments and their families. Not only do they provide music for growth and development in young children, but they provide family counseling as well. Some families described in the article have already experienced great rewards from the program. To read more about the program, follow this link.

Friday Five: songs for addiction/substance abuse

5 songs for addiction and substance abuse:

1. "Addicted" by Kelly Clarkson
2. "We Cry" by The Script
3. "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
4. "Sunday Morning Call" by Oasis
5. "Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns

Cut & Paste Songwriting Activity

It is often difficult to put into words what we are feeling. It is even more difficult to write a song about it. This is a songwriting activity that won't instill fear in your patients once you introduce the session. It is cut & paste project. Anyone who can cut and paste (and even those who can't) can be successful.

In preparation for this activity, you must create a page of song lyrics (one line from different songs-about 30-35 per page). This number of lines (and whether you give them one, two, or three pages) should vary depending on the functioning level of your group.

Here are two pages of song lyrics (the goal is positive thinking) that you are free to use. There's a little bit of Counting Crows, Whitney Houston, Sara Bareilles, John Mayer, Rascal Flatts, Casting Crowns, Michael Jackson, and everything else in it.

The steps to this activity are simple enough:
1. Pass out lyric sheets.
2. Patients read through each line and put a mark by the ones they like (at least 10 lines).
3. Patients cut out the lyrics they put a mark by.
4. Patients rearrange song lyrics in a way that makes sense to them.
5. Patients can glue the lyrics to a piece of construction paper and decorate.

Adaptations:
a) People going through substance withdrawals or who are experiencing any sort of tremors will have difficulty cutting out lyrics. In this case, you may cut the lyrics for them OR allow them to handwrite the lyrics.
b) Use glue sticks rather than bottles of glue. The reasons for this are obvious, I think.
c) Patients can change lyrics/add to lyrics/etc. to make the song exactly how they'd like.
d) For people with visual impairments, make text large and easy to read. Give them fewer lines of lyrics to read so as not to overwhelm them.
e) It is easy for patients to get overwhelmed with the amount of words on a page. Plan accordingly by providing fewer choices: larger text, fewer lines, fewer pages.

I'm taking it step by step, brick by brick

Thank you, Whitney Houston for your song "Step By Step," which is perfect, by the way, for leading groups in a discussion about managing goals.

There are times when life is overwhelming, when we feel like it is more than we can bare. In order to keep our heads above the water, we have to keep moving on [thank you Kelly Clarkson ("Breakaway"), Tom Petty ("Time To Move On"), and Rascal Flatts ("Stand")]. We are always moving towards some goal, searching for a purpose in life. We make goals to survive. But when a goal seems unmanageable, how do we approach it? We must break it into small tasks, ones that ARE manageable and bring us closer what we want.

Today with my group at BHC, we simply discussed and practiced breaking overall goals into specific steps. To do this, I split the group into pairs and passed out a small percussion instrument to each. Their activity was to figure out how to play the instrument, write out the steps, then teach it to the other groups.

The point was to get so specific that it almost seemed silly. Take egg shakers for example:

1. Choose two egg shakers of similar size, weight, and sound.
2. Pick up both egg shakers, placing one in each hand.
3. Grasp the egg shaker in hands.
4. Shake the egg shaker.

Now, this seems too easy, but for anyone with a physical limitation in their upper body, each task is suddenly extremely important. That person may spend days or weeks trying to achieve just one step.

Also, I ask the group to imagine they weren't in the room to show a person how to play their instrument. How can you write each step so that the other groups could exactly duplicate your actions?

This is a difficult task, but an important one to understand that a goal that may seem overwhelming is suddenly much more manageable when you take it "One Step at a Time" (thanks Jordin Sparks!).