I needed an album cover for all this talk of songwriting.
As a part of my internship assignments, I have written 8 songs. These 8 songs were a part of my midterm and are now used at one of the contracts I see, which is pretty wild, if I do say so myself. This week, my assignment was to write two more songs. One for myself and one that addressed mental health needs with teenage clients. This was very different from writing a song about winter or waiting our turn.
It’s scary to write something like this. When you write a movement song, the judgment you open yourself up to is musical in nature. When you write a song about emotions, you realize that you are opening yourself up for someone to judge what you think and feel. It is so important to remember this when asking our clients to partake in songwriting.
Songwriting
My Process
Looking back at my previous posts, I realized I have never talked about my songwriting or my process. The songs I have written, for the most part, have fallen into two categories: songs where I came up with the lyrics or basis for my lyrics first, and songs where I started with a chord progression or a melodic line. For these two songs I wrote, the mental health songs were part of the first category, whereas the song for myself started with the music first.
Writing The Mental Health Song
To create my lyrics, I started with a brain dump of emotions. Emotions that I have felt recently, mixed with thoughts and feelings I expressed in songs I wrote when I was a teenager. I then sorted through to create possible lyrics. Next, I went to my sister. I ran possible lyrics past her because I wanted her opinion, as she had also dealt with mental health struggles in our youth, and I wanted a different perspective from my own. I wanted to make sure the content was relatable. I was afraid of it being too heavy, and that’s when she gave me the greatest quote. She said, “GraceAnne, I was clinically depressed. What kind of music do you think I was listening to?” Don’t worry, I have her permission to say that. I just had to add music.
Whether starting with lyrics or not, I usually tinker around on my guitar to get the chord progression or melodic line. Messing around, I really felt drawn to a harmonic minor feel. I messed around and borrowed major chords from it’s parallel major, creating a mixed modal sound. This is just a fancy way to say the chord progression doesn’t really belong to major or minor, which fits a song about being stuck and trying to move forward.
Writing A Song For Myself
I found this to be harder than anything, not just for the reason I discussed in the beginning of this article, but because once I wrote it down and shared it, it made it true. True, that these feelings were mine. I could have written a song about anything, but without me trying formed into a song about struggling. A song about being angry and tired. A song about how exhausting it is to be a chronically ill and neurodivergent woman in this world. It’s scary to feel what may be considered as non-positive emotions and then to own those feelings.
Due to the weather, the guitar I have been using keeps going out of tune. Whenever I pick it up, the low E string has gone close to a full step flat. I didn’t realize the guitar was pretty much in Drop D tuning when I was noodling around melodically. Once I did notice, I tuned it so it was actually in Drop D and kept going. I had created a melodic ostinato that became the backbone of my song. It made it sound like a grungy, early 2000’s song, so I decided to add power chords, because nothing says grunge like power chords. For lyrics, I improvised them on the spot. I kept adding until I found ones that I liked.
How They Can Be Used
If I were to use either of my songs with a client, my first thought would be a song discussion and maybe even a rewrite afterwards. I like to think that what I wrote is something others can relate to. I remember being a teen, struggling with my mental health and wanting to have these conversations. Kids have complex emotions and it does not do them a service to pretend they don’t and censor anything we may perceive as being too heavy, especially if they have already expressed those feelings and thoughts.
Songwriting In Sessions
There are so many ways and reasons to use songwriting in sessions. You can do MadLib-style fill-in-the-blank to reinforce parts of speech. Fill-in-the-blank to work on turn-taking or making a song more adapted to the client. You can do a piggyback/rewrite where you write part of a song or a whole song to a familiar tune. You can even write a song from scratch. All these ways work on self-expression, choice making, and create space for silliness, problem-solving, and emotional processing.
Some Of My Favorite Songwriting I Have Done
Two of my favorites, which I have done during my internship, were MadLib-style fill-in-the-blank. I did it with my school contracts. We worked on parts of speech, turn-taking, impulse control, and self-expression by creating the silliest version of “All Star” by Smash Mouth. It was so different at each school. It’s so special to see them laugh and enjoy themselves while creating music.
Another favorite songwriting project I did was during a practicum at Western. I saw a group of adults with mental health goals. We rewrote “Make Your Own Kind Of Music” by Cass Elliot after discussing it. We then took turns listing what we each thought made the others special, as well as our favorite things about each other, and used that as our lyrics, as well as ways of coping when “nobody else sings along”.
Last Thoughts
Songwriting isn’t easy, but it is so rewarding to have that finished product. Songwriting is such a valuable tool to use in sessions, but also as a music therapist needing music that fits a specific need. I used to dread writing music, but there is something so nice about being able to create a song when I can’t find a song or a song doesn’t exist for the specific purpose I need it for.
I spent a lot of time combing through this Spotify playlist, along with others, in my search. Which songs are you familiar with?
A couple weeks ago my assignment was a rap challenge. To be honest, that was terrifying. I don’t know the first thing about rap. It’s not music that I have been exposed to a lot during my life. I mostly listen to ‘pop girlies’, indie, and musicals.
My assignment was to “create 3 rap based interventions to be used with clients across a variety of settings” and to “identify 5-10 appropriate rap songs that can be used with teens in the clinical setting.” Today, I’m writing about the interventions I came up with.
The first thing I did was go to my supervisors and get clarification. They weren’t expecting me to rap, right? The music I have been exposed to has used words I cannot, should not, and will not use. The idea of me trying to rap is one that would easily keep me up at night. Luckily for everyone in the world, they told me they use recorded music in sessions.
The second thing I did was get music recommendations from probably every person and source I could find and then sat down and really listened. I read through the lyrics of so many songs and while looking for music, had to face biases I didn’t realize I even had. Why don’t I listen to rap? Why do I feel the need to try and search for songs with deeper meaning? Do I do this with other genres of music when it comes to looking for music for session planning? What do I actually know about rap and it’s significance to culture? How do I deal with censorship? How much do I censor? Those are just some of those deep questions I had to ask myself.
Intervention One
Body Percussion- “Just Wanna Rock”- Lil Uzi Vert
For my first intervention, I picked “Just Wanna Rock” by Lil Uzi Vert. I really liked the beat and quickly got an idea from a session I was planning for one of my contracts at that time. What if I used this song for a body percussion intervention? When looking on YouTube to see if there were any play along body percussion videos for any rap songs, I found none. So let’s make one.
Instead of a play along video, I got the idea to print out little cards with the body percussion action on it. It would be like the play along video but tangible. I could mix and match them to create different patterns in real time. We do something similar with one of the classes we see at Hope, but instead of body percussion, the cards have different rhythms. The students then use the cards to create their own rhythm. What if I did the same thing but with body percussion. Students would work on sustained attention, following directions, respecting the choices of other’s, turn taking, and self expression.
I don’t currently have clients I would use this with, but it is something I would like to do in the future.
Intervention Two
Movement- “Shake It To The Max”- Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng, Shenseea
The second intervention I created was movement to “Shake It To The Max” by Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng, and Shenseea. For this movement intervention, I would have the clients create a dance together but having each client choose or create a dance move. I have done something similar at Sparc, but have never done it with a rap/hip hop song.
To do this, I would create a dance move pick list, a visual with different choices of dance moves. I would encourage group members to come up with their own moves or pick from the visual and then demonstrate/teach it to their peers. We would then chain these movement together with the music. Participants would work on gross motor, self expression, making choices, following directions, sequencing, social interaction, and respecting the choices of other’s. To further adapt, you could record it and make your own music video, if participants are willing.
Intervention Three
Song Discussion- “Wishing Well”- Juice WRLD
For the third intervention, I decided I wanted to do a song discussion. When looking through music, I came across “Wishing Well” by Juice WRLD and chose it. I have done song discussions while in school at WIU, including during one of my practicums, but never with rap music or younger clients. In listening to different songs, I saw that rap doesn’t shy away from topics we don’t like to talk about such as depression and drug use, this song included. I think sometimes we want to pretend that youth don’t deal with these issues. We all know that isn’t true.
In using this for a song discussion, I think it could be a bridge to talk about hard topics like depression, self worth, drug use, and the feeling of helplessness. On the flip side this song talks about a wishing well, opening dialogue for wishes we have had that haven’t come true and wishes we have for the future. Facilitating this, I would have clients circle/highlight words and phrases that stood out to them, ask about their thoughts overall on the song, and work through questions, letting them expand and direct the conversation, within reason. I would end the discussion by focusing on the symbolism of the wishing well in the song and ask about their wishes past, present, or future. Of course, this would go differently depending of the setting and the participation from clients.
I have not done a song discussion yet in my internship. I feel like when I do, I will realize that there’s a lot I need to learn and that it is different from my planning on an assignment.
Last Thoughts
I haven’t had the chance to use any of these interventions with my clients. That is not to say that I won’t in some compacity. It might be with a different song or used for another intervention. I could see myself using rap with one of the schools I see in Taylorville. I’m excited to keep learning and branching out into other genres of music I don’t have experience in.
A picture of me in motion at an elementary school playing jingle bells to “Jingle Bells”.
Christmas is less than a week away, so of course we’ve got to jump into Christmas and holiday music. As a music therapist, or maybe even just a human, it is impossible to not be hearing or using Christmas music at this time of year. I thought I would do a quick dive into how I, as a music therapy intern, have used Christmas or holiday music in my sessions, these past couple of weeks.
Instrument Playing
Instrument playing is an intervention I often do with my clients that I see throughout the week. When playing instruments, clients work on fine and gross motor skills, range of motion, impulse control, following directions, and sustained attention. The last couple weeks I have used “Jingle Bells” played with jingle bells, an Listen and Learn rewrite of “Little Drummer Boy” called “Little Drummer Boys and Girls” played with lollypop drums, and shakers to Laurie Berkner’s winter song “I Live Inside A Snow Globe”.
Jingle bells are commonly associated with Christmas and the winter holidays, which makes it an easy choice to play along to any Christmas song. Clinicians can shout out directions, such “play up high” or “play fast” between verses or rewrite familiar tunes to imbed directions into the lyrics.
Movement
Similar to instrument playing, clients work on fine and gross motor skills, range of motion, following directions, sustained attention, decision making, and sequencing during different movement interventions. It is easy to adapt Christmas music to movement. Some songs that I have used are “Let It Go”, “Jingle Bell Rock”, and “I Live Inside A Snow Globe”. This week, students participated in body percussion to play along videos of “Let It Go” and “Jingle Bell Rock”. Younger students and toddlers in our Listen and Learn class held onto scarves and waved them in different directions. Another movement intervention is dancing. Dance moves can be choreographed to Christmas music by the facilitator or participants. This is also a fun way to work on sequencing.
Sing-Along
This is where I have been doing a majority of Christmas and holiday music. At contracts like Hope and Sparc spend time doing sing-along. At Hope, students make choices and express themselves by picking songs from visual sheet of songs during the last ten minutes of the session. Songs on this list include “I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas”, “The Grinch”, and “Frosty The Snowman”. Group members at Sparc raise their hands and take turns verbally asking for a specific song. Both groups work on decision making and respecting others’ choices.
Sing-along songs can also be used for emotional regulation. Facilitators can use familiar Christmas music played at a slower tempo and finger picked to promote relaxation and help with high sensory stimulation. Cool down songs are often planned into our sessions at Hope. Over the past three weeks, I have used “Silver Bells” as a cool down if one is needed.
Songwriting
While not a session that I planned or facilitated, my supervisor, Emma planned a fill-in-the-blank songwriting intervention to “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” for one of the classes at Hope. Students participated, worked on sustained attention, self expression, and decision making. Mad-libs styled songwriting can be applied to many songs. In this holiday season, it is a way to incorporate songs of the season without having to do them verbatim. While I love Christmas music, even I get tired of “Jingle Bells” after the fiftieth time. Through songwriting, participants still get to interact with music they enjoy, but get to be creative, silly, and express themselves while still working on their goals.
Bingo
A huge hit everywhere I go, is music Bingo. I had never done it prior to my internship. It is a great way to incorporate recorded music in order to authentically play clients’ preferred music. I have used music Bingo in a variety of settings and with a variety of populations. In doing music bingo, participants work on sustained attention, impulse control, listening, and fine motor. There are so many types of Christmas related bingos you can create. This week, a Bingo we did was songs from Christmas movies. It also opens up an avenue for discussions. If done with older adults, who are stereotyped to love Bingo, a facilitator can easily move the conversation towards memories surrounding the song, Christmas traditions, and Christmases past.
Takeaway
Not everyone loves Christmas music, but it is commonly requested at this time of year. It is only natural to integrate it into our sessions. Therapy should have the magic of Christmas and every other winter holiday. I have learned from my supervisors how to use holiday music in ways I would have never thought of.
What is your favorite holiday song? How could you incorporate it into a session, beyond sing-along or Bingo?
My sister and I with our Thanksgiving desserts we made together.
I know that writing a list of what I am thankful for as my blog for this week may be cliche, but sometimes things are cliche for a reason. A reason why is because they are good. I’m currently in my fourth month of my internship at MTC and life is super busy in my internship and outside of it. Sometimes a reminder of all we have to be grateful for during the crazy times, makes those crazy times a little better. So without further ado, this is my list of things I have to be grateful for in all aspects of my life.
Family
I’m very close with my family and I always have been. I realize how lucky I am though this year. A year ago, we didn’t know if we’d ever have another holiday with my grandpa. My grandparents have been a huge part of my life and practically helped raise me along with my mom. This time last year, I was sitting in a chair next to my grandpa while he was in the ICU from a double subdural hematoma. This year, I was able to move back to my home area. I see my family a lot more often than I was able to when I was a couple hours away in Macomb. I’m so grateful that I have been able to be more involved. I am so close with my sister and my mom and they have both been so supportive of me as I do my internship and just go through regular life.
My internship
I am so thankful for my internship for so many reasons. I spent so much time looking for an internship, sending out applications, and doing interviews. I was worried that I would never find one and when I did it was almost serendipitous in how it turned out. MTC is twenty minutes away from where I grew up and only two minutes away from where I was already living after completing my coursework at WIU. Not only that, but I had talked to one of owners of the business before I ever went off to college about how I knew I wanted to go to school for music therapy. It has turned out to be so much of what I was looking for and more. I have always been interested in private practice, so getting to do so is a dream come true. The atmosphere is so welcoming. I wish I could tell myself from a year ago or even six months ago to not worry so much about thinking I’ll never find an internship. Everyone says this, but you’ll find one. No matter where you end up, you’ll learn so much.
My friends
Life is a crazy ride and I don’t know where I would be without my friends. Making friends has never been super easy for me but I have a few close friends. People who have supported me in my dreams; to keep going when things got tough. They have been there when graduation felt impossibly far or when my life felt like it was falling apart. Though my close friends are comprised of my best friend, who is now living all the way over in Alaska, weirdly enough my ex (we’re on good terms and she is a big supporter of me and my partner), my sister, and my partner. I am so lucky to have also made new friends in my co-workers.
My coworkers
It can be scary being the new person to enter the mix anywhere, but I have been so lucky. Like I stated before, I don’t always make friends easily, but this group has accepted me so graciously. I can be awkward and talk a lot, especially when I’m nervous, but they have made me feel so included and at home here. My biggest belief is that we have something to learn from everyone and in this time, I have already learned so much from these wonderful women.
My lesson students
When I started teaching lessons at MTC, I was terrified. A little voice in my head said that I didn’t know what I was doing and that I wasn’t qualified. Now it’s months later and I love it so much. I am so thankful for my students for helping ignite this passion. I have learned so much about teaching but my own skills too. I feel like I have become a better singer, pianist, and ukulele player through it all. I also have found a confidence in it that I did not have before. I love seeing my student work hard and it’s so great when they make a breakthrough.
All my clients
I’m thankful for all my clients. I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without them. They bring so much joy and energy into my day. They have made me a better music therapist and facilitator. I have learned so much that I didn’t get a chance to in school. There’s something about getting to do what you love that makes each day worth it, even on tough days. Seeing effect of how music helps them is like no other. Even if it feels like a small victory, I love being able to see them grow. I’m so proud of my clients and everything they achieve. I never thought I would be at a school working with kids for a majority of my week, but it has been so rewarding.
My music education
I will forever be grateful for the music education I received throughout my life. In school, my teachers helped foster my love of music. In high school, I was able to do challenging pieces of music and take multiple semesters of music theory and composition. I learned about my voice and was able to spend time understanding the foundational building blocks of music as well as composing your own music. This paved a way for me to study music. I already knew I wanted to go into music therapy, but this gave me a leg up. In college, theory 1 and 2 ended up being a review for me. I ended up doing even more complicated music in my time at Western. n that time, I learned so much about the voice and all the intricate parts that are involved in singing, which has greatly impacted the lessons I teach. I was able to learn piano, continue my guitar skills, and create memories from such great experiences such as getting to perform with the only choir to get to represent Illinois at a regional conference to being one of the first choirs to debut a new masterworks.
Having my necessities
We all know things are a little wild in the world right now. I am so very thankful for all that I have. I have an apartment, with heat, that is stocked with food. I have clothes, a bed, and a car to get to work. Am I barely scraping by some months? For sure, but I’m getting by. In a time where so many don’t have these necessities, I am so thankful that I do. And I know that if I ever not being able to afford these necessities, my family wouldn’t blink twice at the thought of helping me through.
Final Thoughts
It can be hard to remember all we have to be thankful for in these times, hence, why I did this to remind myself. Maybe this has led you to reflect on what you’re thankful for. I know I’m thankful for the opportunity to write this and the fact that you are reading this.
On my first day of internship, I wrote the date on the inside cover of my notebook. That date was almost three months ago. So what does the life of a music therapy intern look like three-ish months in.
Weekly checklist
As an intern, I have a list of things I have to do every week. This includes: daily journals, where I write about my day working with clients and about how I felt; weekly assignments, which lately have been songwriting or recording; weekly repertoire checks, where I learn two songs and then lead them in my supervision; and bi-weekly blog posts, like this one. I also plan interventions and sessions for the contracts and clients I see, but this changes every week as I take on more responsibilities and lead more independently.
Mondays
I spend most of my day at Hope School. While there, I see four classes with my supervisor Emma. Before and in between sessions, we work in our office. I spend that time preparing music, writing documentation, and if I have time, writing my journal or working on other tasks I need to complete that week. After the school day, I come back to MTC where I work on assignments and observe a music therapy session led by Emma. I end my day writing in my journal about everything that happened.
Tuesdays
I again spend most of my day at Hope School, but Tuesdays are much busier. I see six classes with Emma. Many of the classes are back to back or close to it, so I don’t always get a chance to document after each session. This was hard at first, but I learned that I remember more than I thought I would. Once the school day is through, I drive back to MTC where I work on assignments before having two lessons and a session back to back. My first lesson is teaching Ukulele, then I teach most of an adapted lesson with Emma, and then straight into facilitating half a session with Molly. After it all, I write my journal entry.
Wednesdays
I start my morning off at SPARC. It is so much fun! I meet Molly there and then we rock out with group members. On special occasions, we bust out some music bingo. I then go back to Hope School where I see two more classes. When Molly and I get there we have a lot of time to prep. In that time, I document for SPARC, make sure I am ready for my classes, and work on any other tasks I have that week. I am fully facilitating both classes which is exciting and even doing one class without Molly supervising in the room. The rest of my day I spend working on assignments, meeting with Katey, one of the owners of the company over zoom, and teaching a voice lesson. Soon, I’ll be leading an evening Listen and Learn class.
Thursdays
By the time I get to Thursday, I really need the break it brings. I start the morning leading Listen and Learn, our class that serves ages 0-3. Then have time to myself to do whatever I need. I usually spend that time going home and taking a short nap and eating before heading back to the office. Sometimes, I stay at the office if there is a lot I need to get done. Once I’m back, I have a lot of time to work on assignments and prepare before supervision. During supervision I have my weekly rep check. I like to spend the twenty minutes before supervision going over my music one last time. Supervision is a time where I meet with my supervisors and talk about my week, my upcoming week, internship, and life in general. After supervision, I teach three lessons and finish by writing my journal.
Fridays
My Fridays always look a little different. Every other week I go to Taylorville. While there I see three different classes, each at a different school. The drive to Taylorville is long so I always make sure to put on a good playlist before leaving. On the weeks that I am not at Taylorville, I observe a session in our clinic. I spend the rest of my day working on finishing assignments before and in between clients. Later in the afternoon, I teach an adapted piano lesson and lead a music therapy session. After doing documentation for my client, I spend any time afterwards finishing my blog post, assignment, and daily journal.
Going Home
Most nights I don’t get home until 6 or 6:30. On a lucky night, I’m out of the office by 5:30. But what do I do with my time? I spend a lot of my time napping. Internship can be a very tiring ordeal. Lately, I have been working on having a work life balance so that I do more than work, eat, and sleep. Recently, I have been catching up on TV shows like Stranger Things, reading webcomics, and knitting (at least attempting).
Every internship is different. It is easy to compare journeys, but just like our uniqueness as individuals, each internship is unique. Every intern needs something different. I, for example, am not equally busy all week due to health issues that affect my energy levels. Because of this, my internship will be longer than my peers from Western or my co-workers who did their own internships at MTC.
As part of my internship, I have weekly assignments, some of which contribute to larger projects like my midterm. For these assignments, I have to write and record songs. While I have written songs for myself and for sessions at WIU, this is my first time recording them. At first glance, it can be really daunting, but like many things, it gets easier with practice.
For these recording projects, I have been using SoundTrap. I have used GarageBand once on my iPad, but recording is much easier on a laptop. GarageBand is the product I hear most about, but since my computer is not an Apple product, I do not have access. Lucky for me, one of my colleagues also doesn’t have an Apple computer and recommended SoundTrap. I am not good with technology, but the process of recording has been super straightforward.
Materials
Of course, you need my laptop to create any of this. You also need a microphone and any instruments you are going to use. Some things you may not have thought of, though, are headphones and a MIDI chord. Headphones will help when you are recording. You need to hear what you are recording over, but you don’t want it playing out loud, so that it can’t be picked up in the recording, plus you can just hear it better over headphones. A midi chord is going to be very helpful when it comes to adding piano. This way, you can plug it into your keyboard, and what you play is directly recorded onto the software. You can also use MIDI to record a baseline, synth, or even a guitar riff.
The Groundwork
I found out early on to start with a big, loud, steady beat. My supervisor, Katey, had suggested starting with a beat, but I thought the metronome was enough. Spoiler alert, it wasn’t. I found out quickly that no matter how steady a beat I thought I had on the guitar, I was wrong. When creating the drum rhythm, it shows you a grid broken down to the sixteenth level of each beat. It also gives you many choices of drums, starting with kick, snare, and highhat. To give myself a steadying pulse, I had the kick drum play on every beat in a measure. I started with this. Nothing fancy, just a pulse that I could blast through my headphones.
The Guitar
The hard part, at least for me, was recording the guitar. I had to have my steady pulse turned way up in my ears to try and keep up with it. I didn’t realize until recording how easy it is to get slightly off beat when playing guitar. It wasn’t noticeable to me until putting a computer-created drum beat, that is never off, alongside it. This part took me quite a lot of time for each song I recorded.
There are multiple ways to do it. You can chunk it. You can find natural stopping points in the song and record up to or from that point. This can change by the song. Some don’t lend themselves to this way as easily. You can try to record the whole song in one take. I did this often, and it was hard. If your song repeats, you can record that section and loop it. Which can be tricky when it comes to lining up with the beat, but it’s not impossible. I have done a mixture of all three. Commonly, I started off trying to record the entire song. If there were mistakes and I didn’t want to rerecord the entire thing, I would split the track and try to record that one spot. After recording, I would change the sound of the amp. There are many choices to choose from. I always chose “clean” so there were fewer effects and sounded more like my guitar. Once I had a guitar track I was happy with, I did not touch it again.
The Next Step
My next step was to record the main vocals. Once your beat and guitar track are set, recording vocals is easier. Like the guitar, you can do a single take or break it into chunks, but it’s easier to chunk vocals since you can pause after each verse or chorus.
The Fun Stuff
After I had my basics, which were all that was required of me, I could just mess around and add what I thought sounded good.
Diversifying The Beat
At this point, the only beat I had was a steady pulse. Now that I recorded the vocals and guitar and can hear it all together, I find it easier to add on to the drum rhythm. Make it more complicated than just a pulse, if I want to. I’m not super knowledgeable when it comes to making drum beats, so I just mess around until I find something I like. There are also pre-done tracks that you can add for anything, not just guitar. I personally use the pattern makers to create my rhythms, but there is a drum kit option too. Like with the guitar, you can change the sound of the drum.
Using The MIDI Keyboard
When I hear the word keyboard when talking about music, I assume piano. While a piano is involved, you can use a MIDI keyboard to create different sounds. On Soundtrap, you can use it for piano, synth, bass, guitar, and even orchestral instruments. You can do it using your computer keyboard, but it is easier to do on an actual keyboard. To do it on a keyboard, you use a MIDI chord. One end plugs into the computer and the other into the keyboard. You can then change it to whatever instrument sound you want. Just like playing piano, you play the pitch you want, and it is recorded. I used this feature to add guitar riffs, bass lines, piano background, and synth.
Last Touches
You are almost done! The last thing I mess with is the balance. On the left side of the screen, it shows you all your tracks. It is easy to adjust the volume and reverb on each track. Once I am happy with how it sounds, I save it multiple times and then download it as an MP3 file. It can be a lot of work, but it is always so cool to hear the final product and know you created it.
The chart topping songs from the past couple months. Will these songs be a part of your reminiscence bump?
After writing my last few blog posts, I started to think about the impact of the music we prefer in our youth and young adulthood. One of the things I remember learning in college is that when you are going to a nursing home and working in memory care, use the music that would have been popular when these clients were teens to their late twenties. It made me wonder if we are attached to music from our adolescence and young adulthood. I know a lot of adults who still listen to the music from the 80’s because they say it was the best music to be made. I also know that musical memory is one of the last things to go, so we use that quite often in our practice. Those two ideas led me to my assumption: we are attached to and prefer music from our adolescence because it’s tied to our identity and memories. I decided to try and find some research literature on this idea.
My reasoning
It is during this time in our lives that we start to form our identities. I think of Junior high, High school, and early adulthood as the time that we figure out who we are, what our values are, our likes and dislikes, our beliefs, how we see the world and others, and our role in relationships and the workforce. So it makes sense that the music that we listen to at that time would be tied to that identity of ourselves that we build. Identity is also influenced by the people we are around, such as our friends and family, as well as our environment.
My other reason for why we may be attached to and prefer music from that time is because of memories. There are so many milestones we go through during that time in our lives, which means there are so many memories of big events and music then tied to those events. A song that played during your first kiss, graduation, or your wedding.
Research on music preferences
I read a research article by Bonneville-Roussy, Rentfrow, Xu, & Potter (2013) that collected data on musical engagement and preferences. For the purpose of this blog, I am going to focus on the preferences data.
Method
In the study 254,825 participants between the ages of 12 and 65 filled out an online questionnaire. Each age had at least 164 participants. Music preferences were assessed by using a test called the STOMP-R or Short Test of Music Preferences. Participants used a 7-point Likert scale to express how much they liked each genre. Another test used was the ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) was used to assess the Big Five domains of personality: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Music genres were assessed and categorized by MUSIC, the groupings being mellow, unpretentious, sophisticated, intense, and contemporary.
Results
The scores of how much they liked the music genres were then compared to their ages and their results in the Big Five personality domains. Preferences for music categorized as mellow, unpretentious, and sophisticated increased as age increased, while preference for music categorized as intense and contemporary decreased as age increased. There was also a relation between the five domains and the scores. Participants who showed higher levels of openness rated mellow, sophisticated, and intense music genres higher. Those with higher levels of agreeableness rated unpretentious music genres higher. High extraversion led to higher ratings of unpretentious and contemporary music. Lastly, higher conscientiousness led to higher ratings of unpretentious music genres but lower ratings of intense music genres.
What does this mean
The results indicate that our music preferences seem to correlate with our personality, an integral part of our identity. It is also worth noting that categories like mellow and contemporary are most popular during young adulthood, a time of forming close relationships, and unpretentious and sophisticated music is most popular in adulthood when family and career are the focus. This means that our preferences may also be in relation to our stage in life. Our big five domains grow and change as we grow and change. Neuroticism is higher during adolescence, and agreeableness and conscientiousness are low but they don’t necessarily stay that way.
So why do we use music from their youth and young adulthood with memory care patients? The answer is a phenomenon called the reminiscence bump.
Research on music and the reminiscence bump
The reminiscence bump is the “disproportionate recall of memories from between the ages of 10 to 30 years in comparison with other lifetime periods”. We know that music is tied to memory and that music memory is one of the last forms of memory to go. The article by Jakubowski, Eerola, Tillmann, Perrin, & Heine (2020) studied reminiscence bumps in music-related memories.
Methods
There were 470 participants between the ages of 18 to 82. These participants were shown the titles and artists of 111 popular songs that spanned from 1950 to 2015. Popular songs were decided by picking songs that topped the charts during these years. Participants then rated how familiar they were with the song, how much they liked it, and the “degree to which they had autobiographical memories associated with each song”.
Results
The respondents were split into four groups based on their age, with a similar number of participants in each group. All four of the groups showed a reminiscence bump for songs that appeared in the charts when the participants were between the ages of 5 and 14. For 42 to 55-year-olds, that age extended to 19. For participants 56 and up the age extended to 24. When looking at the data, the highest point of the reminiscence bump was between 15 to 19 for the two older groups and 10 to 14 for the younger two groups. The songs rated highest in familiarity were from when the participants were 10 to 19. While most respondents showed higher scores of liking the music from their reminiscence bump, the youngest group showed higher ratings for music of their parents’ reminiscence bump.
Most liked music decade
18-29- 1976-1985
30-41- 1981-1985
42-55- 1976-1985
55+- 1961-1965
What this means
We recall memories from our reminiscence bump better than memories from other points in our lives. This carries over to music too. The music we listen to during those ages is important in recalling memories of that time. Our preferences for music do not always match the popular music of that time.
Take away
I was correct about memory and identity being tied to music, but I was off about our preferences.
We don’t reach the age of thirty and just stop listening to new music. Like everything else in our lives, our preferences continue to grow and change. Just because you listened to scene music when you were a teen does not mean that is the music you listen to for the rest of your life, for better or worse. This isn’t to say that you won’t still enjoy it, but that your brain is not locked into only liking music from when you were fourteen.
Something that surprised me
As for those adults that I know who are still obsessed with 80’s music from their teens, the study showed that people of all ages ranked music from the 70’s and 80’s higher in their liking.
GraceAnne
My sources
Bonneville-Roussy, A., Rentfrow, P. J., Xu, M. K., & Potter, J. (2013). Music through the ages: Trends in musical engagement and preferences from adolescence through middle adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(4), 703–717. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033770
Jakubowski, K., Eerola, T., Tillmann, B., Perrin, F., & Heine, L. (2020). A Cross-Sectional Study of Reminiscence Bumps for Music-Related Memories in Adulthood. Music & Science, 3. https://doi.org/10.1177/2059204320965058 (Original work published 2020)
Some of the instruments I saw at the bluegrass festival. I decided to cover their faces since I didn’t ask permission to take a photo or post this photo.
Every week I have supervision with my supervisors to talk about my week in internship. Last week we were talking about lessons and adapted lessons and how our main goal and philosophy is to foster the love of music. I started to think about how that pertains to me as an individual and what that means in music therapy and as a facilitator. We think about it so much in the context of our clients but how do I foster the love of music for myself as I go through this internship. Burn out is real and very prevalent in fields like this where we work with people in health care. How do I stave off burn out and make sure that I continue to love music in and outside the context of work. These are some of the ways.
Making music with others
Bluegrass festival
About a month ago, I went to the bluegrass festival in New Salem, IL. I had been once before, but that was at least 6 years ago. When I had gone before, I had so much fun and got to see so many cool instruments and watch so many talented people come together and perform. I had been wanting to go back for a while, but didn’t really have the chance when I was away at school.
At the festival, people just bring their instruments and anyone can join. There are clusters of people throughout the site. Most groups of musicians there already know each other and play together outside of this event. I knew I wanted to write about this event so I wrote down every cool thing I saw and got to do. By the time I got there, many people had already left, but below are the instruments I saw. I had hoped to see a Hammered Dulcimer but I didn’t see one.
Banjo
Fiddle
Guitar
Harmonica
Mandolin
Stand Up Bass
Steel Guitar
Steel Slide Guitar
Spoons
Tennessee Music Box
As a musician it fills me with excitement to see and learn about instruments I have never seen before, like the Tennessee Music Box. Doing some research, it turned out to be a part of the Dulcimer family. It is a box with soundholes with a fretted neck on top of the box. The one I saw only had one string. From my google search they seem to be homemade. Seeing homemade instruments was also not uncommon at the event. I saw two homemade Stand Up Basses. One was hand carved and collapsible and the other was a large tree branch with a tuning peg drilled into it that sat on a metal basin with one tuned string.
I had wanted to bring my guitar and join in but I am not super well-versed on bluegrass music and didn’t think I was a good enough guitarist to do so. Most of the musicians out there just know the songs by memory or pick it up when whoever picks the song calls out the key. I ended up singing and harmonizing to the songs they were playing, whether I knew them or not. I have always been quick at picking songs up or at least predicting the melody.
One of the gentlemen there found out I am a music therapist and that I play the guitar so he offered to let me play his guitar. I had never played a steel guitar before so I jumped at the chance. I was just noodling around and testing to see how easy it would be to barre on the guitar when they noticed. They told me that none of them play barre chords and that it was laughable that I thought I wasn’t good enough to bring my guitar.
At this point the event was ending and everyone was putting away their instruments. I was still messing around and decided to play one of the songs in a book this gentleman owned. Next thing I knew everyone had taken their instruments out and started playing with me. It was amazing and not something that I’ll forget anytime soon. They even asked me if I wanted to join them when they meet once a month to jam out.
Enjoying music in different modalities
Dancing
A couple weeks back, the community theater my dad is involved in hosted a one night only dance class. I love dancing but I have never taken classes. It was for charity and my partner said he would go with me, so we did. The dance that night was East Coast Swing. Although I have never taken a dance class, I was taught East Coast Swing by my grandfather at a young age. It is something that is very special to me. All my life he has saved me dance and since he is no longer in the health to save me that dance, getting to do this made me feel connected to that part of myself. I also got to share the love of this dance that I have been doing since I was five or six with my partner. Plus there was a live big band there playing swing music. I love big bands and I love swing music so it just made the night even better.
My partner and I were not the greatest dancers but we definitely had the most fun. All feet survived the night without being stepped on too badly. We danced and laughed until my face turned red and I had to sit down. It was a nice reminder that music can be enjoyed outside making it and performing. Also only having a short time, challenged my need to be perfect at everything on the first try and to instead lean into the fun of it all.
Listening for fun
The Life Of A Showgirl
Recently Taylor Swift’s new album came out. I rarely listen to music outside of the context of work. I spend so much time listening to music that I need to learn or familiarize myself with that I don’t listen to much for my enjoyment. It has gotten to the point that listening to new albums can feel like a job. Although I don’t seem to be on the majority of this one, I loved the music. I started listening to it outside of my time in the car. I realize there are so many different albums from different artists that I never got around to listening to in its entirety. As I work to enjoy listening to music for just the sake of enjoyment, I hope to catch up on some.
Some things I want to get back to
Making music for myself
Since high school, I have had assignments where I had to write music, whether for music theory, a songwriting unit, or internship. While I have a love hate relationship with songwriting, somewhere along the way I stopped writing music for my enjoyment. That is not to say that I don’t enjoy writing songs for my clients, but it is no longer a leisure activity or a way to express myself. Sometimes it can feel like I have used up all my creative energy at work and by the time I have any downtime I just want to turn my brain off instead of doing anything creative.
My thoughts
The ways we enjoy music and beyond is how our clients enjoy music. I think it is important to experience music in different ways to better understand our clients and the role that music plays in their life.
Making sure I continue to love music will be an ongoing mission throughout my life as a professional and as a person. I don’t think I’ll ever not love music but I could see it becoming more of a job and less of something I enjoy. Our connection and love for music is part of what makes us good at our job and successful. I never want to lose that.
As a continuation from the last post I decided to take a closer look at my music tastes over the last ten years and create a timeline, or sorts, of the music that defined those times of my life. Not only is it a cool reminder of all the music I have ever enjoyed but allows me to share parts of who I am with you, the reader. Looking over my music tastes of the last ten years I learned that my taste in music did not change much and I still regularly listen to most of these artists and songs. I guess cheers for consistency and predictability.
High school
Musicals
Hamilton- Satisfied
Wicked- As Long As You’re Mine
Anastasia- In a crowd of thousands
Falsettos- I’m breaking down
I really got into Hamilton and Wicked my freshman year of High School. Everyone was listening to Hamilton and I but I wanted to be “cool” and not listen to it. I quickly gave in when I got tired of having no clue what anyone at school was talking about. I listened to the entire album, read all the lyrics, and then watched a bootleg that someone sent me when I was home sick one day. At the end of my junior year/ beginning of my senior year I got really into Anastasia and Falsettos. They are both still two of my favorites. I ended up seeing them both my senior year. I got front row tickets to see Falsettos in Chicago when they were touring as a graduation/birthday gift to myself.
Indie/folk
Birdy- Words as weapons
The Civil Wars- Dance me to the end of love
Hunger Games sound track- tomorrow will be kinder
O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack- Down To The River To Pray
Incidentally, I became aware of Birdy and The Civil Wars from movie soundtracks like the Hungers Games soundtrack, which they both appear on, and The Fault In Our Stars soundtrack. The Hunger Games soundtrack is one of my most favorite soundtracks followed by O Brother, Where Art Thou. I love folksy music. I love the focus on the lyrics and the emotions involved. Birdy’s music always calms me. The Civil Wars always makes my heart happy with the tight intertwined harmonies. The Hunger Games and O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtracks make me nostalgic. The song Tomorrow Will Be Kinder is one of my favorite songs. It comforts me and has gotten me through so many hard times.
Pop
Pentatonix- If I Ever Fall In Love
5sos- Broken Home
Panic! At The Disco – Death of A bachelor
Shawn Mendes- Don’t Be A Fool
Taylor Swift- Getaway Car
Pop music will never go out of style, at least not for me. Looking at this list there is a wide variety. In my freshman year of high school I was really into Pentatonix. That year, I got to see them at the State Fair. They were my first concert I went to. I knew every song off of their self named album and knew every harmony. Recently, I put my phone on shuffle and one of the songs came up. I was surprised that I still knew every word and note. Another band I was really into my freshman year was 5 Seconds of Summer. My friends really liked them so I sat down and listened to every song. It was also during high school that I established my love for Shawn Mendes, Taylor Swift, and Panic! At the Disco.
College to now
Theater
Greatest Showman- Never Enough
Bonnie and Clyde- How ‘bout A Dance
Falsettos- You Gotta Die Sometime
Wicked (2024)- Dancing Through Life
My love of theater continued with me to college. My freshman year I did not have a car so my mom would have to drive me two hours to WIU anytime I went back to school or came home. It became a tradition that we would listen and sing-along to the Greatest Showman soundtrack. This tradition lasted until I got a car my junior year. I still love theater and was even in Cinderella at the Muni the summer of 2024.
Jazz
Ella Fitzgerald
Sarah Vaughan
Chet Baker
Frank Sinatra
Laufey
It is impossibly hard for me to pick my favorite songs, so instead I went with some of my favorite artists. Jazz has always been a part of my life. Every year my parents went to a jazz festival hosted by a distant family member. My great-grandpa was a jazz pianist who played with famous musicians like Louis Armstrong. I listened and danced to it with my grandparents. In junior high and high school I was in the jazz choir. Once I was in college I was the only freshman who made vocal jazz and when it was no longer offered I sang in the jazz combo program. I became really close friends with jazz studies majors and spent a lot of time listening to jazz music. I hope to, at some point, get back into singing jazz.
Pop
Harry Styles- Treat People With Kindness
Olivia Rodrigo- 1 step forward, 3 steps back
Sabrina Carpenter- Please, Please, Please
Chappel Roan- Pink pony club
The summer of 2022 my sister and I worked at a kids entertainment place and I was our main source of transportation, so I ended up listening to a lot of music. Harry Styles’ new album just came out so I spent a lot of time listening to his new and old albums. I was also still rocking out to Olivia Rodrigos’ album that came out the summer before. Two summers later I was living with my dad and driving to Springfield from Lincoln almost everyday. Again, I listened to a lot of music on the drive: mainly Chappel Roan and “Please, Please, Please” by Sabrina Carpenter. Pop music has always had a place in my life but when I think back to these summers and all the driving I did, these songs and artists come to mind.
Taylor Swift
-Paper Rings
-Epiphany
-All Too Well (10 min)
-Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
-Opalite
I couldn’t talk about pop music and not include Taylor Swift. My sister and I used to listen to her when we were young and I always knew her songs that were on the radio, but I really got into her music in the last ten years and even more so during the pandemic. Folklore came out covid and it was music I really turned to at that time. “Epiphany” really summed up how I felt at that time.
Soundtrack to an important relationship
Harry Styles- Late Night Talking
Lake Street Dive- Don’t You Know That I Know
MUNA- I Know A Place
Lizzy McAlpine- Apple pie
During covid I started dating someone, though we are no longer together they are still a special person in my life. It was my first real relationship and the first time I fell in love with someone. While we were dating we made a playlist together of songs that we loved or made us think of each other. When I think of that time, I think of these songs.
Singer-songwriter
Sleeping At Last- Two
Ben Platt- In Case You Don’t Live Forever
Noah Kahan- Call Your Mom
Lizzy McAlpine- Come Down Soon
I didn’t know exactly how to define these songs that I have loved so much. I have always loved acoustic songs that put the emphasis on the lyrics and the emotions. These are songs that have had that meaning. My sister loves the artist Sleeping At Last and when I finally got around to listening, his song “Two” stood out to me. It is about the second enneagram personality. It’s about someone who struggles with putting everyone else’s needs first. The second on the list is “In Case You Don’t Live Forever” by Ben Platt. He wrote it for a family member who helped him become who he is today. Everytime I hear this song I think of my grandpa. I listened to this song on repeat when my grandpa was in the ICU.
This last year I have been so busy that I feel that I never have a moment to just sit down and listen to music but when I have, these songs are ones that I listen to. I hope that maybe this list gives you some insight on who I am if you don’t already know me. Maybe you love these artists too for similar reasons. We are all amalgamations of the music we listen to and the art and media we consume.
Lullaby in Ragtime from the 1959 movie The Five Pennies that my grandparents sang to me as a child that holds a lot of meaning to me.
A big part of music therapy is the use of preferred music. As people, our taste in music has a tendency to change across our lives, so I thought as a way for you to get to know me better I would share a playlist, a timeline of sorts, of the music that I have listened to and loved throughout my life up to this point. As you will see my taste in music has been all over the place and I am now a conglomerate of all those genres and music phases I went through.
After making my list I realized that it was far too long to include in one blog post so this week will be part one.
EARLY CHILDHOOD
My earliest memories of music are nursery rhymes and lullabies. My mom used to sing the first two to me and my siblings, especially the second one when we would be driving at night and the mood would be out. The third song is one that is still very special to me. My grandparents would sing this song to my sister and I whenever we were staying over and it was bedtime. There are three parts to this song that all layer over each other. One day I’ll learn the final part.
Rock a bye baby
I see the moon
Lullaby in Ragtime
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
A lot of the music I consumed as a child was from whatever was on the radio. The radio station most played in the car was WIBI, a Christian radio station. All the singing that I did in front of people happened at church as part of the children’s choir and sometimes as solos. All three of these songs are ones that I either sang in a group or by myself.
I Can Only Imagine – MercyMe
Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) – Chris Tomlin
Praise You In This Storm – Casting Crowns
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Disney/Pop
Any music I listened to that wasn’t heard while in the car was from CD’s played on a Boombox. My first CD and prized possession was Hannah Montana. I eventually leveled up to a knock off MP3 player that was bright pink loaded up with random songs my dad pirated off the internet. I sang songs three and five in talent shows.
If We Were A Movie – Hannah Montana
Fly With Me – The Jonas Brothers
Do You Believe in Magic – Aly and AJ
E.T. – Katy Perry
Mean – Taylor Swift
Demi Lovato
This was still at the same time as the previous grouping, but Demi gets their own category because I listened to the Here We Go Album religiously on my MP3 player. I could probably still sing all the words to every song on that album.
Every Time You Lie
World of Chances
U Got Nothing On Me
JUNIOR HIGH
My “country” phase
I struggle to even call it country because I only listened to Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert. Mostly I was trying to relate to all the other kids at my school going through their country phase but I also wanted to branch out to music outside of Disney and what my dad downloaded for me.
Before He Cheats – Carrie Underwood
Blown Away – Carrie Underwood
Mama’s Broken Heart – Miranda Lambert
Alt- pop
(At this point we’re getting to music I still listen to)
After my short lived country phase was my “emo” one. It continued on to high school and still has a big chunk of my heart. I didn’t listen to a lot of artists though. I didn’t venture very far past Fall Out Boy. It was also the music that my friends were listening to.
Fall Out Boy
Sugar, We’re Going Down Swinging
My Songs Know What You Did in The Dark
Alone Together
Takeaways
This is just 13 years of music tastes. It is important to realize how as an adolescent our tastes were always changing and growing as we changed, grew, and learned. It’s the same for adolescents now. Variety is always good when bringing music selections to sessions, especially in classrooms. This reminded me to be open and not so stuck in the music that I listen to now most days.
