Adapted Guitar Hero

I saw this on our local music therapy listserv and thought it needed a broader audience. R. J. Cooper and Associates have many different kinds of adapted technologies to offer. As a music therapist I am always trying to adapt instruments and songs for use with my clients, but sometimes a little bit more technical expertise is called for. The adapted Guitar Hero guitar is a great idea and it looks like good implementation too! If anyone has tried this, please let me know so that I can add your comments. Thanks!

Rock on!

Click here for the website.

New Funding for Music Therapy Research

'Landmark' trial for music therapy in children's mental health News Nursing Times

This is a nice development for music therapy research! An Irish music therapy foundation has received a grant to conduct music therapy research in the amount of $537,188!

A Philosophy of Music Education

This paper represents a class assignment that I thought would be good to share and hopefully encourage discussion. The assigned task was to develop a brief personal philosophy that included answers to the following questions. What makes music valuable? Why should music be taught in schools? What kind of music should be taught in schools? Who should teach? Who should learn? I tried to give each question some careful thought and approach the subject from the point of view of a music therapist who has been working for many years in the public schools.

Philosophy of Music Education

December 3, 2009

The current economic times have encouraged a thorough examination of every aspect of public education. It is now more important than ever that music educators have a firm understanding and rationale of music’s place in the school system as well as the method and scope of implementation in the curriculum. As a music therapist who has worked in the school system for the last decade, it is also in my best interest to put forth a philosophy of music education. My background may offer a unique perspective to add to the comprehensive statement of philosophy from the traditional body of music educators.

The foundation of any philosophy of music education must answer the question about why music has value. I believe that a large part of the answer to this question relates to the way music is part of our physiological makeup. Rhythm, for example, is naturally expressed in our breathing, walking and most importantly, our heartbeat. Human vocal cords are unique in their ability to produce a wide range of sound and naturally provide us with a way to express melody. Children at very young ages demonstrate instinctual impulses to sing, no matter their cultural environment. This bodily connection humanity has to music has resulted in music being created in every culture.

Music therapy exists in part because society has recognized the connection between music and the body and mind. Teachers and clients alike recognize that in certain situations, music has a power to affect change and behavior even if they cannot fully explain the reactions. Fortunately, there is a growing base of scientific research quantifying and explaining some of the ways music affects the brain, body and behavior.

Music is also valuable because it is individually significant and exponentially powerful. Almost everyone has some kind of preferred music, even if they do not listen to it regularly. Music has often been regarded by people as spiritually powerful and personally poignant. Music brings joy or sadness by allowing feelings to exist in a unique and stubbornly indescribable environment. Dr. Bennett Reimer espoused this idea in his writings about the five values of music (Madsen, 2000). I agree with his assessment that the connection of music with emotion allows music to complement and expand the appreciation of all other forms of art.

Some music educators have pointed out that music, as it exists in the brain, may actually be a separate type of thinking process (Lehman, 1995). Music seems to be processed in many different parts of the brain and not simply concentrated in the right or left hemisphere like math or language skills (Liegeois-Chauvel et al., 1998). This is one reason why stroke victims can sometimes sing what they want to say, but cannot speak. The brain also somehow processes music stimuli while producing emotions, but leaves one without a way to describe the process or experience with symbols or words. In the Western music tradition, for example, the need or desire to coalesce around a tonic note or key is a visceral, not language-thought induced reaction. Perfect pitch and various forms of synaesthesia are even more evidence that the brain can treat music as a unique form of cognitive processing.

The value of music may be easy to understand and accept as a society, but the next question that must be answered is why should music be taught in schools? I believe that music in the schools provides students with an opportunity to develop unique cognitive thought processes. Listening to music, analyzing and creating music all involve cognitive skills and thinking strategies that are transferable to other tasks and school subjects. Dr. Paul Lehman (1995) also argues that music instruction and experience can help to develop, “out-of-box,” thinking. I think that this type of thinking can be useful in a world where many issues are not black and white.

A second reason to teach music in the schools is because of its importance as a pervasive force in society. A good grasp of the attributes, history and functions of music is essential and integral to learning about our culture. Not only is music historically important, but it also has contemporary ramifications in political and business interests. Popular culture is sometimes ignored in school curriculum, but the close relationship of music and sports will not easily be rejected even during the leanest economic times. The marching band experience, for example, would largely cease its existence without the symbiotic relationship with football and high school.

In my experience, music should at the very least be offered to qualifying students in special education. Some children make significant and unique progress on non-musical objectives through the use of specially designed music strategies. Participation in music activities is also one of the easiest and most socially accepting mainstreaming activities for some of the children with disabilities.

If music is so valuable and necessary in the schools, then music educators must decide what will be taught. Although the core music classes have served the system well, there is room for improvement. Band, orchestra and choir teachers should continue to encourage related ensembles such as jazz band, show choir, string quartets and musical theatre. Some evidence points to a decline in participation in these traditional forms of music groups, but they are still part of the culture.

Some schools have begun offering other music programs in order to increase interest and participation. Guitar, world music drumming, composition and sound engineering and recording are good examples of programs to supplement traditional music classes. If parents and children in junior high and high school have the choice of which school to attend, then different schools could focus on individual programs and make them stronger and more successful. I think that school choice is the key to successfully expanding these types of programs to more schools.

Each school could offer the core music programs and a selection of specialized music courses. Every course should include opportunities to practice composition and learn about history as part of the instruction. The music repertoire should center on western civilization with occasional study of world music. Our country was established by western civilization and has made much contribution to that tradition at the same time it has established its own unique form of musical culture. Understanding other cultural music is still important, however, so schools might choose yearly world music themes to encourage collaboration and help manage the rotation of curriculum.

As our culture continues to grow and change, adjustments in our view of the philosophy of music education will necessitate changes in the field of education. Paul Lehman (Madsen, 2000) hinted at this when he wrote that teachers will have to receive more training in psychology, special education, non-traditional instruments and assessment protocols. I think that this training will help teachers be successful as alternative music courses are added to the programs and outreach to non-traditional students and students in special education is increased.

Teachers should also strive for more collaboration with music professionals outside of academia. Music educators may facilitate this collaboration by using electronic media to bring the world to the students when field trips are not possible. Co-teaching between departments in schools can also be a creative way to bring in new perspectives. In addition, stronger ties should be established with universities to foster research. Perhaps universities could take the example of the business world and develop more “corporate” MME programs so that teachers do not have to stop working in order to obtain an advanced degree and become trained in research methods.

I do not think that music can be mandated for all children in the special education program. Music may be contraindicated for some disabilities or syndromes and trigger unwanted behavior issues. Children with disabilities should also not be mainstreamed into regular music class without consult from a music therapist. The consult will ensure that the placement will be good for the child and not take away from the musical experience for the rest of the students. Music therapists will need to be prominently available as a resource for music educators as more special education students become mainstreamed into regular education classes. When necessary, it may be more effective to have the music therapist teach individual adapted music lessons with the music educator acting as a consultant. Junior high and high school students with disabilities could benefit from a “circle of friends” or peer partners to help with placement in music class or ensembles. Special roles may also be explored so that any interested special education student can participate, even if it is as an office assistant or on the sidelines in the “pit” for the marching band.

Aside from special education, music time in elementary schools should be increased. Early childhood and kindergarten programs often include much music in the classrooms, but first through fifth grade classes are frequently shorted in their music classes. Children in these grades should have a minimum of one music class per week for the entire school year. Once children reach middle school, they should be offered more options and choices. High school students should also be offered the opportunity to participate in off-campus community music groups, professional ensembles and the music industry for educational credit.

In summary, music is valuable because of its intrinsic nature within humanity and human cultures. Music has become a part of the makeup of our society. Music should be continued as part of the fundamental curriculum in schools with highly trained teachers who are open to change and collaboration. Outreach should be increased to non-traditional and special education students and more opportunities for music programs beyond band, orchestra and choir should be offered to all secondary level students. Regardless of its form, music as part of the fabric of our humanity and culture is an essential part of the experience, knowledge and practice and should have its place among the core subjects taught in school.

References

Lehman, P. R. (1995, September). Why teach music in school? Remarks prepared for the public relations video presentations of the Gemeinheardt Company, Inc., Elkhart, Indiana.

Liegeois-Chauvel, C., Peretz, I., Babai, M., Laguitton, V., & Chavel, P. (1998). Contribution of different cortical areas in the temporal lobes to music processing. Brain, 121, 1853-1867.

Madsen, C. K. (Ed.). (2000). Vision 2020: The housewright symposium on music education. Reston, VA: MENC: The National Association For Music Education.

Dancing For a Cause!

I saw this on ABC news and couldn't resist! Hospitals need more music! The glove company wanted to promote Breast Cancer awareness, so they made pink gloves and donated some of the profits from the sale of the gloves. The hospital employees took up the challenge to a whole new level!

I actually began my career in music therapy after working in a hospital and seeing the need for music. This video is great! It has already been seen by 1.7 million people!

Stem Cell Research, Therapy and Related Music Therapy

Stem cell research has been highly publicized and discussed in the last ten years. Much of this is due to the fact that useful human embryonic stem cell lines were only recently established in 1998 (International Society for Stem Cell Research, 2008). The existence of stem cells for use in experimentations led to ethical dilemmas with political implications. Notwithstanding political and ethical debates, the use of stem cells for treating many diseases and disabling conditions has continued to increase. The related literature regarding music therapy and patients being treated with stem cells is small, but music therapy has been shown to have promising potential.

In order to understand the possible ways music therapy may benefit patients receiving stem cell therapy, it is important to define stem cells and review the current state of research and treatment. Stem cells are building blocks of life since they are unspecialized cells that can turn into many different types of cells as they develop. Stem cells can turn into muscle cells, red blood cells, brain cells and any other cell in the body. The National Institutes of Health (2009) primer on the subject of stem cells further explains that stem cells can divide without limits into more unspecialized stem cells. Embryonic stem cells begin dividing into different types of cells as the embryo grows into a fetus. In adults, stem cells located in the gut and bone marrow produce a replenishing supply of specialized cells that replace and repair damaged tissue (National Institutes of Health, 2009).

Embryonic and somatic (adult) stem cells present important differences for researchers studying different ways to utilize them in experiments and therapy. Embryonic stem cells, discovered in 1981, are produced from embryos that have been created through in vitro fertilization (National Institutes of Health, 2009). Embryonic stem cells have been considered unique because they can proliferate for many years in the laboratory without changing into specialized cells. Adult stem cells, however, usually generate the same type of cells for the tissue where they reside. Researchers have also found it difficult to make adult stem cells proliferate in the lab, and even when they do, it is for only a short time (National Institutes of Health, 2009).

Researchers aim to establish pluripotent stem cells, which mean that the cells can produce any cell in the body (International Society for Stem Cell Research, 2008). Embryonic cells are cultured and then subcultured until the cells have proliferated for more than six months. This establishes a “stem cell line.” The first human embryonic stem cell lines were created in 1998 (International Society for Stem Cell Research, 2008). Stem cell lines are useful to scientists because they have an abundant supply of unspecialized stem cells that can be used for directed differentiation.

Embryonic stem cells that are allowed to clump together and form embryoid bodies can start differentiating spontaneously. Researchers can direct this differentiation by adjusting the chemical composition of the culture medium or inserting certain genes. The eyes, ears and heart are common destinations for these cells. Adult stem cells can be differentiated into cells that are common to their origin such as skin cells, neural cells and hematopoietic cells (National Institutes of Health, 2009). Sometimes adult skin cells have been able to transdifferentiate into cell types other than expected, but these occurrences have been isolated in non-human vertebrate. One exception to this is the induced fluripotent cells (iPSCs). These are adult stem cells that have been turned into embryonic stem cells by introducing embryonic genes. Although these stem cells offer great hope to researchers in expanding stem cell lines, scientists do not know if iPSCs and embryonic stem cells are exactly the same (International Society for Stem Cell Research, 2008).

Stem cells offer great hope for treatment of disease and use in the lab for drug trials. Embryonic stem cells can become any type of cell and can be produced with relative ease compared to adult stem cells. Adult stem cells, however, are thought to be less likely to cause rejection by the immune system in a patient because they can be created from the patient’s own cells. By overcoming the problems with rejection stem cell therapy has been used successfully to place new cells in the spinal cord, repair burns, and aid in fighting heart disease and arthritis (International Society for Stem Cell Research, 2008). Stem cells in the lab have been used to learn how cell division occurs in cancer and birth defects. Researchers have also been able to test drug effects on differentiated cells.

The usefulness of stem cells is sometimes overshadowed by ethical questions surrounding the use of embryos and their destruction to create embryonic stem cells. Many people have asked whether embryos should be considered people or property. Even if embryos are considered property concerns have been raised that women could become commercially exploited for their eggs (Hollowell, Coelho, Weldon, & Moffit, 2005). Cord blood stem cells may offer an alternative to embryonic stem cells since they do not require an embryo to be destroyed and offer some potential for undifferentiated cells. The current dependence on embryonic stem cell lines for most of the research and therapy will continue to cause ethical debate, but has also been a catalyst for political battles.

The political debate over stem cells has centered around the use of federal money for research on embryonic stem cells. George W. Bush established an executive order allowing for funding of ongoing research on embryonic stem cell lines that had already been established, but did not allow for additional funding to destroy new embryos and create new stem cell lines (The White House, 2001). In March of 2009, President Barack Obama issued an executive order to allow embryonic stem cell research to be funded by the National Institutes of Health (Stout & Harris, 2009). His order makes it possible for federal spending on new embryonic stem cell lines.

Ethical and political debates may continue until consistent methods are found to produce pluripotent stem cells without destroying human embryos. Although private research was not directly affected by the political debate and continued producing stem cells for medical use, President Obama’s new executive order will surely spur more federal help. Stem cell transplants and therapies that have been successful over the last decade have presented patients with challenges in healing and coping with the invasive procedures. The American Cancer Society (2009) cites high fever, infection, cramps, diarrhea, mouth sores and pain from needle sticks as only a few of the adverse symptoms and side effects from stem cell transplant. Health care workers will have to put effort into treating the physical and psychological side effects of stem cell therapy and transplant.

Music therapy has already been involved with some of the patients in this new frontier of medicine. Music therapists have been using music to help with pain and nausea (Sahler, Hunter, & Liesveld, 2003), improving mood (Cassileth, Vickers, & Magill, 2003), and decreasing anxiety (Robb & Ebberts, 2003). The research conducted by Cassileth, Vickers and Magill (2003) looked at the effect of music therapy on mood disturbance during autologous stem cell transplant for 69 patients divided into two groups. Music therapy interventions were determined by trained music therapists according to the needs of each patient and the interventions ranged from music assisted relaxation to active music making with instruments and song-writing. The researchers found that patients in the group receiving music therapy indicated a 28% lower score on an anxiety/depression scale and a 37% lower score on a total mood disturbance score when compared to the group that did not receive music therapy. The score for total mood disturbance for the group receiving music therapy was significantly lower than the total mood disturbance score for the control group. Music therapy was helpful in this instance where drug therapy might be less effective or contraindicated due to medical circumstances.

More research will need to be conducted with regard to music therapy and the therapeutic use of stem cells. The research literature about music therapy to help with relaxation (Sahler, Hunter, & Liesveld, 2003) and reducing anxiety (Robb & Ebberts, 2003) were pilot studies with very small numbers of subjects. These studies are important in establishing the feasibility for future research using music therapy with patients undergoing stem cell transplant and therapy, but the experimental results cannot yet be generalized to larger populations.

Opportunities for music therapy will increase as more options for stem cell transplant become available. One exciting new development is the discovery of stem cells that can turn into hair cells in the inner ear (International Society for Stem Cell Research, 2005). Successful transplants of stem cells for hearing loss would be a huge step forward and could benefit from specially developed music interventions during hearing rehabilitation. Overall, music therapy is well positioned to help patients before, during and after stem cell therapy. There already exists a large research base describing music therapy for pain management, relaxation and psychosocial support for patients undergoing similar procedures. Transfers can be made between existing practice and work with patients who are meeting the challenge of stem cell therapy.

References

American Cancer Society. (2009). Detailed guide: Multiple myeloma stem cell transplantation. Retrieved October 30, 2009, from http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/ content/CRI_2_4_4X_ Stem_Cell_Transplantation_30.asp

Cassileth, B. R., Vickers, A. J., & Magill, L. A. (2003). Music therapy for mood disturbance during hospitalization for autologous stem cell transplantation: A randomized controlled trial. Cancer , 98, 2723-2729.

Hollowell, K., Coelho, P. H., Weldon, D., & Moffit, R. E. (2005). Federal stem cell research: What taxpayers should know. The Heritage Foundation, Washington, D. C.

International Society for Stem Cell Research. (2008). Stem cell facts: The next frontier? Retrieved October 31, 2009, from http://isscr.org/public/ISSCR08_PubEdBroch.pdf

International Society for Stem Cell Research. (2005). Stem cells and the inner ear. Retrieved October 28, 2009, from http://www.isscr.org/public/ear.htm

National Institutes of Health. (2009, April 28). Stem cell basics. Retrieved October 27, 2009, from http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/defaultpage

Robb, S. L., & Ebberts, A. G. (2003). Songwriting and digital video production interventions for pediatric patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation, part I: An analysis of depression and anxiety levels according to phase of treatment. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing , 20, 2-15.

Sahler, O. J., Hunter, B. C., & Liesveld, J. L. (2003). The effect of using music therapy with relaxation imagery in the management of patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation: A pilot feasibility study. Alternative Therapies in Health Medicine , 9, 70-74.

Stout, D, & Harris, G. (2009, March 7). Obama reversing stem cell limits Bush proposed. The New York Times, p. A1.

The White House (2001, August 9). President discusses stem cell research. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from http://georgewbush-hitehouse.archives.govw/news/releases/2001/08/ 20010809-2.html.