Music Makes Sense: January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Research Shows Music Training Valuable to Older Adults

The Daily Muse

Welcome to the Daily Muse feature of Music Makes Sense! This daily update brings you up to the minute news about music and music therapy as it relates to our professions, events and individual lives. You can follow the daily entries by subscribing to Music Makes Sense on Twitter or by "Liking" the Facebook page for Music Makes Sense. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Many years ago I was part of the Lowery Organ program for Wellness. This program encouraged learning to play the organ as a leisure skill, but also as part of a more holistic wellness program. As a music therapist, I have an intrinsic belief that active-music making can help maintain a healthy lifestyle in addition to providing some quantifiable physical results. It is really nice when the research starts to validate our clinical experience!

A new study, just released, provides further evidence that music training can help us in our older years. The research points out that not only does significant musical training in your younger years impact some skills when you are older, but that older people can also benefit from musical training at any time!

One of the more specific findings in the research was that musical training helped people to have better timing in aural-cognitive processing that helped them distinguish consonants. This skill was dramatic enough to make a difference in speech processes as well as hearing in noisy environments!

The full news story is here: Music Training has Biological Impact on Aging Process

You can find the research abstract here.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Hey Guys! Carry Your Boomwhackers in Style!

Michelle Erfurt over at Music Therapy Tween has been blazing the trail of the Boomwhacker's tote bag since last year. I am apparently only one of the people who asked her about making a Boom Tote that was a bit more masculine!

She has taken up the challenge and is now offering her first "less feminine" boom tote! I had suggested a "fatigues" pattern or African "kintecloth" type pattern, but the solid colors might just work too!

I also like the puzzle piece one she has pictured! If you have Boomwhackers, this is really the way to go! Much more stylin' than a trash bag or large duffel!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Matching Music Tempo and Physical Activity Increases Endurance

Sports psychologist, Costas Karageorghis, at Brunel University is validating a key idea used in music therapy. The "iso" principle basically maintains that music is most effective when it is matched to the current excitement level and emotional state of a client. The music stimulus can then be used to help guide a client in the desired direction of excitement or emotion by slowly changing its characteristics.

You can find the original Graph online at National Geographic (September, 2011). Because I can only find it online in Spanish, here is the basic idea of the article:

The major categories are: Largo = resting, Andante = Walking, Allegro = Training, Presto = High-intensity training. I have no idea how they picked the song examples, but I think it was interesting to look at the songs and how they compare to each other in tempo.

Mr. Karageorghis reported that when the tempo and physical performance are well matched, an average person's endurance is prolonged. This makes sense just by thinking about how long you can stick with an aerobics or spin class routine with or without the right kind of music!

It is nice to see researchers outside of the field of music therapy picking up on this idea!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Rap Music Vindicated!

I am not a huge fan of rap music, but as with any good music therapist, sometimes I have to listen to or facilitate rap music in a session. And now, a new implantable device has brought me new found respect for rap music!

Scientists have found a way to use certain low tone music waves to power a small device that monitors bodily processes! And guess what kind of music has a nice consistent bass beat!?

In the near future, your next music therapy referral may require a little extra bass!

You can find the full story here: Rap Music Powers Rhythmic Action of Medical Sensor

Friday, January 27, 2012

Friday Fun: An Elephant On a Dime!

You really have to try this in order to believe it! The next time you are about to sneeze, focus your mind on an image of an elephant standing on a dime! Hold the image in your mind, and I kid you not, as the sensation to sneeze increases - it will suddenly, miraculously go away!

I have no idea where this came from or why it works for me and a few other people I have met, but it has truly been a gift to me in certain situations when I would rather not sneeze. (Picture yourself in the first row of a choir singing a soft part during a requiem!)

I have not been able to follow up with very many people who I have told about this, just because I think they forget about the trick the next time they sneeze. I have to admit, it is very strange! I still feel a little crazy every time I try it! And it still works after 15 years of use!

I hope you will try it out and let me know! You don't need to use my little sketch. I don't even really build that detailed of a picture in my mind for it to work.

The reason I bring this up is because I think it demonstrates the amazing things our brains can do. Just like how some people can sing without a stutter or sing when they cannot talk after a stroke or wound to one part of their brain.

We have also been finding out so much about autism lately. Some people on the autism spectrum, for example, have been unable to communicate until they learn how to type or use an iPad! There are now dedicated bloggers out there who have Asperger Syndrome or Autism! Our brains are full of surprises and hidden abilities.

This is not to say that we, as therapists, should offer unfounded hope to our clients, but we should have the vision ourselves of the possibilities as we go about our music interventions.

Now, go sniff some pepper or something to induce-and then-STOP a sneeze!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Free Music! Your Choice: Relax, Meditate or Soundscape

Amazon has some free music today that might be good for relaxation, meditation or drumming soundscapes. It is a sampler album with all different artists. I thought the Moussorgsky-Meditation was very nice.

You can listen and download here:

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Paperwork Blues?

Do you love paperwork? Isn't that the favorite part of your job as a music therapist??

I actually think we, as music therapists, don't have it too bad with the paperwork load. Sure, there are some agencies that require more reports than are really necessary, but we can often just keep our session notes and write up quarterly reports of progress and annual reviews and be done.

What do you think? Does paperwork get you down? Do you have a strategy for dealing with it? Perhaps you have gone hi-tech and do everything on a tablet?? Or are you old-school and still keeping track by hand?

When I worked in private practice, we had one person that did office work and took care of all the contracting, payroll and paperwork requests. This left the therapists to do the weekly chart notes, progress reports and annual reviews. This arrangement really seemed to work out well.

For those of you that are a "one man/woman show," how do you keep a balance? Do you feel like the paperwork is getting you down or is it about right?

Dr. Christopher Chang at KevinMD.com talks a little bit about the crazy world of medical paperwork that seems to be haunting doctors in his blog post titled, "Paperwork Causes Unintended Distractions for Physicians and Nurses."

Can you relate to his discussion? I don't think many music therapists are getting calls in the middle of their Hello songs to answer paperwork questions, but I think the trend might be in that direction.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Kat Fulton Promotes Peace of Mind With More Online Zennn

Kat Fulton at Rhythm for Good has been busy lately! She is getting ready to kickoff another session of Online Zennn so hurry by and check out the class at Rhythm for Good!

As a special treat, she offers us a new boomwhacker video just for stopping by and being interested in Online Zennn and the forthcoming on-line CMTE classes! So head on over and enjoy!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Country Music: Bargain Therapy!

"Country music has always been the best shrink that 15 bucks can buy!"

~ Dierks Bentley

Too true! What is your favorite therapeutic song from country music??

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Music Makes Sense Featured on All Things Healing Community

My post is now live at All Things Healing! You can check out the article by clicking here.

The community at All Things Healing is very supportive of music therapy. I highly recommend following their posts!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Celebrate V-Day with Music for the Heart!

Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching! Do you need an idea for your music therapy sweetheart??

Don't look any further! Many new products have just been added to the store for the Music for the Heart logo! There are t-shirts, water bottles and even iPad covers!

The Music for the Heart Logo was developed in conjunction with my music therapy program with recovering cardiac patients. The symbol is a unique and artistic way to show your love for music and how it can support not only a heart healthy lifestyle, but also as a therapeutic tool for many populations.

Show your support for music therapy and get your special music therapist a truly unique surprise this Valentine's Day. Make Music for the Heart a part of that special day!

Here are a few pictures of some of the new products available. You can find a link to all the available products in the right sidebar. Thanks for stopping by and get those orders in before Valentine's Day!

Friday, January 20, 2012

A Smorgasbord of Thoughtful Treats

There are close to 500 posts on Music Makes Sense, so I thought it might be a good idea to point out a few of the highlights!

Music For Relaxation: A Flowchart for Decision-Making
This post contains a decision-tree to help you find the most appropriate music to use for relaxation. This chart took me a long time to formalize and I think it could be very useful. I welcome any and all feedback about this chart.

6 Ways to Empower Your Music-Assisted Relaxation
This post is another discussion about music for relaxation, but it delves deeper into the exact relationship music has with a relaxation protocol. The ideas in this article come from years of clinical practice using music to facilitate relaxation. I really feel that music can be helpful in relaxation, but we can really squeeze out much more effectiveness from its use if we pay attention to the details!

Memory Booster! Using Music to Memorize Lists and Facts
This is one of the most widely read posts on Music Makes Sense. It really gets back to the fundamentals of music therapy. I often had to break down the way music works when trying to help teachers and parents understand music therapy.

5 Tips for Drumming With Individuals in Psychiatric Treatment
Much of my recent work as a music therapist has occurred in the psychiatric setting. Much of my advice in this post was learned through real-world experience! Drum at your own risk without reading these important considerations!

I hope you enjoy looking back through some of these posts with me. It truly has been a rewarding time putting "pen" to "paper" over these years. And now we are less than 50 posts away from the 500th post!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Music Therapy With My Favorite Little People!

Some of you may have missed the new article by Ronna Kaplan in the Huffington Post last week. I finally got a chance to read it and it was well worth the time!

This article in the series by Ronna Kaplan was titled: Music Therapy in Early Childhood Classrooms. Ronna has been doing an excellent job in her posts to Huffington by explaining music therapy with concrete examples and terms that everyone can understand.

Her description of a typical music therapy session with an early childhood group was spot on! I found myself missing some of my favorite little people and all the great experiences I had while doing music therapy in the early childhood setting!

Please read the article and send it to people you know! This would be a great way to promote music therapy during music therapy advocacy month!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Music Expression Activity: Change Your World

I did a fun and successful activity today with a group in an acute psychiatric setting. This particular group always has a theme of music expression. I had a CD and player some large sheets of paper and markers and oil pastels. I used a recording of the real songs rather than the group doing covers of the originals because I really wanted them to focus on listening to the lyrics.

First, we listened to "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy. I had the group discuss the lyrics and I wrote key phrases up on the board. After a short discussion, each person drew a picture on one half of a page in answer to the question, "If you had a billion dollars, what would you do to change your world for the better?"

Second, we listened to "Price Tag" by Jessie Jay. After a short discussion, the individuals drew pictures on the other side of their pages in answer to the question, "What could you do to change your world that doesn't require money?"

I was really impressed by the participation and great insight the patients demonstrated! Some of the patients mentioned typical things like the desire to buy boats and cars, but others drew pictures of people giving money to each other or making positive things happen for under-served youth.

Overall, the patients enjoyed the music selections and were responsive to discussing the lyrics. The two songs seem to fit together thematically and the drawings showed a nice contrast of ideas.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Music Makes Sense Featured Again on All Things Healing

Music Makes Sense will be featured again on the All Things Healing online community! I think it is great that they try to represent music therapy in their discussions. You can see one of my other articles that was published here. I will link to the newest article once it is live on their site.

Don't you love the suspense!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Consumerism in Healthcare: Shopping for Answers.

The Trouble With Treating Patients as Consumers

(click title for full article)

Many hospitals and health institutions have been treating patients as "consumers." This mindset seems to help institutions provide better customer service and increase the prominence of patient's rights, but as the article points out, it may be causing some breakdowns in efficient treatment.

Many music therapists work in institutions or facilities where patients are talked about as consumers. Since MTs are part of treatment teams, we should be aware of the pitfalls of pretending that patients are like regular consumers in a retail setting.

The authors of the article accurately point out that patients are not like regular consumers. They usually don't choose to "shop" at a hospital or other health facility. They are usually obtaining treatment for a problem or situation that is not of their choosing.

Many patients and families are also under stress and emotional duress. Although some people (myself included!) might consider shopping to be stressful, these people can probably choose to stop shopping or take a break to reduce their stress! The article makes a good point that you cannot expect people under stress to make clear, quick and correct decisions about their health by putting them independently in the driver's seat as a consumer.

I think that this topic is something to be considered by MTs. Can we make the decision-making process easier for patients? What kind of road-map can we provide patients to help guide them through treatment?

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Remember Your Inheritance: Rhythm!

"Creative expression is everyone's birthright! Reconnect with the rhythm that allows your soul to dance!"

~ Christine Stevens, The Healing Drum Kit.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

The Top 5 Ways to Advocate For Music Therapy in Your Workplace

Introduction: Advocacy --> Recognition --> Access

Since 2005, the American Music TherapyAssociation and the Certification Board for Music Therapists have collaborated on a State Recognition Operational Plan. The primary purpose of this Plan is to get music therapy and our MT-BC credential recognized by individual states so that citizens can more easily access our services.

The AMTA Government Relations staff and CBMT Regulatory Affairs staff provide guidance and technical support to state task forces throughout the country as they work towards state recognition. To date, their work has resulted in 35 active state task forces, 2 licensure bills passed in 2011, and an estimated 10 bills being filed in 2012 that seek to create either a music therapy registry or license for music therapy. This month, our focus is on YOU and on getting you excited about advocacy.

My aim is to help you be a better advocate for music therapy at your workplace, wherever that may be. Some of these ideas are self-evident, but we don't always think about them in terms of professional advocacy. I do not have these in rank order, so you decide what is more important and/or applies to you.

1. Be on time! Nothing is better than clients and staff being able to rely on you to be punctual, even a little early! This clearly reflects how seriously you take your job and the importance of music therapy.

2. Dress the part. Music therapists work in every conceivable type of setting, so there is obviously no music therapy "uniform." But we can all still choose to dress up instead of down. This is just my bias, but even when I was allowed to wear shorts and an un-tucked shirt to do therapy on the floor for the early childhood classroom, I simply never took up the offer. I was at least wearing khaki pants and and tucked in my shirt.

People are making assumptions all the time according to the way you dress, even if it is unfair. In fact, sometimes it may not be enough just to dress professionally. You may even need to go the extra mile and put on a lab coat or other standard piece of uniform. This may seem ostentatious, but at some hospitals, for example, you may be unconsciously or pointedly ignored at a meeting if you are not part of the white coat club!

3. Paperwork. Generally speaking, most people who are around music therapy in action are in awe of its power. Unfortunately, music doesn't translate that well through reports! A large majority of exposure for music therapy will be through our progress notes and reports. Many of the people that read these will have never seen a live music therapy session!

So it goes without saying that every note and report needs to be edited and reviewed. Don't let typos and silly mistakes slip through. Although it can be very difficult to keep up with paperwork sometimes, try to make each note unique and pertinent to each client.

4. Volunteer! No matter where you work, there will be chances for you to do a staff in-service or make a presentation about music therapy. Don't be afraid! Seek out these opportunities, even if you do not like public speaking. When you get your gig, ask for help from the MT community in your neighborhood or on the web. We are here to help!

5. Be creative! Continually push yourself to use improvisation and creative songs and activities. It can be easy to rely on recordings and well-known songs to fill out therapy sessions, and these things have their place. But, we are hired to do what other musicians, teachers and health care workers can't do with music.

We are the ones trained to observe the small indicators that tell us to speed up or slow down a song or add more or less emotional context. Push yourself to make up songs on the fly and try creative rhythmic activities. Ask to be given the most challenging clients and use your creativity to make a difference. This will create job security and expand the possibilities!

--Have fun being an advocate this month and always! After the break, you can take a quiz to see what kind of advocate personality you have. Are you comfortable with the type of advocate you are right now? Or do you want to push yourself to be a different kind of advocate? Find out by clicking now!

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Friday, January 13, 2012

Music Therapy to go Graduate Level?

If you missed the Music Therapy E-news e-mail bulletin, then you missed the links for the proposed changes in music therapy degree programs.

Currently, the change to a Masters level entry into the field is only a proposal offered up for discussion. AMTA has provided links to the documents and I would encourage everyone to take a look and then join in the discussion. You can find them here.

This would be a dramatic change in the way music therapists are trained, so it is important for all of us to be engaged in the process and voice our opinions.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Tie Dye Duet: Successful Approaches to Combining Music and Art for Therapy

It has been a big week for news! Yesterday I announced my debut on The Music Therapy Show that will take place in March. Today my presentation idea was officially accepted for the 2012 South Eastern Conference for the American Music Therapy Association!

I am excited about this presentation because it is on a very unique topic that I have not seen addressed very often (...I actually haven't ever seen anything about it, but I may have missed something over the years...) at music therapy conferences.

The title of my presentation is: Tie Dye Duet: Successful Approaches to Combining Music and Art for Therapy

I will specifically be talking about some of my experiences combining art and music therapy in the psychiatric setting, but much of the material can be transferred to other settings.

My session will be on Saturday morning, March 31, at 7:45am. (Yes, I said 7:45 am! Bring your coffee and donuts!) The conference will be held in Charlotte, NC and should be a great meeting!

Start planning now so that you can make it! If you can't make the conference, don't worry! I am sure that I will continue to blog about this topic and will try to put some information from the presentation online after it occurs. So stay tuned!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Music Therapy and Art Therapy Combine Efforts in Haiti

Converse college has a great program that just started including music therapy on a humanitarian mission to Haiti. I love seeing the collaboration between art therapy and music therapy that took place during this service and learning trip!

If you have been following Music Makes Sense in 2011, then you know that I have been exploring the combined and compatible use of music therapy with art therapy. (Check out these posts for more details).

I really liked how they used the iPad and percussion activities to bridge the culture gap and engage the people in therapy. Kudos to the music therapy program at Converse!

Read the full story here.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Music Makes Sense to Debut on The Music Therapy Show!

Breaking news! I just confirmed my appearance on the Music Therapy Show with Janice Harris! I have never been on a live radio show before, so this should be a fun experience!

You may want to go ahead and put March 9 on your calendar right now! I will have more details coming as the date approaches, but you will be able to call in and ask questions or make comments in real time.

I realize that the show is still two months away, but I wanted you to start thinking about questions you might have for me that I can answer on the show. I talk about a huge range of subjects on the blog, but is there something that I have touched on that you would like more information about?

You can send me your questions now so that we can talk about them on the show. Even if you can't call in to the show or listen on the day it airs, you will be able to hear it from the archive or get it by podcast!

This is your chance to find out more about me and all the fun things I am involved with! The Music Therapy Show has become very popular and has a history of some very special guests. I am honored that Janice asked me to be on the show.

Stay tuned for more information and let me know what you would like us to discuss!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Aflac and Music Therapy

There are so many news stories these days about music therapy I can hardly keep track! What a wonderful trend! Here is a local news story out of Atlanta. I think that the video portrays really well how music therapists are often the "rock stars" in hospitals and schools. Sometimes the kids in these settings can only do small actions or participate with many limitations, but the interactions with the music therapist are incredibly significant and unique!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

George Eliot: Advocate for Music Therapy?

"I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort when I am filled with music."

~ George Eliot.

A man before his time, I think. What a beautiful description of how music therapy works in the rehabilitation setting!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

What Was the Question? Bedtime Music: Help or Hindrance?

I have noticed that I get a lot of traffic and page-views for my post on Bedtime music:

Bedtime Music: Help or Hindrance?

This post has skyrocketed to one of the most popular posts in the last three months! The interesting thing is that I have had hardly any feedback at all from the questions and theories presented in the article. So I am now determined to ask more questions!

I am curious as to what people are seeking when they see the title? What kind of information are you looking for that prompts you to click on the title? Is the title misleading or does the article simply not provide the needed answers?

Perhaps people are just looking for examples of bedtime music? Or, maybe nobody else has any answers to my questions either?

Any thoughts are welcome. Feedback will improve my efforts to provide interesting reading material and helpful information.

Friday, January 6, 2012

CBS News Highlights Music Therapy In Treatment of Gabrielle Giffords!

Representative Gabrielle Giffords continues to make great strides in regaining her verbal abilities after the terrible shooting tragedy. Music therapy has played a significant part in her recovery and helped elevate our profession into the media spotlight. Here is an update from CBS news, including many great endorsements for using music therapy in the medical setting!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Medical Doctor Advocates for Music Therapy!

January is advocacy month for music therapy. Many of the music therapy blogs will be writing about the power and effectiveness of music therapy with different populations. I will join in this effort with my own post in the near future, but I thought this story combined nicely with our promotion this month.

Music therapists often do presentations and have discussions with medical professionals in their efforts to expand music therapy in hospitals and medical care. It was nice to see this doctor in Ontario pick up the torch for us!

Music Is Good For You!

(Article in the Standard Freeholder)

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Save Your Ears!

If you missed the post about the dangerous volume levels being played in iPods these days, then you missed the great tips from Andi, the audiologist. One of her tips was to use a feature that is built into the iPod to govern the maximum sound level!

You can find instructions about how to do this here!

Another great idea from Andi was the Ear Saver device that can be attached externally to an iPod. Check it out an Amazon here:

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