“Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days of auld lang syne?……”
Part of why I think that this genre is so polarizing and intimidating is that there is admittedly a “dark” side to metal culture and a lot of musicians got their reputation through shock value, like marylin manson for instance, who capitalized on controversial or violent lyrics and themes, dress and culture. If your clients are listening to music with heavy or dark thematic aspects then there is a talking point. Looking through our clinical lenses, we can use the music as a point of entry to connect with their most raw emotions.
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Because of early technology like the phonograph and the record, music recording and listening software has evolved and is now standard on all computers, tablets and almost all smart devices. Music therapy as a field has benefited greatly from the ability to listen to and share music. As clinicians, we’re able to learn new music, record resources for our clients and clients benefit from music shared by their favorite artists. We’re able to connect over music listening, learning and creating.
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Around the dawn of the 1930’s, when sound was synchronized with celluloid of movie film, composers began to compose scores to match films, most of which was orchestral music from band composers. In 1951, the score for the film A Street Car Named Desire set the stage for Western, Original music compositions in film. Soon after-the song" “Oh, My Darling” was so successful that there was high demand for original music to be written for movies for both promotional purposes and to radio airtime.
How do you feel when someone gives you free music therapy intervention resources? I always feel excited and happy and inspired! All the big, wonderful feelings. Well that’s exactly what this episode is about. I’m going to be talking through a free intervention targeting Emotional Identification and Expression. I’m giving you the powerpoint visuals and the music and teaching you how it works- all of which has been written and developed by me, Ellisa Morris, MT-BC.
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Today Maggie guides us through a music and imagery experience. This will be followed up next week (May 3rd) with more information about the Guided Imagery and Music method for our learning segment. CAUTION: Please do not listen to this while driving. Enjoy this in the safety of your home and not on the road.
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It is becoming increasingly common that music therapists work with clients who are from other countries and cultural backgrounds. Music can play an important role in the culture of every client, so when preparing client-preferred music it’s important to be intentional about honoring different styles, genres, and languages of music that are client preferred in order to connect with your client and be most effective in therapy. This can be daunting at times, since you may not be able to speak the language, you don’t share the same background, or perhaps western instruments are not even capable of producing the same sounds and notes. This is where we have to get creative!
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I’m going to be going over some very basic and doable techniques for vocals, guitar and piano that will add some character and authenticity to your music performance. I’m no expert by any means……..but I want to give you some ideas from things that I’ve thought about and link you to teaching resources so that you can take your practice to the next level.
With the advent of instant and unlimited music streaming and headphones, it may be hard to keep tabs on what music kids and adolescents are consuming for almost 15 hours a week. A question that many parents ask, and some may not know to ask is- how does explicit content in music affect my child? And for music therapist’s out there, when utilizing songs with explicit content, or entering into lyric based discussions- it’s important to know how your client’s preferred music may be influencing their behaviors and attitudes in your session and in day to day life.