Songwriting
One of my favorite parts of being in the MT field is having opportunities every day to write songs. With our clients, my favorite techniques are piggy-backing on songs they already know and love, or providing opportunities for lyric substitution. Currently, many of my clients are working on their own versions of “If I had a Hammer,” except with their own instruments substituted for hammer. During internship, I’ve really come face to face with the reality of how difficult abstract thinking is for some of our students. Simply coming up with a word, out of the blue, isn’t easy- even less so when faced with the pressure of adding it to a song. It’s our job, as music therapists, to help them come up with those lyrics, and to help them increase their ability to engage in this sort of thinking.
-Emma
