Music Therapy for Cerebral Palsy: The Carter School

Chronicles of Boston Breakout: Day 5
This morning, groups of three of us went to the Carter School for Cerebral Palsy to observe music therapy. The sessions were led by Sarah Blacker and music therapy students from Berklee. Each session consisted of around four students, each with various degrees of cerebral palsy or autism.

We witnessed how music could help the students with movement (such as using arm movements to hit a drum and dance) and vocalizations (such as singing). I truly saw the patience and care required of music therapists, and how it is extremely rewarding when one is able to reach another through music. I was delighted to have been able to interact with the students as well. The music therapist asked if I could help hold a symbol in front of a student and match the symbol's position with the student's arm movements. I desperately wanted to reach him somehow, as the music therapy student and I encouraged him to hit the symbol through actions and  song. One wonderful moment was when one of the students started banging the drums, and the rest of us answered him by playing back his rhythm. It was amazing because he realized what we were doing, and his face lit up in understanding. He ended up getting so enthused about it that we had trouble getting him to calm down and stop!

Drum Circle: "Drumming increases antibody production"

Chronicles of Boston Breakout: Day 4
This evening at Spontaneous Celebrations, there was a drum circle jam with members of the community, and we joined in! It was a very fun and enriching experience for all of us. We learned the basic techniques of drumming (bass, slap, ?) and then went around soloing and playing various rhythms in synchrony. I could sense how close the group (many which had been to these weekly drum sessions for more than 14 sessions) was, and how they found support through drumming together. Drumming is a effective type of music therapy technique; our group has been drumming in some way or another every day since our trip started. And we've been constantly reminding ourselves, as we learned from Sarah Blacker, the music therapist we visited at Boston Medical Center the other day, that "drumming increases antibody production."

"An Apple and a Bicycle:" Adventures in Songwriting

Chronicles of Boston Breakout: Day 4
This afternoon, (after some deforestation and then salsa dancing with 7th graders!), a group of three of us visited Hannah Slater, a senior at Berklee majoring in music therapy, for a session of songwriting with a male student K. Sarah works with at-risk youth to help them to enrich their lives through music, as part of the nonprofit organization, Genuine Voices.

We went outside in the sunny Boston day and started freewriting about ourselves, and using metaphors to describe ourselves (brainstorming). Next, we went inside to put our ideas to song. Student K suggested the title of piece to be "An Apple and a Bicycle," based on the metaphor of apple and bicycle one of us used in the brainstorming process. Another metaphor we wanted to incorporate was the sea and storm. Eventually, our first few lines came out to be:

Sitting in a lonely rowboat,
Drifting out to sea...

By the end of the hour, we had come up with a complete verse, along with melody. Although we wanted to continue songwriting, we were out of time, so we decided to record ourselves! You can listen to our impromptu recording here.

I was very impressed by the talent and passion Student K showed for music, and I was deeply impressed by Hannah's ability to guide us through the song-writing process (it was her first time). Hannah showed genuine care and passion for what she does, and it shined through not only when she worked with us in songwriting, but also by just talking with her. It was a delight to have her join us for dinner. I'm very happy to have made a new friend in Hannah. Once again, it's amazing the wonders that music can do to bring people together and enrich lives.

Experiencing Music Therapy with Sarah Blackner

Chronicles of Boston Breakout: Day 3 
After visiting Dr. Seibel, we went to the Boston Medical Center (Integrative Medicine) to participate in a session of music therapy with Sarah Blacker. We were graciously welcomed into the music therapy circle, along with a group of around twenty patients dealing with cancer. Here is a little about Sarah Blacker and the sessions:

Board-Certified Music Therapist, Sarah Blacker, who is also a nationally touring and recording singer/songwriter, graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and who previously worked at BMC practicing inpatient Music Therapy for 2.5 years, will be providing the opportunity to sing your favorite songs, engage in drumming or playing instruments, and also to write your own original songs.

The session started off with Sarah going around the group singing as we all introduced our names through song, while playing on a small instrument we had chosen ourselves (i.e. maracas, guitars, drums, bells). I chose the drums (we had just been told by the doctor that drumming increases antibody production, so why not?). Next, she asked us all what music meant, and we came up with phrases like "music is happiness," "music is life," and "music is expression." Through using our phrases, Sarah helped us improvise a song. During our songs, people were given the opportunity to perform solos and express themselves. Two solos especially stuck out to me (besides the blues solo I ended up singing): an older man's solo and a young child's solo. The older man sang a long folk-like tune with purity and sincerity. It was beautiful and touching. The little boy, around six years old, shy and unwilling to sing at first, opened up and sang with a quiet determination. While listening, I felt a deep sense of empathy, a sense of understanding communicated by music, where words would have failed.

The Interfaith Arts Connection

Chronicles of Boston Breakout: Day 2
Last evening, we went to a workshop on music therapy by the Interfaith Arts Connection at Lesley University. Cobi, a masters candidate in music therapy at Lesley University, along with two of his colleagues, facilitated some very engaging activities. Our first activity was fun and wacky. We greeted each other using various parts of our body, such as the ears, nose, and feet! Another activity included a type of guided imagery to music, where one person, "the leader," would narrate his/her story (of faith) through movement as calm music was played in the background, and another person, "the follower," would mimic the movements. In another activity, each person chose their own instrument, and then played along with others in the group based on criteria such as instrument similarity and dissimilarity. Through the workshop, we were able to look at some techniques of music therapy while socially bonding as a group at the same time.

As an artistically synaptic sidenote, we went stilt walking yesterday at noon! You know, going on those high stilts like clowns do in parades? Well I still can't believe I managed to do that! Although a bit intimidating at first, it's amazing how quickly we can adapt and learn to walk on two sticks and be a couple of feet higher. By the end of half an hour, all eight of us were stilting like we were ready to go on a parade. Photos will be up by next week!