The Ultimate Payback

Thursday, February 6, 2014...it's gonna be a bright, bright, bright...sunshiny day!  (Johnny Nash, "I Can see Clearly Now")

I've had a couple busy weeks.  I've spent some time learning new tunes.  Making familiar tunes "therapeutic" is sometimes way more work than just playing what's written.  I've found if I take a tune and add some minor chords that are not written in the music, I always like the sound.  Not only does it allow you to bridge back to the original key in unexpected places, but it keeps it interesting to listen to.  I think this is one of the many things I love about my work.  You are free to be as creative as you'd like, and yet the basic therapeutic elements are there....Keep it Simple, less is more.  

When I was doing my Internship there were many times I would embellish the tune a bit, mostly out of habit and training on the piano.  There was a lesson to learn and the patients are the ones that teach it to you.  When a patient is not feeling well, when you have not left your bed in weeks, months and sometimes years, when there is a constant hum of activity, machinery, heating and the automatic inflation of the beds with monitors beeping, you realize what you are adding to this environment can be nothing short of tones of simplicity.  It takes practice to enter a hallway...take in the sights and sounds....enter your patient's room and observe the environment and the patient.....formulate in your mind what your intentions are for this patient........take a moment to become peaceful with yourself and then start your Service.  I have had more than one patient tell me they have a headache?  Or, I'm not in the mood for anymore music.  To stop and honestly evaluate what you kind of Service you have given this patient is a tough one.  I often found it was not the patient, it was me.

I am happy that it happens less and less these days, as I gain experience and get to know myself and my abilities better.  Therapeutic Music is not entertainment.  The tunes can have harmony and good structure with dynamics and articulation, but in the cleanest and simplest form.  I've come to love my collection of Therapeutic Tunes and enjoy adding new ones to the list.  The proof is in the pudding, so to speak, when a patient smiles at the first tones of the harp and relaxes and sinks into their space with complete peace, joy and mind-body-spirit healing.  This response is the ultimate payback.