One of the best parts of being a music therapist is the shared sense of commitment and passion in the music therapy community. I have the honor to travel to many of the national and regional conferences of the American Music Therapy Association and share the early childhood music therapy information and vision of Raising Harmony and Sprouting Melodies. The latest gathering came in the beautiful and awesome area of southern Arizona. The conference center for the meeting is an intricate collection of walkways, gardens, and stucco buildings designed by a student of the famed architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. Every aspect of Wright’s design is deliberate and detailed with the mission of reflecting and respecting the natural environment while providing for simplicity in function and form.
“Wright himself grew up close to the land and in touch with its creative processes and it gave him constant inspiration for his architecture. He believed architecture must stand as a unified whole, grow from and be a blessing to the landscape, all parts relating and contributing to the final unity, whether furnishings, plantings, or works of art. To materially realize such a result, he created environments of carefully composed plans and elevations based on a consistent geometric grammar, while skillfully implementing the integration of the building with the site through the compatibility of materials, form, and method of construction. Through simplification of form, line, and color, and through the “rhythmic play of parts, the poise and balance, the respect the forms pay to the materials, and the repose these qualities attain to,” Wright created plastic, fluent, and coherent spaces that complement the changing physical and spiritual lives of the people who live in them.”
http://www.franklloydwright.org/frank-lloyd-wright/impact.html
It struck me that this school of architecture and design is in close alignment to my ideas of composition and creation within music therapy. When improvising or composing for the young children and families I work with in music therapy, I try and focus first on the function of the music. What is it that the music means to them? How can I create songs that will hold meaning for each child? And shared meaning between grownup and child or among children? What does that child and grownup want from the music experience? What do they need from the music experience? How can the music experience become an intrinsic part of their environment? What part of the music should be left out or simplified in order to make the experience more accessible? Just like Wright, I look to the environment of the child and family and determine function before creating form.
The as with this type of architectural design, I try and carefully choose details of the music that support the function. Every element is weighed in my mind to see if it creates the type of music needed. What musical element is most important? Pitch, tempo, rhythm, meter, harmony? Which elements can be discarded so that the music can be elegant in its simplicity and clarity of purpose? And then I painstakingly add or prune notes and chords and rhythms and lyrics so that each component of song that is left is essential. There is rarely an item that is not deliberately placed with a clear trajectory toward the function of the song. Form follows function.
I suspect that many music therapists work the same way as they improvise or compose for their clients. But when it comes to expressing the importance of the details in planning their work, many of the music therapists I have met seem to have trouble recognizing and expressing the value of the work they do in creating specific music for their clients. Inevitably when people begin to share their own music during early childhood courses, they introduce themselves by saying “ Well, I did write this little song.” or “It’s just a small ditty.” As they begin to share their music, it quickly becomes evident that their creations are just as deliberate, detailed and purposeful. The issue is that there is difficulty articulating and expressing the value of these essential musical tools when explaining to others and even to ourselves within the music therapy community. It is time to change that! Not change what we do, but change the way we think about our tools, change the way we ourselves value our tools and change the way we talk about the importance of our musical tools.
So….for all of you who have taken courses with us here at Raising Harmony and all of you who are looking to expand and enhance your early childhood music therapy practice:
“It is not just a song….it is a carefully crafted music intervention”.
Say it again: “It is not just a song….it is a carefully crafted music intervention”.
Then say it one more time. And believe it!
Thank you colleagues, and thank you Frank Lloyd Wright for the inspiration.
Beth
