|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
"Sing, Sing a song - Make it simple, to last your whole life long"
by the Carpenters
Nicola R. Oddy,
BMus MA MTA CCC
|
|
|
Since
1985, Nicola has been contracted as a
music therapist in over 40 different
locations.
She has worked with a wide range of
populations and ages.
Her most recent love, is her work
with the voice, enabling people to
understand more about themselves through
the messages that our voices offer us.
She leads workshops, seminars,
chant sessions, and offers lectures based
on this work. Her thesis ‘A field of Vocal Discovery’ discusses the
world of the voice, the judgement issues
that we face, and the ways that we think
about our voices in relation to our
selves.
|
|
Field of Vocal Discovery - Masters Thesis by Nicola Oddy
|
|
|
|
|
Vocalist
Community
Choir Leader
Producer
Manager
Portrait of a Music Therapy Session
The inspiration to write has been with me, since I met Parkinsons patient, Thom (name is
changed). He is a person of surprises and even at this point continues to surprise me. Thom is one of those whose response to music, defines the term 'Music Therapy'. Music is therapy to this man.
Every time I go to see him, he appears differently. On one occasion he will be in bed, fitfully sleeping, on another he is sitting up
uncomfortably wrapped in his clothes that he has half pulled off of himself, on another it is a 'bad ' day and he is shaking uncontrollably from his disease and drooling because of lost control of his facial
muscles. (His speech is slurred for the same reason and it is usually difficult to make out what he is trying to say.) On another day, he is leaning over seemingly asleep and with no sense of the world around him -
seemingly incognizant.
Music Therapy is very uncomplex for someone like Thom ... we sing together ...
This may not seem very clinical and it may seem rather like a passing of time to an onlooker, but the depth of relationship and experience
that is taking place is far reaching and wonderful.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thom has a sense of being in control - something that his life seldom offers these days.
|
As soon as I enter the room, greet him and begin with a song that I have learned he loves, he is with me. He is awakened, he is alerted, he is in the here and now, he has memories, he is
gentle, he is verbal. He begins to sing immediately - with a full rich voice - one that he has enjoyed throughout his life and one that doesn't let him down now. The difficulty that he has with
speech vanishes in the singing - the words are clear, and ordered. He sits straight, makes eye contact, corrects me when I am mistaken about the words, speeds me up when I am too slow, fixes the pitch if I am in
an incompatible key for him. He also harmonizes with me. 'We make a good team' - he tells me. Thom has a sense of being in control - something that his life seldom offers these days.
This is a man for whom no family is nearby. He has children who live far away and cannot easily be with him.
He has some friends who visit from time to time. To the nursing staff, he is fairly agitated, unruly and often rude.
I say these things to put in context, the man who emerges in the music - a man who smiles and jokes, and remembers
all of the words, and remembers his singing experiences in life - a man who expresses joy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Today he surprised me once again.
|
Today he surprised me once again. I produced a harmonica which I had seen poking out from under a pile of his things on the table top.
He picked it up and immediately began to play. 'Mockingbird Hill', and then 'There's no place like
home' and then 'Way down upon the Swanee River'. Usually, because of his delayed cognizance, it is difficult for him to think of songs. His slurred speech makes it difficult
for him to communicate his idea even if he did come up with one. As a result, I make suggestions of songs, and he will choose from those suggestions. They were not songs that I
had suggested in this case . They were songs that he had spontaneously picked and that were alive in there waiting to be reawakened by an opportunity. He was able to choose
once again by the act of just playing the music. His face lit up, he sat up straight, he stopped drooling, he played beautifully and knew where the treble and bass were on this mysterious (to me) little instrument.
When else in his life these days, is he the knowledgeable one? When else can he interact directly on par with someone?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Music sets things straight. It orders the brain.
|
Music sets things straight. It orders the brain. The rhythms, the melodies, the harmonies, the warm feeling that most people associate with making music, make it possible for Thom to experience
a moment in his week, of purpose - of richness.
The shaking stops, the head is upright, his mood is calm and gentle. Now the care aide will give him a little sprucing up,
and he can join the music group down the hall. He is thrilled to be a part of the group - and sings with his big voice and plays his harmonica. No one would have dreamed to look
at him 1/2 hour before, that he could be presentable, or alert enough to join a group and participate so beautifully.
His mood stays with him and later on I see him, still calm, relaxed and holding his harmonica. I am pleased to see that
the feeling has stayed with him.
Next week there will be another little hiatus for him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nicola Oddy nicola_oddy@ripnet.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Suggested Links:
http://www.musictherapy.ca
www.voices.no
www.musictherapy.org
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
