Music Therapy And Song Writing By Larry Suess

Music and songwriting date back centuries. Cultures, families, and religions have all used it as a way of expression and unity since the very beginning of time. Song writing in particular has become one of the most popular ways for society to express their thoughts and views of the caucus around us all. Music is a common language that we’ve all learned to speak and appreciate, and it is one way for us to stay connected as people.
Larry Suess, in his article “Music Therapy and Song Writing” describes music therapy as an aid to expression and management of emotions that can contribute to the healing process. He goes on to say that music therapy and particularly the songwriting process is a very pleasurable way of expressing ones emotions, and

The simplicity helps the clients to be able to creatively express their feelings and emotions without the stress of composing a complex piece. Here’s how they do it. Let’s take a look at the lyrical process. It’s a pretty “daunting” task for even the most experienced musicians. So the therapist help break it down. A common method used is a sort of fill-in-the-blank method. It gets the client started and helps you feed off of each other, to in the end portray what the client was feeling. Another effective method used is to find songs that express emotions and experiences that the client is also facing, and substituting or interchanging words, or even lines of the songs to help them better relate. Once the lyrics are set, then it’s time to come up with a fitting accompaniment. Auxiliary percussion is often used, and is quite simple to handle, but is still just as effective. Then if the client desires, the music therapist can add in a more complex accompaniment. If the client ever wishes to perform their piece, having someone else playing with them often makes the experience less nerve wracking, and

It is not only the patients themselves that go through and experience rough and traumatic emotions during the time spent at the hospice. The purpose of this study was to see the effectiveness of music therapy, and songwriting on the emotional health of these clients. Eight different participants were chosen from several families who had had the chance to participate in music therapy and songwriting, weather the patients were the one who composed the song, or the family while under hospice care. Each participant was interviewed and answered the same set of questions regarding their experience, how they thought their family members experience went, and the overall experience of music therapy. Results came back extremely positive. It showed that the music therapy and song writing effected their perception of their entire hospice experience. Anderson wrote, “All participants initiated discussion of music therapy and their family’s song early in the interview, and all had many positive things to say about the music therapist, the song, and the meaning the song had for them and their family.” In many of the cases the songs were then used at the funeral services of the patients, and had an important message, or special meaning behind the lyrics, that embodied their late family member. Though many