Everyone Needs Music Therapy

"Whistle while you work" is a musical practice which has more or less died out in the western industrialized world. In London people sit on the train, headphones in their ears and a book in their hands, desperately trying to create their own personal, private space in a noisy, overcrowded environment.Noise pollution assails us wherever we go these days. Unfortunately many people do not know how to form relationships never having been taught how to or are too scared to do so. They take refuge in a world which they create while listening to sounds that they consider pleasant.

Music and house boundaries must be two of the major causes of dispute amongst neighbors.Our demands for instant gratification have led to a lack of tolerance.Overly loud sounds damage us mentally and physically - tension headaches and gradual loss of hearing being two obvious effects. We are becoming evermore sensitive to its effects. This I believe is having an especially detrimental effect on babies and young children. They do not know what silence and peace and quiet is.Even while asleep they can still pick up the vibrations from the television and numerous other pieces of equipment. These energies do not act in the same way as a lullaby!

In the days of ballroom dancing the mood was deliberately changed from time to time.- fast and light hearted, slow and romantic and the dancers responded appropriately. Now everything seems to be relentlessly loud and high energy. The dancers appear to respond to no one but themselves. The whole concept of one person leading and the other following with both showing consideration for the other seems to have been lost.

Sometimes without being consciously aware of the fact we are all trying to give ourselves music therapy.This form of therapy must be as old as mankind. From the time we first lived in communities we have used it to heal, to celebrate, to mourn and on countless other occasions as well.

All the above has been an indirect way of getting to the subject of music therapy and the child with special needs. I am first and foremost a dance and movement therapist but I have always been aware that a successful session owed 50% to my musical choices. Although I have worked with other groups my main experience is with children with Severe Learning and Physical Disabilities. Some of the children had no voluntary movement in addition to other problems, such as blindness. They would be described by the ignorant and cruel person as being "vegetables" with "no quality of life" . Neither statement was true. For such children the dance and movement therapy was supplied by me dancing for them on an individual basis. I had one pupil who I intuitively felt was musical although he gave no outward signs of this. I met up with this pupil, in a group, for one hour a week. It took me a year to establish what his tastes were.

With pupils who were actually able to participate in dance and movement sessions I used music from all periods of time and from all over the world. I discovered, for example, that children with severe Downes Syndrome seemed to have great difficulty in keeping time. This may be because they were unable to perceive a pattern or because having anticipated the rhythmic pattern they were not able to physically respond in time. My classes were always about improvisational dance.

My first real break-through moment came when two children were dancing to a recording of Australian Aborigines playing the digirido. They were inspired. They created their own choreography danced in time to the rhythm and interacted with one another. The sounds had inspired them to create a beautiful dance which reflected harmony between Mind Body and Spirit. "New Age" pieces with their "flow" were always well received. I always tried to offer the children opportunities to decide what we should dance to.

Every session I incorporated a musical activity. There was always great exicitement when I turned up with my full array of instruments. The boys always went straight for the drums. To my surprise I found that if the children were divided into groups each group playing a different instrument it was possible to do quite complicated exercises.These activities were very good for number work and co-ordination. The children seemed to concentrate more than usual while doing this activity.

The Rhythmic Arts Project was founded in 1997 by Eddie Tuduri. The Rhythmic Arts Project(TRAP) is an educational program for people with disabilities. Employing drums and percussion, the program teaches and enhances basic life skills such as: maintaining focus, using memory, taking turns, developing leadership, using numbers, using prepositional concepts, following instructions, and modeling. Issues of spatial awareness, fine and gross motor skills, and speech are also addressed. Teaching occurs in an environment that is fun and not threatening so participants develop improved confidence and a more positive self-image. In addition to working with intellectually challenged individuals, applications have worked very well with people in various therapeutic and health care situations including stroke, traumatic brain injury, mental illness, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

Music has a valuable part to play in all our lives. It helps us weather the ups and downs of life. But listening to it has become for many people a very solitary activity. We need to learn to create and to share it more. MORE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC = MORE BEAUTIFUL PEACE.

Ann Rachlin tells the most enchanting childrens' stories to classical and other kinds of music.Your child might enjoy this as have many, many others.

I have found a good DVD for children aged from six to ten years old called Drumming for Kids The Zuchini Brothers join in on guitar and keyboards so the young drummer can play along with the band.

DANCE TO HEALTH