Learning about music

Here's the next edition in my "Music is My Therapy" series. It's about how learning about music is therapeutic for me, and hopefully it may give you some insight into how you can use music to enhance your life. Not to sound like an expert, mind you, but I figure that if nothing else keeping this blog forces me to process and put down in writing my philosophies, lessons, and thoughts.

I have always been a curious person and music may be a curious person's wonderland. There are so many facets of music that can be learned. You can learn instruments, theory, philosophy, sight reading, composition, history, etc. Instruments can be fun and challenging, as well as practical for music therapists. In my job in hospice, I get a chance to meet with people who have played all kinds of instruments. Many have played piano and sang, but occasionally I meet a client who used to play band instruments and, I might be able to create a therapeutic experience simply by playing a clarinet, trumpet, or whatever they used to play. I don't often do this, mostly because I don't know a ton of band instruments enough to play in a session. I would love to get that point, though.

History is another interesting aspect to learn for music therapists. Many times, I can tie in a story that a patient told me with the story behind a song. This makes the client feel more connected with the music and can help them open up to me, as well. Everybody has a story, and I love to hear them.

So far, I've just mentioned a few ways learning can be therapeutic for my clients, so I'll talk a little bit about one of my favorite aspects of music. I'm a huge fan of learning about music philosophy. I'm always so interested in people's thoughts when they are composing. For instance, one of my favorite movies at this moment is "It Might Get Loud", where three great guitarists (The Edge, Jimmy Page, and Jack White) talk about their approach to guitar and songwriting. Even practice has a philosophy. The book "Practicing: A Musician's Return to Music" by Glenn Kurtz discusses how Mr. Kurtz went from being an aspiring professional classical guitarist and, eventually, learns to just play for himself. This book really has helped me focus when I practice and refocus when I lose sight of what I'm doing. I would definitely suggest you watch "It Might Get Loud" or read "Practicing."

What are some of your favorite things to learn about music and why?