A Bluegrass Lullaby

As a guitar player, I often get asked if I play bluegrass music. Many of the families and patients I see at the hospital are from rural areas. While I can and do play some bluegrass music--it  is not often what I would choose to play for someone in ICU. The reason is that bluegrass music is usually a fast and uptempo rhythm which would not be a good thing for someone anxious with high heart rate and racing pulse.

Yesterday I was sent to a room  (ICU at the hospital) of a man who wanted bluegrass with the heart rate of 112 bpm. I  play nylon string guitar which means I play finger picking style as opposed to strumming most of the time. In this instance though, I chose to strum a slow bluegrass-like progression in a waltz tempo.  I put in the bass runs and played it in a twangy style while the man kept talking to me so softly, I could not hear him. I kept focused on the music and gradually his gaze went still and I saw the heart rate on his monitor start to come down.  At one point, he looked as though he would start to cry and so I played, "Shenandoah" and did see tear streaming down his face. What I do when playing for a patient is i meet them where they are (as opposed to trying to cheer them up or make them feel something they are not feeling at that moment). If they are sad, then I play a sad song to match them as it encourages them to grieve. Sometimes crying is a very healing thing to do.

I continued playing soft chord progressions and lullaby like melodies as his eyes began to close. Within 5 more minutes, he was sleeping deeply and peacefully and his heart rate went down to 92. I stayed playing quietly awhile to be sure he stayed asleep. And so when people ask me, "Do you play bluegrass?" well, yes but the musical prescription most often needs a slow rhythm to help them rest. People sometimes think a fast, cheerful melody would make a patient happy and that is sometimes the case. But more often, they need rest to heal.  Had I gone in there though and immediately played in the classical guitar style I most often played --I would likely have encountered some resistance. The strumming of familiar chords won his trust and then I sought to lead him to a quiet place. It worked!

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