Music in the ER

Imagine the unfortunate possibility of having to go to the emergency room at the hospital.  When you arrive you are surprised to see someone playing the guitar in the waiting room. That person could be me.  I don't often play there but yesterday my shift on the ICU floors ended a bit early but did not allow enough time to go to another floor. So with my remaining 20 mins, I went to the ER.

In my case, it is a friendly place to be as I know most of the security guards and ER staff.  Upon seeing me, one of the officers stood up to give me his chair (there were no extras in the room yesterday).

I love the moment of when I take out my guitar and sit down and start playing. The room filled with tension and anxiety is suddenly quiet and focused on the music.  This used to make me kind of nervous but after years of playing my guitar in unusual places, I have grown accustomed to the curious onlookers.

As I sat playing to a crowded ER waiting room, I saw that even though these folks must be in a lot of discomfort, they were all making the best of it.   One man was holding up a cell phone with a game for a woman in a wheelchair to play. Their laughter brought smiles from neighboring people. Another woman sat with her eyes closed with a big smile on her face.  Some people were eating snacks from the cafe and others just sat listening to my guitar.

 As I was leaving, a man asked me about my guitar -where it was made, etc. I often get a lot of questions about it.  It is such a conversation starter, having an instrument in the hospital. It makes people think of positive things in life--music, songs, memories. I was glad to be there yesterday.

Technology & Going Global

I am a folky at heart and love acoustic music. But I also enjoy technology in its many forms as it allows me to reach out to people from all over the world.  Today I bought a notation software program which will allow me to write down my compositions into music to share with others. I have always read music but most of the time when I compose music--it is in my head and not on paper. Having this program will allow me to possibly make a book of my pieces to share with others.


Years ago I used to email with a guitar composer and teacher all the way in Uruguay. We sent each other sheet music, cassette tapes and books to learn from. Back when I started out learning music (1973) there was no internet, no YouTube, no sheet music software, etc. I love how my world has opened up!

Today I worked on a collaboration with a friend who lives in Seattle. He had sent me a score with exotic chords on it about 3 years ago and I never did anything with it. Recently, we reconnected about this and today I wrote some music based on the chords he sent. I wrote in only one line and sent it back to him so he can write in the next line. It is great fun!

I also like to stay on top of the computer programs that do various musical things for when I work with teens.   Many kids these days do not write with pens and paper but on the computer. Writing a song to them would be on Garageband or a program like that.


What are some ways technology has expanded your world?

"If music be the food of love, play on"

I think of music like a food that nourishes our body, soul and spirit. It is like vitamins for the heart to open. An elixir of a magical potion that helps you to see the beauty in life. 

For me each place I play has a different and need to address. At the hospital, I play very simple music as if the music were a meal easy to digest. A "chicken soup of the soul" as it is said.

Playing at the Mennonite home in Madison county last week made me feel like the music was a a hardy meal full of goodness and kindness.  It is a place where I play more hymns and songs about peace and brotherhood. Songs like, "Let there be Peace on Earth",  "All night, All day (angels watching over me)", "Morning Has Broken". There is something about singing these songs that fill me with their kind messages that leaves me feeling a bit high. A natural high, that is.

Then playing the guitar at the gym last week, I saw it made  hurried people stop and listen. How the music made them present to the moment and tuned into what is most important in life. In a world filled with super busy people, we lose sight of the beauty and peace that being in nature or listening to music can bring to us.

I am thankful to have these places, people and opportunities to share music as a food that nourishes us all on many levels. It is quite a tasty experience!

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound

I know I told you about the nursing home where there are many new residents.  So many of my favorite people there passed on this past winter and spring. I thought it would be lonesome without them but I am quickly making new friends with the new folks there. One of them is Audrey who reached for my hand when she saw me approaching with my guitar last night. I was asking how she was doing and she asked me to sing a song for her and before she could finish telling me which song, she began to cry. I said, "that's ok if you are sad, I feel that way too sometimes. There there now, I will sing you a song...." and since I know she is a religious woman who sang in her church choir, I chose to sing, "Amazing Grace."

This is perhaps one of the most requested songs I get and it is easy to see why it is such a comfort to hear.   As I sang the words to Audrey, she continued to cry and she nodded her head in agreement during this verse:

"Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home"

When I was finished singing, I went and got Audrey a tissue and she seemed to draw strength from the song and stop crying.   When someone is sad, I don't rush in to cheer them up... at first I let them feel their sorrow and then slowly I work to lift them up.  To do this, I next sang, "You are my Sunshine" and Audrey smiled.  After that I asked her if she liked dogs. She brightened up and told me all about her favorite dog and laughed with telling me his funny antics. Then I sang, "How much is that Doggie in the window?" and again she smiled and laughed.

I have noticed that most people love  animals and if I can get them to talk about their beloved pets, this almost always brings a big change in their mood. You probably remember the story I told where I did this same thing with another sad man and got him talking about his dog. It works most of the time.

Later Audrey was thanking me for my music and saying something about that she hoped it was as good for me as it was for them. I told her it did help me a great deal.  It works both ways. As I am able to bring peace, comfort, joy to others... they in turn help me feel those things too.

Laughing and singing

There is a group of special needs kids that I sing with and today was our last time for the year as school is out next week. So I worked up some new songs and tried to make it extra special for them.  My favorite part of our time together was when each of them got up and stood next to me and led a song of their choice.

One girl in the group is from Turkey and she wrote her own version of "This Land is Your Land"
She recently became a U.S. citizen, so that is a fitting song for her.

she sang:

"This land is your land, this land is my land
from California to the New York island
from the Redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
this land was made for you and me

my name is Olga, I come from Turkey
my family came here to make a new life
where we can have more opportunity
this land was made for you and me"'

Then Billy wanted to sing, "Bridge Over Troubled Water", which is such a beautiful song and it gave me  the goosebumps. Darcy can't really sing or talk but we asked her if she wanted to sing, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and we  went around the room and sang with everyone's name. When we got sang  to Darcy, "He's got Dar-cy in his hands..." she started laughing so hard that one of the teachers assistants asked her if she needed to step outside the room to get herself together.  :)

For Celia we chose "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" because she loves Gospel and Spirituals. Celia is also unable to speak but she does show facial expression and we could see that she was singing in her own way and smiling.  This set Darcy into another fit of laughter and then we all laughed. "Celia is singing! woo hoo! good for you!" ha ha ha and on it went.

And so another summer is upon us which means I won't see some of them for a few months. A couple of them graduate high school this year. Congratulations to them!

A song out of step

There is a woman named Betty at a nursing home where I play who loves to sing. The only trouble is, she is very loud and only knows the first verse which she will repeat over and over while everyone else is trying to sing the right verse.    When I first started singing with her months ago, I would try to correct her or control the flow of the song. I've since started letting her lead the songs and that works much better.Now before I sing a song, I make sure she is ready and I start it and then give it over to her.

"She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes
"She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes
"She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes
"She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes
"She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes
"She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes... etc (laughing and dancing)

I manage to get in another verse:

 "She'll be driving six white horses when she comes
She'll be driving six white horses when she comes
She'll be driving six white horses when she comes...

and then..you guessed it... on and on the same line until the end.

What I love is that the others in the room are good natured about it too. Sometimes when everyone is singing another verse and Betty is still on the first line, and I am somewhere in between them both trying to hear myself (who is also severely hearing challenged!) things get a little crazy but we all laugh and clap at the end of each song.

"Ho ho!" Betty laughs, "we are doing this quite nicely" she says, very satisfied with herself. Sometimes she comes and gives me a high five after a song. "I really like that one!"

My mother used to tell me I marched to a different drummer.  Well, how about some who sing to a different tune?   As long as we enjoy ourselves, that is all that matters, isn't it?

Of moontracks and songwriting students and teachers

I had such an enriching experience teaching a songwriting class at a homeschool enrichment center this past spring. I learned so much from my students. Our lessons evolved from writing with pens and paper from prompts to our last project which was to create a soundtrack for a film. We chose an interesting one by Mark Gee titled, "Full Moon Silhouettes".   It is a simple and lovely video of the full moon rising in New Zealand. You can see this film here at this link.  (the soundtrack is not the one we created at this link)

The soundtrack  project required a lot of technology know-how and the project was done mostly by creative techno wiz student, Oliver.  Our first attempt was for me to record us doing an improvisational jam with me on a melodic drum, Oliver on guitar and Hope on piano.  But it lacked something and Oliver thought up making a rhythm track on Garageband. (see above photo) This led to a whole series of instrumental sounds and effects and included me playing a Native American Flute solo in it. The result was really cool!

It goes to show you that there are so many ways to create. Whether it be the old fashioned way of writing on paper, or composing on computer.  I loved watching our class evolve and change and the soundtrack was the grand finale.  We showed it last night at the final production of The Hobbit.
It all made me remember when I was a young and acted in plays and productions. It makes me realize all the more how vastly important creativity is in our lives!