I'm getting the end-of-the-year jitters. Class lectures are turning into exam reviews and hurriedly cramming in last bits of information. The idea of being out of the classroom is in itself an exciting thought, but I feel as though there is even more on my mind as I transition to the summer before my junior year.

First of all, I feel a lot more pressure to do well on my finals and performance exams than last year or even last semester. A lot is riding on how well I do and it's a little stressful as I mentioned in my last post.

Another stressful issue is my job situation. Last summer I worked at a factory in Elkhart. It was actually the perfect situation because I was mostly working with fellow classmates from high school so we didn't get too bored. They told us they would love to have us back the next summer. Well, if you've been following the news at all, jobs in Elkhart are practically non-existent; on the other hand, the place we worked at gets very busy during the summer, so who knows. If I don't get a job there, I will probably stay here in Fort Wayne, find a part-time job, and take summer classes (which would not be too bad). It's out of my hands right now, but I can't help but wonder what my summer will hold.

The final thing occupying my anxious thoughts is my new apartment! One of my current roommates and I are moving out of student housing into a nearby apartment complex. The stress is more from excitement than anything negative. We already know what apartment we're getting, but can't move in or start buying big furniture until the weekend after finals. That Friday and Saturday are going to wear me out!

I am hoping I can keep my mind engaged to finish the semester off strong. Good luck to everyone taking finals!

Posted by Kim Yoder at 9:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is weeks like these that challenge my discipline and general desire to do well. Between concerts, Phone-a-thons, meetings, classes, and practicing, I will have spent more time on campus than at home. I am "used" to spending most of my time on campus, but I have/had some extremely important evaluations and tests which, if I don't do well on, can prevent me from taking the upper level classes I need for my major. On top of the busy schedule and overall stress, I have a sore throat (which is bad enough, but I need to sing for a few more exams/performances). Thankfully, next week is dead week. I will still have class of course, but I will not have a lot of extra rehearsals, performances, or big exams. That gives me time to prepare for my finals, Juries, and Upper Divisional.

For those of you who don't know, juries are what every music major goes through each semester. At the end of the semester, we play bits and pieces what we've worked on in our lessons in front of 3-5 music faculty for evaluation. It's pretty important. An Upper Divisional is basically a jury on steroids. If you're a music major, you take your Upper Ds at the end of your sophomore year (usually). For our applied lesson Upper D, we have to perform entire pieces that demonstrate where we are skill-wise and show we are ready to take upper level classes. If you don't pass the Upper D, you can't take most junior/senior level classes. If you fail the Upper D twice, you get kicked out of the music department. It really is not difficult to pass if you're prepared, but it's stressful knowing that your future relies on the exam. In addition to the applied lessons Upper D, we have to take Upper Ds relating to our majors (like music therapy).

I have partially completed my music therapy Upper D. Last week, my professor observed my therapy session with my client and another professor did the same this week. Another part I have completed is the questionnaire which ended up being about 5 1/2 pages typed, single-spaced. The final part will be Friday, and I'm nervous about it. I have to sing and play two songs on piano and guitar, be able to transpose music on the spot, and be able to sight-read (or sing and play something I have never seen before soon after it is placed in front of me), and then answer interview questions based on my responses to the questions I have already turned it. It's pretty involved, but it will be over soon!

Next week is dead week, so I will be able to breathe and focus on my applied Upper D and finals. The end is near!

Posted by Kim Yoder at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The number one question music therapists get is, "What exactly is music therapy?" To be brutally honest, I have taken four semesters of music therapy courses and I still am surprised at exactly how much is involved with music therapy, so I am not offended by the questions. One of the reasons music therapy is so unknown, is that it is a relatively new field for Americans, and not widely accepted as a credible and effective therapy...yet.

Music therapy began in the U.S. around 1950, when it was used in hospitals to treat traumatic injuries soldiers acquired during W.W.I.. I am amazed it has taken us (as Americans) so long to practice music therapy at a professional level because people have used the power of music as far back as we have documentation. Natives to many countries have used music to inspire healing among the sick and prepare and unite warriors for war. Even David, in the Bible, used a harp to calm and comfort King Saul. All of those techniques and theories involving music are still used today.

So, what is music therapy? Well, I often describe it as using music to help improve an aspect of someone's life. There are six main areas that music therapists examine to determine goals and objectives for clients: (CAMELS) Communication, Academic, Motor, Emotional, Liesure, and Social--yes, that can cover basically any part of being a living human being. I realize that can be a lot to wrap your head around, so I will give you a few examples on how we would use music to help someone:
-Academic: I could help someone work on spelling by singing the song "Bingo." Instead of spelling "Bingo" all the time, we could spell house, truck, table, etc.. Another academic skill is reading. Reading music and reading words from a piece of paper are extremely similar, so learning to read music can be generalized to reading a book.
-Motor: Let me put it this way, you can dance or move to almost any song. By physically moving to a song, an individual can work on strength, balance, the rhythm of walking, range of motion, etc.
-Emotional: Lyric analysis is very common in the emotional area. Discussing the emotions in a song may often feel safer to a client than discussing his or her own emotions, though the therapist would certainly encourage personal conversations if they were comfortable and appropriate.

I could give you a million more examples, but I'll stop for now. The cool thing about music therapy is that it's client-oriented. In other words, everything we do or plan is based on what the client needs and enjoys. This makes therapy sessions incredibly fun for the client and they often do not realize they are working. For example, I was able to work with my first client this semester. She has very limited motor functioning and no verbal skills. To work on her motor skills, I created a miniature bowling game which works on both fine and gross motor skills (or hand and arm movements). We just turn on one of her favorite songs and bowl. Instead of focusing on moving her arm and hand, she relaxes and is motivated to work hard and knock the pins down. Here's another example: a lot of people enjoy learning or playing a specific song on an instrument like the piano or guitar. A therapist could learn the song, and then teach it to the client and work on motor skills (by actually playing the instrument), or communication and emotional skills (by changing the lyrics to the song to fit the client more appropriately).

The majority of music therapists work with individuals with mental or physical disabilities, individuals in some sort of rehab, or the elderly, but I do not want to do that. Though I would not mind having fun with music and people the rest of my life, I am more interested in the biochemistry that happens with music. It has been scientifically proven that certain notes played by certain instruments affect specific parts of the body. For example, a quartz singing bowl affects the spine because the chemical constructs are extremely similar. On the other side of things, a certain chord progression will make an extremely rare group of people faint. I would love going on about this subject, but I will avoid this tangent for the time being.

I have barely scratched the surface when it comes to what music therapy is, but I hope you can understand it a little better and spread the word. I would love to answer questions about music therapy, or you can go to the American Music Therapy Association website (AMTA) at http://www.musictherapy.org.

I will certainly write about my experiences as a music therapy student because it is by far the most important and exciting aspect of my life at this time!

Posted by Kim Yoder at 8:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Before I go into great detail on my weekly adventures, I have decided to explain a little more about myself and how I ended up in Fort Wayne. This is my story:

Music explains my life. I grew up hearing the Classics by composers like Mozart, Beethoven, and Rachmaninoff, but rarely became excited about it. Nevertheless, the love of music quickly became ingrained in me and I passionately listened to my music. I had a difficult time practicing because I didn't truly enjoy the music--or I was just lazy. Keith, my older brother, has always excelled at everything (I am barely exaggerating here), and I happily went about my life, hiding in his shadow. I dutifully agreed to take piano lessons as my older brother had in second grade. When I entered fifth grade, I played viola in the orchestra, but then dropped that and piano for flute in the sixth grade. Just before my freshman year in high school, everything changed. Keith decided to go to Indiana Academy (I always called it a high-school-and-a-half), which meant he would be basically taking his last two years of high school in college on Ball State's campus. I was happy for him, but that meant I had to actually branch out and make my own way in high school. My new life began when he left. With Keith leaving home, the jazz bands had no pianist. Long story short, I worked up my rusty fingers so I could play piano again. In jazz band, I played with one of my brother's friends who convinced me to play bass by simply saying, "Kim, I could see you in a garage band." After I bought a bass, another person in the band asked if I would be willing to play bass/piano with his youth praise band. I agreed to try it out. Naturally, I learned acoustic guitar around the same time. Because of all of the music activities I was in, I had a difficult time figuring out what I wanted to study in college.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a writer, then a teacher, an artist, and finally a psychologist. I had uncertainly settled on psychology, but as I thought about having music be a hobby, I was horrified. I did not want to be a music teacher or a performer, but I could not and would not leave music to be a spare-time-filler. Desperately, I filled out an online career-placement test. Music therapy caught my eye. I did a little research on it and knew it was for me. I began the college search and was disappointed with my extremely limited options. I found two schools I was sure I would enjoy: Evansville, and Baldwin-Wallace. I visited BW first and was disappointed. The campus was small, old, and the music building smelled funny. Next I visited Evansville, sure that it would be perfect. I didn't necessarily not like it, it just didn't impress me. So, my parents said I had to visit IPFW so I could explain why I didn't want to go there. Basically, I fell in love with the campus and the program. Simple as that.

Music therapy itself is a relatively unknown field for many individuals, and frankly, it's a little hard to explain quickly, so I will dedicate a post to it soon.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at yodekm01@ipfw.edu

Posted by Kim Yoder at 7:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)