Spring semester of 2022 I completed my first honors seminar, Music and Memory. This was such a unique experience that required me to explore new fields that I typically do not gravitate towards. The goal of this course, the way I saw it, was to have students connect with community members to understand more about the process of music therapy as an aid to neurodegenerative disorders. Lectures were held each week in the Gardner Neuroscience Institute. In class we would gain valuable background information about the brain and neurodegeneration.
At the beginning of the semester, each student was assigned both a student and community partner. My student partner was a fourth-year med student at the University of Cincinnati, and had participated in this course the previous semester as well. Our community partners consisted of a couple, one having dementia with Louis Bodies, and the other being his care partner, and wife. These four members made up the “Quartet” that would meet each week for a music therapy session led by the two students.
Our quartet would meet each Monday over Zoom for one hour. We would kick off each meeting with a check-in to see how each member was feeling that day. Then we would move into a meditation session to center ourselves, and feel connected for the music therapy session that was about to transpire. This was a time to remind myself that not every meeting had to be a monumental moment; the small moments of victory each week add up to overall improvement. We would then move into a Co-Regulation activity that would begin to incorporate music into the session. Oftentimes we would use melodic intonation, or adding a melody to sentences spoken to form a story. We would also try percussive body movement, like creating a thunderstorm as a group. Next, it came time to practice our “sogo”, or sonic logo. These are often found in commercials for corporations, such as McDonalds. Our goal was to create a sogo that connected the group, and for the person with a neurodegenerative disorder (PwNDD) to remember it from week to week. After we had figured out our sogo, an excerpt from Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, I would play the ukulele and our PwNDD would lead us in song.
From this point we would move into the final leg of the session, co-creation. During this portion our goal was to work a bit each week towards creating a song as a quartet. Through this process I realized that music often feels like it is made for the public, but this song was for our ears only. We ended up combining snippets of childhood melodies and poems set to song to generate our final composition. Activities such as melodic intonation at the beginning of the session would segway nicely into the songwriting portion. We would always make sure to end the session with celebration of our progress. Following each session, each party was required to fill out a post-session survey to collect data on how the group was working together. Also, a coaching session followed on Wednesdays with Dr. Fiol, one of the course professors. During this meeting we would talk about what went well, and what might be improved on for the next session. This was done so by showing clips from Monday’s recorded session. It was also necessary for my community partner and I to meet one other time during the week to ensure that the lesson plan for the next session was in check. Also following each session, it was required to keep a field note. This was helpful to keep track of shifting responsiveness to different activities from our PwNDD from week to week.
Another amazing opportunity granted to me by this class was to partake in an EEG study. One of our assignments was to write a paper discussing a time that we experienced “musically induced awe”. After writing about my experience seeing Anastasia on Broadaway, I was one of five chosen to partake in an EEG study where my brain waves would be analyzed while listening to the music that moved me so, under different conditions each time. Dr. Fiol also played the class a song in order to have a control test with a song that no participant had a particular attachment to. This provided me the opportunity to work with new equipment and understand the basics of brain wave function while reliving a memory induced by music.
One final highlight of this course with mentioning was the end of semester celebration. Here, our quartets finally broke the barrier of Zoom and were allowed to meet in person at the Gardner Neuroscience Institute. This was truly a memorable occasion that reminded me of the power of connecting with others. While this experience may have pushed me out of my comfort zone and field of interest, it is only in discomfort can we evolve. If every obstacle life threw at us was easy to check off the to-do list, the list would not exist. It is through struggle that we are forced to learn, to find another way. Learning is a constant throughout life, and evolution is natural. Every quartet session each member did the best that they were able. We grew as a group. This seminar was an eye opening experience, and by touching the lives of a few, I hope to eventually touch the lives of many.
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