In my current work with young children on the Autistic Spectrum I find myself interested in the musical ways we can use improvisation techniques such as extemporisation with aspects of our shared musical history. In Tony Wigram's book on improvisation techniques (Wigram, 2004), it explains the interesting skill of extemporising with structured songs such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to promote larger opportunities for shared improvisation with clients in the therapy space. In my work over the last couple of months I have noticed a pattern of interaction emerging using the ability to extemporise with aspects of the shared history built between a therapist and his/her client.
For example, I have created numerous songs and improvisation motifs such as the "Bang Bang song", specific chord progressions on the keyboard and dynamic rhythms on percussion which form musical connections with the client during the beginning-middle stages of therapy. This creates a shared history with the client which similarly to pre-written songs created outside the therapy space, forms a feeling of safety, structure, and trust in the therapeutic relationship. However, I do realise it's difficult to understand exactly how these musical motifs work but I invite you to use your imagination and I may post about these in another blog in the future! As these aspects of our shared history develop we form a secure environment for extended music-making which is where I start to extemporise with these aspects of our shared history. This seems to develop the client's playing and helps them strengthen their creativity, confidence and ability to interact in a safe framework. I feel this is a useful strategy and one I have noticed in my sessions to be exciting. This is evidenced by my clients pure enjoyment, engagement and interaction where they occasionally will use aspects of the shared history themselves to extemporise with the therapist, reversing the roles and demonstrating enhanced agency and musical creativity. I look forward to extending these skills more in the future to further develop them and apply them in this fascinating work!
For example, I have created numerous songs and improvisation motifs such as the "Bang Bang song", specific chord progressions on the keyboard and dynamic rhythms on percussion which form musical connections with the client during the beginning-middle stages of therapy. This creates a shared history with the client which similarly to pre-written songs created outside the therapy space, forms a feeling of safety, structure, and trust in the therapeutic relationship. However, I do realise it's difficult to understand exactly how these musical motifs work but I invite you to use your imagination and I may post about these in another blog in the future! As these aspects of our shared history develop we form a secure environment for extended music-making which is where I start to extemporise with these aspects of our shared history. This seems to develop the client's playing and helps them strengthen their creativity, confidence and ability to interact in a safe framework. I feel this is a useful strategy and one I have noticed in my sessions to be exciting. This is evidenced by my clients pure enjoyment, engagement and interaction where they occasionally will use aspects of the shared history themselves to extemporise with the therapist, reversing the roles and demonstrating enhanced agency and musical creativity. I look forward to extending these skills more in the future to further develop them and apply them in this fascinating work!
