How music can help us in 2020… - Laura Corrigan Music Therapy

I was recently asked to contribute to a blog run by a music student at the University of the West of Scotland about how music can help us as we all adapt to finding ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic. I’ve reposted by response below…

The thing about music is that it is a real constant in our lives. It is always there, always around us, and we can return to it at any time. Over the past few months, there has been so much unpredictability and uncertainty for us all, and my own personal experience has been that at times I’ve not known whether I’m coming or going…

But music is a place we can always go to to find a sense of security and comfort. Listening to and playing music can help us to process and understand what we might be thinking and feeling; it can soothe us and console us, provide encouragement and inspire us. The mere familiarity of the music that we know and love provides us with a structure, a beginning, middle and end, that we know we can rely on and return to time and again.

In music therapy, central to the work we do is the belief in music’s power to communicate; and, similarly, in the musicality of our communication as human beings. Psychologists such as Colwyn Trevarthen have long articulated the inherent musicality within all of us and the ways in which we communicate with each other:

Yes, and above all, the tangible, visible and audible musicality of our behaviour communicates. It is as if we are caught in a social web of sound, made to sympathise and synchronise by the vibrations of threads that tug between us. We are born with the same motor time generators, tuning forks of the same key, which transfer energy between us with instantaneous sympathy. All human beings walk, breathe, gesture, speak within the same range of rhythms. These give the measure of time to our consciousness and memory, as well as to our actions. Variations in the impulses express emotions to which we are all sensitive. All attune to the changing mood that is expressed in changing tempos and harmony of behavioural expression.

Colwyn Trevarthen (1997)

Emeritus Professor of Child Psychology and Psychobiology
University of Edinburgh

In this challenging time, where many of us are missing the natural, normal, everyday communication and interactions with others that we are so used to, music can offer us not just a personal means for reflection and relaxation but an expansive ‘social web of sound’ that connects all of us. Although most of us aren’t currently able to sing with our choir, play with our band or go to our favourite gig, through simply listening to, playing and creating music at home, even if on our own, we are connecting with the wider world outside our front door through the ‘vibrations of threads that tug between us’.

Listening…

Most of us don’t need any advice or help when it comes to listening to music – we simply put on the tunes we feeling like listening to, pop on the radio, hit “shuffle”, search for the YouTube Channel, plug in the headphones and away we go! However, there are one or two things we could think about at the moment to help us connect with those around us and support others if we feel they may need it.

Making a simple playlist that you can share with friends or family, whether full of songs to take you on a nostalgia trip or new music to broaden our horizons, is an easy way of using music to support and nurture ourselves and those around us. Playlists are a great way of connecting with those of us in our communities who are experiencing particular isolation at the moment. Many of us will already be familiar with the resource Playlist for Life (https://www.playlistforlife.org.uk/), which supports and encourages the creation of playlists which act like musical biographies that can help to spark recognition and long-term memory in people with dementia. But this idea can be valuable to all of us; to those helping to support and care for elderly relatives or members of the community, or finding ways to support those of us experiencing loneliness or isolation.

Playing Music…

Playing music can be good for the mind and the body; a mental and a physical activity that gets our bodies and our brains working in different ways! Putting aside even ten minutes a day to sing, or to play whatever instrument you may have lying around is a good way to get started. That dusty guitar or the piano that’s gradually turned into a handy sideboard will always be there when you’re ready to return to it. There are so many fantastic free resources online now that you can learn to play almost any instrument at home. But just having a good old sing along with the radio, tapping your feet to your favourite tunes or whistling while you work can all help to lift our mood and change our mindset.

Getting those you live with involved in singing a song or tapping along to a tune, no matter what else is going on at the time, is a great way to use music in our everyday lives to support and encourage each other. As there is no singing allowed in many schools at the moment, it is perhaps even more important than ever to get children using their voices and exploring musically in the home. There are lots of ideas online for creating and making instruments with your children, which you can then make lots of noisy use of! For mothers with small children, there are a number of mother-and-baby music classes which are still taking place online.

Creating Music…

Whether we’re serious about song-writing or just like to change the words to whatever song we’re listening to, to fit whichever activity we happen to be doing at the time, creating music ourselves can be a great outlet for expressing ourselves and processing what may be happening for us and in the world around us. With so much time at home, this might be the opportunity to experiment if you’ve never written a song or a piece of music before! Whether it’s a new song you and the kids make up at bath-time, or an epic project recorded using the latest software, creating our own music can offer us a place for exploration and development at a time when we may be feeling a bit “stuck” in certain aspects of our lives. Again, the internet is a wonderful resource for tips for song-writing and recording, and it has really never been easier to access so many free resources when it comes to creating and making music!

Some Useful Links:

Playlist for Life: