By: Erin Welch
iPlayMusic & TablEdit 2.65
 The first teaches individuals how to play guitar by downloading
software onto an iPod.
 The second helps individuals learn new songs on guitar by
allowing therapists to communicate music to those who don’t
know how to read music.
Why Guitar is Important
 The guitar has been described as an “indispensable” tool to Music Therapy
(Primadei 2004) and is the main instrument of choice for therapists and
clients alike (Romanowski 2003).
 Using guitar as motivation in therapy can help with pre-academic needs,
such as concentration and incentive to complete a task.
 The guitar, being portable, is easy for the therapist to take to any session to
use with any client.
 The guitar can be played before even speaking to client to establish a
connection or to interest a patient who is withdrawn.
 The timbre is soothing, and it is difficult to make the guitar sound bad. Thus,
it is common to let the patient try to play the guitar….the good sounds that
will almost inevitably be produced can be very encouraging.
 Music played on the guitar (and the interest of watching someone play it)
can be a very good distraction for patients, especially those who are
hospitalized and children.
Examples of Guitar Use in Therapy
 Hanser (1999) reported working with a 12-year-old boy attending a special needs school
who would not attempt anything about which he doubted his success- he had a very low
frustration level. However, he really wanted to play guitar, so achievable tasks were made
for him, and the chance to learn new skills was an incentive to pay attention during guitar
sessions and during regular class time.
 Williams (2003)- case study with a 2 ½ -year-old female burn victim. She was in extreme
discomfort during dressings until the therapists came and played guitar. The little girl
was very intrigued, learned the names of the strings, and strummed the guitar even with a
splint on her arm. It proved to be the perfect distraction from the discomfort.
 Kennedy (1998) investigated the effect of guitar lessons on adolescents and noted a large
increase of self-esteem in the subjects.
 I have read several examples of therapists teaching patients to play the guitar, even
though they were missing figures, have muscular impairments, or did not have full use of
their hands. However, the first of these software programs cannot be aimed at these
particular patients because it only teaches guitar in the traditional form.
 I played at a preschool for abused children last semester…
How iPlayMusic Works
http://www.iplaymusic.com/mac-demo.html
There are 3 DVDs that can be bought and installed to your computer, and
then is transferred to an iPod.
There are over 4 hours of video lessons on each DVD, an 80-page
printable e-book, and more than 25 popular song lessons.
Video lessons include scrolling chords/lyrics, slow motion, and looping
that allows you to learn songs at an individualized pace.
Benefits and Faults of iPlayMusic
 This could be a very good incentive for patients to concentrate and cooperate by allowing them to
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learn new songs each time they do.
There are two problems with this: Sometimes clients are only seen for one session, however music
therapists can work with a client for 2 years or longer. If this program is used to motivate such
patients, the therapist will run out of songs, because currently, there are only 2 discs with 25 “hit”
songs.
Also, the program will teach the patient to be a “song-specific” guitarist. Meaning, they are not
taught the skills needed to play the guitar- they are only mimicking what someone on a screen does in
order to play a specific song. When therapy is ended, the patient will not have the needed skills to
continue to learn new songs if they desire to (unless they seek other guidance).
Because this is downloaded to your iPod, it is portable, which makes it very convenient. This would
make it easy to pass on to patients (but only as long as they have an iPod) and allow them to take it
home to learn at whatever pace they feel comfortable.
Because there is a social aspect that accompanies playing the guitar, being able to play “popular”
songs is very likely to boost self-esteem and establish a sense of accomplishment belonging among
peers.
This might not fit the learning style of a particular client, which could lead to frustration. It probably
would be difficult for some people to learn by simply watching a person’s hands move. Because of
the hand positions, sometimes it is hard to tell which strings the fingers are on.
About Tablature Editor
 This program allows you to create, edit, print, and listen to (via MIDI)
tablature and notation for guitar, as well as other fretted, stringed
instruments.
 TablEdit has an extremely long list of features…some of them
include: offers multitrack editing and printing, is available in several
languages, it can print chord diagrams and head sheets, alternate
tuning, transposition… and the list goes on.
Benefits of Tablature Editor
 There are many, many people who do not know how to read notation, so tablature is
the easiest way to help them communicate a musical idea.
 Normally, when creating TABs, there is no way to convey the rhythms of the song, but
with this program, the notation is right above it, so the rhythm is shown. Also, if the
patient is interested in reading music, this could be a tool to help them do so.
 It is printable. If I hear a song that I think a particular client would like, or if a client
requests a song I don’t know, I could go look it up and learn it, and then create the
TAB, print it out, and bring it to our next session to share.
 Like Finale, you can add or delete measures after you have started working on the
piece.
 Also like Finale, the up, down, and side-to-side arrows can be used to move around
quickly on the “strings”.
 Entering pitches is simple- just place the cursor on the desired string as use the
number keypad to enter the fret number (then use the arrows to move to the next
string needed and continue the process).
 Essential elements, such as dynamics, up- and down-strokes, and fingerings can be
added to the TAB.
 The piece can be played back and exported as a WAV file.
Faults of Tablature Editor
 Unfortunately, like most other programs, only the demo is free. And if you choose to use
the demo, it will only save 16 measures at a time. So if using the demo (like I did), wait
until you have enough time to enter the entire song and then print it.
 Although it is simple to enter pitches, it is very tedious to change the duration of a note. If
the program is set to entering eighth notes, and you want to enter a quarter note, you
have to set your cursor and then go to the toolbar, and choose the note duration each time
the rhythm changes. So, for a song with complicated rhythms, this process could take a
while.
 Entering words is also very tedious because they must be entered syllable by syllable.
And it associates specific syllables with specific notes, so once the syllable is there, it
cannot be adjusted. This causes a problem if a word is even somewhat long, because the
next word will be set on top of it…causing the first word to be cut off. The one upside is
that it keeps a pool of syllables once they’re entered, so if any of the words repeat, you
don’t have to retype every single one of them.
TablEdit 2.65
Screen shot of me
entering a Jim Croce
song into the
Tablature Editor.
Entering Text
Top: the pool of syllables that
expands as you create
syllables.
Bottom: the window to type
a new syllable.
Changing
Note Value
Under the tab Note in
the tool bar, note
durations are listed:
from whole note, ½
note, ¼ note, etc. until
1/64 note.
Print
Preview
Pages 1&2 out of 4.
Works Cited
 Hanser, S.B., “The new music therapist’s handbook”, Berklee Press, Boston, 1999
 Kennedy, J.R., “The effects of musical performance, rational emotive therapy and
vicarious experience on the self-efficacy and self-esteem of juvenile delinquents and
disadvantaged children”, 1998, University of Kansas
 Krout, Robert E. EdD, “The attraction of the guitar as an instrument of motivation,
preference, and choice for use with clients in music therapy: A review of the literature”,
The Arts in Psychotherapy, 34.1
 Primadei, A., “The use of guitar in clinical improvisation”, Music Therapy Today, 2004
 Romanowski, B., “Men and guitars- Personal experience with the guitar in music
therapy”, Music Therapy Today, April 2003
 Williams, K., “A child with burn injury at a pediatric hospital: A music therapy case
study”, The New Zealand Journal of Music Therapy, 2003, p. 31