ASU Research E-Magazine: The Music Within

Music therapy generally is not related to the development of a client’s musical ability. But in the case of Sara Romero, it struck a chord. Sara plays a variety of instruments, including piano, guitar, and violin.

“I gave Sara a guitar and showed her how to change the notes. She took off from there, moving her hands up and down the fingerboard,” says music therapist Suzanne Oliver. “Sara taught herself the chords. She also developed a variety of strumming patterns. Now she is teaching me new things.”

Since she was a tot, Sara has been able to play what she hears. Oliver loves to recite the story of Sara’s father wanting his daughter to learn Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. He bought her the compact disc. After listening to it once, Sara played the piece in its entirety.

“Clarinet was Sara’s first frustration,” Oliver says. “Though she played it as well as any beginner, Sara wasn’t an expert at it instantly. She got frustrated. She was upset because she couldn’t play the music that was in her head.”

Sara’s mind is filled with her own complicated compositions. Her music is melodic and sounds familiar and comfortable. American music styles, from church hymns to country-western and jazz are recognizable. Throughout her life, Sara kept this music carefully tucked away in her memory and on audiotapes.

During the summer of 1996, Sara’s music took a new tack. By using music to learn about time and the sequencing of events, she also learned to better structure her own musical creations. Her parents and Oliver wanted Sara to have equipment that could record and catalog her complex compositions as well as expand her performance ability.

Oliver’s ASU connections combined with Sara’s musical abilities laid the groundwork for a benefit recital. The ASU School of Music’s Music Therapy Department provided the sponsorship, along with Music Therapy Services of Arizona, and Services for Families First.

For her debut recital, Sara was to perform her own compositions at ASU’s Katzin Concert Hall in March 1997.

But two months before the concert, Sara suffered a near fatal seizure. She recovered, but she lost some cognitive ability, and with it some memory and the music she had stored in her mind.

“Her body was physically insulted by the seizure,” Oliver says. “Her motor coordination was affected. Her hands couldn’t move quickly. So we worked to help her reorganize her thought processes and get her physical body going.

Sara doubled up on therapy during her recovery. She took three to four times the normal amount of sessions per week.

“That’s when we saw the incredible neurological effect,” Oliver explains. “After six weeks of intensive therapy, Sara began to regain her memory as well as her motor and musical skills.”

The Sara Romero Benefit Recital was a success. The event proved to be a huge turning point for Sara. Through her music she made another connection—this time with an audience.

“Sara experienced her first bout of stage fright,” Oliver recalls. “We were so excited because she had made that connection.” The therapist used the intermission as an opportunity for an impromptu intervention.

“I explained to Sara that being nervous is part of performing, that it is the connection with the audience, and that she was to take those feelings and put them into her music.” It worked.

“Since that first recital in 1997, Sara has connected with the idea of sharing music and getting excited about what people think of her music,” Oliver continues. “Not only does she compose and perform daily on her Kurzweil K2500, she also participates regularly in jam sessions with other musicians. By the end of a rehearsal, she is more spontaneous and her personality fully revealed.”

Sara now has the ability to tell musicians how she wants them to perform her works.

The Kurzweil K2500, purchased with proceeds from the recital, is a keyboard with built-in compact disc recording ability. Cakewalk Audio Software donated additional professional audio software. Sara can now perform her music, manipulate it in a computer, and then print it out.

“The biggest component is the printing of her music,” Oliver says. “In the past, the music was all in her head and far too complicated for us to attempt to write down.

“Today, when performing with others, often a drummer, vocalist, bass player, violinist, and flutist, Sara is just another musician—a skilled, talented musician jamming with the others,” Oliver beams.

Sara continues to perform, compose, and collaborate. In addition to her regular performance sessions, she gives informal recitals in elementary schools to help children understand the abilities of people with visual impairments. She answers questions from the audience. Although she is not always spontaneous, Oliver notes that these outings help her learn to answer questions more readily.

Oliver believes that Sara Romero will continue to build her social, organizational, and work task skills with the help of music therapy.

“In a sense, it’s almost like Sara is having music therapy sessions with herself every time she sits down at the Kurzweil.”—Vickie Hamilton-Smith