"I've been battling depression for as long as I can remember at this point. After graduating high school, I took on the responsibility of taking care of my mom who was in the late stages of Alzheimer's. I had to feed, bathe, and even change her diapers. I couldn’t even communicate with her as English wasn’t her first language. She passed away in 2012 at just 59 years old. I fell into a deep slump right after and didn't want to be around anything or anyone. I was bitter. I was angry, and I honestly didn't want to be alive anymore. Shortly after that, I got my first offer to guitar tech on tour. I quit my obligations at home and flew out with one thing on my mind: becoming the best person and musician I can be and the human my mom would -want- me to be. Music is really the most powerful thing I've ever encountered. Relationships fail, friends come and go, and people die. But music will ALWAYS be there for you. It’s constant and it never has an expiration date. If you're having a bad day, pick up some headphones and put down whatever is troubling you."
-Christopher Kim
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The following is a post we received by a member of our community. If you have a story to share e-mail us at [email protected]
"When I was very young, I lost my dad. Shortly after that, I discovered his old guitar, and decided to learn how to play it. The guitar helped me to think of other things, and distracted me by giving me something new to learn and play. With this, I found new types of music besides the things that you can hear on the radio. After that, I began to face my own health issues, having to stay at the hospital with a lot of time to kill. I used this time to search for new styles of music, learning songs that I liked on my guitar. As my health issues worsened, I began spending all of my time in the hospital on my guitar and my bass. I found that aggressive music helped me so much to think that I can beat this disease, 'I am stronger than this.' Finally, when I was 18, I lost my grandfather. He was like a dad to me, teaching me many things, and although you know that everyone passes away someday, you always wonder 'why now?' when you lose someone close. Again, music helped me at this time by helping me to realize that I can overcome this pain. At this point, because music had such a big impact on what lead my life, I decided to attend Berklee College of Music to further learn what exactly about it helped me to stay sane all of this time. I have so much to say, so many feelings that I want to express, and music has given me a way to." -Loïc Michel The death of a loved one can be an extremely difficult situation to cope with. Among all the feelings that might emerge, is one that you can't possibly explain how you feel to someone else.
Sometimes words are not enough to communicate how we are feeling. Music offers the unique ability to create emotion through the instruments that are being played as well as the lyrics themselves. This creates an expression of emotion that goes beyond what words can do on their own. Songwriting can be an extremely helpful tool during the grieving process. Anecdotally, this is known throughout the world of musicians. Many musicians use personal struggle and difficulty as motivation for their songs. The benefits of songwriting, however, have also been studied scientifically. One study found that "Songwriting-based music therapy groups facilitate positive growth in bereaved adolescents, showing improvements across all group domains. (Dalton & Krout, 2005)" Songwriting offers a unique medium for expression of feelings and emotions while also providing a creative outlet at the same time. "The grief songwriting process offers an engaging, containing, and creative model to address bereavement-related issues. (Dalton & Krout, 2006)" If you are struggling with the loss of a loved one and enjoy music, songwriting may provide you with an empowering creative outlet that helps you express how you are feeling. If you have a story about how Songwriting has helped you heal, please share it in the comments below or email us at [email protected]. Citations: Dalton, T.A., & Krout, R.E. (2005). Development of the grief process scale through music therapy songwriting with bereaved adolescents. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 32(2), 131-143. Dalton, T.A., & Krout, R.E. (2006). The grief song-writing process with bereaved adolescents: An integrative grief model and music therapy protocol. Music Therapy Perspectives, 24(2), 94-107 -Sam N, May 7, 2018 #RockNRollHealstheSoul "When I was in seventh grade, I distinctively remember taking a survey about my favorite music, and I had no idea what to say! I really wasn't that into music at that time, so I just put down what my older brothers listened to.
In eighth grade, I met a kid named Shannon. He gave me a CD full of Led Zeppelin, ACDC, Guns N Roses, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, and many more, and introduced me into real rock and roll. He also put a guitar in my hands and taught me how to play a few simple songs. For the next year and a half we obsessed over music and especially classic Rock N Roll. One year later, Shannon died. The music that he gave to me before he left, was the exact gift that I relied on after his passing. The music helped get me out of my head for a little while when I was struggling. I found songs singing about loss that really connected with me and I would listen to them on repeat. The shared emotion I felt with the songs was cathartic, and it allowed me to really feel and embrace what I was going through. Playing guitar was a huge emotional outlet for me. I could pluck away on the guitar for hours, playing the same things over and over again. It would keep my mind entertained and it would make me feel better. I recently started writing songs, which became another major outlet. Last year, one of my friends, Jesse Wild, started playing drums and we started playing some real rock and roll. A huge motivation for him as a drummer has been his friend, Dietsch, who passed away when they were younger. Dietsch was a pretty rad drummer as well and certainly influences Jesse as he plays. When we get on stage and I pick up my guitar and Jesse gets behind his kit, our friends are right there with us. Music is our chance to share our story and share the energy of our friends who have died. ~Sam Noertker, The Stratmores, Vocals + Guitar The following submission was recieved by a member of our community. If you have a story to share please contact us at [email protected]
"In my experience music is a guardian angel; no matter what you're dealing with it shapes into helping you. It can provide the words you need to hear because you're not strong enough to say them out loud. Or maybe even to scared to. We all have certain songs that even hearing the first chord gives us chills. We have heard the song over and over yet it still hits the spot. Years ago I lost my grandmother who I held dear to me more than anything. Being a shy kid it was hard for me to speak up, but she always made sure my voice was heard. The day I lost her I wanted nothing more than to make her voice heard one last time. But it was just silence. For the first time in my life I had no outlet, and it felt as though everything had changed. At that point, music began to have its healing effect on me. I remember a specific song I listened to on my way to her funeral, and hearing the words of someone else's loss made me feel less alone. Not less sad, not less hopeful, just less alone. For me, music soothes those silent moments when I don't know what to say, and puts out the fire in my heart when it feels like it's burning up. We use music at special occasions, from weddings to funerals, to instill an emotion and embellish the memory. Music feels like my soul: It guides me, makes me feel certain things. When I create music it strengthens my soul. Music is more than just sound, it is how we survive. People have certain songs for the bad days, the moments they want to cry, the times when they want to say goodbye and end it all. Music is my support system. Without it I would be nothing. I used to think the phrase 'music saved my life' was cheesy, but now I look at that and say realize that it can and has. I may have lost a grandmother. I may have been hurt. But I have never gone a day without finding healing through music. The second I put in my headphones I know that I'll be safe. Music is here yet again to save the day." -Jayson Svajdlenka The following is a submission from a member of our community about how music has helped them heal. If you have a story to share pleas email us at [email protected]
"When I was in 8th grade my best friend killed herself. My entire friend group was devastated, and no one really knew how to cope. I began to play music when we would hang out, and everyone would get so into it. We would all sing along and laugh and seemingly forget about our problems for a while. We connected over music and felt the pain fade away. More recently, I lost my girlfriend of over 2 and a half years. My first long term relationship. This occurred simultaneously with other serious life changes; I had just gotten a job and started college. My life was not in a good place, full of constant stress and anxiety. At this point I began to rely on heavy music, listening to records multiple times every day. Every time I felt very down or suicidal I would put on aggressive music, and it helped me relax and relieve stress. Music is a major part of my life and I don't think I would be here if it wasn't for music." |
AuthorsTony Ollerton is the Board Certified Music Therapist for the Cole Project ArchivesCategories |