First, a sincere apology for the absence of a timely update on my journey to become a Certified Clinical Musician! (CCM). My journey is indeed continuing, and I am very BUSY...as I have reached the point in my learning, where the "rubber meets the road" for me personally...I have successfully completed all of my Level I reading, research, written reports and auditory samples. This is a HUGE accomplishment for me. But...now I need to start on the last segment of my level I training and preparation: I need to record 4, 10 minute musical audio files: Each 10 minute audio is targeted toward a particular patient population (elderly, infant/child, general healing care, and those approaching their death). Each population requires different modes, tempos, melodic/non-melodic, rhythmic/non-rhythmic, known/unknown melodies/pieces and lots of appropriate improvisation to connect musical selections and provide seamless transitions in key signature, tempo and emotional content, as dictated by the patient and their articulated and observed needs. My samples require a minimum of 2 songs with appropriate improvisation and transitions. So, I need a solid lock on 8 songs and the "connective tissue" of improvisation for each 10 minute recording. I also have a multi-page examination as well as thought-filled essay questions to complete. Please pray for me as I undertake this next, most important segment of my training.

My prayer life is centered these days on healing....healing of loved ones who are recovering, healing for our Nation, and healing for the individuals the Lord will place in my care as I move forward. I have a HUGE confession...when I was young and so very full of myself...my dreams...my goals...my activities...I heard about a group of Monks. Their sole focus was a prayer ministry...they literally prayed for others, themselves, the church, society...honoring specific requests...and unspoken needs all the time! In my ignorance and self-centeredness...I thought to myself: "How can anyone spend a full day (let alone, days, weeks, months, years, decades...a lifetime) in prayer? " Oh how the Holy Spirit has convicted, righted, opened, and changed my heart!!!! Now, as I write in my prayer journal...I am awash in prayer. The need for communion via prayer... and those private conversations is CONSTANT...not for requests...(tho, those are certainly part of my directed prayer time), but for thanksgiving, for worship, for humility, for wonder, for EVERYTHING....and of course for spiritual and physical healing.

Many years ago, when I was playing regularly in orchestras, I gave my musical offerings to the Lord. I love preparing music...it allows me a chance to pray...to give thanks...to ask for the blessings of music to be used by the Holy Spirit to move hearts and minds of myself and others. Proper preparation of music is also very humbling...knowing that it will be blessed and provide opportunities for worship, focus and thanksgiving. Over the last several years, I have made a conscious decision to not play music for compensation.

When I retired from my full-time job as a speech pathologist, I prayed about what my next steps would be. I have always viewed my career as a teacher and speech pathologist as a calling...not a job. I have been given the ability to help others (never perfectly, but certainly as a heartfelt opportunity)...and as such, I again feel deeply blessed beyond any measure...that my calling was also my occupation...but now, through God's incredible generosity, I am now able to give speech and language support to others...as a gift. It has been 10 years since I formally retired from the Public Schools....and when I walked away from my school position, I recommitted my gifts as a speech pathologist as a gift of thanksgiving to my Creator God. Now I offer my help whenever it is requested...as a ministry...no financial gain desired. God continues to provide for our every need, and I am so grateful to be able to totally turn all my skills and heart longings over completely to the One who placed them in my heart when he created me.

So, please pray that I can serve...via music or speech and language supports...where ever God leads me.

Thanks again for your patience....and for reading and sharing this journey!
Love to all....

Life and Music

Update Number 3:

Well...it has been a very different 3 weeks. I have been in deep prayer for my brilliant and loving cousin Dr. Laurel Bluhm Flores, as she recovers from the impact of a freak car accident. She is currently recovering from a spinal cord injury, experiencing lower body paralysis with some r
eturn of feeling and small movements. (Many of you know her from RUHS...especially band, vocal music, drama and musicals. Additionally...she was a Valadictorian of the Class of 1973!) She has been at the MRI (Michigan Rehabilitation Institute) for almost 2 weeks. Please pray for her complete recovery. I know that the Lord Jesus, as the Master Physician, has a very specific plan for Lori's healing journey. She is beautifully and wonderfully made in the image of Our Creator, and He is busy sustaining her and laying wisdom upon the hearts and minds of her medical team! She is a very faithful Sister in Christ and she prays daily "Lord, Thy will be done!"

Now, here I am, preparing to become a properly credentialed Clinical Musician...and I have a family member who may benefit from soothing harp music...so...I am going to step out in faith this week, and hopefully minister to my dear cousin with music. Lori is a gifted musician, a former vocal music educator in her prior life, before medical school...she knows the difference between good music, great music and so.... I am hoping that my attempts at providing rest, relaxation and peace in her current place...at this current time....will feed her. One thing is for sure...the music I bring will be filled with LOVE...no matter its level of proficiency...

Which...has me deeply thinking of how I will feel, venturing out to play for patients who are not known to me. As I have shared my music with others over the years, I have come up against nerves, jitters, and performance anxiety...all playing opportunities come with a bit of pre-offering anxiety...but interestingly...I am often more keyed up..nervous playing for family and friends...and playing intimate settings...believe it or not, while nerves accompany me anytime I play...a large group is often times easier for me.

Now, clinical music offerings are patient driven...and never a performance...very spontaneous at many levels...but always with preparation and a plan...all I can do, is give all of this to My Savior, and trust that the Holy Spirit will use the gift...for the good of God's Kingdom.

I have completed 7 major assignments and 1 book review out of 7 required. Many assignments require samples of my playing...to demonstrate skill mastery, understanding of music theory, eliminate nerves, and (I think) to begin to "toughen up my skin" for bringing music to others in an intimate setting. I can play perfectly...and then...I hit the RECORD button on Garage Band...SMH.

I am growing on so many levels...and I continue to journey with faith and purpose!

Thanks for reading!

A New Update: Coursework has begun!

Well, I am now in the thick of my clinical musician training! The more I know...the more I realize I don't know about most things harp! That's ok though...I see this as a great adventure...a journey...and I am determined to enjoy this new trip as much as I can! Some parts of this journey are joyful...some are frustrating...some are scary...some are a bit nerve-racking...and of course...personal connections to my life and beliefs are being revealed, tested, discussed and bathed in prayer...

There are so many things that have been revealed to me already. The first is...that while I know where I am going after I die...and who I will be with...I've thought very little about the how of how my transition into the arms of the Lord will happen. There is a reason the "when and how" of our last journey is shielded from us. I am deeply grateful that my Savior doesn't reveal that information to me until He feels it is right...but...my desire to become a Certified Clinical Musician has made me learn about, and face several end of Earthly life issues...not just of others...but of myself...and those I deeply love. I have come up against death and dying in every book, journal article and conference call. Playing at bedside for patients in Palliative care and Hospice care settings is a sacred responsibility that will be entrusted me. I will be there to bring peace and comfort at possibly the most sacred moments of a person's life. This is an amazing gift to bring to another soul...and a very real and deep responsibility.

As I read Hospice manuals, read patient and bedside musician re-tellings, read policy documents and learn how to serve...I am also being asked to stare straight on into my own death and how I want my death and the events preceding my homegoing to unfold. It's impossible to separate my own feelings about death and dying from my desire to support another soul as they head to their Eternal Home. I know that my friends and family members who practice medicine or are members of the Clergy have come to this same place on their journey as they prepared for their calling...I rejoice that I have no conflict within my soul about my faith and Eternity...I really can't imagine trying to walk this new path without the Holy Spirit and my Lord Jesus. But, gosh...thinking about the physical process of dying is hard.

Now, about all that stuff I don't know re: bedside harp playing....I am working every day to improve and expand my harp playing skills. While bedside music is never to be a musical performance, showing up adequately prepared as a musician and a member of a patient's care team is essential. Just like when I prepare music for church orchestra, choir, Bible school, Sunday School and Bible study, I am to prepare myself with the skills necessary as a musician for bedside music ministry.

So... I am working on developing an extensive catalog of song genres, and pieces that consider stage of life and medical necessity. I am learning how to play in a manner that can positively impact a patient's blood pressure, pulse rate, alertness and respiration. I am learning how to use music to reach memory centers of the brain, how to relax a writhing body...how to encourage..how to bring peace...
I am learning to focus on preparedness...but most importantly...on personal connections, emotion, empathy.

Now, I'd like to give deep thanks to my mentors through my journey as a musician...there are many...but I will mention just a few today.

First and Foremost: My beloved grandparents Hap and Ruth Hoeppner. These loving and stedfast souls saw a little girl worth saving...and knew instinctively that a relationship with Jesus, a good education, their love and music would heal and feed my Soul. They indulged my need to hear music...to sing...to dance...to play flute, guitar, recorders, percussion...to write music...perform music and love via music. They made sure I was steeped in a true friendship with Jesus Christ..and they never missed an opportunity to encourage me to use my gifts for the Glory of God and the benefit of my family and friends.

Mr. Don Burman: my High School Band Director... an amazing encourager that taught me how to play music with skill and passion...but more importantly...to believe in my musical gifts and continue to reach higher...to take risks...to be adventurous...to say yes...to try a new instrument...to play a new type of music...to compose..to improvise to make that emotional connection to others through music.

Dr. Ray Shuster: the most spiritually led, and deeply accomplished musician and person I've ever known. He has taught me the why and how of the gift of music in worship. That our reason for existence is to praise and worship our Risen Savior...he has lifted me and so many others up and given us the skills, the place and the time to use our Gifts for the Kingdom of God...can there be any better, deeper purpose in life..then to help others know and praise their Savior...the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?!!!  My musicianship has grown under the baton of my beloved Dr. Ray...but even more importantly...my faith and ability to worship has become deep, wide and BRAVE!

So...I am taking baby steps in the harp world...but huge leaps of faith on my spiritual walk. I will leave you with a sound bite...a required assignment that targets total improvisation based on chord structure, dynamics, passing tones and snippets of melody on the harp...this improvisation must be spontaneous and an unknown melody...this is a very scary thing to do. I am so grateful that I have been taught by my mentors to understand music theory...the Circle of 5ths..the use of chord structure..chord inversions, harmony, melody, and musical modes...
Love to my mentors....here and in Heaven!

To hear the improvisation, go to iTunes...find my name Lee Timer...and select Therapy Harp Music.

A New Journey

Welcome to Harp and Song in the Mitten!

Why become a Certified Therapeutic Musician?

Sometimes it feels like my life and circumstances have very deliberately brought me to this place. As a child, I sang before I could talk. Of all the possible modalities that have touched my heart, music and language held the key to my happiness. Luckily, the Lord has blessed me with some musical ability and a huge desire to learn about all things music. I remember being fascinated by the musicians on the Lawrence Welk Show. My oldest cousin began playing saxophone and guitar...and I was entranced! Every Sunday I sang my heart out in Sunday school...learned my favorite hymns from the red Lutheran hymnals, memorized songs at vacation Bible School  and loved the Liturgy.  I listened to my record player obsessively. I memorized melodies and lyrics...I began to have musical preferences....and I began to beg for a musical instrument. 

At church I was exposed to the piano, organ, choir, flute and...yep...harp. Harp was my deep longing, but finances and practicality dictated my second choice (but first love: the flute).

Then came the Beatles...and my first guitar. To say this was the beginning of a wonderful obsession is an understatement...my Band Directors in Jr. High (David Bonamicci) and High School (Don Burman) blew open the musical doors for me....wanna try playing stand up bass? You Betcha!

How about some Christmas music in a Baroque quartet...soprano recorder...sure! Wanna play oboe for concert season...? Absolutely!

Well...now I own upwards of 40 instruments...fretted, stringed, wind, percussion, keyboarded, strummed, plucked...I've got it! Singing in choirs and select vocal ensembles...? Yes! Wanna write your own music? Heck Yeah!

I have sung in school and church choirs, and select vocal ensembles. I've played in bands and orchestras and Solo and Ensemble competitions. I've marched in marching bands, played in pep bands and jazz groups. I've performed in folk music trios, and did my time singing  in bars in Ann Arbor. I've written special music, shepherded the music for a weekly women's Bible study and literally have sung at hundreds of weddings, funerals, baby and bridal  showers and private parties. I was once represented by the Gail and Rice Talent Agency in Detroit, and I have been a card carrying Detroit Federation of Musicians member....

So here I am....

I am attempting to document my journey to becoming a properly credentialed Therapeutic Musician. As such, I should talk a bit about the difference between a fully credentialed Music Therapist vs. a Certified Therapeutic Musician.

Similarities in the course of study include scholarly readings, specific coursework, understanding the medical environment, understanding confidentiality, using physiological signs within the patient to choose and provide music. Additional similarities include a total focus on the patient and their family, focus on helping to mitigate pain responses, memory loss and stress, as well as participation in palliative care and hospice care. Both disciplines provide support for individuals across the age/life continuum.

The differences in these similar disciplines reside in the amount of education required (a certified music therapist has a minimum of 4 years of University study, and their scope of practice is much broader, deeper and often prescriptive in nature).

A Certified Therapeutic Musician is employed to play for the patient and family. We are not empowered to prescribe treatment or advise patients or their families on medical or personal issues. Our focus is on providing peace, contentment and enjoyment to individuals experiencing difficulties. By providing music we hope to encourage and possibly contribute to healing and relaxation.

Both disciplines require internships and standards of conduct that respect individuals, families and medical teams.

The curriculum I am beginning is very rigorous and will most likely take 1-2 years.

Here I go!