Bringing Autumn into Music Therapy
Fall is one of my favorite seasons to bring into music therapy sessions. The changing leaves, cooler weather, Halloween, and fall traditions create so many opportunities for meaningful and creative music therapy interventions. Here in Minnesota, we know fall can go by fast, so it’s fun to enjoy the season while it’s here!
Reminiscence Through Music
Fall can be a great starting topic for reminiscence, especially when working with older adults. This kind of seasonal music can bring up memories of childhood, family traditions, school, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and favorite fall activities.
Try pairing a familiar song with prompts such as:
“What does this time of year remind you of?”
“What was fall like when you were growing up?”
“Did your family have any fall traditions?”
“What was your favorite thing to do in the fall as a child and now as an adult?”
These conversations can support socialization, communication, memory, and emotional expression. You can even incorporate them into a song!
Fall-Themed Songwriting
Use the season as inspiration for a collaborative songwriting intervention. Invite clients to share words, memories, or feelings associated with fall and turn their ideas into lyrics.
You might start with prompts like “Fall feels like…,” “My favorite thing about fall is…,” or “I remember…”
One popular autumn song many of my clients like to recreate in their sessions leading up to Halloween is the “Addams Family Theme Song”. Instead of the phrase “The Addams Family” at the end of each verse, try modifying it to “The fall time is here!” to include favorite fall time activities. This can initiate discussion/verbalization, reminiscence, self-expression and in some instances help clients who struggle with seasonal transitions process them. Here is an example of a lyric template used during several of my recent sessions. Each highlighted phrase would be where to prompt clients to fill-in-the blank with their own words, but for fun, I filled in my own.
The Fall Time is Here!
The air is turning Chilly (Weather/Temperature)
So I’ll eat my favorite Chili! (Food)
The leaves are turning Red (Color)
The Fall Time is Here!
Apple Cider (Beverage) in our cups
Halloween’s (Holiday) just days away
Ghosts (Decoration) are on display!
The fall time is here!
Fall Sounds
Fall can also provide plenty of inspiration for musical improvisation. Clients can use instruments to create the sounds of leaves blowing, rain falling, wind, or even a spooky Halloween night.
This can be a fun way to work on turn-taking, listening, creativity, and group interaction while allowing clients to explore different sounds and instruments.
Fall Song Suggestions
Looking for some songs to add to your fall music therapy playlist? Here are a variety of songs for different age groups:
“Autumn Leaves” - Nat King Cole
“Autumn in New York”- Billie Holiday
“September” – Earth, Wind & Fire
“Monster Mash”- Bobby Pickett
“Thriller”- Michael Jackson
“The Addams Family Theme”
“Ghostbusters”
“This is Halloween”
“I Put a Spell on You”
“Banana Boat”- Harry Belafonte
“Somebody’s Watching Me”- Rockwell
“Werewolves of London”- Warren Zevon
“Purple People Eater”
“Over the River and Through the Woods”
“Spooky Scary Skeletons”
“Five Little Pumpkins”
“Stick Season”- Noah Khan
“Cardigan”- Taylor Swift”
“Don’t Fear the Reaper”- Blue Oyster Cult
The great thing about seasonal interventions is that they can be adapted to so many populations and goals. Whether you’re working on cognition, communication, movement, emotional expression, or socialization, fall provides plenty of inspiration to bring into the music therapy space.
So as the leaves start to change, consider bringing a little bit of fall into your next music therapy session!
