Issue 8 Oct 2008
	www.room217.ca

	Rooms Around the World Back to Main Page Figurenotes Allows All to Make Music Submitted by: Markku Kaikkonen, Director, Special Music Centre Resonaari, Helsinki, Finland Figurenotes is a method of notating music in a concrete way, by means of colours and shapes. By presenting the information in concrete form, it gives people who have difficulty or are unable to understand the conventional abstract notes a chance to make music and to join in the goal-oriented study of music. Examples of target groups are people with special needs, or in general people of all ages taking their first musical steps. Figurenotes gives the same musical information as conventional notation, such as notes, octaves, note values, rests, sharps, flats and chords. Playing is simple: the Figurenotes sticker on the instrument shows the player exactly where to play. In other words, the player matches the Figurenotes information with the sticker on the instrument. The player’s job could thus be described as “Play what you see”. The features of Figurenotes may be described by the following four terms. 1. Concreteness: Figurenotes is a concrete notation method. Thus anyone can play who is capable of matching two symbols (the one in the Figurenotes and the one on the instrument sticker). 2. Suitability: Figurenotes is suitable for all complete beginners. It also enables people to make music who for one reason or another find it either difficult or impossible to assimilate or learn the conventional abstract notation. 3. Correspondence: Figurenotes can give all the same musical information as conventional notation. As a result, it is easy for players to switch to conventional notation, so long as they are capable of understanding abstract symbols. 4. Applicability: Figurenotes is a form of musical notation, so naturally it can be applied in the same way as conventional notation. In other words, Figurenotes can be applied to all kinds of music-making, both instrumental and vocal. Applications Figurenotes is a musical notation method originally devised by Finnish music therapist Kaarlo Uusitalo for use in music therapy and the teaching of mentally disabled people. Since 1998, Figurenotes applications for a number of target groups have been developed in R&D projects carried out at the Special Music Centre Resonaari in Helsinki, Finland. The use of Figurenotes has spread in Finland beyond special music education and music therapy to include early childhood music education, music teaching in schools, instrument tuition, special education and, in an even broader context, as a tool for rehabilitation and various forms of therapy. The Special Music Centre Resonaari runs a special-needs music school alongside its R&D unit. The school at present has nearly 160 pupils receiving individual or group tuition once or twice a week. All the pupils have special needs, the biggest single group being mentally disabled people, but almost all the special groups are represented. Figurenotes has given these people a chance to take part in the goal-oriented study of music. The Resonaari Music School satisfies the requirements of Finland’s National Curriculum for education in the arts and therefore carries official music-school status in Finland. Despite their special needs and individual learning objectives, the pupils can, in other words, take part in goal-oriented instrument tuition. Learning and participating have empowered pupils to be active members of society, and in the case of some pupils the musical skills they acquire have enabled them to become musicians and artists. Educational equality has been achieved. Culture, it may be said, becomes more democratic as a result. Music-making a basic right Figurenotes is a new option for use in rehabilitation, therapy, the teaching and studying of music. It has removed the threshold to making music, and playing an instrument is now accessible to almost all, even independently. Within this context a growing need has arisen to develop special music education and to define the theoretical background. The significance of music education has been debated in a broader sense in conjunction with the development projects carried out at Resonaari, and music education has to some extent also been regarded as “cultural social work”. Figurenotes and Resonaari have generated widespread interest. A Figurenotes book has been published in Finland, Estonia, Japan and Italy. Materials are being tested and cooperative projects are being carried out with Ireland, Scotland and Latvia. Making music should be a basic human right – Figurenotes is helping to place the joy and delight of making music in reach of all. Further details about Resonaari and Figurenotes may be found at www.resonaari.fi. If your organization would like to be featured in Rooms Around the World send us a picture and share a unique aspect of it with our readers.      Telephone Visits are Music to our Ears: Friendly Phone and ePal Program for Seniors Submitted by: Lesley Patterson, MSW, RSW, Program Co-ordinator, Seniors Support Program, Baycrest Centre, Toronto, Ontario Friendly phone calls to seniors and their family caregivers in the Toronto area have been provided for over 10 years by volunteers in the Seniors Support Program at Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System. Any senior living at home, in the Toronto/GTA area, who would enjoy a weekly telephone contact is eligible. Family Caregivers also benefit from these friendly calls that provide support as well as a social contact. The same volunteer calls each week and they form relationships with the client that can last for many years. The program is funded by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, and supported by Baycrest. Baycrest provides the space, supplies and the staff expertise to train and support the volunteers who make the calls. The program serves approximately 200 clients each month. Volunteers are recruited and trained specifically for this position. They need to have a good “ear” for listening, a positive attitude, and a sense of humour goes a long way too! The volunteers are trained to recognize signs of distress and how to respond. The volunteer can refer clients to the Social Worker for information, counselling and referral as needed. At present, the program has 24 volunteers. Most are retired professionals and all have excellent interpersonal skills. Calls are offered in 12 languages: English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Hebrew, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Yiddish. In January, the program added an internet component called “ePals” for clients who would like to receive their weekly “hello” by email and converse online. To find out more about this free outreach service to seniors, please contact: Lesley Patterson, MSW, RSW Seniors Support Program Co-ordinator Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System (416) 785-2500 ext.2247 lpatterson@baycrest.org If your organization would like to be featured in Rooms Around the World send us a picture and share a unique aspect of it with our readers.      Hospice Twining: Wisconson and South Africa Submitted by: Carla Pritchett, Bereavement Coordinator, Flambeau Home Health and Hospice, Phillips, Wisconson Four years ago The Hospice Organization and Palliative Experts of Wisconsin (HOPE) brought together three Wisconsin hospices to twin with Breede River Hospice in Robertson, South Africa who listed their initial needs as those of “support and encouragement - just to know we are not in this alone.” Collectively, we have subsequently been able to share resources in the form of books, supplies and training information with Breede River Hospice, have done fundraising on their behalf and offered emotional support. Our partnership with Breede River was established through the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa (FHSSA). They match U.S. hospices and those in Sub-Saharan Africa with the hope of improving the quality of hospice and palliative care to those in need, and especially to aid in the global AIDS epidemic. After a few years of disjointed communications due to e-mails not making it through or faxes not received, it was decided we would accept their invitation to visit in order to meet them and strengthen our twining bond. On September 24, 2007 our Wisconsin representatives, Sandy Hinders of Franciscan Skemp Hospice in LaCrosse, Sue Wilford and Sue Nelson of Ministry Hospice in Marshfield and Carla Pritchett of Flambeau Hospice in Phillips traveled to South Africa. What we learned from our travels and from spending time with their staff is how resilient and strong their spirits are when it comes to caring for those in need. The staff at Breede River are deeply committed to what they do. They bring their caring hearts into each act, each gesture, each word shared. It was truly inspiring to be with them, to visit their patients, their hospitals and clinics, and to see some of the obstacles they have to overcome to provide the best quality hospice and palliative care possible.   There is so much for us to learn from our twin hospice. They are caring for people who have diseases we are accustomed to, but also an epidemic of aids patients, many now receiving ARV medication and also a high incidence of tuberculosis. Many of these patients also need additional help with a myriad of other issues such as food, income, housing, cultural taboos against aids, etc. They have also recently started a pediatric program. All of these children are HIV positive and most of them are on TB and ARV therapy. The staff of Breede River also travels to outlying communities training others in hospice and palliative care. Our twin hospice is truly an inspiring, incredibly compassionate group of loving people. We find it a true gift to be friends, partners and co-workers in the global hospice and palliative care movement with them. Actually, It’s a Joy! Flambeau Home Health & Hospice is a small rural hospice in northern Wisconsin. For further information or to express interest regarding FHSSA visit www.FHSSA.ORG. To contact Flambeau Home Health & Hospice contact Carla Pritchett at cjsparkle@centurytel.net or 1-715-339-4371. If your organization would like to be featured in Rooms Around the World send us a picture and share a unique aspect of it with our readers.  Music Therapy in a Palliative Setting: North Perth Community Hospice invites you to a workshop Friday, October 3, 2008 Click picture to read article. If your organization would like to be featured in Rooms Around the World send us a picture and share a unique aspect of it with our readers.  Back to Main Page		Welcome When the Brain Plays Music: Auditory - Motor Interactions in Music Perception and Production Research in the Creative Arts: Raising Awareness about Aging, Mental Health and Autonomy Through Ethnodrama Rediscovering My Voice: A Music Teacher’s Journey from Dysphonia to Vocal Health Book Review: Music Therapy at the End of Life Hospice Palliative Care in Sub-Saharan Africa Rooms Around the World Music Note   Home to Newfoundland Power of Song and Presence Our Rituals, Our Music   Room 217 Box Set of therapeutic music resources provides variety, convenience and easy storage. Click here to order.   About In Motion The In Motion Older Adult strategy is to improve and maintain the health of older adults living in the community through support, education, research, partnerships and the promotion of healthy lifestyles. The primary goals of the in motion Older Adult strategy focuses on physical activity and healthy eating to improve and maintain health by increasing access to community based opportunities for older adults.   About SHRTN Library Service The Seniors Health Research Transfer Network is the “place to go” in Ontario. Their Library Service provides current, evidence-based information to caregivers in long-term care and community care access to current best practice information.   About the IAHPC World Cancer Declaration Every week more than one million people die with chronic and progressive conditions without any palliative care and pain treatment. Several organizations have joined together and developed a Joint Declaration and Statement of Commitment for the recognition of palliative care and pain treatment as a human right and is inviting signatures to bring attention to the United Nations bodies and governments.   Music is perpetual, and only the hearing is intermittent. Henry David Thoreau

Subscribe Doorway to Room 217 Unsubscribe

Copyright © 2010 Room 217 Foundation. All rights reserved.

Room 217 is a trademark of the Room 217 Foundation. All rights reserved.