Spring in my Hometown
I have been enjoying all the comments and discussions inspired by my book! Today, my blog will address one of those discussions, about learning many different kinds of music from around the world, to comfort our listeners at the bedside.
The weekend after Somerset Folk Harp Festival 2024 (live), during the Zoom sessions, I had the pleasure of listening to Tomoko Sugawara's workshop, in which she taught us a few of her favorite melodies from Japan. One of the tunes was Sakura, which many CTMs learn from Christina Tourin*. It is such a joy to be able to be a part of harp groups from all around the globe, sharing their beautiful music and customs. We have these opportunities through groups like IHTP, sharing with Therapeutic Musicians in communities all around the world, and conferences like Somerset, where we can learn from extraordinary folk harp teachers from every corner of the globe. As Clinical Musicians, we take the the tunes we learn from these rich learning experiences to the bedside, hoping to bring comfort to others.
Playing the beautiful Japanese tunes with Tomoko reminded me of learning Sakura, and other tunes with Tina -- and the other day, Arirang came up in a discussion. Arirang is another tune, like Sakura Sakura and Moon Represents My Heart, all gorgeous traditional tunes of varied cultures taught to us by Tina, and mentioned in my book, The HOME Recordings: Strategies for Therapeutic Musicians, in the chapter about cross-cultural improvisation. Here is an excerpt:
“Korean traditional music uses these pentatonic scales and modes to create melodies that evoke a wide range of emotions and moods. There are many beautiful traditional and contemporary tunes by Korean composers — try some of the music featured on soundtracks from popular and prolific Korean films and series available online. A harp therapist may consider playing "Arirang" at the bedside, a popular and iconic Korean folk song. There are numerous regional variations with different lyrics and melodies. The Arirang genre is a significant and widespread category of Korean folk music. Arirang songs are characterized by their emotional depth, typically expressing themes of love, separation, and nostalgia. The most well-known Arirang song is simply called "Arirang," but there are numerous regional variations with different lyrics and melodies. Arirang has become a symbol of Korean cultural identity, and its enduring popularity has led to its recognition as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.
“The melody for Arirang uses the pentatonic scale (T’angjo mode) similar to a the Western pentatonic scale, which includes five notes of an octave, without the the fourth and seventh degrees. It is a simple improvisation to create, if you familiarize yourself with the traditional Arirang melody (try Kim Robertson’s harp version on her “Forget Not the Angels” album) and choose notes for melodic cells within the pentatonic scale. The melody starts on the fifth of the scale, wanders and climbs to the tonic, down to the fifth and back up to the tonic. The chords are the I, V and vi chords of your chosen key. The B part of the tune starts on the fifth in the next octave, wanders back down the octave to the lower fifth and back to the tonic to end. If you keep this pattern in mind as you improvise, staying within the five notes of the scale, you can add a lovely improvisation to Arirang regardless of your chosen key signature.”
(Excerpt from The HOME Recordings, https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-home-recordings/id6470555239. This material is protected by copyright.)
In our discussions, I talked about another Korean traditional tune that I have played for years. This was a tune, from the 60's I think, and I think I learned it in my Early Childhood Ed days, and "kiddie lit" (children's literature) with Dr. Francelia Butler. It's a tune that, translated to English, means "Spring in my Hometown." The tune pairs nicely with Arirang, and you can improvise similarly, based on the same chord structure and pentatonic notes. It also starts on the fifth degree of the scale, and avoids the seventh. If you play a double-strung harp, this tune is a great choice to play, taking advantage of the many sweet techniques available. I played these two tunes together at the hospital for a family of an elderly CMO (comfort measures only) hospice patient last Friday, and the daughter whisper-sung the words. It took me a moment to realize that she was singing the words to this song, not Arirang, in Korean.
So, I decided to share this with others, embracing imperfection: This music memo was created using Shure's Motiv audio recording program on an iPhone 14 Pro with a Shure MV88+ microphone, playing a Marini Bass Double Strung harp, in a style appropriate for the bedside. For CMCP students, this is an example of smooth, non-rhythmic therapeutic music, in a major mode (ionian), held around 60 bpm, appropriate for pain or hospice. Email me if you want my notes for how to play it.
Enjoy!
*PSST, Christina Tourin's sheet music, for her award-winning CD of the same name, Healing Music for Harp III: Geodepédie - Hidden Light, is now available here.
