Category: Healing

“Harp Carols” CD Available Now

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Album Cover design by Luara Moore
Album Cover design by Luara Moore

Last year, I released a full-length album “Harp Carols” for the Christmas season. This is an album dedicated to my mother Nancy, who had been asking for something like this from me for over a decade – what a wait!

I’ll be performing the album songs live in December (more on that coming up). CDs will be available at a number of gift shops during the Holiday Season, but if you just can’t wait…

You can download “Harp Carols” here for $7 or purchase the disc for $10 on Bandcamp.

“Harp Carols” is a collection of ancient noels on solo harp and features clarinetist Rosalyn DeRoos on the last song. All songs are traditional Christmas carols except track 7, an improvisation on Gabriel Faure’s “Pavane,” and track 10, “Journey to the Magi,” an original tune a la Alice Coltrane with influence by the T.S. Eliot poem. “Harp Carols” celebrates Europe’s music of 15th Century – 19th Century holiday season and will transport you to a place of Old World calm during this winter’s busiest month.

Therapeutic Bedside Harp

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This week I started playing harp at Highline Hospital in Burien. There, I play music at the bedside of patients on the surgery unit, either in pre- or  post- operation.

My official volunteer badge - I jumped through a lot of hoops to get this!
My official volunteer badge - I jumped through a lot of hoops to get this!

Therapeutic beside music is live acoustic music, played or sung, specifically tailored to the patient’s immediate need, based on the science of sound. It is not entertainment, like music found in the lobby of an institution. It’s purpose is to aid in the healing process for the ill, and help relax their visitors, doctors and hospital staff. First and foremost, therapeutic musicians focus on the patient’s responses to the music, and can change tempo, song, musical mode, style, etc. in the moment. Therapeutic musicians have also studied what style or mode of music is appropriate for the condition that the patient is in. All therapeutic music is played between 60-80 beats per minute, which is the same as the human heart rate.

I am a clinical music intern in the Harp for Healing program, just finishing my last internship requirement. Then I’ll be a Certified Clinical Musician, so I’ll get have some credibility and a title! Monica Schley, CCM.

Previously, I’ve interned at Northwest Kidney Center (a long-time client of mine for their memorial services) and a Seattle hospice care unit. I have found that with each visit I make a friend or two who wants me to return to them regularly.

Playing for my regular hospice friend
Playing for my regular hospice friend

What does therapeutic music sound like? This.

Me and my other little girl, ready to leave for my first hospital visit.
Me and my other little girl, ready to leave for my first hospital visit.

A Month In Reverse

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What have I been doing this past month? A month in the life of this mama musician looks something like this:

Wednesday – Bought a violin bow. It was a hot day. Zephyr didn’t want to go to the music store, but then I couldn’t get her to leave. Afterward we visited the library.
Tuesday – Biked across the University Bridge and got stuck when it was up. Watched tug boats, sky and water ripple while I waited. Later on, I worked on a new song about polar ice melt.
Monday – Only one student to teach today. She wanted to work on “Jingle Bells” again, even though its the end of the school year.
Sunday – Played the second annual harp/piano duet concert with Josh for Mother’s Day… “Georgia On My Mind” and “Love Theme from Spartacus”… Four hours went quickly by…
Saturday – Afternoon photoshoot at a bar with tons of make-up and big hair. Colors were purple and gold. I wore a gown and the men wore three piece suits, except for Soulchile who looked like an Egyptian pharoah sprayed with gold.

Photo of the year (in my opinion!) for Aham Oluo's "Now I'm Fine" (L. to R. - Monica Schley, Evan Flory-Barnes, Bryant Moore, Ahamefule J. Oluo, Soulchilde Bluesun)
Photo of the year (in my opinion!) for Aham Oluo's "Now I'm Fine" (L. to R. - Monica Schley, Evan Flory-Barnes, Bryant Moore, Ahamefule J. Oluo, Soulchilde Bluesun)

Friday – Visited a friend for astrological assistance with clairvoyant tips: Words are not my strong suit right now. I should focus on non-verbal communication like playing music. Fair enough.
Thursday – Motherhood at the beach. We had a picnic of hummus and bread, berries and juice. Tide was low and we collected stones and shells but threw them all back in the Sound.
Wednesday – Heard an inspiring concert at The Chapel Performance Space. The moon was full of springtime blossoms.
Tuesday – Invoiced clients and did paperwork.
Monday – Learned the difference between a contract and an invoice.
Sunday – Went on a date downtown with my hubby to hear friends play a jazz concert. The Teaching was our wedding band.
Saturday – Happy Anniversary to us! Its the year of iron. We bought a new car!

new car loaded with two harps

Friday – Purchased new sheet music, “Mad World” for an upcoming harp/cello wedding.
Thursday – Recording session on a warm day and stayed remarkably in tune most of the time. Earlier in the day, my family and I attended a school picnic to celebrate May Day.
Wednesday – Edited soundfiles from a live concert last winter and uploaded them to Soundcloud.
listening to music
Tuesday – Rehearsal in the living room with Anne, learning new songs and harmonies.
Monday – Day job at the office. Taught students. Ate vegetarian meatballs.
Sunday – Told Zephyr a “story from my head” about a lost dragon who gets stuck in a cave at high tide. A boy passing in a boat hears the dragon crying and they make friends. In the morning, they make a passage when the water is low.
Saturday – Played a Catholic funeral mass.
Friday – Played a Chinese Buddhist gravesite funeral, then played a gay wedding in a conservatory with the mayor officiating.
Seattle Funeral Harpist

Thursday – Negotiated contracts and updated my website.
Wednesday – Sent paperwork to hospital for therapeutic bedside music.
Tuesday – Had the landlords over for Mediterannean dinner and guilt-free fruit dessert for our lease renewal.
Monday – Woke early and journaled. Went to an African dance class and rehearsed harp/cello duets with Maria.
Sunday – Took the ferry over to Bainbridge for a healing harps summit and had a glorious time eating and playing music all day. In the evening: rested.

Hothouse Spa Concert, May 20th

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What’s going on Tuesdays?

Next month, May 20th, my long time friend and collaborator, Julie Baldridge, and I are playing violin and harp duets.
This is a Private Concert at a Women Only Spa, The Hothouse.
Live music soundtrack to a relaxing soak!

To reserve your place at this concert, send email to deliciousviolin@gmail.com

We offer two shows:
Early show is 7-8:30 pm
Late show is 9-10:30 pm
Space is limited to 14 women for each show due to the size of the space, $20-40 sliding scale donation is requested

It will sound like this.

https://soundcloud.com/harppoet/in-the-shadows-of-enchantment

It will also be melodic & freely improvised.

Three Short Poems

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Inspired by the recent host of the AWP in Seattle, I’m revisiting some poems. These two poems were published last summer in RASP Anthology

A Blessing (Sunflower)

May you continue to give graces
And bloom again next year.
The bride will want to see you
Growing tall in the golden field
May your head be high
And small creatures
Lift you up with their sweetness
Though they may crawl through life
We are all born with wings

Brown County, 1909

Trouble in the kitchen
With the skillet
Paul dug the outhouse
Too shallow this time
Got a full coop of
Chickens and children
Sure could use a whiskey
But I’m pregnant again

This poem I found while going through some writing circa 2006. It sort of resonates with the narrative brevity of the other two:

(Untitled)

A Hopi woman’s life
is now a radio story, her people
belong to the air
like her loom shaft, that she presses down
to even out the wool
she hopes the truth
will be straight.