GEMEINSCHAFT

Visit my own Visit this website to

professional website see more of the
to see more! Songwriting Program project!

Each Monday a group of us JMU music education students as well as students from Social Work met at
the Gemeinschaft Home and wrote songs. In the beginning, the songs were mostly satire, but it still
provided a healthy outlet for these men to express themselves. As time went on and we all became more
comfortable with one another, the lyrics started to reflect more real and personal problems the men were
having. The lyrics ranged from relaxing on the beach to expressing problems the men-and the rest of us-
with the legal system. The whole process was very inspiring, and I learned more than I ever thought I
would.

Learning Environment
The men were a little timid about singing and coming up with
lyrics in the beginning, but we worked with them to create
lyrics that worked best for whatever situation we were
discussing. We tried to focus a lot on growth and recovery,
and these topics can be very personal and raw; it's hard to
share things like that with people you don't know. However,
these men rose above and beyond to create songs that were
groovy and catchy and high quality. We supplemented their
creative ideas and thoughts with our musical skills on ukulele
and piano, but most of the product came from these
outstanding men. Writing songs with truer stanzas and
structure was a process they learned towards the beginning,
and some men even tried playing instruments! The most
important goal we had in mind was that the men were
comfortable at all times, both with sharing and listening. If any
of the men expressed any discomfort at all, we'd address the
problem, talk about why it is a problem, and then move on and
leave it alone. Each man comes from a different walk of life,

Instructional Planning
and it is not up to any of us to judge him for it or question his
beliefs, ideals, or emotions.
The entire structure of our lessons was based around
these men's history and how we could help them find
a new perspective on life. In many cases, these men
made a terrible mistake and went to jail, some were
raised in rough communities or households, or a
combination of the two. Despite being a part of the
system, these men were kind and caring. Before each
meeting, we would meet with the music therapist,
Robby McCoubrey. We talked about the plan for the
night, what expectations we should-and shouldn't-
have, and what we could do to make the experience
better for the men. Each session was building off of
whatwas learned in the last, so there was constant
progression of skills. Since there were really no
expectations in the beginning of how the songs should
sound, it was very apparent to watch the growth these
men went through. Here's one of the songs we wrote together!

Professional Knowledge
Having experience with ukulele helped me a lot during this process. It is rather difficult to come up with a song out of thin air,
but having a constant set of sounds in the background of a deepr conversation really helps inspire people. We played only
basic chords on the ukuleles since many of us are not proficient, but we still creating really fun and catchy songs with usually
only four chords! Most songs started out pretty basic; we wrote jingles and parodies towards the beginning, and then once
they were comfortable enough we started writing longer, original songs. We talked about all sorts of things with each other,
and with each new topic came a new conversation with tons of different perspectives. We as facilitators assured everyone
that their opinions and values were valid and that there are a lot of ways to do the right thing. These men now have an outlet
to express themselves for their futures, and I am sure they will all be able to look back on this experience and remember how
much this program helped them grow. Gabby Taylor