Thursday, April 9, 2009

This piano's got some kind of vibe!

At long last I was able to get LR to the Music Room! 
From the minute I started working with her I knew she'd love it. The difficulty, though, was in getting her to leave the cottage with me. But today the weather was gorgeous (about time!), and I know she recognizes me now, so she feels a little safer getting out the door with me. 
After some fidgeting (on her part) and waiting (on my part), she took my hand and pulled me to the closet to get her a coat. I explained to her that it wasn't that cold, and she agreed to put on the sweatshirt (a puffy blue thing) I'd fished out of her room for her. 
We ran into T on the way out the door (T's the food service worker, but she also sometimes pitches in when they're short on direct support staff), and she offered to walk over to the Music Room with us.  
Yes. Please do join us.
We did it! We got there, and LR went straight to the piano (it's a Clavinova) and started to play. 
LR loves (no, really LOVES) vibrations. She totally digs the guitar, and she'll try to tap absolutely anything to find out if it has any sort of resonance. (I've always wondered whether she likes the vibrations that come out of people. You know how we have our own resonant qualities. It remains to be discovered.) 
I took her on a quick tour of the room. She tried out the metallophone (the low notes are particularly bong-y when tapped), the tubano, the bongos, and the doumbek
But she really liked the piano. And the guitar. She tried playing both at once. It was very creative, I must say. She assembled herself so she had her right hand on the piano, and her left hand was tapping the guitar. 
She used a pretty consistent rhythm in the clusters she was playing on the piano. But, being LR, she was largely focused on how it sounded with her ear glued to the piano.
And I was largely superfluous to her experience. 
Well, at least we got through this major step.

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