English summary

updated October 16, 2023

Storycomposing®

An interactive and creative way to express one’sown musical inventions.

A storycomposer can be a child, an adult, a student, a patient, a group or a family.

There will always be someone who is listening and writing down the work. He/she is called a co-storycomposer.

A storycomposition can be a song, a composition, a play or a story with music.

The idea of Storycomposing began on the 17th of April 2000

with young children in creative music lessons.

Storycomposing provides the opportunity to express feelings and experiences that have significance for you in a musical way. You don’t need any musical talent or prior study of music. A piece may appear without supervision or teaching. A piano or keyboard is used.

There is always interaction in Storycomposing. There is somebody who is telling the musical story and somebody who is listening to it and writing it down. There is a storycomposer and a co-storycomposer. Storycompositions can also be made in groups.

The storycomposition is always written down. This requires notation through which the storycomposer can play his/her work again. Figurenotes are suitable for this. Re-playing the storycomposition brings back all the memories and meanings contained in the piece. It is also a picture of all those meanings. Storycomposing is a form of music therapy which also enables personal and cultural expression and educational development.

Storycomposing includes a concert. This is an event through which a storycomposer can share the meaning of his/her work with people who mean a lot to him/her. The audience can be family members, relatives or friends. They can also be members of the same rehabilitation group or they can be nurses, doctors or therapists. The concert can also take place in a day nursery or in a music school. It is also possible for someone else to perform the storycomposition.

Storycomposing can be done with your own children, in a day nursery or together with friends. Storycomposing canbe a way to teach music or to play an instrument. In storycomposing children and adults with special needs can participate equally and it is also suitable for people with mental health issues. It can be applied in many other ways to stimulate creativity and can be combined with other therapies.

Storycomposing began in a nursery in Espoo,Finland with pre-school children during creative music lessons. The 3-year project was run by the Resonaari Special Music Center.

The developer of Storycomposing is Dr Hanna Hakomäki, Music Therapist, Psychotherapist, Piano Teacher and Supervisor.

Contact :

Dr Hanna Hakomäki

Music Therapist, Family and Couple Psychotherapist, Supervisor

tel. + 358 40 554 1443

hanna.hakomaki(at)musiikkiterapia.fi

Publications in English

Hakomäki, H. (2023). Storycomposing: Writing Music with Young Children. In Petra Kern (Ed.) Adaptive Music Making in Early Childhood Settings. Imagine Magazine, Summer 2023, 14(1), 92-94.

Hakomäki, H. & Tuomisto-Saarikoski, L. (2017). Storycomposing is on a new Path for Persons with Dementia. In M. Mercadal-Brotons & A. Clements-Cortes (Eds.).Proceedings of the 15 World Congress of Music Therapy. Special Issue of Music Therapy Today 13(1), 108-109.

Hakomäki,H. (2015). Storycomposing as a Songwriting Method in Music (Psycho)therapy with Children. Musiikkiterapia, 2015, 30(1–2), 145–163.

Hakomäki,H. (2014). Storycomposing promoting Children’s Voice. In J. Fachner, P. Kern & G Tucek (Eds.). Proceedings of the 14World Congress of Music Therapy. Special Issue of Music Therapy Today 10(1),114-115.

Hakomäki,H. (2013). Storycomposing as a path to a child’s inner world. A collaborative music therapy experiment with a child co-researcher. (Doctoral dissertation).Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities 204. University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

Hakomäki,H. (2012). Storycomposing in music therapy. A collaborative experiment with a young co–researcher. In G. Trondalen & K. Stensæth (Eds.), Barn, musikk,helse (pp. 147–171). Oslo, Norway: NMH-publikasjoner 2012: 3.

Hakomäki,H. (2009). Storycomposing: An Interactive and Creative Way to Express One’s Own Musical Inventions, in Turgeon, W.C. (ed.) Creativity and the Child: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Inter-Disciplinary Press: Oxford, United Kingdom.