Many of us often listen to music in our daily lives – whether jamming out with friends and family on a road trip, de-stressing after work or school, or setting the tone to complete a task – music is there to meet us where we are at.

What if there was a way to use it to change your mood?

This is where an iso-principle playlist comes in.

The iso-principle has long been used by music therapists to create and make music to meet clients where they are at emotionally and gradually shift their mood upwards. You too can make use of this technique using your phone, tablet, or laptop to create an iso-principle playlist in a few easy steps!

How to create your own playlist:

1. Identify your mood now, and then the mood you would like to be in.

2. Choose one or two songs that go with your mood now and note the genre and the tempo (how fast/slow the song is).

3. Next, choose one to two songs that go with the mood you would like to be in. Again, note the genre and the tempo.

4. Pick songs you feel would fit in between the songs you in steps 2 & 3. Choose around 8-10 songs to take you on a gradual journey towards the mood you want to be in. While sad and angry songs are great and can validate how we feel in the moment, it is important to move beyond them after a few songs and head towards music that reflects the mood we want to be in! Choose music that is increasingly uplifting/hopeful/energetic until you get to the songs that mirror the mood you want to be in.

Sit back and enjoy!

While creating one of these playlists to help yourself doesn’t make you a music therapist, it certainly is a great way to use music to better your everyday life! Having healthy ways to validate and process our emotions is an important part of our mental wellbeing, and it can be reassuring to know that there’s always someone – or a song – that understands how we feel.

July 14, 2022 by TPSMTS Team

Music Therapists Need Music Therapy, Too: A Reflection

How music helped soothe an exhausted and stressed music therapist.

Music Therapists Need Music Therapy Too: A Reflection
Written by Tamara Leszner-Rovet

Speaking from my experience, I have been laser focused over the past 2.5 years in supporting my students/clients (both that I work with directly and indirectly), their families, our team, and my own family through all the ebbs and flows of this pandemic.

I have been running on fumes. I have been in a constant state of exhaustion which has shown up in my physical and mental health. I have been feeling so “done,” burned out, and my motivation to practice self-care has gone by the wayside.

I have found that finally going back to “normal,” while it is absolutely wonderful in itself, has been even more exhausting (in some ways, more than the pandemic itself!). This has shown, yet again, how deeply this pandemic has affected everyone in various ways. It has been just joyful to see normalcy and people finally living again. Still, it has been extremely hard to readjust.

I had the privilege of listening to one of my long-time students as they prepared for our “End-of-the-Year Party and Recitals” a month ago. They will be off to university in the fall, and this was one of our last lessons together. After working with this student since they were a young child, this almost felt surreal.

As they did a practice performance run on this particular day, playing two pieces by two of my favourite composers, watching the sun hit the trees just right through their bay window, I felt my body relax for the first time in a long time. I was able to sit back, enjoy their music, and realize just how truly exhausted I have been.

As a music therapist and music teacher, often at the end of a long clinical day we want to do anything but listen to music after singing, performing, and listening to other people’s musical preferences all day long.

On this day, the student became the teacher. This amazing student gave back after all the years we have spent fostering a love of playing the piano, of music in general, and cultivating a passion that I know will continue far beyond our lessons together. I do not believe in that moment this student realized how much I needed what they gave me.

For a few minutes, all the stress I had been feeling just melted away. For a few minutes, the world was still and I felt a sense of calmness I had not experienced in a long while. For a few minutes, I experienced joy and a sense of hope.

And as I drove home with tears streaming down my face so grateful for this experience, I realized that every minute of hard work and laser focus has been worth it.

Those few minutes renewed my passion for the work I do and what the future holds. Now more than ever, music therapists need music therapy too.

Self Care

Music to Get You in the Mood You Want: Creating an Iso-Principle Playlist

Many of us often listen to music in our daily lives – whether jamming out with friends and family on a road trip, de-stressing after work or school, or setting the tone to complete a task – music is there to meet us where we are at.

What if there was a way to use it to change your mood?

This is where an iso-principle playlist comes in.

How to create your own playlist:

Works Cited:

Music Therapists Need Music Therapy, Too: A Reflection

How music helped soothe an exhausted and stressed music therapist.