Adaptive Guitar Resources for Music Therapy
Music is for everyone. As music therapists, we are always looking for more ways to make music experiences more inclusive.
Recently, we’ve been getting a lot of DMs and comments in response to a video we posted of Andrew playing in the 12 Days of Christmas Music series on our social media. Most of the questions we received were about the jumbo guitar pick that we used in the video and the tuning of the guitar. This post will share resources and links to answer all of these questions in efforts to make guitar playing accessible for anyone who wants to learn.
Guitar Picks
There are a few options when it comes to selecting adaptive guitar picks. In the video of Andrew (above), he is using a jumbo sized guitar pick. I bought these picks at a music therapy conference a few years ago at the West Music vender booth. I haven’t been able to find the exact ones, but this set that they offer looks very similar.
Other options for picks may be using a thumb pick, or finding picks that have grip on them. There is also a company, The Pick Plus, who specialize in adaptive guitar picks. They offer guitar picks that have an extended surface area with added grip. They even offer different sizes and a “progression pack” that begins with a longer addition and ends with a smaller one.
Adaptive Tunings
Tunings can provide variation in sessions and increase accessibility for clients. In the video above, Andrew is playing in an open C tuning.
Open C: CGCGCE
Drop D: DADGBE
Open G: DBDGBD
Guitar Strings
Using color-coded guitar strings can provide options for distinguishing between strings and visual accessibility of music notation/tabs. Some companies now offer color-coded guitar strings for electric, acoustic, and nylon guitars:
With this system, each string becomes a different color:
E - red
A - orange
D - blue
G - orange
B - green
E - purple
Tabs can be written out with these corresponding colors. Here’s an example using the song “Silent Night”:
