![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2018\/01\/tremble-clefs.M3-1024x683.jpg\")
But now Wiethop croons weekly with a half-dozen others who meet every Thursday afternoon on the campus of Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP. They\u2019re part of a Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPPinitiative called Tremble Clefs, a choral group composed of people with Parkinson\u2019s disease. Parkinson\u2019s is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects the body\u2019s motor system, including the muscles involved in speaking.<\/p>\n
Singing can help fortify those muscles, says Megan Moran, \u201916, who earned her master\u2019s in music therapy. Moran has directed the choir since it debuted last January, with piano and group assistance from Colleen Haviland, \u201917, also a music therapy graduate. They begin each session with posture and breathing work.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t have the breath, you can\u2019t speak. Breath is like gas for the voice,\u201d Moran says. \u201cThe end goal is to improve or maintain respiratory and voice function.\u201d<\/p>\n
From Peter Piper to the Beatles<\/strong><\/p>\n Moran chooses songs like \u201cSentimental Journey\u201d and \u201cWhen I\u2019m 64\u201d for their familiarity as well as their therapeutic qualities. The Beatles classic packs in an unusual amount of words, offering many opportunities to work on diction.<\/p>\n Weekly repetitions of phrases like \u201cPeter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers\u201d also lighten the mood while providing important benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cSpeaking tongue twisters after singing the tongue twisters helps with neuroplasticity, forming new connections in the brain,\u201d Moran says. \u201cThe tongue twisters serve to work the muscles.\u201d<\/p>\n Moran also asks participants to make faces and smile at each other, something singer Rick Walsh wasn\u2019t sure about at first.<\/p>\n \u201cI was suspicious,\u201d Walsh says. \u201cNow, it\u2019s funny. I get a kick out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n These exaggerated eye and mouth movements help participants with something called \u201cflat affect,\u201d or a lack of distinct facial expressions, another feature of Parkinson\u2019s.<\/p>\n The local chapter of the American Parkinson Disease Association supports Maryville\u2019s Tremble Clefs, along with another group that meets weekly at Salem United Methodist Church in Ladue. The program is based in scientific knowledge, says to Soo-Jin Kwoun, PhD, associate professor of music therapy at Maryville.<\/p>\n \u201cResearch shows that after people engage in singing for a couple of weeks, they maintain their speech function, which we consider a gain,\u201d Kwoun says.<\/p>\n After nearly a year in the program, participant Nancy Freeman feels more confident in social situations.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I used to go to dinner parties with a lot of background noise, I was reluctant to talk,\u201d Freeman says. \u201cI thought no one would understand me or hear me.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, Freeman credits the Tremble Clefs program for strengthening her voice and helping her remember to sit up straight, project and enunciate.<\/p>\n Both Wiethop and Walsh are enjoying better communication at home.<\/p>\n \u201cMy wife says to me, \u2018I like the Tremble Clefs for you because when you get home, I can hear you again,\u2019\u201d Walsh says.<\/p>\n A fundamental tenet of the program is that Improving the ability to be understood leads to a better quality of life.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a basic human need to express yourself,\u201d Kwoun says. \u201cIt\u2019s the connection between patients and their loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2018\/01\/tremble-clefs.M-300x200.jpg\")
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2018\/01\/tremble-clefs.M4-300x200.jpg\")
\n(Photos by Jerry Naunheim)<\/em><\/p>\n