Music Educator Spotlight

Luther Enloe holds the positions of Artist Affiliate in Guitar at Georgia State University and Emory University in Atlanta, GA. In addition to earning BMus, MM, and DMA degrees at the University of Georgia with John Sutherland, he studied sixteen pieces in nine Masterclass settings with American virtuoso Christopher Parkening. Luther Enloe is a Muiderman Guitars sponsored artist as well as a Hill Guitar Company Signature Artist and performs on both a 2018 Kevin Muiderman guitar and 2006 Kenny Hill Signature guitar.

How long have you taught guitar? 

I've taught guitar professionally since 2000, so about 24 years. 

How did you get involved in guitar education? 

I'm a product of the public school music education programs in my home town of Great Falls, Montana. I started my college education as a music education major but switched to performance when I transferred from Montana State University to the University of Georgia. After finishing my undergraduate degree, and before starting my MM and DMA in performance, I completed a post-bachelor teacher certification program at UGA so I could be certified to teach in the public schools, should I decide to take that route. Consequently, even though my degrees are in performance, I've always had strong ties to music education. For the past decade I've been involved in advocacy for guitar programs in the public schools as well as teacher training and professional development for guitar educators.

What kind of advice do you have for students considering a career in performing and teaching guitar? 

Students need to start thinking of themselves as professionals at the onset of their undergraduate degree. Find good teachers and put their teachings into practice. To that end: practice, a lot. Make a habit of reading and playing through method books. Take note of how techniques and methods are discussed in these books and the repertoire used to teach those methods. Lastly, perform as much as possible.

Who were your biggest influences as a guitarist and educator? 

Early on, my teachers: I was fortunate to come in contact with good teachers both for the guitar and in my school band programs. I transferred from MSU to UGA specifically to study with John Sutherland, who I consider a uniquely perceptive teacher. Presently, my students are the biggest influence on me as a teacher in terms of learning how to serve each student's educational needs to the best of my abilities.  

How did you become involved with helping people experiencing dementia? 

In 2017, I came into contact with Dan Pompilio, the CEO of SimpleC (https://www.simplec.com/), through a relative. SimpleC is a technology company that helps both individuals and businesses manage behavioral, chronic, or cognitive needs through digital therapies and interventions. Dan was looking for someone with a strong background in music to work closely with music therapists to develop and enhance SimpleC's digital music interventions. In short, becoming a curator of digital music interventions for people living with dementia fell into my lap. However, both my training in music education and musicology/ethnomusicology directly contribute to my success as SimpleC's music curator.

How do you curate music to help dementia patients? 

The good news regarding the use of music to help people living with dementia and Alzheimer's is that neither of these diseases affects the area of the brain that stores our musical memories. Therefore, if there is music that evokes memories of a certain time and place for you, hearing that music will still evoke those memories, even if you have dementia. Consequently, the right music can become a powerful re-centering tool that assists in re-claiming a sense of self and re-orientation to surroundings. Furthermore, effective music interventions utilize music that matches the care recipient's musical preferences to the care provider's desired behavioral outcomes. In my case with SimpleC, the care recipient's musical preferences are learned by surveying the elder, family and formal care providers. Along with identifying preferred music, providing music at the appropriate affect level, be it relaxing to uplifting or a transition between these states, matches the music to the therapeutic goals related to calming or alerting the listener. One of my first tasks for SimpleC was to develop and implement a proprietary metadata keyword structure allowing each track in our licensed music library to be utilized in a variety of playlists based on artist, genre, era, affect, instrumentation, and even complexity of musical texture. This keyword structure allows for the creation of unique playlists as needed. For example, should the need arise, I can make a playlist of relaxing 1970s folk-rock music with all female vocals in only a few minutes. As of this writing, I have listened to and evaluated approximately 11,293 individual songs for use in SimpleC's music interventions. 

Is there anything family or friends can do for their loved ones with dementia as related to music?

If you don't already know, find out what music they enjoyed listening to earlier in life and utilize this music even if you don't personally like it. If you know something commonly agitates them, bathing is a big one or cleaning people in their room, providing a music intervention, of their preferred music, 20 minutes or so before such an event can be transformative. Such interventions assist in reducing wandering, agitation, and resistance to care while improving alertness, appetite, and engagement in social interactions. One of the things I like about the SimpleC Companion app is interventions can be scheduled and family members can provide a voice over to help their loved one understand what is happening. One of the worst things you can do is force music on them that they do not like. Doing so will only agitate them further. 

What happens when dementia patients listen to the music you've curated? How does it help them long term?

The benefit of individualized treatment plans developed by a licensed music therapist for persons living with dementia (PwD) is well established in the field of music therapy. Individualized music interventions delivered through technology are able to provide similar value. Using technology to deliver music therapy can improve the reach of licensed music therapists. In addition to the benefits of improved memory recall, reminiscence, increased positive affect, decreased agitation and combativeness, and enhanced social interaction, research has shown that regularly utilizing music interventions can often lead to a decreased need for psychotropic medications. 

That's a pretty strong endorsement for the importance and power of music in our lives.