Music Jeopardy: Together in isolation, and still rocking out

Things aren’t exactly normal right now. At UCSF, we’ve had to adapt to new rules and practices in order to keep patients and staff safe.

As a pediatric creative arts team, we know the importance of socialization and togetherness, even in the hospital. However, our art, music, and karaoke groups are currently on hold because of the need for physical distancing.

One way we have been “isolating together” is with Music Jeopardy, a weekly broadcast that allows kids to call in and showcase their musical knowledge.

As a music therapist, my approach focuses on a few different goals. I want it to feel interactive, like everyone is in the same room and enjoying the togetherness facilitated by music. I also want the show to be absolutely filled with laughter. There is a reason we say “laughter is the best medicine” - it relieves tension and stress, improves mood, boosts immune function, and can even decrease pain.

Each episode, about halfway through, we take a minute to take deep breaths together, to really feel that relaxing sensation and acknowledge the breath. We candidly talk about the weirdness of the situation, like why everyone is wearing masks and how we can’t all be in the same room. Then we focus on what is going well and the things we can control, like the music we listen to and the activities we choose.

I must admit that I often have a hidden agenda. As a rock ‘n’ roll fan and performer, I feel it’s my duty to slip in extra bits of knowledge. Things you might learn from watching the show:

Who is the guitarist for Queen? (Brian May - duh)
Where is the band Journey from? (San Francisco - represent!)
How much did Dr. Dre make when he sold Beats headphones to Apple? ($500 million, though the total deal was $3 billion)
Who wrote “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana? (Lin Manuel Miranda)

Have ideas for questions or categories? Leave them in the comments! And if you’d like to play along with a past game, here ya go:

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