From Boo to Bootiful: Exploring Spooky Sounds in Music Therapy Halloween Activities
Halloween is full of sounds that are meant to be spooky. We hear loud “BOOs,” scary music, thunder, howling winds, and unexpected noises. For some people, these sounds are fun and exciting. For others, loud, sudden, or unpredictable sounds can feel overwhelming or uncomfortable.
Music therapy provides an opportunity to explore these sounds in a way that is individualized, predictable, and centered around the client’s choices. Halloween does not have to mean making music louder, scarier, or more intense. Instead, it can be an opportunity to explore what different sounds feel like and give clients more control over their musical environment.
What Makes a Sound Spooky?
What makes a sound feel spooky? It is not always the instrument itself. Music therapists can use different musical elements to create a Halloween-inspired sound.
Think about how these elements can change the feeling of music:
Dynamics: creating surprise or intensity
Tempo: creating excitement or suspense
Pitch: creating tension or playfulness
Rhythm: creating predictability or surprise
Timbre: creating different moods or characters
Silence: creating anticipation or surprise
For example, a simple rhythm can take on a completely different character when the tempo, pitch, or dynamics change.
Let's take musical patterns and experiment with different concepts they can be perceived as:
Slow + quiet = mysterious
Fast + loud = exciting
High + soft = playful
Low + steady = dramatic
Small changes in music can create very different experiences.
Making Spooky Sounds More Predictable
For clients who are sensitive to unexpected sounds, knowing what is coming next can make a musical experience more manageable. Music therapists can provide structure around sounds that might otherwise feel surprising.
Some ways to do this include:
Counting before playing a loud sound
Providing a visual cue before a sound occurs
Repeating the same musical pattern
Starting with a softer version of a sound
Gradually changing volume or tempo
Allowing the client to watch the therapist demonstrate first
Using familiar songs or musical patterns as a foundation for the intervention
Giving the Client Control During Halloween Music Activities
One of the most important parts of exploring sound is giving the client choices and control whenever possible.
A music therapist might offer choices such as:
Dynamics: loud or quiet?
Tempo: fast or slow?
Instrument Choice: frame drum or egg shaker?
Stylistic Choice: spooky or silly?
Turn Taking: your turn or my turn?
Repetition: again or all done?
A client might even become the person in charge of the spooky sound such as “thunder.” They could decide when the therapist plays the loud drum sound, how loud it should be, or when the storm should stop.
These choices can turn a potentially overwhelming sound into an opportunity for communication, self-expression, and control. Depending on the client’s individual goals, activities like these may also support skills such as turn-taking, attention, motor skills, communication, or self-advocacy.
The goal is not for every client to learn to tolerate a sound they dislike. The goal is to create an environment where the client can communicate what they want, what they do not want, and how they want to participate.
Turning “Scary” Sounds Into Something New
Another way to make spooky sounds more approachable is to change the way we think about them:
A drum does not have to be thunder. It can be:
A heartbeat
Footsteps
A pumpkin being tapped
A shaker can sound like:
Falling leaves
A soft breeze
Fireflies buzzing
A rainstick can become part of:
A magical potion or spell
A nighttime soundscape
A gentle rain shower
The sound itself has not necessarily changed, but rather the context has.
What If the Client Does Not Want a Spooky Sound?
Halloween activities are not going to work for every client, and that is okay!
A client might:
Choose a familiar song instead
Select a quieter instrument
Watch the activity instead of participating
Choose a different activity
Ask for the sound to stop
These choices are important too. A client communicating “no,” “stop,” “too loud,” “again,” or “I want this one” is expressing a preference and practicing communication and self-advocacy.
Follow the Client's Lead
The goal is not to make a client tolerate a sound they do not like. Instead, music therapists can use the activity as an opportunity for clients to:
Make choices
Communicate preferences
Practice self-advocacy
Have control over their musical experience
A Halloween theme can be a fun starting point, but the client’s needs should always guide the session. Sometimes the best choice may be a spooky sound. Other times, it may be a familiar song, a quieter activity, or no Halloween music at all.
From Boo to Bootiful
Halloween gives us a fun reason to explore unusual, dramatic, and spooky sounds, but the ideas behind these activities can be used all year long. Music therapists can adjust volume, tempo, pitch, rhythm, instrumentation, and predictability to help clients engage with sound in ways that work for them. Most importantly, clients can be given opportunities to make choices and have control over their musical experiences.
A sound does not have to become someone’s favorite for the experience to be meaningful. Sometimes, the most important part is simply knowing that you have a choice in what you hear, what you play, and when the music stops.
This Halloween, instead of only asking how we can make music scarier, we can also ask how can we make spooky sounds more predictable, manageable, and meaningful for the people experiencing them. Maybe we can turn “BOO!” into something a little more beautiful!
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