Healing One Chord at a Time 

Growing up in Sioux City, Iowa, in the 1950s, Kelly Noonan was first introduced to the guitar in elementary school by Tommy Bolin.

Tommy went on to become a professional guitarist and songwriter with several bands – including Zephyr and Deep Purple – while playing guitar became a favorite hobby for Kelly.

“I have always enjoyed playing the guitar,” Kelly recalls. “In fact, every Friday for more than 25 years, I used to get together with a group of friends for a jam session.”

But those sessions came to an end in September 2023 when Kelly had a stroke that left him unable to play.

After numerous stints in different hospitals and long-term care facilities, Kelly’s daughter, Heather, an occupational therapy assistant, decided it was time for Kelly to take advantage of Craig’s neurorehabilitation expertise.

“Not only is Craig known for being a world-class rehabilitation hospital, but it’s also located just a few miles from my dad’s house,” explains Heather. “It made perfect sense to do his outpatient therapy there. We hoped Craig would give my dad the best chance of recovery.”

Back to Basics

In the summer of 2024, Kelly spent three months participating in Craig’s speech, occupational and physical therapy programs to relearn skills lost after his stroke.

It was in Kelly’s occupational therapy sessions that his caregiver, James Cowan, began thinking about music therapy, a donor-funded program at Craig.

“As a singer, I know firsthand how therapeutic music can be,” James says. “I strongly believed that getting back to playing the guitar would be extremely beneficial for Kelly – and his recovery.”

So Kelly’s occupational therapist reached out to Annamarie Engelhard, a board-certified music therapist at Craig.

At first, Kelly was reluctant to play. “Not only did it mean having to relearn everything from the very beginning, but it also meant learning to play with his left hand,” James explains. “But Annamarie was motivating and encouraging, and soon, Kelly became eager to play again.”

Before his stroke, Kelly, who was right-hand dominant, had always played the guitar with his left hand making chords and his right hand strumming. However, this was no longer doable.

“The first thing his occupational therapist and I did was assess the function of Kelly’s hands and see what was possible,” Annamarie explains. “After exploring several options, the best path forward was reversing his guitar. This meant restringing Kelly’s guitar ‘upside down’ and teaching Kelly to play with opposite roles for each hand. Now, his right hand plays chords, while his left hand strums. Kelly is actually relearning to play guitar left-handed as part of his rehabilitation.”

She adds, “I am teaching him to play an electric guitar – instead of the acoustic guitar that he used to play on – because it has a slimmer profile that is easier on the shoulder and is easier to push down on strings.”

Hitting the Right Note

Since beginning music therapy last October, Kelly has made a great deal of progress, already learning to play several songs with Annamarie.

In addition to feeling happy and proud with his progress on the guitar, Kelly has made many improvements in his clinical goals addressed in music therapy.

“Not only has his communication and cognition improved, but Kelly has better motor coordination, balance and strength,” James says. “His short-term memory and attention are also better, and he now advocates for his needs.”

Heather adds, “At the one-year mark, we thought my dad had reached a plateau in his recovery, but we were wrong. Music therapy has been wonderful for him. He’s so happy to have a guitar in his arms and is looking forward to getting stronger, learning more songs, and playing with other people again.”

These improvements are no surprise to Annamarie.

“Music helps us connect with others, and this connection improves our social and emotional wellbeing,” she says. “Music therapy is known for improving cognition and motor function, elevating mood and accelerating neurological recovery in stroke patients.”

With Kelly having met his goals in music therapy and his Craig sessions coming to an end, he has no plans to stop playing. In fact, Kelly is excited to begin taking guitar lessons at a nearby music school.

“Thanks to Annamarie, my dad is thrilled to be playing once again,” Heather shares. “He used to be a very good guitar player, and he has made so much progress at Craig. We don’t want to stop now!”