How have you used these four music experiences in your practice?

Of course, I incorporate these music experiences in my sessions throughout the day but I have noticed some changes in my perception and implementation of them. With singing, I’m more aware of the musical elements of speech development. One of the children I work with has a heavy speech/language focus at school and I’ve “stepped on their toes” several times but incorporating prompts into the songs we use. I realize now that I can avoid that and really work on speech with the child by focusing on the musical elements that he still doesn’t have that correspond with speech and leave the word formation bit to the SLP.

With playing, I now recognize the importance of timbre variation during sessions. I used to only play the guitar during early childhood music (awareness/trust level). I now make sure to vary the instruments I use and at times use voice only to bring complexity into the environment. Additionally, I give the children more exposure to instruments for themselves, even if they’re not in the stage to have interest in playing. I’m realizing the importance of exposure!

I’ve made less changes with movement, but am valuing the immense connection between movement and music making as well as attempting to be more in tune with internal rhythm. I would say the largest change in my own practice has been with listening. I make sure to include silences (I never used to do that.. I thought I had to always go, go, go!) I also try to provide more diverse opportunity for listening (in terms of timbre, tempo, dynamics). I also place greater value on listening for the children who are mostly silent and still. I have always felt “what am I doing wrong here?!” when children don’t actively engage in music making but am starting to realize the immense importance of absorbing information as well as honoring the different ways in which we all engage in music.

I try to incorporate all of these experiences in my practice. I have found myself being more attentive of these four areas and how I implement them. Currently my caseload has me working with more pre-school classrooms. I try to create opportunities that safe for singing. I find that some of my classes sing more than others. I believe some of that is because they are in different developmental levels. I am hoping to change up my typical singing songs that I use and make the more geared toward the typical developmental level of the class in order for them to have a safe space to explore their voice. For playing instruments I try to bring a wide variety of instruments that are easy to play for the group. Everyone chooses a different instrument and sometimes I have the group pass the instruments around in order to experience a variety of instruments. I always have to make sure everyone has the opportunity to play the drum because that always seems to be a class favorite. I use movement songs in my classes and they have become very familiar with these songs. I am hoping to add some more variety to the songs and even new songs that focus on sequencing of movements for my classes in responsibility. I have recently been really allowing more silence during my therapy sessions. It’s amazing the reactions that come to silence. I have always been someone who likes to move from one thing to the next, or work as quickly and efficiently as possible. While working 1:1 with my client I found that he sometimes needed 5-7 seconds to respond to a prompt. By allowing him time for his brain to process this information he was able to successfully participate in the song.

I love how this lesson focused on the four areas of singing, playing, moving, and listening as distinct categories–it’s so easy to plan a session that is “heavy” in one or two areas, and forget that all four offer valuable opportunities for our clients and families! I really like to think about the pacing and energy contour of my sessions in advance, and then adapt it in the moment if needed; I can see how thinking of songs in terms of these domains will be really helpful as I plan future early childhood music experiences. In my music groups this past summer, I think I most consistently included all four experiences in my group of 4 year olds. Cognitively and motorically, they were ready and excited for instrument play of greater variety and complexity than their younger peers. We often used rhythm sticks in place of clapping to keep our beat and add variety and some complexity to favorite songs; some songs used fairly basic rhythmic/stick patterns and others required a little more coordination. The boys seemed to connect really well to those more challenging stick exercises! We explored the differences between songs in 3/4 and 4/4 and would sometimes speed up or slow down, based on the content of the song or verse. They really loved changes in tempo like that.

For singing, I tried to choose songs with words that were engaging for the kids as well as melodies and musical contour that were artistic and fun. We sang songs in a variety of styles and meters, some with more syncopations and rhythmic and melodic variety and others that were more familiar and predictable. We had one song in particular that used the same simple form for each verse, but would change qualities like speed, timbre, and key to match the theme for that verse. The kids did a great job keeping the melodic contour recognizable, even with the “dramatic” changes.

I think that the area of Listening is one that I enjoyed the most in my groups this summer, mostly because I felt that helping the children listen to and appreciate the music of their peers was a unique experience I could provide as a music therapist. As I may have mentioned in a previous week, I started every session with an invitation for each child to say hello by playing a special instrument that I brought in that day–perhaps a dulcimer, lap harp, seed pod shaker, or ridged frog. It was a special time for the group as a family of different members to focus on the solo of one child at a time and sometimes make a comment like, “I like how you…”. It was hard for some children to wait during the listening time, but I tried to keep the pacing of the activity fairly upbeat so each child had his turn.

Moving with the four-year-olds was a blast! We used a variety of movement songs, from songs with looser movement structure (“Shake My Sillies Out” to more complex sequencing (“Father Abraham” or “There Was a Great Big Moose”). For the songs with more complex sequencing, I was really happy when I could find songs that had repetition or some logic to the movements. We also really enjoyed march around the room songs with various directions to follow, such as “I’m Gonna Get You” or “We are the Dinosaurs” by Laurie Berkner.

How interesting it is to categorize and then explore what one has been doing in sessions in more of an instinctive way for quite some time. While I have used all 4 of these elements in sessions, I feel that “listening” has been more in the background. I have noticed more “listeners” in my groups this week, and these listeners like to listen from many different places! Whether they are in mom’s lap, peeking out from behind a corner, or standing right in the middle of our circle, they are all making the choice to engage through listening. I have used the mirror neuron bit of information many times to help alleviate the stress-filled faces and actions of the caregivers whose child is actively listening while we roam about the room.
I intentionally play with my voice a lot in my classes. I have found that the children respond by both actively listening and engaging through their own “vocal experiments” more often when adults are also experimenting with their voices. I’ve also found that vocal silliness helps “break the ice” if you have a shy group of caregivers and/or kids.

I love movement in class. It helps us engage in the music on such a deeper level, but it also can produce a lot of anxiety and shyness. So often, we seem to live so disconnected from our bodies, and that is no different in music class! I try my best to encourage the adults to really move their feet to the beat, and engage in movement with their child. I will often use silliness in these situations as well….For example if I demonstrate waving my arms in the air and some adults are not, I will prolong the note and arm wave to a point that is so silly that they have to join in the fun.

As far as playing instruments goes, I love allowing for freedom of exploration for all the kids. I encourage caregivers to follow my lead, but to let the kids make the choice of following me or doing their own thing. Also reminding caregivers not to manipulate the child’s hands or change their playing is a big part of educating classes.

It is so important to consider all of these four elements when constructing a session. In my current work I see a variety of preschool classes and each class has its own needs, strengths, limitations and interests. There are certain classes that best respond to one or two of the four major elements mentioned during this weeks course content. It is important to have balance and to incorporate activities from each discipline, but when a class of kids best responds to a specific element I tend spend extra time focusing on the element that draws them in.

I LOVE movement activities and activities that allow for movement with an object. Shaker songs and movement with scarves is an activity model that I use often. I find the element of movement paired with instrument playing or the beautiful flow that a scarf adds to any movement is so exciting for the kids I work with! I also think that structured movement songs are so great to create a feeling on unity in a classroom. When the kids move together, have opportunities to lead movement or choose movement, and really look at the way their peers are moving it provides great connections and social experiences!

In reference to instruments: free playing is an amazing way to open up. I will usually do free instrument playing particularly when just beginning with a group. I feel like that helps everyone to get to know each other in music; it creates for an expressive and free environment. I also think dyad instrument playing is a great experience. I will often have kids play as teams with rhythm sticks or gathering drums for that social piece within the music.

I think singing and listening are two elements that marry together. This is something that I should incorporate more opportunities for in sessions. More time to just experience the music without one of the other two elements (movement or instruments). I will work to incorporate more of these types of experiences moving forward!

Thank you for this lesson! As many others have said I sometimes find that I don’t incorporate enough listening opportunities in my sessions. Often I think there is this stereotype of ‘ the participants have to be doing something ALL the time.’ I think I just have to educate the parents.

I also find that I spend a lot of time singing while playing and when I want the kids to play.

Sometimes it’s nice to take a step back and think again about why I program what I do. I am going to try this tonight at my session— backing off and not putting too many directions into the expectation.

I found it very helpful to categorize these different music experiences that may be found in an early childhood group. I was able to reflect on the music that I plan per week for the children in my groups.

I feel as if my groups are fairly well-rounded in using singing, instrument playing, movement and listening. I create a picture schedule for my families to follow, but also for myself to be certain that I am covering a wide variety of experiences. My groups are often very heavy in movement as movement was strongly emphasized in my undergraduate training. The aspect that I struggled with the most in determining a developmental sequence was “listening.” There are aspects of my own group that require listening but almost always have one other experience intertwined. For example, we sing a hello song that requires a child to raise his or her hand upon hearing his or her name. The child needs to actively listen in order to know when it’s his or her turn to raise a hand (or two!), but the movement of raising a hand is also involved (many of the children also sway or rock to the song). I am curious what a listening-only experience would look like and if that is used in the early childhood groups of other MTs.

It has been very helpful in my own practice to design my sessions according to Singing/Listening/Moving/Playing. I use singing in many ways but I often use singing to fit the theme of the week at the preschool I work at to reinforce the classroom lessons. Movement is a key component for me, however there are times when group movement gets out of control. I try to use movement at the beginning of class to sort of “shake the sillies” out and to meet the kiddos where they are. Listening has been a challenge, but I believe it is because there are times that the activities were not developmentally appropriate. Some successful listening activities I use typically combine with the other aspects. For example, the children will match drum patterns to the mood of the music being played, or we will play freeze dance. The listening activities that we have done have been less “receptive” and more “active”, so not just sitting and listening but a combination of everything.

When planning sessions for children, I’ve always used the concept balancing singing, playing, and moving within the experience. However, I had not thought to separate “listening” as an experience in itself, and I plan to focus on that area as I go forward this week. I use a song “Let’s All Listen” (you’d think I’d be more aware of listening from that title) from Pat Lloyd on the piano for small groups: I play a simple melody with a pedal tone and call the children up by name to have a turn to improvise with me. Much of the focus is on the “soloist” and what he or she is doing. I’ve always been aware of the children who are waiting, but more in the didactic “can they wait their turn?” sense. I’d like to use this intervention and be more aware of HOW they are listening and processing when it is not their turn to play.

I have used all four of these experiences when planning my sessions for young children. I think it comes naturally to me because of having my own children and seeing what they naturally respond to and enjoy. However, since taking this class, it has really opened my eyes to the gradual development that takes place in each child and the skill sets that they are truly gaining over time. Since I work with mostly kiddos with DD or on the Autism Spectrum, some of them are behind on these developmental stages. This class has made me more aware of this and is helping me target their strengths and growth areas. For example, I have a pre-K student with DD that is doing 1:1 sessions right now, and we are working heavily on his impulse control and following directions. He LOVES to play the start stop game, but struggles if he does not have verbal cues and when we use instrument playing as the main form of cueing. I am realizing that it is not only his attention span and impulse control that he is struggle with, but that he is also catching up on his musical development and listening skills. I plan to work with him more on differentiating timbres and instrument characteristics. I plan on choosing instruments with obvious contrast instead of relying on just one instrument for cueing. The class this week has really helped me sharpen the experiences I can provide for my kiddos tailored to their specific developmental stages.

It was great to read each of your submissions this week. I love how you each really delved into the four areas and not only saw how you were using them, but found the training to help enhance the great work you are already doing. When I took the training I also found the information about listening so helpful.

I have to copy what others have said about the listening component. I do have a 1:1 adult client that chooses whether to listen or actively participate in music making at times in the session. This week when she selected to listen, I paid more attention to how she was listening. Was she just wanting a break or was she responding through her body language/movement to what she was hearing from me.

Thank you so much for sharing. I enjoyed reading all of your responses. One of the great things about this forum is learning from each other. I got some great new ideas just from reading your submissions, so be sure to check back and read everyone’s responses.

I have always used the concept of the four areas in my practice and have strived to address all areas in each session. While I haven’t really changed how I use them, I have changed the way that I think about them when planning. Because all of the clients that I work with are developmentally delayed, it is important to consider their individual development and how their musical development isn’t consistent in all areas due to their disabilities. For example, I have a client that is trust stage for singing, but the control stage for playing instruments. By looking at the different developmental levels and how all four areas interact with each other, I’m now discovering new ways to use each client’s strengths to target growth in other development areas. By looking at each type of skill and how a child’s skills develop, it becomes clearer how to encourage growth in an entire area instead of addressing a specific skill (such as starting/stopping to a musical prompt). It’s been great to think more about the “why” of what I am doing in conjunction to areas of development instead of planning based on static IEP goals!

The children at the preschool where I work get music at least twice a day and are so exposed to it, that I often take for granted how quickly they move through the stages. I expect them to be able to be in the “Control” category most of the time and I feel like most of the other music therapists at the school also gear their interventions to this level of development, even the youngest children. This helped me to remember that children all develop at their own pace and while some children might be able to start and stop with the music or follow a melodic contour or pulse, most children will not be able to do this until they’ve reached a certain stage.

As several others have mentioned, I think the “Listening” component was the most eye opening for me. I often forget how important listening is in development as it is the most passive of the categories. Yet, we expect children to become “good listeners” and follow directions all the time. I have definitely started to value interventions that focus on listening instead of just creating or imitating sounds.

When I went through this week, it was hard not to think of where my daughter was in these musical experiences. I have a 9 month old and really think she is in the independence stage. Since most of my work is 1:1’s and with developmentally disabled clients, I found myself thinking about one group that I do get to work with. I see these children at an ABA center and most of them are between independence and responsibility stages. I typically structure my sessions with singing, playing, and movement. I do not give many opportunities for listening. I think I have occasionally, but not much. With some of those groups, the staff can sometimes get a little chatty and distracted. I don’t always have enough instruments for them to participate. I am going to change that and ask if they could all always actively participate. Thank you for breaking down the stages of each of these. This will be very helpful once I begin my early childhood classes.

Jennifer, I can relate to your experience with staff chatting during sessions. This has beens something I have experienced in most of the facilities I have worked in over the years. I agree that encouraging them to actively participate in support the children is a great way to involve them!

I currently am not actively practicing, however, I am creating my business plan and focusing on what is next in my career. That being said, this course has given me a direct and concise way of looking at how to plan and implement different music experiences in the early childhood groups I hope to have as part of my practice. In the past, my work in hospice has given a lot of opportunities for listening and singing, less so for instrument playing, and even more rare was movement (usually with spouses dancing). This course and this lesson in particular have given me a refresher. I have been using this in my daily life with my own daughter. I took to heart what Elizabeth said about being with the children in the movement. Letting go of our adult ego and just being silly. Being free in movement does make it so much more effective. As I read everyone’s responses about their practices, it makes me even more eager to get back to my practice, even though I love being at home with my daughter! One thing I know that will be a big part of my budget is instruments (esp. drums) as I don’t currently have much at my disposal at the moment, but I work with what I have (pots and pans and wooden spoons make awesome drums and mallets!)

I tend to use all four levels of music development in my 1:1 sessions. I usually use listening in the middle of the sessions and towards the end. It gives my clients a break during session and gives an opportunity for relaxation before heading out. In reviewing the information from the course, it made me more aware of the specifics within each level, as well as, notice different types of responses and where they fit in the sequence of development. When I first started in the field, I foucused a lot on active music making (playing, singing, moving). It is refreshing to read about and learn that it is ok for a client to listen and observe and that learning is still taking place.
I am exited to observe the responses and how my clients work through the stages. I look forward to working with the younger population and putting ore of theirs information into play.