Discuss Traditional and Cultural Music

[Julie Palmieri]

Discuss the traditional and cultural music in the community where you work.

[Lydia Westle]

In my work at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, I work with an incredibly diverse group of patients / families – ranging from people who are local to the hospital, as well as families who come from all over the world to get treatment. Therefore, I always ask patients and families about music that is most meaningful to them and follow their lead with learning/ incorporating into sessions in a way that feels authentic / respectful – whether it is a song of kin / song in another language. In particular, many of my families, especially on the PICU / Cardiac ICU, often gain comfort from their faith. It is not uncommon for me to be asked to incorporate spiritual / religious requests in 1:1 sessions, such as lullabies in Hebrew or Christian workshop songs / hymns, especially “Jesus Love Me,” as well as songs that might typically be thought of as an adult song, such as “Oceans” by Hillsong. Whether it is a religious / spiritual adult song, or just a non-children’s songs that helps a caregiver to feel connected to their child that might have been played in utero, I will often adapt the meter / repeat the chorus in a way that helps the song to be developmentally appropriate, while often still aiming to foster opportunities for bonding and intimacy.

[Maura Nicholson]

Wow that is truly a diverse population and an amazing experience to become familiar with so many different musical backgrounds and traditions. You must be such a comfort to them!

[Lydia Westle]

You are very kind! It’s definitely a challenge at times, but I love the opportunity to constantly learn and grow. 🙂

[Amy Calderon]

Yes! I also always ask families what the child’s preferred music or the parent’s preferred music. I also often get requests for worhip songs.

[Camryn Gallagher]

I work in the South Central region of MA and service a pretty diverse community of children and families. One of the first challenges I faced as a relatively new professional was meeting a parent who told me they really didn’t know any of the nursery rhymes that I considered “traditional.” None of them were really a part of her own family’s culture when she was growing up. I had to learn how to incorporate music that doesn’t typically get categorized as “Children’s songs” into my sessions. From then on, during the initial MT assessment process I would ask parents/caregivers what their own music preferences are. A lot of the responses I’ve gotten are classic rock, country/bluegrass, reggaeton, and heavy metal. I also have a lot of children on my caseload who love the songs that they hear in the soundtracks of their favorite movies. The “Cars” series in particular is very popular, and a lot of the parents I meet (especially the country music lovers) tend to genuinely enjoy listening to the music in those movies along with their children! Another enjoyable challenge has been working with families who do not speak English. In particular, I work with quite a few Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking families. Sometimes this means we sing translated versions of English nursery rhymes, and sometimes it means I get to learn children’s songs that are traditional and/or popular in other parts of the world.

[Kate Jihye Choi]

Wow I never thought about asking parents/caregivers what their own preferences for music are. I’ve only asked about their child’s preferences. That would be so helpful to understand their cultural background, too! Most of the time, a child’s preferences keep changing, and it is sometimes hard for parents/caregivers to define them as ‘preferred’ with just external components. Now I know how to rearrange my questions for the MT consult! Thanks, Camryn!

[Lydia Westle]

Hi Camryn,

I really relate with what you shared, as I’m also definitely very challenged with adapting many songs that typically are not considered “children’s songs.” More often than not, the songs I’m incorporating, especially in 1:1 sessions, are caregiver preferences or songs that were sung to them as a child. Although, I very much echo you that the challenge has been an enjoyable one!

[Camryn Gallagher]

I love what you said above about changing the meter and focusing on the chorus – that seems like a really nice way to adapt songs of all genres!

[MacKenzie Lyons]

I work with a wide variety of clients in different settings. In many of the schools and group homes that I work in, my clients are bilingual in Spanish and English. As a result of this, many of my clients prefer Latin American music. I am personally not well versed in this genre of music, so I take it as an opportunity for my clients to teach me something new! I often ask my clients to share any songs or artists that they like with me so that I can learn about the type of music that they like. In these moments I feel that it’s okay for me to tell them that I don’t know the song/artist. I do this because it gives my clients the opportunity to be the expert and teach me something new.

[Elmira Abasova]

Hi MacKenzie, I felt the same way when clients shared with me their preferred songs in Spanish. I don’t speak Spanish, so I asked them to sing it for me, to find on YouTube, or to create a song together ( me playing the guitar, them-singing).

[Elmira Abasova]

I work with school-age children, and they listen to all kinds of music, from classical to K-pop, rap, and dubstep. It’s interesting how many different genres one person can like. Kids don’t even think about genres – they choose some songs because of the lyrics, others because of rhythm, and the rest because of the movies with their favorite actor.
When I worked with younger children, they mostly listened to popular music their parents liked, Disney, and music from cartoons. Rarely parents asked for folk or Christian songs for their children.

[Courtney McDonald]

I work in a school environment. The majority of families are Hispanic and primarily Spanish-speaking. As a result, I have made the goal of learning/practicing Spanish. I have incorporated simple songs in Spanish about body parts, animals, or colors. The aides in the classrooms are fluent in Spanish and they help with directions and social interactions. I have also used popular genres of music from Dominican Republic (which is the most prevelent country) such as Reggaeton and Bachata.

[Daniel DeLucia]

Currently, I work within a predominantly Dominican and Puerto Rican school district with some students being of Brazilian descent. The music preferences of the community vary from person to person however, some of the music they enjoy is native to their culture. This includes genre’s such as Bachata, as well as other types of Hispanic music such as Salsa and Merengue. Some students are fluent only in Spanish, so to help them become more engaged within music making, I have incorporate Spanish phrases into the lyrics of the songs I use. This has been somewhat successful as the Spanish speaking students appeared to have an easier time building rapport with me and gain a positive experience when making music.

[Maura Nicholson]

I am not currently practicing, but I will look forward to revisiting this discussion once I do start my children’s groups toward the end of the month. Looking back on some of my previous experiences, one of my internships was in a continuing care nursing facility working with the geriatric population many of whom had dementia. I learned a lot of new material in a short amount of time-mostly songs from the 40s and 50s. There were also several requests for nursery rhymes and more generally well known children’s songs and it was remarkable to experience how the residents recalled song lyrics from their childhood.

[Kate Jihye Choi]

I work with families from different countries and cultures. I meet people from all over the world, where I have never met people from. As a travel clinician, I face more challenges when visiting their home due to not knowing their cultural background. From figuring out whether I have to take off my shoes to being asked not to visit their home when no women are in the house. I have a family from Tibet, and they showed me a video of Tibetan music. It mostly consists of percussive instruments, so the child was more responsive toward the music with percussive instruments. Understanding their traditional music helped me figure out how to approach the child and sustain his attention span with music. However, although each culture presents strong preferences, I found that music is universal and works similarly regardless of where they are from.

[Amy Calderon]

That is really cool Kate! Wow I never though about how things can be affected when going to see patients in their homes, regarding women needing to me in the home. I used to work in early intervention, but never ran into that, most of the families I worked with her Spanish speaking.

[Amy Calderon]

I currently work in a Children’s hospital. I have often had the opportunity to incorporate Spanish music in my work, since I am Spanish speaking, but I don’t always know they songs they request as there are various Spanish speaking cultures, so I do my best to learn them. I also often get requests for worship music in English and in Spanish. I also run a virtual Spanish Parkinson’s choir. There are people of various ages and from so many different countries, such as Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia. I encorporate familiar Spanish songs that are typically known in all countries and have also asked them to give me suggestions for songs we can sing.

[Olivia Todd]

I currently work in a few schools that have primarily Spanish speaking students. I try to incorporate their preferred music into sessions such as Bachata, Bad Bunny, Luis Enrique, and other Hispanic music. Students appear to be excited to share their preferred music and often stand up and dance along to it. Although I do not know Spanish, I am learning more and more common and musical phrases and like Daniel, I use them in the music to help build rapport with the students.

[Jessica Solimini]

Just this week in the office we went over some of the feedback we received from the Lawrence public school teachers and this topic came up, specifically a request to incorporate some Spanish language songs into the sessions. This was something I had not particularly thought a lot about previously, but I can see where incorporating some music that is culturally significant to the client would increase and enhance opportunities for trust and building rapport between client and clinician.

[Reagan Rademacher]

I’ve worked with a lot of Spanish speaking clients, which is not a language I speak. I’ve typically used Latin/Spanish styles of playing with English lyrics or recorded music to bring the client’s culture and preferences into the session. I find that it has encouraged the clients, who have all been children, to engage with myself and the session when the musical material is familiar to them and their culture.

[Billie Junget]

I work with a wide range of ages and people with different backgrounds at RMTS and learn songs to fit the client preferences/needs. I work with individuals from as early as 6 months to 90yrs old. For my older adult settings I play a lot of music from the 40s-60s. With kiddos I play traditional folk tunes, lullabies, and original music to support their needs and development. In my adult settings I play a lot of Elvis and The Beatles! All clients have different background experiences with their music, some share songs that were from childhood and listened to with family and others from their culture. The majority of my current clients are English speaking, and I have experience in several school districts with students who primarily spoke Spanish and we played many songs from their cultures. Using music to connect with clients and to hear their stories of their backgrounds has been one of my favorite things about sharing in the music with others.

[Mark Dunford]

I work with clients as young as 4 and as old as 82 at RMTS. Most of my clients are from english speaking backgrounds. I do work with some younger students who primarily speak Spanish so I’ve used some Spanish lullabies and sung some popular nursery rhymes in Spanish. In some of my high school groups students share Spanish songs from popular artists like Marc Anthony, Bad Bunny, and Enrique Iglesias.

[Lincoln Bowen]

There’s a large range of folks and populations I work with. My clients range from preschool age to older adults, and the music within that span is endless. Everything from lullabies, nursery rhymes, and Disney, to 50s, 60, 70s, and more modern music as well. I currently work in school systems which have a large population of Spanish-speaking students and/or Hispanic students. Incorporating Spanish phrases into both my vocabulary and the music has helped established a stronger connection between staff, students, and myself. My older students enjoy sharing music from artists such as Bad Bunny and Daddy Yankee. It is so rewarding to be present for clients as they share their culture- I am grateful they allow me to be a part of that process.

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