Discuss with the board the traditional and cultural music in your home community.

[Meredith Pizzi]

[Laetitia Brundage]

If I had one word to describe the music in my home and community it would be eclectic. On a weekly basis we find ourselves immersed in kids songs, classical, jazz, metal, punk, pop, rock, folk, avant-garde….honestly the list could go on and on. My husband and I are both musicians, and love exploring all kinds of music. We also live in a very urban environment with a thriving local music scene that seems to be just as eclectic as our tastes. One could go salsa dancing one night and go mosh in a pit the next without going more than a couple miles! Growing up, traditional music was mostly religious in nature(catholic), and although I am not religious as an adult, this music will always have a special place in my heart.
The one thing that I always find in common wherever I encounter music is community. Everyone is a part of the music and the music is a part of everyone. You can find the most diverse groups of people leaving their differences at the door to embrace these moments of togetherness through experiencing music.

[Sarah Szymanowski]

If we’re talking about “home” home, I’m thinking about the music my son is experiencing. There’s a lot of instrumental music in our house — my husband is a brass player, I am a cellist. There is usually radio on in the house, sometimes the local classical station, sometimes MDR Figaro (my husband’s favorite German station that plays a mix of classical, jazz, singer-songwriter stuff, etc.). If something comes on the radio that inspires my husband, he’ll just pick up an instrument and improv along (we have brass instruments literally lying around the house). If I’m prepping for an orchestra concert, my son hears recordings over and over of the music I’m preparing. Right now it’s Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, which is hardly danceable, let alone singable! It’s probably not the most typical musical upbringing, but he’s developing a strong pull to music nonetheless. I’m eager to see what he’s drawn to when he develops preferences of his own. He’ll probably hate classical music 😉

[Ann Marie Raddell]

I work for a community agency. We bring in many different people from many different local communities. We strive to be able to bring the arts to anyone interested regardless of income. That is one of the largest reasons that I enjoy my job so much. I see families who have higher incomes and live in the suburbs, families from urban areas, and other families who speak other languages in their homes. One of the largest aspects that bring all of these groups together is music. I provide the opportunity for these families to share their preferred music with me and our music therapy and/or early childhood music programs.

In my own home, I echo Laetitia in describing our home as “eclectic.” I love exposing my own children to many genres of music from many different eras. Like Sarah, we often have music playing. We have a large mix of Pandora stations. My six-year-old’s music teacher often comments on how he never knows what he will hear my daughter sing next. One day it may be musical theatre another day it may be Frank Sinatra.

[Anonymous]

Sarah great reflection about the music in your home. How about it your community? Looking at the communities where we provide services helps us to be aware of how we can include this in the work that we do and find ways to connect with our communities.

[Kristen McSorley]

I have only been in Connecticut for about seven months, so this question is very challenging to me. I’m not exactly sure how to get to know the music in this community yet, especially as I live in an area reserved mostly for housing. I do know there’s sure a lot less country stations than in PA, and a lot more indie rock stations! Ann, I have a similar experience in terms of the diversity of clientele I work with. More than song preference, I have noticed socioeconomic status having an impact on how exploratory the early childhood kids are with instruments. The preschoolers I see from a lower income area have shown more willingness to engage in instrument play while the preschoolers from a high socioeconomic class may need some encouraging. This may not be generalizable though.

[Kristina Rowles]

I work with a wide range of populations. I find that there is at least a little bit of everything. I recently starting working with someone who likes Rap music and I have needed to educate myself more on this genre of music. I get requests for country, jazz, patriotic, and rock in my groups with elders. While I have not noticed large genres stick out with the people that I work with, I do notice that everyone has their personal favorites that I end up adding into my song list.

[Sarah Szymanowski]

Yes Erika — sometimes I feel insecure about interpreting these questions correctly!
For DC itself, I don’t see the community as having a cohesive musical identity. I can look at shifts in music I’ve used throughout my career, depending on location and population.

I had to learn a LOT of rep in German for my first MT job. But what was most popular when I did my weekly singing group? The Beatles, of course.

Working in psych in the US, I shifted from mostly instrumental MT groups to mostly vocal MT groups. With that came another major shift in my repertoire. I created songbooks to use on the units with as wide a range as possible. Elvis to Eminem, Jackson 5 to Imagine Dragons, Joni Mitchell to Nick Minaj — I tried to create as much diversity as possible in case a new patient would discover that I had their preferred music after all.

I’m shifting again as I focus on my music school job. One area that I need to work on is learning songs from kids’ TV. As I learn about new clients, I hear about preferred music coming from shows I didn’t know existed.

[Kelsy Gati]

I am in the same boat as a few others in that I travel the a wide variety of regions and see a broad range of populations. This leads to a lot of musical preferences and an opportunity to see so many types of musical interactions! It is fascinating to see the differences between early childhood groups and one to one sessions. Typically, I will conduct early childhood one to one sessions in the clients home and their main caregiver will be present. The main caregiver often has a very encouraging, nurturing voice in the sessions. Comparatively, groups often take place in a school setting. There are often aids or teachers present and their voices are often more firm. It is interesting the way that impacts the way the kids experience the music. The type of music I use in a one to one at homes versus in a group school setting is also very different because the goals and the needs are different.

I wouldn’t say there is any one genre that the community of people I work with centralizes around. I find positive message songs are welcome in most settings. For example, I have never introduced a group to “Happy” by Pharell with negative results!

[Noelle Larson]

Thanks for the clarification, Erika! There is a pretty big difference between the music of my childhood home/community of origin and my present community where I live and work. My earliest experiences of community were through my family’s church and the Christian school I attended, which contributed to the musical atmosphere in our home being a mix of positive/encouraging Christian radio/worship music and some general kids repertoire focused on learning, bonding, etc.–overall, a pretty mellow musical environment. I still find that that this musical base of music with positive themes and life lessons is a big foundation for me and something I return to as when working with young children. We moved when I was in elementary school, which helped broaden my community music experiences in a city with greater cultural diversity and musical interests. I worked in a pre-kindergarten in this community a few years ago and found that the kids generally connected with a range of music, from traditional to modern children’s repertoire (Laurie Berkner Band, Gemini, Raffi) to age-appropriate pop songs (I am a Gummy Bear, Disney). About 40% of our kids were English language learners (Spanish spoken at home) and they were thrilled every chance we had to sing songs in Spanish that they could teach to their peers. I am still exploring the traditional/preferred music of kids in my new home community here in Boston and look forward to learning what kinds of songs and musical cultures my future clients and current students connect with the best!

[Johanna Horn]

My community is very eclectic! I work at a pre-school about 15-20 minutes from Washington, D.C. and there are a wide variety of cultures so the music is very diverse and ever changing.
I am unable to sing any songs of a religious nature–even if I am recognizing all of the different religions.
I did a “Music Show and Share” once with my four year old Pre-Kindergarten class, and asked that each student bring in something representative of the music they experience in their own homes. It was wonderful! Students brought in instruments from their family members! For example, one child brought his dad’s ukulele from Hawaii. Other children brought in CDs with a vast genre base (pop, doo-wop, rock and roll, world music).

[Anonymous]

When I took the Sprouting Melodies training I also had some questions I was not quite sure how to answer. If you are ever unclear about anything in the training do not hesitate to reach out to me or Kristina. We are here to help in anyway you may need. Johanna I love the “Music Show and Share” what a wonderful way to include each child and their culture.

[Ashley Carroll]

I am relatively new to the area I live in now, not working, and honestly not very knowledgeable on the cultural make up. While working in hospice in FL I worked with mostly folks over the age of 70. However, I did work with a wide range of cultures, from Jamaican to Jewish. It was an educational experience every day, being introduced to musical artists I probably wouldn’t encounter on my own. As well as learning different interpretations of traditional Christian hymns with a Caribbean sound is rather spectacular.

[Belinda Adams]

This is a challenge…. the music in my home/life is very eclectic. We listen to everything from disney, kid songs, contemporary christian, church music, classical music, top hits, etc. The students at school are always telling me about new bands and things I should check out. As far as the community is concerned part of the community is very tolerant, eclectic and open to just about anything. There are other parts of the community that are not as tolerant and farther from town and seem to only identify with county music.

[Stephanie Harris]

My home is also a melting pot of tons of different type of music. I try to introduce my own kids to a variety of my favorites.

Our community is a pretty typical suburban, midwest area. I feel like I’ve had requests and preferences all over the place. We also have a mix of religions here and I have had client’s who are Jehovah Witness and Orthodox Jewish request use of religious music in their sessions.

[Anonymous]

It is always interesting to hear about what everyone is listening to at home and what is out in their community. This question always educates me on what is happening, culturally, around our country. Thank you all for sharing.

[Kristina Rio]

Just echoing Erika here…It was great to read all of your submissions! Knowing your community is so important when providing community music whether that be music therapy, or programs like Sprouting Melodies.

[Tracy Wanamaker]

I live in a small rural community of about 8000, but the music scene is very interesting here because Potsdam is home to the Crane School of Music – the oldest music education teacher education program in the country. Because of this, the kids in the community have access to excellent public school music programs and the opportunity to take lessons and go to performances (for free or at a really reduced rate) at the college and many students take advantage of this. This means that many of the local school-age students have more of an interest in jazz and classical music than in many areas of the country. The local colleges also provide opportunities for students and the community to explore and participate in making music from many cultures, even though there is little cultural diversity in the area. The radio stations in the area play a mixture of pop, classic rock, and country, but most of the live music is more indie or fusion due to the college influence in the area. Musically, it is a really cool environment!

[Tiffany Lee]

At home, my husband and I listen to a lot of different types of music! It goes from Indie pop to Disney to (last night) beach boys. In our community, main stream music is very popular, specifically country music. When I ask my clients what they like to listen to, most of them say “whatever is on the radio.” Around here, that usually means COUNTRY music since we do not have very many diverse radio stations. We live in a primarily Caucasian, small rural town. We are blessed to have a local university (that doubles our town’s population), so there are opportunities to hear live classical, jazz, or choral music. However, most in the area do not take advantage of this. Part of my mission as a music therapist is to expose my clients (specifically my teenage clients) to other styles of music and cultures to broaden their horizons and emotional expression. They also expose ME to new styles of music and bands that I have NEVER heard of, which is always fun. Our community is primarily Christian, so religious music and hymns are much preferred, especially when I work with an above 50 population.

[Anonymous]

Tracy that is really interesting about the unique experience your community has with music. What a great environment for the children in your community!

[Katy Hutchings]

When I think of home community, I still think of my family and my community where I grew up. As the daughter of a Boy Scout and Girl Scout leader, I grew up singing all the campfire songs and that was my first exposure to community singing. I sang in elite children’s choirs and community musical theater as well but campfire songs were always a great hit with my family and peers. Now as an adult, my “home” music mostly consists of musical theater tunes, guilty pleasures of top pop hits, and favorite sing/songwriters from my college days. I always love that people tend to continue to listen to the music from their high school/college age years; that is the music that sticks with us because we tie in music with our identity at that age. I played Backstreet Boys for my preschoolers this week for just that reason (and because who doesn’t love dancing to Quit Playing Games with My Heart?)

My community that I work in is urban but fairly middle upperclass and caucasian. Beatles are always popular, Disney songs (old and new), and pop songs as well. One of my goals of my work is to explore more of the music from my students’ communities and to ask the parents to bring in songs that they love in order to include everyone as much as possible.

[Jennifer Whitlow]

At home, my husband and I have completely different tastes in music. He has always been into more hard music like Tool and Nine Inch Nails. Where as I love Adele, Taylor Swift, Backstreet Boys, Air Supply, Mariah Carey, Jewel, and so much more. We will never come to an agreement when it comes to that. However after taking a music appreciation class, my husband has been able to find enjoyment listening to orchestral music and will actually initiate playing things by Beethoven, Mozart, Holst, and more! It is very refreshing. So our daughter is exposed to a lot of things! My husband does agree that Tool and Nine Inch Nails are not really baby friendly!

We live pretty close to a bigger city. In Indianapolis, we have a symphony orchestra, huge concert venues, and stages that are great for plays, musicals, and opera. We are actually even planning to see Phantom of the Opera in May (too bad our daughter is too young). We are very fortunate to have a lot of exposure to a lot of music opportunities in our community. We are also the city that hosts Bands of America and the DCI finals, so I think music is well preserved in this area and I look forward to seeing how early childhood classes do here!! It seems like there already are some and they appear to be full and having waiting lists, so that is a good sign for me!

[Vanessa Quirarte]

My home community is not very diverse. It is a small town with a lot of rural areas. I would say pop, country, and rock music dominates the area. My home home is another story though. The radio is usually blasting with Latin American music. Some pop, but mainly all in Spanish.
The community I work in is more diverse than my home community and it reflects in the music used in my sessions. Rap, country, Latin American, American folk, Celtic, pop, disco, oldies but goodies. My clients’ age range also reflect the diversity in the music.
(5-65 years)

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