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

[Meredith Pizzi]

[Jessica Bogacik]

I am new to my community, so I haven’t quite put my finger on the cultural songs of this area, but in my home state of Virginia, especially in the mountains, there are a lot of people who grew up listening to and playing bluegrass music, and those songs are engrained in their culture and their world, passed down from generation to generation. Most of my work has been with hospice patients, and it was always a great opportunity to experience families making music together, or sharing the experience of remembering their cultural songs.

[Melissa Hentges]

Minnesota has a very German and Scandinavian cultural background. Many of the old, familiar nursery rhymes and folk tunes are still sung with children today. However, in the recent past, the cultural landscape of this area has begun to drastically change and become much more diverse. Music therapists in this area will need to begin integrating music from these cultures into their repertoire as our clientele reflects that change.

[Mikhala Majeau]

In my community, it is a true melting pot of many cultures. As one of the largest Navy bases in the world, we have people from all over the country and the world living in a small area. One can find any culture in the Hampton Roads area. That being said, the Navy is a generally Christian organization. More often than not, the sailors and their families are inherently religious. One can find this during prayer before any event, evening prayer on the boat, etc. Being military, there is also a lot of pride for the country. The classic “americana” folk songs such as My Country Tis of Thee, This Land is Your Land, etc are very prominent. The national anthem is the utmost importance, and if you are on base, you can observe children as young as two stopping and standing at attention when the anthem is played. In this community, pride in your country is very important. Because there are so many diverse cultures, I would need to be aware of the diversity in every group that I were to run, keeping in mind that the people may (and probably do) come from a wide variety of states and even perhaps another country. It would be interesting to talk to the caregivers to find out their preferred music and the music that they like to sing at home, and take that into consideration while planning for the music.

[Amanda Goff]

When people think of the Plymouth culture, they might think of the pilgrims, Native Americans and the First Thanksgiving. A lot of our traditions come from the Pilgrims and what they brought over from across the ocean. I’m not sure of the traditional and musical specifics for Plymouth, but my community is rich in the culture and in the arts. The Plymouth waterfront has so much to offer, especially during the summer time. There is a wonderful Theater that puts on a variety of plays during the season and there are many museums in the area displaying the history of both the Pilgrims and Native Americans of the Plymouth area.
As a Music Therapist it is very important to be aware of a clients culture and their musical preference. I value the different cultures of this world and look forward to learning about all of yours through this discussion.

[Leigh Ann Walberg]

Living in the Chicago-land area, it is also a melting pot of traditions. I do find that a lot of the children don’t seem to have music as part of their background, sometimes not even knowing the traditional songs sung by many early childhood cds or pre-schools. The particular school I work in has a high number of Hispanic and Indian.

[Michelle Nettle]

Phoenix, AZ is a melting pot, as many people have moved here from “somewhere else,” especially from the North where their are long cold winters. Also, due to it being a desert, we don’t see the huge changes in seasons like beautiful fall leaves, leafless winter trees, and blooming trees and flowers. We also have no snow and very little rain and most days are sunny. However, we do experience change in temperature, anywhere from 30 degree winter nights to 115 degree hot summer days.

Because of this, many traditional songs, especially around Christmas time, don’t have as much meaning to children, as they haven’t experienced weather like snow. So for instance, “Over the River and through the Woods to Grandmothers House we Go,” “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, jack frost nipping at your nose”, White Christmas, and even “Jingle Bells” don’t have the same “impact” as they would to children living up North, who actually experience things.

So to accommodate this, we often change the lyrics to the songs to match what the children experience in the Desert. Here’s an example:

Jingle Bells (The Desert Version)

Driving through the sand
With his jeep well in command
Over the rocks and brush
Santa’s in a rush.

Most towns have white snow
But Phoenix has hot sand
But that won’t stop ole Santa Claus
Four wheeling is his plan

Jingle bells, lizard tails
Hot and sunny day
Santa’s here in desert town,
But he cannot stay.

Jingle Bells, lizard tails
Hot and sunny day
Santa’s jeep is packed with toys
So everything’s okay

[Natalie Condon]

My main experience practicing Music Therapy in my area was at my internship in a school setting. The children I worked with were older (9-22) and most were from my surrounding suburb area (Boston) and had strong preferences toward American pop, rock, rap and country. Others enjoyed classic American oldies or folk music their parents sang. Overall, the musical preferences appeared to center around english-spoken/main-stream-enforced music. I am sure if I was to work (in my immediate area) in early childhood music therapy, I would be in much closer contact to the children’s families and would perhaps experience a more worldly or broader representation of musical values.

[Anonymous]

It is great to see the differences you each experience with culture in your areas. Thank you all for sharing! Michelle it was very interesting to hear how one of the culture differences in your area is really about your state in particular. And that even common songs native to this country may not make much sense to kids in your area even though it’s still in this country. I love your version of Jingle Bells in the desert!

[Linda Madler]

My experiences have been varied…When I worked in a physical rehab setting in VA, I sang a lot of spirituals and hymns–especially Amazing Grace. When I was a beginning music therapist, I will always remember the elderly African-American man with dementia and limited speech who told me that “I had no soul.” At first I was taken aback by the criticism, but it allowed me to loosen up and not be tied to my personal experiences. Before he was discharged, he told me my blues guitar strumming “had improved.” Now that I am older, I enjoy learning from others. My community is a melting pot, and I frequently have families share their traditions.

[Robyn Rutland-Coleman]

I have lived in Austin for about 2 and a half years, and when I think of “Austin music” I hear outlaw country, western swing, bluesy rock, and gospel-y sounds. I think of Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Janis Joplin as iconic Austin musicians.

Having grown up in San Antonio, I have a better sense of the musical traditions there. While only 90 miles south of Austin, San Antonio feels so different culturally and musically, as the majority of the population is Hispanic, while the Latino influence is not felt as strongly in Austin’s music scene. Tejano music is popular and prominent on the radio, and as a teen, I was aware of popular Spanish-language artists such as Selena. In south and central Texas, which includes both cities, large German and Czech immigrant populations added the polka to the musical fabric of the area. Traditional Mexican Christmas songs and mariachi music also come to mind as part of the musical culture of San Antonio.

[Steven Clarke]

I have lived in several communities throughout my life, with Boston/New England being the most recent. Before Boston was Hawai’i and before that I was born in Oregon where I spent my young childhood years. Living/grown up in many places, I have been afforded the opportunity to have many traditional and cultural music experiences. In Oregon, my Grandparents would take me to Pow Wows where I experienced Native American culture, music and dancing. In Hawai’i, many cultures from all over the world live in the same area. Their traditional and cultural music is represented through Polynesian, Asian, European, Latin and African to name a few. Polynesian music/traditions are also deeply connected to Hula and Chant (representing oral traditions/history of the people passed on from generation to generation).

These experiences have shaped my musical tastes to form an eclectic palate, but more importantly they have made me realize that there are not many places where only one tradition and one culture exist. Being aware of this and sensitive to it is important when we are sharing/creating/enjoying music experiences with others.

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

Thanks for sharing your ‘Desert Jingle Bells’Michelle. So cute! We would love to hear more created songs from anyone who is willing to share!

[Kathy Odenkirk]

The town where I grew up, and still live, seems to have a wide variety of cultural and traditional music. There are strong German and Italian bases which are reflected in yearly local festivals. The summer programs of the Ohio Light Opera is well known in Ohio. Being a college town, there are also other traditional music opportunities such as the college orchestra. The college is known as the Fighting Scots so if you live close to the college and it is a home football game it is “normal” to hear bagpipes during the half time show! The band members even wear kilts!

[Kristina Rio]

I second Beth! I loved Michelle’s version of ‘Jingle Bells.’ It’s so great to have this supportive community of music therapists to learn from, so be sure to read back and start some great conversation!

[Amanda Barnett]

I live in a very rural town in Texas where country, Texas country, Christian and general folk songs are the craze. My clients love all kinda of music but country, folk and Christian seem to lead the board with the most interest. Songs about love, outdoors, songs with stories imbedded in the lyrics and songs with a general country beat seem to peak the interest of everyone on my case load. Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, George Straight & a few Texas country bands are the most common to be requested by my teens and young adults due to the rhythms and the meanings behind the words (all kinds of lyric analysis opportunities presented by songs on request). I love this about my area because I am familiar with most if the songs we use and am able to dig deeper into the meaning behind each song with my clients & we have se very deep and real conversations about the music and relating it to life in general.

[Kayla Hamilton]

I am new to this community, I am not sure the exact musical culture yet. It seems a lot of people in Colorado prefer acoustic style songs. At the clinic I work at, we have a lot of clients that are from different regions of the US (partially due to the large military presence in this community) so we are able to use a lot of genres. We use pop, young children’s music, classic rock, country, rap, and we even have a 4 year old that likes Metallica.

[Lauren Servos]

Many of the families I work with prefer pop, Christian or country music. Parents often giggle when I use one of their favorite pop songs as a lullaby for their child in the hospital. Anything can be adapted, though, so I hope that hearing my own lullaby versions of songs encourages the family to sing to their child, even if they don’t know any traditional kids songs.

[Jamie Sacca]

I grew up on Long Island and live and work in NYC, so there are maaaaaany cultures and traditions around me. As a child, my main musical connections were to Italian music and Christmas music. As I got older, I began to expand my interest areas to musical theatre and classical/pop music. Currently in my work at the preschool, we are discouraged from using holiday or cultural music (anything ‘holiday-related) though I have used some “themed” interventions that connect to specific times of the year, and weather of the area. I also will use classical music and even some pop music (I like to use the Beatles, Rolling Stones (appropriate stuff only)) in sessions as well. Even though they are young, they can still enjoy more complex and varied music that is different than the traditional “kids songs” they always hear.

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