Share your thoughts with the board members on the role of music therapy in community based settings.

[Meredith Pizzi]

[Julia Park]

I have questions regarding to the new songs introduced in this week’s module. Could we have the music to the new songs (lyric and chords)? also what does (NR) (EKS) (MRP) mean?

One more question… when we are all finished with the training, could we come back and have access to the videos?

Thank you very much in advance!

-Julia

[Julia Park]

I believe music therapy’s role in community based settings are to achieve non-musical goals in natural, fun, and supportive ways. Music therapy can support and partner up with other health professionals to achieve the therapeutic outcome faster and more effectively. Music therapy is a an adjunct therapy meaning “in addition to” the whatever therapy people need. For an example, music therapists partner up with physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists in rehabilitation settings to help other professionals and the client to achieve their physical goals. In sprouting melodies, music therapy is used as a tool to bring babies, families, and communities together to support, educate, and build relationships with each other.

[Rebecca Woodruff]

I feel that a key part of the definition of music therapy is to accomplish non-musical goals through music. This happens in community based settings as well as clinical settings. However, community settings are not as rigid as clinical settings. In a community based setting we do not have all of the different stages or steps as in treatment. In these groups we aren’t really treating anything but, in Sprouting Melodies, supporting proper growth and development of children. An important aspect of community based music therapy is to promote bonding and support. This bonding and support can be parent/care-giver to child, child to child, parent/care-giver to parent/caregiver, and music therapist to all. In turn this creates and greater sense of unity within the community.

[Rebecca Woodruff]

Julia, I am guessing that (NR) (EKS) and (MRP) are the initials of the individuals that wrote the songs. Ex., I believe EKS is Elizabeth K. Schwartz.I would also like to know the answers to your other questions.

[Charniqua Snell]

I agree with Julia and Rebecca in that music therapy in this setting is about support and community. Since music therapists do not have specific goals and are not expecting specific outcomes, the MT can use this time to really structure the group to what the parents and children need. Also, music in general is great for creating memories and bringing people together. So to use music therapy in the community is a great way for these families to make important memories with their babies and with other families.

[Anonymous]

Hi Julia. Some of the songs presented in this module are available in Elizabeth’s book You and Me Makes We. The book has tons of great songs written by Beth. It is available for purchase on the Raising Harmony website. The book also includes some great strategies for song writing from a developmental perspective. For any songs that were created by Meredith, you will have to contact her directly. To my knowledge she does not have these songs written down. Most of Meredith’s music is fairly easy to transcribe. If the other songs are Nordoff-Robbins, they have many songbooks with all of their songs including melody, harmony, and ways to use the music. I believe NR means Knordoff-Robbins, but I will double check with Meredith and Beth. EKS is Beth’s initials and MRP is Meredith’s initials. If you become a provider you will have complete access to all the training materials for a lifetime. However, if you complete the training and do not wish to become a provider you will only have access for 30 days after the training is complete.

[Marcie Hernandez, MT-BC]

I agree with the responses shared already, and echo the thoughts that music therapy within the community setting is about supporting the non-musical goals of building connection, providing positive shared experiences and improving the overall quality of life of those participating. Specifically within the Sprouting Melodies program, the non-musical goal that is being achieved is to promote the proper development of each child and create opportunities for parent/child bonding.

[Nicole Drozd]

Music therapy in community based settings provides opportunities to use music listening and music engagement to help increase, facilitate, and encourage connection with all of those involved. It is also a great way to advocate for music therapy and help others understand better what we do. In regards to sprouting melodies, this program provides opportunities for parents to meet other parents, children to meet other children, and receive other resources that may support them in their development as one family.

[Kate Potrykus]

My instinct in answering this question was to write what most others wrote – music therapy in the community setting is about achieving non-musical goals. But I’d also like to add that, in my experience, music therapy in the community setting is about the process of engaging in music with others without expectation of an end result, such as a performance. I’ve read a lot about community music therapy and what makes it so effective is that it promotes natural social interaction and can elicit feelings of empowerment, togetherness, and pride. The end result doesn’t matter as much as how each individual engages with the music as part of a group. As a therapist, we have the knowledge to adapt music and the musical instruments to make the experience accessible to all individuals. In Sprouting Melodies, our knowledge of development helps us choose appropriate music and allows us to recognize these developmental milestones as they occur through our facilitated classes. To me, the key role of music therapy in community based settings is to bring all types of people together, regardless of disability or developmental level, and engage them, all together, in music.

[Shelly Peterson]

I really like what everyone has shared about the role of music therapy in the community, especially Kate talking about empowerment, togetherness and pride. It is also so important to reinforce the importance of being in the moment with your child and others in the group. That is what builds community is actually “being” together, not just being in the same space at the same time, but truly being in the moment with others.
The role of MT in a community based setting is to provide opportunities for education about child development, for parents/caregivers to bond with their children, for education about musical development and how it affects the child’s world, bring community together (as in the village), educate and encourage families to utilize the music at home, quality time together and just being.

[Julia Park]

Thank you Erika for answering my questions!I learned a lot from reading everyone’s posts. I had an opportunity to talk with a music director with master’s degree in music education. Her program offered early childhood music classes and she asked me what the differences were. I told her that sprouting was developed by music therapists and this program offers opportunities for children, parents, and families to come together to support each other through music making. I also told her that sprouting melodies providers are also specialists in early childhood development. The director told me that her program is exactly like sprouting melodies because parents come with their children and interact each other. I am still trying to get a better understanding on the differences between sprouting vs. other early childhood music programs out in the communities so that I could explain better. I would really appreciate some feedbacks. Thank you guys! Have a wonderful week.

[Kristina Rio]

Hi Julia! I like to explain Sprouting Melodies as being unique from other early childhood music programs because it is only run by Board Certified Music Therapists. The music classes use a developmental approach to music making where music is selected to meet the developmental needs of the children in the group. The groups are run by the child not by the book, so the provider is able to structure the classes in the moment without needing to stick to a curriculum. There is a general suggested framework, but each provider offers a unique experience just as each group is unique in and of itself!

I hope this helps you!

[Kristina Rio]

Charniqua, I love how you wrote about creating memories with their babies and with other families. This is so true! Many of my Sprouting Melodies Families have built so many great life-long relationships with other families through our program. Several of the kids who have been coming since they were infants are now in preschool with some of the other kids they met in our classes and have built strong friendships! We even had to create a Sprouting Melodies 4 and Sprouting Melodies 5 class framework at our practice because our families just don’t want to age out!

[Anonymous]

Julia piggybacking on Kristina’s excellent response. I would also add that as music therapists we are specially trained to point out to parents what their child is doing developmentally in the music and also in terms of general development. We assist parents with using the music at home and how it can support all areas of development with the child during the times they are not in music with us. We also specialize in abnormal development and can assist parents in finding the services that will assist their child if development is delayed. Finally, because of our training we can also run an inclusive program for all children weather they are typically developing or disabled in some way. We bring all of this expertise to our Sprouting Melodies classes too.

[Julia Park]

Thank you Kristina & Erika for the feedbacks. Because Sprouting Melodies is run by music therapists, it is more inclusive then other early childhood music classes. I love it. Thank you

[Anonymous]

Julia I thought of one last thing. As Kristina said, we do not have to follow a script and can follow the children and the families. And we have the expertise to use a lot of improvisation to modify in the moment to enhance the experience and meet our clients needs. Perhaps this is too much detail, but I think it’s an important point. As I became comfortable as a Sprouting Melodies Provider, I found that I improvised quite a lot throughout each class with music, lyric content, and what I was sharing with the parents.

[Daniel Henry]

Music therapy allows for opportunity for parents to bond with their child, to learn tools that can be used at home to encourage health development with their child, gives parents resources they may not otherwise have access to, and allows them to make connections with other parents and children in their community that they may not have otherwise met.

[Alexis Ramagnano]

I agree with all the above submissions to this question. The non-music therapy programs offered in community based settings do not use music as a tool to address a non-musical goal. There is a place for entertainment and that is already available. There is a need for enriching and knowledge driven music experiences that families and children can share in and grow from. Sprouting Melodies provides these experiences and therefore is creating stronger more supportive family networks in the community.

[Johanna Horn]

I think that music therapy in a community based setting is very beneficial! It’s not about individual pieces, it’s the whole puzzle. To sort of piggyback the previous responses, I believe that the group can work together to achieve many non-musical goals–socialization, community building, a sense of togetherness-just to name a few. I’ve taken a group/community music class with my three year old twins and we found such a sense of bonding and friendship building through music making. My daughters loved making music with their peers and my husband and I made friends with the adults. Sure, this can occur in any general group music class. However, I think that as Board Certified Music Therapists, we can dig a little deeper and reach families and individuals on a different level. We are trained to address and assess in each domain and that can give community members comfort that we will not only provide a music session that is developmentally appropriate, but that we will adapt and individualize to meet the needs of the group.

[Susan Gannon]

I hope I can figure out how to print this page so I have it forever. I was so impressed by everyone’s responses and I am actually a little glad that I am working on Week 6 late. (I had some work issues and also was on vacation where I did not have access to a computer). I loved the definitions involving connection and memories. And when Kristina said that the groups were run by the child, and not by the book,I knew I had the start for an elevator speech. Although I totally agree with those who say we use music to address non-musical goals, I think we have to look at these other roles when we provide community based music programs.

[Elizabeth Carras]

I attended an early childhood psychology seminar recently (it may have been at an AMTA conference) where it was pointed out that a child’s relationships with adults during their formative years can have a huge impact on the child, and that it just takes one positive adult relationship to have a beneficial impact. That one adult may not be the child’s parent or primary caregiver. That one adult might be you, the Music Therapist, for the 45 minutes you are seeing them as part of an Early Intervention program.
I think that same philosophy can be applied to Sprouting Melodies groups, and to all community-based music therapy settings. We see these families for the brief time they are in our music classes, and do not know what else is going on outside of class for that family. Coming to a sprouting melodies class may be the one positive relationship – with you as the provider, with other parents/children in the class – that has a powerful positive impact on that family.
I think it’s also important to look at the role of community-based music therapy services from a Wellness model. Engaging in music can be a preventative approach, not a treatment approach, and speaks to potential need areas across the board.

[Kristina Rio]

Wonderful insights Elizabeth!

[Christina Bass]

Community based music therapy allows for accepting all children and all families of various levels. Music is an important and consistent part of many people’s lives from lullabies to listening to music on the radio. This allows for the familiarity and predictability of the music to support non-musical goals and bring people together to create beneficial memories with their families and others.

[Flora Whitmore]

I have to say I agree that music therapy in a community setting, just like music therapy in a school based setting, is more about meeting non-musical goals, but I think it is also about spreading the awareness of the importance of music to daily lives, development and growth. It spreads awareness of music as a therapeutic tool but also makes it approachable and more accessible and inclusive and promotes…well..community. Bonding and understanding as a united group with common needs and causes.

[Author]

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