[Alison Barrington]

At the moment I am only doing a small amount of work in this area. I have taken over a class of preschoolers but with only one helper (and not family carers). So I would like to address the need to have sessions that include moms/dads/carers etc. So that would be one great step forward as I see this as a fundamental reason for doing these sessions.
I am also about to have meetings with some local leaders to see if I can encourage them to take Sprouting Melodies as a program in their nurseries, churches etc. I live in an area where the parents are very well educated and so I completely understood Meredith’s point about having very educated parents who struggle with young kids. Many of them have nannies/babysitters and I know that one of them doesn’t really like kids!!! Encouraging singing and really engaging with their kids is vital and might open some eyes about how to play with their bundles of joy!!! Good old Donald Winnicott talked about being a ‘good enough mother’. That’s a great start!

[Alison Barrington]

Claudia, thank you for your comments. I really loved the way that you supported the family that you were working and the delight to see a child succeed. I was also delighted to listen to the mom who was recorded by Sprouting Melodies. She reminded me that one thing we offer as music therapists is our enthusiasm for our work. Carers are really relieved to see that their child/children are valued and nurtured.
Another aspect that I was reminded of when listening to the information this week was that it’s important to inform the parents of what and why we’re doing certain activities and what we notice about their child’s participation. I believe that is one major aspect that music therapists can bring to the work. It enables the parents to take something away from the group and gives them confidence because they know that the information comes from a deeply informed and professionally developed strategy.
I have worked within schools for years. It felt that there was little overlap between school activities and home life. But I have come more and more to see the value of bringing the whole family into a music therapy environment so that everyone is gaining and learning. The family dynamics are fundamental to growth and I have seen and read much to support this.
Finally, I like the 5 stages that have been included in this model: awareness, trust, independence, control and responsibility. As well as being developmental stages for the infants I am also wondering whether these can be transferred on to the child/carer relationship and also onto the music therapy/child/carer relationships within Sprouting Melodies. The training offered to music therapists means that we can be more aware of these issues and be adaptable/flexible within the sessions.

[Alison Barrington]

Elana – thank you for this. It makes a lot of sense and so I’m going to try to do something similar…

MOVING.
Awareness: opening and closing fist in response to music. Trust: might turn away to unfamiliar or dissonant sounds. Independence: moving over to an instrument of choice. Control: begins to jump in response to the music. Responsibility: learning and repeating sequences of music in response to music.

LISTENING.
Awareness: using eyes to track music when it moves around the space. Trust: calms to rocking music and might laugh to musical stimuli. Independence: will adjust affect in response to different mood of music, Control: can imitate rhythmic patterns. Responsibility: can hear contrast between own music and music of others.

SINGING:
Awareness: vocalizing to show pleasure in response to music. Trust: makes pitched vocalizations. Independence: beginning to sing recognizable songs. Control: changes vocal timbre in response to emotional changes. Responsibility: can create own melodies and lyrics.

PLAYING INSTRUMENTS:
Awareness: might lick or mouth an instrument. Trust: feel the vibrations of a drum by moving head/face near instrument. Independence: sustained beating of drums and tambourines using fists. Control: can play on same instruments as others. Responsibility: can alter own playing to match other players.

[Alison Barrington]

Can I ask what Beth/Meredith are hoping for here. thanks

[Alison Barrington]

I should also say that I would now include more listening in my sessions since listening to Beth’s comments as I feel this the one area that I could develop in my practice.

[Alison Barrington]

Yes I have certainly used these four music experiences in my practice. Many years ago I was leading a group of pre-school children with learning disabilities and their carers with another music therapist and we started the session by listening. We then went on to sing a song about moving and asked each person to choose a way to move so that all the participants could join in. We sang familiar songs together and songs we had composed for the group. We also had a choice of instruments and we gave them a chance to accompany songs and also free improvisation which we accompanied on the piano and guitar. I have continued to use many of these ideas within other groups that I’ve participated in.

[Alison Barrington]

I’m not sure quite what to write here. Just to say that I am British so perhaps some of the nursery songs that I will learn in the USA may be a bit different from the ones I am familiar with when working with pre-schoolers.
I was blessed to be brought up in a musical family and so singing and playing was part of my childhood and I try to model singing and integrating music into my family life now I’m a mom. My personal upbringing focussed on classical music and I had a very formal classical training. I love jazz and pop too. Don’t tell any other music therapists but country and western style is not really my thing …. sorry!
Hope this answers this question.

[Alison Barrington]

Again, all the information is clear and I have appreciated the chance to revisit the developmental stages. I am particularly remember a 6 year old girl (with cerebral palsy and autism) who I worked with in a school environment. I was working within the Awareness level which may seem initially not to fit with her chronological age. However, she was referred because she spent most of the time crying or screaming and, I believe this had interfered with her ability to develop an ‘awakening of the senses, of physical and sensual being.’ The musical intervention I used was use of pitch in response to how she lifted her arms and legs so that she became more aware of her limbs. I also introduced a variety of instruments to see which sounds most interested her – and I also discovered sounds which distressed her. When she was distressed I used soothing music to calm her down and enable her to tolerate the setting. By singing songs I believe she became more aware of her own vocalizations.
Another significant issue for her was trust – which links with the next developmental level. I believe that, due to her autism, she found the busy and noise school environment was overwhelming for her. So I sang a lot of lullaby style songs, and a lot of predictable song structures.
Overall there was a lot of musical repetition in each session and she did calm down enormously.

[Alison Barrington]

Most of the songs presented are new to me – and I was delighted to have the chance to learn them. They are very easy to learn and I have found myself singing them around the house! So I am sure that they will work well with parents and carers who want to sing with their children. Thank you Elana too for your comments and encouragement – I’ll give these a go next time I’m working with my current group.
The songs that I have used with my groups in the past have been quite similar and I want to thank Sprouting Melodies to offer a flexible approach so that I can work with my old songs and incorporate these new songs. I am relieved to know that the songs that I’ve used so far have included a lot of the ideas that Beth suggest work (eg. focussing on ‘me’; being flexible in changing melodies and lyrics to fit the moment; adding in silence/pauses).

[Alison Barrington]

Thank you for all your comments. Reading them has enabled me to consider what I might bring to sessions. I am not such a calm person as some of you are! However, I am someone who can do ‘silly’ with kids and enjoy the laughter that comes into sessions. As an older mom I have appreciated being more confident in my abilities when dealing with kids and I hope that this is something that I can bring to the groups I lead.

[Alison Barrington]

I also posted my takeaway in the wrong place – sorry! I found it very useful to have all this information clearly laid out. It is something that I will be able to look at over and over again. It’s also information that can be shared with parents. I was very lucky to go to a presentation by Dr. Patricia Kuhl yesterday and she reiterated all that was included in this week’s material – so there’s lots to learn! Thank you

[Alison Barrington]

Thank you to everyone for their kind, encouraging words. I’d love to find out what everyone else does/is doing.
Yes, Amelia is great and has just been the guest editor for a special edition of British Journal for Music Therapy. It’s about music therapy and families (clients of all ages). It will come out soon so watch out for it!
I’ll think about topics and email again at some point (am sight seeing in D.C. with my family right now)

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