[Amy Dunlap]

Like some others, I do not currently work in early childhood on a regular basis and therefore, I have not had the opportunity to modify these four interventions in my practice with children. However, I think these four experiences can be found at the root of almost all that we do in music therapy (I really can’t think of any exceptions..).

I have noticed that I have adapted many of the ways that I think about musical responses in general after completing these modules. Recently, I had the chance to supervise music therapy students working with children with special needs in Jamaica. The children were pretty high functioning, but some really benefitted from the “Rule of Three Thousands,” which I was able to introduce to the music therapy students. In our supervision, I was able to point out that some children began playing when we said “and stop!” and we agreed that this was not a behavioral response, but a cognitive one related to development. Another nonverbal child who uttered squeals and moans to communicate was quietly humming a m3 interval during a singing experience; one of the music therapy students picked up on this and supported his humming by doing it herself and saying, “I hear you!” Because of my Sprouting Melodies training in these levels, I was able to provide the music therapy students with higher level of supervision with these children than I would have been able to without it.

[Amy Dunlap]

Moving:
1. Awareness: Parts of or whole infant body reflexively reacts to changes in musical timbre, dynamics, or tempo.
2. Trust: Whole body moves as a reaction to music in a less reflexive and slightly more intentional/controlled way.
3. Independence: Child isolates parts of body to engage in moving to music. Exploration of body parts helps child to choose which he wants to use.
4. Control: Choose to imitate or not imitate specific movements to music.
5. Responsibility: Able to sequence movements to music, produce movements of their own.

Listening:
1. Awareness: Infant turns head in direction of source of sound.
2. Trust: Infant is calmed or agitated in response to familiar or unfamiliar song.
3. Independence: Infant responds physically (gross body movements, facial expression, lack of movement, increased movement) to changes in or quality of music. Act of listening is observable.
4. Control: Child might choose not to engage in moving to music or playing an instrument because they are so intent on listening to the music; they have the control to choose this response here.
5. Responsibility: Children take responsibility for making their own music and for listening to others’ musical responses.

Singing:
1. Awareness: Infant sounds are pitched and rhythmic, although they may sound nonsensical to parents.
2. Trust: Infants able to play pitch matching “game” – they will match pitch half of the time we provide one, which is the beginning of communication. Infants begin to synchronize ear with lungs, tongue, jaw, etc. to replicate pitches.
3. Independence: Begin to make pitched vocalizations their own by changing pitch and inflection; intentional exploration of what their voice can do.
4. Control: Children begin to replicate contour of melodies to familiar songs.
5. Responsibility: Children able to sing familiar songs with good amount of accuracy in pulse, meter, and melody.

Playing:
1. Awareness: Infants may reach toward a sound source.
2. Trust: Infants learn that the object (musical instrument) in the environment produces a musical sound and may reach for an instrument with the intention of becoming involved in sound process.
3. Independence: Children begin to play instruments for extended periods of time as they discover new instruments with new timbres, etc.
4. Control: Children able to control if/when they play, which instrument they play and for how long and get much joy out of making these decisions.
5. Responsibility: Children able to synchronize instrument playing with others, which promotes feelings of belonging and contributing.

[Amy Dunlap]

This is a tough one. I live in Columbus, which is not extremely diverse for a big city, although I am sure we have more diversity than I witness on a regular basis as my sessions tend to be in more suburban areas. I also did my internship at a general hospital in San Diego, which is a much larger and much more culturally diverse city. Most of my older adult groups prefer songs from the American Songbook, WWII era, American folk tunes, Big Band, Broadway, Patriotic, etc. We are doing a few groups this summer with the Hispanic Children’s Coalition, which will be a good chance to connect with the growing Latino population in Columbus and to incorporate more multicultural music. The most prevalent religion is Christian, but we also have an increasing number of Muslims in the city (I don’t know anything about Islamic music! Does anyone else work with this culture?). That being said, I often work about 45 mins – one hour southeast of the city, where the culture changes dramatically as we head into Appalachia. I notice a lot more requests for Country Western and Gospel music here and even some Bluegrass.

[Amy Dunlap]

I really enjoy the music that is presented for this training – I think it is inventive, musically diverse, and extremely fun and find myself wanting to use the music more than I am able, as I only work with children one hour/month right now. However, I was reminded of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” after listening to “Come Sit With Me” and incorporated it into my Memorial Day sessions with older adults. Also, I have found myself paying more attention to all elements of music in sessions since starting the training. I am more aware of the timbre that I use and have made an effort to up the playfulness in my music, which, of course, benefits my older adults and adults with developmental disabilities. I will be traveling to Jamaica next week to observe music therapy students doing clinical work and plan to take some of the songs with me to supplement folk music when we work at a school for children with special needs. I will report on that when I get back!

[Amy Dunlap]

This training also comes at a good time for me; I haven’t really worked with children for a long time (early undergrad), but in the last week have started co-treating with some SLPs in outpatient care at a local children’s hospital AND experienced my first Sprouting Melodies class yesterday! My colleague Elyse took the January training and led her first group yesterday (she had 37 kiddos!) and we were there to support. During that group, I observed a girl in the Independence stage. Elyse did a start-and-stop instrument song and this particular girl was very respondent to the silence following the play section. She stood next to her mom most of the time, moving her whole body more or less to the beat while she shook her maraca. After each “and stop!” the girl would take a few seconds to stop and when the silence set in, she would let out a joyful giggle while waiting for Elyse to begin again and she would then continue to play, only to shriek with delight each time the silence set in.

[Amy Dunlap]

I hope to bring my curiosity to the forefront as I work in early childhood music therapy programs. I don’t consider myself to be a “natural” when working with young children, although I do enjoy them very much and get quite the kick out of my time with young children. What I lack in a bubbly demeanor, I attempt to make up for with connectedness and excited exploration, which are much more a part of my personality. Like Caitlin and Lauren, I feel confident in how I am with clients and their families, because I am usually very comfortable in my role as the music therapist and am able to connect easily. That being said, I believe I will be in tune with each child and will effectively support individuals while facilitating group experiences.

[Amy Dunlap]

While listening and taking notes, I was amazed at how very different one developmental period can be from the periods before and after. Just hearing Beth break down what is happening with each domain as the child develops was eye opening (it’s been a while since I took Childhood Development as a freshman in college). Specifically, the biggest takeaway for me deals with biting from 9-12 months. I never thought of biting as the infant’s way of seeking sensory input with his newly grown teeth, but it made perfect sense. I love the idea of placing a more appropriate object in the way of biting a friend or providing some other sort of sensory stimulation when a child is biting; I hope to be able to explain to parents and caregivers that behaviors that would be unacceptable for adults or children stem from curiosity in infants and should be guided, not harshly eliminated.

[Amy Dunlap]

Hello all. I am Amy Dunlap and am looking forward to getting to know all of you a little better as we take this training together! I got my music therapy degree from Ohio University in Athens, OH and completed my internship at MusicWorx Inc. in San Diego, CA. I have been board certified since November 2013 and will be returning to Athens in the fall to start my master’s in music therapy. I currently live in Columbus, OH and work for Central Ohio Music Therapy, LLC (COMT) with four other MT-BC’s from Ohio U. As a contractual employee, I travel throughout the greater Columbus area and work with older adults, hospice, adults with developmental disabilities, and few children with developmental disabilities.

I heard about Sprouting Melodies training because my boss, Erin Spring, and another COMT employee, Elyse Suhay, are both Sprouting Melodies providers and Elyse is about to start her first YMCA group in rural southeast Ohio! We were recently contracted by Nationwide Children’s Hospital here in Columbus to co-treat with SLP’s in providing an outpatient program for infants awaiting cochlear implants. Since I don’t have a lot of experience with early childhood, Erin thought it would be a good idea for me to complete the training, as she also has plans for COMT to offer Sprouting Melodies classes in Columbus. I’m looking forward to what lies ahead in this training!

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