[Carla Carnegie]

I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s dreams, and desires in their areas!  Very good input.  I heard alot about fostering connection: parent/child, caregiver/child, sibling/child, and especially creating community and opportunities with families dealing with disabilities.  Lisa and Courtney, I admire your ambitions to fill a gap between some expensive classes, and really awful cheap offerings, that meet NEEDS!

I think that is one of the characteristics I most love about music therapy, and music therapist—-client-centered, meeting the needs of the whole supporting unit of the family. Awesome.

 

[Carla Carnegie]

I am in a large area of 400,000 or so folks, working on my own in my private practice.  I am not 1 yr. old yet as a professional, so I am very much in the development stage of my own practice.  We have a Guild School (non-profit) that caters to the needs of very disabled young children up to age 3 or so.  I haven’t yet discovered what happens to these kids beyond that school, where they receive a number of therapies (there are no other music therapists involved) We also have a Shriner’s Hospital, and these 2 places are on my short list of venues I wish to visit and introduce myself as a music therapist.  There are 3 major Spokane Valley School Districts, but there is no music therapists to serve kids with special needs, let alone typically developing or at risk kids.  I do know we have a couple of “Music Together” programs going in the area.  I see a huge need for music therapy, and the unique program of Sprouting Melodies in my area—-it is sometimes (ok, more often most times) completely overwhelming when I think very long about it! I have much work left to do, and I am hoping that by offering the Sprouting Melodies Program, it will help to more quickly build my practice and spread the news about music therapy!

[Carla Carnegie]

I appreciate all the thoughts posted already.  I feel one of the greatest skills we have is: to understand how deeply the use of music elements  is imbedded in the domains of function: cognitive, social/psycho, spiritual, physical, emotional.  We are trained in awareness of the whole person, and being adaptable and flexible in the moment to meet the needs of each individual.  With our understanding of all the elements of music, we can create, improvise, etc. in the moment to enhance the songs, movements, choice of instruments used in a session—–in other words: we don’t just sing “kid” songs, and teach them to the children and parents robotic-ally, but with intention and understanding of what and why we use a song in the first place.  And, we aren’t simply providing music to entertain them for an hour a week, but again, using that holistic framework we are used to, we are using music to generalize into their everyday life, and enhance, and bring full potential of an individual to light, while we support the family unit of parent/child or caregiver/child that participates in our class musically and non-musically.

[Carla Carnegie]

I love reading your stories, Meredith! Just made me smile, thinking about when my kids were little, and singing these sweet little songs.  I love the idea with talking about music for bonding with the seniors—-great idea!

[Carla Carnegie]

so fun to read all your comments.  I can only reminiscence with my own children’s development, and the daycare kids I looked after in my home daycare.  Boy, that was a long long time ago!  Today at my well-elders music therapy time, a little girl, age 3, was spending time with her great grandma, and I enjoyed watching her responses to all the music experiences the group was doing.  She had her dolly with her, and the dolly participated in music with movement! She had her dolly doing the “gotta stomp, when the spirit says stomp”, but she herself wasn’t ready to do it! It was a joy having her present.I am looking forward to more interaction with young kids, as I build my private practice.  Right now, it’s heavy on the “older” side of life, and working with folks affected with Parkinson’s and Dementia.

[Carla Carnegie]

so fun to read all your comments.  I can only reminiscence with my own children’s development, and the daycare kids I looked after in my home daycare.  Boy, that was a long long time ago!  Today at my well-elders music therapy time, a little girl, age 3, was spending time with her great grandma, and I enjoyed watching her responses to all the music experiences the group was doing.  She had her dolly with her, and the dolly participated in music with movement! She had her dolly doing the “gotta stomp, when the spirit says stomp”, but she herself wasn’t ready to do it! It was a joy having her present.I am looking forward to more interaction with young kids, as I build my private practice.  Right now, it’s heavy on the “older” side of life, and working with folks affected with Parkinson’s and Dementia.

[Carla Carnegie]

I really enjoyed “Sit Down With Me”, because the tune was familiar, but the words were great for gathering.  I can’t wait to use this for my next Drumming for Wellness and Joy! workshop where I have children present.  The other song I worked on learning was “How Do You Know It’s Summer Time?”   It evokes so many pictures in my own head singing it! And, I love the use of the minor keys.  I often compose music in minor keys, but not tunes necessarily with words.  I liked the reminder that melody supports the words of the song, and learned that children begin to vocalize in the tonality much quicker in the minor keys or modes than diatonic.  REally good to know! I wrote 1 song for a preschool class during practicum the children loved.  It has greater leaps than is probably recommended, but I’ll share it later anyway, and you all can make your own judgements.  I wrote the music to an anonymous poem for kids about planting seeds, and made some movements to go with it.  The music seems to support the movement of it, upon reflection.  The last thing I wanted to mention I learned was about supporting and encouraging parents to use their bodies within the music in a free way—modeling for the children!  I remember doing this with my own kids in our home.  Music was very much a daily thing, and because I was a musician, it was just a part of our lives.  When I had a day care in my home, the daycare kids got all of that as well as freedom to explore music on instruments.

 

[Carla Carnegie]

I live in an area with a wide variety of European descent.  My particular family lived on folk music of Scandinavia, old Americana music (ie, old time fiddle music), country, (like Gene Autry and Hank Williams) old gospel, cowboy, and Irish/Scottish music (jigs, reels, some ballads).  Community fiddle jams were very frequent as I grew up, and then there were “hymn sings”.  Today, I listen to classical (I was trained classically on the piano), jazz (got really introduced to this genre in college), and still play the old time fiddle music, song singing of Americana folk, (I work primarily with elders with dementia/Alzheimers), sing contemporary gospel, and the old, and play regularly for church, and in a celtic band (fiddle and accordion, & percussion primarily).  My comfort with the older ones is strong because they are familiar with many of the old standards of the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s.  The young kids and teenagers music I am on a serious learning curve!

 

[Carla Carnegie]

As I mentioned, I am not currently working with any children, but rather lots of well-seasoned adults! My well-elder group at a retirement home today was a small group, and I was thinking about bringing in new ideas of FUN and PLAY as a result of this class so far, and so I did a parachute experience with them to an Ella Fitzgerald  piece, Paper Moon.  They loved it, and we smiled and giggled together.  We talked afterwards how great it is to be playful, and let the little kid in us out a little bit.   (I have a beach ball that I will bring another time to have bouncing in the center of the parachute for a different twist.)

[Carla Carnegie]

(I created a whole new post, rather than clicking on the right thing and adding to the thread—-so sorry—I think I have it down now! LOL) I don’t currently work with young children in my private practice.  As a mom of 4 grown children, I feel the need to balance my practice with the whimsey and infectious enthusiasm for life the little ones provide.  What I already bring, is experience in raising 4 kids, running a home daycare for several years, teaching children and adults piano and fiddle lessons.  Over the years,  I have learned  many lessons of  interaction with kids, and communicating with parents of daycare kids and students,  fostering love of music, and expressing oneself through music.  What I look forward to, as I seek to partner with parents and interact with their little ones, is using that joy of music, and understanding of appropriate development together in music making, knowing that the power of music and the impact it can have on  the whole family’s life is not only developmentally important to the little ones, but, whole family life enriching, and beyond priceless.

[Carla Carnegie]

sorry, I had posted a new post, rather than follow the thread! I especially liked the reminders of appropriate development—not expecting behaviors that are beyond ability.  I know some children can grasp the concept of sorry quite early, but most don’t.   the  information about what to look for that might be a red flag was extremely helpful.   I really liked the idea of trading rather than sharing—-that is a really tough concept at very young ages!  I am looking forward to partnering with the parents in encouraging them and sharing with them in music making with their kids!

[Carla Carnegie]

Hello everyone! I am a bit late getting started here, since I have been sick with the flu this past week.  My name is Carla Carnegie, and I live in beautiful Spokane Washington.   That is located on the East side of Washington, very near the Idaho border.  In my area, there is another music therapist, whom I have never met, although I have called her and pursued a connection.  Other that that, in an area of 400,000 population base, I am the only board-certified music therapist.

I finished my music degree in composition from Whitworth University in Spokane in 2009.  I had discovered music therapy along my academic journey, and decided to attend Marylhurst University in Portland following  my graduation.  I am married, with 4 grown children and 2 grands, and had never lived on my own or away from Spokane!  What a learning experience moving and living in Portland for 2.5 years while I finished my BA in music therapy, and my subsequent internship! I feel that as a person, I have learned and grown so much over these past 8 years, and like Lauren, I am continuing my life-long passion for continued education!

Back here in Spokane since March of 2012, I have had to open my own practice, since music therapy is so under utilized, or even understood.  My clients are: dementia/Alzheimers affected individuals, individuals and their caregivers living with Parkinson’s, and well-elders.  I would love to work with mental health, TBI, and developmentally disabled, but am still building connections and networking, providing in-services and presentation to any group that will have me in order to fill these needs.  I also teach piano and violin from my home.

I believe that even with that, my heart needs more connection with kids—and Sprouting Melodies is a great way to provide music (from the perspective of a music therapist)  for them and their parents/caregivers.  Over the past year, I have looked at a number of other models, and nearly signed on with one, but I was a bit taken back with their prescribed curriculum and songs leaving me no room for my strengths which include composition! When I saw the Sprouting Melodies created for and by music therapists, I made up my mind that this was the program for me to round out my practice!

I am hoping to kind of tie together all the great education I got as a music therapy student with this focused early childhood training, and  together with the business model expertise I sense Meridith and Beth have, I can really more quickly build my business here.  My goal is to grow to the point I am calling out for more music therapists to come to Spokane to work.  In a few years, I’d like to move closer to my grand kids and build another music therapy practice with Sprouting Melodies as a part of that in Prescott, Arizona.

I look forward to our connections through this online class and learning and sharing with all of you!

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