[Germaine Yong]

Most families that i work with expect to identify with the physical, emotional and psychological needs of their loved ones. The parents mentioned that they need to recognise these needs and respond appropriately to make their child feel at ease within a social environment i.e. at home or elsewhere.

As the community that I’m living in is multi-cultural and multi-ethnic, what is needed is the ability to interact with different racial groups regardless of race, language or religion. The racial harmony we have here is unique in the Singapore community.

[Germaine Yong]

I feel inspired reading everyone’s comments! This has certainly broadened my perspective in parent-child relationships and their interactions.

I would like to mention the factor in terms of value that MTs bring is that we ascertain the developmental goals of children and promote parent-child bonding. Parents have ample opportunities to play, interact and bond with their children and MTs offer families a variety of form for creative expression and engagement through the music.

[Germaine Yong]

I have been using singing, playing and moving in my sessions. I try to strike a balance to incorporate interventions that both seniors and children are comfortable with, such as singing the greeting song together, doing warm ups by moving specific body parts to the song and turn taking with the drums.

I wish to look into creating more opportunities for listening in the group which will bring more depth to the creative experience.

[Germaine Yong]

Singing Awareness-Distinguish different pitches/ Trust-Vocalizes to match pitches/ Independence-Babbles 2-pitch interval/ Control-Attempts to match melodic contour of song interval/ Responsibility-Uses distinct pitches within melodic contour together with rhythmic consistency.

Playing instruments Awareness-Holding and putting instrument in mouth/ Trust-Holds instrument briefly & plays with own internal rhythmic beat/ Independence-Selects instrument given choice/ Control-Awareness of start/stop cues/ Responsibility-Follows dynamics/tempo, imitates rhythm.

Moving Awareness-Moves spontaneously to the music/ Trust-Moves body rhythmically to the music/ Independence – Rocking or bouncing rhythmically/ Control-Moves single body part rhythmically/ Responsibility-Combining movement sequences.

Listening Awareness-Comfortable with familiar vocal timbre/ Trust-Recognizes and responds to a variety of sounds/ Independence-Identifies source of music/ Control-Observing others create music/ Responsibility-Calm, listening attentively, focused.

[Germaine Yong]

I decided to use the gathering songs for my intergeneration session. In introducing the songs presented in the video that i learnt to sing, both the children and some of the older adults participated in siniging “Good Morning” together with enthusiasm. Notably, the older adults listened attentively as we sang “Sit Down with Me”. One of them tapped his feet at the same time as the children played rhythmically on the drums and tambourine. A few children played maracas. I then proceeded to vary the dynamics of the song and the children grew more excited, noticing that some of them followed the visual cues and raised their hands up together.

[Germaine Yong]

During one of my intergeneration sessions i observed Alexa, a 15 month old infant respond by shaking her head briefly when approached.
Alexi held and shook the maracas firmly with both hands while kicking both her feet forward at the same time. While holding the maracas she then brought them together and apart at the awareness stage during our rhythmic group drumming combined with an improvised upbeat melody on the keyboard

[Germaine Yong]

Erika i resonate with what you mentioned about cultural significant music in the group, to listen and understand what is culturally appropriate for them.
Singapore has a multi-racial society comprising of 4 main ethnic communities namely Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian. Apart from these, there is an influx of foreigners who come from Europe, Middle East, North East America and Canada.
According to culture and tradition, the indigenous Malays are steeped in tradition and the music reflects their culture as part of the South-East Asian tradition of Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the islands in that region. Song & dance performed involved their ethnic musical instruments e.g. drums, gongs & wind instruments.
Although there are different racial communities, the Chinese who are mainly immigrants from China have adopted in some ways the Malay culture during the 18th century. This group which has acculturated in the Malay peninsula have performed music and songs of the Malay culture and tradition while retaining their Chinese customs.
The various ethnic minorities here in Singapore somehow are able to adapt to the different cultures in the performing arts. Although English is the administrative language here, the other native languages are still spoken by various racial groups.
What is unique about Singapore is there is racial harmony that prevailed as each race blends harmoniously with each others’ culture and tradition, holistically acceptable in the Singaporean society.
Chinese do join in to sing & perform Malay music that resonates in the heartland communities. One can find Malay songs performed even by our very own Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO). https://www.sco.com.sg/
Various ethnic groups do gather at community centers, performing various traditional and cultural music and songs respectively.

[Germaine Yong]

I will learn to adapt my MT approach to include more involvement from the children. This would bring about ease in participation whereby children have the ability to express themselves.

[Germaine Yong]

This week’s content gives me the understanding that what is most important is to bring myself down to the level of children and function according to their perception of the external environment for interaction.

[Germaine Yong]

Hi Everyone! I am Germaine, a music therapist from Singapore, across the globe. I heard about this course when Elizabeth came to Singapore to attend our first early childhood MT conference a few years ago. Currently I’m working in an aged care facility with a childcare centre located within the same premises. I conduct intergenerational programs with the teachers and am interested in getting more ideas on how to use music effectively with these groups.

[Author]

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