[Meredith Pizzi]

Great, Ladies! Please know that it commonly happens that it takes music therapists who have completed the program months, or even a year or more, to be ready to begin a Sprouting Melodies Program. There is no limit! Just be aware that you can’t market using the Sprouting Melodies name until you become a provider. You can become a provider as a member and then start to build up your program. We will help you ever step of the way!
Thanks again for joining us for this course.

[Meredith Pizzi]

I completely agree with you all about being able to adapt and go with the flow, making changes based on the children in your group. That is why Beth and I say, we lead our groups, by the child, not by the book! That’s why we are very careful to make it clear that Sprouting Melodies doesn’t provide a curriculum. You are free to lead all of your groups based on the individual strengths, needs and skills of the children in the group.

[Meredith Pizzi]

Great thoughts, Ladies! I love hearing everyone’s energy at this point in the course! Please know that if you do decide to become a Sprouting Melodies Provider, we are here to support you every step of the way! And we have had folks take the course, and then a year later join us as providers, so know that the door is always open!

[Meredith Pizzi]

I echo all of the comments here! Thanks, Katie for posting your very honest comment. Like with everything in our professional, and our personal lives, we chose to dare greatly and step outside of our comfort zones to be able to grow and expand as people! We designed this whole business model to support music therapists in launching successful business programs so that they aren’t on their own. With the support of the Sprouting Melodies community, and the online videos and business templates and resources, you will have lots of support to launch your own Sprouting Melodies Program.
Also, at the end of the course, I will offer a 30 minute call to all of our class participants to chat through any questions your wonderings you may have! 🙂 Don’t worry, we are all here for you!

[Meredith Pizzi]

Hi Caroline,
Thanks so much for posting all of these questions “Before you forget!” I love that!
So let’s go through each one.
1. In Sprouting Melodies 1, you are correct there is no instrument exploration. However, they come in with a lot of stuff, a baby who needs to be unbundled or taken out of their car seat or baby carrier, they have a diaper bag to set down, and maybe get out a baby blanket. While all of those things are happening, the parents will naturally engage in conversations with you and other parents. During this time, I do have recorded music on in the background and I use some of Beth’s embedded songs to engage the babies and the parents. I will also check in with them, register or take care of payments during this time. With all of the classes, the registration has to take place before the official start time of the class. For example if the class is scheduled to begin at 10:00am, the live music-making and interaction has to begin at 10am. Not later! With Sprouting Melodies 1, it’s also good to have them last so parents can take their time with feedings, diaper changes, or just packing up their stuff. I often do a lot of registrations and conversations for this group at that time as well.
2. How long does each song last in SM1: This question made me laugh, because Yes! You can do the same song for 20 minutes sometimes!! There have been times when I will look at my watch and realize we have been on the same song for 15-20 minutes, and by that time I can usually point out to parents, “Look what they are doing!! They wouldn’t be doing that if we had moved on after just a couple of repetitions.” Usually on the movement songs when we are clapping, patting knees, and stamping, or even the Nordoff Robbins Hello Song which I use a lot when you stretch it out and get them vocalizing with long pauses in the music, it can go on for a really long time! I know it’s time to move on when one of the older babies seems to be getting antsy or bored or when after multiple repetitions with good engagement, I sing through the same song 2 or 3 times, and I haven’t gotten any new responses. So for example, I’m singing a Gathering Song, or an Instrument Play Song, and the babies are looking, making eye contact, moving their bodies or the instruments and after 5 or 6 times, I notice that I didn’t get an new responses, there was no movement to the next level. I will try again with slightly different musicality trying to draw them in to playing, or singing, or moving, and if there is still no significant movement from the babies, I may end it there, or I will say out loud, “Ok, we are going to do this one more time to see if any of the babies want to add something new, and if not, we’ll move on.” I often use the sign language also, for “one more time” and that keeps the parents engaged, teaches them a new tool and sometimes the kids respond really well to that as well and will refocus their attention.
3: What was Meredith saying??? 🙂 I will apologize in advance for my fast speaking, and please know that Beth and I are working on having a professional videographer join us soon so we can re-record some of these videos that are harder to hear! And I know you can’t always see the power point, just consider it a guide for us! About what I was saying,I will go back and listen again, but what I think I was probably saying is that in Family Sprouts, it is a chance for parents who know each other and want to take a class together, but have different age children to participate in Sprouting Melodies together. Sibling pairs also work well for this class, but we’ve had cousins, neighbors, and friends sign up for Family Sprouts just so they could be in the same class with a friend, even though they weren’t in the same age grouping. Does that make sense?? I will go back and check the video too, but I think that’s what I was probably trying to say!
Thanks again for posting your questions! Any other questions that folks have at this point in the training?? Post them here!

[Meredith Pizzi]

Hi Caroline,
I am going to email you as well with another link, but often times, clearing the cookies or the cache on your browser will solve the problem. Also, usually changing the browser can do it, but it sounds like you tried that and it didn’t work. It sounds like you are using a mac. Can you also try using Firefox as another option? Erika and I both were able to view the video. I will pass your difficulties on to our tech team to see if they have any other ideas for how to clear this!
Let me know it how it goes.
Meredith

[Meredith Pizzi]

So sorry about this! Please see the corrected topic that Erika posted.

[Meredith Pizzi]

Thanks for sharing your great insights on the songs here! Caroline, I too love “Can You Follow!” That would be a good reason to throw in a conference call so we can teach that song! I believe it will come up later when we go through the age groups, but make sure we don’t forget about that one, because it is such a great song to use!

[Meredith Pizzi]

Welcome to everyone! It’s great to have you all on board! We kept this group very small intentionally, so please make an effort to check in on the boards, say hello and comment on the discussion. We promise, the more you put into this course, the more you will get out of it!

[Meredith Pizzi]

Hi Ladies, It’s great to see your pictures on here! 🙂
We all have such unique skills and gifts that we contribute to our work as music therapists. Thank you for sharing what you bring to this work. And yes, as with everything, as our skills develop and grow we are able to contribute more and more and widen and sharpen our perspective!

[Meredith Pizzi]

Hi Kate! Nice to see you online!

[Meredith Pizzi]

Welcome Dany, Katie, Caroline and Elyse! So glad to have you all on board for this training!

[Meredith Pizzi]

Hi Everybody! I’m thrilled to be on this online course with all of you! I am Meredith Pizzi, proud to be a Board Certified Music Therapist and excited to see so many other wonderful music therapists interested in learning about early childhood music therapy and Sprouting Melodies. Here we are about to embark on a 10 week journey together and I know we are all going to learn a lot!

I am a graduate of Duquesne University’s Music Therapy Program and I had the joy and honor of working with Beth Schwartz as my internship supervisor. I learned so much from her in my internship and really developed a love for working in early childhood. After my internship, I had a very successful private practice on Long Island, NY before moving to Boston in 2006. Once settled into Boston, I founded Roman Music Therapy Services, and in 2009 Sprouting Melodies was born! Since 2009, we have seen our revenues at Roman Music Therapy Services skyrocket, more than tripling in 3 years and a lot of that has to do with the growth of Sprouting Melodies and how well it has been received in our community. What brings me here is the desire to share with others what I have learned about early childhood and music making. And with all of the effort that has gone into growing Sprouting Melodies, I want to give other music therapists the opportunity to now make it part of their practices. I’ve learned so much, and the branding and program development is done! I just want to get it out there to music therapists and families all around the country! So what brings you here??

[Meredith Pizzi]

Thanks for the recommendation on Mino, Keeley. I will look into those.
Stacey, I have also tried to purchase one at a time, but I find you can’t really see how the kids will respond to using them in the group if you only have one or two. And Yes, I love being able to recommend tried and true solutions! We have done custom orders for a couple of our Sprouting Melodies Providers to be sure that they get exactly the instruments that they need to get their programs up and running with the instruments they need to have.

[Meredith Pizzi]

Hi Everyone,
I really enjoy reading all of your posts, although I don’t always have a chance to add in long replies! I just have to add to this conversation though! Last week, in my Sprouting Melodies 1 class, I had a little baby who really responded to louder, faster music selections. I was talking with the nanny and my first question was, “Is he a first born?” The answer – “no” he has an older sister who is 6! Ok, so that explained a bit of it. I have found that babies who have older siblings at home are used to more stimulation and a higher energy level. This particular baby was so into the music and so responsive, singing and playing, moving in response to the music and then after about 25 minutes, he started to get fussy. We did Beth’s version of Row, Row, Row your boat and I demonstrated to the nanny how we could gradually slow the tempo and dynamics and then we also started to leave out the words and sing on syllables and open vowel sounds. He closed his eyes and rested quietly in her arms for about 4-5 minutes and then he opened up his eyes and started smiling again at his nanny. It was so cute. It was a great example of how little ones can only take in so much, and then when their bodies need a break, they just close their eyes, shut down and get the rest their bodies need! As his nanny said at the end of our first Sprouting Melodies class, I really got to see the full cycle of his energy level and got to know him very well in that short time!
Yes, we need to always watch for the signs of attention and over-stimulation. And respect the group members needs for more quiet, more subdued music when it is called for. Please keep contributing your thoughts and ideas to the conversation!

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