[Erin Bullard]

Thanks Beth, that is helpful.

[Erin Bullard]

Haley, I wonder the same thing about that little girl in the concert! I loved your story of the babies staring at you- they are learning! And that moment when they start to imitate is absolutely magical. What a special experience to have had!

[Erin Bullard]

This is such a special time in life- I never understood why parents of older children said they missed having their child at this age, but now that I’m 3 years away from it, I get it. The quiet, the calm (although when you are IN this time, it doesn’t feel this way), and the very slow pace. I can see the benefit of having a class dedicated to this age group. Infants in a class with older children tend to be sleeping or “observing.” In my experience as a group provider, the infants were younger siblings and often slept through class or nursed, changed, basic care things. I would LOVE to have a class of babies. I have one 9-month-old in my class who isn’t yet crawling, it will be curious to see what he does when we don’t hand him an instrument but let him try and go after one!

There was a 6-month-old baby sitting in the front row of one of our choir concerts (these are very informal affairs in the town hall). I was conducting for most of the time, so didn’t see her at first, but I turned to face the audience during a sing-along song and a few other instrumentalists joined in front of the choir. This baby watched so intently and looked at each instrument carefully, seemingly very curious about the different sounds she was hearing. She was completely transfixed by the whole thing. Afterward, the choir all commented about this baby who watched them like a hawk for most of the concert.

[Erin Bullard]

The role of music therapy in community-based settings seems that it is becoming more vital as our communities often lack a common purpose to bring people together. People have so many different interests and opportunities to engage in so many different groups, it can be difficult to actually create meaningful bonds with others. I always found music-based groups (choir, parent-child music classes, etc) to be very easy to make connections in. For music therapy, the groups tend to be small enough that you have an opportunity to interact with others more deeply. It also doesn’t matter what religious orientation, ethnic group, profession, or part of town the people live in. In music, the only thing required to connect with others is the music that is being created in the room at that moment.

In my small town, the community is the only setting we have as there are no institutions (aside from the school), no business parks, and everyone knows everyone. Each town and village have their own life here and usually honor it by having community dinners, dances (ceilidhs), special holiday celebrations, markets, or special events based on the town’s history. I think to practice music therapy here, a community-based model would be a good option given the culture.

[Erin Bullard]

It is so reassuring to read everyone’s response to this question! I find myself questioning whether what I can offer is any “better” than someone who has less training but is still highly musically competent.

Stephanie, you make a good point about the difference between education and therapy. I forget that teachers are not going to tailor things to meet the needs of the students, but to meet the needs of the system (it’s not their fault!).

As Julianna pointed out, the WHY is so important. There is a brilliant national music program in Scotland (National Youth Choir of Scotland) that starts from ages 0-3 and runs up to age 17. They have broken the music down developmentally for each age group and it is indeed very appropriate and well-thought out. HOWEVER, it is missing the piece of WHY and how the music supports non-musical development and the relationships. Also, it doesn’t address what happens when someone doesn’t fit in the developmental box the songs are geared toward. So I feel more confident that music therapy really can be a unique experience for so many people.

[Erin Bullard]

The families I currently work with are typically developing children. I haven’t advertised as a music therapist because I am not yet registered as such in this country. I am a “music teacher with special skills.” The families are usually looking to help their child build confidence, self-expression, and a love of music. They tend to value the non-musical benefits of music rather than hoping their child will become a professional musician.

The community in which is live is quite small and close-knit. There are about 2,000 people in the town. All the children know one another, they all go to the same school, and it is a very safe community. However, to access services, one must drive to the bigger cities (Glasgow, Edinburgh). If treatment is supplied locally, it is very limited. For example, I have a child in one of my groups who needs speech therapy but only receives treatment 3-4 times per YEAR! It is also different working within a socialized healthcare system. Everything is quite slow. I’m still learning about it!

[Erin Bullard]

Music therapists are able to draw on many years’ training in both music and human development / science and often rich experience in diverse populations to understand how music can be tailored to meet individual needs in non-musical ways. We are able to address child development issues or concerns and explain to the parents and caregivers how music can support development or special needs of the child.

With the training from Sprouting Melodies, we can also take this a step further and use specially designed music in the early childhood group to encourage development across all facets of development (cognitive, communication, physical / motor, emotional, and social) as well as supporting the parents and helping them to build skills and understanding to grow healthy relationships with their children.

[Erin Bullard]

Each week I use all of these music experiences, and often will use more than one experience per song. For example, I might use egg shakers as instruments to play but also use the song to shake them in specific ways / use different movements. Since I have ages 9 months to 4 years in my group, I tend to make each song as flexible as possible in terms of what each child is expected to do or get out of the activity.

I must say, I do look at LISTENING in a completely different light after reading about this activity. I always include a singable story (either with a book or little puppets) or use different instruments that the children don’t play (such a flute, ukulele, tin whistle, accordion) because I thought this was satisfying the “listening” component. But now I realize that listening is happening all the time, and that is informing how the child eventually interacts socially through the music. In Responsibility, all the Listening behaviors seem very centered on self-awareness and other-awareness (social and emotional, I suppose).

Aside from using one or two of the songs, I haven’t made any major outward changes in what I do…yet. My perception of the group has changed, and my perception of what I’m doing is changing. I am more aware of what the children are doing and how they react to the music. I am also finding myself becoming more reactive to the children! Whereas I might try to stay on track, last week, I let go of a few songs planned in favour of spending more time expanding on what the children did in reply to the song- more verses, more play, a bit of improvisation. It is very refreshing- it’s so good to have this course to get me thinking and connecting.

[Erin Bullard]

Thank you, Erika, for the example!

Here is my sequence:

Singing
Awareness: Can use varied dynamics in vocalizing and crying / Trust: Laugh out loud in pleasure response to music / Independence: vocally experiments with screeching, screaming / Control: adjust vocal dynamics to match dynamics of the music / Responsibility: sings in varied dynamic ranges: loud, medium, and soft.

Playing Instruments
Awareness: close fingers over musical object when placed in palm / Trust: use hand to grasp instrument for short periods / Independence: transfer instrument from hand to hand / Control: Shake instruments in a variety of tempos / Responsibility: play rhythm patterns on a two-handed instrument

Moving
Awareness: move body part when touched / Trust: tolerate movement of body parts rhythmically / Independence: move legs rhythmically / Control: maintain consistent, rhythmic walking tempo for short periods / Responsibility: hop on one foot

Listening
Awareness: Tolerate different types of music / Trust: Look toward face of the singer / Independence: Recognise familiar music even with a change in timbre / Control: Anticipate the routine of music sessions / Responsibility: Follow a session routine

QUESTION: I tried doing this exercise going from Awareness through to Responsibility, and then from Responsibility back through each stage to Awareness. Going either direction, sometimes I found it difficult to see exactly how one achievement might develop into the next (or what might need to happen BEFORE a certain skill is achieved). This was especially true of Listening and Moving because I’m not sure how cognitive / social / emotional development might influence musical development in these areas. Is this normal?

[Erin Bullard]

Stephanie,

When I was taking my children to music classes, I LOVED observing the children. It was so nice to sit back (well, sort of) and watch my own children and all the others without having to run the group. It was like internship all over again!

[Erin Bullard]

The song presentation was THE BEST. Beth, you have nailed it with the songs! Having taken my children through Waldorf Early Childhood classes, they are really big on transition songs and songs about everyday things. I love to see it FINALLY applied in a therapeutic setting. In education settings transition songs can be quite lacking in quality and beauty.

Today I used Hold on Tight with my 3 year old (he loved it, even in a grumpy mood!) and in my parent-child class (all the children who could speak kept asking for it again and again).

Beth, the accompaniments you use are so lovely and interesting. Even though I was a piano major, I still find my accompaniments a bit bland. Any tips for how to make things a bit more interesting? I rarely use piano in early childhood, but when I do, it always goes over well.

For songwriting, I took Rachel Rambach’s Songwriting course on musictherapyed.com (not trying to put a plug here or anything), and it did help me organise my ideas enough to actually go from improvising or bits of songs to having a song written out / recorded so I could use it again and again. I still use the techniques when I write a song, even though it isn’t very often.

[Erin Bullard]

Stephanie,
I used to have the same reaction about using new songs vs ones people would know. I think it depends on the setting / clientele. I have a big problem with piggy-back songs- too many different words / songs to the same tune! But what I love about Beth’s songs is that they are similar to familiar songs, which makes them easy to learn (similar melodic contour, harmonic progression, structure, etc). When I worked at Shriner’s in Philly, the parents definitely wanted familiar music- anything to restore normality in their children’s lives. And yes, as you said, they aren’t trying to figure out something new. The only time I used “new” music was if the child was composing the song.

[Erin Bullard]

Over the past 2 1/2 years, I have had to re-learn many children’s songs because here in the UK, the tune might be the same but the words are different, or the words are similar but the tune is different. It’s been such an eye-opening experience. I am glad to use songs that no one knows! (And so are the families that attend my classes). In the town where I live, children are quite limited to the songs they are exposed to. Mostly traditional Scottish songs (Ally Bally, Katie Bairdy, lots of sea songs, nursery rhymes) but also English songs and what we would consider to be traditional children’s songs (Wheels on the bus, ring-a-round-the-rosie, Twinkle Twinkle, ect). All the children know all the same songs. It’s quite amazing, because the government runs all the programmes and funds so many lovely experiences for ALL children, it means that kids really start of with quite a level playing ground by the time they are in school. While children and adults love music of other cultures, it is less common here, than in the US, to hear songs from other cultures.

[Erin Bullard]

Hi, I’m posting under this topic, as it seems my questions are most relevant to musical developmental stages. I have a few:
1. Will these musical skills be learned naturally by a certain age (such as how speech is learned, but it is perhaps more well-learned earlier when exposed to a language-rich environment)? I realize there are musically gifted children, and children who just seem to “get it” without really trying. But what if even a typically developing child is not exposed to music in a way that encourages this type of development?

2. If a child is exposed to a music-rich environment (such as the type provided by Sprouting Melodies), does it raise the child’s musical aptitude?

3. What about the older child (ages 7-10 or so) without developmental delays who presents without the skills of the Responsibility Stage (i.e., refuses to sing, difficulty internalizing music or audiating, musical inhibition, but still has a desire to create / learn to create music?

Also, here is my story:
I have a girl in my parent-child music class, age 9 months. It was her first time joining the group last week and she is fully in the Trust developmental stage. The instant the music started (the group sang the hello song), she began to wiggle and look around and move around the room. She vocalized during many of the songs- especially those that were sung without accompaniment (I use accompaniment about 1/3 of the time). Her “dance movements” were rhythmic- kicking her legs, waving her arms, moving her torso back and forth. I am looking forward to observing her again this week through the lens of this developmental level. I’m sure there are some things I’m missing here!

[Erin Bullard]

Very much agree with Stephanie; well-said, Julianna. What a unique position to be in to be able to share that with the families!

[Author]

Posts