[Robyn Rutland-Coleman]

In the area of singing, I have used changes in pulse and meter as a means of maintaining attention and bringing awareness to the task/song at hand, as a sort of re-grounding in that moment and what we are doing. It is also lots of fun! I have also found changes in timbre to be a useful way (when used with care) of increasing awareness in clients who are low-functioning, and that the matching of the pitches/contours of their vocalizations can engender connection with them. Voice is my main instrument and I find it to be the most direct way for me to relate to clients in the beginning of our work together. I have used the movement experiences of the Independence stage, isolating body parts in rhythmic movement, and expanding upon this into the imitation of learned movements. I also like to imitate their movements, calling attention to what they are naturally doing and making them the initiator of our movement choice. I have changed the intensity and quality of my singing and playing in order to facilitate the child’s adjustment of his or her movements to the music in their environment. For me, the reminder that any response is a valid response to the music is an important one to remember! Lastly, I have found that matching my beat to the client’s, as well as maintaining mine to see if he or she can adjust to mine, to both be very useful in my work. It was great to learn about the need to give at least 3 seconds for a response during the Control stage, and I believe this is even more important in our work with clients who have disabilities, as it could take even longer to process what they have heard, and then how to respond. Giving that time can help to foster a sense of accomplishment and of being “heard” by the MT.

[Robyn Rutland-Coleman]

Singing: Awareness – point out to parents that child is using pitch, they can reflect that back to child; cooing, sighing with pitch. Trust – matching selected pitches about 1/2 the time can be seen as early/beginning form of communication and singing; pitch matching as a fun game. Independence – experiment with their voice in a melodic way, but not songs yet; “secret singers” (on own to toys, etc.), but this exploration shouldn’t be called attention to. Control – proud of being able to follow melodic contour of familiar songs; can be a performer; their singing reflects structure of a song. Responsibility – sings entire songs, may not maintain the same key; they play with pulse and meter; can recall, remember, reproduce the great amount of material required to sing a song.

Playing Instruments: Awareness – listening to instruments is the beginning of playing instruments; different responses to sedative and play-song music (different type of body/head movement, energy level exhibited). Trust – mouthing instruments; grasping, shaking very briefly; very brief exhibition of pulse, meter, duration of sound. Independence – purposeful exploration of instruments of many types; important for a variety of instruments to be available to child for safe exploration; less mouthing, more playing to explore instruments. Responsibility – sense of connection with others engendered by being able to maintain a steady beat when playing together; can adjust beat to others’.

Moving: Awareness – movements in response to music; instinctual rhythmic movements; a very natural experience. Trust – movements not synchronized with music, but begin and end with it; repetitive movement response; not about particular action, just a movement response. Independence – Begins to pat knees, stamp feet, clap (ability to isolate body parts in rhythmic movement); “I am using my body!”. Control – controls body enough to imitate learned motions to music; begins to internalize music as a means of personal expression. Responsibility – enjoys cognitive and musical challenge of moving to music in sequence. Can do “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” at this stage.

Listening: Awareness – Vocal timbre as a means of recognition of caregiver; recognize differences in vocal timbre; facilitator must use care in vocal timbre changes with this stage, as child is sensitive to it and may be startled/upset by drastic differences. Trust – turns head in direction of familiar melodies; recognition of familiar melodies can be helpful for parents in soothing, redirecting attention in difficult situations. Independence – we can see they are engaged in active listening by matching of their movement intensity with music intensity; also reflected in facial expressions. Control – Proud to make choice to listen to, absorb the music; will stop moving in order to listen to music; child may be in center of class circle “not doing anything”, but is listening, but maybe not in the same way as others there – idea of mirror neurons firing when watching another person doing an action, as if they are doing it themself.

[Robyn Rutland-Coleman]

A client in the control stage was very interested in my guitar during our first session, and he really seemed to enjoy strumming it as we sang, as well as holding it himself. During several subsequent interventions he moved to where I had propped up the guitar and told me its name, touching it lightly with one finger. Each time I asked if he would like to play the guitar, or if he wanted me to play it, he firmly said “no”. Following this, he did not walk away from it right away, but would strum it very lightly for just a second, and then move on. Each time this happened, he was exercising his ability to make choices about where to be, what to play, and how to participate in his own way.

[Robyn Rutland-Coleman]

What fun and engaging songs these are! It was fascinating to flip through the PowerPoint and take a quick look at the songs before watching the videos, and then come back and realize just how much is there, in terms of intentional content and purposeful use of musical elements. I was particularly interested in the use of wider intervallic leaps in a few songs, as a way of gaining attention and welcoming the children into the group and making it open to them. I feel that the inclusion of minor keys and modes adds to the musical interest for all parties: children, caregivers, and facilitators! It also expands the expressive palette available to us as we lead, and by extension will encourage caregivers and children to explore a variety of tonalities.

I have not had the experience of using any of these songs with clients yet, but I am anxious to do so. I just started working with a child in this age range last week, so I am looking forward to including the new material and ideas into our sessions.

[Robyn Rutland-Coleman]

I have lived in Austin for about 2 and a half years, and when I think of “Austin music” I hear outlaw country, western swing, bluesy rock, and gospel-y sounds. I think of Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Janis Joplin as iconic Austin musicians.

Having grown up in San Antonio, I have a better sense of the musical traditions there. While only 90 miles south of Austin, San Antonio feels so different culturally and musically, as the majority of the population is Hispanic, while the Latino influence is not felt as strongly in Austin’s music scene. Tejano music is popular and prominent on the radio, and as a teen, I was aware of popular Spanish-language artists such as Selena. In south and central Texas, which includes both cities, large German and Czech immigrant populations added the polka to the musical fabric of the area. Traditional Mexican Christmas songs and mariachi music also come to mind as part of the musical culture of San Antonio.

[Robyn Rutland-Coleman]

Not to sound like a broken record, but I, too appreciated the information on red flags of development. It was also helpful to be reminded that there is a range of time during which certain developmental milestones can be considered typical. I remember reading month-by-month baby books when I was a new mom and worrying that my baby wasn’t exactly in line with those very specific guidelines, so viewing it through a somewhat broader lens makes much more sense to me.

Some other things that stood out to me were the mentions of the use of the word “trading” rather than “sharing” at 12-18 months, and how long it takes for children to be ready to even address and understand sharing at age 4-5. It was interesting to lie down and physically take the perspective of a baby who does not have much control over her environment and what she sees or interacts with. And once the baby can sit up, just how much broader her world becomes. Lastly, I appreciated the reminder of how important it is to child-proof the room where classes are held. Even if there are no exposed outlets and the door is closed, mobile children can still climb or become injured from a fall on a concrete floor without a rug.

[Robyn Rutland-Coleman]

In addition to skills developed in my training as a music therapist, I will bring knowledge gained from past studies and personal experience as a parent. I have a Masters of Education in music ed., and part of my degree requirements were courses on music and young children. I was also a Music Together teacher, which enabled me to observe and interact with young children in a musical setting, which was illuminating in terms of just how much they love music! It was also interesting to be an outside observer of caregiver-child dynamics at different stages of development (rather than a parent in the mix of the class). Finally, I have 2 sons, ages 6 and 10, and I remember those feelings of “is this normal?” and “am I giving them what they need to thrive?” (okay, so those feelings never go away!). I would love to provide that support and reassurance to families, or to gently guide them towards possible intervention if their child seems to be behind in an area of development. In my experience, it was scary to be a first-time parent! Providing parents a sense of “being in this together” will be a definite focus for my program.

In terms of my work as a music therapist, the information learned and developed as a provider of an early childhood music therapy-based program will contribute to my ability to better assess clients who are young children. I will be able to more effectively design treatment plans that address overall areas of developmental needs/functioning because I will have a greater sense of the range of typical behavior for given age ranges, as well as developmental sequences for particular behaviors and skills.

[Robyn Rutland-Coleman]

Hi there! My name is Robyn Rutland-Coleman and I just signed up for the training today, so my apologies for posting so late! I live in Austin, TX with my husband and 2 sons, ages 6 and 10. I am a music therapy late-bloomer, having just become board-certified in October, and I am truly excited to be a part of the profession. I was a part of the first cohort of the St. Mary-of-the-Woods MT equivalency distance learning program, which was a wonderful fit for me, as there aren’t any MT programs close to Austin and relocation wasn’t an option for my family. I completed my internship with a music therapist in Austin, working primarily with adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities. I was recently hired for contract work, but have not yet begun to see clients (hopefully I will start next week!). My long-term goal, however, is to create an early childhood MT practice, and I would like to include welcoming, inclusive family music classes as part of that. I would also like to explore early-intervention work in my area, so I feel that this training will be very useful in many areas. Sprouting Melodies appeals to me personally because I had a tough time feeling that my son, who has Aspergers, and I were welcomed and valued in his toddler Kindermusik class.

I look forward to all that we will learn in the coming weeks!

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