[Tamara Strom]

I think that what is unique about what we bring as music therapists is a focus on the children, a knowledge of how to foster all domains of development. As opposed to programs designed to teach music, we do not place expectations of right or wrong, and instead accept the child where they are at and offer experiences to foster their development, and create our experiences based on the needs of the individuals and the group in the moment. Rather than focussing on either entertainment or teaching musical skills, we focus on the growth of the full child: cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally. We also build community and create a safe, nonjudgemental space for both the parents and children to explore, experience, learn, and grow through the process of music making.

[Tamara Strom]

I use all four aspects in my practice. I use a lot of singing, and with different purposes depending on the child’s developmental level and goals. One of my clients is 11 and on the autism spectrum. I am working on expressive language and articulation. At home and and likely at school people tend to speak for him, as he is slow to express himself, has difficulty with articulation, and needs wait time to process. I give him choices of songs and of actions within songs, and slow the songs down and pause for him to sing along and to work on his articulation.

Many of my clients are in the control stage, so with instrument play, I will often play freeze dancing/playing games in which the child freezes on musical cue. I also have instrument songs in which I direct or offer them choices of how to play, such as high, low, fast, slow, loud, soft, on a body part, etc. With one of my clients, the biggest challenge is restraining the mother from taking control when she sees that her son is not playing “right”, and trying to educate her about how it is a process, and that he will develop through his own participation.

I use a lot of movement within my sessions. As with the instrument play, I often offer the children choices of movements within songs, or direct the movements within a song. For example, one of my clients is also working on OT goals of building upper body strength, so I often throw in actions such as crab walks.

Listening, I find I don’t use as much as the others, but will try to incorporate more into my sessions. I often will in a situation such as a cool down song. For example, if I’m working with scarves, parachutes, or bubbles, I might sing a mellow song and allow the child to absorb the music and the whole sensory experience as a means of relaxing, and of bonding with the group or with the parent.

[Tamara Strom]

Here is my attempt:

Singing:
Awareness: attends to singer, vocalizes using pitch, notices if therapist reflects their pitch by increasing vocalizations in response
Trust: attempts to match singers’ pitch, communicates through musical babble, takes turn with singer on back and forth vocalizing in which they attempt to match pitch
Independence: experiments with sound and creates their own songs using musical babble
Control: performs familiar songs with appropriate musical contour
Responsibility: sings familiar songs in their entirety with recognizable melody and rhythm

Playing:
Awareness: explores instrument with hands, mouth, etc., notices different types of music and responds differently to playful versus soothing music
Trust: grasps instruments and shakes it once or twice
Independence: explores instruments on their own and experiments with different ways of playing them and different types of sounds they can make
Control: will play along with others and begins to gain control of starting and stopping on cue
Responsibility: plays along with another person or a group, and can match and maintain a beat

Moving:
Awareness: moves body in response to music with natural movements
Trust: engages in a repetitive movement in response to the music, such as flapping arms, that is at their own tempo and not necessarily the beat of the music
Independence: responds to music with a purposeful movement such as stomping their feet to the rhythm of the music
Control: imitates specific movements modeled for them
Responsibility: produces a sequence of movements, such as to “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”

Listening:
Awareness: responds to vocal timbre, such as soothed by voice of mother, or startled by someone speaking with an abrasive tone
Trust: is soothed by a familiar song
Independence: attends to song, and body and facial expressions reflect the music
Control: stops other activities to attend to the music
Responsibility: listens to music of others and learns by their example

[Tamara Strom]

My youngest current client is 5 and is in the responsibility stage of development. He takes great pride in setting the room for music and caring for the instruments….particularly the guitar. When playing, he enjoys shifting up the tempo and dynamics both musically when he is playing an instrument, or verbally when he requests a particular tempo or movement within a song, and can modulate from one tempo or dynamic to the next most of the time. (Though he often confuses soft with slow). He loves taking leadership roles in his music, by requesting songs or activities, and leading the activity while I follow musically. In recent sessions he has also requested to play my guitar, and was able to hold down a chord while strumming and singing part of the song. He can also start and stop on musical cue such as in freeze dancing, (though will often continue moving with a mischievous grin expressing that he knows he is supposed to stop but is choosing to continue.). He demonstrates that he is able to follow directions and imitate, but also take initiative and ownership of his musicality.

[Tamara Strom]

I have not yet had an opportunity to practice these songs with clients, (my current clients are slightly older, and my youngest I will not see until tomorrow), but I can imagine the uses. In the bonding songs for example, I can picture my nine month old godson squealing with delight during the transition from soothing bonding song to upbeat playful song, and can see how they can be easily adapted to vary the actions, tempo, and dynamics. My youngest current client is 5 and a half, and very much revels in movement songs in which he can select the action and decide to perform it fast or slow, loud or quietly, etc.

I also like the concept of the unaccompanied song, as it allows for a more hands on approach, and creates less of a distance between the therapist as the leader and the families. It also makes the music accessible to the parents/caregivers, so that they feel comfortable integrating the songs into their home settings.

[Tamara Strom]

I also agree that this is a challenging question, as each person’s musical preferences are unique! My community is an affluent suburb of New York. There is not a great deal of cultural diversity, with the vast majority falling into the category of white, upper middle class, therefore I don’t find that ethnic music is as popular. However, I travel to other communities for my job, and when I work with families of African American descent, I try to include traditional spiritual music as well. To return to the community music preferences, I would say pop music, classic rock, folk, broadway, and classical, though again I feel that it is a huge generalization, as it will vary immensely by the individual and by the age group.

[Tamara Strom]

I am not yet a parent, but have a 4 year old niece, and a 9 month old godson, both of whom I absolutely adore! I have also had the experience of working in day care, preschool, and early intervention settings. One thing I think I personally bring based on these experiences, is an ability to connect well with young children and to enter their world. I think I’m able to connect well with my own childlike side, which is helpful for connecting with children through music, as I’m not afraid to be silly, or to jump, dance, etc. while singing and playing the guitar. I would love to learn more from the experiences of those of you who are parents, as you bring a unique and insightful perspective having experienced both sides, as a parent and as a therapist.

[Tamara Strom]

I found the overview of development to be helpful for each stage, but with the caviat that it is a developmental range, and that parents need not fear if children do not reach milestones by an exact time, as long as they are within an appropriate range. That being said, it was helpful to note the red flags of when a parent may truly have cause for concern.

Similar to Ming Loi, I found the parent education moments helpful. I’m sure every parent is constantly questioning whether their child’s behavior is “normal” and worrying that they may be responsible for any behavioral or developmental problems in their child. It was therefore helpful to be able to reassure parents that certain behaviors, such as defiance, or the inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality, are developmentally appropriate at certain ages.

I also liked the idea of trying to remind ourselves to experience the world from the perspective of the child, exploring the world through all senses, etc.

[Tamara Strom]

Wow!! Congratulations on so many recent milestones!! I just graduated in May as well, and just became board certified in July, and am also just starting a new job. It is nice that we will have the opportunity to support one another through it!!

[Tamara Strom]

Thanks so much!! I am taking this training partly for work, (once I am certified I will be running groups at our center), and partly due to great interest in working with young children. My experience working in early intervention was in my first year internship in my music therapy training, when everything in the field was new to me. I’m looking forward to experiencing this training from a different perspective now that I have several more years of experience as a music therapist.

[Author]

Posts