Sense-ational Ideas For Your Music Therapy Sessions

by Amy on May 22, 2013

Sensational Songs & Activities

Life has been pretty darn exciting lately!

Wholesome Harmonies is offering a number of summer music therapy groups including: Kids Rock and children and tween music therapy groups through the Down Syndrome Association of Miami.

At UCP, we are in full presentation-preparation mode: the debut of our musical Little Red Riding Hood happens next week! Also, I am busy preparing the two UCP preschools for their graduation performances: a musical rendition of the book “Caps for Sale!” Whew!

Lately, I’ve been getting lots of requests for music therapy intervention ideas for clients with severe and profound intellectual disability. With these individuals, I like to take a sensory approach to my activity planning. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities!

Last year, I created a resource called Sensational Songs & Activities: Sensory-Based Ideas for Music Therapy. This E-Book is designed to make your life easier and jump start your creativity when it comes to session planning for sensory-based learners.

This E-Book is appropriate for music therapists who work with individuals with developmental delays, those with severe and profound intellectual disability, and those with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I have also received great feedback on how these ideas when been used with older adults with Alzheimer’s and dementia! The ideas can be adapted to fit the population you’re working with.

Want to find out more? Click here to read a complete description of what you’ll find inside the e-pages of Sensational Songs & Activities!

Here’s what others are saying about this E-Book:

“The most useful part {of the E-Book} was the six themed session ideas.  I provide MT groups one time per week for a school based special needs population and I used the “Fun in the Sun” and “Trip to the Farm” already this year. I love the concept of using all of the senses and the kids loved the variety. {This E-Book} has helped by saving planning time with a theme already to go. It has also helped inspire my own themes such as “Fall Hayride” using the senses. I was surprised at how much the kids loved the bubbles!  They also enjoy tasting different foods within the session, which I had not tried before.”
- Amy Pearson, MT-BC // State of the Heart

“{The most useful parts of Sensational Songs & Activities} were the themed session plans and the multi-sensory combination. I found this E-Book useful…to add more ideas to the pot of complete sensory stimulation ideas. I don’t often use olfactory (smell) in therapy sessions, but this E-Book encouraged me to look beyond what is traditional multi-sensory stimulation (auditory, tactile, visual) and add even smell into the equation.”
- Kristin Veteto, MT-BC // KNV Music Therapy

“I purchased your sensory book and love using it with a patient of mine who has brain trauma due to seizures. I love it and appreciate your work.”
- Tiffanie Hingle, MT-BC

Ready to be inspired too? Click here to purchase YOUR copy!

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Little Red Riding Hood ~ The Musical

by Amy on May 15, 2013

Little Red Riding Hood

We are in full showtime preparation mode here at UCP’s Early Beginning Academy!

I have to say, that’s one of my favorite modes to be in. In the past, we have prepared many performances that involved singing (watch an adorable video here) and playing instruments. Recently, I have started adding musicals to our program agendas and the children are loving it!

In November 2011, the children wrote their very own musical entitled “In the Woods.” They came up with the storyline, created the characters, and made the background scenery, tickets, and programs!

In December 2012, we prepared a musical based on the popular Christmas story, the Nutcracker. We took the children on a field trip to see the play (they were mesmerized!), then we acted out scenes and dances from the play to create our own musical.

Now, we are working on Little Red Riding Hood, which I adapted into a musical. The performance will be in two weeks, on May 29th and I could not be more excited to see the final result!

The children have been working very hard. Here was our process to prepare this musical:

- I read the children the story “Little Red Riding Hood.” I used a book with beautiful illustrations.

- I held “auditions” for each child to show how they would play the Big Bad Wolf (who can roar the loudest and scariest?) or Little Red Riding Hood (who can skip across the room?)

- I assigned various roles for the musical:

  • I assigned one child to each main character role: the Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood, the mother, the grandmother, and the woodcutter.
  • One class is our orchestra: they play sound effects like the birds singing in the woods (canary stick), the leaves crunching (cabasa), and the wind blowing (chimes). They also play sound effects for each main character (thunder tube for the Big Bad Wolf!)
  • Two classes are the leaves and flowers in the forest (they have a special song and dance!)
  • One class plays the animals that Little Red Riding Hood sees in the woods.
  • One child is the narrator and another is our scene changer by pushing a voice output device that says “Act 1,” “Act 2,” or “Act 3.”

- Practice, practice, practice!

It takes a lot of work to coordinate all the different parts in the musical – the children have lines to learn, positions to learn, and songs to learn. But it will all be worth it when the final show is ready!

Have YOU prepared a musical with the children you work with? I would love to hear what the musical was and how you prepared the children. Leave a comment below to share your ideas!

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Seven Ways to Enhance Your Songwriting Skills

by Amy on May 8, 2013

Sheet Music

Things have been a bit of a whirlwind here at Wholesome Harmonies!

I have a few big projects in the works and some other exciting announcements, so stay tuned to the blog.

At UCP, we are in full preparation mode for our Spring Musical, Little Red Riding Hood. I am so excited about this performance! I’ll be sharing how I put that together in the next few blog posts.

So things have been going just swimmingly. In addition to my group, individual, and co-treatment sessions at UCP, I also supervise interns and practicums. One of the main things I work on with my students is developing their own original and creative songs and interventions.

I wrote a post on why writing original songs is important – click here to read that article.

I know some students get stuck on how to write original songs and how to make their songs sound different. As someone how has written over 400 original songs (holy cow!!) I have some tips and ideas to share on how to make your songs sound unique and different:

Use different meters
I have to admit the majority of my songs are in 4/4. Changing your songs to 3/4 or 6/8 meter can completely change the feel of a song – AND can be quite effective for rocking or swaying songs.

Use different keys
This sounds obvious, but those of us who play guitar know that we are probably not going to write a song in Bb major or G# minor (at least not without a capo nearby!) I tell my students: look at your session plan from top to bottom – you don’t want to have three songs in a row in A major. Make sure your entire session plan has songs in a variety of keys.

Write songs with a different starting pitch
Simply starting your song on ‘so’ or ‘me’ can completely change the direction of your song. Try it!

Use different modes
Why not explore the Lydian, Dorian, or Mixolydian modes? They can completely change the feel of a song.

Use different chords
I love exploring jazz chords. Here is one of my favorite resources: Jazz Guitar Lessons.net.

Use different chord progressions
Break free from the I, IV, V, I progression! I like to listen to popular songs and figure out the chord progressions that I like. Then I can write songs using modifications of those chords progressions.

Use different styles of music
The blues are a very popular musical style to use in music therapy. What about reggae? Or Latin? Hip hop? Gospel? I love to use auto accompaniment on my keyboard to really capture the feel of these musical styles (steel drum for my reggae song? Yes please!)

I absolutely LOVE writing original songs. Check out my collection here – you can purchase sheet music!

Even if you don’t work with children with special needs, original songs can be utilized with many different populations.

Join the conversation – leave a comment below and let me know how you make your original songs sound different and unique.

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Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

by Amy on May 1, 2013

Balloons2

Winner winner chicken dinner!

We have a winner!

If you are a Wholesome Harmonies newsletter subscriber (it’s free), you know that someone on the list had a chance to win a *FREE* copy of Tuneful Teens 1. I asked those who were interested to post on Facebook about where they are most ‘stuck’ when it comes to working with teens during music therapy. I also asked to hear what they would most like to see in Tuneful Teens 2 (yes it’s coming!!)

Thank you to those of you entered and gave some great ideas!

Drumroll please….the winner is…..

DIANE POWELL!

Yay!! Diane wrote:

“I would love to see your ideas for age-appropriate songs & strategies for lower functioning students (teens-young adults) in ‘Tuneful Teens 2′! It seems like that is the area that can be the hardest to find appropriate intervention ideas for.”

I absolutely loved this idea. In fact, I had just gotten an email from another Tuneful Teens ‘purchaser’ who suggested the same thing for Tuneful Teens 2! Already I have some ideas brewing…..

Want to have a say in what goes into Tuneful Teens 2? Leave a comment and let me know…where are you ‘stuck’ when working with teen populations? What would you most like to see in TT2?

If you want more resources, sheet music, and ideas that I only share with my list, become a subscriber today - it’s free!

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Happy 1 Year Anniversary Tuneful Teens!

by Amy on April 24, 2013

Happy Anniversary!

I am so excited to celebrate the one year anniversary of Tuneful Teens. Be sure to read this entire post to find out how you can win a *FREE* copy!

I cannot believe it has been one year since Tuneful Teens: Creative Ideas for Engaging Adolescents was launched. I remember coming up with the idea to put together this E-Book and it feels like just yesterday I was emailing my newsletter subscribers to tell them about the big news.

The music therapy community has been so supportive. I have loved hearing the success stories and adaptations that have come from the ideas in this book. So far…

* It has sold over 200 copies!

* It is being used in 12 different countries around the world…including Belgium, Scotland, Ireland, England, Canada, and Poland!

How cool is that?

In addition to the musical games, instrument jam ideas, auditory perception & listening activities, social skills interventions, sheet music, and game templates, I have also included a Pop Song Hot List in Tuneful Teens!

Because the songs that are considered “cool” and “in” are constantly changing, this list is updated every six months. Everyone who purchases Tuneful Teens receives one free update! All you have to do is follow Wholesome Harmonies on Facebook or Twitter to see when updates come out.

Click here to find out more about Tuneful Teens or to purchase your copy.

Here’s what others are saying about Tuneful Teens:

“When I first started out as a new music therapist, the population that intimidated me the most was the tween and teen crowd. That’s why I was so excited when my friend and fellow music therapist Amy Kalas launched her E-book, Tuneful Teens. Amy provides everything you need — step by step procedures, templates, sheet music, etc. — to implement the interventions in your music therapy sessions. I highly recommend Amy’s book!”
- Rachel Rambach, MM, MT-BC

“I received both E-Books–thank you!  I love the ideas, and am going to adapt the games for teens with my senior population.  These are really nice resources; thank you again! I was thrilled to find such valuable resources!”
- Melanie McWreath

“I REALLY enjoyed the Tuneful Teens book and am so glad I got it.  It gave me a bunch of wonderful ideas for my individual and my group sessions!  The things I’ve used the most so far since I purchased the book are the  Auditory Perception Training (APT) exercises as well as the movement APT exercises.  I’ve made Music Bingo sheets before, but for older adults with aphasia – I’ve never thought of making them for kids before, what a great  idea! … Keep the good stuff comin’!”
- Stephanie Scheffel, MM, MT-BC

In honor of the 1 year anniversary, I will be giving away one *FREE* copy of Tuneful Teens to a newsletter subscriber! Click here to sign up and find out all the details on how to win!

I cannot thank you enough for your support and encouragement with this E-Book. I am already exploding with ideas for Tuneful Teens 2….stayed tuned!

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