Earlier this week, I walked out of my virtual music therapy sessions glowing.

The sessions had been great, the group of teens I worked with were totally engaged in our experiences, and it almost felt like there was no “online” barrier.

I felt the same connection I feel when we’re “in-person” together. It was pretty amazing!

During that session, I made use of two of my favorite tools: Zoom screen share and GarageBand.

I started off by giving the teens a mini-tutorial on how to use GarageBand.

They’re pretty tech savvy, so they were excited to learn. I showed them how to pull up and preview apple loops, and drag them over to create layers for a looped beat (you can learn how to do that for CMTE credits here).

Following the tutorial, we worked together to create our own beats.

I’d preview the apple loops or they would ask me to play one, and then we’d work together to determine what sounded good together.

We created two complete beats, and then used them in other musical experiences that I had planned for the session: a movement activity and a songwriting experience to “What I Am” by Will.I.Am (you can learn about how I facilitate this here).

After the session, I emailed the MP3 files with the looped beats to their families, along with the lyrics we wrote to “What I Am.”

I LOVED hearing the positive feedback from all the teens:

“That sounds cool.”

“I like the way that sounds.”

“We did awesome.”

So many positive things were going on here:

The teens were learning a new skill that can be used in their leisure time.

The group members were working together and negotiating to create something.

They had the opportunity to be creative and express themselves.

And, they felt empowered and proud they had created something that sounded so good.

If you’re looking for more creative ideas to incorporate into your virtual music therapy sessions, I put together a Virtual Music Therapy Session Planning Pack and it’s been flying off the E-Shelves:

In the E-Book, you’ll learn creative musical experiences that are effective in teletherapy and easily customized for your clients.

You’ll learn: musical game ideas, instrument activities, and creative movement experiences; how to use listening guides; and some brand new ideas that I’ve created just for my virtual sessions.

Along with the E-Book, you’ll get: visuals, picture cards, a musical game template, sample listening guide, and sample mini musical bios, as well as a looped hip hop beat MP3.

It’s everything you need to implement the ideas in your virtual sessions right away!