It’s a snow day here in Pennsylvania – a far cry from the 80 degree Januarys we experienced when we lived in Florida!

Before I go outside to shovel and sled with my kiddos, I wanted to write up a quick blog to continue the Session Idea Blast Series I started last week.

In the last post, I shared about a musical game that my middle and high school students LOVE.

They love it because it’s competitive, allows them to work in teams, and incorporates their favorite music.

I love it because it allows me to easily customize the goals to fit the needs of each of my unique students.

Today, I’m sharing about a musical experience called Pop Song Listening Games.

Games that help our clients refine the auditory perception and listening skills that help them succeed in classroom and work settings.

Here’s how it goes –

Start by creating a list of popular and client preferred music.

Then, on your favorite video platform, look up versions of those songs played on different instruments.

For example –

“Havana” by Camila Cabello played on flute.

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto on trumpet.

“Antihero” by Taylor Swift on clarinet.

You can also play live versions yourself!

Play the song for your clients, and they’ll guess the song AND the instrument that is playing.

You can turn it into a game by dividing your clients into two or three smaller groups, or have the group participate as a whole.

After they correctly guess the song and instrument, play the original version of the song and everyone can jam and sing along.

This game is a great way for students to practice those oh so important attention and perception skills!

If these ideas are sparking your interest, then you’ll be glad to know that the doors for the Tune In To Teens E-Course and The Attention & Perception E-Course will be opening next week, on January 13th (at a discounted rate and for a limited time).

The session ideas and content in the courses are all geared toward school-age (K-8) and high school-age clients with disabilities, but can easily be adapted for other ages and clinical populations.

Each E-Course has three packages to choose from, ranging from 5-15 continuing education credits that are pre-approved with the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT).

Lynda Miller, MT-BC, had this to say about The Attention & Perception course:

“Thank you for creating The Attention and Perception E-Course!  I have been encouraged, inspired, and moved to action by the way you presented this subject.  Instructions to “Stop now and fill out creativity worksheet” were effective and I used several of the ideas that same week.  My clients have responded positively to both the interventions and my renewed excitement.  Your E-Course has been worth every penny and my clients  and I thank you!”

And Anna Ruffle, MT-BC, shared this with me about Tune in To Teens:

“Thank you for sharing your tips and experience with this population!! The features I enjoyed most were the resources, session ideas, implementation tips – all of it!! I would definitely recommend to anyone struggling with building rapport, coming up with ideas, presenting engaging, relevant content to teen groups. It was a very organized, detailed, helpful course! It is such a great, thought-through, and thorough course that I have already recommended it to other MTs I work with.“

More than 400 music therapists, educators, and professionals have taken Wholesome Harmonies E-Courses and successfully put the ideas into use in their sessions and classrooms.

Stay tuned when they open for enrollment at a discounted rate and for a limited time next week!