If you are in need of some summer session planning inspiration, I have got you covered!

Summer is here – can’t you just smell the grill and taste the gooey marshmallows?

With this inspiration, I created the Summer Music Therapy Session Planning Pack to share musical experiences that are work well for school-age and teens clients, and are effective in helping you connect (really connect!) with them.

If you’re feeling in a creative rut, or are lacking in planning time, I’ve got you covered.

In the E-Book, you’ll learn creative musical experiences that are designed for middle and high school students, but can easily be adapted for other populations. 

Each experience and the complementary materials has a Summer theme, to keep things interesting and engaging for both you and your students.

Nell Miller, MT-BC called the Spring Session Planning E-Book  “creative and wonderful” and says “I appreciate your ideas. You’ve helped me think of more varied things to try.”

In the E-Book, you’ll learn: ideas for singing and song discussion, creative movement, and songwriting; how to facilitate a Musical I Spy Game and Finish the Phrase; and how to use mini raps to engage and connect with your teen clients.

You’ll learn creative ways to use these ideas in a variety of themed sessions, including Summer and Patriotic Themes.

Along with the E-Book, you’ll get: beautiful visuals, colorful picture cards, and lyric sheets that can be printed or pulled up on your device. You’ll also get: musical game templates, songwriting templates, and looped hip hop beat MP4s. Everything you need to implement the ideas in your sessions right away!

Ashley Lewis, MM, MT-BC says of the Spring Session Planning E-Book “I of course love your resources and I think you are brilliant. Your visuals are the best I’ve ever seen! I’m a huge fan of yours and I can’t wait to see what you come up with next because I will be buying it.”

SUMMER SPECIAL: From July 3 – 10, 2026 you’ll get Creative Improv Cards for Summer included with your purchase!

The post Summer Music Therapy Session Planning Inspiration appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

I am on a mission!

A mission to figure out how to use those “not-so-therapeutic” client-preferred songs and artists purposefully in our sessions.

So far, I’ve shared how you could use those songs during Name That Tune with a Twist and during Pop Music Relaxation experiences.

Today, I’m sharing an idea I came up with during covid when all my sessions were virtual.

I had to figure out how to connect with my tween and teen clients across the computer screen.

So, I started coming up with Mini Musical Bios and turned them into a game of Guess Who.

I started with a list of a few of my clients’ favorite singers and bands.

For each one, I created a PDF with pictures and factoids about that singer or band – one factoid and picture per page.

I made them large and colorful and visually appealing.

Each factoid was a clue to see if my clients could guess who the singer or band was.

I tried to include a mix of basic info, such as “I am a singer-songwriter, filmmaker, and former professional surfer” and little known facts that might stump even the biggest fans, such as “I’m an environmentalist and care deeply about the world’s oceans.”

At the end of the PDF, I’d ask my clients to try to guess who the singer or band was.

Click here to download a FREE PDF Mini Musical Bio for Meghan Trainor!

This was a great way to encourage communication skills amongst my clients.

Following this, we would move into a musical experience that included a song by that singer or band. It could be music and movement, singing, instrument playing, etc – the possibilities are endless!

This was a great way to keep my middle and high school music therapy clients engaged and excited about coming to our sessions.

Did this idea help or spark something for you?

Keep that spark alive! Now through August 31, 2025, you can sign up for Elevate at a discounted rate AND with some awesome bonus material.

Elevate is an email idea subscription designed to help you infuse creativity and FUN into your sessions with school-age & teen clients with autism & related disabilities. You’ll earn 10 pre-approved CMTE credits per package.

These resources will super charge you and get you ready for your music therapy sessions and classes this Fall.

There are three packages to choose from: the Teen Package, the Attention/Perception Package, or The Holidays & Themes Package.

Each package is approved by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT) for 10 continuing education credits.

You’ll receive an email with new musical experience ideas in your inbox each month for six months.

Click here to sign up for Elevate now through August 31st, so you can take advantage of the discounted rate AND bonus material: Keeping Things Cool for Your Teen Clients in Music Therapy.

In this bonus PDF, you’ll get:

• Where to hang out to find new music for teens
• Great pop songs for movement with teens (2025 edition!)
• How to keep things age appropriate and cool
• Why & how to use client preferred music

The post Using Not-So-Therapeutic Songs Therapeutically: Mini Musical Bios (+ FREEBIE!) appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

I am on a mission to figure out how to use “not so therapeutic” songs therapeutically.

I know for me, it is really tough when my clients or students like songs that are not necessarily “appropriate” for school, or seem to me to have little therapeutic value due to the content and lyrics.

But it’s important to me to learn how to use these songs in our sessions as a way to: a) validate my clients’ musical taste (therefore validating THEM!), and b) better engage them to work on their goals and objectives.

My brain LOVES this creative challenge, so I am sharing what I’ve come up with in this blog series.

In last week’s post, I shared how to facilitate Name That Tune with a Twist – it’s a simple way to work in those songs that you don’t know how to otherwise use purposefully.

(And to work on attention perception skills).

Today, I’m sharing another way to use not-so -therapeutic songs therapeutically: use them in relaxation experiences.

I play most of the music used in my sessions live, but for relaxation experiences I’ll often use recorded music. This way, my hands are free to model movements.

Here are some of my favorite songs to use during relaxation experiences:

• “A Thousand Years” from Twilight – Piano Guys version
• “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran – Conkarah Reggae cover
• “Meant to Be” by Bebe Rexha on violin
• “Someday” from Disney’s Zombies ballad or reprise  – karaoke track
• “Bird Song” by The Wailin’ Jennys (I use this in my Spring-themed sessions)
• “America the Beautiful” (for my patriotic-themed sessions)
• “Buchanan Mist” by Paul Machlis (for St. Paddy’s day sessions)
• “Wintersong” by Ingrid Michaelson & Sarah Bareilles (for winter-themed sessions)

These songs are familiar to my tween and teen clients, so there is instant engagement, but they also lend themselves to stretching, breathing, and winding down at the end of a session.

Here’s how to make this super customized for YOUR unique clients:

Search for the instrumental versions of their favorite songs (like “Meant to Be” on violin) or the karaoke track of their favorite songs (like “Someday” karaoke).

If this idea has helped or sparked something for you, keep that spark alive! Now through August 31, 2025, you can sign up for Elevate at a discounted rate AND with some awesome bonus material.

Elevate is an email idea subscription designed to help you infuse creativity and FUN into your sessions with school-age & teen clients with autism & related disabilities. You’ll earn 10 pre-approved CMTE credits per package.

These resources will super charge you and get you ready for your music therapy sessions and classes this Fall.

There are three packages to choose from: the Teen Package, the Attention/Perception Package, or The Holidays & Themes Package.

Each package is approved by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT) for 10 continuing education credits.

You’ll receive an email with new musical experience ideas in your inbox each month for six months.

Click here to sign up for Elevate now through August 31st, so you can take advantage of the discounted rate AND bonus material: Keeping Things Cool for Your Teen Clients in Music Therapy.

In this bonus PDF, you’ll get:

• Where to hang out to find new music for teens
• Great pop songs for movement with teens (2025 edition!)
• How to keep things age appropriate and cool
• Why & how to use client preferred music

The post Using Not-So-Therapeutic Songs Therapeutically: Pop Music Relaxation appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

We are just about to roll into the new school year.

(How is that even possible when it feels like summer was just starting?!)

Nevertheless, a new school year is right around the corner.

So, I wanted to share some fresh ideas for your music therapy sessions and classes with school-age children and teens.

But not just any ideas!

Ideas for how to use not-so-therapeutic songs therapeutically. 

Many of the songs that are popular now have content and lyrics that aren’t appropriate for use in our sessions (due to restrictions from a school or facility) or that make it difficult to figure out how to possibly use them in a therapeutic manner.

But client preferred music is the gold standard, right?

So what do we do when our clients prefer music that has inappropriate language or content?

I am here to share several ways you can use client-preferred and popular music in a therapeutic way, even if that may seem impossible at first.

This is a creative challenge that my brain LOVES, so I put together a little mini-series on the topic.

First up – Name That Tune with a Twist.

The twist is playing the song on your primary instrument or a symphonic instrument (which for me is clarinet!)

You could also pull up a recorded version on YouTube such as “Havana” by Camila Cabello on flute or “Ocean Eyes” by Billie Eilish on saxophone.

These exist – look them up for yourself!

I prefer to present using live music, but YouTube does have some very creative options.

Name That Tune is a great musical game to work on social communication skills in a group setting or auditory perception and listening skills in a one-on-one setting.

And, to the point of this blog post, it’s a great way to work some of those not-so-therapeutic songs into your sessions.

When your client recognizes a song by their favorite artist, it will light them up, excite, and engage them. It lets them know that you value them and their musical preferences.

So, they are more likely to participate for the duration of the musical experience, and more likely meet their goals and objectives.

If this idea has helped or sparked something for you, keep that spark alive! Now through August 31, 2025, you can sign up for Elevate at a discounted rate AND with some awesome bonus material.

Elevate is an email idea subscription designed to help you infuse creativity and FUN into your sessions with school-age & teen clients with autism & related disabilities.

These resources will super charge you and get you ready for your music therapy sessions and classes this Fall.

There are three packages to choose from: the Teen Package, the Attention/Perception Package, or The Holidays & Themes Package.

Each package is approved by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT) for 10 continuing education credits.

You’ll receive an email with new musical experience ideas in your inbox each month for six months.

Click here to sign up for Elevate now through August 31st, so you can take advantage of the discounted rate AND bonus material: Keeping Things Cool for Your Teen Clients in Music Therapy.

In this bonus PDF, you’ll get:

• Where to hang out to find new music for teens
• Great pop songs for movement with teens (2025 edition!)
• How to keep things age appropriate and cool
• Why & how to use client preferred music

The post Using Not-So-Therapeutic Songs Therapeutically: Name That Tune with a Twist appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Summer is in full swing!

My kids and I just returned home from an amazing trip to Colorado (it was our first time!)

We went on horseback rides with the Rockies as our back drop, rock climbed in the Arapaho National Forest, and tried archery for the first time.

We made some incredible memories, and now I’m back home catching up on emails and writing (even though I was able to keep up with a fair amount of work virtually).

Today I want to share a songwriting experience that I facilitated for teen students in the autistic support classroom of one of our nearby high schools.

One of the class periods I saw them happened to fall on Valentine’s Day, which can be a sensitive time for students who have mixed feelings about the holiday.

I decided to bring in the song “Nice To Have a Friend” by Taylor Swift and focus on friendships and the other non-romantic relationships we have.

Here’s how I facilitated this experience:

1. First, I handed out lyric sheets and we sang through the song together.
2. On the second page of the lyric sheet, I had a blank box where students, depending on their level, could write or draw things they like to do with their friends.
3. Next, we turned the ideas from the box into song lyrics for a Verse 3. We’ve done songwriting from scratch in the past, so we focused on the use of “rich language,” and the teachers and I helped the students craft lyrics using as much rich language as possible.
4. If each student was comfortable, we then took a turn singing through their Verse 3. They could sing it alone, or I could join with them.
5. Then, the whole group finished by singing the chorus together.

For students who didn’t feel comfortable singing, I offered egg shakers to softly play along with the music. This way, everyone could participate at their comfort level.

The song worked perfectly because it was simple and easy to learn, even if students had never heard it before. And, the structure of the song lent itself nicely to this type of songwriting.

Do you have Swifties in your music therapy groups or music classes too? Looking for more ways to use her songs therapeutically?

Check out this blog post with a Session Sneak Peak into how I use Taylor Swift’s songs and other pop songs in a goal-oriented way with my teen clients.

Here’s how I use “Trouble” by Taylor Swift to work on attention goals,

And, here’s how you can create an entire T. Swift-themed music therapy session!

For even more ways to infuse CREATIVITY and FUN into your sessions and classes, check out Elevate. It’s subscription where you receive music therapy session ideas for school-age students (Grades K-12) straight to your inbox each month!

You can choose from the Teen Package, the Attention Package, or the Holidays & Seasons Package (my personal favorite!) Each package is pre-approved by CBMT for 10 continuing education credits.

The post Songwriting with Taylor Swift in Music Therapy appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Many of the music therapists and educators who enrolled in the Tune In To Teens E-Course and The Attention & Perception E-Course have expressed their need for more resources and support for their work with school-age and teen clients.

With that in mind, I created some Add-On Packages that go hand-in-hand with both E-Courses. These packages allow participants to dive deeper into the topics covered in those courses and earn 7 CMTE credits (pre-approved!)

One of the add-on packages that is available to anyone (regardless of whether or not you’ve enrolled in the E-Courses) is called the Elevate Package – a 6-month Email Idea Subscription with Support.

On the 1st of each month, subscribers receive one package of intervention ideas via email that pertain to music therapy with teens, or attention & perception training. They also receive a Creativity Worksheet that prompts them to plan out goals, objectives, and musical experiences that are relevant and specific to their own unique clients.

In addition, subscribers have email access to ask me any questions regarding topics and techniques related to the package they selected (music therapy with teens, or attention & perception training).

Here’s a little sneak peak into what Elevate subscribers are receiving this month.

Those who’ve subscribed to the Tune In To Teens Elevate Package are getting a collection of Listening Guides.

Listening guides are effective in targeting multiple goals in a way that’s engaging and fun. Those goals (like improving auditory perception and attention skills) transfer directly to the classroom or job setting.

Listening guides also allow you to introduce your clients and students to a wide range of orchestral and instrumental pieces.

In addition to the listening guide packet, subscribers are also receiving visuals, activity ideas for extension, and Creativity Worksheets that will help them generate more ideas to target auditory perception skills with teens.

Subscribers are free to email me at any time with questions they may have about working with teens and implementing the ideas they’re learning.

You can join in on the fun, too –

Those who’ve subscribed to the Attention & Perception Elevate Package are learning an original activity I created called Pop Singer Movement Combos.  

Subscribers are receiving MP3 hip hop beats and a Creativity Worksheet that will help them generate more creative ideas to target auditory perception skills through pattern imitation.

Subscribers are free to email me at any time with questions they may have about attention and perception training, or about implementing the ideas they’re learning.

You can jump in on the fun, too –

Earning Continuing Ed Credits – 

Subscribers continue receiving one package of ideas via email for a total of six months, each with a Creativity Worksheet that prompts them to continue generating ideas. Once subscribers email the six completed Creativity Worksheets back to me, they’ll receive a certificate verifying that they’ve earned 7 continuing education credits.

You can sign up for the Elevate Email Idea Package regardless of whether or not you’ve enrolled in the E-Courses.

The ideas and email support are meant to ease your mind, lighten your load a bit, inspire you, and help jump start your creativity in this crazy time!

You and your clients will be glad you jumped on board. (ALL the ideas that are shared can be used in teletherapy or in person).

Bri Walstra, MT-BC had this to say about the Email Idea Subscription and Support Package for the Tune In To Teens E-Course:

“I thought the email portion was helpful! I actually really like the creativity worksheets because it forces me to sit down and think about the six ways to adapt one intervention. I think as music therapists we often get so busy and we read about intervention ideas but never figure out how we can implement them best.”

The post Music Therapists & Educators Are Elevating Their Clinical Practice With This – appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

If you’re like me, you’ve completely revamped your clinical practice.

You now need ideas that will engage your clients across a plexiglass shield.

Or you need ideas that are effective for your students virtually. (Or both!)

We may have been working for 10 plus years, but for all of us it’s kind of like starting back at square one.

Many of the music therapists and educators who enrolled in the Tune In To Teens E-Course and The Attention & Perception E-Course have echoed these sentiments and expressed their need for more resources and support for their work with school-age and teen clients.

With that in mind, I created some Add-On Packages that go hand-in-hand with both E-Courses. These packages allow participants the opportunity to dive deeper into the topics covered in those courses and earn 7 CMTE credits (pre-approved!)

One of the add-on packages that is available to anyone (regardless of whether or not you’ve enrolled in the E-Courses) is called the Elevate Package – a 6-month Email Idea Subscription with Support.

On the 1st of each month, subscribers receive one package of intervention ideas via email that pertain to music therapy with teens, or attention & perception training. They also receive a Creativity Worksheet that prompts them to plan out goals, objectives, and musical experiences that are relevant and specific to their own unique clients.

In addition, subscribers have email access to ask me any questions regarding topics and techniques related to the package they selected (music therapy with teens, or attention & perception training).

Here’s a little sneak peak into what Elevate subscribers are receiving this month.

Those who’ve subscribed to the Tune In To Teens Elevate Package are getting the Icebreaker Rap.

Starting a conversation with someone new or joining a group of people who are already having a conversation can be tricky. The Icebreaker Rap teaches teens how to “break the ice” and start a conversation.

Subscribers are also receiving the Icebreaker Rap MP3 (a looped hip hop beat to use along with rap) and a Creativity Worksheet that will help them generate more ideas to target social communication skills.

Subscribers are free to email me at any time with questions they may have about working with teens and implementing the ideas they’re learning.

You can join in on the fun, too –

Those who’ve subscribed to the Attention & Perception Elevate Package are learning an experience called Music That Tells a Story. 

Subscribers are receiving a comprehensive list of musical pieces that work well for this experience, along with a Creativity Worksheet that will help them generate more ideas to target auditory discrimination skills.

Subscribers are free to email me at any time with questions they may have about attention and perception training, or about implementing the ideas they’re learning.

You can jump in on the fun, too –

Earning Continuing Ed Credits – 

Subscribers continue receiving one package of ideas via email for a total of six months, each with a Creativity Worksheet that prompts them to continue generating ideas. Once subscribers email the six completed Creativity Worksheets back to me, they’ll receive a certificate verifying that they’ve earned 7 continuing education credits.

You can sign up for the Elevate Email Idea Package regardless of whether or not you’ve enrolled in the E-Courses.

The ideas and email support are meant to ease your mind, lighten your load a bit, inspire you, and help jump start your creativity in this crazy time!

You and your clients will be glad you jumped on board. (ALL the ideas that are shared can be used in teletherapy or in person).

Bri Walstra, MT-BC had this to say about the Email Idea Subscription and Support Package for the Tune In To Teens E-Course:

“I thought the email portion was helpful! I actually really like the creativity worksheets because it forces me to sit down and think about the six ways to adapt one intervention. I think as music therapists we often get so busy and we read about intervention ideas but never figure out how we can implement them best.”

The post Music Therapists & Educators Are Elevating Their Clinical Practice With This – appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Since our usual morning rush has lightened up significantly now that we’re staying home, I started incorporating a new practice into my girls’ routine.

Each morning, they choose a mindful card from our Mindful Kids pack.

It’s a pack of 50 cards with mindful activities for kindness, focus, and calm. The activities are short and simple, and the cards are bright and colorful.

I’m not an affiliate, I just really love and recommend these cards. I bought them at the National Music Therapy Conference last year and have gotten a lot of use out of them since then.

I started using these cards in my teletherapy music sessions as soon as we moved everything online.

I knew that my clients needed tools to de-stress and relax as much as I did.

Here’s how you can use these cards to promote relaxation with your school-age clients and teens:

Choose a mindful card that your clients or students would like, or one that targets a specific area of need for them.

Some are yoga and movement based, some are games to improve attention and focus, some are visualizations, and some are exercises to relax.

You can also choose one that goes along with the theme for your session, like Mind Castle, for a Frozen/princess theme. Or, my personal favorite, the Joyful Jellyfish, for an ocean theme.

As you read the card for your client or student, play relaxing music in the background. For my sessions, I play a slow, relaxing chord progression on piano or guitar. With my girls, I pull up recorded spa music.

You can scan and show the cards via screen share. Invite your clients to follow along, or they can just listen to you read the cards.

If you don’t want to purchase the cards, you can find simple scripts online, or you can create your own!

I’ve used these with ages 3 up through teens and they’ve been extremely effective. I love watching the clients close their eyes and get into the relaxation, and then have one eye open up ever so slightly, to see what everyone else is doing.

After completing these exercises, we discuss strategies for carrying over what we learned into our everyday lives.

It’s a nice way to end our sessions.

If you’re looking for more ideas to incorporate into your virtual music therapy sessions, remember:

Tuneful Teens 1 and Tuneful Teens 2 (which were just updated), Sensational Songs & Activities, Pop Song Mini Pack, and The Rap Pack For Teens (with 12 looped hip hop beats included) are all available at 50% off.

The Virtual Music Therapy Session Planning Pack has been flying off the E-Shelves (it’s also 50% off):

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 bio, as well as a looped hip hop beat MP3.

It’s everything you need to implement the ideas in your virtual sessions right away! (And it’s just $9 until April 30th).

The post Virtual Music Therapy With Teens To Promote Relaxation appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

On Sundays I provide group music therapy services at Friendship Circle Miami.

It’s an amazing program, where neurotypical teens are paired with teens with autism and other special needs. Together, they participate in music therapy and recreational programs like sports, karate, cooking, art, and yoga.

At the heart of the Friendship Circle program is the desire to build friendships between the teens. Thus, one of the main areas we focus on is social skills.

These are critical skills that come into play in the classroom, on the sports field, and when applying for jobs.

And even though I’ve worked with this program many years, I still sometimes draw a blank when it comes to generating fresh ideas for this group.

I often turn to the content of Tune In To Teens, the E-Course I created, for a reminder of interventions and musical experiences I can bring in to target a variety of social skills.

In the E-Course, which is approved for 5 CMTE credits, I share goals that can be addressed in the social domain (like improving group cohesion), as well as a variety of creative interventions that can target those goals.

Here’s a sampling of some of the grab-and-go ideas you’ll find in the Social Skills section of the E-Course:

Creating an Acronym – Learn how you can prompt teens to create their own group guidelines that organize the group and help everyone get the most out of each session

Musical Group Rounds – See how to facilitate a “check in” with each group member to acknowledge them and see how they’re doing. I incorporate a novel instrument and a simple 3-part structure for this musical experience.

“Say Hi, Don’t Be Shy” – Learn this original greeting song that gives teens the opportunity to greet each other by shaking hands, giving a high five, waving, or giving a first bump. You’ll be able to watch a video demo, learn a cool new guitar accompaniment pattern, and download the sheet music and MP3.

Drumming Round – See how you can use a simple drumming round to acknowledge each group member and work on social communication skills.

Be Flexible Rap – (One of my faves!) This original rap song teaches teens how to be flexible when things don’t go as planned. They’ll have the opportunity to give input and add verses to the rap. You’ll be able to download the lyric sheet and MP3.

Musical Games – (More of my faves!) These are designed to increase group cohesion, facilitate teens working together, and improve social communication skills.  You’ll learn some of the original musical games I created: The ABCs of Music, Music Instrument BINGO, Musical Genres, and Musical Telephone.

These are just a few of the musical experiences in the Tune In To Teens E-Course. You’ll also learn a variety of creative ideas that target motor skills, attention, creativity & self-expression, and relaxation. (Stay tuned to the blog to learn about some of the musical experiences in those domains).

Enrollment for the E-Course is currently closed, but will be opening up in early March 2020. Yay!

Join the waitlist by entering your name and email below, so you don’t miss when the doors for enrollment are open (and close again).

When you join the waitlist, you’ll hear about special discounts and promotions, and how you can access free bonus material.

Plus, if the Be Flexible Rap piqued your interest, you’ll be happy to hear that when you join the wait list, you’ll get this freebie right away: Yo’ Guide To Rapping With Confidence. A step-by-step procedure for how to create meaningful raps with your teen clients and students.

Over the next few weeks on the blog, I’ll continue to highlight some of the special features of Tune In To Teens that make it stand out from other continuing education courses.

More than 100 music therapists, educators, and professionals have taken the E-Course and successfully put the ideas into use in their sessions and classrooms.

Ali Howshall, a music teacher said this about the course: “It is the only comprehensive resource that I have been able to find online that has specifically helped me in planning my sessions.”

If you’re interested in learning more about the E-Course, be sure to hop on the wait list now!

The post {TUNE IN TO TEENS SPOTLIGHT} Be Flexible Rap & Other Social Skills Interventions appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

The theme for Halloween this year at Children’s Resources Educational Center (serving students PreK3 – Grade 5) is Pirates.

I have to say, I’m a little excited about it. I love the soundtracks to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, so ever since I heard the theme idea, my mind has been coming up with creative ways to use that music.

One of the ideas I came up with for the middle school students was a Pirate Creative Listening Experience.

Here’s how it went:

I explained that we were going to listen to a few different clips of pirate music. When the music started, they were to close their eyes and pretend there was a movie playing on the inside of their eyelids. I asked them to picture what they thought was happening in the music.

After listening to each clip, the students raised their hands and shared what they thought the music was depicting.

Here are the clips I used from the “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” soundtrack and some of the creative responses I heard:

Track 4 “Multiple Jacks” – One student said it sounded like a skeleton playing the piano

Track 5 “Up Is Down” – One student thought this sounded like the pirates had found treasure

Track 12 “One Day” – The students agreed this sounded like a ship sailing out to sea

Track 13 “Drink Up Me Hearties” – One student said this sounded like a sword fight and went into great detail about who was fighting and what the outcome was

The purpose of this musical experience was to give the students the opportunity to do some creative imagination and work on their expressive communication skills.

Now that I see how effective it is to incorporate recorded musical with elementary and middle school students, I’m already planning our next creative listening experience.

The post A Pirate Creative Listening Experience for Middle School Students appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.