As I write this blog post, my 3-year-old is watching Daniel Tiger and my 7-month-old take is taking one of her mini-non-consolidated naps (can anyone relate?!)

I’ve had many Daniel Tiger episodes playing in the background as I try to get a little work done during nap/quiet time. This is because I’m home with my two little ones on the days I’m not out working clinically.

As I’ve listened to the episodes, something strikes me each time.

Daniel Tiger’s songs are catchy. Really, really catchy. Maybe too catchy. Just ask my husband ;)

I can never get his songs out of my head and this got me thinking. We can learn a thing or two about songwriting from Daniel Tiger (stick with me here).

Here’s what I’ve learned about songwriting for young children from Daniel Tiger:

• Simple is best – Many of his lessons are taught through short, simple melodic phrases. Young children may not remember an entire song if it only appears in one episode, but they will remember a short and simple phrase like “When you feel so mad that you have to roar, take a deep breath and count to four.”
• Repeat, repeat, repeat – Each of the short melodic phrases are repeated multiple times throughout the episode. By the end of the episode you’ve got it down and it’s become an earworm!
• Catchy is key – I find myself singing the songs throughout the day (despite my husband’s protests). The melodies are so darn catchy that I just cannot help myself. We’ll be making lunch and I’m singing “Take a grownup’s hand, follow the plan and you’ll stay safe.”

All these things make Daniel Tiger’s songs easy to recall and incredibly effective. I have certainly found myself singing “If you have to go potty stop and go right away” to my toddler on more than one occasion.

Even if you don’t have a little one to watch with you, I would highly suggest you check out an episode or two of Daniel Tiger. (Consider it…research!) Each episode focuses on a specific social emotional topic that could easily be used in our music therapy sessions.

I don’t know about you, but to me that’s Grrrr-iffic!

Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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I know it can be tricky composing songs for clients.

We want the songs to be therapeutic and goal-oriented, but also catchy and engaging. (At least that’s what I’m thinking of when I’m composing for kids!)

Here are a few tips to get you started with writing songs for your clients:

• Repetition, repetition, repetition. When it comes to practicing a speech sound to work on clear articulation or practicing a motor skill to refine it, repetition is key. Our clients need multiple opportunities to practice a skill so they can refine or improve it. So when composing be sure to use repetition as appropriate.
• Add musical variety. Yes we love the I, IV, V, progression, but think about all the ways you can add variety to your songs. How about adding in some jazz chords, some minor chords, or a blues progression? Can you use a samba accompaniment or rock ‘n roll riff? Listen to your favorite songs and think about what it is that catches your ear. Is there a progression or musical element from that song that you could incorporate into your songs for kids?
• Sometimes simple is better. I find that many kid’s songs are too wordy and complex, which makes it difficult for a child to catch on to and learn. For our client’s with special needs, I think it’s even more important to make our songs simple and easy to learn. Use your discretion based on your client’s needs, but I’ve found that simple songs (that are not too wordy) can be the most effective.
• Use rhyming words. Adding rhyming words to the ends of phrases makes them sound catchy and easy to learn. It also helps prompt responses. For example, “What is the color of the scarf on your head? The color of the scarf is ________ (red)!” The rhyme helps prompt the response without giving the answer away!

I hope these tips help.  Get composing! And don’t forget to submit your credits to CBMT!

Image courtesy of Mister GC at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Last week I shared a simple and creative way you can earn free CMTE credits: by writing original songs.

Turns out that there are  plenty of other great reasons why writing original songs is beneficial…not just for you but for your clients as well!

Here are the top three reasons why I’m a original song ambassador…and why I think you should be too if you work with kids with special needs:

1) As music therapists, we want to set ourselves apart from what other professionals can provide. Many teachers and therapists can easily sing pre-existing songs like “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” or “Twinkle Twinkle  Little Star.” You don’t need any musical training or much musical skill to use those songs effectively with children. However, as music therapists, we have the skills and expertise to create original songs that are client-specific and goal-driven.

2) We also have the ability to use musical elements in very specific ways to help our clients meet their goals. Here are a few examples:

• Meter: We can write a song in 6/8 to facilitate rocking as a way to provide proprioceptive and vestibular input for our client.
• Tempo: Do you ever notice how some recorded songs are just too fast to sing along with? We can slow down the tempo of a song to ensure the child can hear each word clearly and easily sing along.
• Form: We can repeat target speech sounds or vocabulary words within a song to ensure the child has multiple opportunities to practice those target sounds. Or, we can repeat a cue for a specific behavior (like marching or jumping) to ensure the client has sufficient opportunities to practice those movements.

3) Composing our own songs helps ensure we’re starting with the goal first (rather than starting with an existing song and creating a goal around that). Here’s the process: Start with the client’s goal. Then, see how you can compose a song with specific musical elements (lyrics, meter, tempo, rhythm) that will help your client meet that goal.

Sound difficult? Next week I’ll share some tips on how to compose songs that are catchy, engaging AND effective.

Image courtesy of nuchylee at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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One thing I hear frequently in discussions amongst our music therapy community is about the need for free continuing education opportunities.

Yes, we love going to conference and taking online courses, but we’re also looking for some inexpensive – okay, free – ways we can grow, learn, and work towards recertification.

I have got a great way you can earn free CMTE credits AND flex your creativity muscles:

Write original songs.

I am a huge proponent of writing original songs when working with our music therapy clients (more on that next week!) So why not submit and earn continuing ed credits for doing so?

You can earn 5 credits per composition, with a maximum of 20 credits per cycle. Not bad, huh?

Here’s how it works:
For each original song you’ll need to submit a musical score and an audio recording. Go to Page 29-30 of the CBMT 2015 Recertification Manual for a complete description of the requirements.

For notating my musical scores I use a program called MuseScore (again, FREE!) For audio recording I use GarageBand on my Mac. Both tools are fairly easy to use with a little Google guidance.

Now go check out the Recertification Manual (it’s available for download on cbmt.org under the Recertification tab) and start composing!

Next week I’ll be sharing the WHY behind writing original songs for our music therapy sessions. (There are plenty more reasons beyond just receiving CMTE credits!)

The following week I’ll be sharing the HOW. Stay tuned!

Image courtesy of ponsulak at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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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. Jazz Guitar Lessons.net is one of my favorite resources.

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.

Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Love is in the air!

I’ll admit that I am a big holiday person. Now that Valentine’s Day is around the corner, I’m excited to be implementing my themed activities for this holiday of love. (Too cheesy?)

My previous post was about Valentine’s BINGO, a musical game I use with my tween and teen clients. Be sure to check out that post so you can see how to access the template and use the game in your sessions right away!

Today, I want to share a Valentine’s Day songwriting activity that I implemented yesterday with my group at Friendship Circle of Miami. I used the song “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” by Jackie deShannon as a template and left blanks for the group to fill in.

My very large post-it paper looked like this:

________________________________________

Put a little love in your heart

________________________________________

Put a little love in your heart

And the world will be a better place (repeat)

For you, and me, just wait and see!

I like this song because it’s catchy and has just enough repetition.

Most of the group had heard the song before and the rest caught on quickly. I sang through the original song so they could hear the melody and flow of the song. Then, I asked for lyrics to fill in that had to do with love or friendship.

This is what they came up with:

We love the Friendship Circle, it’s a great place to be

Put a little love in your heart

Music and art and crafts, yoga and sports and dance

Put a little love in your heart!

And the world will be a better place (repeat)

For you, and me, just wait and see!

You are my friend you see, I will give love to you

Put a little love in your heart

Valentine’s Day if here, come on and spread your cheer,

Put a little love in your heart!

And the world will be a better place (repeat)

For you, and me, just wait and see!

I was very impressed with the lyrics they came up with!

One of the group members had just started a new relationship, so he had a lot of feelings to draw from (hence Verse 2!). We sang the song through a few times and they were very happy with how it all turned out.

Next time we meet, I am going to record them on GarageBand and send the MP3 to each of them so they can keep their work. Very meaningful for them!

What are YOUR favorite Valentine’s Day themed interventions?

* Looking for more inspiration for your adolescent groups? You’ll want to check out this resource ~ Tuneful Teens: Creative Ideas for Engaging Adolescents in Music Therapy *

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As I sit here and work on a new song about compound words for my Kindergarten class, I think back to the question…why do I do this? Why do I push so hard to use original songs in my music therapy sessions with children with special needs? Here are a few of the most important reasons in my mind…

To differentiate myself from a classroom teacher…and from a CD recording.
Throughout the day, the teachers sing songs such as “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” “The Alphabet Song,” and “Down By the Bay.” These are all fabulous songs that have their own place in the classroom setting, but I want my music therapy sessions to sound different. I have the ability and creativity to compose songs that are specific and goal oriented. Also, we as music therapists perform our songs live. We have the ability to be flexible in the moment, something which a CD recording cannot do. For example…

We have the skills, expertise, and training to manipulate musical elements to cue behaviors.
As music therapists, we have unique training on how to compose songs with creativity and manipulate specific musical elements (think rhythm, tempo, lyrics, etc!) to cue behavior. Rhythm can be used to cue gross motor movement. V7 chords can be used to build anticipation and cue a verbal response. Tempo of a song can be sped up or slowed down based on how the children are responding.  Key words in the lyrics can be emphasized (i.e. “Move your arms up and down!”)

Our songs are specific and goal oriented.
This part is extremely important. We can start off with a specific goal (to increase expressive language) or a specific academic concept (teaching days of the week) and write a song that directly targets it. For example, in one of my occupational therapy co-treatment sessions, we are working with a child on writing the letters of his name. So, I composed a song that teaches the steps of how to write the letter D (“Big line down, jump to the top, big curve around, and now you’re done. I can write the letter D look at me!”)

In addition to the aforementioned points, writing original songs is FUN! Once you get into it, it’s hard to stop! What are YOUR ideas on the benefits of using original songs when working with children with special needs?

Image: sakhorn38 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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