The temperature is dropping here in Pennsylvania, Thanksgiving is behind us, and I am ready to bust out ALL the winter musical experiences in my sessions.

I’m thinking creative movement, freeze dancing (of course), and creative listening to winter-themed classical music.

If you’re feeling inspired by the drop in temperature too, but need a little session planning boost, check out Elevate.

Elevate is an email idea subscription designed to help you infuse creativity and fun into your music therapy sessions with middle and high school students with autism and related disabilities.

It’s pre-approved by CBMT for 7-14 continuing education credits, depending on the package you choose.

There is a Teen Package, an Attention / Perception Package, a Combo Pack with both those packages (it’s the most popular right now!), and a brand new package for Holidays & Themes.

Subscribers who signed up for the Holidays & Themes Package are receiving a Winter Themed bundle of session ideas today, December 1st. (And you can too by clicking here!)

I had a blast putting this bundle together.

All the ideas are winter themed.

All the ideas are goal-oriented.

All the ideas are age-appropriate for middle and high school students.

And, all the ideas are fun, engaging, and COOL for this age group.

I’m telling you, I had a classroom full of middle school boys dancing like ballerinas to Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

And, a group of 10 after school programs zooming in with me for virtual music therapy all engaging in a winter musical mad lib.

If you need a little creative boost, check out all the packages, especially the Holidays & Themes Package.

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Is it feeling festive where you are?

I’m about to celebrate my first cold Christmas in twenty years, and I’m pretty excited about that.

(It’s much easier to get in the holiday spirit when it’s snowing, rather than sweltering!)

I’m busy facilitating both in-person and virtual music therapy sessions, and planning a virtual holiday show. For my middle and high school students, I love to bring in a mix of classic holiday songs, as well as those sung by popular artists.

Here are some Christmas pop songs that you’ll want to check out if you work with tweens and teens:

Like It’s Christmas by Jonas Brothers – your clients can clap the rhythm pattern in the accompaniment

Cozy Little Christmas by Katy Perry

Mistletoe by Justin Bieber

That’s Christmas To Me by Pentatonix – I show my clients the official music video and then ask them to share their favorite holiday memory

God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman/We Three Kings by Bare Naked Ladies featuring Sarah McLachlan

All I Want For Christmas Is Your by Mariah Carey

You Make It Feel Like Christmas by Gwen Stefani featuring Blake Shelton

Fa La La by Justin Bieber featuring Boyz II Men

Make It To Christmas by Alessia Cara

Christmas Makes Me Cry by Kacey Musgraves – an important song to have in our toolbox, because the holidays may bring up a variety of different emotions for our clients

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays by NSYNC

And some Hanukkah Songs:

Candlelight by The Maccabeats

Happy Hanukkah by Matisyahu

Latke Recipe by The Maccabeats

All About That Neis by Maccabeats

These are some fun songs to sprinkle in with your more traditional ones. Happy Holidays!

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The holidays are upon us, and here at Wholesome Harmonies we are still providing a mix of both in-person and virtual programming.

Many of the music therapists on our team are following CDC guidelines and providing in-home, individual music therapy sessions and lessons across South Florida.

And many (myself included!) are continuing to offer group and individual sessions and lessons virtually.

One of our upcoming virtual programs, which is presented by the Miami-Dade Public Library System, is called Holidays with Wholesome Harmonies: A free virtual sing-a-long for young children and their families.

We will be singing a variety of holiday tunes, both in English and Spanish. Festive attire is welcomed!

The program will take place via Zoom on Monday, December 21, 2020 from 5:00-5:30pm.

The program is free, but you must call the Northeast-Dade Aventura Branch to register.

I can’t wait to see you there!

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I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward to Thanksgiving next week. 

In fact, I’ve been enjoying facilitating Thanksgiving-themed musical experiences all month (and yes, I’m still 100% VIRTUAL, as are my kiddos!)

Today, I’ll be sharing some of the ideas I’ve been using, in hopes that they might be beneficial to you and your clients:

“Thankful, I Am Thankful” – We sing this original song I wrote that gives clients the opportunity to share what they are thankful for. This song, sheet music, and MP3 are included in the Tune In To Teens E-Course.

Native American Music and Rainstick Exploration – We spend time listening to traditional Native American music, reading poetry, learning about the rainstick, and making rain with body percussion. 

Holiday Traditions Mini Rap – We chant this rap over a looped hip hop beat (if you think you can’t rap, YOU CAN). Clients have the opportunity to share what their holiday traditions are. This mini rap can be used for any holiday throughout the year. Here are the lyrics:

Holiday. Holiday.
Holiday traditions.
They bring us together,
And make us feel close.
Holiday traditions.

Holiday. Holiday.
Holiday traditions.
They bring us together,
And make us feel close.
What’s your holiday tradition?

Those who are on our mailing list will get the MP3 to use in their sessions!

Country Line Dancing and Hoedown – Are you ready for this? We danced to “Cotton Eyed Joe” (you know the one I’m talking about – the remix from the 90s) and “Hoedown Throwdown” by Miley Cyrus. These songs were surprisingly well-received by my school-age, teen, AND adult clients.

Relaxation – We wound down at the end of the session to “Simple Gifts” by Yo-Yo Ma and Allison Krauss. I found a nice video on YouTube where my clients could listen to the song and watch some beautiful nature scenes.

For more Thanksgiving-themed ideas, read this post, this post about my favorite Fall singable story, and this post with some Fall sensory ideas.

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Christmas is right around the corner (do you even need me to tell you that?) and our holiday sessions are in full swing!

We’re jingling bells, ho-ho-ho-ing on the kazoo, and playing Holiday Musical Pictionary.

I recently started working at a preschool in Miami, where I provide music therapy for the 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old classes.

Tomorrow is their Holiday Show and I wanted to showcase something very special for the parents and families.

With preschoolers in the past, I’ve done a Holiday Spectacular that featured multicultural songs and a performance of the Nutcracker (complete with original choreography, music, and set design).

This year, the preschool children will be performing “The First Noel” on hand bells.

I wanted to share this because it’s a great choice for a holiday performance for a few reasons:

• First, if the children are playing the melody, it uses all eight bells. I love doing songs like “Jingle Bells,” but the chorus only uses five of the hand bells.
• Second, for the majority of the song, it moves in stepwise motion. There aren’t many leaps in the melody, which makes it easy for the children to anticipate when it’s their turn to play.
• Third, the melody repeats itself twice. This makes it easy for you as the teacher, because you don’t need to juggle multiple sheets of music. This also makes it easy for the children, because they’ve become very familiar with the melody due to its repetition.

I’m looking forward to our Holiday Show tomorrow!

We’ll be singing lots of holidays carols, but I’m most looking forward to the parents watching their children read real music notation and play the hand bells.

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“Halloween-themed attention & perception training exercises.”

Kind of a mouthful, isn’t it?

That’a just a fancy way of saying that we’re going to use Halloween songs to work on attention and perception skills (like listening and following directions).

Here’s an idea that can be used with clients of all ages:

Play a spooky Halloween song (either a live or recorded version) and instruct your clients to play their instrument and listen for a key word or phrase. When they hear it, they should ______________ (you fill in the blank!)

For example: Play the “Ghostbusters Theme Song” (everyone will be jamming – clients, teachers, and therapists alike!) Clients will play a rhythm instrument and listen for the word “Ghostbusters” in the song.  Every time they hear that word, they should switch instruments with the person next to them.

Another example: Play the “Monster Mash” (another favorite that will have everyone tapping their toes!) Clients will wave their scarves and listen for the phrase “monster mash” in the song. Every time they hear that phrase, they should wave their scarves up high in the air.

This gives clients the opportunity to work on:

• Selective attention – They have to tune out everything else going on in the song and in their classroom to hear that specific word or phrase
• Listening & direction following – There’s a lot to follow! They’ll need to remember what word or phrase they’re listening for, and what to do when they hear that word or phrase
• Impulse control – They’ll have to wait until they hear the word or phrase before they can switch instruments or shake up high (or whatever other instructions you gave them!)

That’s a lot packed into a simple Halloween musical experience, right?

If you need more Halloween-themed interventions, click here to visit the Holidays & Seasons Session Planning Page and scroll down to October.

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Valentine’s Day is just around the bend.

With that theme in mind I’ve been incorporating lots of “love”- and friendship-themed songs into my sessions: “Love Story” by Taylor Swift, “Rhythm of Love” by the Plain White T’s and “Count on Me” by Bruno Mars.

Although I’ll be the first to admit that it’s fun to plan a themed-session, as music therapists we have to remember to always keep our clients’ therapeutic goals at the forefront of our minds.

Many of my school-age clients are working on auditory perception goals in our sessions. This means I’m engaging them in musical activities that target listening skills and direction following (skills that translate directly into the classroom setting!)

Here is one example of how I’m combining the Valentine’s theme + auditory perception goals this week.

I pass out a variety of instruments to the students (maracas, bells, rhythm sticks, etc.) I instruct them that I’m going to play the song “Rhythm of Love.” Every time they hear the word “love,” they should switch instruments with the person next to them.

This is a great way to work on:

• listening skills
• direction following
• selective attention (they need to tune out distractions and focus on listening for the word “love”)
• and, social communication skills (when they switch instruments)

This musical experience can be used with any song, at any time of the year. Just choose a word or phrase (or even musical element!) that you would like the students to listen for. Then give them the cue for what to do when they hear that word or phrase.

I love this musical experience because it’s versatile and can be tailored to the unique needs and musical preferences of our clients.

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day and if you need more holiday inspiration, hop on over to the Session Planning Page.

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Although I have a storehouse of session ideas (especially when it comes to Fall!), I always like to keep things fresh and bring in new musical experiences for my clients.

My mom recently sent a book in the mail for my daughters (who are ages 2 and 4) and they love it, but as soon as I saw it (and read it) I knew it would be PERFECT for my music therapy sessions.

The book is called “The Leaves Are Falling One By One” by Steve Metzger.

You can sing the book to the tune of “The Ants Go Marching One By One.”

This singable book is great for working on the following goals:

• Expressive language (sing “Hurrah! Hurrah!” or the entire song)
• Math skills (counting 1-10)
• Motor skills (wiggle fingers and move arms up then slowly down to simulate leaves falling; or use scarves!)

You can also bring in leaves (real or fake) and use them for counting throughout the story. I think your clients will enjoy this singable book as much as mine have!

BTW – will I see you at conference in Dallas next week? I hope so!

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I prepared a spooky music listening session for my school-age kiddos this week and I’m EXCITED about it!

My goals for the students in these classes are:

• To improve auditory perception skills (ie. listening skills)
• To improve sustained attention
• And, to practice using adjectives (one of the goals shared by their teachers)

These goals, paired with the fact that Halloween is coming up, led me to create a spooky music listening session for the students.

We started off with The Halloween Rhythm Repeat (you can get a PDF of this musical experience sent straight to your inbox!) as a warm up to work on listening skills and sustained attention.

Following that, we listened to three pieces of music, took part in some listening activities, and filled out a listening sheet that I created. Out of all the spooky sounding classical music out there (and there is a LOT), I narrowed it down to three pieces:

Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” (you know it from Fantasia)

Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in d minor” (think creepy organ music)

Saint-Saëns’ “Danse Macabre” (the students knew it from Mickey’s Halloween)

Here’s the plan for each musical selection:

1. Listen to the music – no writing, no watching, just listening.
2. Listening Activity – Examples include: True or False (where I shared four statements about the piece or composer and the students told me if they thought those statements were true or false) and Let’s Vote (where I paused the music to see if they could identify the instrument being played).
3. Watch video of a live performance of the piece. Each classroom has a laptop and Promethean board so I pulled the music up on YouTube. This was especially neat for “Toccata and Fugue,” as the students were VERY intrigued by the organ!
4. Listening Sheet – Finally, each student answered questions on their Listening Sheet. The last question prompted them to circle the musical elements that make a piece sound “spooky” (minor mode, sudden dynamic changes, etc.) and compared them with the musical elements that make a piece sound “happy.”

Have you ever done a music listening activity for Halloween? I would love to hear what music you used and how you facilitated the activity. Leave a comment below to let us know!

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I’ve been on a session planning kick lately.

Even though I have almost thirteen years (!!) of session plans saved up I still love coming up with new ideas, writing new songs and thinking of more creative ways to help my clients meet their goals.

Lately, my three-year-old daughter has been really into the Nutcracker. She’s been requesting we play the music to the ballet so she can dance in her ballerina costume. This inspired me to see how I can use the music of the Nutcracker to work on the attention and auditory perception goals I have for my school-age clients.

Coming up with the session ideas was easy. Coming up with ways to make them cool? Not quite as easy.

Here are some of the best ideas I came up with that were well received by my students:

Listening sheets:
Since my main goals are to improve attention and auditory perception skills, I thought focused listening would be a great way to start. After discussing nutcrackers and a bit about the storyline, I passed out listening sheets.

The first day we listened to: the Arabian Dance, Chinese Dance and Russian Dance. Students were instructed to answer questions about the tempo of the song, the mood of the song, and other questions that required them to listen carefully to the music. I was surprised how many students said they liked the pieces we listened to!

The second day we listened to: “March,” “Battle Between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” and “the Christmas Tree.” Since many of the students are learning about parts of speech, I provided them with different adjectives to describe the pieces and prompted them to circle the ones that fit.

If you’d like a copy of my Nutcracker Listening Guides so you can use them with your students and clients, click below:

Movement:
There are so many ways to incorporate movement in a Nutcracker-themed session plan. The ballet has pieces of varying tempo and style, each with a different feel to it. I had younger students march to the “March” and move scarves to the “Finale Waltz.” I had older students move the parachute with pre-set choreography to “The Russian Dance.” And completely unprompted, I had many students (male and female!) stand up and pretend to be ballerinas when we listened to the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.”

These activities were designed to work on gross and fine motor skills and give students to opportunity for creative expression.

Instrument Exploration:
Students and teachers alike were intrigued by the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. I showed them the dance on YouTube and they were captivated. Following that, I showed them a picture of a tuba and celesta and took a poll to see how many students could guess the instrument that was playing. Then we watched a video of someone playing the celesta so the students could see exactly what it looked like.

Following that, I created a sheet with the rhythm for Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and each student played it on the triangle along with the song. These activities definitely sustained their attention.

Nutrocker:
Finally, we ended with the “Nutrocker” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra (truly the best way to make the Nutcracker seem “cool” for school-age students). Since one of my main goals for the students is to work on auditory perception skills, I told them that we’d be playing air keyboard and air electric guitar as we listened to the piece. Every time they heard keyboard, they were to pretend to play air keys. Every time they heard electric guitar, they were to pretend to play guitar. Not only did they have to listen to the instrument changes in the song, but they got to rock out and really have fun with it.

I was pleasantly surprised by how many students told me they liked the music of the Nutcracker. It may not be JT or Bruno Mars, but they were open to it, and that is the most important thing!

If you’re looking for even more creative ideas for working with teens, school age clients or adults, I’d love for you to check out the E-Course I created, Tune In To Teens. It’s approved by CBMT for 5 continuing education credits and is packed with creative session ideas and strategies for working with teen clients:

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