When working with tweens and teens, I try to incorporate popular and client preferred music into my sessions as much as possible.

This immediately helps engage them and gets them excited about the musical experience.

In this post and this post, I highlight how I make my movement experiences totally age appropriate for my teen clients, and share songs that have been working well to get them up and moving!

Below are the songs I’ve been using in 2024. Incorporate the ideas from the blog posts shared above and you’ll be good to go!

“Houdini” by Dua Lipa

“Friends” by Giulo Cercato

“As It Was” by Harry Styles

“The Man” (clean version) by Aloe Blacc

“Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran

“Believer” by Imagine Dragons

“D.R.E.A.M.” by JoJo Siwa

“Dance the Night Away” by Dua Lipa

“Head and Heart” – Joel Corry & MNEK (my new fave!)

“Flowers” by Miley Cyrus

And if you need more ideas for how to infuse creativity and FUN into your music therapy sessions and music classes with middle and high schoolers, check out the Elevate Email Idea Subscription. It’s now approved by CBMT for 10 continuing education credits per package (previously it was 7)!

The post Cool Movement Songs for Tweens & Teens in Music Therapy appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

One question I’m asked more than any other is this: “What music should I use with my teen clients and students?”

I get it, because it stumps me sometimes, too.

First, it’s hard to find songs that are: a) appropriate (lyrics and content-wise), b) able to be used therapeutically, and c) considered cool by your clients.

Second, what’s “in” is changing constantly.

One day your clients are into the Jonas Brothers, the next week they’re all about Post Malone.

It can be hard to keep up.

I spend A LOT of time “researching” pop songs – combing through lyrics to make sure they’re appropriate, watching videos on YouTube, learning about the artists, finding the sheet music, and brainstorming ways to use the songs therapeutically.

One thing I wanted to be sure to include in the Tune In To Teens E-Course was a heavy focus on the music: resources for keeping up with the constantly changing tide of popular music AND strategies for tuning into your client’s preferred music (it may not even be pop!)

In the E-Course (which is pre-approved for 5 continuing ed credits), we cover:

The Function of Music: We take a quick look at the article “The Psychological Functions of Music Listening” to examine the multiple purposes that music serves for a teen (and I ask you to get a little nostalgic about the music from your teens years).

Musical Preferences: You’ll learn why assessing the preferences of your teen clients is absolutely critical and how to assess them in a way that’s engaging and fun.

Finding the Music: You’ll see how to quickly and easily find popular and client-preferred music. In addition, I’ll share with you the three types of music you can bring in that will keep your clients engaged, curious, and interested.

All Things Pop Music: You’ll have access to a downloadable Pop Song Hot List with over 100 songs that are popular right now. You’ll have access to bonus content (also downloadable) that shows you how to use current pop songs to address therapeutic goals. And, you’ll learn ten ways to quickly locate and learn pop songs.

Musical Experiences: You’ll see how to creatively weave popular and client-preferred music into your sessions. I share multiple examples so you can brainstorm ideas for your unique clients and students.

Knowing about the music that teens find meaningful is of the utmost importance.

The therapeutic relationship is not just between you and your client, it’s between you, your client, and the music.

If you want to learn more in this area, get support, and learn lots of creative, new ideas, I invite you to check out the Tune In To Teens E-Course.

In addition to helping you tackle the music side of things, the E-Course is full of brand new intervention ideas that target motor skills, social skills, attention, creativity & self-expression, and relaxation.

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.

If your clients are into rap music, or you want to expose them to this genre, 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.

Madeline Feenstra, MT-BC said this about the course: “I would recommend this course to others! I feel as though this course gave me new and exciting interventions to try with several of my teen groups that I had been struggling to come up with new interventions for. Also, I personally was struggling with how mundane those sessions felt; so this course got me excited to go to those sessions and try some new interventions. I also really struggle with using raps in my sessions. I really enjoyed the examples of the raps you provided, the tips (rapping to a theme and sentence starters) on how to get clients writing their own raps. ”

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} The Music appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Don’t you just love “Can’t Stop the Feeling?” by Justin Timberlake.

It is so darn catchy and instantly puts me in a good mood when I hear it.

I used the song in my sessions yesterday and it was a huge hit. The clients (children in grades K-5) loved it AND it was incredibly effective in helping them meet their attention goals.

Here’s what we did:

1. Each student was given a set of rhythmic sticks.
2. I played the recorded version (more on that below!) of “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake. During the verses (starting with “I got this feeling inside my bones”), I prompted students to play this pattern:
3. During the chorus (starting with “Nothing I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance”), I prompted students to play this pattern:

(It helped to count “1, 2, 3, rest; 1, 2, 3, rest” as I played the second pattern to provide a verbal cue in addition to the visual cue).

This musical experience went really well! The clients were able to work on improving sustained and selective attention while being motivated by a song they love. This is similar to how I used rhythmic patterns from “Stitches” by Shawn Mendes to work on selective attention.

Now. Why did I use recorded music?

I consider myself to be an original song ambassador. But, when working with school-age and teen clients, I think there is definitely a place for recorded music in our sessions, especially when there is a clear therapeutic reason.

I used the recoded version of “Can’t Stop the Feeling” in my sessions yesterday because:

• The musical experience required me to model patterns on rhythm sticks, so I needed both hands free to do that.
• The back beat from the song prompted each of the different patterns and I didn’t feel I could recreate that as accurately as I would have liked to (some songs are easier that others!)

Can you use this song therapeutically with your clients this week?

Just watch out though, because it will be stuck in your head all day. (Not that that’s a bad thing!)

And, if you’re looking for more creative ways to engage your school age and teen clients, I’d love for you to check out Tune In To Teens:

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It’s not always easy to find songs that are: a) considered “cool” by the teens I work and b) able to be used therapeutically.

I know because this year I’ve spent countless hours listening to songs and watching videos on YouTube.

Sometimes it’s slim pickings.

But, a few weeks ago I came back to a song that had been mentioned by the teens I work with – “Stitches” by Shawn Mendes.

The first time I heard the song I loved the catchy clapping pattern in the background.

Immediately I knew I could find ways to use that rhythmic pattern to assist in addressing the attention-based goals that are at the core of my treatment plans for these clients.

I wrote the rhythm pattern below on a wipe off board and instructed the teens to clap it during the pre-chorus of the song (which starts with “Got a feeling that I’m going under.”)

Then I wrote a second rhythm pattern (below) on the board and instructed the teens to clap it during the chorus of the song (which starts with “You watch me bleed until I can’t breathe.”)

Then I set a “pop beat” on my keyboard to help establish and maintain the rhythm and we sang and clapped the rhythm pattern as I instructed.

The intervention went so well!!

The teens already knew and liked this song, so they were singing along with me from the start. The beat from the keyboard helped the teens maintain the rhythm pattern and also helped our rendition sound authentic to the recording.

One variation on this intervention would be to pass out rhythm sticks, drum or another instrument and instruct clients to maintain the same pattern on the instrument.

Another variation (to really work on selective attention!) is split the group in two and assign a different rhythm pattern to each group.

Maybe I’ll try that variation next week…..

Want more creative ideas for your teens sessions? Check out the brand NEW E-Course – Tune In To Teens: Creative Ideas for Connection & Music Therapy Session Planning.

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