Whenever I survey my clients about their favorite singers, I inevitably hear names like Drake, Future, Travis Scott, and Bad Bunny.

I’ll be honest though, most of the time I have to Google these rappers so I can be up to speed on who they are.

But since I know that rap and hip hop are a favorite of my clients, especially the middle and high school students, I try to find as many ways as possible to incorporate this genre into my sessions (even though my comfort zone is Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift!)

Here are a few simple ways I incorporate rap and hip hop music and artists into my music therapy sessions:

• Add the rappers and songs into Music Jeopardy categories (For example – “What is Drake’s birth name?”)
• Add the rapper into a game of Guess Who (Example – I’m a Puerto Rican rapper and singer known as the King of Latin Trap. Who am I?)
• Facilitate rapping with a simple prompt or sentence starter like “I know I can _________.”
• Facilitate beat making on GarageBand (this is such a great way to target executive function and social communication skills in group settings!)
• Lead a brief song discussion about the song “I Can” by Nas. End by asking your clients want they to be and what steps they can take to get there.
• Hip Hop versus Classical – instructions for the game I created here
• And, my personal favorite: The Affirmations Rap by Snoop Dogg

These are simple ways to incorporate rap and hip hop into your music therapy sessions with teens to engage them, and communicate that you hear them, you see them, and their preferences matter.

If you would like more ideas that are cool and engaging for middle and high schoolers, then stay tuned for what’s coming next week.

I’ve decided to put the Tune Into Teens and Attention & Perception E-Courses on HIATUS for the foreseeable future.

As a continuing ed provider for CBMT, I pay to be a provider and for each and every course offering I have. I am going to be placing my efforts on new projects, like the Elevate Email Idea Subscription. So, I have decided to no longer offer the Tune In To Teens and Attention & Perception Courses.

Before I pull them, I am going to offer them one last time at a discounted rate, starting the week of January 15, 2023. When you purchase, you will have the full 3 or 6 months (depending on the package you choose) to complete the course.

So, if you’ve been on the fence and eyeing these E-Courses, it is definitely the time to act before these courses go away for good.

Stay tuned to your email and socials for all the details!

The post Simple Ways to Incorporate Rap & Hip Hop Into Your Music Therapy Sessions With Teens appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

One of the primary things I keep top of mind, when planning my sessions for teens, is age appropriateness.

It’s top of mind for me because I understand how tricky planning age appropriate experiences can sometimes be, and it’s something I get emails from other music therapists about all the time.

We may work with a client whose developmental age doesn’t match up with their chronological age.

We may work with a student who doesn’t use words to communicate.

Even if this is the case, it is our job to ensure everything we bring in – from the music to the musical experiences – is age appropriate.

Here is one of my favorite ways to do this:

Since many of the students I work with enjoy hip hop and rap music, I do a YouTube search to pull up some cool beats.

For example, last week I searched: “hip hop rap beat 2022” and “Drake beat” (since he’s a crowd favorite).

Then, I use these as back beats for musical experiences where I might have accompanied myself with guitar or piano, had I been working with younger students.

I’ve used these beats for movement experiences, instrument playing, and of course for rap writing experiences where my clients are creating their own raps.

Adding beats instantly ups the cool factor to any musical experience, even if a song has simple lyrics.

Would it be helpful for you to learn more tips and creative ideas like this?

If so, stay tuned because the Tune In To Teens E-Course will be opening for enrollment at a discounted rate very soon.

In Tune In To Teens, I share more creative ways to keep the music and musical experiences you offer your teen clients totally cool AND age appropriate.

More on that here:

Elisa Parker, MT-BC said this about the course:

“Amy has some fantastic, age-appropriate ideas that I believe will capture the attention of teen clients.”

And, Brooke Heltzel, MT-BC said:

“I loved this course. It sparked many ideas for me to include in my sessions. I would definitely recommend this course to others. It provides resources to keep therapists’ up-to-date with music that teens enjoy. The course interventions are easily adaptable for other age groups as well.”

I’d love to see you over in the course, too!

The post How To Keep Things Age Appropriate When Working With Teens appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

“Hip Hop meets Classical”

This simple search on YouTube led me to find some neat videos and create a brand new musical experience that was pretty cool for my teen clients.

Many of them are working on improving their attention and auditory perception skills.

So, their task was this –
Listen closely to the hip hop classical medley and determine which classical song was embedded into the hip hop song.

Most of the classical songs were fairly famous and recognizable:

Canon in D (embedded in “C U When U Get There” by Coolio)

Fur Elise (embedded in “I Can” by Nas)

Toccata and Fugue in d minor (perfect for Halloween!)

Beethoven’s 5th Symphony

Wagner Symphony No. 5

La Serenissima

Four Seasons

Air on a G String

My clients had a blast movin’ and groovin’ to the hip hop beats, while also trying to “name that classical tune” (and name the hip hop songs, too!)

This was an engaging way to work on auditory perception and listening skills with my teen clients. They had the opportunity to learn about different genres of music AND get some movement in during our session (win win!)

We followed this experience up with a lyric analysis of parts of the clean version of the song “I Can” by Nas. Then, we created our own raps using the sentence starter “I Know I Can.”

One simple YouTube search sparked several creativity ideas, and served as a great way to engage my teen clients virtually.

For more easy ideas on how to incorporate rap and hip hop into your music therapy sessions, check out The Rap Pack for Teens.

The post Virtual Ideas for Teens: Hip Hop Meets Classical appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Every other Sunday, I drive up a palm tree-lined road to the Chabad Center of Kendall to facilitate sessions for Friendship Circle Miami.

I’ve worked with Friendship Circle since 2010 and it’s one of my favorite programs to work with.

This past week something very interesting happened in one of the sessions.

I had just completed an activity and was transitioning to the next one when I noticed that the group was very disorganized. Some of the teens were walking around the room, some were not paying attention to what was going on in the session.

The next activity was the Be Flexible Rap that I use to teach clients about being flexible in situations where things don’t go as planned. (More about that intervention here!)

I turned on my iPod, connected it to the speaker and pressed play on the rap track for the song (rap track = the looped hip hop beat I use as the back track for rapping).

As soon as the beat started playing, there was a noticeable change in the room. I started patting my knees to the beat and the ENTIRE group started patting along with me, in synchrony. Those who were standing moved to their chairs and sat back down. The clients who were disorganized were suddenly moving, in time, with the rest of the group.

We entrained to the rhythm and it organized our entire group.

This is because research has shown that when our brain takes in information, it prefers it to be in an organized, structured form, rather than discrete bits of information.

This rap track provided the organization and structure that the group needed at that time. And, it helped sustain their attention throughout the activity so we could work on the therapeutic concepts in the Be Flexible rap.

If you want to learn more about how to use rap tracks in your sessions with school-age clients and teens, check out the Tune In To Teens E-Course. You’ll get free MP3 rap tracks and learn how to use them to target attention, social, communication and motor goals (PLUS the “cool” factor will be through the roof when you hit play and your clients hear a hip hop beat!)

The post How To Use Rap Tracks When Your Clients Have Lost Focus appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

If you’ve been following the WH blog for the past few years you know that I love to incorporate rapping into my sessions with tween and teen clients.

I use rapping to help clients explore their emotions, increase communication skills, and facilitate self-expression.

It can be as simple as giving a prompt or sentence starter, providing a hip hop beat, and allowing clients the space to create.

Last week at Children’s Resources Educational Center (a school in Miami where I provide services for children with special needs), I facilitated this experience using the sentence starter “I know I can ____________.”

We started off by discussing what this meant in concrete terms: things they’re good at, things they like to do, things they’re sure of.

Then, I started a hip hop beat and prompted each client to complete the sentence starters on paper:

The 2nd and 3rd graders wrote things like:

I know I can…eat pizza
I know I can…play on the playground
I know I can…give hugs
I know I can…eat tacos

Their answers were simple and concrete.

I’ve also facilitated this experience with teen clients and gotten some very different answers. With this age group we were able to dig a little deeper (I wrote more about that here).

They wrote things like:

I know I can…be a friend to others even if I’m scared
I know I can…face my fear of talking
I know I can…face my problems

Giving clients the space and opportunity to express themselves is a critical component of this musical experience.

Using a hip hop beat as clients create and perform provides rhythmic grounding and organizes the experience. It also makes clients feel like they’re creating an authentic-sounding piece of work. I wrote my own rap and performed it in front of the teen clients and let me tell you, I was surprised by how nervous I felt (more about that next week)!

If you want to learn more about how to facilitate rapping with your clients, I go into detail in my E-Resource Rap Pack for Teens (which includes an E-Book + Mp3s) and my E-Course Tune In To Teens. I’d love for you to check out these resources if you work with teens, school age children, adults, or any other clinical population that might benefit from this type of musical experience:

The post I Know I Can…Rap appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Did you grab your FREEBIES yet?

I’m talking about the Rap Track MP3 & PDF of the Friendship Rap that you can use in your sessions with elementary or middle school students, or with teens.

I love sharing the new ideas that I come up with and test out in my sessions.

What I love even more is to hear feedback from readers who have tried out the ideas with their own groups and met with success!

Many times, you tweak and change things to meet the unique needs of your students and clients, which is PERFECT (and encouraged)!

Debbie is an Elementary School Music Specialist who wrote me an awesome email about how she used the Friendship Rap in a recent session.

This is what she wrote:

Hi Amy,

Thank you for the “Friendship Rap.” I used it today with my Special Ed class and it was a hit. I taught them the “chorus” and we did it many times, until they could say it and do the movement. As you probably know, getting special needs kids to speak where you can hear them or get the to use a clear voice can be a challenge! But they did it.

Then we added some instruments, shared one with a friend, and finally everyone had their own instrument. At this point I focused on them keeping a steady beat, while still using the song.

The track with just the music and no words is great. Thank you for making it almost 7 minutes! It was enough time for them to do the rap (several times), add  their verses, get them to play their instruments together, and to play a solo.

The picture I sent is the verses they came up with (see picture above). They needed only a little prompting. The ages in this class range from Kindergarten to 6th grade. They have a range of needs, but music ties them all together, no matter their age.

Thanks again. It is a wonderful post!!

Musically yours, Debbie.

This made my heart sing with happiness and I just wanted to reach through the computer and give Debbie a virtual hug for taking the time to write!

I know how hard it can be to find musical experiences when you have a group with clients who span a variety of ages and functioning levels.

I love what Debbie writes at the end of her note – “They have a range of needs, but music ties them all together, no matter what the age.”

If you haven’t checked out the post introducing the Friendship Rap, check it out here. It’ll get your wheels turning for how you might use it in your music therapy sessions or classes with elementary and middle school students or teens.

When you do, leave a comment below to let us know how it went!

The post Rapping Success Story appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Valentine’s Day will be here in just a few days! (Click here for some VDay intervention ideas!)

While this makes me excited, I know that for some of the teen clients I work with this holiday can bring up mixed emotions.

They feel a lot of pressure to have a boyfriend or girlfriend and if they don’t have one they can feel sad and left out.

So, for my teen sessions this week I decided to focus on friendship, rather than romantic relationships.

I wanted to incorporate a variety of interventions that focused on how we can each work towards being a better friend to those around us. With that in mind, I came up with a brand new idea called the Friendship Rap.

I used a looped hip hop beat (or “rap track”) that I created on GarageBand as my backtrack and wrote a chorus that we repeated over and I over.

For the verses, I prompted each client to finish the phrase “To be a friend ____________” by sharing one idea for how to be a good friend.

The intervention went SO well!

The clients really got into the rap (they were tapping their feet and bobbing their heads) and they came up with some very insightful responses for how to be a good friend.

I’d love it if you could also put this idea into practice in your sessions this week!

If you’d like the complete description of The Friendship Rap intervention (along with the lyrics for the chorus) PLUS an MP3 of the rap track and a sample of what the friendship rap would sound like, click below and I’ll send it your way:

If you’re already on the mailing list, you’re good to go – I’ll be sending out an email to you tomorrow with the goodies listed above!

The theme of friendship and how we can be the best friend we can be is a great topic for teens not just around Valentine’s Day, but any time of the year!

The post The Friendship Rap + A Free MP3 appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

I love Bruno Mars.

He’s got catchy tunes, a fantastic voice and puts on a great show when he performs live (can you believe those curlers?!)

So it’s not surprising that he’s VERY popular with the tween and teen groups I lead for the organization Friendship Circle of Miami.

When it came time to choose a song for Teen Scene to perform at the End of the Year Morning of Talent, “Count On Me” seemed like the perfect choice.

Even though the song is a few years old, the teens in my group still love it and the lyrics fit perfectly with the themes of friendship, unity and togetherness that are at the core of the Friendship Circle organization.

Here is Teen Scene performing “Count on Me”:

(All pictures shared with permission)

For Tween Scene, I had introduced the song “What I Am” by Will.I.Am during music therapy earlier that year.

{To see how I facilitated this musical experience, check out the Rap Pack for Teens, which also includes the the original back track I created in Garageband to use with this song.}

Here is Tween Scene performing “What I Am” by Will.I.Am:

All in all it was a fantastic morning where the tweens and teens had the chance to perform for their families and show them what we had worked on that year during music therapy.

I’m already looking forward to October when Friendship Circle starts up again!

The post Performing Bruno Mars & Will.I.Am appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

I just had to share with you the powerful lyrics that were written by one of the group members who is on the autism spectrum (shared with client permission):

Not only did he write those lyrics about facing his “talking fear,” but he stood up and rapped in front of the entire group.

Pretty incredible.

By listening to what my clients were telling me about their preferred music (rap and hip hop!) I was able to create some really meaningful…and engaging….musical experiences. Experiences that not only target multiple goals, but ones that are considered “cool” by my clients and ones they want to participate in.

If you’re looking for ways to engage your teen clients using rap and hip hop beats in original and creative ways and would like to know exactly how I facilitated the experience I just described, then I would love for you to check out my new resource.

It’s called the Rap Pack for Teens.

The Rap Pack  includes an E-Book full of ideas for how to use raps in your sessions, plus 12 original mp3 tracks with looped beats for rapping. You’ll learn how to create and perform rhythm combo raps and freestyle raps, plus tons of ways to vary and extend each musical experience.

I have to tell you, I really enjoyed creating this resource, so I hope you’ll click here to find out more about what’s included in the rap pack!

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