Have you heard the word? We are now offering telehealth music services!

• Individual Music Therapy
• Group Music Therapy
• Adapted Music Lessons
• Developmental Music Classes

We’re happy to be able to provide these virtual services so our current clients can continue receiving services, and so we can meet new friends around the world to make music with online.

Click here to contact us about setting up virtual services with one of our wonderful board-certified music therapists or teachers.

Schedule
The wonderful thing about telehealth services is that they can be scheduled at “virtually” any time! Our therapists and teachers are available to schedule services throughout the week at a time that is convenient for you and your child. Services can be scheduled once a week or multiple times per week.

FAQs
What can I expect from a virtual music therapy session?
You can expect to have fun and make a lot of music! In our virtual music therapy sessions, we engage our clients in songwriting, singing and song discussion, movement and dancing, and musical games. We use online programs like GarageBand to create looped beats and record songs. Throughout the session, the therapist will use lots of colorful visuals to engage your child – we’ll show song lyrics, musical game boards, songwriting templates, and visuals.

What if I don’t have any musical instruments?
You are not required to have any musical instruments or materials. It is encouraged, though, and we are happy to provide recommendations for items to purchase.

What can I expect from a virtual music lesson?
Your teacher will request a picture of your child’s lesson book so they can follow along. The teacher will facilitate your child in playing from their lesson book, improvising, and composing, and lead them in ear training exercises – everything we do in our in-person lessons!

What equipment do I need?
A computer or smart device. We use Facetime, Zoom, or Doxy to facilitate sessions. Your teacher or therapist will be in touch with you prior to the session and give you instructions for how to connect for the session.

Payment
We accept private pay clients and are a provider for the Gardiner Scholarship and WellCare/Staywell, and can bill on your behalf (with nothing out of pocket required).

Click here to contact us about setting up virtual services with one of our wonderful board-certified music therapists or teachers.

The post Virtual Music Services for Children & Teens appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

My family is on Day 12 of self-quarantining and it has been…interesting.

We are slowly getting our bearings and figuring out this homeschool/work from home/teach from home life.

If you’re a music therapist or music teacher who has suddenly shifted from in-person services to virtual services, I have some tips for you.

In this post I share some ideas for going virtual with your music therapy sessions. It takes a bit of an adjustment, but these tips should help.

If you’re teaching music lessons, I’ve got ideas for you too!

Snap a picture of the lesson book. If you’re like me, you had zero preparation that you would suddenly be stopping in-person services. I don’t have all my students’ lesson books at home, and often on video it’s hard to see the music in the lesson book clearly. So, in a pinch, I asked my first student to hold her lesson book up to the camera lens and I snapped a picture on my phone. Then, as she played, I followed along on the picture on my phone. It worked perfectly!

(UPDATE: If the student or parent can snap a picture of the lesson book page and text it or email it to you, that is even better!)

Screen share. Many of us who are now teaching virtually are using the program called Zoom. Zoom has a screen share option, which is great for showing your keyboard or chord diagrams.

Have a helper in the room. Depending on the age and level of your student, it may be beneficial to have a helper in the room. If you’re trying to teach a chord on ukulele, and the student can’t find the right position, you can explain to the helper where the fingers should be and have them do the physical prompting.

Get creative. I have lots of tips for adapted lessons on my blog. I wrote these posts with “in-person” lessons in mind, but the ideas can easily be used in virtual lessons. Use these resources to help you as you teach virtually:

A few creative adaptations for your lessons

A Few MORE creative adaptations for your lessons

Incorporate this one thing into your adapted lessons and watch what happens

Jazz up your students’ improvisations with this technique

Finally, remember to be patient with yourself and your students. We’re all learning as we go!

If you’re in need of some session planning inspiration for your virtual music therapy sessions, check out this brand new resource (it’s 50% until April 30th):

The post Ideas For Going Virtual With Music Lessons appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

I don’t have to tell you that last week our world was turned completely upside down.

My business stopped all in-person services and moved as many clients and students as we could to virtual sessions and lessons.

Definitely NOT what we had expected or planned for.

But, music therapists are by nature creative, innovative, flexible, and resilient! So, we are already coming up with unique and engaging ways to work with our clients and students.

Here are a few ideas to engage our clients when using technology:

Use Lots of MOVEMENT – Your client on the other end of the computer doesn’t need any materials or instruments to be able to move and groove along with you. Incorporate lots of movements to wake up their body and the brain (and yours too!) – jumping, twirling, hopping, skipping, running, and stomping. Add in cues to “Freeze!” to work on attention and impulse control. Ask for their ideas for kinds of movements to do, so they have a chance to practice executive function skills like decision making.

Homemade Instruments – If your client families don’t have traditional rhythm instruments at home, give them ideas for how to make homemade instruments. (Even if they do already have instruments, it’s a fun project for them to make their own – everyone’s homeschooling now, right?!) Oatmeal and coffee containers can de decorated and turned into drums. Beans or rice can be added to soda cans and paper towel rolls to make shakers.

Songwriting – Simple songwriting can be done with clients of all ages. Think of topics that are relevant to them – St. Patrick’s Day…Feelings…Favorite things to do at home…Something they choose?

Body Percussion – No rhythm sticks at home? Try rhythm patterns using body percussion. It’s a great way to work on attention skills, impulse control, and auditory perception skills. You give a four-beat pattern, and they imitate it. Or, write out a four-beat rhythm pattern for them to learn and play along with your singing.

Fun pop songs – Have you heard of “The Git Up” by Blanco Brown? This would be a great song to teach older kids and tweens. The song is super upbeat and there’s a series of dance steps to learn, which is great for working on sequencing and memory.

Incorporate the Whole Family – This is a wonderful opportunity to engage parents, caregivers, and siblings in the session. This gives them a chance to bond with their child in a positive way AND learn musical experiences they can do once the computer is shut down.

These are just a few simple ideas.

I have a feeling we will all learn as we go, and begin to generate more and more ideas as time goes on.

I cannot wait to get back to my in-person sessions. I miss hearing a whole class of children singing along with me and getting big hugs at the end of a class. But for now, we will make the best of what we have.

If you’re in need of some session planning inspiration for your virtual music therapy sessions, check out this brand new resource (it’s 50% off until April 30th):

The post A Few Ideas for Going Virtual With Music Therapy appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.