I said it again this month at the Melrose Public Library program during a music therapy session.
I love looking out at all the babies and toddlers who came unsuspectingly. I begin to play my guitar and they just stare at me. It is partially a look of panic, “Who are you?”” And partially a look of disbelief, “You want me to do to what?” It is also a look of intrigue and confusion. But I do know, and I’m sure of this based on my years of music therapy experience, that these looks are not looks of boredom!
I have to admit that it did take me a long time to come to this realization. I used to think it was just me and that I was boring them to death.
I remember, my very first session with preschoolers for my music therapy internship. The students were brought down to the music room for thirty minutes. I started with the hello song I had prepared. I was petrified when I realized that they were all staring back at me with that deer in the headlights look. I sang the song two times and then, because they obviously didn’t like that one, I quickly transitioned to another song. The second song was received with those same empty stares. As was the third, and the fourth, and the fifth, the sixth, seventh, eighth and even the ninth. That’s right! I sang nine songs in that first thirty-minute music therapy session! No wonder they were confused. I never gave them a chance to catch up with me!
It took me years of experience and learning about early childhood development and music, but now I know that if I’m still getting that deer in the headlights look, I need to do the song again, and again, and again, until the young children who are participating in my music groups are no longer in panic mode. Once their facial expressions relax and they begin to look at me with the expression that says, “Oh, okay…tell me more,” then I know we are ready for more music making. I assure you, as adults we will tire of a song much more quickly than our babies will. But our babies are not bored!
So the next time you start singing a new song with your baby, sing it again and again and again until they start to get it. Never do what I once did and run through 9 songs in 30 minutes! Instead, give your child a chance to really soak it all up and experience the music. And then when you are bored, sing it three more times!
Explore Sprouting Melodies and our early childhood music offerings.
Roman Music Therapy Services is announcing that we have teamed up with Papa Gino’s to offer a brand new option for Birthday Parties for children. Here’s a fun way to celebrate your child’s birthday in developmentally and age appropriate ways in which the kids and grown ups all have a blast!
All great questions. I actually had a special education teacher ask me at the beginning on this school year if I had this written down somewhere and I was surprised when I realized I didn’t. So now it is officially in writing.
Cool Down
Nothing! There is no prerequisite for successful participation in music therapy. The Board Certified Music Therapists at Roman Music Therapy Services work from a client centered music therapy approach. In this model of therapeutic treatment, a client participates as they are and the music therapist uses the tools of music to meet the client and their needs. The client does not need to do anything! Where the client is is where they are, and the music therapist’s job is to meet the client in that place and help them to move towards their educational and therapeutic goals in the music.
Parents often call me looking for music therapy services because they know that their child “loves” music. They recognize that music is something, or sometimes the one thing, that their child responds to consistently. Maybe the child is singing songs but not using a lot of language, or maybe the child plays instruments with an apparent awareness of musicality.
There is nothing like sharing in the simplicity of music making with a child. As a newborn, music is a profound experience that causes the baby to stop and look around, waiting and watching. As children age, they become more and more aware of the environment and still attend to music as if it is a huge presence in the room. I learn a lot from their experience of music.
There is a closeness in making music with your child that goes beyond a song. It is our common understanding that songs and lullabies create intimate shared moments for babies and caregivers. With repetition, those shared musical moments create meaningful bonds.
Being a music therapist is a really exciting and dynamic job. At any given moment my car has some sort of collection of instruments in it, which leads all of the passengers in my car to ask, “what is that noise?”. Typically it is a bag of tambourines, maracas, bells, frame drums, rain sticks…you name it, it’s probably in my bag of tricks. And that bag of tricks and I travel all over to make music with some really outstanding individuals.
I start my day at 8:30 AM at Charlestown High School. Here, I work with a group of teenagers with various disabilities. We focus a lot on social interaction and movement in this group. So, for example, I’ll set up an instrument improvisation where everyone chooses and instrument and then we all jam until I give the cue to trade instruments. The kids then get up and ask their peers if they can have their instrument. The physical aspect of this is significant for most of these kids, as many of them have physical challenges, and the chance for appropriate social interaction is incredibly important. It really gives them an opportunity to have a successful social exchange and it is a wonderful model for them to carry over outside of the session.
Now, I’m on to the 
So, there you have it. That is what a typical day looks like for me.