Tonight I had a somewhat surprise observation by a client’s occupational therapist, and am so happy that she was interested in and excited about our mutual client’s involvement in music therapy. I am hoping to be in contact with her again.
Purple drank via Try Nerdy
I am a fan of all genres of music. Really. Recently, I’ve been more interested in some types of Indian music, and in gamelan.
I am also a big fan of some hip hop and rap music. So, in sharing this post, I’m not in favor of disgracing all hip hop or rap music– not at all. Mostly I just love the depth with which Try Nerdy presents its material.
Managerial Accounting
Happy Tax Day, friends.
I had some direct pay clients last year, but mostly I worked for an employer. This year, however, all is different. And complicated.
Because I know very, very little about accounting and business and financial matters, my fiancé suggested I might try some self-education on iTunes U. So! This I did. Over lunch today, I watched my very first accounting class, “Managerial Accounting,” at University of Central Missouri.
Yes, I nodded off. But I did learn things.
I may even take the test when they give it. (Technically, it’s already been given; the class happened in 2010.)
An Article Weekly: “The Effect of Behavioral Contracting on the Acquisition of Guitar Performance Skills in a College-level Beginning Guitar Class”
Each Monday, I will be writing up a short, non-academic review of an article I’ve found interesting. These articles will be taken from music therapy peer-reviewed journals.
I have been really interested in professional (and personal, for that matter) development of late, and with this comes practicing instruments, among other things. I have to say I am pretty upset with myself that I haven’t progressed much on my ukelele since I’ve brought it home about a month ago. I am seeking out ways in which to improve my keyboard skills, and I’ve tried to carve out a time to practice guitar and ukelele on a regular basis.
I was interested in the article, “The Effect of Behavioral Contracting on the Acquisition of Guitar Performance Skills in a College-level Beginning Guitar Class,” by Lori F. Gooding, MM, MT-BC, NICU MT, in Journal of Music Therapy, XLVI (4), 2009, 323-338.
Firstly, though I intuited what “behavioral contracts” are, I wondered how this article defined them. On page 325, Gooding writes:
“One specific behavior altering technique used in [Cognitive Behavior Modification] is the behavioral contract. A behavioral contract can be defined as an agreement ‘that establishes the nature of the relationship, the objectives of the learning experience, the activities to accomplish the learning objectives, and the means by which the educational effort will be evaluated.”
Also, there are rewards or reinforcements upon which the person under the contract decides.
In this article, there were four groups of college-level, beginning guitar students. Two groups were control, two groups were experimental. Skill sets were evaluated, which included accuracy of chords, ability to stay with a metronome, and fluency between chords. Each group was evaluated in playing I-IV-V7-I chord progressions.
Groups 1 and 2 were the control, and groups 3 and 4 were the experimental. The rewards that the experimental group members chose were to be able to drop one of the two required performances at the end of the class.
Not surprisingly, the experimental groups did perform better upon evaluation than the control groups did.
So now it seems that I need to determine what my reward will be for implementing my own behavioral contract. Hm. I’m not one to delete things from my day, but I’m absolutely interested in adding things to enhance quality of life. Add 10 minutes to my day for creative writing? Songwriting? If, and only if, I can achieve some measurable success at guitar and/or ukelele in a given week?
Oh, the challenges of acquiring one’s own behavioral contract. 
*Coming up: The next Minneapolis Area Music Therapists meeting, held in Edina, Minnesota. Find more information here.
Experience: Play It Loudly
Play It Loudly, Play It Quietly
I’ve been working in early intervention all over the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro for about six weeks now.
I’ve come up with this music experience that has worked well for toddlers, pre-schoolers, and has worked on a long-term continuous level.
WHO IS PLAYING?
One group of six to eight (ideally no larger) toddlers or six to 10 pre-schoolers
WHAT IS MY TARGET DOMAIN?
Physical, sensory, social, cognitive
FOR HOW LONG DOES THIS EXPERIENCE LAST?
Somewhere between three and five minutes
WHERE ARE THE CLIENTS SITUATED?
In one circle on the floor
WHAT TOOLS AND MATERIALS ARE NEEDED?
Maracas, egg shakers, chiquitas, small tambourines, bells, any small percussion instruments
I distribute one instrument to each client. I instruct them to show me “sleeping instruments.” Once each instrument is distributed, I tell the clients, “Show me ready position,” for which I model holding an instrument straight in front of me. I tell the clients to use their “listening ears,” because I will be changing up the ways I play and sing.
I sing through different actions (Play your instrument way up high) and some different qualities of sound (Play your instrument quietly. How quietly can you play?). I use a song that I created (out of desperation to get my little clients’ attention one day), and, of course, use different vocal qualities and guitar playing.
I then add something of a bridge to the song, in which I sing-instruct the clients to pass their instrument to their neighbor. Nine times out of ten, my clients pick up on the passing aspect, even in my larger groups. (We do utilize a practice round.) The passing provides each client an opportunity to play many, if not all, the instruments in the group.
I’ve been bringing back this experience, and especially in my pre-school groups, I’ve built up the difficulty and have been pleased with the successes that have been happening.
An Article Weekly: “Awareness of Music Therapy Practices and Factors Influencing Specific Theoretical Approaches”
Each Monday, I will be writing up a short, non-academic review of an article I’ve found interesting. These articles will be taken from music therapy peer-reviewed journals.
This week, I read “Awareness of Music Therapy Practices and Factors Influencing Specific Theoretical Approaches,” by Byung-Chuel Choi, PhD. I found this article in Journal of Music Therapy, XLV (1), 2008, 93-109.
One reason I chose this article to review today is because in one of my contracts, I am interested in providing my clients and the staff members who work with them directly some music experiences that are aesthetically pleasing. This is a goal area with which I have not given a great deal of thought, up to this point. By this I mean I have not determined that the quality of music I want for the client(s) to perform is my primary goal focus; this is not to say that I believe the quality of my music is not important.
This point of this article was to determine
- Is the adoption of current theoretical approaches contingent on the music therapist’s age, year of practice, attended college, area of practice, major performing medium, or degree of participation in music therapy conferences?
- Is music therapists’ work satisfaction a function of their involvement with theoretical orientations or any other factors?
- Is music therapists’ involvement in music making a function of their theoretical orientations or of any other factors?
- Is music therapists’ emphasis on the aesthetic quality and growth of music a function of their theoretical orientation or of any other factors?
- Is music therapists’ satisfaction with their past education a function of their involvement with theoretical orientations or of any other factors?
- Is music therapists’ desire to expand their theoretical knowledge a function of theoretical orientations or of any other factors? (p. 96-97)
The method of data collection was that of a two-page long survey mailed to a randomly-selected pool of 500 music therapists in the year 2004. Of the 500, 289 responded, and of those 289, 272 of the surveys were considered valid.
The results of the survey showed that 59% of the respondents indicated that their school had focused on a cognitive-behavioral approach. I don’t find this statistic to be a surprise.
According to the results of the study, there was “no significant difference” among questions 1., 2., and 3., but that those respondents who held doctoral degrees use less music in their therapy process than those who held any other type of degree.
I think this study asked a whole lot of questions. I’d be interested in knowing more about why, according to this study, those music therapists with doctoral degrees used less music in their therapeutic process than those who have any other degree. I think the first question would be fun to flesh out as its own study.
I don’t know that reading this article answered my question about my own approach to the use of aesthetics in therapy, but, like I mentioned, I’d gladly read more on this subject.
Newfound resource: noahsdad.com
I heard a really nice interview with Rick Smith on The Coffee Klatch podcast. Smith is a father whose 15-month-old son, Noah, has Down syndrome. On his site, Noah’s Dad, Smith writes about discoveries and celebrations that are direct results of his life with his son. Smith posts short videos that are meant to educate viewers of familial experiences with a child who has Down syndrome.
An Article Weekly: “Elementary-Aged Children’s Aesthetic Experiences with Music”
Each Monday, I will be writing up a short, non-academic review of an article I’ve found interesting. These articles will be taken from music therapy peer-reviewed journals.
The article I’ll briefly review tonight is, “Elementary-Aged Children’s Aesthetic Experiences with Music,” by Phyllis M. Paul. The article was published in Journal of Music Therapy, XLV(2), 2008, 135-146.
After reading this article, I have two big questions. First, though, let me tell you a little bit about the piece:
- On page 136, the all-important definition of the word “aesthetic” in this article is this: ” ‘… intense subjective and personal experience; feelingful reaction; requires perception, experience of feelings and reactions, and psychological involvement.’ “
- The measurement tool is the Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI), which is “a potentiometer interfaced with a computer that allows the measurement of a response simultaneously with stimulus presentation” (pg. 136), on which the left side was marked “0” and the right, “255.” The study considered whether fourth grade students of three types — normally developing, students with special needs, and gifted students — could use the CRDI to express aesthetic experiences.
- The piece used in the study was “18th Variation” from Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, by Rachmaninoff. Reasons given for using this piece were that it is a “complete piece of music (pg. 138)”; and it is relatively short, at three minutes 38 seconds long.
My first big question stems from the sentence directly following the descriptions of the reasons given for the piece selection. The sentence reads,
“In addition, some research … suggests that listeners may experience a more immediate enjoyment of, and appreciation for, music from the romantic period” (pg. 138).
Huh. Of course the author cited the research (an article published in Psychology of Music called “Towards and Understanding of Music Appreciation,” by E. Payne), but I for one would love to know more about said research. 1. What is “immediate” in “immediate enjoyment?” 2. Define “enjoyment.” 3. Define “appreciation.” 4. What leads a person to believe fourth graders in the year 2008 (the year in which this article was published) are among those people who have this enjoyment of music from the romantic period?
The results of this study show that there was a large difference between the group of normally developing students and the group of students with special needs, whereas a similar (but not identical) study that was conducted on preschool-aged students with and without developmental disabilities showed there was “no difference when comparing the preference discriminations” (pg. 142). My second big question is, How does age affect these results? I recognize, though, that this same test was not administered to the preschool-aged students.
Any insight?
Planning practices and problems
I have never considered myself a songwriter. I have always considered myself a planner.
Recent realizations are such that I am a songwriter (almost on a daily basis), and my feelings toward planning are that they are hopeful and sometimes restricting.
I believe all of this relates.
I’ve been afraid of writing songs and music because I’ve felt that there are a certain set of rules a composer must follow in order for the song to be valid. I’ve also always held that a songwriter must be very versed in music theory. I loathe music theory. I know it’s useful and important, but I still loathe it.
I’ve been set on rigid planning practices, in regard to music therapy and everything else there is to plan, but I have frequently been so pleasantly surprised by results of therapy sessions when I truly accommodate for the moment. This is not to say that goals and objectives are abandoned. This is to say that I am really good at improvising when I need to be. I am so happy with that.
As far as songwriting and planning go, I’ve found that I can create a legitimate song in a session that is not only applicable to that particular client and his or her needs but teachable and adaptable.
I like these kinds of surprises.
Newfound podcast: WSJ on Small Business
One way in which I have been trying to branch out as a young professional is to develop my business skills. My fiancé offers endless assistance, for which I am grateful. I am also trying to seek out any resources I can utilize on my own.
Podcasts are huge for me right now. I am in the car a lot, driving from client to client to contra
ct to client, etc. Perhaps it’s my Suzuki upbringing, but I absorb a lot from listening to interesting content; I love to read, of course, but I think I gain more from the act of listening.
One podcast I’ve liked this week is Wall Street Journal on Small Business, which can be found here. The podcast is short and provides synopses of several pieces that are applicable to small business owners and entrepreneurs.