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Music Therapy & The Elderly Week post 1

10/4/2012

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Life for an Elder in a nursing home can feel alienating. Dementia compounds the experience. Alive Inside is a new Documentary movie tells a story of hope and beauty in a place where they are hard to find. Produced and directed by Michael Rossato-Bennett, the film follows Dan Cohen as he discovers the power music has to "awaken" minds considered closed.  Featuring Dr. Oliver Sacks and Dr. Bill Thomas, and the amazing men and women in patient care. Commissioned by the The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.We are very excited to announce the world premiere for Alive Inside at the Rubin Museum in New York City on April 18th 2012. 

Here is an amazing clip from this movie showing just how powerful music can be for those who suffer from Dementia and Alzheimers. 



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Pre-school Activity week final day- friday favourites

2/3/2012

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Counting Monkeys :)

Welcome to the final day of the pre-school activity week at harmony music therapy scotland. Today I'm giving you a song based on the melody from the golden oldie "Side by Side". 

this activity is great for encouraging counting and fine motor skills and also for providing an opportunity for turn taking within a group situation. 

What you need: a frame drum and monkey finger puppets or small soft toys

Lyrics
"I've got a barrel of monkeys
I've got a barrel of monkeys
Lets take one out 
then we will count
Our monkeys"

If you would like more info on Harmony Music Therapy Scotland or any of the activities or sessions we provide for either children or adults, individual or group, then please get in touch- you can fill out the contact form on the website at www.harmonymusictherapyscotland.co.uk or email me at [email protected]

have a great weekend everyone- I hope its filled with sunshine, music and dance :) 

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pre-school Activity week day 4- Tap Tap Thursday

1/3/2012

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The Drum in the Band

This Activity is a fun activity that uses singing and introducing instruments and becoming familiar with the sounds they make. Taking the familiar melody of "The wheels on the bus" this activity helps encourage communication, fine motor skills, development of rhythm and builds confidence with instrument playing, choice making and turn taking. 

When using this in a group situation I like to have my instruments in a bag and have the child reach in and pick one by touch. When using this activity with an individual I like to encourage them to pick which instrument they would like to use first- encouraging independence and choice making skills. Instruments I sometimes use include the drum, maraca, triangle, castanet, guiro, and claves but you can be as creative as you like and use any instruments that would fit in with the music therapy goals for the child. 

here are the words using the drum and the shaker: 

The Drum in the band goes boom boom boom
boom boom boom
boom boom boom
th drum in the band goes 
boom boom boom
All day long. 

The shaker in the band goes 
shake shake shake
shake shake shake
shake shake shake
the shaker in the band goes 
shake shake shake
all day long. 

the triangle in the band goes
ting ting ting.....

the castanet in the band goes
click click click

Check out harmony music therapy scotland at www.harmonymusictherapyscotland.co.uk or email me at [email protected] if you would like more information on music therapy services near you.

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pre-school Activity week Day 3- Well-being Wednesday

29/2/2012

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Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light

Welcome to day 3 of our Pre-school music activity week at Harmony Music Therapy Scotland. Today I'm going to share a teaching song about traffic lights. It's never to early to learn Road safety but this is not all about the traffic light. it encourages pitch and melody recognition, introduces colours, signing, instructions, and encourages communication and listening.

A video will follow tomorrow but here are some of the words to get you started :)

(Use the melody of twinkle twinkle little star)
Twinkle Twinkle traffic light
Around the corner shining bright
RED means STOP!
GREEN means GO!
YELLOW means moving very SLOW.
Twinkle Twinkle Traffic light 
Around the corner shining bright. 

I like to use coloured egg shakers that the children can shake when we sing the associated colour or I use colour flash cards and hold them up at the appropriate time. I also introduce signing for twinkle, stop, go, and moving slow. We then play an instrument game where the child will play the drum and if I hold up the red card they need to stop, if I hold up the green card they go and if its the yellow they slow down. This can be accompanied by the relevant signs at the same time. They can then get the chance to pick the stop and go cards and I can play the drum if encouraging independence and turn taking is a goal in their treatment plan. 

Stay tuned for more musical fun for the pre-school child tomorrow at harmony music therapy scotland. Remember if you live in the highlands of Scotland and would like more information on our services or would like to book a session please contact me at [email protected] or visit the contact form on the website at www.harmonymusictherapyscotland.co.uk. 

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Pre-school Activity week Day 2- Tuneful Tuesday

28/2/2012

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Music & Books

Today I'm sharing an activity that I use with some of my higher functioning music therapy pre-school clients. this activity uses a colourful story book to introduce different instruments and sounds. One of my favourite books to use in this activity is 'Say hello to the Jungle Animals' by Ian Whybrow and Ed Eaves because it is tactile and sensory with lots of colours and 'touch and feel' felt on the animals. As each animal is introduced they use a different sound which encourages vocalisations and also sound exploration of the instruments, while increasing concentration and attention,  multi-tasking and encouraging imagination and patience for turn taking. Check out the video for an example of this book in action or let me know if you are interested in finding out about other books that I use with this client group to introduce music skills. 
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Pre-school Activity week- Movement Monday

27/2/2012

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It's pre-school week at Harmony Music Therapy Scotland. This week I am going to share some fun musical activities that you can recreate with your child at home. It will also give you an insight into some of the musical activities that might happen during a typical music therapy session for pre-school children. All activities will be focused on one or more of the following goal elements: To encourage socialisation, To promote cognitive functioning, to facilitate movement and rhythm, to increase communication and interaction, explore instrumental sounds and most importantly to have FUN!!

Today is MOVEMENT MONDAY!!!!
This activity is a song that encourages listening skills, movement and choice making and its called "Dancing in the middle"

LYRICS
___________________(child's name) is dancing in the middle,
___________________ (child's name) is dancing in the middle,
___________________(child's name) is dancing in the middle,
He/ she's going to dance, dance, dance.

He's going to dance,  x 6
And now its time to STOP

(pick a new movement eg jumping, stamping, hopping, clapping)
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Something exciting is happening next week...stay tuned!!

9/2/2012

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Next week is Pre-school week at harmony music therapy and each day this blog will bring you a musical activity that you can do with your child at home or give you a little insight to what a music therapy session could be like for your pre-school child.  Stay tuned for more on Music Monday at harmony music therapy Scotland :)
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Music Therapy for Depression

27/1/2012

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http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/08August/Pages/music-therapy-for-depression.aspx
When you are having a bad day and put on your favourite CD you usually feel better right? We know that music can lift our moods that it can get us dancing and singing and build us up or wakes us up. But what about if you suffer from Depresssion? Can music still have the power to lift your mood?

Good News: Last year BBC News reported that “music therapy can be used to improve treatment of
  depression, at least in the short term”.
Depression is commonly treated with medication and psychiatric counselling. 
  Studies have found that music therapy is a promising additional
  treatment for depression. This randomised controlled trial set out in the above article demonstrated that
  people receiving active music therapy in addition to standard care had a
  significantly greater improvement in their symptoms than those receiving
  standard care alone after three months of treatment.

If you are having a blue day today stick on your favourite song and start to sing along and have a music hug.

Alternatively if you or a loved one is suffering from depression dont let them suffer alone or in silence.  Counselling and medication can be a great help and why not try and book a trial session with a near by music therapist or  contact Harmony Music Therapy Scotland - www.harmonymusictherapyscotland.co.uk and we'll slot you in for a session.
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Music Therapy and Brain Injury

11/1/2012

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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57354265/how-music-is-helping-rep-giffords-recover/
Music Therapy can be a vital part in treatment for those recovering from from brain Injury or stroke.  For those whose language centre of the brain has been  damaged and speech has become a problem, music can help a patient relearn speech patterns and language through singing and rhythm. 

although many patients may struggle to speak in sentences they often have less trouble singing them. 'The ability to speak is mainly controlled by two areas on the left side of the  brain. But when we sing or listen to music, wide swaths of both sides of the brain become active. Doctors have learned putting words to melody stimulates
  memory and helps a damaged brain recover the ability to process language. '

harmony music therapy scotland specializes in working with brain injury and stroke patients. If you would like to make a referral please email us at Kristen. [email protected]

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Music therapy with Pre-school Children

9/1/2012

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronna-kaplan-ma/music-therapy-children_b_1188226.html

This is a great Article by the American Music Therapy Associations past president Ronna Kaplan.  She explores music therapy in Early Education stating that" Music therapists sometimes use arts integration to address state academic  content standards. In a preschool class where many of the children have speech and language delays, the music therapist helps children identify matching  sounds and recognize rhymes in songs and words, part of a core pre-kindergarten language arts standard."


For those of you interested in how music therapy can benefit pre-school children or ways in which Music therapists engage young children through music this is a great read! :)


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    Kristen MT

    I'm a n MT-BC who loves to play piano, guitar, sing and dance!

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