A favourite song at this time of year for young and old is the song jingle bells and already I have sung this song so many times in my music therapy sessions . It's always great to sing and play familiar songs in sessions as this can really bring a sense of security into the session and also a sense of accomplishment.  

I like to use a variety of jingle bells to accompany this song in my session but I especially love wrist bells! Wrist bells are such a great fun and accessible instrument that allows nearly everyone access to playing an instrument. They can be held, put around a wrist, put around an ankle or a foot, tied to a wheelchair, tied in your hair, tied to another instrument to name but a few. They are so versatile and make a sound VERY easily which is great as it allows many to participate who have very limited mobility. 

Activity 1: Quietly Jingle
As they are so easy to use to make a sound it can often be a challenge to keep them still and quiet! Therefore Passing them around a circle trying not make a sound is a great game to play that addresses goals of increased concentration, listening skills, fine and gross motor and socialisation 

Activity 2. A symphony of words
Play and sing Jingle Bells and encourage the client to only shake their bells on the word Jingle. This really helps increase concentration and listening skills. 

Activity 3: Jingle Little Bell
Another great Jingle Bell Activity you can do at home uses the melody from 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'.  
This song looks at encouraging listening and movement along with active participation within the familiarity of the popular melody.  however be careful and sensitive to reactions when beginning this song as those that are used to the original Twinkle Twinkle words may become agitated and confused with the change. 
 
"Jingle Jingle Little Bell
I like to shake my little bell
Shake it fast (have them shake their bells quickly)
Shake it slow (imitate slow shaking and have them match or assist them in speed change with hand over hand)
Shake it high 
Shake it low
Jingle Jingle Little Bells
I like to Shake my little Bell

Jingle Jingle Little Bell
I like to shake my little bell
Shake it here
Shake it there
Shake it, Shake it everywhere
Jingle Jingle Little Bell
I like to Shake my little Bell"


Enjoy music making this weekend and keep warm and safe in the snow!!

Kristen 

I have found that along with using the ipad in music therapy sessions I have been increasingly using the ipad in my instrumental lessons and adapted piano lessons for Kids. 

Kids live in a technology world and I think its important that we as teachers and therapists are able to speak their language and find interesting and innovative ways to keep them engaged in their learning.  Many of the Kids that take part in my adapted piano lessons for those with additional needs are familiar with the ipad and use it for their learning in a school setting. So last week I tried out some note reading apps to see if they would help improve note reading and theory. It has certainly been successful and there has been lots of laughter as they have had so much fun!


Here is a list of apps I found to be fun and educational and that the kids responded to well: 

• Flashnote Derby - 69p 
  
• Do Re Memory- 69p
• Piano Monkey - 69p
• DooDah - Free
• Pluto Piano - 69p
• Let's read music HD Lite - Free
• My Note names- Free
• Music Theory for Beginners - £2.99

Happy Practicing with your note reading!!

This week I'm excited because I finally got round to adding a Thunder Drum to my instrument bag. The thunder drum is another great instrument that can be used alongside the ocean drum to create some great sounds that are very sensory.  The thunder drum is useful for many populations including hearing impaired, autism, sensory disorders to name a few. 

The drum is made up of a long cylinder with a metal coil at the bottom that that when it is shaken produces a thunderous sound with the vibrations from the coil flowing through the cylinder. 

Activity

The activity I'm going to share with you is using a song that my good friend and fellow music therapist Laura Micheli MT-BC shared with me.  A good activity is to sing the song with your client and allow them to play the thunder drum when they hear the words thunder or stormy. If the child is unable to do this you can play the thunder drum gently near them to allow them to feel or hear the vibrations. The song which is chant like along with the thunder drum can often help calm agitation. Depending on the client it is a good activity to include vocal improvisation keeping the chant like structure and matching or mirroring any of the vocal sounds or thunder drum sounds the child uses.  I also like to use this chant singing the melody to la or ba and imporvising around it vocally  and using a rainbow coloured organza material sheet. Sometimes the client likes to hold the material with me and lift it up and down or lie under it  and I wave it up and down and improvise around the melody .