Music Therapy for Healthy Children and Families
by Jamie Blumenthal, MA,MT-BC
What is Music Therapy?
Over the last 20 years, I have frequently
been asked the question “what is music therapy?”
People are familiar with music and therapy
but somehow when you combine the two words
“music therapy”, it seems to challenge, confuse,
fascinate and motivate people to ask that
question.
Have you ever felt more relaxed when listening
to music? Have you ever listened to music
that instantaneously brought up strong feelings
or brought you back to a special time from
the past? Have you ever felt a sense of inner
strength or spirituality when listening to
music? Have you ever sung a lullaby to help
comfort a crying baby or sung the alphabet
song to a young child who is just learning
the alphabet?
If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions,
then you have experienced the power of music.
Music can evoke emotions, memories, and spiritual
or social connectedness, as well as provide
a means of expressing feelings and a sense
of safety, security and comfort to young children.
Music especially provides a fun way for children
to learn. It is the one medium that cuts through
the boundaries of age, culture, disability
and disease.
Traditionally music therapists have worked
in institutions such as hospitals, nursing
homes, prisons, state hospitals, and schools
for children with special needs. But as the
public has become more interested in “alternative”
health care, the benefits of music for relaxation
and stress reduction have been recognized
and promoted. As more research is demonstrating
the benefits of music on brain development,
music therapists are now bringing their work
and expertise into the mainstream.
There are endless ways you can bring music
into your child’s life (and your own life)
to enhance well-being and quality of life.
Let’s begin with pregnancy.
Music Therapy for Pregnancy
Music Therapists are specially trained to
teach pregnant women how to use music for
relaxation and as a reminder of visual imagery.
Music can be a means of changing a woman’s
perception of pain during labor and delivery,
thus eliminating or reducing the amount of
anesthesia that is used during the birth process.
The music therapist can often accompany the
pregnant woman through labor and delivery.
During pregnancy, music can also be used
for the baby. Prior to birth, babies may respond
to music while in the womb. From personal
experience, my son always kicked the exact
spot on my abdomen that my guitar was touching.
He would kick to each strum that I played
on the guitar. It seemed that he became more
active when he heard and felt the music. My
daughter had a different response. She became
quieter, less active when she heard and felt
the music. They both continued their same
womb responses after birth. Thus my son needed
quiet to go to sleep and my daughter needed
quiet music.
Lullabies
It is no mistake that lullabies from around
the world all have a similar tempo. The tempo
of a lullaby matches the tempo of the human
heartbeat. Lullabies can be used to comfort
crying babies and help them feel secure when
going to sleep. When we sing lullabies to
our children, we are nurturing them and communicating
our love. Incorporating lullabies into a bedtime
ritual can help children make the difficult
transition into sleep. Lullabies can also
be used if a child wakes up at night, has
a nightmare or is sleeping away from home.
With a lullaby in the background, babies and
children can feel even more emotionally secure
and safe when being held close to your body
while you gently dance around a room or rock
slowly in a rocking chair.
Crying is Musical
As parents, we become “in tune” with the
sound of our baby’s cry. We know when it is
our baby crying and if the cry is communicating
hunger, a wet diaper, feeling tired or feeling
pain. A baby’s cry is the beginning of speech
and language. As amazing as it may seem, the
cry is quite musical and the beginning of
singing and discovering our voice. Each cry
has a specific musical pitch and is held for
a specific length of time (like singing).
Eventually the cries become vocal sounds,
squeels and babbling. Parents have often found
that by exactly imitating their baby’s vocal
sounds the baby will begin to make more vocal
sounds. Before you know it, you’re having
a conversation with your baby in “nonsense”
sounds. Even very young babies are aware that
you are communicating with them. They love
the attention. This is the beginning of learning
how to talk and how to have a conversation.
Eventually the sounds become familiar - da,
ba, ma etc. These sounds can be incorporated
into familiar songs. Instead of singing the
words to a song, you can sing ba ba ba, or
da da da or ma ma ma, or that old standby,
la la la. You might be surprised to find your
baby singing along because the “words” are
familiar. Soon your baby will combine these
syllables into words that will be used to
communicate thoughts and feelings.
Drumming for Children
In my experience of working with children
as young as 6 months, I have yet to come across
a child who is not able to play an instrument
to the beat of a song, even if it is for only
2-4 beats. The drumbeat is the human way of
imitating the heartbeat. Remember that a mother’s
heartbeat is what a baby has heard and felt
for the first nine months while in the womb.
We never lose our response to this comforting
sound. Even Alzheimer’s patients will respond
to the beat of a drum when nothing else will
reach them.
Children love to move to the beat of a drum.
You can use different rhythms to indicate
how to move. Play fast and children can run.
Play very slow steady beats for big steps,
softly for tiptoeing, silence for stopping,
or make up your own. Doing this type of activity
with children helps to develop listening skills,
sound discrimination, awareness of starting
and stopping (this could become part of safety
awareness), as well as develop gross motor
skills. You can do the drumming and have your
child do the movement or better yet reverse
it. Children don’t have a lot of opportunities
to be in control. Let your child have the
drum and you can do the movement. They quickly
become aware of their “power” in a very positive
way. They also learn about rhythm by doing
this. This is a great activity for rainy days.
Music for Relaxation
Calm, quiet music can be used to reduce stress
and enhance relaxation. The relaxed state
induced by music is reflected in changes in
brain-wave patterns. Simply having relaxing
music in the background can change the way
you feel. You can play relaxation music in
the morning to reduce the stress of the morning
routine. I sometimes like to play it around
dinnertime when I’m tired, hungry and stressed.
I find it helps to calm the children as well
as me. Relaxation music can be used to reduce
anxiety prior to surgery or in a medical situation
where you feel anxious. Studies have shown
that blood pressure is more stable when this
kind of music is used before, during and after
surgery. Relaxation music can be used when
you have difficulty falling asleep or staying
asleep. There are relaxation and guided imagery
tapes for children who feel stressed or are
having difficulty sleeping
Music for Education
Music can be used to teach and improve speech
and language. Music incorporates rhythm, pitch
and words, which are all part of speech and
language. Both sides of the brain are used
with music, so information can be learned
through music and eventually transferred into
speech and language.
Popular songs can be used to teach children
different skills. I taught my children how
to spell their names by changing the words
to the song “BINGO” For example: There is
a boy who has black hair and Tyler is his
name T Y L E R (repeat) etc. As you already
know, most children learn the alphabet by
singing the alphabet song.
Learning to play an instrument can provide
a sense of self-esteem as well as help to
develop important skills. Reading music helps
develop reading skills, eye hand coordination
and math skills. Playing an instrument develops
fine motor coordination, and if the instrument
is a wind instrument, oral motor skills can
become more developed. A recent study of preschoolers
showed that private piano lessons enhanced
their spatial-temporal reasoning.
Listening to music helps to develop the brain.
Research conducted by a group of neuroscientists
found that listening to Mozart enhances spatial-temporal
reasoning in college students. A recent article
in the New York Times revealed a proposal
by the governor of Georgia to spend over $100,000
of state money to provide every newborn a
CD of classical music, due to the positive
effects on brain development and spatial and
mathematical skills.
See
Music
for Babies, CDs that have developed to
enhance brain development in babies.
Music to Enhance Relationships
Singing or playing music together as a family
or with friends can be a fun way to enjoy
being together. There are many songs for young
children that have hand motions or movements.
You can do the motions hand over hand with
your child. They love the physical touch,
the play, the eye contact and most of all
the love that comes from being with their
parents. As a family, you can go to concerts
or other performances together or make your
own music at home.
Music to Express Emotions
As children grow older and listen to more
music, they begin to have preferences for
certain kinds of music. Music may become part
of a person’s identity during adolescence.
We all have favorite songs that we identify
with. These songs may express an emotion that
we feel or talk about an experience that we
are coping with. Music is an expression of
emotion and the words an expression of thought.
Keep in touch with the music that your child
listens to. Periodically join your child in
listening to his or her favorite music. Ask
why the song is important, what are the favorite
lines of the songs. This is a way to communicate
with your child and get a sense of things
that you might not know about your child otherwise.
Music for Special Needs
As mentioned, music therapists are now providing
services for the general public. Children
with special needs utilize a large portion
of our services. Music therapy uses music
as a vehicle to achieve nonmusical goals.
When a child has special needs, music may
be one of the most powerful ways to reach
her and to help her to function at her maximum
potential.
Jamie Blumenthal provides music therapy services
to schools, agencies and private individuals.
She also provides in-services to parents,
organizations and health care professionals.
For questions about music therapy or for more
information, Jamie can be contacted at Family
Music Connection: North Bay Music Therapy
Services, PO Box 869, Windsor, CA 95492 (707)
836-8358 or
Gblumen401@aol.com.
F. H. Rauscher
et al., “Music and spatial task performance,”
Nature
365 (1993): 611
F. H. Rauscher
et al., “Listening to Mozart enhances spatial-temporal
reasoning: towards a neurophysiological basis,”
Neuroscience
Letters 185 (1995): 44-47.
F. H. Rauscher
et al., “Music training causes long-term enhancement
of preschool children’s spatial-temporal reasoning.”
Neurological
Research 19 (1997): 2-8.
K. Sack, “Georgia’s
governor seeks music start for babies,” New
York Times January 15, 1998.
|
Use
the information provided on this site as an
educational resource for determining your
options and making your own informed choices.
It is not intended as medical advice or to
diagnose, prescribe, or treat any specific
illness.