Technology
Hello! I’m Rachel, the new intern here at the Music Therapy Center. I am so excited to be starting my second week here!
This week I learned how to play music on a banana. I never thought in a million years I would be able to create a sound by just hitting a banana. How did I do this? Technology!
Technology is so important for music therapists. It plays many roles within a therapist’s practice. A therapist could use a Q Chord for bedside music therapy, for different tactile stimulation, or for motivation to work on fine motor skills. A Yamaha EZ 220 has a follow the lights feature for step by step playing. You can use different beats and melodies from EZ 220 while a client improvises on the piano.
Apps have also become big in the music therapy world. There are so many apps to download. You can find the right ones for each individual client and the goals that you are working on. Plus, you can have a guitar tuner, chords and lyrics, and a metronome on your iPad too. Some good apps include:
-Speak up: This app is great to work on vocal volume. If you are working on increasing volume, the client can speak or sing into the it, and they have a fun visual to show the increase in volume.
-Articulation station: This app has consonants, vowels, and blends all in fun formats for kids.
-First & Then: Use this app to take pictures of the order of things you are doing. It motivates the client to be engaged in the less preferred activity because they know a fun activity will come right after.
There are so many apps out there that are great tools for music therapy sessions. I encourage you to go exploring and find some apps that you can incorporate in your sessions.
The MaKey MaKey was my favorite thing to learn about. This is when I got to “play a banana.” This “instrument” allows a person to hook up a chord to everyday objects and play them like an instrument. This could be used with many different clients. You can create a piano on stairs to work on gross motor skills. When working on fine motor skills you could create a remote with different sounds. Or, hook up the alligator cords to various items (like a banana). Above is a video of Toby and I playing the MaKey MaKey.
So, how could you incorporate more technology in your sessions? I challenge you to find out, it could make a difference!
-Rachel
