Follow these steps to learn how to fulfill your dream of becoming an accredited music therapist!
Xuebing Du
Not today Justin
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
Sweet Seals For You, Always
DEAR READER
YOU ARE THE REASON
Mike Driver

Love Begins

Janaina Medeiros

tannertan36
Three Goblin Art
Jules of Nature
Peter Solarz
trying on a metaphor
Monterey Bay Aquarium
noise dept.
$LAYYYTER
đȘŒ
Stranger Things
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me

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@mtahayley
Follow these steps to learn how to fulfill your dream of becoming an accredited music therapist!
Follow Music Therapy Mania for more Internship tips and Interview preparation strategies.Â
Why Music Therapy?
Why not?Â
Bridging the gap between being creative and helping others comes into existence in the form of Music Therapy.Â
Are you looking to become a music therapist? There are currently four programs of study across Canada. These include:
- Acadia University (BMT or Certificate)
- Canadian Mennonite University (BMT)
- Concordia University (MA or GrDip)
- Wilfred Laurier University (BMTÂ or MMT)
There are many resources to help caregivers, friends, families, and students understand what music therapy is and what it can do for those in your community.Â
Here are a few useful websites to use:Â
- www.musictherapy.caÂ
- www.musictherapyacademy.com
-Â www.musictherapyontario.com
- www.atlanticmusictherapy.ca
- www.mtabc.com
What is your Why?
Connect with us and Ask us questions!Â
Letâs learn and grow together!Â
Transitioning from student to intern to professional
Useful tips for current music students thinking about pursuing music therapy or internships. Check out this site.
I absolutely love my clinical work at United Cerebral Palsy (UCP), where I have the privilege of working with amazing children with special needs every day. In addition to my role as a clinician, I also serve as a supervisor
Are you music therapy intern? Do you know one? Or, are you preparing for your music therapy internship? I wrote this post in 2010, but I recently revisited it and realizedâŠitâs still good! Here are 6 steps for surviving this transition. If you are currently an intern or a new professional, please feel free to add to this in the comments section. In this way, we can support each other and help prepare the next wave of music therapists. Thanks! Tip One: Take care of yourself Sleep well, eat well, and be...
Useful resources for current music therapy students looking to apply for internships.Â
Psychology Daily - Quotes
âI Believe...â
As Iâm finishing up my first year of my Masters in Music Education, we were asked to write and present a âThis I Believeâ speech. I wanted to share mine with you because I think some people may feel the same way, and because as hard as this was (there were tears), Iâm actually proud of this.
This assignment is probably one of the most difficult things Iâve ever written. Even now I feel like Iâm doing everything wrong.
Iâm not sure I really know how to explain my philosophy of music education with wordsâŠ
I donât like talking about beliefs. Â I like facts, logic, and reason. Â I like things that can be explained and supported. Â Beliefs imply trust, often in things that canât be explained or are unsupported, which is something I have difficulty doing, and in some cases I am still not convinced. Â It also implies Emotions, which are difficult, messy things that cloud judgement, but we have them all the same. All that being said, and against my better judgement, I do have some core beliefs.
So first and foremost, I believe in people. Â I believe in humanity, even though the world right now seems to enjoy testing me on that. Â I believe that people have value and that everyone can learn and grow towards a common goal of wellbeing in society.
I believe that humans are fluid.  Iâm a different person now than I was 5 years ago, 10 years agoâŠ
I believe everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, gender, sexuality, religion, etc. has the right to be treated equitably under the law and in our schools. Â No one should be denied access to opportunities based on the things they cannot control.
I believe some things will never change. Â History repeats itself. Â Power structures are in place whether we acknowledge them or not, and keeping the status quo is way more comfortable than the unknown.
However, that doesnât mean I believe we canât make things better.
My mom had a mantra she would say to us growing up. âBetter than it wasâ.  She liked to tell us that her mantra used to be âPractically Perfect in Every Wayâ, but then she had kids.  So it had to change.  I remember once she was upstairs cleaning her bathroom and we could hear her chanting to herself, âBetter than it was. Better than it wasâ.  She usually used it as a backhanded compliment about how we cleaned our rooms, but the sentiment remained; if you do something, it will get better. Just because something isnât going to work out entirely in your favor doesnât mean you shouldnât do it.  On the contrary, it means we need to do more. Â
I believe change is hard. Itâs frustrating. Itâs beating your head against the wall. Itâs not knowing how to explain to someone that they should care about other people. Â Itâs a million times easier to do nothing than it is to do something.
I believe in self-preservation. Â Itâs a hard line to toe, being a teacher and valuing self-preservation. Â Vulnerability is at the forefront of our profession, and itâs important to model to our students. Â However, self-care is also important. Â I canât be vulnerable all the time. Â It hurts too much. Â I need to take a step back and acknowledge that itâs okay to take a break. Â Teacher burnout is a real thing, and I canât advocate for students if Iâm not in the classroom.
I believe in celebrating small victories. Â Something Iâve come to acknowledge in the past few years (though Iâm still working to accept and embrace it) is that I will never be perfect. Â Â We are our own worst critics, and things will never be fixed overnight. Â Every step we take in the right direction is a small victory, and it is enough. Â My personal mantra switch from âPractically Perfectâ to âBetter than it wasâ is a work in progress.
I believe in education. As cliche as it sounds, I believe that children are our future. Â Education allows us to challenge our ways of thinking and be critical with our perceptions and beliefs. Â It gives us the tools to grow and allows us to walk before we run.
I believe in music. A language that connects all generations, cultures, and people, whether they understand what is being said or not.
And I believe in music education. Music is the vehicle I use on my road of life, and many students feel that way too. Â It is where they can be themselves, where they can truly express who they are and what they feel. Â Where they can make mistakes and learn and grow and be a part of a family that accepts them for them. Â I believe in music education because I believe in people and the way that music brings them together towards a common goal. Â I believe in music education.
I Believe. <3
Mastering Chord Changes
By: Mike Christiansen
The Challenge
Helping students master the art of changing chords quickly can be challenging and test the patience of the student and the teacher. Getting rid of the pause that often occurs between chords is a skill that can be helped with the application of a few methods that seem to work very well.
Use Open Strums
One exercise that helps is having the students play open strings between the chord changes and then gradually omit them. For example, suppose the students are learning to change from a G chord to Em, then Am, and then D7. Between each chord, strum the strings open four times, then strum the open strings three times between the chords, then two times, then one time, and finally omit the strumming of the open strings. Stress to the students that the right hand needs to keep strumming, without pausing.
Keep reading
Guitar Resource.
Art is not competitive
Art (specifically, in my case, music) is not competitive. It is not meant to be competitive. It is meant to be an outlet for creativity and emotion. Art is expression.
HOWEVER
I strongly believe that competition in the arts encourages people to improve themselves, especially (I think) in music. There were two oboists in my class while I was in eighth grade (I was obviously one of them). Competing against the other oboist for solos or to play the oboe part on a piece I really wanted made me improve drastically between the time I moved to that school at the beginning of the year and the time we parted ways at the end.
Solo and Ensemble events are competitive by nature. The goal shouldnât be to win, but if your goal is a challenge to yourself to see if you can beat someone whoâs been better than you, youâll learn to play better yourself.
Marching band is not about competition, but I tell you that the closer I got to graduating the more intensely I took the marching season, knowing I may not have that chance later to make the top 3 in our division.
I have a performance major friend here at BYUI who tells me constantly that if she didnât have the âcompetitionâ of a flutist whoâs better than she, then she would be floundering and might even transfer schools.
Heck, even auditions are a form of competition. You learn to play the music as well as you can and as musically as you can, and then you hope that your musicality was better than everyone elseâs.
People always say âcompete against yourselfâ when youâre trying to improve something.
Music is not about competition, and Iâm going to teach my students that. I absolutely am. But Iâm also going to tell them that if a healthy dose of competitiveness is what helps them to become the best musicians they can, then they should compete. Go to festivals. Go to Solo/Ensemble. Audition for things. Do something competitive.
The only caveat for competition is that if it removes the fun, the musicality, the emotion, then itâs time to back off. Music is, first and foremost, about music.
I wanna rock with you..
I run group sessions for older adults with rather severe dementia, and sometimes they are nonverbal or echolalic - repetition of sounds made by another person. The aim of the group was to provide validation and a sense of safety within music experiences.
At the start of the session, one participant was echolalic and displayed anxious behaviour - white knuckles, gripping the edge of the chair, furrowed brows, repetitive rocking back and forth. This person made eye contact and showed intent to communicate, but was unable to produce legible words
I started with a simple âhelloâ (soh-me) - and the client answered back with 'helloâ. I mirrored the movement and rocked back and forth. I sung, the client answered back.
âhelloâ (soh me) âhelloâ (fah-re) âhelloâ (mi-doh) âhelloâ (re-soh,)
Using a short melodic progression (written in solfege for reference), we created a melodic duet that validated the clientâs movements and echolalia. Soon, we were rocking together like dance partners.
We sung this two times over, and gradually the clientâs gaze focused on me and smiled. Through the interaction, the clientâs emotions and feelings were validated as I responded musically. I matched the tone and expression of the clientâs face, and there was the obvious sense of relief when the client realised no words were necessary for that interaction. Furrowed brows were no more, client showed a toothy grin and leaned back into the seat, relaxed.
The work was done entirely with vocal improvisation and body momvement, no instruments at all. Sometimes the simplest tool can do the best work.
âDrum Circle Facilitation 101 with Christine Stevens, MSW, MT-BCâ
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Letâs change the world together. What would you like to learn about music therapy?Â