Music Therapy Techniques Used in Adapted Lessons

Music Therapy Techniques Used in Adapted Lessons First, you may be asking- what are adapted lessons? So let me show you first!   So, in summary, adapted lessons are typically taught by board-certified music therapists who are qualified to apply techniques used in music therapy in order to teach a student how to play an instrument.  At A Suite Sound, we offer adapted as well as traditional piano (and ukulele) lessons and here are a few of the ways we combine our knowledge of music therapy with piano pedagogy!

• Color coding/visual aids

Depending on the needs and abilities of the student, we will sometimes color-code sheet music for the student to make it more accessible. This allows for the client to make music, practice visual tracking, and improve attention skills. While this is often a technique used in music therapy sessions, it is considered for an adapted piano lesson if the primary goal is for the client to learn to play the instrument (versus it ultimately having a different desired result, as in music therapy). Often, the client will master this and then be able to move on to more challenging tasks that don’t require the use of color-coded stickers on the keys and corresponding color-coded music. You can see this example in our reel about adaptive tools on instagram!

• Adaptive tools

There’s an additional reel on Instagram that demonstrates the use of a specific red & blue adaptive tool we created for a client that has difficulty with visual scanning! It uses color-blocking to help differentiate the groups of 2 and 3 black keys on the piano. This is just one example of endless tools you can creatively make/use in adapted lessons! Music therapists are required to ‘think outside the box’ on a daily basis, and that kind of knowledge can be applied to teaching adapted piano lessons as well. In addition, the education and training a music therapist has received assists them in knowing how to approach piano concepts appropriately while meeting the client at their level of knowledge and ability.

• Props

If you’ve never seen our prop pictures on social media, check them out! We use books, sometimes toys, lots of different instruments (some that fit the theme or are unique and interesting), and Dollar Spot or Dollar Tree items that can serve many purposes (check out our reel about that). Props are sometimes visual aids or learning support for working on a concept, which is a technique that we can use in both music therapy sessions and adapted lessons. 

• Folder Games

Folder games are used by educators, speech pathologists, music therapists, and also piano teachers! They are an activity, usually used to teach an academic concept, which we at A Suite Sound also tend to match to the specific theme for the month. In music therapy, they may be used for speech goals, academic goals, addressing fine motor skills, recognition and identification of certain objects, listening and comprehension, and attention to task. In adapted piano lessons, many of these goal areas may be addressed, but with the ultimate goal of teaching a musical concept. For example, the music therapist (during an adapted lesson) may use a folder game that allows the student to match cards with various types of notes to the note values. It is much like any music worksheet you could find in a music educator’s classroom, but generally folder games use velcro and laminated sheets of paper stuck onto a folder. In the picture below, “Dino in the Kitchen” is a visual aid example of a “folder game” that we used to work on all of the aforementioned goal areas!

• Coping skills/Frustration tolerance

Music therapists often work on both of these goals simultaneously. Music is great for expression, and it is often the job of the music therapist to demonstrate to their clients how best to express their thoughts and emotions, typically by addressing it with music. This is no different for adapted piano lessons! The same social and emotional learning that is done in a music therapy setting can also be applied by the music therapist in their adapted lesson. Learning an instrument can be very frustrating at times, and this is true no matter your age, ability, or skill level. Piano in particular is a tricky instrument because of how much your brain has to process visually, both hemispheres of your brain in use, and your hands and feet to coordinate as well. A music therapist has the unique ability to think creatively in terms of using music to help their clients and also their students to learn their instrument while also working on these goals. There you have it! Adapted lessons make learning music more approachable and customizable for the needs of the student. At A Suite Sound, we teach both traditional and adapted piano and ukulele lessons and would love to chat with you in a free consultation to find out what type of lesson would be best for you or your child.  Music therapists and teachers, what techniques do you use in adapted lessons? Written by Molly Harrell, MT-BC