Intern’s Corner – Week 3

A big part of music therapy is the use of preferred music. As people, our taste in music has a tendency to change across our lives, so I thought as a way for you to get to know me better I would share a playlist, a timeline of sorts, of the music that I have listened to and loved throughout my life up to this point. As you will see my taste in music has been all over the place and I am now a conglomerate of all those genres and music phases I went through. 

After making my list I realized that it was far too long to include in one blog post so this week will be part one.

EARLY CHILDHOOD

My earliest memories of music are nursery rhymes and lullabies. My mom used to sing the first two to me and my siblings, especially the second one when we would be driving at night and the mood would be out. The third song is one that is still very special to me. My grandparents would sing this song to my sister and I whenever we were staying over and it was bedtime. There are three parts to this song that all layer over each other. One day I’ll learn the final part.

1. Rock a bye baby
2. I see the moon
3. Lullaby in Ragtime

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

A lot of the music I consumed as a child was from whatever was on the radio. The radio station most played in the car was WIBI, a Christian radio station. All the singing that I did in front of people happened at church as part of the children’s choir and sometimes as solos. All three of these songs are ones that I either sang in a group or by myself.

1. I Can Only Imagine – MercyMe
2. Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) – Chris Tomlin
3. Praise You In This Storm – Casting Crowns 

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Disney/Pop 

Any music I listened to that wasn’t heard while in the car was from CD’s played on a Boombox. My first CD and prized possession was Hannah Montana. I eventually leveled up to a knock off MP3 player that was bright pink loaded up with random songs my dad pirated off the internet. I sang songs three and five in talent shows.

1. If We Were A Movie – Hannah Montana
2. Fly With Me – The Jonas Brothers
3. Do You Believe in Magic – Aly and AJ
4. E.T. – Katy Perry
5. Mean – Taylor Swift

Demi Lovato

This was still at the same time as the previous grouping, but Demi gets their own category because I listened to the Here We Go Album religiously on my MP3 player. I could probably still sing all the words to every song on that album.

1. Every Time You Lie
2. World of Chances
3. U Got Nothing On Me

JUNIOR HIGH

My “country” phase

I struggle to even call it country because I only listened to Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert. Mostly I was trying to relate to all the other kids at my school going through their country phase but I also wanted to branch out to music outside of Disney and what my dad downloaded for me.

1. Before He Cheats – Carrie Underwood
2. Blown Away – Carrie Underwood
3. Mama’s Broken Heart – Miranda Lambert

Alt- pop

(At this point we’re getting to music I still listen to)

After my short lived country phase was my “emo” one. It continued on to high school and still has a big chunk of my heart. I didn’t listen to a lot of artists though. I didn’t venture very far past Fall Out Boy. It was also the music that my friends were listening to.

Fall Out Boy

1. Sugar, We’re Going Down Swinging 
2. My Songs Know What You Did in The Dark
3. Alone Together

Takeaways

This is just 13 years of music tastes. It is important to realize how as an adolescent our tastes were always changing and growing as we changed, grew, and learned. It’s the same for adolescents now. Variety is always good when bringing music selections to sessions, especially in classrooms. This reminded me to be open and not so stuck in the music that I listen to now most days.