February Headlines from the Daily Muse

The Daily Muse page at Music Makes Sense is designed to highlight current stories in the news or around the web regarding music therapy, music in general and music as it influences our individual lives.  I hope you enjoy this new feature of Music Makes Sense!  Here are the stories brought to you during February 2011.  

(2-28-11)  Here is some very interesting research going on about music and the brain.  They have a very cool movie about how the brain activity changes while listening to expressive music.  The research uses an fMRI to map the brain in real time:  University Press.

(2-27-11)  Here is the link for Amazons FREE mp3s!  There were over 2,400 songs the last time I checked!  Have fun by clicking here.

(2-26-11)  Attention music therapists!  One month to go before the submission deadline for the AMTA national conference in Atlanta.  The submission guidelines are here.  

(2-25-11)  Here is a feel-good story for the day!  Sarah Ely is a young and successful entrepreneur who also happens to have Down syndrome.  Apparently, music through music therapy services that are ongoing has been an important part of her life.  Here is the news story: Sarah Ely and here is her blog:  My Name is Sarah

(2-24-11)  The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is currently mired in the courts.  I think it is important that we all try and keep up with how this situation plays itself out.  Not only will it affect all of our personal interactions with doctors and healthcare providers, but it will have an impact and unknown ramifications on music therapy services in hospitals, rehab centers and any current services that are reimbursable through some insurance companies.  Here is the latest ruling by a federal judge:  Judge Kessler.

Where In the World is Justin Bieber??

I did a music expression group with some clients in an adult psych setting several weeks ago.  It was around Valentine's Day so I wanted to talk to the group about how it is important to have a strong social support system.  This might include friends and family if not a significant other, so there was no pressure about doing this for a "Valentine."  Since Justin collaborated with Usher on this song, I decided that it would be okay for an adult population.

Each participant rewrote the song, "Somebody to Love," by Justin Bieber and Usher.  After each person was finished with their version of the lyrics, they performed it through a karaoke machine.  The group really seemed to enjoy the activity and had tremendous fun performing their songs!  I thought that this song was easy to adapt into a fill-in-the blank songwriting activity, so I wanted to share my edits:    

A New Look for 2011!

This is my first official redesign, so I am a little nervous!  I have felt like I needed a fresh start for awhile, but the blogger templates were not very versatile.  They must have recently upgraded, so I was able to use my own background picture and create a really unique look.  I hope you like it!  Please feel free to share your thoughts about the changes.  Thank you so much for reading and I am looking forward to a great year!