Music Therapy with pBuzz

May 19th, 2022 | 1 min read

Professional musician, teacher and music healthcare practitioner Fiona Pritchard has recently been using the pBuzz in her Music Therapy sessions. Fiona got in touch with us to share her experience working with the pBuzz and autism.

"After a few sessions with a young child with autism, I noticed despite being talkative, he resisted any vocal exchanges. Then, I brought along the pBuzz instruments, one for me and one for him. He was immediately attracted to them exploring the slide and counting the colours and saying the note names.

I buzzed mine to share the sound with him and he sang back through the P Buzz. This initiated turn-taking and sound swapping, various ways of saying hello and singing each other's names.

It was playful and creative, and he was using his voice freely for the first time!

Since then, he has enjoyed this type of singing dialogue through the instrument, and he enjoys moving the slide and making a vocal sound to match. He always looks for the pBuzz and finds a new sound with it each time."

Julie Fews

Since graduating from University with a BA (Hons) in Music and Business Management and a PGCE in Primary Education, Julie has gathered over 20 years experience in primary education having worked as a classroom teacher, governor and deputy head of schools in the Midlands. Julie is also an accomplished brass musician, holding principal positions with top section brass bands performing in Europe, UK, USA and Australia.

From 2010 – 2018 Julie lived with her family in Sydney, Australia. During this time Julie combined her passion for music and education by taking the position as Primary School Band Director. Over seven years under her direction, Julie developed an inclusive band program that doubled in size, winning numerous prestigious awards and competitions including ‘Commitment to Musical Excellence’. When her own children started school she took an active role in the Parents and Community Association, this takes the role of both the PTA and Board of Governors in Australia.

In 2016 Julie was elected P&C President, equivalent to Chair of Governors and was commended in the NSW Parliament for her effort, commitment and achievements. Julie is enthusiastic about the benefits to children of all abilities in learning and performing music and in 2017 she became Education Consultant for WMG in Australia where she successfully launched the pBuzz program. Julie secured strategic agreements with national and local distribution partners for pInstruments including School Bands Australia and Taylormade Music. Since moving back to the UK, Julie continues to work for WMG in her current role as publishing manager for Warwick Music Publishing.

Topics:

musical therapy

autism

music therapy