Step Outside the Music Box

At my internship I've learned a good amount of music I'm not used too. It's been refreshing and introduces me to new styles that I now enjoy. I've never been a fan of hip hop but since it's a favorite genre of the patients here I've had to step outside my comfort zone and learn how to rap. Let me tell you... I'm not too bad! I actually enjoy rapping now. I get really into it and enjoy learning them. A tip about recreating hip hop is to use the Q-chord, not only does it give you a drum beat but it makes it easier to rap.

In my classes at FSU I never learned much hip hop. If your still a student, learn all of the different styles of music you can! Diversify your repertoire, especially if you're interested in working with adolescents. The two genres most requested at the hospital I intern at is country and hip hop.

Another challenge with working in a Children's hospital is having to constantly update yourself with what is popular on the radio. I frequently look at billboards.com top 100 to stay updated and better predict what patients will request. I can keep track of the top hits from day to day but we also have tons of outliers! I was super excited to learn a Blink 182 (one of my favorite bands) song a few weeks ago even though they haven't been on the radio in quite some time. If a song is older than a year it typically is not requested that much. Walking into a room is always an interesting experience because I never know what I'm going to get!