About us - Little Bear's Music

About Holly

I am a music therapist with 18 years experience of working with children. My passion for music started when I was a toddler! My mum played the piano and sang to me as I was quite deaf. I then drove my parents mad by playing the same nursery rhyme tape non stop!

This love of music continued and I took up the violin, viola and piano. As a teenager I played in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and took part in Pro Corda chamber music courses.

I have a music degree from The Royal Northern College of Music and a diplMTh in Music Therapy from The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. I am neurologic music therapist and have worked with children, young people and adults in mainstream, hospital, neuro-rehabilitation, adoption and special needs education settings. I am also a published author, researcher and have presented at international conferences about my music therapy work.

My experience as a music therapist has equipped me with the skills to provide a child focused interactive live music session. I love seeing the joy on little ones faces when they hear the sound of my viola or guitar for the first time!

I am a mum of two and I love listening to music, being outdoors and reading in my spare time.

About Little Bear’s Music

I chose the name Little Bear’s Music because we have always called our eldest child ‘Little Bear’ since she was born and it seemed like perfect name for the classes.

Little Bear’s Music classes have been designed with the aim of providing an imaginative, exciting and supportive environment in which your child can:

Confidence, Self Expression & Creativity

Through movement to live music your little one can become more confident and learn to express themselves.

Communicate

Singing songs will help your little one learn new words and become confident with communication.

Learn

Through playing instruments your little one can develop their listening, attention and coordination skills while having lots of fun.

Interact

Your little one will have the chance to make new friends who also love music. You can also experience interacting with your child through live music in a supportive environment.

Why Music?

Music is like a turbo power for the brain. It is nonverbal which means that it can help people express themselves without the need for words. Playing music with your baby can activate the pathways in the brain responsible for many general skills such as creativity or more specific skills like spatial intelligence.

Some interesting music facts:

Newborn babies can remember melodies played to them while they were in the womb.
Three-month-old babies can use music to help them remember things they have learned. Scientists now believe that music gives significance to the learning process and helps remember it.

One-year-old babies who participate in interactive music classes with their parents smile more, communicate better and show earlier and more sophisticated brain responses to music.