For my EDGE Project, I chose Music Therapy for Animals because of a lot of reasons: 1) No person in the EDGE Program did a Music Therapy for Animals. 2) There were barely any online articles about music therapy for animals. 3) It started with the personal experience of watching my cat sharpen her "claws" or stubs on the couch every time I played a minor 2nd'("Jaws" theme) on the piano. She would always do that and I would wonder what she was thinking and why she reacted the way she did.

The steps I took for this project is a little complicated. First I had to submit a form asking me for what animals I was going to use and I had to get a signature from the professor who gave me permission to use the animals and then a signature from the Head of the Biology Department. That form is in a Google Drive link under the Project Completion Report tab. I mailed the form after I got the signatures. I had to wait awhile after I had to answer some questions. I got it approved the first time. Once I got it approved, I went ahead and got started on the project once the 2017 Fall Semester started. I did start with the tortoises. I had a plan of doing an hour per genre even though each genre was 15 minutes. I would do an observation before the music started which was about 15 minutes. Then, I start the music and record my observations which was for 30 minutes on one volume level even though each genre was 15 minutes. I kept doing this and realized I wasn't getting any results and by spring semester I changed my plan of how to do my EDGE Project. It was the end of Fall Semester I changed my plan of how to do my EDGE Project to reducing my genres down to 4 (pop, country, rap, and classical). I would have done Renaissance and Baroque along with Jazz but I didn't get the chance too due to being sick all the time and the challenges that arose from this project. I also changed that each session was an hour but it included all 4 genres on a specific volume level. Each animal ended up having to change to the 3 one-hour sessions total by Spring Semester with volume levels of 100%, 50%, and 25%. It was safe as Professor Heyborne told me as long as the music doesn't go past 80 decibels that I wouldn't violate any animal rights.

The goal was to use a wide range of animals from SUU Animal Ambassadors, the SUU lab with animals, my friends’ pets, and my pets where I had the animals listen to music to see how they behave which would also helped me apply some of the techniques I could use on animals and to my future clients in my music therapy career. In addition, this project brought a new goal of making people aware that even if you are blasting your music in your house with pets that they need to be aware that they could be hearing an animal's hearing or that the music is too loud for them. I did achieve my goal though. I got to learn through the observations of these animals possible techniques I could use on future clients and pet clients.

I have learned a lot from this project. I learned different animals react or behave differently to different music genres and their volume levels. The Corn Snake and Ball Pythons' behavior didn't change at all because they can't hear but the vibrations didn't affect them either. The Sulcata Tortoise and the Red-Footed Tortoise I had a hard time telling their behavior when the music genres were playing at different volume levels. It depends on someone's perception because I felt that both tortoises had a slow and fast pace during parts of a genre. However, another person could perceive both tortoises movements during the video recording as random. For the Argentine Black and White Tegu, I didn't see much of a change in her behavior. She was always cranky when I woke her from her nap in her cage but then she didn't thrash much by the end of the music session except the last one because she was shedding. For the Chinchilla, I noticed that the genre didn't affect the creature's high energy level, but I noticed how a decrease in volume level could have affected how much the creature pooped. The lower the volume level, the less feces there was. I had 2 Bearded Dragons. The first Bearded Dragon was old and slept peacefully when Mozart came on. The second Bearded Dragon was young but would have less energy when Mozart came on. This happened sometimes with Ed Sheeran. For the dog, he was exhausted on the first day but the loud music didn't bother him from sleeping. The second session, the dog wasn't exhausted but he became unresponsive to the owner's words at the end of the session which ended with Mozart. For the cat, she kept falling asleep when Ed Sheeran and Mozart was turned on. For the Hedge Hog, she wanted to sleep and would curl up by a cabinet and sleep during Ed Sheeran but would wake up during Mozart. I brought the knowledge of psychology, music therapy, and music together for this project. I am a Music Major and used the basic genres and the music theory of chords (both pleasing and displeasing to the ear) to pick out my music genres. For Psychology, I researched or got a professional's advice about how loud the music can go up to which is no higher than 80 decibels. I also had a hypothesis I thought about how there are some music genres that can calm down or make an animal mad and the volume levels can factor into it as well. I brought the knowledge of what I learned from shadowing music therapists over the summers of how I wanted to do the project or it was at least the inspiration for the project. As I shadowed, I applied some knowledge about volume levels and music genres. Every client in the music therapists' care had a different preference of genres and can stand certain volume levels which helped me write my conclusion for this project. I also spent a lot of time with most of the animals to get to know them too. I spent a lot of time with my cat as an example. I know she gets mad if I blocked the upstairs. I also know she is a loving cat too but doesn't like loud noises.

I can apply what I learned from my project because it helped me design techniques which all I need to do is modify them when I use them for music therapy. In music therapy, I need soft skills of being sensitive to the volume levels a client can take that the don't lose their hearing but they are still able to hear the music. A hard skill that compliments this would be applying it to playing on my instruments. For the clarinet, it is about the wide air flow versus a narrow air flow. For the guitar, it is about how much force I should strike the guitar with my index finger or a guitar pick. I have to take in the acoustics of the room along with how many people I would be playing for in the room. Most of the time would be live music but depending on the activity, the activity would just need music from the computer if I don't know how to play that piece of music. Another soft skill would be able to adjust to a client's preference in music genres. A hard skill to compliment this would be needing to learn music genres a client would prefer whether I like the songs they chose or not. I once read in an AMTA (American Music Therapy Association) journal that had the message in a section of how you can be a music therapist for a hospice client and you might be asked to perform a religious song even if you don't practice that religion. Another soft skill in the music therapy industry is to deal with emotions. I have shadowed the music therapists and there is always a time when it can be an emotional session. You can only show appropriate emotions. It was coming up Father's Day and I remember the music therapist I shadowed was singing a song about fathers and the fathers that weren't here on Earth anymore due to a car accident or another death incident. The adult Down Syndrome clients made up the lyrics to the songs but I can tell the music therapist I was shadowing wanted to cry as soon as the the Down Syndrome adults were comforting another Down Syndrome adult who lost their dad a few years before. I wanted to cry too but I noticed the music therapist had a tiny tear but wiped it away as soon as she felt the tear on her cheek. When in an emotional setting like that, you can't show sympathy. You can show empathy but not sympathy. It's okay to feel the emotions but at the same time you are that client's therapist. If you feel like bawling, you need to wait to cry into your pillow after you are done working is what I have learned from the AMTA journals. I have been exposed to the emotions when the first Bearded Dragon died along with the other Bearded Dragon it was with for a long time.

I think SUU put an experiential learning requirement in place because it can impress employers. If your project relates to an occupation you are interested in like mine, then future employers will see you are interested in that occupation and tried to make a contribution to the importance of that occupation. Also, if the EDGE Project relates to the occupation you are interested in, it could also help you figure out if you are in the right Major at college since it is pretty common for college kids to change their Major a lot.

The metaphor EDGE in the EDGE program for those graduating like me means that you are one step closer to where you need to be. It means that you have gained more knowledge and experience by trying to complete this project by conducting experiments or completing a long-time goal you had. It pushes you to be competitive too. EDGE is what "pushes you to the edge" which is it lets you challenge yourself to see what you can achieve and contribute to the world.

​