Using Music to Enhance Phonological Awareness: Four Key Techniques for Music Therapists

We've all heard someone say, “I was singing before I ever learned to talk!” or watched a two-year-old babble over a hip-hop beat, instinctively playing with rhythm and sound like a tiny MC.

Music and speech are deeply connected —before kids ever master words, they’re already exploring rhythm, melody, and phonemes. Research shows that music-based interventions can significantly improve phonological awareness, which is a set of foundational skills for language and literacy development.  

What Is Phonological Awareness?

Phonological awareness is a set of skills that allows us to recognize and manipulate the sounds in spoken language. The skills develop from larger units of language to smaller ones (think sentences to phonemes). A child who has developed phonological awareness can recognize and play with sounds in words, identify rhymes, break words into syllables, and manipulate individual phonemes—all essential skills for learning to read and communicate effectively. 

It’s a key skill for language development and early reading. Because music naturally uses rhythm, melody, and repetition, it’s a powerful way to strengthen phonological awareness in a fun and engaging way.

Here are four key techniques to incorporate into your music therapy sessions to strengthen phonological skills, boost auditory processing, and support language development. 

1. Identifying and Playing With Rhymes 

Singing and chanting rhymes is one the most effective ways to help children recognize auditory patterns and discriminate between sounds. Using songs like “Down By the Bay” and “Willoughby Wallaby Woo” can make phonological awareness fun and engaging. 

Keep in mind your clients’ learning styles and try a multisensory approach to engage them in identifying and manipulating rhymes and reinforce auditory discrimination. For example:

• Stomping, clapping, playing an instrument or jumping when they hear rhyming words 

• Using a puppet to speak or sing the rhyme pairs in a song 

• Incorporating a mystery bag with small objects* (ie: sock, clock, duck, truck, car, guitar) and allowing clients to pull out two objects, then singing a simple tune or chant: “Do they rhyme? Yes or No? Let’s find out, let’s go!”

• Using singable books  or flash cards for visual support*

Beyond recognition, manipulating rhymes helps strengthen phonological awareness. Try silly rhyme substitutions and encourage clients to come up with their own such as “Twinkle Twinkle, Little … Car!” Or, make long rhyming chains by taking turns adding lines to a story or poem. For example, “There once was a frog… that sat on a log. It ate lots of bugs, and liked to give hugs…”. 

*A note on using visual aids: Visual aids serve to support children who may struggle with phonological awareness. These aids are removed gradually as children begin to master phonological awareness skills by hearing and speaking on their own. 

Engaging multisensory activities like singing, clapping, and visual aids support children's phonological awareness, helping them recognize and manipulate rhymes.

If you're working on reading and communication goals, 

Literacy For Littles is the perfect course for you! 

Created by music therapist Kathy Schumacher, it offers music-based techniques, 72 songs, 12 assessment tools, and over 3 hours of video. Plus, you’ll earn 5 CMTE credits or a professional development certificate.

Learn more here.

 

2. Labeling Sounds to Enhance Listening Skills

Practice labeling the sounds made and heard during sessions. Use both musical terms and every day vocabulary to describe tempo, dynamics, timbre, and to identify instruments. This ultimately leads to increased ability to sort and categorize sounds, which boosts phonological awareness and reading abilities. Try the following: 

• Explore directional concepts (up, down, side to side) using melody, describing sounds made, or for concrete learners, using props to describe different positions 

• Play beats at different tempi and engage students in describing them as the same, different, fast, slow, etc. 

• Practice describing pitch 

3. Breaking down sentences and words 

Breaking sentences into words, and words into syllables helps clients understand language structures. Encourage students to count the words in the phrases of familiar songs or in everyday phrases. 

When separating words into syllables students can tap, clap, drum or jump along with the syllables in words. Start with familiar, multisyllabic words and have clients repeat your input. 

To increase engagement:

• Use themed words according to students’ goals and age groups (ie: work, school, food, or holidays).

• Count syllables together, integrating movement, body percussion or instrument playing. 

• Assign a different pitch to each syllable, high, then low, repeat as needed. Practice voicing each word. 

• Play with tempo by tapping each syllable slowly, then speeding up (ie: “po-ta-to” = 3 slow beats followed by 3 quick beats).

• In a group, play “pass the syllable” by having each person sing one syllable then “pass” the word on to the next person (ie: person 1 “po-”, person 2 “ta-”, person 3 “to”). To increase the challenge, integrate small percussion instruments as well. 

4. Identifying Initial Sounds 

Identifying and manipulating initial sounds (onset sounds) is an effective way to help children develop phonemic awareness, a key component of phonological awareness. To reinforce this skill you can try: 

• Playing “I spy” - chant or sing “I spy with my little ear, something that starts with the /b/ sound. Use instruments or props to practice different sounds.

• Using alliteration - chant, sing, play, or move using alliterative phrases such as “Busy Bees Buzz” or “Silly Swirly Scarves”. 

Now, we’d love to hear from you! 

Do you work on language and communication skills? 

What are your go-to musical strategies for building phonological awareness?