Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No

Music Therapy yes/no videos & songs for special needs individuals.
Goal 1: Clients will imitate head movements signifying yes and no.
Goal 2: Clients will use head movements to answer yes/no questions pertaining to requests.
Goal 3: Clients will use head movements to answer yes/no questions pertaining to requests, preferences, and factual information.
Domains: Language, Motor

Everyone uses non-verbal communication: posture, eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, etc. For non-verbal individuals, sign language can be helpful, however it requires a partner that understands that mode of communication. Nodding your head up and down for “yes” and shaking your head back and forth for “no” are two gestures that most any communication partner will understand.

When teaching yes or no, it is easiest to start out with questions that elicit a concrete response. Requesting serves this purpose well. Present a drum and ask, “Do you want the drum?” The client nods “yes”… the client gets the drum. The client shakes “no”… the drum is put away. There is a clear cause and effect relationship between the client’s answer and what they get or don’t get. This is the content of the first video/song: Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Wants). The same verse, “Yes, I want that” and “No, I don’t want that”, is repeated four times.

Once yes/no for wants is mastered, the second video/song, Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Various), tackles a wider variety of yes/no responses. Verse two, “Yes, I like that” and “No, I don’t like that”, addresses preferences. “Do you like guitar?” Answering yes does not get the client a guitar, it simply allows them to share information. Verse three, “Yes, I can do that” and “No, I cannot do that”, asks for factual information pertaining to the client. “Can you play the piano?” Again, a positive answer does not get the client a piano. It is simply the exchange of information. Finally, verse four, “Yes, that is right” and “No, that is not right”, introduces the concept that when something is right (or correct) the answer is “yes” and when something is not right (or wrong) then “no” should be the response. An example could be, “Is this a bell?” “No, that is not right. It is a drum stick.”

Musically, the song accentuates the positive and negative aspects of yes and no through its tonality. During the “yes” portions of the chorus and verse, the song uses the chord and key of A Major. “No” during the chorus is an A diminished chord and during the verses, the “no” section modulates to the key of A minor. I’m really happy with how the moving heads in the videos turned out – giving clients a visual model of how to perform the head movements.

Original (2016) Download included:

• Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Wants) (video) [mp4 video file]
• Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Various) (video) [mp4 video file]
• Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Wants) [mp3 audio file]
• Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Various) [mp3 audio file]
• Printable Visuals
• Lyrics [PDF]
• Lyrics & Chords [PDF]

Updated (2020) Download includes:

• 5 videos [mp4 video files]
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Want)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Like)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Can)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Right)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Various)
• 5 songs [mp3 audio files]
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Want)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Like)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Can)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Right)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Various)
• 5 lyrics [PDFs]
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Want)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Like)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Can)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Right)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Various)
• 5 lyrics & chords [PDFs]
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Want)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Like)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Can)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Right)
  • Use Your Head To Show Yes Or No (Various)
• Printable Visuals

DOWNLOAD PAGE