“I don’t know if you’d want to blog about your desktop but I’d like to know…is your desk always so ordered? I have a feeling you have an ability to clear the desktop daily. I am consistently in the midst of so many huge projects with my classes, well, I see the top of my desk 3 times a year. One of my goals this year is to see my desktop more than 3 times a year. Maybe you could show us what your desk looks like when you are REALLY in the swing of things.”
It’s confession time. I always have to organize my desk for photos, because it definitely does NOT look this neat on a regular basis.
In the picture above, I was in the midst of filling out student applications for my local federation of music clubs’ upcoming Junior Festival. This was right after I received the email, so it was the perfect opportunity to capture the evidence of my cluttered desktop.
So even though I’m guilty of the occasional messy desk, I’ve become very good at making it appear neat and tidy. I really have no choice, considering there are students and parents in and out of my office/studio on a daily basis. But what they don’t notice is my inbox tray stuffed to the gills, the papers concealed under a music book, and the sticky notes tucked into a drawer.
Despite all of these confessions, I do have some tips that help keep the visible clutter to a minimum and maintain my sanity.
I keep filing boxes stacked right underneath my desk, so that I can quickly file away invoices, pay stubs, and important documents that don’t require further action.
I make it a habit to empty my inbox tray (and then empty the trash can) every Sunday so that Monday is a clean slate.
Almost everything has a place or a dedicated folder. I only allow myself one tiny junk drawer for things that I can’t find a regular use for yet just can’t part with.
I’ve broken all of my former pack-rat habits. When I moved out of my parents’ house after college, they forced me to throw out the boxes and boxes of schoolwork — dating all the way back to 6th grade — that I absolutely did not need. It was hard at the time, but I’ve never looked back.
I keep a scanner on my desk so that I can digitize anything I think I might need later but don’t want taking up valuable space.
And just in case you thought perhaps the picture up top was staged for this blog post, here’s another one (taken back in the day, when I still had my old Macbook and warhorse printer) to prove my occasional desk messiness.
What about you? Are you one of those people who always has a perfectly tidy workspace? If so, please add your tips in the comments. And if you’re a total slob, tell us about that too so we can all feel better about ourselves. (Just kidding, sort of.)
At school one day last week, one of my coworkers told me that she had watched every one of my videos (there are almost 50 now!) and was sharing them with all of her friends. Before I left for the weekend, she told me she was looking forward to today’s video…and the pressure was on.
Well, not really, but I wanted to make sure this week’s video was a song she would enjoy. That’s why I picked Laurie Berkner’s “I’m Gonna Catch You”, which my students and I have been working on throughout the month.
There’s a little guy in one of my classes who came up with full choreography, which includes spins, jumping, and some unique moves that I don’t think have names. I actually thought for a split second about doing the choreography in the video (reminiscent of the Turkey Dinner Dance) but decided I wasn’t quite brave enough…maybe next time :)
Lerner & Loewe. Rodgers & Hammerstein. Kander & Ebb. Lennon & McCartney. Simon & Garfunkel. All famous songwriting duos whose names just belong together, right?
To be honest, I’ve never collaborated with another songwriter when it comes to music therapy/children’s songs. (Unless you count therapeutic songwriting with students or piggyback songs, that is!) I’ve definitely used input from custom song clients, teachers, parents and others, but the actual process of creating the song is an independent one.
However, I do have a songwriting partner for other kinds of music. My mom and I have written wedding songs, choral Christmas pieces, songs for nonprofit organizations, and more over the last five years or so. We both bring our own strengths to each project, and the finished product reflects a nice mix of our styles. Goulet & Rambach has a nice ring to it :)
I’d love to collaborate with other music therapists at some point for a breath of fresh air and new inspiration. Any music therapy songwriting duos out there we should know about? Maybe you’re half of one — if so, let me know!
Today’s Friday Fave is actually a spin-off of yesterday’s guest post at Time for Music, which is the second installment of my “Adventures in Songwriting” series. I mentioned that I use the voice memo app during the songwriting process, and Susan of the wonderful blog Make Me Musical wanted to hear more about it.
I wrote about my favorite iPhone apps around this time last year, but lo and behold, I failed to mention voice memos. I keep my iPhone next to me while I write my songs, first so that I can tune my guitar using the Cleartune app, and second, so that I don’t lose my melodies before I get them down on paper.
As I mentioned while describing my songwriting process, the melody usually comes to me organically as I’m writing the lyrics. I don’t like to switch gears between perfecting the words and figuring out chords, so I simply open the voice memo app (which comes already installed on the iPhone) and hit record. That way I can sing or hum the melody and save it for later.
Not only does this app let me save my voice memos under a custom title, but when I sync my phone to my laptop, they automatically transfer to a dedicated iTunes playlist. These features come in extremely handy when I use voice memos during my lessons and music therapy sessions. Often I’ll record a piece of music for a student, download it to my computer, and then pop it onto his or her USB flashdrive for practice purposes.
I’d love to hear about other uses for the voice memo app. iPhone users: any tips to share? Bonus points if they’re related to songwriting :) Happy weekend, all!
Want to read Part 2 of my “Adventures in Songwriting” series? Well then you’ll have to scoot on over to Wade Richards’ blog, Time for Music! There you can read all about the process I use to write my songs — and check out all of Wade’s great articles and music therapy resources.
So what are you still doing here? Go read Adventures in Songwriting: My Process and feel free to share the process that works best for you. Oh, and if you missed Part 1, you can find it here.
Welcome! I’m Rachel Rambach, board-certified music therapist and creator of Listen & Learn Music — educational songs and musical materials for children. I love sharing my work with you, along with my behind-the-scenes creative process, adventures in business ownership, and life as a mom of two.
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