Friday Fave: Weekend in Chicago

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Friday Fave: Weekend in Chicago

Confession: this post has nothing to do with music therapy, education, or children.  But I’m so excited for my trip to the Windy City this weekend that I couldn’t resist writing about it.  It’s been a long winter full of work-related weekend obligations, which means this trip — which has NOTHING to do with work — is the perfect way to ring in spring.

Our little weekend getaway does have something to do with my husband’s work, but that’s a good thing.  Every March, his company invites its top performers to Chicago for a hotel stay and awards banquet.  Zach and I have attended for the last 4 years, and this will be his 2nd year receiving the Agent of the Year title.

So that’s what we’ll be up to on Saturday night.  But we’re heading out this afternoon with plans for a fancy dinner tonight followed by an overnight stay in a suite at the Wyndham Hotel.  We love trying out new hotels every time we visit Chicago; back in August, we stayed at the super-cool W Hotel, and on Saturday night Zach’s company is putting us up at the Sax Hotel.  Our favorite is the Peninsula, but you have to take out a small loan in order to stay there :)

Ahh, a weekend full of eating out, dressing up, and relaxing.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  What are your plans for this weekend?  Hopefully they’re equally as fun!

The Rhythm Sticks Waltz

by | Listen & Learn Music, Uncategorized

Song for Children Counting to 3

Every time I use this song in a class or music therapy session, I start by having my students count to 3.  We do it once to begin with, very slowly, and use our fingers as well as our voices.  Gradually we get faster, counting to 3 again and again in rhythm.  Then I explain that they’ve just counted a type of song called a waltz.

Rhythm sticks are a great instrument for this type of activity, because the beat can be heard very clearly.  Younger students seem to have better impulse control while playing sticks as opposed to drums or other types of percussion instruments, though I may experiment a little.

This is a relatively new song, but so far I’ve had lots of fun and success with it.  The concept of counting to 3 over and over again is a bit difficult at first, but once my students can do that, they have laid the foundation for some pretty important music (and non-music) skills.

If you can count to three (1, 2, 3)
Then you can do the rhythm sticks waltz with me.
Just click your sticks and feel the beat,
The rhythm stick waltz is so sweet.

1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, go,
Keep tapping, don’t stop yet,
Just feel the flow.

If you can count to three (1, 2, 3)
Then you can do the rhythm sticks waltz with me.
Just click your sticks and feel the beat,
The rhythm stick waltz is so sweet.

1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, pause,
And take a rest,
Let’s hear the applause!

Of course, when I use this song in a live session or class, we make our own applause :)  We also vary the tempo, going very slowly at first and then seeing how quickly we can play and sing while keeping the steady beat.

I don’t write many songs in 3/4 time, especially not songs meant to be played along to with instruments.  But it’s good to have a few in the mix.  Which waltz-tempo songs do you sing and play with your students?

Every Little Thing is Gonna Be All Right

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Three Little Birds

My husband and I spent our honeymoon on the island of St. Lucia back in summer of 2008, and had an amazing time.  The weather was perfect, the scenery was gorgeous, and the music was…well, repetitive.  It’s a good thing we like Bob Marley, because that is what we heard for 8 straight days.

So now every time I hear “Three Little Birds” (my favorite Marley tune), I’m taken back to that glorious week of sun, fun, and relaxation.  It’s sort of become my calm-down song; I find myself singing it when I’m stressed or worried.

When I mentioned on Twitter a few weeks ago that it was stuck in my head, one of my music therapy friends mentioned that there is a children’s book based on the song.  And you know how much I love singable stories, so this will definitely be added to my collection.

Finding Music Therapy

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Rachel & Dr. Sinclair at Rollins College

I have this man to thank for my career in music therapy.  Dr. John Sinclair, or “Doc” as everyone calls him, was the head of the music department at Rollins College during my undergraduate years, and still is today.  He directed the ensembles in which I sang, and I had him as a professor for several classes.

But it was one particular class he taught that changed my path; I can’t remember the name of it, but I remember the pivotal assignment.  Doc asked us to choose a career in the music field and write an in-depth research paper on it.  I was a vocal performance major, and had dreams of becoming a professional singer.  But I wanted to learn about something new, so I did a Google search for “careers in music”.  Music therapy was one of the top hits.

I read everything I could on the internet about music therapy that day, and on Monday morning, I went straight to Dr. Sinclair’s office.  “Doc, I know what I’m going to write my paper about, and I’ve found my future career!”  It turns out that Doc knew all about music therapy, and offered to contact a music therapist he knew who had just moved to the Orlando area.

A week later, I had written my paper and begun job shadowing his music therapist friend.  I watched her in action at a nursing home, with private students taking adapted lessons, and with an early childhood group.  She told me all about her coursework as a music therapy student, and spent hours answering all of my questions.  I was even more convinced that music therapy was for me.

I was in the second semester of my sophomore year at the time, and couldn’t stand the thought of waiting another year and a half to graduate and go on to grad school for music therapy.  So when my advisor told me that I had enough credits to graduate after the first semester of my junior year, I only hesitated a little.  Did I really want to leave college — my friends, my sorority, this beautiful campus — 1.5 years early?  It was hard, and I got a lot of flack from my friends, but I did it anyway.

I applied to and was accepted at several schools in Florida, including FSU and University of Miami.  But in the end, I returned to Illinois and ended up an hour north of my home, at Illinois State University.  I was sad to be back in the cold; however, I couldn’t pass up a full ride to graduate school.  It ended up being worth it, though, since it was at ISU where I fell in love with my now-husband :)

So that’s my story of finding music therapy.  I was inspired by similar stories shared by my colleagues, including Nat Mullis and others.  What’s your story — whether you found music therapy or another career for which you were meant?

Friday Fave: ‘Sing You Home’ by Jodi Picoult

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Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

There’s been a lot of buzz about this book in the music therapy world for the last few months.  Why?  Because the protagonist is a music therapist!  That doesn’t happen very often (in fact, I only know of one other book where that is the case), which is why it has caused such a stir.

So of course when the book came out, I made a mad dash to my computer to download the audio version and started listening right away.  It’s safe to say that I enjoyed it, considering I finished the book in just a few days.

Sing You Home is not just about music therapy, to be sure.  Jodi Picoult tackles several big issues, including infertility and same-sex marriage.  As with all of her other books, there are emotional highs and lows, twists and turns, and my favorite aspect of her writing — wonderful character development.

Zoe, the main character who is a music therapist, came alive for me after just a chapter or two.  I felt like I knew her, and the same went for the other characters.  It was so much fun to listen to the descriptions of her music therapy sessions — I kept forgetting I was reading a mainstream novel!

Many of the sessions she led in the book sounded similar to the kinds of things I do in my own sessions, although she worked with a wider range of populations than I.  Zoe faced many of the same struggles that we as music therapists do, including having to explain what she does repeatedly and having to stand up for music therapy as an evidence-based treatment modality.

I don’t want to include any spoilers, so I’ll leave you with this: read the book.  And not just because music therapy is involved!  It’s beautifully written, fast-paced, and makes you think.  Have you read it yet?