One of the highlights of my week is working with Tony and Patrick, two multi-talented brothers with a penchant for Billy Joel and the Beatles. Tony sings and plays the piano, and Patrick plays guitar and piano. Both brothers have been taking lessons with me for less than a year, but have proved to be extremely quick studies.
Last week we had our very first recording session, during which the boys sang and played Imagine. We actually recorded two versions — one with Tony on vocals and Patrick on piano, and the other with Tony on piano and vocals with Patrick on guitar. Below is the latter version:
Next up for Tony & Patrick? Piano Man, Strawberry Fields, Come Sail Away, and several others. I’m looking forward to lots more recordings from this duo!
One of the things I’ll really miss this fall is seeing all of my former students at The Hope Institute dressed up in their Halloween costumes, parading around the school.
And I’ll be working away during trick-or-treat time this year, so I will just have to live vicariously through Facebook — for not only my former students, but also my current ones and my nieces, nephews, and friends’ children. If I can’t witness the costumes on parade in person, at least I’ll get to see pictures!
…over at Mundana Music Therapy, one of my favorite blogs by two of my favorite music therapists! If you’re curious about how I organize and access my insanely huge repertoire of music therapy songs, then hop on over and check out my guest post, 5 Ways to Organize Music Therapy Repertoire.
Kimberly Thompson and Megan Resig are the owners of Mundana Music Therapy, and recently relocated their private practice from Rochester, New York all the way to Portland, Oregon.
Kim and I ended up in the same elevator at last year’s AMTA national conference in Cleveland, where she introduced herself and told me that she and Megan would be attending the CMTE presented by myself and my Music Therapy Round Table colleagues. They did, and we have been in touch ever since. In fact, Mundana Music Therapy is the newest Listen & Learn sponsor.
Kim and Megan are doing big things in the world of music therapy, and I’m honored that they invited me to make an appearance on their blog. So go check it out, and have an amazing Friday!
I’ll tell you what…I’m getting quite a bit of mileage out of the “Banana Boat Song” around here lately. Over the summer, I recorded a fruit shakers version for one of my music therapy students, and today I have a custom song based on it.
This particular song is all about tally marks — what they are, and how to count with them. Rene, who wins the award for most custom songs ever purchased (thanks Rene!), gave me a list of key terms to include in the song, several of which are tally mark, vertical, diagonal, equals, sum, groups, and add. I managed to fit each of the terms into the lyrics, as well as some practice counting by fives.
Day-o, day-ay-ay-o
Each little tally mark equals one
Day-o, day-ay-ay-o
Count by five and we get the sum
Counting with tally marks, adding up some numbers
4 vertical and 1 diagonal lines
Counting with tally marks, adding up some numbers
One set of tally marks equals five
One, two, three, four, vertical lines
One diagonal line makes five
One, two, three, four, vertical lines
One diagonal line makes five
Day, me say day-ay-ay-o
Each little tally mark equals one
Day-o, day-ay-ay-o
Count by five and we get the sum
Counting with tally marks, adding up some numbers
Now add up all the groups of five
Counting with tally marks, adding up some numbers
Here we go, sing this counting jive
Day-o, day-ay-ay-o
Each little tally mark equals one
Day-o, day-ay-ay-o
Count by five and we get the sum
One of the things I love most about being a music therapist is never knowing what kind of subject matter I’ll be asked to address next. I’m always up for a good challenge! If you’re in need of a song for a specific topic, skill or concept, click here to learn more about my custom song package.
When asked what I do for a living, I almost always answer automatically: “I’m a music therapist.” But the long answer is a little more complicated.
In addition to providing music therapy, I also teach lessons, perform, write music, blog, design websites, and juggle professionally. Okay, just kidding about that last one. But in all seriousness, the items on that list are right up there in importance with my “official” career, and they are things that I spend time doing every day.
My dad is well aware of my “multiple irons in the fire” — as he termed it when he sent me this article last week. The author writes that it’s okay to have multiple interests and talents rather than follow one clearly defined career path, and even has a name for such people: mulipotentialites.
She states that the alternative to having one true calling is to create a life around all of your interests; furthermore, create a platform that’s fueled by your multipotentiality. The article cites Chris Guillebeau (one of my personal heroes) as someone who has successfully done so. And the reason for his and others’ success? There is one over-arching theme connecting all the facets of their platforms.
The article got me thinking about my platform and over-arching theme. If you read this blog on a daily basis, then you know that I jump around from topic to topic quite frequently. Sometimes I write about business, other days I share music therapy songs I have written or songs that my students have recorded, and then there are the many posts related to my favorite technologies and how I use them. The list goes on, really.
My tagline since starting Listen & Learn has been “helping children learn and grow through music” — and while I think that covers most of the content I write and the work I do, I wouldn’t say that covers all of it. Maybe my over-arching theme will become more clear with time.
Do you have one true calling, or would you consider yourself to be a multipotentialite? And if so, what’s your over-arching theme?
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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This is the book + course that will help you shape your music therapy career in order to make more money and live your ideal lifestyle. Details here.
