The other day while singing this song during a music therapy session, I completely blanked out when it came to singing about that 7th little turkey…oops! Isn’t it funny how the brain can fail you like that, even after singing a song year after year? Luckily I remembered that he “hid with the chicks” while recording the video.
When I sing this with my students, I like to pause before the number at the end of each verse and let them fill it in if they can. Another option is to have visual number cards available for pointing and counting down. Either way, “Ten Little Turkeys” is a November staple!
I’ve lost track of how many times I have mentioned here on the blog that I’m a list-maker. I’ve also lost track of how many lists I have running on any given day — on a notepad in my office, in the “Reminders” app of my phone, a Pages document on my computer, and now, in the cloud.
I discovered today’s “Friday Fave” while catching up on my Google Reader one day last month. John Jantsch writes the blog Duct Tape Marketing (and also wrote the book The Referral Engine, which I loved and learned a lot from), so I have him to thank for this new resource.
Workflowy is hard to describe, because calling it a list-making tool would be selling it short. The interface couldn’t be simpler: it’s just a blank page where you can add items, and then add bullet points to those items, and bullet points to those items, and then notes to those items. My Workflowy account contains an outline of all of my to-do’s in every area of my life, broken down into the smallest detail.
When I sat down earlier this week to outline my presentation for the national music therapy conference (yes, this is happening next week, and yes, I am completely guilty of procrastination), I decided to go the Workflowy route. You can see a portion of my outline above. The entire outline is nested within the rest of my Workflowy space, and I can minimize and maximize it as needed. This tool is too cool!
You know what else is cool about Workflowy? It’s totally free. It’s also accessible anywhere. I can pull it up on my computer, iPhone, or iPad — there’s no dedicated app; just type the address in Safari, sign in, and there are my lists.
I’m going to stop trying to explain and just let you go check it out for yourself. Have you tried Workflowy, or do you have another favorite organizational tool?
Oh, didn’t I tell you that it is teen pop sensation week here at Listen & Learn? :) That wasn’t my intention, but I think featuring Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato within the same week qualifies as such.
Carrie has been working on this song in voice/guitar lessons for the last couple of months, and we finally got around to recording it last night. This is her singing AND playing the guitar:
Carrie has been taking lessons with me for over two years now, and we’ve recorded quite a few songs in that time. We were talking last night about how much fun it would be to go back and listen to those older recordings, and compare them to how she sounds now.
That’s exactly why I’m so insistent about recording my students’ work — there’s no better way to gauge their progress (not to mention, make parents and grandparents extremely happy!).
I love the second week of every month, because that’s when we post a new episode of the Music Therapy Round Table podcast. This month, Kimberly, Michelle and I discuss our role models, both on a personal and professional level. As always, we bring three different perspectives to the table.
After we recorded this particular episode, I got to thinking about all of the role models whom I didn’t mention (you’ll have to listen to find out who I did mention). Here are just a few more people who I look up to both personally and professionally:
Ingrid Michaelson (Singer/songwriter with lots of talent and savvy.)
Tony Hsieh (Founder/CEO of Zappos. Read this book and you’ll understand why.)
Zach Rambach (A.K.A. my husband, for his amazing work ethic.)
All of my rock star music therapy colleagues.
I could keep going, but I think I’ll stop there and ask YOU the question: who are your role models? Feel free to comment on this post, or go have a listen to the podcast episode and let us know over there.
As much as I hate to admit it, these words actually came out of my mouth recently. But I have a good reason, I promise. Hear me out, okay?
I have a middle school student who has been taking piano and voice lessons from me for over two years now. This particular student is very sweet and always tries his best, but has told me on numerous occasions that honestly, he just isn’t that into playing the piano or singing.
However, his tune had changed when he came for his lesson last week. He looked at me very seriously and said:
“You know, Miss Rachel, I’ve been thinking. I really want to get more into singing, because I think I could be really good. You know, like Justin Bieber.”
I’ve never been struck by Bieber Fever, nor really seen the appeal at all, but I’m all for my students getting their inspiration anywhere they can find it. So I went with it. After sharing my excitement with my student over his new-found passion for singing, we got down to business.
One of the things we’ve been working on during his voice lessons is projection. I’m always searching for ways to help him turn up his volume, and today I knew just what to say. You guessed it:
What would Justin Bieber do?
My student answered that Justin Bieber would probably sing louder, and with more confidence. That he would smile, relax, and take bigger breaths from his diaphragm. Most of the directions I’ve been giving him for the past two years came tumbling out of his mouth, all because of this simple question.
He was a different singer for the rest of that lesson, and I’m hoping the trend continues. Thank you, Justin Bieber — not for your bubble gum pop songs, but for inspiring my student and countless other kids, I’m sure.
(Yes, I really did just thank Justin Bieber in a blog post. What is the world coming to?!)
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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