Sit With Me Maybe

Sit With Me Maybe

I struggled this week to come up with a song topic. Some weeks I have so many ideas that it’s difficult to narrow them down; well, this wasn’t one of ’em. After sitting at my desk racking my brain for almost an hour, I decided to take a little Facebook break.

I’m so glad I did, because the inspiration for the song was right in front of my eyes. Someone had posted the lyrics to the immensely popular hit “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen, which just so happens to be the overwhelming favorite in my studio at the moment.

With my kiddos getting ready to go back to school in a few weeks, we have been really focused on social skills — eye contact, making friends, having conversations, etc. — and I’m very much in need of some new material on these topics. So with a little help from Carly Rae, Sit With Me Maybe came to be:

My husband LOVES the original version of this song. So after I played it for him yesterday, he immediately sent it out to all of his friends who have kids and insisted on playing it for his entire family. I wish he would react to ALL my songs that way ;)

I had a lot of fun trying to recreate the instrumentation for this song, and while it’s far from perfect, I think Carly Rae would dig it. I hope my students do, too!

Note: this song is intended for educational and therapeutic purposes only. It is not meant to parody the original “Call Me Maybe” — it is simply an adaptation geared towards addressing goals such as communication, peer interaction and social skills.

Friday Fave: Bob Ross Remixed

My dad shared this video on Facebook yesterday, and after I started watching it, I instantly knew I had my topic for today’s “Friday Fave” post.

If you’re over the age of 25, then there’s a pretty good chance you watched Bob Ross on PBS growing up. I know my brother and I did; in fact, we probably saw every single episode. We loved quoting all of his catch phrases, especially when he’d say “beat the devil out of it” when washing off his paint brush.

Maybe we did poke fun at him a little, but truth is, he loved what he did and it showed. The fact that he’d complete a brand new painting from start to finish on every episode never ceased to amaze me, and really, it made me want to paint, too! If that’s not inspirational, I don’t know what is.

“I believe every day’s a good day when you paint.”

Insert “make music” and that basically sums up my outlook on life. Now I just need to come up with some memorable catch phrases. Hmm…

Raise your hand (or click the “like” button below) if you loved Bob Ross, too!

Peter Piper

Peter Piper

This week, instead of writing a brand-new song, I decided to give myself a different kind of challenge. One of my music therapy students is working on several speech goals, so we’ve been doing some “tongue twister” songs in her sessions.Peter Piper is a classic example of such, which brought to mind a version I sang with my vocal trio in college.

The arrangement is a tricky one, especially when you’re singing all three parts at a fairly bright tempo. My recording is far from perfect, but I sure did have fun learning and singing it!


I can’t wait to play this for my student later in the week — hopefully it will inspire to keep up her fantastic progress on our much slower version of this perfectly practical, “p”-plentiful tongue twister.

Friday Fave: MusicTherapyEd.com

Music Therapy Ed

If you’re a music therapist who partakes in any sort of social media activity (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), then you’ve surely heard about the launch of MusicTherapyEd.com. And if you haven’t, well…I’m about to fill you in!

Kat Fulton is a music therapist in San Diego who I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know both through social media and in person at conferences over the last several years. The resources she has created for the music therapy and drumming communities — including her blog, drumming DVD, and CMTE courses — are nothing short of impressive, and now she’s added to that list with her latest venture.

MusicTherapyEd.com offers on-demand continuing education for music therapists (and anyone else who is interested in learning about the available topics) through video courses that are available 24/7. Current courses include There’s An App for That, Stop Burnout Before It’s Too Late, Reimbursement & Funding for Music Therapy Services: Private Insurance, Music Therapy Marketing 101, and MTs & SLPs: Collaboration and Co-Treatment in Pediatric Clinics. You can read about each course and instructor here.

Aside from AMTA National Conference, I don’t have much opportunity to travel to CMTE trainings throughout the year because of my busy work schedule. I love that more and more courses are becoming available online, and I have a feeling that MusicTherapyEd.com is going to become my go-to source for continuing education. Big props to Kat and her instructors for such an awesome resource!

It’s Okay to Cry

It's Okay to Cry

As a kid, I was never a crier. My mom used to say that she could count on one hand the number of times she saw me cry when I was younger, and she was probably right. Something always stopped me from letting my feelings out.

I see the same thing happen with my students quite often. Music therapy and even music lessons can be emotional at times, and I can tell when a child or young adult is on the verge of tears. They usually try to hold them back and keep themselves together, but I always encourage my students to share how they’re feeling — even if it means letting the tears fall.


I remember feeling embarrassed every time I cried as a child, even if it was just in front of my parents or best friend. But as I say in the song, everybody cries and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

I’ve learned that crying can be cathartic…it really does help us face whatever we’re feeling sad about. I wrote this song so that we can teach that to our students and children. Choking back tears is no fun, as I know all too well!