A Musical Trip to the Beach

Over the weekend, I took a short trip to sunny Florida, and I couldn’t help but get excited about the warmer weather coming our way. Although higher temperatures aren’t here yet, the few days I spent in my sandals and sunglasses inspired this week’s beach-themed post!

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Escaping Winter

Escaping Winter | JW Marriott in Marco Island, FL

Every February, I start to get really restless and lose my patience for what always seems like a never-ending winter season. Luckily, it’s at this time that we usually have the chance to escape the frozen midwest and spend a few days in paradise — also known as Marco Island, Florida.

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Adding a Little Color to the Music

Color Identification in Music Therapy | Listen & Learn Music

These dreary wintry days have me longing for spring and all of its colors, so I’ve taken that inspiration into my music therapy sessions and music classes with a few colorfully themed songs.

Identifying colors is an important developmental skill for young children, so it’s only natural to practice that skill in a musical context. In this post, I’ve featured two songs that creatively address color identification while targeting some additional goals as well!

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“Fly Away (Free Bird)”

The following is a guest post by Yaniza, a bilingual singer-songwriter based in New York City. Yaniza’s tunes bring joy and sunshine to its listeners through catchy lyrics meshed with acoustic guitar, ukulele, or piano base. Much like her home city, Yaniza’s music is a melting pot of calm, upbeat, and everything in between.

Yaniza's "Fly Away (Free Bird)" | Listen & Learn Music

“Fly Away (Free Bird)” is a melodic little reminder for everyone to embrace their inner free spirit. When I wrote the song, I was feeling very stuck in a routine. The only way to get myself out of that rut was to write my feelings into a song!

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Moving and Grooving…While Sitting?!

Those of us who work with young children know how essential movement is to a successful music therapy session or music class. Although movement is necessary, sometimes when all of the kiddos get up to move, chaos can break out and spread like wildfire!

As a young music therapist, it was hard to manage gross motor movement songs effectively; it always seemed like my clients and students would become dysregulated, run around, and have difficulty following along. As the years go on, I’ve gotten a little bit wiser, and have learned to work smarter and not harder when it comes to movement interventions.

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