After almost three years of blogging (and over 700 posts), it still amazes me that some people think of me as an “expert” on certain topics related to studio teaching, songwriting, and music therapy. Yet I continue to receive emails and comments from people thanking me for my resources and advice. (Not that I’m complaining — each one of them truly makes my day!)
But I have a list of go-to people that I consider to be the true experts. Lisa Casciola of Kids Sing Studio is one of those people. I first met Lisa on the second day of my music therapy internship, since she was one of my supervisors. I got to spend almost nine months learning from someone with whom I shared many of the same interests and goals. Not only did she help me become a better music therapist, but I also got the bonus of learning about running a teaching studio.
Lisa is the kind of teacher I aspire to be. Her studio holds masterclasses (with famous Broadway performers, no less!), yearly recitals, holiday parties, and offers all kinds of cool classes and summer programs related to music technology and performance. Like me, she teaches students of all abilities.
Just this week, I emailed Lisa and asked for some new repertoire suggestions. She replied almost immediately with a huge list of songs and resources for me. Looking back over the last four years of teaching, I think I owe Lisa for all the songs that have been the biggest hits amongst my students.
So now that I’ve sung Lisa’s praises, I want to know…who is your go-to expert, or the person you look up to as a role model in your field?
When I was growing up, my voice teacher would have me bring cassette tapes to my voice lessons. We would record warmups, new songs, and sometimes even full lessons so that I could practice more effectively at home throughout the week.
In college, I bought a handheld voice recorder for the same purpose, thought not the modern kind that allows you to download mp3 files from it.
When I started teaching lessons, and even up until this past school year, I made CD after CD for my students — each time they learned or recorded a new song. I was going through so many CDs each month that I finally decided I needed to find an alternative.
I experimented with a few different options. I tried out Dropbox as a method of sharing mp3 files with my students, but that took up too much space in my already full account. I also tried sending mp3s as download links, but that wasn’t very convenient for either of us.
And then I had a “duh” moment. I used a USB flash drive to transfer new songs from my home computer to my work computer, so why couldn’t my voice students do the same thing? I suggested it to just a few students at first, and now almost all of them bring a flash drive to each of their lessons.
No more wasted CDs or excuses about not being able to practice. Most of my students are very good with computers and know how to use iTunes, YouTube, and so on…this is just one more excuse for them to use the computer, and I’m okay with that :) Parents are happy too, because they get to hear what we’ve been working on in our lessons.
How do you share music with your students and encourage them to practice throughout the week?
I’ve been using MusicNotes.com to purchase instant sheet music downloads for over five years now. In fact, I’m a member of the MusicNotes Digital Club, which means I save 10% on every piece of music I purchase. (That may not sound like much, but when you buy as much as I do, it adds up.)
The only bummer about buying sheet music from MusicNotes is that once you’ve printed your allotted single copy, you can no longer access that piece of music.
Enter the MusicNotes app for iPad. I discovered this last week when I was downloading yet another song, and saw on the sidebar of my screen that it was “iPad compatible”. So I clicked on the link to read more, and found that if you have an iPad, you can access your account and then view all of the compatible songs (most of which are) right on the screen. Not only that, but you can annotate and transpose the score right on your iPad.
This app has opened up an entire collection of music for use with my students, and also just for my own personal use. It even works with my new wireless foot pedal-controlled page turner, the AirTurn BT-105.
There are a couple of other music-related iPad apps that are currently rocking my world, but each deserves its own blog post. More to come soon! Which apps have you been digging lately?
It’s after 10 pm, and I’m just now getting around to writing today’s blog post. So much for having more spare time now that I’m completely self-employed. Looking back just a few weeks, I was naive to think that owning a full-time private practice was going to allow for a more flexible schedule.
It’s one thing to run a part-time business, but doing so full-time is a completely different ballgame. And as thrilled as I am with my decision to leave my former job, I find myself thinking nostalgically about a time when I actually had a few extra minutes to catch up on my Google Reader, write blog posts in advance, reply to non-work-related email, etc.
Giving lessons and providing music therapy to an average of 13 students per day is the easy part of my business. It’s the administrative and prep work — choosing repertoire, responding to billing inquiries, managing schedules, sending out nightly lesson and session notes, studio upkeep — that leaves me completely exhausted at the end of the day.
But then I remember that I’m 100% in control of my days and my private practice; there is no handbook. I’m writing it as I go, and I’m appreciative of all the lessons I’m learning along the way. I’m also appreciative of my incredibly comfortable bed, which is where I’m headed right now.
After all the crazy-hot weather we’ve already experienced, it’s hard to believe that the official start of summer isn’t even here yet. But it will be on Tuesday, so I wanted to give you a little jump start.
I think my summer song embodies the happy laziness I feel (when I’m not super busy working, of course!) on a long summer day, especially when I’m poolside. But it does double-duty as an educational tune, since I threw in some facts about my favorite season as well.
Summer started for me on June 2 (the last day of school and my job at The Hope Institute), and it’s been amazing so far. In the time since then, I’ve already been to three weddings, celebrated my birthday, spent an awesome weekend in Florida, and opened my new studio. How’s your summer going so far?
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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