All Keyed Up!

by | Uncategorized

NFMC Piano Festival

It’s that time of year again…my chapter of the National Federation of Music Clubs’ Junior Festival!  As a member, I have the opportunity to invite my students to participate; I’m super excited for the 9 who will be playing in the piano solo category on Sunday.  I kept the group small this year being a relative newcomer (this is only my 2nd year as a member), but I plan to enter most of my students in 2012.

Last year was a learning experience for both my students and I — in fact, I’m pretty sure that I was more nervous than they were.  (For the record, each of them received a superior rating.)  But now that I know what to expect, I’m looking forward to two weekends full of beautiful piano playing.  I have the best job as auditor, since my work happens after each performance.

My studio has been Festival-focused since October, and we are all ready to move on to new music.  But all of the hard work will be 100% worth it when I have lots of new pictures on the bulletin board of my students holding their certificates and wearing big smiles on their faces :)

Friday Fave: Dropbox

by | Uncategorized

DropboxI love this illustration (source), because it totally reflects my feelings about Dropbox and how it has changed the way I share files.  I split my work between my laptop at home and my laptop at work, so up until recently, I’ve relied on USB flash drives, sending emails to myself, and uploading files to MobileMe in order to access them in both places.  Not anymore!

I have to credit Kimberly S. Moore with introducing me to Dropbox, which is a free application you can download from the internet to any computer (both Mac and PC) or mobile device.  The free account gives you 2 gigabytes of storage, though you can pay a monthly fee for more.

What I love is that Dropbox works just like another folder on your computer, so now instead of saving a copy of a document or project on both my computer and in another location, I can simply save it to Dropbox and then it’s right there when I need to access it from another computer.

Another cool feature is the ability to share folders with other people.  I share a folder with my Music Therapy Round Table cohosts and another with my husband.  It’s like magic: new files just appear in the folder when other people add them!

Just yesterday, I recorded instrumental tracks for 9 new songs at work.  Instead of compressing the Garageband projects into a zip file and saving them to my USB flashdrive, I simply saved them to Dropbox as-is and then opened them right up on my home computer to record the vocals.  Then I saved the WAV files to Dropbox, and am listening to them now as I type this :)

Have you used Dropbox yet?  If you work on multiple computers like I do, or want to access files on your phone, give it a try.  And then come back and tell me how much you love it!

Happy Birthday, Music Therapy Round Table!

by | Uncategorized

Music Therapy Round Table Podcast Turns 1

It’s a big month for the Music Therapy Round Table podcast, because we are celebrating our first birthday.  It seems like only yesterday that we tossed around the idea in San Diego at the 2009 AMTA Conference, and now here we are…13 episodes deep.

We’ve been contemplating a website redesign for the last couple of months now, and what better time to do so than a birthday?  So not only does our website look different, but so does our logo.  We’d love to know what you think of both.

While you’re there checking out the new digs, you can catch up on Episode 13, in which we discuss music therapy for the early childhood population.  Thanks for listening and contributing your feedback!

Spanish Songs, Blues & the Oud

by | Uncategorized

Multicultural Music for Music Therapists

I’ll bet you’re wondering what these three things have in common…right?  These are the topics about which I learned (along with many other music therapists) at last weekend’s CMTE, Multicultural Music for Music Therapists. The event, held at The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, was a fabulous collaboration between music educators and music therapists which resulted in an exchange of valuable knowledge.

Music Therapists

My favorite aspect of all three workshops we attended was that they were interactive.  We didn’t just sit and listen; we played our guitars, drummed, and sang our way through each one.  (Okay, everyone else did those things; I was videotaping the entire time.  But when I go back and watch the videos, I’ll be participating.)

Not only were the presenters full of energy and talent, but they provided us with new ideas to take into our music therapy sessions.  I can’t wait to apply some of the blues guitar techniques we learned, and I know that lots of my students will really enjoy some of the Spanish greeting and movement songs we were taught.

Music Therapist Playing Guitar

Members of the Illinois Association of Music Therapy had a chance to mingle with Old Town faculty during registration in the morning, throughout the lunch hour, and afterward at an all-participant jam session.  How cool is that?  Most of us had our guitars with us, so we joined others who were playing fiddle, piano, accordion, harmonica and many other instruments to make some pretty spectacular music.

Old Town School Jam Session

It was so neat to see such a big group of non-music therapists so interested in learning not only about what we do, but how to apply it to their teaching.  This was the first event of its kind that our association has put on, but I’m sincerely hoping that it’s not the last!

You Are Loved

by | Uncategorized

Valentine's Day Song

Happy Valentine’s Day! I know that lots of people regard this as a “Hallmark holiday” and I do, too…for the most part. But there’s nothing wrong with having an excuse to show the people in your life — not just a significant other — just how much you care about them.

One of my favorite ways to do that is to write songs. I’m constantly writing them for my students, but I’ve also written many for my friends and family. There was the Valentine’s Day song for my husband, the 50th birthday song for my mom, and the 80th birthday song for my grandma, among many others.

But the one I want to share today was written for my two good friends as a wedding gift last year. I was listening to it over the weekend and realized that it could apply to anyone…even YOU. Because it’s true :)

Look around,
Take in the sound,
You are loved, loved, loved.

Breathe in it,
Feel it on your skin,
You are loved, loved, loved.

Not only for today,
But happily ever after.
Let it guide you along your way,
Through the tears and through the laughter.

Know this one thing is true,
In all you do,
You are loved.

When this moment’s gone,
And time ticks on,
You are loved, loved, loved.

Near or far,
No matter where you are,
You are loved, loved, loved.

CHORUS

Love will keep you warm,
Be your shelter from every storm,
Lighting your path,
Wherever it leads,
Whatever your journey.

CHORUS

You are loved, loved, loved.
You are loved, loved, loved.

Again, I’ll say it: Valentine’s Day isn’t just for lovebirds. I hope my song has inspired you to remind the people in your life that they are loved today and always!