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The Top 3 Items On My Birthday Wish List
I may be turning 28 next month, but I'm still allowed to make a wish list for my birthday! With my new studio transformation in progress, most of the things I'm asking for relate directly to my work -- though that is almost always the case. (Last Christmas, my...
Achoo! (A Sneezy Song for Spring)
With all of the allergens floating through the air and the bipolar weather we've been experiencing here in Illinois, I've heard a lot of "achoo-ing" going on lately. So much of it, in fact, that it inspired my latest song. You know how much my students and I love a...
Have Cart, Will Travel
I have to admit: pulling a cart from classroom to classroom took some getting used to at first. Four years later, though, my trusty cart is like an extension of myself. That and my guitar, of course. I know very well that I'm not the first music therapist or teacher...
Friday Fave: Scheduling Success!
When it comes to private practice, scheduling is an art. Usually I don't mind it at all; in fact, I even look forward to it. But this time around, with over 50 students to schedule, I'm not gonna lie: I was nervous. I sat down at my computer yesterday with all my...
Rap, Repeats & Rhythm Sticks
Those are the 3 R's, right? :) Well they are today here at Listen & Learn, because my latest song incorporates all three. I know what you're thinking: Rachel and rap don't sound like a very likely combination. But I have a very healthy respect for most genres,...
Giving Up Hope
A little over four years ago, I began my professional career as a music therapist at The Hope Institute in Springfield, Illinois. Although many of my new coworkers at Hope, a residential school for children with multiple disabilities, were unfamiliar with music...
The Audition Video That Changed My Life
This picture is a pretty good representation of my younger self...and by younger self, I mean my 17-year-old high school senior self. In yesterday's Sunday Singalong post, I mentioned that my voice student (and guest star of the video) Jayla said, "I hate watching and...
Friday Fave: Here Comes the Sun
You'd think that by this point in April, I'd have already enjoyed quite a few sunny days here in central Illinois...but unfortunately, that hasn't been the case. Although we've been spared the terrible storms and tornadoes that have devastated many other states, this...
The Rainbow Connection
When I was little, I'd sit in front of the TV on Saturday mornings just waiting for the music video of Kermit the Frog singing "The Rainbow Connection" to come on. From the first time I heard it, that song had a special place in my heart...and it still does. "The...