Free Download: “Little Red Apples”
This is one of many counting songs I’ve written, which focuses on counting both up to 5 and down from 5. I created simple apple visual aides (using red construction paper and then laminating) which my students can then manipulate as we count.
Click here to download the mp3 and lyrics/chords.
P.S. If you want access to my entire collection of over 200 songs (mp3, lead sheet, and instrumental track), videos, tutorials, and visual aides, plus ALL new releases from Listen & Learn Music, consider joining me over at Listen & Learn Plus!
Messy Desk Confessions
Recently, a reader wrote to me the following:
“I don’t know if you’d want to blog about your desktop but I’d like to know…is your desk always so ordered? I have a feeling you have an ability to clear the desktop daily. I am consistently in the midst of so many huge projects with my classes, well, I see the top of my desk 3 times a year. One of my goals this year is to see my desktop more than 3 times a year. Maybe you could show us what your desk looks like when you are REALLY in the swing of things.”
It’s confession time. I always have to organize my desk for photos, because it definitely does NOT look this neat on a regular basis.
In the picture above, I was in the midst of filling out student applications for my local federation of music clubs’ upcoming Junior Festival. This was right after I received the email, so it was the perfect opportunity to capture the evidence of my cluttered desktop.
So even though I’m guilty of the occasional messy desk, I’ve become very good at making it appear neat and tidy. I really have no choice, considering there are students and parents in and out of my office/studio on a daily basis. But what they don’t notice is my inbox tray stuffed to the gills, the papers concealed under a music book, and the sticky notes tucked into a drawer.
Despite all of these confessions, I do have some tips that help keep the visible clutter to a minimum and maintain my sanity.
- I keep filing boxes stacked right underneath my desk, so that I can quickly file away invoices, pay stubs, and important documents that don’t require further action.
- I make it a habit to empty my inbox tray (and then empty the trash can) every Sunday so that Monday is a clean slate.
- Almost everything has a place or a dedicated folder. I only allow myself one tiny junk drawer for things that I can’t find a regular use for yet just can’t part with.
- I’ve broken all of my former pack-rat habits. When I moved out of my parents’ house after college, they forced me to throw out the boxes and boxes of schoolwork — dating all the way back to 6th grade — that I absolutely did not need. It was hard at the time, but I’ve never looked back.
- I keep a scanner on my desk so that I can digitize anything I think I might need later but don’t want taking up valuable space.
And just in case you thought perhaps the picture up top was staged for this blog post, here’s another one (taken back in the day, when I still had my old Macbook and warhorse printer) to prove my occasional desk messiness.
What about you? Are you one of those people who always has a perfectly tidy workspace? If so, please add your tips in the comments. And if you’re a total slob, tell us about that too so we can all feel better about ourselves. (Just kidding, sort of.)
Sunday Singalong: I’m Gonna Catch You
At school one day last week, one of my coworkers told me that she had watched every one of my videos (there are almost 50 now!) and was sharing them with all of her friends. Before I left for the weekend, she told me she was looking forward to today’s video…and the pressure was on.
Well, not really, but I wanted to make sure this week’s video was a song she would enjoy. That’s why I picked Laurie Berkner’s “I’m Gonna Catch You”, which my students and I have been working on throughout the month.
There’s a little guy in one of my classes who came up with full choreography, which includes spins, jumping, and some unique moves that I don’t think have names. I actually thought for a split second about doing the choreography in the video (reminiscent of the Turkey Dinner Dance) but decided I wasn’t quite brave enough…maybe next time :)
Adventures in Songwriting: Collaboration
Lerner & Loewe. Rodgers & Hammerstein. Kander & Ebb. Lennon & McCartney. Simon & Garfunkel. All famous songwriting duos whose names just belong together, right?
To be honest, I’ve never collaborated with another songwriter when it comes to music therapy/children’s songs. (Unless you count therapeutic songwriting with students or piggyback songs, that is!) I’ve definitely used input from custom song clients, teachers, parents and others, but the actual process of creating the song is an independent one.
However, I do have a songwriting partner for other kinds of music. My mom and I have written wedding songs, choral Christmas pieces, songs for nonprofit organizations, and more over the last five years or so. We both bring our own strengths to each project, and the finished product reflects a nice mix of our styles. Goulet & Rambach has a nice ring to it :)
I’d love to collaborate with other music therapists at some point for a breath of fresh air and new inspiration. Any music therapy songwriting duos out there we should know about? Maybe you’re half of one — if so, let me know!
Friday Fave: iPhone Apps for Songwriting
Today’s Friday Fave is actually a spin-off of yesterday’s guest post at Time for Music, which is the second installment of my “Adventures in Songwriting” series. I mentioned that I use the voice memo app during the songwriting process, and Susan of the wonderful blog Make Me Musical wanted to hear more about it.
I wrote about my favorite iPhone apps around this time last year, but lo and behold, I failed to mention voice memos. I keep my iPhone next to me while I write my songs, first so that I can tune my guitar using the Cleartune app, and second, so that I don’t lose my melodies before I get them down on paper.
As I mentioned while describing my songwriting process, the melody usually comes to me organically as I’m writing the lyrics. I don’t like to switch gears between perfecting the words and figuring out chords, so I simply open the voice memo app (which comes already installed on the iPhone) and hit record. That way I can sing or hum the melody and save it for later.
Not only does this app let me save my voice memos under a custom title, but when I sync my phone to my laptop, they automatically transfer to a dedicated iTunes playlist. These features come in extremely handy when I use voice memos during my lessons and music therapy sessions. Often I’ll record a piece of music for a student, download it to my computer, and then pop it onto his or her USB flashdrive for practice purposes.
I’d love to hear about other uses for the voice memo app. iPhone users: any tips to share? Bonus points if they’re related to songwriting :) Happy weekend, all!
Adventures in Songwriting: My Process
Want to read Part 2 of my “Adventures in Songwriting” series? Well then you’ll have to scoot on over to Wade Richards’ blog, Time for Music! There you can read all about the process I use to write my songs — and check out all of Wade’s great articles and music therapy resources.
So what are you still doing here? Go read Adventures in Songwriting: My Process and feel free to share the process that works best for you. Oh, and if you missed Part 1, you can find it here.
Adventures in Songwriting: The Beginning
When people find out that I write my own music therapy songs, they usually have lots of questions. How did you start writing songs? Is it hard? Do you prefer using your own songs to others’ songs?
These questions came up again last week during a presentation for speech & language pathologists, and I made a note right then and there to share my thoughts here on the blog. So here it is: my “Adventures in Songwriting” series, starting at the very beginning (a very good place to start, if you ask Julie Andrews).
When I started my first practicum as a new music therapy graduate student, the first place I went for help was the internet. I’d never written a song in my life, and had no idea where to start. I was to work with seniors in a nursing home, so I typed “music therapy hello songs for seniors” into Google. Can you guess how many results that yielded? Yep…not many.
That was the moment I realized I was going to have to start writing my own songs. I started with a simple hello song, which ended up taking less time than learning an existing song would have. It wasn’t great, but I used it throughout that entire first practicum. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and what amazed me most was that by the end of the semester, the whole room was singing along. To a song I wrote. It was a pretty cool feeling.
Even with a few successful songwriting experiences under my belt, I still didn’t feel 100% confident as a songwriter. I continued to rely on Google to lead me to songs I could use in music therapy practicum sessions. But the more specific the goals and objectives for my clients, the harder it was to find the right song that fit each unique situation.
It wasn’t until beginning my internship that I began to feel comfortable sharing my songs with people other than my clients. The positive feedback I received from my supervisors definitely helped, as did the fact that my clients were making progress because of the songs I was writing just for their needs. Not to mention that the more I wrote, the easier it got. Isn’t that the case with so many things in life?
In my next installment of this series, I’ll talk about the actual process I use to write my songs. In the meantime, if you have any songwriting questions you’d like for me to answer, please leave them in the comments!
Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today is more than just a day off from school and work. It’s an opportunity to honor a great man (as I mention in my January song) who did big things, and to observe how far our country has come as a result.
I wish I could say that I have a song for this occasion to share with you, but I don’t (maybe next year). However, I will send you over to Songs For Teaching, where there are quite a few tunes dedicated to MLK Jr. Here are just a few worth noting:
- A Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. – Mary Miche
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Freedom Song) – Barbara Speicher
- I Have a Dream/This is Our Moment – Mrs. Music
- Rise Up: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – Jack Hartmann
How do you teach your students (or children) about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his important work? Do you do anything special to commemorate this day in your classroom? If so, I want to hear about it.
Sunday Singalong: A Cold Day Weather Song
There’s only one way to describe central Illinois in January: COLD. And yes, the temperatures here merit capital letters. So when it came to choosing a song for this week’s video, it was really a no-brainer.
I’ve provided on-screen lyrics for the second week in a row, and so far I’ve gotten some great feedback. What do you think…do they make for an easier “singalong” experience? I hope so!
Like I mentioned in the video, you can get a free download of this song and my other 9 weather songs just by subscribing to my free newsletter.
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. If you’re currently experiencing frigid weather, well, I feel for you. And if you’re lucky enough to be somewhere warm and sunny, then I don’t want to hear about it. (Just kidding. I’m happy for you!)
I Graduated…Now What?
When I revealed my blogging goal of 365 posts in 2011, I received an influx of topic requests. A suggestion that came up more than once: how do you put yourself out there in the music therapy world upon graduating?
Being a new graduate is scary and overwhelming. But it’s those feelings of excitement and hope and promise that will push you in the right direction, whatever that may be for you.
I know, because I was there a mere 4 years ago. I had already finished my undergraduate degree in vocal performance, but music therapy was a whole new world (picture me as Jasmine flying through the air on a magic carpet). As I neared the midpoint of my nine-month internship, it hit me that I was on my own pretty soon.
So I told everyone I knew and everybody I met that I was going to be a professional music therapist soon. I talked to nursing home administrators, who offered for me to come visit and share music experiences with their residents. I emailed former teachers and principals, hoping they would have leads for me. I chatted up the manager at my local music store, where I had previously taught voice lessons. I spread the word at my church, where I was already on the children’s music staff.
And then in January, five months before I was to officially graduate with a masters degree in music therapy, I received an email from the principal of a school for children with disabilities. He’d heard through the grapevine that I was returning to Springfield soon, and was wondering…would I be interested in applying for the full-time music therapist position they’d just received a grant to fund?
Now I will admit that my story sounds like something out of a fairy tale, where full-time music therapy positions grow on trees and sunshine and rainbows fill the sky. But I have no doubt that the networking I did prior to receiving that email led to where I am now.
And it didn’t stop there. I got that full-time job, but I also continued to get phone calls from other people and places. A mom of a child with down syndrome, wanting to form a music therapy group for other families like hers. The Autism Program, wanting to offer music therapy services in the summer. Referral after referral for private adapted lessons, sent by the music store manager.
We always hear how important networking is in any career, but it’s even more so in a field as unique as music therapy. People remember you once they hear your story, what you do (or want to do) for a living.
Music therapists sometimes have to create their own jobs. And that’s okay. Scary, but wonderful and exciting and sky’s the limit. Our field has evolved in the short time that I’ve been in it, and it will continue to grow and expand and provide more opportunities for creative work. (You’re looking at one of them, right here on this blog.)
Now what stories and pearls of wisdom can you share with new professionals who are asking the question, “I graduated…now what?’
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Lately I’ve had quite a few readers ask about my work at The Hope Institute, a residential school for children with multiple disabilities where I’ve headed up the music therapy program for the last (almost) 4 years.
I’ll be writing about the program in more detail throughout the year, but today I thought I’d share a simple yet important song that remains a staple in many of the classrooms with which I work.
Calendar time is an essential part of the school day around here (as it is in many schools), and I incorporate calendar songs of all varieties into my music therapy sessions. Here’s one I’ve mentioned before — spruced up a bit for the new year:
Today is ______,
Today is ______.
Today is ______, January _____.
Yesterday was ______,
Tomorrow’s ________.
But today is ______, January _____, 2011.
So when I sing this with my students this morning, the lyrics will be:
“Today is Monday, today is Monday. Today is Monday, January 10th. Yesterday was Sunday; tomorrow’s Tuesday. But today is Monday, January 10th, 2011.”
Each month, I record a new version with the correct month already included. That way, when the teachers sing this song with their students on a daily basis, they fill in the day and date themselves.
I’ve been using this song (which I came up with it on my own, though I’m positive others have done something very similar if not identical) for years now, but am always up for new ideas. If you’ve got another daily calendar song to share, please do!