This is where all of my interests and skills are combined for one purpose: to make peoples’ lives better through music. Whether it’s through my original songs, serving my community through my business, or singing with my children, this is my favorite place to share my musical endeavors. Thank you for visiting, and I hope to get to know you better.
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This is the book that will help you shape your music therapy career in order to make more money and live your ideal lifestyle.
Written by Listen & Learn Music creator Rachel Rambach, MM, MT-BC, Innovative Income for Music Therapists combines her own experiences with those of other trailblazing music therapists to illustrate the virtually endless ways in which to generate revenue using your unique training, knowledge and skills.
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#AMTA16 Conference Week is Here!
November is an exciting month for us music therapists. Every year, we head to our national music therapy conference for several days of professional development, continuing education, and networking with colleagues from all over the country. It’s kind of like our version of Disney World, except with less kids and more guitars.
I attended my very first AMTA conference way back in 2009, and I haven’t missed one since. This year is special, though, because not only is it lucky number 8, but it’s also the first conference in 4 years when I haven’t either been pregnant or accompanied by a tiny baby. Look out, Sandusky, Ohio! ;)
The Definition of Success
It’s interesting to think about how my personal definition of success has changed and evolved over the years. In my early to mid twenties, just starting my career and becoming a newlywed, success meant a great job, a nice house, and enough disposable income to buy what I wanted and travel often.
All of that came fairly quickly and easily, which of course meant taking my definition of success to the next level. My late twenties were all about achieving freedom in my career, which I did by leaving my full-time job and becoming completely self-employed. Those few years were magical — I built a thriving business while working from home, we vacationed several times a year, and never had to worry about money.
And then we entered our thirties. Three days later, I had a baby, and everything changed.
The Life-Changing Magic of Putting a Pen to Paper
This time of year always hits like a ton of bricks. You know it’s coming, but there’s little more you can do to prepare than fill out all the forms that land in your hands, respond to all the emails, send out the information, and take a deep breath.
That has never been more true than this year, with a preschooler, a toddler starting part-time daycare, and a business undergoing some huge changes. I’ve spent these last few weeks making sure I’m covering all my bases where all of those things are concerned, so unfortunately the creative stuff has fallen to the wayside.
I was feeling pretty buried under ALL THE THNIGS this past weekend, despite my efforts to get it all into my calendar, Trello boards, and paper planner. So during naptime, I sat down with a journal and some pretty pens my business partner Katey had given me for my birthday. And I started writing.
A New Chapter Begins
Today was a big day. I called it D-Day in my latest podcast episode — the day Mia started daycare. After 15 months at home with my baby, today was the first weekday during which I wasn’t her primary caregiver.
I talked on the podcast all about the mixed feelings I’ve been experiencing related to this day: excitement, anticipation, sadness, guilt…you know, the usual emotions that most moms cycle through on a daily basis. I’ve been looking forward to and counting down until this day for months now, but when the time actually came, so did the tears.
Summertime Vibes
When I think back on Summer 2016, I will have lots of reasons to smile. I’ll remember how quickly it flew by, how hot it was, and how busy yet idle I felt, but mostly I will smile. So far, this has been the summer of…
Nominations, Recognition, and Gratitude
In August of 2014, Katey and I joined forces to form Music Therapy Connections, LLC. Little did we know that less than 2 years later, we’d be standing in front of 200 business owners, the governor of Illinois, and television cameras as nominees for our Chamber of Commerce’s “New and Emerging” Small Business Owners of the Year award.
The Songwriting Process, Blocks We Face, and How to Get Better
Anytime you have the opportunity to talk with a total rockstar in your professional field about one of your favorite topics, you take it. Dr. Andrew Knight is a professor of music therapy at Colorado State University, and someone I’ve looked up to since meeting him quite a few years ago at an AMTA national conference.
He interviewed me for the songwriting course he is teaching this summer, and graciously allowed me to share the interview here with you. We talk about how I approach songwriting, the blocks many music therapists face when it comes to writing and sharing their work, my actual process, and of course, the Songwriting Challenge.
Become a Better Songwriter 🎶 AND Earn CMTE Credit 🌟
One of the things I commonly hear from fellow music therapists is that they wish they were more skilled at songwriting. As someone who has written upwards of 300 songs for music therapy clients, classes, adult audiences, and otherwise, my response is always this: the more songs you write, the more skilled you become.
Prior to writing my first song, I didn’t have any specialized training. I wasn’t confident in my abilities at all, but I just kept writing. Each song became a little easier, and with time I gained the confidence to call myself a songwriter.
Birthday Week Bonuses!
Happy June! Not only is this my favorite month of the year, but it’s also my favorite week: my birthday is in just a few days :) Even though it means I’m turning another year older, I’m still looking forward to celebrating with the people I love the most.
But first I want to celebrate with YOU! I went back and forth on the best way to do that, in between prepping for a very full summer of classes and summer camps at the studio. And then I decided to do something I’ve never done before.
The Longest, Shortest, Hardest, Best-est Year
Nothing can prepare you for motherhood, and the way it completely overhauls life as you know it. But they should tell you that nothing can prepare you for a second child, no matter how experienced you think you are. And “they” didn’t tell me, so I’m telling you just in case you find yourself in that place down the road.
After Mia was born and we brought her home from the hospital, I was ready to get back to real life. None of this hazy newborn hibernation for us, no sir! Of course we took it easy and mostly stayed home those first few weeks, but I had a very active almost-two-year-old and a business getting ready to undergo a huge transition.
So I was thrilled that things pretty much went my way in the early months. The hormones didn’t hit me nearly as hard as they had after Parker’s birth, and I felt like myself pretty quickly. Breastfeeding was a total breeze. Mia was a sweet and adaptable baby.
I was getting a bit more sleep this time, too, and even found plenty of time to work (mostly in the wee morning hours after nursing Mia back to sleep). I figured out how to survive and keep two tiny children alive by myself for entire days at a time. I took the summer “off” as a “maternity leave” — and while I didn’t see clients or students, I put in more hours than I can count on the business and my own personal projects. I didn’t miss a single week of my podcast. Sure, I hadn’t had a full night of uninterrupted sleep since before Mia was born, but I wasn’t going to let my exhaustion get in the way of productivity.
It was all working beautifully, until it wasn’t. All of those things I had been sweeping under the rug — lack of sleep, wacky hormones, absence of time to myself — hit me like a ton of bricks in December. I remember having an anxiety attack on a Tuesday afternoon, shortly before it was time to go to work. I was standing in the middle of the family room, holding Mia, feeling completely paralyzed about how I was going to get through the rest of the day, let alone the coming weeks and months. I honestly had no idea.