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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First Mother’s Day
Had Parker been born just 3 weeks earlier, I would have celebrated my first Mother’s Day last year. But instead, I celebrated being an almost-mama; one of my last quiet, lazy Sundays for a long, long time.
This year was quite another story. Life as Parker’s mom is anything but quiet and lazy, and Mother’s Day was no exception. Zach surprised me with a family weekend in St. Louis, so we headed down on Saturday. Our day started at the St. Louis Zoo with thousands of other families who had the same idea. It was crowded, but we had so much fun introducing Parker to all the animals. He loved them all, but his favorites by far were the birds. Go figure!
After a few hours at the zoo, all three of us were ready for a relaxing, low-key afternoon. We wanted to take full advantage of the gorgeous weather, so we headed to the botanical gardens. I really could have spent the entire day there! (And we almost had no choice — Zach lost his keys and we spent the last half hour tracing our steps with no luck. Fortunately, someone turned them in to the front desk.)
Our next stop was the hotel, where we rested for a few minutes before getting ready for dinner. Zach’s sister suggested we try Bailey’s Range, which was within walking distance of where we were staying downtown at the Hyatt. All I can say is OMG. Our dinner was amazing, and I haven’t stopped daydreaming about it since! Parker was an angel all the way through our meal, and then he fell asleep just in time for dessert. Perfection.
We headed back to the hotel after dinner and went to bed early. The next morning, we had a yummy breakfast at the Hyatt before hitting the road back to Springfield. We spent Sunday doing family stuff and getting more fresh air before I taught my Church Mice music class, and then had dinner at Zach’s parents’ house.
It was a nearly perfect first Mother’s Day weekend. The only thing that could have made it better would have been getting to spend part of it with my own mom, but she was in Phoenix meeting my new nephew, Alec. Luckily she lives just down the street and I see her all the time :)
One more little surprise from Zach: this adorable video he put together and played for me on Mother’s Day. It made me cry and feel SO incredibly blessed to be the mother of the most amazing little boy.
Eleven
When Parker was born and we decided to take weekly growth photos until his first birthday, it seemed like FOREVER away. Now all of the sudden we are just a mere month from taking one last photo in the chair next to Mr. Teddy. Parker’s thoughts on this: “Thank goodness!”
My thoughts are a little different. I’m really sad to be moving out of the infant stage and into toddlerville, because this year has been so wonderful. Stressful, exhausting, overwhelming, and wonderful. Not that the next year won’t be all those things, but I’ve never been good at change.
But I’m trying to accept the fact that my baby is turning 1 and get excited about it. He’s hit so many new milestones these last couple weeks, and it’s so much fun to watch him turn into a little person. Here are his latest party tricks:
- Walking. Running. Everywhere.
- Shaking his head no.
- Waving hi and byebye.
- Saying “mama” and “dada” and knowing their meaning.
- Throwing balls.
- Dancing.
Parker is getting more and more adventurous with eating, and will usually at least try whatever I put on his tray. We’ve been giving him little bits of whatever we’re having, and so far his favorite foods seem to be cheese, yogurt, banana, and meat.
He’s still nursing as much as usual, but our pediatrician told us we could start transitioning in whole cow’s milk this month. The plan is to replace the only bottle he gets (in the afternoon, while I’m working) with whole milk, starting next week. That means I can stop pumping, which will help with the weaning process. I’m going to wean completely right after his birthday, since I’m going on my first baby-less trip a week later. It’s sad to think about being all done, but at the same time it will be really nice to have my body all to myself (for the first time in almost two years!).
One more month of babyhood, and then we have a fun summer to look forward to with our big boy. Lots of swimming, traveling, and outdoor adventures are in our near future.
“Spring Into Summer” is Here!
I knew I was excited about this project when I actually looked forward to staying up late transcribing my songs into sheet music and designing the layout. I haven’t gotten much sleep over the past two weeks, but the finished product is worth it.
I wanted to create a resource that reflects the sheer joy I’m feeling now that spring is here, which no doubt will carry into summer (my very favorite season!). I chose topics that are synonymous with the warm weather months: Mother’s Day, flowers, school getting out, Father’s Day, swimming, traveling, playing outside, the list goes on.
This digital songbook includes the melody line, chords, and lyrics for 10 songs, including the never before released title track. It also comes with the mp3s and instrumental tracks for all 10 tunes, since I always encourage you (and your kiddos!) to create your own versions of Listen & Learn songs.
“Spring Into Summer”
“Thank You, Mom”
“Grow Flower Grow”
“Riding My Bike”
“Summer Break (Let’s Shake!)”
“Going on a Car Ride”
“Summertime Tune”
“Happy Father’s Day”
“In the Swimming Pool”
“S is for Summer”
Purchasing the lead sheet and mp3s for each individual song would cost you $3 a pop; multiply that by 10 songs and you’re out $30. But since I’m all about sharing the love, I’ve priced Spring Into Summer at a mere $10. Get it now and instantly increase your arsenal of warm weather songs for kids.
Join me in celebrating what is left of spring and preparing for the start of summer. There is so much to look forward to at this time of year, and music is a great way to help children understand and be ready for all the excitement to come!
And Off He Goes
We’ve had a cruiser for awhile now, but last week (April 24, to be exact) Parker decided he didn’t need any assistance. He had taken a step or two in his room, so I grabbed my phone with the hopes of catching it on video. To my absolute surprise, he took his longest walk yet — 10 steps!
After that, it was like a switch had been flipped. Suddenly he was walking everywhere, no longer resorting to crawling if he didn’t have a hand to hold or furniture to grab. It has been both awesome and scary; he thinks he’s a lot faster than he really is and has gotten almost too brave.
It is so insane to watch my 10-month-old toddle across the living room. He is a tiny boy, and it’s hilarious watching those little legs hold him up. We’re still at the stage where we have to do a lot of spotting, but he gets more sure-footed with every day. At this rate, he will probably be running sprints by his first birthday.
{Mama Moment} Parker Rockin’
I recently participated in a discussion with other music therapist moms about songs we’ve sung to our babies, and we compiled a pretty impressive list. I did contribute to it by sharing Parker’s original favorite song, but I neglected to include the one that goes like this:
Parker rockin’ in the house tonight
Everybody just have a good time
His smile makes you feel so fine
Everybody just have a good time
Why yes, I did rewrite the lyrics to LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” and sing it to my baby. We even have motions (including fist pumps) that go along with it.
I work with kids almost every single day, so in order to have a little variety from the usual children’s musical fare during my downtime, I like to get creative with Parker. I have “lullaby-afied” songs from just about every genre; it’s pretty safe to say that my child will grow up with an eclectic taste in music.
Don’t get me wrong — all the classic nursery rhyme tunes are a regular part of our repertoire — but it’s fun to supplement with songs that will broaden Parker’s musical horizons. LMFAO may be at the (extremely) low end of the sophistication scale, but the “Parker Rock Anthem” remains a favorite nevertheless.
Evolution of the Listen & Learn Songbook
Almost five years ago, a music therapist named Michelle Erfurt approached me with the idea to create a Listen & Learn songbook. I had only been writing and sharing songs for a few months, but I was excited to take the leap into publishing.
We worked our tails off for months — I wrote and transcribed the music while she took care of layout, graphic design, and manufacturing — and then we debuted the books at the 2009 AMTA national conference. The final product was awesome! I felt so proud to have my name on the cover. Michelle and I continued selling the songbooks throughout the next couple of years until they were all gone.
By the time we ran out of inventory, hard copy songbooks seemed to be a thing of the past. I continued creating songbooks, but opted to sell them as digital downloads from that point on. They were faster, easier and cheaper to create and sell, and customers seemed to prefer them because they were in turn more affordable and instantly accessible.
Michelle found her calling during that first songbook project; just a few months ago she launched Music Therapy E-Books with Rachel See. And I’m launching my latest digital songbook collection, Spring Into Summer, a week from today! Until then, you can preorder and get the first two songs PLUS a bonus song that won’t be available after the release. Check it out here.
As much as I love creating digital resources, there’s something special about having authored a real, hard copy book that sits on my bookshelf. And while I don’t see myself going that route again anytime soon, it was an awesome beginning to my songbook publishing adventures!
Spring Into Summer: Preorder Now!
Spring is in full swing and summer is just around the corner, which makes this Midwestern girl VERY happy! In the midst of the most epic winter ever, I knew I wanted to create a resource to celebrate the warmer seasons, which is how Spring Into Summer: Warm Weather Songs for Kids came to be.
This digital songbook includes the melody line, chords, and lyrics for 10 songs, including the never before released title track. It also comes with the mp3s and instrumental tracks for all 10 tunes, since I always encourage you (and your kiddos!) to create your own versions of Listen & Learn songs.
Complete song list:
- “Spring Into Summer”
- “Thank You, Mom”
- “Grow Flower Grow”
- “Riding My Bike”
- “Summer Break (Let’s Shake!)”
- “Going on a Car Ride”
- “Summertime Tune”
- “Happy Father’s Day”
- “In the Swimming Pool”
- “S is for Summer”
The digital songbook collection will be released in its entirety on Tuesday, May 6, but as of TODAY you can preorder it. When you do that, you will immediately receive the mp3s and instrumental tracks for two of the songs in the collection, including “Spring Into Summer” — PLUS a bonus “Goodbye Song” that will not be available after the full release. Soon after you purchase, I will email you the PDF sheet music that accompanies the 3 preorder songs.
For $10, you get 3 songs (mp3, instrumental track, & sheet music) right away, and then 8 more songs the moment the rest of this collection is released next Tuesday. What better way to welcome spring than that?
Preorder Spring Into Summer Now!
Somebunny’s First Easter
Easter has always been a holiday I’ve never gotten too excited about as an adult. Of course I have always enjoyed dressing up, going to church, singing with the choir and reflecting on the meaning on this day, but that was about it. However, this year I learned that Easter is a whole lot more fun when kids are involved!
We started the holiday weekend with an Easter egg hunt, although Parker could have cared less about the “hunt” part. He did, however, enjoy playing with the plastic eggs and chilling out in the sun with his Rambach cousins, Maggie and Ellie.
On the night before Easter, Zach’s parents always host a Passover Seder to honor their Jewish roots. Parker enjoyed some matza and matza ball soup along with some other yummy goodies. Then on Easter morning, we headed to Washington Park and enjoyed the GORGEOUS weather. We seriously lucked out with an amazing weekend of sunshine and warm temps.
Here’s our attempt at a family selfie. Haha! Sadie could have cared less about smiling for the camera, but Parker showed off his waving skills. He is getting really good at waving hello and goodbye to people. It is so cute!
It was so much fun spending time with the Rambach and Wilderson cousins all weekend. Parker absolutely adores his older cousins, especially Mason, who is usually not one for posing for photos. But when Parker was on his lap or next to him, he was all about it!
Zach and his dad had a little Easter photo shoot while I was working, and got some funny/adorable shots. How sad is that face in the black and white? Now that is a pouty lip if I’ve ever seen one.
We ended the weekend with dinner at my mom’s house, during which Parker CHOWED. If you have been reading the blog, then you know what a big deal that is! He had veggies, potatoes, a little meat, and even a few bites of our gluten-free/sugar-free dessert.
It’s pretty crazy to think that Parker has now celebrated just about all the major holidays in his 10 months. Only Mother’s Day and Memorial Day are left…followed closely by his first birthday. But I am so, so, so not ready to go there yet! So I’ll wrap up this post with one last family photo from Easter.
Tap Dance
This song wins the “triple threat” award — it manages to combine instrument play, movement, and gradual increase in tempo — with bonus points for being super simple and repetitive. One of those tunes I whipped up on the fly and yet is incredibly handy to have in my toolbox.
What I like most about this song is that you as the music therapist/teacher/facilitator can choose your own dance steps and rhythms depending on the child or group with whom you’re working. Or, you can let your kiddos choose their own (which is what I usually do!). There really is nothing more entertaining than watching a room full of preschoolers make up dance moves while playing rhythm sticks at the same time.
I didn’t include an instrumental version since the tempo increase would make it difficult to record over or sing along to. A lot of times, I sing this a capella anyway and use the rhythm created with our “dancing” and stick-playing as accompaniment. Sometimes I’ll even use a metronome to add a visual and extra audio component to the tempo change. Fun stuff!
Back to the Gym (Or, Reclaiming My Sanity)
I really miss working out. Up until the week before Parker was born, it was a regular part of my day. I had every intention of getting back to that routine once Parker started sleeping through the night, but once that finally happened, Zach had already joined CrossFit and hijacked my 5:30 am gym time.
And since I work until at least 7 pm every evening and have no physical energy left at that point, my only option was to work out somewhere I could take Parker along. So I quit my Anytime Fitness membership this month and joined the YMCA. Parker and I went this afternoon to take a tour, and I also signed us up for a mom and tot swim class that starts at the end of April.
I am so looking forward to getting back into shape, not to mention having a reason to get out of the house every day. I think Parker will enjoy having some social time with other kids at the daycare, and I have to admit it will be nice to have some “me” time.
There are a million things going on in my life right now, and I feel like I am falling behind on a lot of them. There seriously are not enough hours in the day, and I am completely over staying up until midnight working every night. Working out has always been my outlet for stress, so my new gym membership is for my health AND my sanity. Can’t wait to reclaim both, starting tomorrow :)