I sat down a few months ago to write a song targeting the goal of appropriate voice volume for one of my music therapy clients. As I brainstormed, the song “Say Something” by a Great Big World immediately came to mind (quite possibly because 3 of my voice students were working on this at the time).
My client was working on controlling the level of her voice in certain situations, including using a loud voice when giving commands to her companion dog and talking quietly in places like church.
I pepped up the tempo, changed the words, and grabbed my ukulele to record this little ditty in one take…here’s the result.
When I use this song in music therapy sessions, I have my client fill in “loudly” and “quietly” at the appropriate spots in the lyrics. We also practice speaking in both a loud and soft voice, usually just counting to 10.
There are lots of other ways to target this goal, but it’s always fun to insert some pop culture when possible.
P.S. Did you know that you can gain instant access to a vast collection of over 200 songs (mp3, lead sheet, and instrumental track), videos, tutorials, and visual aides, plus ALL new releases from Listen & Learn Music?
