Mashup: Jason Mraz Meets the Jonas Brothers

Jason Mraz Jonas Brothers Mashup

The first time my student Carrie and I listened to the Jonas Brothers song “Introducing Me” during her lesson, I told her that it reminded me of “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz.  Every time we worked on the song, I remarked that we should do a mashup of the two tunes.

It only took two months, but I finally got around to working out the arrangement so that we could tackle it at today’s lesson.  Carrie and I had a lot of fun recording our mashup, starting with both of our guitars and then adding the vocals.  Here is the finished version:

Carrie and I both love the show Glee (at least a couple minutes of each lesson are devoted to rehashing the latest episode), which is what inspired this first mashup.  I have a feeling there are more in our future!

Three Rockin’ Birds

Three Rockin' Birds Canary Sticks

When I first found these canary sticks, I wasn’t sure exactly how I’d use them — I just knew I had to have them. They are easy to “play” and the bird chirping sound they make is pretty realistic.

They sat unused for a few months, but I finally decided to try them out with my students. But before I did that, I asked my Twitter friends for songs about birds. I received about 15 or so great suggestions, but ended up going with two pretty well-known songs. I combined them into one, and it turned out like this:

He rocks in the treetop, all day long,
Hoppin’ and a boppin’ and a singin’ its song.
All the little birdies on jaybird street
Love to hear the robin go tweet, tweet, tweet.

Rockin’ robin! (Tweet, tweet, tweet.)
Rockin’ robin! (Tweet, tweet, tweet.)
Go rockin’ robin ’cause you’re
Really gonna rock tonight.

All the little swallows, all the chickadees,
All the little birds in the tall oak trees.
The wise old owl, the big black crow,
Flappin’ their wings, singin’ “go bird, go!”

Rockin’ robin! (Tweet, tweet, tweet.)
Rockin’ robin! (Tweet, tweet, tweet.)
Go rockin’ robin ’cause you’re
Really gonna rock tonight.

Don’t worry about a thing,
Because every little thing
Is gonna be alright.

Rise up this morning,
Smile with the rising sun.
Three little birds perch on my doorstep.
Singin’ sweet songs,
Of melodies pure and true,
Singin’ “this is my message to you.”

Don’t worry about a thing,
Because every little thing
Is gonna be alright.

One of those birds,
Its name was _______
And it made a pretty tweeting sound.
Singin’ sweet songs,
Of melodies pure and true,
Singin’ “this is my message to you.”

Don’t worry about a thing,
Because every little thing
Is gonna be alright.

In the second verse of “Three Little Birds” I leave a space for the child’s name. I repeat this verse for each child in my group, giving them each a chance to be the birdie star. The little ones like that part, and their parents dig the fact that they know both songs and can sing along.

Have you ever used these sweet little instruments? I’m thinking another great use for them might be a singable story with designated places for bird chirps…another project to add to the hopper (along with too many others to count).

Sunday Singalong: Building a Treehouse

Rhythm sticks aren’t the most exciting of instruments, but this song makes them a little more fun…don’t you think?  My little church mice would agree: they’ve been hammering, sawing, and painting in rhythm to it for the last few weeks.

Charity Kahn and the Jam Band have a pretty great collection of music that gets kids moving, and I’ve used several of their tunes over the last couple of years.  Another favorite song is “Your Body’s an Instrument” from their CD, JAM.

Oh, and if you actually do have a treehouse (because most of us do, right?!) and you’re weather is anything like mine today, you better be climbing up into it today. Or maybe you could just take your dog for a walk or do some gardening instead ;) No matter which way you spend this beautiful Sunday, enjoy!

The Rainbow Connection

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 Rainbow Connection” can be heard frequently inside the Music Therapy Connections studio, because I assign it to many of my beginning voice students.  One such student is Grace, who did an absolutely beautiful job with this song.  Although she’s only 10 years old, she could fool you with her big voice:

Another version I have absolutely fallen in love with is by jazz singer Jane Monheit, which you can listen to here. (Actually, she could record herself singing the phonebook and I’d buy it.)

Are you a fan of this song, too? I know I wasn’t the only little girl singing along with Kermit at the top of my lungs way back when…

Sunday Singalong: Raindrop Pop

I discovered this song during an iTunes search a few years ago, and now it’s a spring staple. Bobs & LoLo are awesome — if you’re not familiar with their music, I highly suggest checking them out.

This past summer, I connected with Bobs & LoLo via Facebook and Twitter.  When they heard that I had released a new album, they offered to do a CD swap with me.  So they sent me a copy of Action Packed, and I sent them a copy of Time to Sing Hello.

My students and I have been jamming out to my rendition of “Raindrop Pop” over the last few days, and will probably continue doing so throughout the rest of this rainy spring month!