Cabasa Bossa Nova

The cabasa is one of those instruments I use all the time, in both my music therapy sessions and classes. Its tactile qualities make it interesting and fun for kids to play, and doing so is great for working on those fine motor skills.

This is only the second dedicated cabasa song I’ve written (here’s the first), though I definitely see more in my future since it’s such a frequently used instrument. I will warn you, sometimes I get this song stuck in my head…and it’s reeeeally hard to get out ;)

The cabasa makes a great passing instrument, which is how we use it in our classes since we don’t have enough for every child. It’s an excellent exercise in sharing, since most kids aren’t too happy to give it up — we may need to invest in a full set of cabasas eventually.

Members of Listen & Learn Plus! have access to all of the above in our shared Dropbox folder. Membership includes just about everything else in my resource library and collection — come over and join us!

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Five Tall Trees

Five Tall Trees

I’ve been on a seasonal counting kick these last few months, which you know full well if you’ve been in a music therapy session or early childhood class at Music Therapy Connections this fall. In September we counted apples, in October we counted pumpkins, and right now we’re counting trees.

In keeping with the theme, we use five laminated “trees” cut of of green construction paper to accompany the song Five Tall Trees, which always brings our helpers to the front of the room during class (my son Parker is usually the first to run up and assist in counting!).

Counting trees during early childhood music class

Each time we take away a tree, we count the remaining trees, so our students get a lot of practice counting up to 5, 4, 3, 2, and then 1. We point to the trees as well as hold up the correct number of fingers, which encourages them to do so as well.

This song template is super simple, but it is a favorite in every session. Time to start planning counting songs — and making the visuals to go with them — for the winter months!

Members of Listen & Learn Plus! have access to this song along with just about everything else in my resource library and collection — come over and join us!

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Better When I’m Dancing

Better When I'm Dancing Album Cover

My business partner Katey recently shared with me a video of Meghan Trainor’s song “Better When I’m Dancing” from The Peanuts Movie and asked if I had heard it. I hadn’t, but I loved it and knew immediately I wanted to adapt it for use in music therapy sessions and classes.

I might have had just a little too much fun with the instrumentation and vocals on this recording — and by that I mean I was literally dancing in my chair while I worked (it kept my baby entertained, at least!).

As much as I enjoy writing completely original songs, I love to throw in a good cover every once in a while, especially one from a popular artist that many of my kiddos will recognize.

Listening to this song is an instant mood lifter and will hopefully inspire my students and clients to dance along, too. Can’t wait to sing it with them this week!

Members of Listen & Learn Plus! have access to all of these songs (along with tons more) right inside the Dropbox folder I share with them — come over and join us!

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Good, Good, Good Goodbye

Good, Good, Good, Goodbye Album Cover

When I write a hello or goodbye song, I make sure I reeeeally like it, because most likely I’ll end up singing it for YEARS. Case in point: my rotation of these includes songs I wrote during my internship (over eight years ago).

But I’m always adding to that rotation, because it’s nice to have lots to choose from since almost every class and music therapy session begins with a hello song and ends with a goodbye song.

My latest farewell tune is a new favorite, and I hope you like it too! This one is peppy and geared towards a group setting, but you could easily adapt it for use with an individual student or client.

Do you use a variety of greeting and goodbye songs, or do you prefer to keep yours consistent? If you are looking for even more, you’ll find plenty by searching the archives.

Members of Listen & Learn Plus! have access to all of these songs (along with tons more) right inside the Dropbox folder I share with them — come over and join us!

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Shake It, Baby!

Shake It Baby Album Cover

Last week during our music therapy intern’s supervision meeting, we asked her to make a list of songs that could be used with shakers. After she named a few, my business partner Katey and I couldn’t help but chime in with our own favorites. In just minutes, we had a super long list of both original and familiar songs perfect for shaking along.

One of my most frequently used shaker songs is an original that I wrote for one of my music classes a while back. It’s one of those easily adaptable, learn-in-5-minutes, back pocket tunes that works in a variety of settings.

This song also happens to be super popular amongst the 2-year-old crowd; my son and his friends are big fans and request it frequently. Parker now wants to sing every song “fast, slow, up high, and down low” and I think this song might be the reason why ;)

What shaker songs top YOUR list of favorites? If you need more shakin’ inspiration, consider joining Listen & Learn Plus! Members have instant access to tons of instrument songs right inside the Dropbox folder I share with them.

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