Earlier this month, my dad told me to check out a documentary on Netflix called Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey. I found his suggestion to be a bit random, but he insisted that it was quite entertaining and I would enjoy it.
So I finally watched it, and he was right — I enjoyed the documentary so much that I just had to tell you all about it, too :) It doesn’t relate specifically to music or music therapy, but it does send the same message I share with my students who have big dreams: follow your passion, work hard, and someday you’ll make them a reality.
Kevin Clash is the puppeteer who has played Elmo on Sesame Street since the early 1990s. The documentary tells us the story of his life, beginning with his early child when he first started putting on puppet shows for the children his mom babysat.
Not only did Kevin Clash do anything and everything he could to improve his skills as a puppeteer, but he went out of his comfort zone to make connections with people in the industry. That is what led him to Jim Henson, and how he started his career on Sesame Street.
I don’t mean to be so cheesy, but I really did feel incredibly inspired after watching this. We could all use a little extra inspiration from time to time…I hope you’ll take my (and my dad’s) advice to watch it, too.
My collection of singable stories has grown considerably over the last few years, and continues to do so as I stumble upon new stories and receive suggestions from colleagues and readers. But I can credit my latest addition — and the tune that goes with it — to the parent of one of my music therapy students.
I had heard of the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? but never thought to use it in my music therapy sessions. After our session one day, my student’s mom mentioned that her daughter loves this book and that she had discovered the perfect tune for it: the theme song to the old Nickelodeon show, Pinwheel.
Talk about a blast from the past! I remember watching that show as a very young child, and the tune came right back to me…along with the theme songs for all the other old Nickelodeon shows I was distracted by on YouTube :)
After recording the “Brown Bear” version of the song, I have to agree with my student’s mom. The tune fits this story perfectly and I can’t wait to sing it with my student this afternoon! What a fun way to work on color and animal identification (amongst other things).
Have you added any great singable stories to your collection lately? Please share your favorites — and read more about my full collection of 50+ stories here.
Brenna Westlake was born in December with with a rare skin condition called Harlequin Ichthyosis. Brenna’s skin lacks a certain protein which helps it form correctly, and instead it was formed as thick, white scales with ridges all over. Since her birth, Brenna has proved to be a fighter and won the hearts of my entire community.
Brenna’s mom, Courtney, has kept an almost daily blog since December, which you can find here. In honor of Rare Disease Day on February 29th, Courtney shared a special project she’s been involved with and asked for help as the project moves into the final stage. She wrote:
When Brenna was a couple of weeks old, a friend shared on twitter about an organization called MarbleRoad, which raises awareness about rare diseases, and a “contest” they were doing called the Rare Children’s Storybook Project. The focus of the project was to compose a story involving a rare disease…and then chosen finalists would be asked to create an accompanying video.
At first, I didn’t think I had time to devote to writing a story in a matter of days. But one afternoon, I spent a few hours alone with Brenna at the hospital, and when I came home, the story just poured out of me. I wanted to write something for her and to her, so that she would know how we felt about her birth and her presence in our lives.
The winner for this project (who receives some money for medical costs and is considered for publication) is chosen based on the number of views, comments and “likes” on the video, so I would really appreciate you all taking the time to watch my video and read my story about our sweet girl!
Please take a few minutes to watch this touching video and help Brenna and her family win by liking the video here.
Earlier this week, my newsletter went out and included a free song download. (They all do….have you subscribed yet?) Several of the emails I received in response prompted this week’s post on a topic I’ve written about before at Listen & Learn Plus, but never here: mechanical licenses.
The emails I received asked if the free download, A Bushel and a Peck, is in the public domain — meaning it is not protected by copyright or the copyright has expired — and the answer is no. Just like I do with any other cover song (including this one), I went straight to Limelight to purchase a mechanical license.
A mechanical license allows musicians to create, distribute and sell recordings of compositions owned and controlled by another publisher. Even though I was giving my download away for free, I still needed a mechanical license in order to distribute it to others, since I don’t own the rights to the song.
Limelight makes this process quick and easy. You simply enter a few details about the song (title, artist, type and volume of distribution or sale, etc.) and then pay the fee that is determined by that information. My license for “A Bushel and a Peck” cost just $25. You can pay either by credit card or PayPal.
If you want more information, here’s a great article on this topic. Have you had any experience with licensing cover songs? And if so, did you use Limelight or another similar service?
Like many other music therapists, teachers, and musicians, I spend a lot of time making song sheets for my students and myself. While in some cases I’ll need the actual sheet music for a song (in which case I head over to MusicNotes), sometimes I just need the lyrics.
If you do a Google search for just about any song, you’ll come up with at least a dozen lyrics sites…but most of them are garbage. Either the lyrics are incorrect, or there are pop-up ads all over the place, or the biggest annoyance of all — the site won’t let you copy and paste.
But I’ve found one site where the lyrics are consistently accurate, there are few to no pop-ups, and I’m able to copy and paste from it every single time: Sing365.
It’s a pretty cheesy looking site, but I could care less how it looks because it has been such a great resource for me. Whether I’m just curious about the lyrics to a song or need to create a lead sheet for a student or myself, it’s my go-to place.
If I’m looking for the lyrics to the song “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele, I type this into my Google search bar:
Adele Rolling in the Deep Lyrics Sing365
And I’ll tell you what, I get exactly what I’m looking for just about every single time. No more clicking on link after link in search of usable lyrics. So that’s my quick little tip for you on this lovely Friday. I hope Sing365 saves you as much time as it has for me!
Welcome! I’m Rachel Rambach, board-certified music therapist and creator of Listen & Learn Music — educational songs and musical materials for children. I love sharing my work with you, along with my behind-the-scenes creative process, adventures in business ownership, and life as a mom of two.
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