A Drum Song for Seth

by | Listen & Learn Music, Uncategorized

Paddle Drum

Seth loved drums. It didn’t matter what kind – if he could use a mallet or his hand to make a big sound, he was a happy camper.  What Seth didn’t love was following his music therapy schedule and completing his work.  On the rare occasion that he did finish a task, he was rewarded with the chance to play a drum.  His face would light up and he would say “Boom, boom!” as he played, which is what gave me the idea for a song that would serve two purposes.

All this time, I had been using the drum only as a reward.  Why hadn’t I thought to incorporate the drum into Seth’s goal-based interventions?  (The answer to that question: because I was an intern, and I still had a lot to learn.)  One of Seth’s IEP goals was to count to 20, and I was determined for him to achieve it with the help of the drum.  At that point in my young career, I hadn’t written many songs of my own.  But this one worked, so I still use it today.

Boom, boom!
We can count to twenty.
Let’s start with number one.
Boom, boom!
We can count to twenty,
While we play our drum!

1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8,
9, 10, 11, 12,
13, 14, 15, 16,
17, 18, 19, 20!

I used a paddle drum just like the one pictured above when I sang this song with Seth.  He held the mallet, and I held the drum up only when it was his turn to play (during the “Boom, boom!” lines and as he counted).  Not only did Seth achieve his goal, but he wanted to count even higher so that he had more chances to play the drum!

This song took the work out of counting, just as music so often does for tasks that might otherwise be mundane or frustrating for children.  The key is figuring out the motivating factor.  I may have helped teach Seth to count to 20, but I owe Seth big time for teaching me this important lesson.

Sunday Singalong: Shakin’ It Up

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Happy weekend! After a short hiatus, I’m back with a brand new “Sunday Singalong” video. This time I’m shakin’ it up with a song I wrote specifically for fruit shakers, which I added to my instrument collection last summer.  I’ve posted this song before, so you can listen to the entire song and get the sheet music by following that link.

The “Shaky Fruit” song is very straightforward, and the objectives are clear: listen (or use visual cues) for your turn to shake your fruit, and only shake your fruit during your turn.  But the second version I presented goes just a little deeper.

The key moment comes when I ask the group, “Where is (child’s name)?” and the child replies, “Here I am!”.  The primary objective was for the child to respond verbally to his or her own name; playing the instrument is simply a reward for doing so.

My friend and colleague, Lea Keating, explains the importance of a child being able to do just that in her latest blog post.  It took a very scary situation to remind her of this, as she details in her post, but it serves as a lesson for every parent, therapist, and educator out there.  You can read it here.

Friday Fave: Hand Bells

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You know the feeling when you find a $20 bill in your coat pocket?  Well that is how I felt when I remembered that I had purchased this shiny little 8 Note Hand Bell Set several months ago!  My studio is chock full of instruments, props, and other goodies, but I store many of these items out of view from my EXTREMELY curious kiddos.  These bells have been hiding out underneath my bookcase since August, and I discovered them as I was doing some spring cleaning and organizing last week.

This discovery came at the perfect time, because I was racking my brain for new ways to engage one little girl in her weekly music therapy sessions.  The lightbulb went off as I opened the box ‘o bells and found that on the top of each handle, there is a letter (representing the note in a C scale) and number (representing the bell’s position in the scale).  This, along with the great big sound they produce and their bright colors, held so many new possibilities.

Sure enough, we had a winner.  My student’s interest was immediately piqued as I pulled out the bells, and she complied with nearly all of my directions to do the following:

  • Choose and play the appropriate bell as I verbally name a color
  • Choose and play the appropriate bell when shown a picture card displaying a color
  • Choose and play the appropriate bell as I verbally call a number (1 through 8)
  • Choose and play the appropriate bell when shown a picture card displaying a number
  • Line up the bells in order of the numbers on top of the handles

Once she had demonstrated her ability to do all of the above, we moved on to sequencing.  I would call out two (and then three) colors, and she would then play those bells in the correct order.  We did the same thing with the numbers.  She absolutely loved switching roles and calling out colors and numbers for ME to play.  We spent almost her entire session with these bells, and I had her complete attention (no easy feat, I tell you).

Our next step is to play simple songs by “reading” the notes (notated by color and/or number), and I’d love to come up with some additional ideas.  Do you have a set of bells like these?  How do you use them?

Remix: Shaky Colorful Fruit

by | Listen & Learn Music, Uncategorized

Last fall I posted a song I wrote specifically for my set of Nino Fruit Shakers, which I titled “Shaky Fruit” (you can read the post and listen to the original song here).  Well my students who I see in private practice just can’t seem to get enough of that song, so I decided to bring it to The Hope Institute this month.  We are focusing on healthy foods, so it fit in perfectly with our theme.

Unfortunately, we don’t have the Nino Fruit Shakers here at school, but you know me and my habit of adapting songs to fit any situation. All I did was change up the lyrics to match the instruments we have on hand (the Basic Beat chiquitas pictured above).  I added an extra verse to accommodate all five colors, and this is how the song turned out:

Doot-doot-do-doot, shaky fruit,
Blueberry, grape, apple, pear, banana
Doot-doot-do-doot, shaky fruit,
From Mississippi to Indiana.

Shaky blueberry, shaky blueberry,
Blue and crunchy too.
Shaky blueberry, shaky blueberry,
Doot-doot-do-doot-doo.

Shaky grape, shaky grape,
Purple and juicy too.
Shaky grape, shaky grape,
Doot-doot-do-doot-doo.

Shaky apple, shaky apple,
Red and crunchy too.
Shaky apple, shaky apple,
Doot-doot-do-doot-doo.

Shaky pear, shaky pear,
Green and delicious too.
Shaky pear, shaky pear,
Doot-doot-do-doot-doo.

Shaky banana, shaky banana,
Yellow and tasty too.
Shaky banana, shaky banana,
Doot-doot-do-doot-doo.

“Shaky Colorful Fruit” debuted this morning, on this first Monday back after Spring Break.  I had to practice it a few times through first so that I could get the new lyrics down…so far, so good :)  My students are also shakin’ to the beat of “Eat Like a Rainbow” by Jay Mankita, along with a few other originals devoted to mealtime.   

Even the Penguins are Maraca Rockin’

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Seriously, how cute is this?  Illustrator and graphic designer Naomi Robinson sent me an email last week, asking for my permission to use part of the lyrics from my song “Maraca Rock” in this adorable picture, and of course, I said yes.  We’re already talking about more ways in which we can collaborate! To see more of Naomi’s artistic creations, visit her flickr stream.