by Rachel | Uncategorized
Last November, I had the opportunity to attend the AMTA National Conference in San Diego, California, where I met countless amazing music therapists. One person, in particular, stood out to me; I kept seeing him everywhere I went – the exhibit hall, the sessions I attended, and so on. He seemed like a fun and outgoing person, so I was excited to finally meet him face-to-face and chat a bit towards the end of the conference.
His name was Tim Ringgold, and I came to find out that he was a music therapist (and fellow blogger!) from Orange County, California. We got to talking about his daughter, Bella, who was born with a rare skin disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). Tim explains it in these words on his website:
Anabella Ringgold was born on May 27, 2009 with a rare skin disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa, or EB. She has the rarest form, called Recessive Dystrophic, or RDEB for short. A single gene in her body responsible for making the anchor that hold her skin to her body is defective. This causes blisters and wounds to occur all over her body, including her mouth and entire GI tract. Any kind of friction, rubbing, bumping can cause blisters to form, or it can cause her skin to shear clean off. Currently, there is no cure for EB. Life expectancy is under 20 years due to risk of malnutrition, infection, or squamous cell carcinoma. Although pain and discomfort is constant, Bella remains bright and cheerful, bless her heart.
I was eager to stay in touch with Tim following the conference, and I was able to do so through Facebook and Twitter. When he announced earlier this year that his book, Bella’s Blessings, was available, I didn’t waste any time in purchasing it. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I did, because it is the latest addition to my “must read” list.
In the book, Tim takes us back to the hours just prior to Bella’s birth. He recounts the moments leading up to it, as well as the actual event, at which point they learned of Bella’s rare skin disease. I felt like I was with the Ringgold family on their roller-coaster of a journey from page 1 to the very end. Tim started a blog just days after Bella’s birth in order to keep family and friends apprised of her progress, and the book contains entries from the beginning through Bella’s first summer.
The back of the book reads: “The secrets to the silver lining…revealed!” This is such a fitting description; Tim and his family found the silver lining in the very darkest of storm clouds. Talk about a story of faith and strength. Faith in God during the most trying and scary times, and strength as they navigated their way though. Tim provided music therapy not only for Bella during her time in the NICU, but the other babies, as well. He shares every emotion, every struggle, every triumph, and every moment of Providence throughout those first few months; my only disappointment was when the book ended. Luckily, Tim’s blog picks up right where the book ends, and we can all keep up with Bella and the Ringgold family.
In the past, I haven’t reviewed books here other than those that I use in music therapy sessions. But Bella’s Blessings is one that I recommend to you, knowing that it will inspire and remind you that there is silver lining in every situation with which we are faced, just as it did for me.
Each month, up to 50% of the proceeds from book sales are donated to a different children’s charity. You can read reviews and make your purchase here. And right after you do that, add Tim’s blog, Care for Anabella, to your blogroll.
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Congratulations to Lisa Casciola, who was randomly selected (via random.org) as the winner of the newest Model Me Kids DVD, “Model Me Going Places”. Lisa is a fellow music therapist and studio teacher, and has a great website of her own, Kids Sing Studio. I hope you enjoy the DVD, Lisa, and that your students can benefit from it!
As you probably know, I’m spending the week in St. Louis at Jupiter Studios, recording my new Listen & Learn CD. I’ve been tweeting like crazy, so if you want to see pics and get frequent updates, make sure to follow me on Twitter. I’ll write a post detailing my experience thus far later today, but for now, it’s time to head to the studio and start my 10-hour day! I’ll talk to you all soon.
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Last week, I announced my involvement in Model Me Kids‘ newest social skills modeling DVD, Model Me Going Places. My original songs narrate the 12 scenes in the video, which is described on the Model Me Kids website as follows:
The Model Me Going Places™ video features children, ages 2-8, involved in activities in the community. It is designed to familiarize children with locations that may be challenging, and to help teach appropriate behavior in these locations through peer modeling. Each scene lasts between 2-4 minutes, depending on the chapter. At the end of each chapter is a storyboard summarizing the locations shown.
This video is narrated with music developed for the Model Me Going Places™ DVD by Rachel Rambach, a Board-Certified Music Therapist. This unique merger of video modeling and Music Therapy is designed to help teach skills in a way that appeals to the strengths of children with developmental disabilities.
Graphics and music are used to make the video appealing to children with Autism, Asperger Syndrome, and Nonverbal Learning Disorders. A high production value helps keep the child’s interest so that he or she will want to watch many times.
I couldn’t be more proud of my association with Model Me Kids, having provided musical narration for both this DVD and previously, Model Me Faces & Emotions. So I’m thrilled that this wonderful company was willing to provide a copy of the newest DVD to one lucky Listen & Learn reader.
It couldn’t be simpler: to enter, all you have to do is leave a comment (including your email address) on this post between now and Sunday, March 28th at 8 pm. I will use random.org to select a completely random winner, who will be announced on Monday. Teachers, parents, and therapists…I’m talking to you! Enter now for your chance to win this effective (not to mention fun and entertaining) resource.
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Last summer I had the privilege of writing and recording songs to narrate the Model Me Kids video, Model Me Faces and Emotions (read my post about it here). It was a tremendously fun project; in fact, I was a little sad when all the work was done and the songs were completed. So you can imagine my how thrilled I was to be invited to narrate yet another new video.
I spent a good part of January and February working on new songs for Model Me Going Places, a video in which children model appropriate behavior in a variety of community locations. I am so happy with the finished product, which I received in the mail earlier this week!
Included is the DVD, CD-ROM, and the lyrics for all 12 songs. There is even a free iPhone/iPod Touch app that goes along with it, for which I provided piano melodies. My one and a half-year-old nephew loves it, and he’s too young to be biased!
Here are both DVDs (front and back), which are wonderful additions to my collection of resources. Many of my students were already familiar with Model Me Kids before they even knew about my involvement; one little boy came to his piano lesson shortly after the first DVD came out and said, “Miss Rachel, I listened to you on TV. You’re famous!” Hey, if I’m famous in the eyes of my students, then I’ve reached the top :)
You can order any of the Model Me Kids DVDs (there are 9 altogether) from their website, and be sure to go download the free iPhone/iPod Touch app!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Those of you who are non-musicians might not find this particular “Friday Fave” very interesting, but I’ve been spending so much time using this program (and loving *almost* every minute of it) lately that I just had to share. Sibelius
– named after Finnish composer Jean Sibelius – is a scorewriter program that can do just about anything you could think of when it comes to producing or editing sheet music.
I actually have my mom to thank for my version of Sibelius. My contribution was my student discount, which she was able to apply when she purchased the program a few years back, during my undergrad days. I’ll say that the price is definitely a bit steep, but it has been worth every penny. I used Sibelius to create all of the sheet music for my songbook, after all!
The learning curve for this program is also steep, especially if you are used to more basic software like Finale Notepad (which is what I used prior to Sibelius). But the key is sitting down and experimenting; the more you use it and explore its features, the easier it gets. Here are some of the cool things you can do with Sibelius:
- Scan in printed sheet music and edit it
- Input music using a microphone, keyboard, or other MIDI instrument
- Record playback and turn it into an audio file
- Create worksheets (comes in very handy for studio teachers like me!)
And the list goes on and on. I haven’t even touched half of the plug-ins that come with Sibelius, but I’m hoping to get around to that someday. In the meantime, I’ll stick with my current project: creating sheet music for each and every Listen & Learn song written thus far. I compose my songs in lead sheet form, but now that I have more and more orders coming in for sheet music (you can place yours here), I decided to convert my entire library. I’ve been using Sibelius so often that I’m even having dreams about it, but hey, I could think of worse things :)
