by Rachel | Uncategorized
Last week, a music therapist sent a Facebook message inquiring if I had a song about saying “thank you”. Although I did write a song about saying please a few months back, I realized that I didn’t yet have a song about the OTHER magic words.
First, I recommended that she check out Laurie Berkner’s song, Mahalo — which I have used frequently over the years. Then I got to work writing and recording, and now I can share with her my brand-new song, Thank You.
Laurie Berkner’s “Mahalo” actually inspired the bridge section of my song…and since my husband and I are heading to Maui in December, I thought it would be appropriate to include the Hawaiian way of saying thank you :)
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Sometimes I really have to wrack my brain for new song topics…and other times, I find myself humming a kicked-up version of “The Alphabet Song” for which the lyrics come spilling out.
That is exactly what happened last week as I was working on a completely unrelated project, so I immediately switched gears and took advantage of this inspired moment. What emerged is an alphabet song that supplements the original with info-packed verses (plus a drum beat and kalimba to boot).
I wanted to maintain the essence of the alphabet song that everyone already knows, which is why the chorus begins with the same melody and I include the original in its entirety at the end.
Since this is an educational concept that every child needs to learn at some point, I’m all for exposing them to lots of different teaching tools (another is one of my favorite singable stories, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom).
Another reason I wrote this song? Well, this one is purely selfish; I’m just a little tired of singing the same old song I learned as a toddler. I include that old standby in my weekly early childhood music class, so perhaps soon I’ll switch to the new one for a breath of fresh air. I’m sure the parents won’t mind, either!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
As of Saturday, it’s officially fall! My kitchen is stocked with pumpkin waffles and pumpkin spice Coffee Mate, there’s an “autumn leaves” scented candle burning in my office, and I’ve broken out the cold weather cycling gear…yep, summer is over. So it only made sense that this week’s new song is dedicated to the new season.
“Fall, Fall, Fall” is a peppy little number — perfect for a brisk Monday morning, right? I’m pounding the keys and working the drums in my recording, but when I use this song with my students, a simple uke or guitar strum will do just fine. After all, the focus is on the words, which are all about…you guessed it…fall ;)
It will be nice to give my older autumn anthems a little rest as I add this to my repertoire. And while it’s crazy to think that Halloween and Thanksgiving are just around the corner, I’m already getting excited about pulling out the songs that go with them (and of course, writing new ones). Happy fall, y’all!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
The title of this song is a bit misleading, because mostly it’s about things that are NOT meant to go together. In fact, Ialmost used a line from the song — “…onions on chocolate ice cream” — as the title. And while that would have no doubt piqued your curiosity, I decided it was a little too random (not to mention that I would never have found an appropriate photo for the album cover!).
I had a few goals for this song as I was writing it: 1) it needed to be silly, 2) it needed to have strong visual references, and 3) it had to have at least some educational value. The first two were a no-brainer, which you’ll see once you listen to the song, but the third didn’t come to me until I was almost finished writing the song. I’ll explain after you listen:
The first two verses are obviously made up of things that don’t go together, which provides the opportunity for kiddos to provide new words so that each line makes sense. I corrected both verses at the end of the song, but for use in an actual music therapy or classroom setting, I think it would be much more fun for students to come up with their own versions.
And of course, the entire song could be rewritten with new funny verses (either by you or kiddos). How fun would that be to see what wacky lines a group of students comes up with? I’m thinking there’s an art project just screaming to go along with this song!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Last summer, my nephew Mason came over for a little music-making session with his aunt Rachel. My father-in-law caught some of the action on camera, including the photo above of Mason playing away on the lollipop drum.
I’ve been using this instrument a LOT lately in my music therapy sessions, which inspired me to write The Lollipop Bop. It’s the first lollipop drum-specific tune in my collection, and I’m digging it! Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.
The song has a bit of a retro feel to it, right? It just makes me want to pick up a lollipop drum and bop along to the music. Unfortunately I won’t have a chance to try it out with my students until the fall session begins next week, but I’m already looking forward to doing so!
