I welcomed my first baby (that’s him at five days old) to the world a little shy of two years ago. Not long after he was born, I was inspired to write the song “Welcome to the World” for all of my friends and family who were having babies of their own.
I’ll be welcoming my second baby, a girl, in a mere four weeks (give or take), and I wanted to do something special not only in anticipation of her arrival, but also to celebrate those of you who have welcomed your own beautiful babies into the world.
So I invited readers to send me photos of their newborns, and many of you graciously did! I had so much fun going through the photos and setting them to music for this video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do each time I hit play.
Four weeks seems like an eternity after an already long 9 months of pregnancy, but I’m counting down to having a sweet baby girl in my arms — especially after seeing all these beautiful photos. Thank you so much to those of you who contributed.
I’m knee-deep in content creation for my new CMTE course — Early Childhood Programs: Create, Market, Make Music! — and I can’t wait to share it with you in a few weeks.
Creating a new group, class or program can be overwhelming, but it can also be extremely rewarding — especially when the end result is helping young children learn and grow through music. This 3-hour CMTE course will guide you through the entire process of designing, launching, and running a successful early childhood program.
Coming Soon!
The course is set to launch in late September, so plug in your name and email below for details and updates.
My first Thanksgiving post of the season! I love, love, love this time of year and the songs and activities I have to go along with it. The 10 Days of Thanksgiving is my favorite of all, which is why I blog about it year after year.
This time around, I decided to do something new; I took the visual aide I created and set it to the music, as you saw above. My students love using the iPad in our sessions, so now I can play the video if I don’t feel like using the good ol’ fashioned paper version.
Every time I sing this song, I’m reminded of all the goals and objectives that can addressed: counting, memory recall, reading and sight words, singing along, attention to task, and more. In addition to all that good stuff, I love that it gets everyone excited for the holiday.
The video is available on YouTube, but members of Listen & Learn Plus! get the download (so that it can be used without an internet connection) — along with an instrumental version so that you and your students can sing without me.
Get immediate access to this, plus over 100 other songs, lead sheets, visual aides, and valuable resources for only $9.99 per month…learn more about becoming a member or just subscribe below. You won’t be disappointed!
Every so often, I invite my favorite amateur photographer (aka my husband Zach) to join one of my early childhood music classes, where he captures some great action shots for the families to have as keepsakes from the class.
The kiddos were as animated as usual last Sunday when Zach visited, and the photos turned out so well that I put together this little video slideshow.
That was the final class of my winter session, and I’m already bummed that it’s over…but thrilled that I only have to wait a couple more weeks for the next one to begin! My new class, Listen & Learn for Little Ones, is open for registration now and will start on March 5 & 6 (two concurrent sessions).
If you live in the Springfield area and are looking for a fun, enriching activity for your child (ages 0-3), I hope you’ll consider joining me. Check it out and register here!
In the music therapy world, January is social media advocacy month. During this time, music therapists all over the country use social media (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and so on) to advocate for our field, share our stories, and spread the word about music therapy. The theme this year is CONNECT — which immediately inspired the song in the video above.
It is, without a doubt, through my connection with my clients that I best advocate for music therapy. By providing them with the best services I possibly can, I’m able to improve their lives and therefore, the lives of their loved ones and caretakers. They (the family members, teachers, health professionals, and other team members) become my biggest advocates because they have seen the power of music therapy first hand. It’s amazing how many people can be educated about music therapy because of a single client.
I connect with my clients mainly through the music I write specifically for them based on their interests, needs and goals. Sometimes, though, we write songs together…or my clients write their own songs with just a little guidance from me.
Each of those songs has a specific purpose, and so does the song in the video, which I adapted from one of my current favorites, “Ho Hey” by The Lumineers. It’s a shout-out/love letter/thank you note/ode to my clients — because they are the reason I advocate for music therapy. They are the reason I have the best job on earth.
Want to read more about social media advocacy month, along with blog posts from other music therapists spreading the good word? Check out this page, put together by Kimberly Sena Moore, who does such wonderful work organizing this month-long event every year. And to learn more about music therapy, visit the American Music Therapy Association.
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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