Paraphrasing, or the rewording of something written or spoken by someone else, is a great skill to learn. Often a deeper meaning of the work is achieved through the basic steps of paraphrasing. I have found this to be an exciting songwriting technique when working with individuals with special needs. Often my students have a
Sometimes it's easy to fall into a rhythmic rut and reuse the same styles and rhythms over and over in your song creations. Want a fun way to create new rhythms in your songwriting process? Select 3-5 songs you currently are enjoying listening to. If you have an iPod, you can simply go to your
Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream was to end discrimination and bring about racial equality. He devoted his life to pursuing this dream and inspired not only his generation, but future generations as well. There are many songs to use as dedications and in observation of MLK day, but here is a hidden gem- "Follow That
When leading wellness clients through various breath exercises and experiences, I find that exploring different combinations of mouth and nose inhalations and exhalations can be a powerful tool. Here is one sequence I have clients follow, repeating each step 7 times in a row before moving on to the next step. Inhale and exhale through
Recently, I have had a few requests to share one of my data collection forms. I decided I would start off with the basic everyday data collection form I created, and also explain the formulas I use. I use a Numbers document since I have a Mac, but this also translates well to Excel in PC. Here is a sample page from my data collection
I set out to compose an inspirational song to celebrate Earth Day with one of my larger group ensembles. I wanted to include a variety of elements: repeating lines for ease of singing, songwriting opportunities for the group, a different mode to create improvisations on pitch instruments, and maybe even include some foreign language elements. Initially
April 22nd is Earth Day. One song I like to feature is “Evergreen Everblue” by Raffi. The album, released in the 90’s, is a a musical celebration of our Earth and a call for everyone to take care of it for generations to come. “Evergreen Everblue” has a more rock/pop feel, and I feel it
I am always looking for new ways to use music to optimize articulation and fluency skills with my students. I have always found drumming to be a great place to start because of the rhythmic connections one can make with the body and speech production. See a previous post, “Drumming to Foster Fluency in Speech”
For the last several years I have always taken the time in September to write a new opening/greeting song. In the past, I would create the new song and then share it with my music therapy faculty at our first departmental meeting. This time I started the song in G Mixolydian, and later added moved it
“Follow the News” is a fun song to connect students with news events in their community, their county, and the world. Simply look up current stories related to each of these areas. I use a Powerpoint or Keynote slideshow to highlight the lyrics and to provide visuals for each news event. For students who bring an
