The Traveling Music Therapist – Apps I LOVE part 2

When I posted about the apps I love to use on the road, there are a few of my absolute favorite that I forgot!  Here are a few bonus apps to round out the bunch I listed yesterday!   Enjoy! 1. On Song – A wonderful app for downloading, organizing, and creating lyric and chords sheets that you can always have on hand digitally. 2.  Music Notes – I have an account with musicnotes.com where I download the majority of music for my students.  What’s nice about the app is that once you purchase the song, you also have a digital copy available that can be transposed into most any key!  You can also add any of the notes you need, highlight specific words, notes, or parts, and easily flip between pages. 3.  Wordpress – Because my website it done through wordpress, I love having the app handy.  This way I can write blog posts from Starbucks, my car, or hotel room (at conferences or on vacation) without having to lug my computer along!   I can also make several Read More

Practice Olympics – Wrap Up

A few weeks ago I posted that my students were going to be participating in the Practice Olympics, in which they would work on different practice related events.  In order to “medal” they had to complete a certain number of events. 2 events = Bronze level prize (sheet of stickers) 3 events = Silver level prize (Stickers + Kazoo + Harmonica) 4 events = Gold level prize (Stickers + Kazoo + Harmonica + Gold Medal) I am pleased to announce that ALL of my students that participated earned at least a Bronze prize and most earned Silver or Gold.  They were THRILLED about the events and excited to work toward the different level prizes.  Parents also appreciated getting to see their kids excited about practicing.  This was also a great way for me to see what kinds of practicing motivates each individual and what specific areas (ex. note naming, note writing, identifying parts of music, sight reading, etc.) might need a little extra work.  All around, I call this event a success and plan on doing it again in 2 Read More

Vaya a Dormir, Go to Sleep – A Spanish/English Lullaby

At the end of a session with a Spanish speaking client, the client told me they were tired and going to sleep.  The mother in the room asked if I knew any bedtime songs or lullabies in Spanish.  Regretfully, I said no.  As I was about to leave the room, a thought occurred, “Why not write one?”.  So, I asked the mother how to say “go to sleep” is Spanish.  She responded “Vaya a Dormir”.  Now, the dialect they speak has a “b” sound instead of a “v” sound and my pronunciation may be a little off, but the following is the simple lullaby I created on the spot.   I hope you enjoy and fund some peace in this simple song. Read More