Back to School Freebies!

It's back to school time and everything and everyone is starting to get busy again.

A reader emailed this week about several of the songs I had posted before I started using the current music player I have here on my blog. So, I recorded the songs again and have them up and ready to share...hold on...wait for it...for FREE!

Why are the songs free?
The songs are free because they were created to go along with a few chidren's books. I didn't write the books, but I love to "sing" simple children's books because it makes them so fun and it seriously helps to keep the attention of each child. So I use common children's songs or make up some of my own and sing the books.

Here are the new additions. To check them out (and download them for free), just click on the story title.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear
The Bear Came Over to My House
I went Walking
Five Little Ladybugs

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

12 Months in a Year

Summer is almost over and it's back to school time!

The calendar is an important teaching topic of many classrooms throughout the year. The calendar tells us the months of the year, important holidays and birthdays, and the beginnings and endings of each of the four seasons. At school, teachers also use calendars to note student's birthdays, school breaks and closings and special events in the classroom/school. At home, parents often note family birthdays, special trips, doctor's appointments,etc. on calendars as well.

Well, the song I want to share today is a introductory song about calendars. It's short and was written to teach that there are 12 months in each year, to introduce the names of each month, and to help students visualize that the calendar represents one year.

So, without further delay, here it is!



Lyrics:

Round and round the calendar we go.
Round and round the year.
Round and round the calendar we go,
and we know there's 12 months in a year.

January, February, March, April, May,
Then there's June and July.
August, September, October and November,
Then December and the New Year rolls by.

Round and round the calendar we go.
Round and round the year.
Round and round the calendar we go,
and we know there's 12 months in a year.
Yes we know, there's 12 months in a year.



I'd love to hear what you think. Please send an email to morewithmusic@gmail.com with any comments. Also, if you have a friend/family member that you think would enjoy this song, look down below and click on email and this post can be emailed to a friend/family member's email! Technology is just too cool!
Have a great day!

Everybody, Everybody Play Along

Hello! Shocking but true-a new blog post on More with Music!

Sorry for the longs breaks in between posts this summer.

I have been staying busy with work and other summer activities and taking a little break from recording songs each night. I have a bunch of songs I've been working on here and there. Hopefully I will get them recorded and share them soon as the school year quickly approaches.

Today's post was inspired by another blog writer, Rachel Rambach, who is a fellow music therapist I correspond with online. You can learn more about her, her amazing songs, and music therapy activities here.

So, the inspiration for this song began when I heard Rachel performing "Everybody" by Ingrid Michaelson on her ukelele. It is such a nice song by itself and Rachel did a great job with it as well. As I listened to her sing the song, I kept thinking it would be a great song to use in group music therapy sessions. The phrase, "Everybody, everybody..." instantly became my focus and I worked for the next day or so writing lyrics to fit a play along type song. I'm still tweaking it here and there, but I wanted to share the draft version.

This song first encourages everyone to play along together, and then it focuses on individual rhythm instruments children chose to play that day. It's a great song to work on group participation, turn taking, etc.

I'd love to hear what you think!




Until next time, have a great week!

Therapy Tools Tuesday

It's Tuesday and boy is it hot outside!
I've taken a break from posting often, but hope to put more songs up soon. Summer is here and I've been working, traveling, and escorting the little one back and forth to swim lessons.
So, for today's Therapy Tools Tuesday, I wanted to post about one of my most important and most used therapy tools...my guitar!
This was not my first or second guitar, but I purchased it last fall and really love it.




This guitar is the Yamaha APX 500 model. It is an acoustic/electric guitar with a 1-way pick up system (built-in tuner and 3 band EQ included). It has a thin profile and the strings are very close to the finger board, making it easier to play. It is often called a "Slimline".

The guitar has a great sound, in my opinion, and is great to use as an acoustic guitar in therapy settings. I also play the violin and find the string height to be wonderful on this guitar.








So there you have it-my most used, most important therapy tool everyday. :)

Stop by later this week for a song or two. Until then, have a great day!

Summer is Hot,Hot,Hot

Summer is here and the days are growing hotter and hotter.

While many of us enjoy the modern comforts of air conditioning, we also enjoy summer activities such as swimming, sailing, fishing, and of course, eating popsicles and ice cream!

I wanted to share a song I call "Summer is hot, hot,hot!" I didn't write most of the music for this song, but instead was inspired by Rachel Rambach's song "Hot Day" and borrowed the tune and some of her lyrics and tweaked it for my own use.

Rachel Rambach has her own amazing blog over at www.listenlearnmusic.com. I encourage you all to go have a listen to her large collection of songs for therapy and play. I really enjoy connecting with other music therapists via blogging mainly because it allows us to share our ideas and inspire each other.

The lyrics are below. What other songs do you use during the summer months?




When Summer comes there's lots of sun.
It's hot, hot, hot. (Repeat)

Time for sunscreen and sunglasses.
It's hot, hot, hot.
Time for popsicles and ice cream too.
It's hot, hot, hot.

Time for finding seashells by the seashore.
It's hot, hot, hot.
Time for swimming, fishing, sailing and more.
It's hot, hot, hot.
Oh, it's hot, hot, hot.

When Summer comes there's lots of sun.
It's hot, hot, hot.
When Summer comes there's lots of sun.
It's hot, hot, hot.
It's hot, hot,hot.

Let's go, go, go!

Here's a fun song I wanted to share.
I adapted a very catchy song and used it to help teach about Mexico. I made visuals (via Google images imported into Power point slides) to go with each example from Mexico mentioned in the song. The very catchy (and sometimes addictive) chorus in this song is "I wanna' go, go, go down to Mexico".


So, here's the song. If you'd like the lyrics, I'd be happy to send them to you via email. Just send a quick email to morewithmusic@gmail.com

I hope you've had a great week and TGIF!

Moving in the Water

The end of the school year is very near. Wrapping everything up has kept me busy to say the least!

I realize it's not as exciting to check in on a blog when there aren't any new posts. :) So, today I'm sharing another song. This song is called "Moving in the Water". The tune of this song is actually from another song I found online one night. The original song is called, "Listen to the Water". I kept most all of the tune the same, but changed the lyrics for my own song needs.

So, "Moving in the Water" is about ways we can move in the water. With summer quickly approaching, it's a great time to talk about ways we can move in and on bodies of water and teach all those great words like swim, boat, jetski, canoe, fish, row, paddle, etc..

I have visuals for each mode of moving on the water for this song and I also use a Big Mac switch so nonverbal students can participate as we sing the chorus after each phrase. (I prepare the big mac switch ahead of time and record myself singing the chorus into it). You can also create movements to go along with the chorus (move hands like river flowing, swimming arm mvmts., riding jet ski, paddling, etc.)

The lyrics are below. How do you plan to move in the water this summer? I'd love to hear what you think. :)

Have a great week!



Chorus
Moving in the water, moving in the water
swimming, skiing, paddling and riding too.

I saw a fish by the waterside
Swimming with his fins to the other side. (repeat)
Chorus
I saw a girl by the waterside
Kicking her legs to swim to the other side. (repeat)
Chorus
I saw a boy by the waterside
Riding his jet skis to the other side
Chorus
I saw a man in a canoe by the waterside
He was paddling his oars to get the other side. (repeat)
Chorus
I saw a woman in a boat by the waterside
Riding in the boat to the other side. (repeat)
Chorus