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 (original tune and lyrics by Coffey Anderson), 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