Back in August when we were creating the curriculum for our early childhood music class, I wrote a song called “Little Red Apples” to work on counting skills. While I was at the studio setting up the night before the first session,
I decided to make five apples out of construction paper to go along with the song. Our kiddos loved counting and manipulating the visuals as we sang, so the counting song became a staple in every round of classes.
Each session, we wrote and introduced a new counting song with visuals to match. The songs all follow the same template and are nature-themed, so together they form a nice collection.
When we realized we had two songs for each season, it was a no-brainer to package them up for others to use as well.
But Counting Through the Seasonsisn’t just a songbook. We wanted it to be as helpful a resource as possible, so we included all of the following:
sheet music (melody line + chords)
mp3 recordings
instructional videos
visual aide templates
photos
No matter what the season, you’ll have a counting song for your little ones — and it can easily be adapted to go beyond the number 5. We consider all of our songs to simply be starting points; our job is to tailor the musical experience to our students’ unique needs.
This multimedia songbook contains the following original songs:
In case you haven’t heard, ukuleles are all the rage these days. They are super popular with singer-songwriters, and we’ve had so many of our students spark an interest in learning how to play. We’ve always loved the uke, but their popularity surge inspired us to create a class for beginning strummers.
We’ve offered the class several times now, and we’re excited to start a new session in a couple weeks! The goal of 1-2-3, Learn Ukulele is to have students (many of whom have never picked up a stringed instrument) playing chords and then songs right from the get-go. Just recently, one of our students who had never formed a ukulele chord walked out of her first lesson able to play the entirety of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”!
While not everyone learns at quite that speed, the ukulele is easier to pick up than the guitar. It only has 4 strings as opposed to 6, and its petite size fits smaller hands better. What I love most about the ukulele is that the simplest chord progressions and songs perfectly suit its sweet sound; I think that’s why it has become so popular. You don’t have to be highly skilled to play, though there are certainly uke prodigies out there.
If your child is interested in playing a fun starter instrument, consider the ukulele! Our 8-week class begins on April 13, and we provide the ukes so that the only thing students need to participate is the willingness to learn. Click here for details and registration.
We took a GIANT step in putting ourselves out there when we opened up our own studio this past summer. Our name is on a sign that is visible from a busy road, which has been wonderful for business. Yes, it’s a giant step, but only the first of many.
As our business and team have grown, we’ve started stepping up our game in terms of building a community presence. Just recently, we hosted a booth at a huge local event called KidsFest. We met hundreds of families and helped children make their own egg shakers in addition to networking with other local businesses. We’re sponsoring another event in a few weeks, where we hope to make new contacts and educate even more people about music therapy.
Putting yourself out there can be challenging, time consuming, and draining. There’s a lot of prep involved, from designing and printing marketing materials, to standing on your feet for hours at a time, to dedicating evenings and weekends that you’d probably prefer to spend with your family.
But we’re already seeing our hard work pay off in terms of new students and clients, as well as recognition from people who have already heard of us. We’re not a household name in Springfield just yet, but we’re steadily taking steps towards that goal.
Based on our experiences so far, here are a few quick tips for putting yourself out there and building your local presence:
Develop quality print materials. We make our own business cards, brochures and fliers fairly inexpensively by using software like Pages and Microsoft Word and then having them printed locally.
Participate in local fairs, exhibitions, and community events. Get yourself a sign or banner (we ordered ours for less that $100 from Vistaprint) and register for your first booth, if you haven’t already. Doing so is usually affordable, depending on the size of the event, and sometimes you can even snag a small business discount.
Collect info from people you meet. Giving out fliers and business cards can be effective, but more often than not, they are tossed aside or lost. Have an email list signup or registration form handy so you don’t miss out on a potential new client or student.
Host your own events. Last summer, we organized a Midsummer Music Celebration and invited the community via mail and social media. Not only did we have a blast, but we recruited quite a few new families!
Of course, don’t try to do everything at once; take your time, experiment, and see what works the best for your business. We are having fun doing that ourselves — it’s a learning experience, for sure!
In my early days as a music therapist, adapting songs and interventions on the spot was a real challenge. I come from a performance background, so I’m all about rehearsing and then executing as practiced. But it didn’t take long to realize that approach just doesn’t work in the music therapy setting, especially when young children are involved.
Being flexible, creative, and quick on your feet are three essential characteristics of anyone who facilitates music groups or classes with kids. Alisabeth displayed all of the above a few weeks ago during our Listen & Learn for Little Ones class, when she realized that a song we had planned to use with the stretchy band just wasn’t going to work.
Although it had gone perfectly well as planned in an earlier class, this particular group of children was older and wanted to move more freely around the room. So Alisabeth put the stretchy band up instead of redirecting the kids and tweaked the song lyrics right there on the spot, all without interrupting the activity.
Did the new lyrics match the ones the parents were following in their binders? Nope, but nobody cared — because the kids were happy and engaged. As Alisabeth’s internship supervisor as well as the parent of a child in that class, I was super impressed by her quick thinking and ability to adapt to meet her students’ needs.
Don’t be afraid to stray from the binder, lesson plan, or whatever else you prepared, if it’s not working. Adapting is a skill that takes time to develop, but you’ll only get better with practice.
We are so excited about the next round of classes, which begins in less than two weeks. Not only are we offering our usual classes, but we have added several new ones: an introduction to guitar and social skills classes for two different age groups.
This session, there truly is a class for EVERYONE, no matter what age. I can’t tell you how many times a parent has said to me, “I really wish I had stuck with those piano lessons when I was a kid,” or “I’ve always wanted to learn the guitar”. That was our motivation for opening classes up to adults, and we are really looking forward to seeing them in action.
Our Mid Winter session begins the week of February 15, and classes are either 5 or 8 weeks in length. Registration is open now and space is limited, so we hope you’ll join us in you are located in central Illinois! Click here for details and to secure your spot.
