I made a few discoveries in this past week or two that were important in my music therapy-life. Of course, I want to share the things that helped me in hopes that they may help you!
P.S. This was intended as a Friday Five, but as it is in the music therapy world, we are constantly adapting to unexpected changes in plans.
1) Play Ball! music activity for geriatric clients. I was fortunate to come across this activity on Rachelle Norman's blog while looking for ideas for a session. I used it the next day and it went over beautifully!
2) Dry erase/wet erase white board trick. I found this genius songwriting tip on Michelle Erfurt's website. And if this trick wasn't brilliant enough already, Kat Fulton commented that smeared white board marker can be cured with nail polish remover.
3) Wikifonia lead sheets. Wikipedia, WikiHow, WikiAnswers, WikiBooks... now Wikifonia? Possibly the greatest Wiki ever created, this site provides sheet music for a long list of songs. In fact, this was the only place that I could find free chords for the Pennsylvania Polka. I don't know much about this site just yet, but I imagine some songs (like oldies) are easier to find than others. If you know more about Wikifonia, feel free to comment!
4) Online music games. To incorporate these in sessions, you'll have to be creative. But i believe there is a lot of potential for some of these games. Browse music games at sites like musicgames.us, PBS Kids, and Nickelodeon.
5) Preschool songs and activities. This site provides links to a number of ideas for development-related activities. Some examples include learning the days of the week, vowels, and creating a rain storm.
Hopefully you find these helpful! If anyone has more helpful tips and discoveries to add, I invite you to comment.
Thanks for mentioning my white board post!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Wikifonia and use it frequently for older songs. It's great to take a break from memorizing and you gotta love how the website will transpose for you :)