TME Tuesday: sing about songs

Do you know that I write a monthly therapeutic music experience (TME) collection that is available to you? I do. It's a labor of love that I enjoy so much, and I just finished this year's sing about october and will be releasing it to subscribers Thursday morning!

When I was a naive Master's student many years ago, I wanted to do a project thesis where I was writing curriculum for musical learners. This curriculum was based on teaching specific facts and skills to learners who might appreciate hearing the information in a musical format. I had written much of the music and most of the background information when my advisor changed and the new one was not at all interested in what I had developed. So, I shoved my sing about songs project to the back of the shelf and finished a thesis that my advisor would approve.

That project, however, still called to me. After I finally left school (a humbler and much wiser music therapist and person), I pulled it out of the back of the closet, dusted it off, and started to think about it again. That was the rebirth of sing about songs.

I decided that I wanted to share with fellow music therapists and with students and interns, so I shifted my presentation format a bit and then started writing books. I have written ten books with this format. After I self-published the tenth book, I decided that I wanted to shift my format again, so I went to a monthly format rather than a quarterly one. With that change in attitude, sing about mini was born.

Here's how it works. For $27.00 USD per quarter (that means for a cost of $9.00 per month), I send you a monthly e-book of therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) to use with your clients in your work. The release date is usually on the 5th of each month, though this month is different due to my upcoming break plans. I send full TME plans, sheet music (when appropriate), free visual aids (that I sell in my Teachers Pay Teachers store - this is an additional savings), and lists of repertoire and upcoming holidays. I focus on sending these out three months in advance so you can start planning and practicing songs whenever you are ready to do your session strategizing. I try to write TMEs that are appropriate for all populations (with the exception of maybe the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), and I include between 4 and 7 TMEs per month. A couple of months ago, I released a musical timeline that I put together with songs from the 1900's to 1979. That was a large file in comparison to the ones that I usually release. I try to include bonus content as appropriate for the TMEs that I develop. This month's bonus content includes visuals for a pumpkin life cycle and a new feature, book recommendations!

This is something that I enjoy so much! I love coming up with ideas for each month, and I search through my database eagerly to find things that correspond to the month or to my mood or to whatever whim is happening in my clinical life at the time.

If you are interested in seeing what sing about songs is all about, I offer a free e-book on my website here. Look for sing about summer, contact us, and we will send you this edition for free! While you are there, consider subscribing to our sing about mini editions (same link). What is better than planning music therapy sessions? Well, having some music therapy ideas developed by music therapists for music therapists, of course!

Thanks all, for allowing my shameless plug.