Rejoice Creative Music Studio

29/08/2026

Deep thought for reflection:

So we were talking about handling sharp objects and how we have to be careful. I shared with a little one how I had an accident while paring a fruit and suffered a deep cut.

Kid: (seriously) Only adults can handle sharp objects.
Me: True... I am an adult.. you know that... right?
Kid: No you are not... You are a teacher.
Me: ...processing...

Maybe I should hold back on sharing personal flawed experiences..

24/08/2026

Sometimes the best musical ideas comes from kiddos and not the therapist.

I was doing a regular story discussion with a kiddo who is also a Christian and enjoys doing Christian music. We decided to set the verse to music.

I ran out of ideas at that moment, and said out loud, "Kiddo, you really gotta help me with this."
She responded, " I will sing it for you."
So she did. It was a simple, straight forward melody. No frills or funky harmonies. Just a simple and clear melody.

That is what I call a great session!!

Note to self: Remember to record it later. This song is certainly coming back in my sessions with her.

03/08/2026

https://www.rejoicecreativemusicstudio.com/blogs/scribbles/of-glass-ceilings

Recently, I re-attempted to correct the pedalling of a piano kiddo with ASD. Kiddo does not say very much so it is difficult to assess if she really understands me or not. We have been working on pedalling. Getting her to change the pedal immediately after the chord change was really challenging. I....

26/07/2026

Sometimes, a kid needs to gather their own little audience before she starts her music class.

13/07/2026

One of the most satisfying part of music teaching, is hearing how a kid who has since "graduated" from classes applied what he learned outside the music classroom, playing with friends in school projects. :)

Another "most satisfying part" of music teaching is seeing how a kiddo finds time to "play random stuff" on the piano. After learning her exam repertoire, she asked if she could play something "random" for me and I said yes. She started playing the first few bars of Rush E. Just a few bars, but satisfying nonetheless. It did not matter whether she played it by ear, learned on youtube, or just fiddled around...the fact that she was finding pleasure in exploring music beyond the given repertoire is a big enough win for the day! 😄

That's the whole point of learning music!!

Send a message to learn more

27/06/2026

Kiddos learning instruments don't really like the metronome - the rhythm buddy - so i call it. They usually have different responses whenever i get it to work. Some sigh, others panic, others give "silent screams". One brave lad said, " No need TJ. I prefer to use my toe."

26/06/2026

A secret note detailing the secret pieces a kid wanted to learn.
I couldn't decipher her notation system at first. But it worked for her.
😂

25/06/2026

When you get a kid who likes to draw in music class, you get a bird in the middle of a scale.

😂

16/06/2026

https://www.rejoicecreativemusicstudio.com/blogs/scribbles/of-sugarcoating

Scribbles - reflections of the music teacher-therapist kind.

Appreciating and assessing beauty is something that is rather intrinsic in most of us. Sugarcoating work that has not really met the mark, would be sending a plethora of wrong signals to the learner.

Instead, appreciate their effort and give objective feedback and how to improve!

A while ago, a kiddo and I tried doing a really cool art piece that was on social media (check out the link: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BSe24AqYh/) . It required us to draw and colour 5 circles with crayons. After which, we had to use a cotton bud to smudge the colours out into shades. The pr...

15/04/2026

Success doesn't always appear in a complete performance of a piece or a tangible art piece.

Yesterday's success was not in the form of a completed piece performed by a little kiddo with additional needs. Rather it was the kiddo's ability to listen and correct herself, and even throwing in a few repetitions to nail the part right.

The process itself, was success!

Send a message to learn more