Music With Marisa

01/15/2026

1st "Music with Marisa Live" of 2026 was a success!
I'm so grateful for this organization and for the families we meet along the way ✨🌈 thank you for always being there, ♥️

09/30/2025

Hey, long time no see!
Music with Marisa is still here!

🥁 30 minutes of online, interactive music play
🎶 Babies and kids aged 0-8 years and caregivers
🌍 Join us from anywhere in the world
📅 Tuesdays at 10 am EST
🧸 And as always, it's free!

Oh, and I have my own little musician now, so classes just got a whole lot better!

07/05/2021

I'm shooting a YouTube video series of my former teacher Barry Stees' reed making method! Stay tuned for it... I'm excited to start editing! Its great to document such a high level of refinement in this way. I hope it serves as a great resource for bassoonists out there!

Using a series of macro lenses and expertise behind the camera from my partner Ben, we were able to capture some pretty amazing close up shots of everything from tube cane rolling on the table with just the right amount of light shining thru the bottom (to show warped spots) to tip openings and rails on finished reeds. Oh, and a blooper reel (if he allows it...)

07/05/2021

Celebrating the 4th with some music... Heard an incredible concert of American music today at including a performance of Appalachian Spring AND MICHAEL CLEVELAND AND THE FLAMEKEEPERS!!!! Shout out to for the comp tix (and beautiful performance on AP, and for getting me back stage to meet Michael Cleveland!!!!)

Needless to say I am super inspired! Here's day 7 of my flatpicking journey...after a few days of practicing riffs only in C, I'm trying to transpose them to F and G. I can't wait to be comfortable enough to share some of my fav songs ❤️ maybe by next week?! Gotta work on this voice too....

06/29/2021

The Cleveland Bassoon Quartet stops for ice cream before striking again...again...and again! 3 shows today!! 😜🔥☄️

Grateful to be gigging with friends ❤️ Videos coming soon

06/16/2021

Sooooo this was fun! My sisters and I have been singing this all week (my other sister is camera shy) because it is a BOP. I'll be posting the full video on youtube along with a ukulele tutorial soon! Stay tuned (pun intended) 🌴

06/14/2021

Featuring the magic words.... Shaaaaaaaaake and stop!✋🏻

In this clip, I'm exploring different energy levels and style shifts. By tapping more delicate parts of our bodies, such as our faces, we have to remember to be gentle. We know how gentle feels, but how does gentle sound? 🐁

Check out the full video on my YouTube channel (link in bio)! There, I am archiving some of the most popular activities from Music with Marisa over the years as part of my effort to create a place where grown ups can learn how to engage their little ones in musical play at home 🏠🎵🎶

06/12/2021

Our first in person sing along in Cleveland Heights is all filled up! But stay tuned for more pop-up in-person sessions. I have a feeling there will be many more... But, we're just taking it one month at a time for now...

In the meantime, join one of our virtual music classes! We would love to see you 🎶 And its completely free!

Remember that Music with Marisa is also live on instagram every Tuesday at 11am! But, there is way more opportunity for interaction in the Zoom session, so follow the link in my bio to register for a class this week!

06/12/2021

Developing a strong internal pulse is a life long journey (trust me...just ask my metronome) but it all starts with steady beat.

Steady beat happens naturally in our bodies (especially in mom's body) so its no question why babies and young children are mesmerized by it. And we know it's important for musical development... But why?

Developing a sense of time is important to be able to move the body and interact with the world on a physical level. That includes musical AND non-musical interactions...from bouncing, to jumping, to walking, to dancing.

Silence is an important part of that! Silence is the absence of a steady beat. There can also be silence between notes (short notes vs long notes). Silence can be temporary (fermata) or permenent (the end of a song). I think I should make another post just about silence! Anyway...

Teachers, I'd love to hear your philosophy and approach on this subject 💕

06/06/2021

The Beehive Series is a 3-part progression designed to trigger and develop audiation (the ability to think in music) in your child's head! Pretty cool...

Here is the beehive, but where are the bees???This is a Music with Marisa favorite for sure! Not only do these tickling bees create so much excitement and an...

06/02/2021

We can all get bored repeating the same song over and over again... But THIS is why we do it! This little musician has been taking music classes with me since before she could talk, and now, at 4 years old, she's practically running the show!

There are so many things going on here (besides epic cuteness.) Not only is she clearly audiating (hearing the music in her head) but shes mastered the rhythm WITH the language (not easy) AND keeping a steady beat at the same time... WITH her ukulele!

Do you also notice how she keeps us waiting at the end before finally singing the tonic pitch (accurately) on BUZZ? She's got confidence and she's got S T Y L E 🤟🏻💥👑

The Beehive Series is coming to YouTube soon! The first video is already posted... Go check it out! Your child will be chanting these rhythms in no time 🎶