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Home Archive by category "Songwriting"

Category: Songwriting

For Fun & Literacy, Visit Dr. Knickerbocker!

Liz Buchanan February 9, 2018 February 9, 2018Movement, Music Education, Phonological Awareness, Songwriting 1

I just made a new video of one of my favorite literacy songs, “Dr. Knickerbocker.” Find it now on my youtube channel, LizBuchananMusic, by clicking here. “Dr. Knickerbocker” is somewhat ubiquitous in kids’ music circles, having been featured on at least two children’s TV shows and in numerous books. It’s…

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Writing a Song About Flying!

Liz Buchanan September 13, 2016 September 4, 2016Songwriting, Story Songs 0

Ever dream of flying? Not flying on an airplane, though I love that, too. I mean letting your body catch the wind as you rise up into the air, soaring and gliding and seeing the sights far below. The classic Peter Pan fired children’s imaginations about flying. Just a little…

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New CD Features Friendly Dragon

Liz Buchanan June 23, 2016 June 23, 2016Reflections, Songwriting 2

My new CD is here! It’s called “Amazing!” It has a happy, musical dragon on the cover, drawn by my talented artist daughter, Molly Knobloch. The dragon is featured in the song “No Fire, Dragon!” which I wrote 10 years ago while working in a preschool classroom of children aged…

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Happy Accident Brings New Song to Life

Liz Buchanan June 3, 2015 July 19, 2015Songwriting 0

A happy collision of ideas produced a great surprise for one of my classrooms of six- and seven-year-olds – a metaphor! As I have done for several years in the spring, I am working with six classrooms of first grade students at the Condon School in South Boston to write…

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What Three Little Pigs Can Teach About Reading & Writing

Liz Buchanan March 17, 2015 July 19, 2015Reflections, Songwriting, Story Songs 7

In my songwriting life, I’ve become a little obsessed with characters in threes. My initial “Three Piggy Opera” was so much fun that on my next album, Once Upon a Tune, I included my own songs about the Three Bears, Three Billy Goats Gruff and Three Little Kittens. You can…

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Sequence Songs – Write Your Own!

Liz Buchanan February 26, 2015 July 19, 2015Science Songs, Songwriting 4

As a follow-up to last week’s post, I’d like to suggest further possibilities with songs that involve sequences. The songs in this post are all drawn from older songs, but have new words. Call it the “folk process.” Call it opportunity. Call it taking a song and making it your…

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From Brainstorming to Creating a New Song

Liz Buchanan September 9, 2014 July 19, 2015Songwriting 0

In my last blog piece, I talked about getting the creative process going with children through brainstorming – essentially making lists of ideas.  Brainstorming is the time for broad-brushing and “all over the map” thinking.  But how do all those the brainstorm ideas become a song? The short answer is…

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Student Songwriting: Brainstorm to Exercise the Brain!

Liz Buchanan August 1, 2014 July 19, 2015Phonological Awareness, Songwriting 0

This article first appeared on The Children’s Music Network blog as part of an ongoing series about songwriting with students. There’s a blank white board in front of you.  Name your idea – any idea is great.  Let’s see how many we can assemble! What a tantalizing invitation, a welcome…

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Songs that Inspire Us to Write More!

Liz Buchanan June 24, 2014 July 19, 2015Music Education, Songwriting 3

During my ten-week songwriting residency with first graders, I start by introducing students to songs to engage them with different musical styles and subject matter. In the first week this year, we sang songs celebrating nature, including my song “If I Were a Butterfly.” The next week, I told the…

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Writing Songs with Kids: Get Inspired!

Liz Buchanan June 16, 2014 July 19, 2015Songwriting 0

Parts of this piece were originally published on The Children’s Music Network Blog. One of my early inspirations for songwriting with kids was hearing about a residency that Steve Roslonek (SteveSongs) did at an elementary school years ago. After spending a week gathering ideas and brainstorming with the students, he…

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