I was looking over the KidLinks Music Therapy Resource album looking for some inspiration and came across “Ready Set” and it was exactly what I needed in my sessions. “Ready Set” is an awesome song written by our very own Gina Glidewell, MT-BC and a great one to use in sessions. As Gina wrote it, it talks about breathing and jumping when prompted in the song, which is great if you want to use those in your session. But one reason I love this song so much is because it is so adaptable. 

The way I hear it, as it’s written, I think of it as a way to introduce coping skills, which of course is so useful. However, another way I thought of adapting it would be to turn it into an improvisation intervention. For example, you could recreate one verse to say, “ready set, drum.”, one verse to say, “ready set, bells”, and one verse to say, “ready set shake” (for shakers). Or if you wanted a more behavioral intervention you could replace the instruments with clap, spin, or hop. Not only does this work on turn taking and following directions, but you could also delay the prompt and include a bit of “stop and go” type work, further working on impulse control and listening skills. 

Gina writes such catchy and productive music therapy songs. Not only do my clients love her songs, but I enjoy playing them as well! I hope you can include this one in your sessions too!

https://www.kidlinks.org/songs/ready-set 

And be sure to check all the other wonderful and supportive KidLinks songs here:

https://www.kidlinks.org/music 

Sara Chigani, MA, MT-BC, FAMI