This spring, I began the arduous task of learning to play golf. It was twenty years since I last played, and even then, I was never very good, never breaking 100. But now, as I look at retiring in 2-3 years, the idea of playing golf appeals to me, so I decided to start working … Continue reading What Learning Golf Has Taught Me About Teaching Music
Author: mramusicplace
Making Music Classrooms More Student-Centered
Don't forget to visit my request for my classroom at DonorsChoose.org: Keyboards For Kids, Music For All Give to my classroom by June 28, 2015 and your donation will be doubled thanks to DonorsChoose.org. Just enter the code SPARK on the payment page and you’ll be matched dollar for dollar (up to $100). The longer I … Continue reading Making Music Classrooms More Student-Centered
Can Encouraging Creativity Include Correcting Errors?
Today, as I attended the fifth biennial Symposium on Music in Schools at Yale University, I became occupied with a question that came to mind as I listened to Sebastian Ruth talk about helping students find their voice through music education. His talk and the discussion that followed included points on developing relationships with students … Continue reading Can Encouraging Creativity Include Correcting Errors?
The Benefits of Doing a Yearly Musical Theater Production
Last night, my students had their opening night for "Shrek The Musical Jr." If you're not familiar with the Broadway Jr. series of musicals published by MTI, then I highly recommend you look into these shows. The songs are transposed and edited into ranges friendly to young voices, and the scripts are edited down to … Continue reading The Benefits of Doing a Yearly Musical Theater Production
The Other Singing Voice
Music teachers of young, primary grade children know it is important to teach children to find and use their singing voice for singing. Left on their own, most children will try to sing with the same voice they use for speaking, which is very limited in range, and usually too low to sing accurately or … Continue reading The Other Singing Voice
Student Self-Reflection on Music Compositions
In my previous two posts, I discussed reflective questions for student composers that dealt with the musical work, and with the performance of the musical work. Today I will discuss questions about musical form and about a composer's opinion of his or her own work. The most basic aspect of musical form is the balance … Continue reading Student Self-Reflection on Music Compositions
Reflective Questions for 5th Grade Music Composition–The Performance
Once a student composer has created a musical work, it is time for the work to be prepared for presentation, and then to be performed for an audience. This can be an extensive learning experience in itself for a young composer; it is one thing to write down musical ideas, but it is another for … Continue reading Reflective Questions for 5th Grade Music Composition–The Performance
Reflective Questions for 5th Grade Music Composition
Today I am going to discuss questions students can use to reflect on their creative musical work. In Connecticut, these questions are part of the Common Core Assessments for music. Each question gets at an important musical aspect or concept, and helps focus students on more than just getting notes down on paper and singing … Continue reading Reflective Questions for 5th Grade Music Composition
How It All Works Together
When you teach a child to play an instrument, what is the goal of doing so? This may seem like an odd question, because we are inclined to answer that the goal is to lead the child in gaining proficiency on the instrument. There is nothing wrong with this goal; it can be defined, growth … Continue reading How It All Works Together
Why Do We Make Music?
One of the pitfalls of doing anything over a long period of time, is that we can wake up one day and realize we've forgotten why we do what we do. We've been doing it for so long, it has become a habit, a lifestyle, a part of who we are. Chances are those of … Continue reading Why Do We Make Music?
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