As I write this, I'm looking at a page from a popular band method book. There is one of those boxes at the top of the page that directs students' attention to an important concept or new learning. There is a pair of eighth notes followed by an equals sign followed by a quarter note. … Continue reading The Problem With Using Math to Teach Rhythm
Instrumental Music
What Is Classical Music?
To many, maybe even most in the Western hemisphere, the term "classical music" refers to a select repertoire of music composed exclusively by European or European trained composers. Some restrict the term to refer to music composed only in the mid seventeenth to early nineteenth century, while others use it to mean a broader repertoire … Continue reading What Is Classical Music?
Moving Music
Let me just say straight out that I don't think it is possible to understand, appreciate, or be "moved" by a musical work unless one moves. The physical body is expert in understanding the beats, rhythms, and spatial placements that make up music. Because I believe this, I find it interesting that so few symphony … Continue reading Moving Music
Classical Music and Contemporary Culture
Elsewhere on this site, I wrote about the top 25 classical music works, and key words that help explain why they are as popular as they are. After writing that post, I decided to take the results to my eighth grade students and see if the key words in the survey resonated with these adolescents. … Continue reading Classical Music and Contemporary Culture
Teaching the Once A Week Music Class
If there's one thing I don't like about teaching music, it is that I only see each class one time each week. This has at least two disadvantages; music can easily be regarded as less important because it meets less often than math, science, language arts, and social studies, and students struggle to remember what … Continue reading Teaching the Once A Week Music Class
A Personal Tribute to Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez died around 10:30 a.m. this morning (January 6, 2016) at the age of 90 years. There are many ways in which Pierre Boulez influenced and shaped art music in the twentieth century and beyond. As an innovative and even rebellious composer and conductor, he forced us all to look at music in a … Continue reading A Personal Tribute to Pierre Boulez
The Many Flavors of Auditions
Auditions are a way of life for the performing artist. Whether a musician wants to gain entrance to a music conservatory, be accepted into an ensemble, or perhaps be hired for a teaching position, musicians are required to audition as part of the hiring or entry process. This begins in middle school, when students audition … Continue reading The Many Flavors of Auditions
What Is A Musical Scale?
Yesterday, I was reading an online music lesson that was on learning a scale on the piano. The author defined a scale as a series of notes that ascends and descends. While nothing in that definition is untrue, there are many series of notes that ascend and descend that are not scales; arpeggios or any … Continue reading What Is A Musical Scale?
An Antidote To Boredom
With the new year nearly upon us, many will make resolutions to do better in some area of their life. Many of these fade within a few weeks as our human tendency to settle back into the familiar and comfortable takes over. This is, I think, at least partly due to focusing on the action … Continue reading An Antidote To Boredom
“How Do You Know What The Notes Are”?
From time to time as I am writing a melody on the board that I want my students to play or sing, they will notice that I am not looking at music, and that I am singing quietly to myself (though apparently loud enough for them to notice) as I write. They are fascinated by … Continue reading “How Do You Know What The Notes Are”?
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