Have you ever asked a student why they selected a particular song for listening? When I have asked, students typically cite that they identify with the song, or they like the beat. Either of these answers are a good start, but none of them go far enough. If music is going to have more than … Continue reading What role Will Students Play in Selecting Music with the New Arts Standards for Music?
music cognition
One 8th Grade Student’s Findings: The Benefits of Studying Music
Each school year, I teach a unit to my 8th grade classes on the benefits of music to their lives. Of course music gives no benefit to anyone on its own. Music is not a living, breathing creature that can actually do anything, in an active sense. Any benefit music has to us, it brings … Continue reading One 8th Grade Student’s Findings: The Benefits of Studying Music
Why Do Students Need Teachers?
As I watched this afternoon’s Sprint Cup race from Pocono Speedway, I saw an advertisement for a web site parents could visit where certified teachers deliver course content for free. Children can use the site lieu of attending a traditional public school. It reminded me of a conversation that has been taking place on social … Continue reading Why Do Students Need Teachers?
Musical Ups and Downs–Why is Contour Important?
Sometimes, when a person has been studying and practicing something for a long time, acquiring a high level of expertise in it, it becomes easy to overlook the simpler aspects of the discipline—those concepts that one learned when first being introduced to the discipline, and then forgotten once more advanced levels were reached. In music, … Continue reading Musical Ups and Downs–Why is Contour Important?
Early Childhood and Learning How To Sing
Two years ago, a music education major in his senior year spent two weeks observing me teach, and trial teaching my students. Over the course of those two weeks, he expressed his surprise at how well my first graders could hold pitch and sing in tune. According to what he had been taught, they shouldn’t … Continue reading Early Childhood and Learning How To Sing
mister a music place 
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