When we think of playing with something, usually it is an object or an activity. We play with a toy, or we play tennis. We say we play a piano or a clarinet, but we rarely hear someone say we play with a piano or a clarinet. Even more unlikely is to hear someone say … Continue reading Playing With Sound
Music Education
A practical guide to planning, teaching, and assessing music instruction.
Keeping Learning Assessment Rigorous at Home
As if collecting assessment data were not challenging enough for music teachers, the distance learning environment we now find ourselves in adds an additional layer of concern. The ultimate goal of any educational instruction is to guide students to points where they can problem solve and apply learning to real-life situations. For some, holding school … Continue reading Keeping Learning Assessment Rigorous at Home
Navigating Teaching While Physically Separated from Students
For many of us, this COVID-19 pandemic has thrust us into distance learning quite suddenly and unexpectedly. Schools and students who found themselves equipped with technology had a solid basis upon which to start, while schools, and even more so students, who had little or no technology at home have been confronted with problems meeting … Continue reading Navigating Teaching While Physically Separated from Students
Music In Unsettled Times
There have been times in my life when music kept me on an even keel, restored me to a place of security and peace when all around me was about to become overwhelming. It was like the perfect friend, offering comfort, solace, probing in a healing way the innermost parts of my being. This went … Continue reading Music In Unsettled Times
Music for Earth Day: Songs, Lessons, and Suggestions
Earth Day is one of those opportunities that comes along every year for music educators to collaborate with other members of the school community. Doing so strengthens the prestige of the music program, and relationships with teachers and administrators in your building. Many schools, particularly elementary schools, hold Earth Day activities, and feature themed activities … Continue reading Music for Earth Day: Songs, Lessons, and Suggestions
The Family of Musical Elements
I don't believe I've ever seen a music textbook, or observed or even taught a music course that didn't include plenty of instruction on the elements of music. Melody, harmony, pitch, rhythm, beat, and so forth all are rightly considered critical to any course on music. These things are the very raw materials out of … Continue reading The Family of Musical Elements
Managing Distance Music Teaching During COVID-19 Shutdowns (Updated Mar. 25)
Many of you are or will be experiencing long-term school closures du to the Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic. Many school districts are closing schools and asking teachers to teach online or prepare lessons students can take online for the duration of these closures, which typically are at least two weeks. For many music teachers, this … Continue reading Managing Distance Music Teaching During COVID-19 Shutdowns (Updated Mar. 25)
Toward More In Tune Singing
Many of our students, and, truth be told, many of us as well, struggle at least from time to time at singing in tune. There can be any one or more of several factors contributing to the difficulty. It may be poor phonation which makes it more difficult to hear ourselves singing, it could be … Continue reading Toward More In Tune Singing
What Is A Metric Modulation?
In music, the term "modulation" is most frequently used to refer to a shift in keyality. One speaks of modulating from the tonic to the dominant, and, at least in traditional harmony, using a pivot chord to achieve the modulation; that is, a chord that assumes a duel role of one function in the current … Continue reading What Is A Metric Modulation?
Solving Problems of Teaching Rhythm
Of all the musical elements, rhythm seems to present the most difficulty to students and teachers alike. There are several reasons why this may be. In this article I will discuss some of them. The first reason is that rhythm is often mistaken for a system of counting. While rhythm syllables and the numbering of … Continue reading Solving Problems of Teaching Rhythm
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