Recently, a sort of firestorm on Facebook was started by a music teacher sharply criticizing colleagues who stop teaching the curriculum after the final concert of the year. He stated that in doing so, these teachers are "degrading" their music programs. He went on to vent and in so doing offended some. The post was … Continue reading After The Concert
Vocal Music
Teaching How To Learn
If you are a frequent reader of this blog, then you know that I am a strong proponent of goal and objective setting, and of the National Core Arts Standards (NCAS). But just like the chocolates and cookies I've been enjoying this week, too much, even of a good thing, is rarely best. In teaching, … Continue reading Teaching How To Learn
Musical Fractions That Make Sense
The nomenclature for durations we have (except for those who use the quaver family of names) really is not very useful. Whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, and sixteenth note are the terms by which teachers, both of music and of other subjects, connect music to fraction arithmetic. As far as it goes, … Continue reading Musical Fractions That Make Sense
A Learning Sequence for Music Rehearsals
Beginning rehearsal on a new musical work is always a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, it is exciting to begin a new piece, and I look forward to starting work on it, foreseeing the day when my ensemble arrives at the point where the audiated performance in my imagination meets or exceeds … Continue reading A Learning Sequence for Music Rehearsals
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
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
Passing Along Your Musical Roots
Psychologists will tell you that you are a blend of "nature and nurture--" that you are what you are partly because of inherited traits, and partly because of what your interactions with your environment have been. Today, I am interested in the musical aspect of the environment in which we all matured from early childhood … Continue reading Passing Along Your Musical Roots
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Wesley's original verse for this beloved Christmas hymn is rich with poetry and theology. Many of these lines are all but unknown today, pushed aside in favor slightly lighter though no less excellent poetry. Conspicuous by its absence is the familiar refrain from which we derive the very title of the hymn. The refrain was … Continue reading Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
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