I wrote my first music composition for concert band when I was in high school. I was fortunate enough to have a supportive band director who allowed me to pass out the parts I'd made, and read the piece with our concert band. Eventually, I got a pretty good reading and a pretty good sense … Continue reading The Importance of Clear Music Notation
music education
Fun Classroom Activities for Music Teachers at the Beginning of the School Year
For music teachers, the beginning of the school year means returning to most of the same students from previous grade level, while welcoming in some students who are new to the district or have transferred from another school within the district. Students are happy to be physically reunited with their friends, but they are also … Continue reading Fun Classroom Activities for Music Teachers at the Beginning of the School Year
The Importance of Music Teachers in Student’s Lives | Back-to-School Emotional Stability
The new school year is getting under way. For students, the beginning of the school year is highly emotional. On the one hand, kids are happy to be reunited with their friends, many of whom they have not seen all summer, though they have been together on social media. On the other hand, this happiness … Continue reading The Importance of Music Teachers in Student’s Lives | Back-to-School Emotional Stability
The Importance of Musicianship in Learning to Play an Instrument
Robert Adams Learning to play a musical instrument, or to sing, with a high level of musicianship takes lots of training, practice , and listening. A student will take lessons in school and attend music classes beginning in early elementary school, and continuing through middle school, if not further. Through it all, music teachers will … Continue reading The Importance of Musicianship in Learning to Play an Instrument
What Is The Difference Between Standards and Curriculum: A Primer for Music Curriculum Writers
Some of you who are music educators will be doing curriculum writing work over the summer, while others will be planning for the coming school year. In either case, it is important to understand the distinction between standards and curriculum. With the presence of common core in many states, standards have taken on a renewed importance in planning … Continue reading What Is The Difference Between Standards and Curriculum: A Primer for Music Curriculum Writers
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
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
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
Describing Music and Teaching Music
If you are a music reader, want you to pretend you know nothing about music notation. If you don't read music, you're all set. Now take what I'm about to write absolutely literally. "A quarter note gets one beat, and a half note gets two beats." Just from that description, do you know that the … Continue reading Describing Music and Teaching Music
What Would Music Be Like Without Change?
Although most would probably say they don’t like change, the fact is that we need change and are designed to change and benefit from change. This can be clearly seen if we consider minimalist music. When a minimalist piece begins, it has our attention, because what we hear is a change from not hearing it … Continue reading What Would Music Be Like Without Change?
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