One of the highlights of a middle school or high school musician’s year is being selected for and performing with an honor band or orchestra.
I highly recommend engaging and empowering your student leaders to be instructors for music, marching or even as peer tutors for other academic subjects. When your student leaders begin to take more ownership of your program, the overall culture and morale will improve.
We’ve all encountered this scenario: The baton is up, the group is ready to play, the downbeat almost hits the air, and then a hand goes up. You respond, “Yes?” A student says, “My instrument isn't working.”
“The name of a note is the one thing we do not have to know, and yet some teachers spend more time on this aspect of note reading than any other,” said renowned piano teacher Richard Chronister, as noted in “Creative Piano Teaching” by James Lyke, Geoffrey Haydon and Catherine Rollin, Stipes Publishing, 2011, Pg. 55.)
During my first five years of teaching, I could have benefitted from some real help. Unfortunately, I was petrified to have my high school and college band directors come out to watch my rehearsals.
You have been hired as the new high school band director — congratulations! It’s probably the beginning of summer, and you are about to start the process of building your marching band show and learning the ins and outs of football season at your school.
It’s no secret that elementary school music teachers are usually on a tight budget. But before music teachers throw their hands up in the air, they should add these music manipulatives into their classrooms. The following DIY learning tools are economical and can provide countless hours of instruction.
Influential architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe famously said, “Less is more.” And luckily, this phrase is as helpful to busy music educators as it is to minimalist midcentury architects.
Students who believe in their ability to perform at a high level are more likely to achieve remarkable things.
People change jobs for various reasons. When the time comes to change jobs, business and stress can take over. As with many new experiences, there isn’t always an owner’s manual for what to do.
