Tips for Music Teachers

HOW TO LISTEN TO MUSIC: 6 Teaching Tips

April 11, 2013

 1. LISTEN BLINDLY. Ask students to listen closely to a musical selection with their eyes open; then listen to the same selection with their eyes closed. Discover and discuss the differences. (See the corollary to this activity in #6 below) 2. LISTENING TEAMS. Divide the class into listening teams. Ask each group to focus on a [...]

Read the full article →

HOW TO LISTEN TO MUSIC: 8 Practical Tips

March 19, 2012

1. Listen blindly. Listen to a work not knowing who wrote it, or the title of it, or the style and when it was written. Just you and the physical music, with no preconceptions or artificial mental expectations or without knowing anything about it’s origins or classifications. 2. Listen bodily. Listen with your gut, your [...]

Read the full article →

SING ME A STORY: The Musical Approach to Children’s Literature

May 12, 2011

Jill and Michael Gallina share news of their exciting new musical that highlights the importance of literature and reading: If you are interested in a musical that takes place entirely on risers and integrates music and children’s literature into one easy-to-produce package, we hope you’ll consider our latest “Rise and Shine” musical SING ME A [...]

Read the full article →

Autumn from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

September 24, 2010

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) wrote numerous concertos, many of them for the young ladies who resided in the Venetian orphanage where Vivaldi was employed for most of his working career. (Many of these “orphans” were daughters of affluent  noblemen and their mistresses, and they lived in very comfortable circumstances and were given excellent musical training.)  Some [...]

Read the full article →

Opera for Kids: Free Resources from the Met

August 27, 2010

 Educator Guides to the Operas Plan an opera study unit for your students based on one of the operas in the 2010-11 Metropolitan Opera season, climaxing with a Night at the Opera in a local movie theater or at your school. The Met Live in HD series offers free opera-specific educational guides you can use [...]

Read the full article →

Catch the Met’s 2010-11 Operas in Movie Theaters

August 26, 2010

The fifth season of the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series is coming to a movie theater near you! Enjoy front row seats at these live opening night productions. It is so easy to feel more engaged with opera on a large screen, where you can see everything “up close and personal.”  Feel the pre-performance [...]

Read the full article →

World Cup Music: Shostakovich’s Soccer Match

July 11, 2010

Don’t underestimate the power of either sports or music when it comes to exciting a crowd. Even as a tormented composer writing under the harsh restrictions and demands of Communism, in his 1929 ballet  The Golden Age big-time soccer fan and sometime soccer referee Shostakovich recreated a soccer match. In this ballet, a communist soccer team [...]

Read the full article →

Copyright Laws vs. Teens: The Battle Rages

July 2, 2010

When famed Broadway songwriter Jason Bert Brown discovered his songs were being “traded” freely online by those who had never purchased a legal copy, he thoughtfully requested that the traders stop the illegal trading. Read this fascinating exchange with a recalcitrant yet extremely bright and articulate teenager. Eleanor’s teenage sense of entitlement is absolutely breathtaking. [...]

Read the full article →

The Met Brings Opera into the Classroom

June 15, 2010

Bring full-scale Metropolitan Opera productions into your classroom! The free Live in HD school program from the Met is now available in some school districts around the country, and online educational guides put the icing on the cake.  Teaching guides for each Metropolitan opera production include classroom activities, musical highlights, story synopses, accompanying audio clips, [...]

Read the full article →

The Fine Art of Listening: for Musicians & Audiences

June 11, 2010

Listening skills should be stock in trade for musicians, but experienced musicians face the same challenges of concentration and active listening that audiences do.  Timothy Walker’s keynote speech at Great Britain’s ISM (Incorporated Society of Musicians) hopefully didn’t fall on tin ears. Walker, Chief Executive of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, realistically addresses the difficulties musicians [...]

Read the full article →

Boomwhackers on Steroids: Plastik Musik

June 1, 2010

If you thought boomwhackers were just for kids, think again. Better still, listen to the percussion group Plastik Musik in their astounding Boomwhacker performance: The first time I met Craig Ramsell, creator of the Boomwhackers, was  in Phoenix, Arizona, about 15 years ago at a music education conference.  At the time, I knew his newly [...]

Read the full article →

See Live European Operas in Local Movie Theaters

April 18, 2010

Enjoy front row seats at the latest operatic productions from Milan’s La Scala and Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, as well as from other European venues, all in the comfort of your local movie theater.  Join opening night audiences throughout the world to experience these outstanding operas in digital HD.  Oh brave new world that [...]

Read the full article →

Kids Interactive Music Link: Xploring Xtremes

April 18, 2010

ArtsEdge, Kennedy Center’s interactive website for music and arts education, is a free online resource  every teacher, librarian, parent, and caregiver should know about, but probably doesn’t.  One of my favorite features was Xploring Xtremes. Kids can explore and analyze musical extremes in dynamics, tempo, and other elements of music, through a variety of listening, [...]

Read the full article →

B.B. King Sings the One Shoe Blues

November 14, 2009
One Shoe Blues

Sandra Boyton’s humorous book & DVD starring B.B. King & the Singing Sock Puppets is a great intro to the blues. And who doesn’t get the blues when you lose your shoes! A great sing-along with the King of the Blues.

Read the full article →

Where The Wild Things Are: At The Opera!

October 27, 2009
Where the Wild Things Are Opera

“Where the Wild Things Are” & “Higglety Pigglety Pop!” offer a kid-friendly intro to opera. “Let the wild rumpus start” in these fantasy operas by composer Oliver Knussen & author/artist Maurice Sendak.

Read the full article →

Piano Stairway in the Subway: Tuneful Commuters Prefer Stairs to Escalator

October 22, 2009
Piano stairs

A keyboard stairway in the Stockholm subway offers commuters a tuneful and healthier alternative to the escalator.

Read the full article →

Mosquito Love Duet: Music Conquers All

October 9, 2009
Mosquito love

Mosquito duet leads to love. . .and the perfect fifth. Get the buzz about the musical talents of the pesky mosquito during courtship.

Read the full article →

Wise Words on Jazz by Wynton Marsalis

October 9, 2009
Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis says jazz requires 3 things: creativity, communication, and community. His teaching resources for kids illustrate his philosophy of jazz and classical music too.

Read the full article →

The Fine Art of Practicing Backwards

July 7, 2009
Thumbnail image for The Fine Art of Practicing Backwards

Find out how easy it is to learn music when you start at the end rather than the beginning.

Read the full article →

Open Pandora’s Box: Create your own Radio Station

June 21, 2009
Thumbnail image for Open Pandora’s Box: Create your own Radio Station

Pandora.com streams your favorite music, based on the musicians and composers you like intermingled with music of similar ”genetics.”

Read the full article →

Opera Glossary of Terms

June 5, 2009
Operapedia

Enjoy this handy opera glossary of terms from the San Diego Opera.

Read the full article →

TEACHING TIP #2: Active Listening

May 18, 2009
Listen!

Kids live in a noisy world. If you want them to become active listeners, first give them the gift of silence.

Read the full article →

TEACHING TIP #1: The Shy Singer

May 17, 2009
Shy singer

Having trouble getting your shy, insecure students to sing? Here’s some fun and foolproof tips to try.

Read the full article →

The Search for Music (and jobs) in a Downturned Economy

March 28, 2009
Downturned Economy

Music creates bonds that cannot be broken, even in bad economic times. Why musicians and music always weather the storms, plus a job site link for music teachers.

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries