Steady Beat Activities

This is a short list with four ideas for steady beat activities. Click on my link - and then in her blog there are four additional links.

It's always a good idea to have a different steady beat activities in your tool box.  I use these activities as class warm-ups, change of pace activities, or to fill time if we finish a lesson early! I also think they can be fun to use even with the older kids, like high schoolers! If you have a good time, they will too.

Steady Beat Activities

Calendars and Music Teacher's Helper

Whether you run a private studio, or are looking for a different way to manage your lessons and music schedule, here is a blog post about music teacher's helper and some of the resources it provides - particularly calendars for private teachers.

In either case, took a look! Calendar

93% of STEM Graduates from MSU Reported Musical Training

This is a 10-minute interview you listen to discussing a study completed on Michigan State University Honor Graduates that majored in STEM subjects - science, technology, engineering, and math - and how they were involved with the arts over their lifetime.

93% of STEM graduates from MSU reported musical training.

The study supports the notion that there IS in fact a link between arts education and entrepreneurship.  It also supports STEM AND ARTS education together.  The field of arts education can always use more support. 

Check out the interview here.

Quick Tips for Teaching Jazz and Blues

"They think that children who are eager to focus on it, need to learn sophisticated bass lines and intentional dissonances under the watchful eye of an expert and it isn’t considered to be something that an untutored teacher can offer."

The above quote from the article describes exactly how I personally feel: I have little to no experience with jazz and blues except singing a few vocal pieces and listening to recordings.  I am intimidated to even to try to teach it because I don't want to teach it incorrectly.  I would be learning as I went.

This article reminds us that we CAN introduce jazz and blues, even in just basic form, and reminds teachers like me to not be intimidated.  

Check out this link for some quick tips!

iPad Vocal Warm-Ups

Here's another post by the same author, Dr. Christopher Russell, but I just stumbled across his blog and am really enjoying it!

In this one he's created choral warm-ups that can be displayed on an iPad, or any other presentation software i.e. SMARTboard, Promethean.

iPad Choral Warm-ups

Technology in a Chorus Classroom

I found this post from a choral director discussing how he's using all sorts of modern music technology in his chorus classroom for rehearsals, recordings, notation, score editing, etc. etc. etc.  Some of the new things he talks about are way over my head, but he also refers to things like Soundcloud and MusicXML - both of which I'm learning right now.  

Check out this quick read about how he's connecting all the technology dots in his middle school chorus class. 

Forgetting and Remembering

As educators (and someone who is frequently forgetful), I think it's important to read articles such as the one I'm going to share with you reminding and/or informing us how our students process, remember, and retain information.  This short blog post gives a quick step by step on the process of forgetting and remembering so that we can make sure we are teaching most effectively so our students are actually REMEMBERING what they learn.  

Learning to Learn