Travis J. Weller

A busy week – in the stretch of a busy month of thinking…

On Tuesday, I will be taking students to audition for our District Honor Band at Westminster College.  It is always an anxiety filled time for them, and easy to lose site of the fact auditions are the test of our growth, not our worth (see I believe for more examples).

On Wednesday evening and all day Thursday I am guest conducting in Beaver Falls, Pa. I was absolutely floored that Len would ask me.  I have a lot of respect for Len as a director and person, and the fact he would consider me for the JH portion of the festival is an honor.  The program includes Julie Giroux’s Wagon Trail, Suspended Animation by Patrick J. Burns, Friends of Freedom by Timothy Loest, Basin Street Blues arranged by Paul Jennings, and the group will give the world debut of A West Highland Fanfare (coming in July of 2011).

On top of that I am still knee deep in research from my own students about their chamber music experience (Yes we stuck the landing, now we have to measure how far we lept…), thickening up a review of literature that may lead to my disseration topic at Kent, finishing a piece for another Honor Band in February (where I get to work with Mike Grady), and starting a commission for a pair of friends and colleagues who have an outstanding band program near Pittsburgh.

I will be back on soon hopefully with some profound thoughts and perspective that help save music…one note at a time.

Just in time for your labor day fun – the September edition of the Music Education Blog Carnival is here!

It is very exciting to host, but it is even more exciting having nearly 100 submissions! There are so many of us now in this stream of communication and media that are making a difference by our professional development, reading, enacting new teaching strategies, and reflecting upon our craft as educators.  What a tremendous resource this movement has turned out to be, and how great to share it with you.  Many hard decisions were made, but we have a great line-up of articles and posts you need to check out!

Music Advocacy

Lindsay Morelli presents The Power and Purpose of an Ensemble posted at Lindsay Morelli.  What is an ensemble? Lindsay’s question unfolds into a great post with great perspective for all of us in music education to consider.

Music Education

The Grand-daddy Blogger of them All Dr. Joseph Pisano presents A Sample Curriculum For High School Instrumental Ensembles posted at MusTech.Net, saying “This curriculum example is a suggestion for Instrumental Concert Band Directors to study for use with their own programs. Many times “we”, as ensemble directors, really don’t think about the curricular needs of/for our ensembles nor give long-term thought to the integration of music literature that may fill a particular goal in our music programs.   This curriculum suggestion is just one way to think about these things and how what you are doing as a band director integrates into the bigger educational picture.”

Brenda D Muench presents BoomWhacker Mysteries in First Grade: Part One posted at Tech Tempo.  This lesson is a ton of fun for elementary teachers who use Boomwhackers – I will freely admit I tried it at home with the set in our basement!

Wendy Stevens presents To Give or Not Give Makeup Lessons posted atComposeCreate.com, saying, “Since many music educators also teach private lessons, this article gives them a list of options for making the most of their valuable time. Many independent music teachers will also find this information helpful.”

Great to see Andrew Ritenour (and fellow Tuba brother) getting involved as a future music educator!  Andrew presents The Educational Beauty of Twitter posted at Future Music Educators.

Janice Tuck presents Music Primary Singing Resources posted at The Music Teachers Blog.  I am continually impressed with the great teaching being shared by many elementary music educators, and Janice’s post identifies some great assets useful in the classroom music setting.

Matt Fonda presents Bass Drum Basics posted at DRUMMING WITH FONDA.  Keeping students aware of the physical demands of being on a drum line is essential, and Matt’s article (very appropriate for students to understand) outlines some things they can do to keep themselves physically ready.

Thomas J. West presents Creating Community in Secondary Performing Ensemblesposted at Thomas J. West Music, saying, “Here are some suggestions for getting choral and orchestra programs to experience the same kind of personal investment in a group musical activity that bands typically experience due to the marching band activity.”

Brian Wis presents I’m too busy to go to the doctor, and other teacher avoidance-techniques posted at Teaching Music in the 21st Century, saying, “A call to high school music teachers to join the PLN movement.”

Natalie Wickham presents Custom Design Your Own Flashcards with these Free Files!posted at Music Matters Blog, saying, “Use these beautiful free flash card designs by Natalie Wickham to create your own custom flashcards! Now you’ll never be stuck at the last minute wishing you had a particular set of flash cards – you can just make your own!”

Charla Pearen presents Old Macdonald – Letter Recognition posted at High Park Home Daycare.  A great exploration of music with infants and toddlers.

Kevin Keena presents 60 Picnicers, 13 years, 2 schools, and 1 Facebook Page posted at Heritage Bands Podcast.  A touching and refreshing look at how social media reconnected a group of students with an educator who made a big difference in their lives.

The experiment is on for me personally at school this year – you can check out the details in my post Big Leap into a Small Room posted at Travis J. Weller.

Carrie Oakley presents Novice to Slash: 100 Free Resources for Teaching Yourself Guitar posted at Online Colleges, saying, “Whether you’re picking up a guitar for the first time or revisiting a teenage hobby, these links provide free resources for teaching yourself how to play the guitar, as well as improving your technique and learning to read music.”

Samuel Wright presents Graphic Scoring with Yothu Yindi posted at Wright-Stuff Music, saying, “An Australian Aboriginal unit of work involving listening worksheets, music analyses and a final assessment where students get to create an animated graphic score of a contemporary Aboriginal work in Keynote 09.”

Ken Pendergrass presents It’s about the work, not you personally posted at Music Is Not for Insects, saying, “helpful advice for those of us who want to be “liked” by our students…”.  Ken’s blog is great, and he offers some helpful advice to communicate with students while maintaining a sense of fairness.

Music Pedagogy

David Ahrens presents Ever-Improving Chops on Secondary Instruments posted at Sound Education.  While I am new to David’s writing and work, this is a great post for all instrumental teacher to consider so that we can be effective musical role models for our students.

Music Technology

Jim Frankel presents The Other 80%: An Industry Perspective posted at Music Technology in Edcation. Jim tackles a larger issue that many ensemble educators/directors face in maintaining their relevance with the other students not in performing groups.

Nemanja presents Dont Compromise Choose Used DJ Equipment posted at Cheap DJ Equipment, saying, “The problem is universal, DJ equipment is expensive. When buying DJ equipment squeezing the most out of your budget is essential.”

Music Tips

Sam Lyons presents Piano Practice Tips For Beginners posted at Learn The Keyboard Online, saying, “If you are new to the piano and you’ve probably experienced boredom. Sometimes that happens when you continue doing the same thing over and over again. Things become a little repetitious…”

Ashley Davids presents Guitar Warm Up Stretches posted at Metal Guitar Lesson, saying, “Highlighting the importance of warming up prior to practicing guitar.”

Sam Lyons presents Keyboard Practice Blues! posted at Learn The Keyboard Online, saying, “Keyboard Practice Blues! We all get them from time to time. Just keep practicing the piano a little everyday. You will succeed in learning the piano.”

Jenny Boster presents The Importance of Beginning Technique posted at The Teaching Studio, saying, The Teaching Studio is a relatively new blog all about teaching piano lessons. This article focuses on the topic of teaching beginning piano technique.

Other

Naomi Seldin presents 10 Rock Stars Who Went to an Ivy League School posted at Online Colleges and Universities Education Database. An interesting article to demonstrate to students about notable stars that have challenged themselves in the academic field.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of music education blog carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

This week I began researching interpretation and feeling as part of my work at Kent State.  At first glance, they seemed unrelated. However, the more I began reading perspectives of different composers and conductors, my conclusion is that great interpretation does not just recreate the composer’s intent but rather conveys feelings that the composer intended. The sources abounded including Mark Camphouse’s series Composers on Composing for Band, and a great text edited by John Williamson Rehearsing the Band – both of which I recommend for great insight into score study, interpretation, and enhancing your podium perspective. Read more…

Ironically enough my readings this past week at Kent State, a Facebook discussion thread, and  Valentine’s Day collided at spawned this post. Pushing students to achieve levels of tonal and rhythmic accuracy is important – it is all part of getting them to a point where they have the technical proficiency they need to execute the big fundamental structure of a piece of music.  Tone quality and intonation awareness are two other dimensions that if mastered, start to create degrees of separation in the quality of the ensembles we hear.  When we can educate the individual musician (the musician inside their head) they can use the instrument as a vehicle of communication to as they display phrasing, dynamic contrast, and stylistic interpretation.  These are all worthwhile and important goals of instrumental music education – but if a trophy on the wall is more important than guiding students towards a meaningful life-long relationship with music…

Read more…

It was awesome getting a call from Corky Whitacre the other day – the Naples Concert Band will be performing American Visions on their November concert.  I also received notice that Irish Jig For Young Feet will be performed at the Midwest Clinic this December.  The performace at Midwest will be given by the VanderCook College of Music Symphonic Band.  My thanks to both Dr. Charles T. Menghini and Harris Lanzel for programming this music!