The following is one of the founding beliefs in my philosophy of music education. I have recently been mulling over the task that lies ahead of all music education in the responsibility to be a shaping force in our own culture. There are a number of performing arts groups situated in communities that contribute to the culture that are faced with tough times ahead as our country suffers through an economic recession. The ripple on the pond spreads quickly and the effects are felt in the distance. We are faced with a situation where funding from the community for these groups have dried up, and to some extent impacts the ability of educators to have the proper resources as well. Ultimately, our ability to function as a collective partnership in the profession to improve, shape, and positively influence the culture is negated by the volatile economy. Do we have a professional responsibility to build, shape, mold, and improve the culture in which we teach? I firmly believe that we do. If we are to continue our move forward as a profession, it behooves us to take this mantle of responsibility where we are and begin to rebuild the cultural connection in our own community. Reimer readers rejoice – the good Doctor’s third edition was a heavy influence throughout this article.
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Welcome to the 5th edition of the Music Education Blog Carnival! It is an honor to host the carnival this month and bring to you a number of compelling articles and thoughts. Now entrenched in midst of our school year, busy doesn’t even begint to describe our days. The best thing that all these articles do is give us a moment to reflect on the current status of music education and they are being written by sincere educators who have a great view for our profession. This is another awesome step in the ME campaign. If you haven’t joined the ME campaign yet, now is definitely the time. My thanks goes to both Dr. Pisano and Joel for providing this great resource to all of us! Through all of our efforts we have opened important dialogue in our profession. We do not always have the time to sit down and discuss with our colleagues face to face. But this whole campaign has provided a way for us to open the conversation to a whole new level, and give us fresh food for thought.
The post by One Family’s Blog is comparative review of Yamah Digital Pianos that attempts to guide families come to the right purchase decision. Dan D. Smith reviews Griff Hamlin’s latest package, Playing Through The Blues - A Guide For TheLead Guitar Player. His review can be found at The Best Guitar Courses on the Internet . It is a pleasure to have Cary Stewart join us with two great submissions. Check out some practical rehearsal advice in Criteria for Superior Rehearsal Wasting and some more pedagogical thoughts in It’s the only connection they have.
Mr. ReBand travels down a road unfortunately not less taken for many of us. His own experiences in a typical situation are presented in The Vice-Principal Talk . Rachel Rambach is doing some interesting things on her site with educational music for children. The author presents Faster is Better , a first hand account of a new song that she has written. Arpeggio Exercises is a post by Barry Wright. Barry offers some good tips in this concise post.
Thomas J. West has a great post that is a must for parents that are confronted with the question When you should get a private music teacher for your child? I was in class with Thomas a few years ago at Villanova. He is a wonderful composer in his own right, and it is exciting to hear him share from this perspective. Dr. Joseph M. Pisano points us in the right direction to find Free Printable Music Staff Paper and Sheets Online. I am always impressed with his ability to find the best available free information on the web and make sure people know about it! Larry Ferlazzo has an informative post that profiles The Best Online Sites for Creating Music. Larry is an English teacher in California.
Are you Teaching for Honors Choir? and more? Be sure to check out this post by Theresa White. As many of our students are moving into the festival season, her post has some really good points that encapsulate the experience. The Collaborative Piano Blog has a practical/seasonal post entitled 8 Ways to Improve Your Enjoyment of the Piano Through Playing Christmas Music. As someone who has witnessed his own oldest daughter now surpass him in piano ability, I took a special interest in this post. Finally, I would appreciate some feedback from all of you who teach middle school band as I try to turn up the heat on Middle School Band Literature in Where there’s smoke there’s fire…and hey is that my middle school band room?
Enjoy the show and the funnel cake as the Music Education Blog Carnival continues!
A friend from a distant school emailed me the other day asking my (along with several others) for some input about a scheduling/curriculum issue. I read through the email, and decided to give it some thought during my 44 minute red light of study hall duty. Later that night I returned to my email to find another colleague had responded to my friend and the other dozen or so of us he contacted…
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The Olympic Games have been nothing short of amazing displays by amazing athletes. Phelps certainly has claimed his spot at the front of the class with his amazing swims over the first 8 nights of these games. Watching others go through the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” (Thanks Jim! Rest in peace!) is as real as it gets and it has kept me thinking about lessons learned, not only from Michael Phelps, but other great athletes in these games. As we approach the start of school, it is time for music educators to get back out their “coaching hats”, and get ready our students ready for a 9 month decathlon.
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I have been way too busy. It feels like a month since my last post, and then I realized it has been a month since my last post. Arrrgh….
But now I find myself past the half way point of my summer session at Kent (a little sad about Dr. Dorfman leaving, but he will do great things at BU), and balancing my course load with a series of summer rehearsals with the marching band. My hour plus drive during the week has provoked some thoughts in me about our role as band directors and how one year never really seems to end…
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