Happy New Year! What a year it’s been 😊 Personally, this year was full of adventures: some amazing travels, moved across the country, and started a PhD program at Arizona State University! At times, the blog had to take a backseat, but it’s been fun to publish new posts and revise the old favorites when…
This will be a short and sweet suggestion to try in the next few weeks, or later this school year. I hope you’ll give it a try! For many people, it’s almost concert time. As we’re preparing for the big performance, we analyze the music, listen to recordings, and make those final musical decisions to…
We’ve hit the time of year where many of us have settled into routines and (probably) feel pretty comfortable with what we’re doing. This is often when we ask, how can I make rehearsal more interesting? How can I ensure the students are engaged? How can I mix things up? While there is comfort in…
By 2022, most adults have probably watched a how-to video at some point in their lives. Maybe it involved cooking techniques, home repair, or even craft projects. It’s also very likely that students have watched this type of video as well. In fact, there were many days when students would come to class, proud to…
This was post was originally published in July 2021, but has been updated now in September 2022. As the new school year is about to start, remember how important it is to include students in the creative process. Even though my project was completed during hybrid learning, the concepts can definitely transfer now that we’re…
For many music teachers, the creativity standards are the most elusive and sometimes challenging to incorporate. When the National Core Arts Standards were released in 2014, there was a noticeable change in the format and language included in the standards. What were nine simple statements turned into a multi-page document with numerous subsections. The difference…
August 2022: This blog post has gotten a much-needed update! Whether you are about to start the school year or a few weeks in, hopefully it will provide you with simple ways to empower your music students. It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that you can only empower music students later in…
As musicians, we’ve all been there. It’s the week before a performance and we wonder, am I really ready for this? Ready to get in front of an audience? Do I know the music well enough? Did I prepare everything thoroughly? We add a whole other layer to this when we ask the same questions…
I’ve heard many people lamenting recently about students musicians who are weak players, behind, or not performing up to expectations. I’m sure this is true in the eyes of the educator, but there are several things we must put into perspective. The last two years have been something else. No one teaching has ever experienced…
Have you ever thought about how many decisions you make in a day teaching music? How many plans do you make and options do you choose from regularly? One study found that teachers, on average, make 1,500 decisions every day. That works out to four decisions every minute! It’s no surprise educators are exhausted. (Check…