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Music Teachers Chatboard

Cavatina — my new smart font for musical notation

by Alexis Luengas

Sep 18, 2014

Hi teachers!

I recently released Cavatina: a smart font for fast musical notation. It’s not a font to install on MuseScore, Sibelius or other scorewriters; it’s a font that works "as a standalone" in simple text editors like TextEdit. Combining text and music notation is just a matter of changing the font. It is great for teaching musi...See More

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Holiday Concerts

by Thanks Everyone!

Sep 15, 2014

Hi Everyone!

What are you doing for your holiday concerts this year?? I need some inspiration as I am getting married in Dec and my mind is anywhere but where it should be at the moment! (Meaning focusing on putting together my concerts for the year!) I'm hoping that through some of your ideas an idea of my own will spark!

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Teachers.Net Gazette On 9/15/14, Thanks Everyone! wrote: > Hi Everyone! > > What are you doing for your holiday concerts this year?? > I need some inspiration as I am getting married in Dec > and my mind is anywhere but where it should be at the > moment! (Meaning focusing on putting together my concerts > for the year!) I'm hoping that through som...See More

Sep 15, 2014

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Family Discounts

by Jeannine

Sep 4, 2014

I have been asked to give a discount on piano lessons for two children in one family. This is the first time I have been asked for this and up until now had not heard about discounts for lessons. My sisters and I took individual lessons and my parents were never given a discount. I feel that my time is valuable and I work very hard with each studen...See More

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Garland/GA When all three of us were taking lessons (many years ago!), the "discount" was that she'd give the lessons at your house instead of hers. I have not given discounts for siblings in the 10 years I've taught, I would only give a discount for 3+ family members and only if someone asked.

On 9/04/14, Jeannine wrote: > Thank you Mrs. H and f...See MoreWhen all three of us were taking lessons (many years ago!), the "discount" was that she'd give the lessons at your house instead of hers. I have not given discounts for siblings in the 10 years I've taught, I would only give a discount for 3+ family members and only if someone asked.

On 9/04/14, Jeannine wrote: > Thank you Mrs. H and fwiw- highly opposed for your > responses, both of which have been extremely helpful to > me! I am new to this Forum so I am delighted to have > received replies to my question so quickly! Mrs. H, thank > you for telling me to stick to my policy! Thank you fwiw- > highly opposed for making the observation that "what it > really means is charging people with only one child more > than the others"; this is an excellent point! Your responses > have helped me to come to the decision to stay with my > current policy not to give family discounts. Thank you > again! > > I will check back to see if anyone else has posted a > comment on this question of mine. > > > On 9/04/14, Jeannine wrote: >> I have been asked to give a discount on piano lessons > for >> two children in one family. This is the first time I have >> been asked for this and up until now had not heard about >> discounts for lessons. My sisters and I took individual >> lessons and my parents were never given a discount. I >> feel that my time is valuable and I work very hard with >> each student. I give my students the opportunity to >> participate in the OFMC Junior Festival each year - I >> spend a lot of time outside the lesson and my own > money >> in preparation for this event. My students participating in >> the OFMC Junior Festival receive top honors year after >> year. I also have a student recital every year. I have >> been teaching for 32 years and this is my main means of >> support. I attended a music conservatory for four years >> as a Piano Performance Major however I was forced to >> postpone completion of my degree because of >> unforeseen circumstances. I teach in my home studio in >> an upper middle class suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. My >> rates are within the average range of $20.00 to $27.00 >> per half hour. My own teacher and mentor recently >> passed away but he had previously advised against >> family discounts. I would like to know other opinions and >> perspectives on this subject.

Sep 6, 2014

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aymes I know you don't want to give a discount...I wouldn't either...maybe the family figures they don't know if you would if they didn't ask. Just say that it is your policy to charge per student.

On 9/04/14, Jeannine wrote: > I have been asked to give a discount on piano lessons for > two children in one family. This is the first time I ...See More

Sep 10, 2014

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Ice breaker ideas for teacher workshop

by Veuzent

Sep 9, 2014

I will be presenting a workshop for classroom teachers. My topic is teaching how to use music to teach math, The Rhythm of Mathematics. Some of the teachers will not know anything about music and some will have some sort of music background either through a music fundametals class or their own personal experience studying music. I would like an ice...See More

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Aymes I use the "Fast Food Canon".

Whole note: fries Half note: milk shake quarter note: quarter pounder Eighth notes: hold the pickle, hold the lettuce.

Each food is held for the appropriate rhythm. I count the fries as "Fries, 2, 3, 4" and clap hands once and hold them open for 2, 3 and 4.

milk shake: clap 2 times for 2 beat...See More

Sep 10, 2014

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do you get left out?

by anon

Sep 9, 2014

Hi there. Hope your school year is off to a good start.

Just wondering if you as specialists get treated/respected as well as the classroom teachers? Case in point, an all school email was sent to offer money for classrooms from the PTA group to supply games for each classroom for indoor recess...they could request anything and as much as ...See More

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Veuzent I was never left out at my school, either. PTA always solicited and tried to fund my requests and anything classroom teacher received, first aid boxes, kleenex, etc., I also received. Do you have the children of any of the PTA board members in your classes? If so, I would start by asking the parent to stop by your room so you can explain what you a...See More

Sep 9, 2014

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c Yep, this exactly happened to me, so I joined PTA. Now I am on the PTA board, and I help make the decisions as to who gets what.

In my case, the teachers were lined up at a staff meeting, and the PTA president passed each of them $100 to spend on whatever. This included the counselor, the librarian and the reading teachers. However, the a...See More

Sep 10, 2014

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by Mlinzmeier

Sep 9, 2014

Hi Everyone, I was hoping you could help me with something that I've been struggling with. I have been told by several teachers that as far as an elementary school performance (as long as we are not selling videos/tickets) I can use pretty much any song that I want. But in planning my Holiday Program I've feel I'm wanting more input. I'm hoping to ...See More

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Veuzent It is my understanding that anything that will only be used or seen "in house" can be used providing you do not charge admission. If a parent video tapes a significant portion of a song and posts it on YouTube, you could then have copyright issues.

Sep 9, 2014

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Mlinzmeier Thanks for the info Veuzent!

On 9/09/14, Veuzent wrote: > It is my understanding that anything that will only be used or > seen "in house" can be used providing you do not charge > admission. If a parent video tapes a significant portion of a > song and posts it on YouTube, you could then have copyright > issues.

Sep 10, 2014

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Kodaly woes...

by 3rd year

Aug 25, 2014

Hello all! Welcome back, if your school year is starting!

This post is basically just a lament, unless you have some resources you can share...

I currently teach Gameplan. I don't love it, but the kids seem to enjoy it ok.

I'd rather be a Kodaly teacher, but I left Level I training thoroughly confused about how to create...See MoreHello all! Welcome back, if your school year is starting!

This post is basically just a lament, unless you have some resources you can share...

I currently teach Gameplan. I don't love it, but the kids seem to enjoy it ok.

I'd rather be a Kodaly teacher, but I left Level I training thoroughly confused about how to create a curriculum. So I bought American Methodology, Kodaly Today, Conversational Solfege, Sound Thinking, and one of the Katinka Daniels books.

All they gave me was a lot of confusion.

There's not one Kodaly resource, that I know of, that shows you how to create interesting daily lesson plans. There are a LOT of broad overviews, but nothing like Gameplan (or any of the big box programs) that tell you what to do and when.

The Yearly Plans for the American Methodology even states at the beginning that, for novices, the Kodaly approach is confusing, frustrating, and discouraging. YES! I agree! (I even found American Methodology and the Yearly Plans frustrating, confusing, and discouraging!)

I can recall the day in Level I where our teacher taught a kindergarten class with us as the students. We were all blown away with her great activities and seamless transitions. But then the question that was never addressed or answered was "how to we, as students, create 35 more of those great lessons for the rest of the kindergarten school year?" And that would only be K lessons! I'd still need 1-5!

So...I'm just venting. I wish there was a Kodaly curriculum out there like Gameplan, that had exactly what to do for each lesson.

I know that Kodaly advocates would say that everyone should do it a little differently for their particular students...but I don't know how valid that argument is. Sound Thinking, Kodaly Today, and American Methodology pretty much use all the same folk songs. The elementary music blogs that I read pretty much use all the same folk songs. So I do agree that teachers could find a few world music folk gems to infuse into their particular curriculum, but for the most part I think most Kodaly teachers are using the same folk repertoire.

I guess I'll stick with Gameplan.

Ugh.

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Miss Friday These look really good!!

I only have a couple thoughts:

For the game/dance sequence, since you like what Gameplan does, use it! (Good teachers borrow, great teachers steal!)

The recorder breakdown seems ambitious to me, but you know your students best. As long as you are confident your fourth grade can master all those no...See MoreThese look really good!!

I only have a couple thoughts:

For the game/dance sequence, since you like what Gameplan does, use it! (Good teachers borrow, great teachers steal!)

The recorder breakdown seems ambitious to me, but you know your students best. As long as you are confident your fourth grade can master all those notes, go with it.

The rhythm teaching sequence is a key element of Kodaly, so I know where you're going there. (More on Kodaly-ness below.)

With regards to listening and a sequence for that, maybe you can tie it into the instrument goal? For the early grades (K-2), the weekly listening can focus on instrument families. Then the older ones (3-5) can focus on different genres and/or composers. Just a thought. Anyway, it's okay that this goal is not set. It'll come into focus with time.

Up to this point there hasn't really been anything that is specific to Kodaly. Kodaly's pedagogy, in my understanding, is about sequencing the instruction and the repertoire used to teach it. Now is the time to pull your Kodaly books off the shelf and check how you've sequenced your goals (scanning the table of contents will probably be enough).

If you need to add standards to keep admins happy, this is also a good point to do that.

It's really late for me, so I'll get my thoughts organized and post tomorrow about the next steps, which I think is the best part of the whole process!

On 9/08/14, 3rd year wrote: > Ok...I think I covered all that we have been discussing. Let me > know how these are. Thanks! > > I can sing in 2 part harmony. > K: echo songs, 1: call and response, 2: ostinati, 3: rounds, 4: > partner songs, 5: 2-part harmony > > I can sing the solfege and perform hand signs for 5 of our folk > songs. > > 1: So Mi La, 2: Re Do, 3: low So and La, 4: Fa, 5: Ti > > I can read the treble clef staff note names. > > Teach in 3rd, review in 4 and 5 with songs, activities, and > recorder work > > I can perform games and dances from various cultures. > > I don’t have a sequence for this yet. I would probably stick to > how Gameplan works through the Dance Masters material. > > I can conduct in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 6/8. > > 3: 2/4, 6/8 4: 3/4 5: 4/4 > > I can identify the instruments of the orchestra by sight and sound. > > K-2: classroom instruments 3: string family, percussion family > 4: recorder family, woodwind family, brass family > > I can sing and play barred instruments (chord and broken borduns) > and percussion instruments, performing both rhythmic and melodic > ostinati. > > K-2: all classroom handheld percussion instruments, 2-3: chord > borduns, 4-5: broken borduns > > I can improvise a blues chorus. > > K-1: 4 beat echoing, 2: 4 beat improv, 3: improv 2 bar phrases, > 4: improv 4 bar Q&A, 5: improv blues chorus > > I can play the soprano recorder from low C to high D. > > 4 BAGEDC(1) 5 CFF#D(1) > > I can read grade-level rhythms in duple and triple meter. > > I don’t have a program where I can insert notes into Word. I’m > sticking with the Gameplan introduction of rhythm elements, which > I think is pretty much the same as Kodaly. > (1: Ta, Ta-Ti, Quarter Rest, 2: Ta-ah, broken eighths...etc.) > > I can listen to music critically. > I would eventually like to have a sequence for this. Right now, > only 4th and 5th grade do a listening activity each week. I’d > like to slowly work my listening component all the way back to K > and have listenings for K-5.

Sep 8, 2014

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Miss Friday Okay, you've got a scope and sequence. Now for the fun/hard/interesting part: You need some repertoire. Specifically, the songs you'll use to teach your goals. Here is another place where a spreadsheet is really helpful for organization.

I've been thinking about how to write this all day because for me, selecting repertoire is not a linear...See MoreOkay, you've got a scope and sequence. Now for the fun/hard/interesting part: You need some repertoire. Specifically, the songs you'll use to teach your goals. Here is another place where a spreadsheet is really helpful for organization.

I've been thinking about how to write this all day because for me, selecting repertoire is not a linear process. So, in no particular order, are some thoughts about selecting repertoire.

Are there any specific songs you want your students to know? For example, I think it's important for my students to leave my program at the end of 5th grade knowing "America the Beautiful" and the "Star Spangled Banner." These are automatic entries on you list. It is useful to decide which grades you'll teach these songs. I do "America the Beautiful" in 3rd and the Banner in 5th.

Are there songs that you or the students particularly like? If they are high-quality, add them to the list along with grade they'll be used for.

The best curricula I've come across are tightly constructed. This means that a lot of the songs are used in multiple ways across multiple grades. Now I'm *not* recommending your whole repertoire consist of these songs. You'll bore everyone in the room. But having some of them will give you continuity, opportunities to review skills/knowledge from earlier grades, and gives the students a self-confidence boost. This is something I'm constantly thinking about.

So when I'm search for repertoire, I look specifically for these type of songs. Take for example, "Hot Cross Buns." I'll teach the kids to sing this by rote in 1st maybe with some beat motion and simple bordun playing. The song makes another appearance in 2nd grade with a hand clap game and in rhythm notation. It shows up again in 3rd with full notation as a recorder song.

Where to start? When I was working on my latest curriculum project this summer, I started by selecting the songs to use for teaching the harmony singing goals. After figuring those out (along with any multiple uses for them), I worked on songs for literacy goals. Naturally, these crossover to recorder playing quite nicely. Then I filled in songs for movement goals. Lastly I worked on listening selections.

Now I know I haven't been terribly clear. It's a hard process to describe. Please feel free to pepper me with questions as needed.

> > On 9/08/14, 3rd year wrote: >> Ok...I think I covered all that we have been discussing. >> Let me know how these are. Thanks! >> >> I can sing in 2 part harmony. K: echo songs, 1: call and >> response, 2: ostinati, 3: rounds, 4: partner songs, 5: >> 2-part harmony >> >> I can sing the solfege and perform hand signs for 5 of >> our folk songs. >> >> 1: So Mi La, 2: Re Do, 3: low So and La, 4: Fa, 5: Ti >> >> I can read the treble clef staff note names. >> >> Teach in 3rd, review in 4 and 5 with songs, activities, >> and recorder work >> >> I can perform games and dances from various cultures. >> >> I don’t have a sequence for this yet. I would probably >> stick to how Gameplan works through the Dance Masters >> material. >> >> I can conduct in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 6/8. >> >> 3: 2/4, 6/8 4: 3/4 5: 4/4 >> >> I can identify the instruments of the orchestra by sight >> and sound. >> >> K-2: classroom instruments 3: string family, percussion >> family 4: recorder family, woodwind family, brass family >> >> I can sing and play barred instruments (chord and broken >> borduns) and percussion instruments, performing both >> rhythmic and melodic ostinati. >> >> K-2: all classroom handheld percussion instruments, 2-3: >> chord borduns, 4-5: broken borduns >> >> I can improvise a blues chorus. >> >> K-1: 4 beat echoing, 2: 4 beat improv, 3: improv 2 bar >> phrases, 4: improv 4 bar Q&A, 5: improv blues chorus >> >> I can play the soprano recorder from low C to high D. >> >> 4 BAGEDC(1) 5 CFF#D(1) >> >> I can read grade-level rhythms in duple and triple meter. >> >> I don’t have a program where I can insert notes into >> Word. I’m sticking with the Gameplan introduction of >> rhythm elements, which I think is pretty much the same as >> Kodaly. (1: Ta, Ta-Ti, Quarter Rest, 2: Ta-ah, broken >> eighths...etc.) >> >> I can listen to music critically. I would eventually like >> to have a sequence for this. Right now, only 4th and 5th >> grade do a listening activity each week. I’d like to >> slowly work my listening component all the way back to K >> and have listenings for K-5.

Sep 9, 2014

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Star Spangled Banner

by Jen

Sep 4, 2014

Sept. 14 is the 200th anniv. of the Star Spangled Banner. The Smithsonian has some interesting things on their site...anyone have any ideas for lessons that would cross all the elem. grades?

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lis Activate magazine has a whole section on the 200th anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner in the August issue. Lots of ideas.

On 9/05/14, Garland/GA wrote: > All grades but K and 1 get background on the story. 1st and > up hear the lyrics, talk about places where they would hear > the song, and the proper way to act during. Then...See More

Sep 5, 2014

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Jen Thanks for all the great suggestions!

Sep 7, 2014

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Christmas/winter concert ideas

by Val Strande

Sep 4, 2014

always looking for good ideas for the next concert. I will be doing 3rd, 4th and 5th graders for the Winter concert. What is your favorite one that you have ever worked with?

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what do you do?

by anon

Aug 26, 2014

hi,

I have to teach one 3rd grade class in a different building...This is in addition to all of my k-5 classes in my building.

I have to have this class in the lunch room. I will not have access to books, cd's, instruments or anything.

Do you have any suggestions as to what I could teach without all of these very necessa...See More

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fwiw Yes, it's a bit of a hassle to drag things along.

You can bring a small boom box, the CD's you need.

Unless the teacher is teaching the same grade at the same time, you can set up a system to have 4 or 5 kids go pick up the books from the music room on the way to class, and return them as class is over.

Instruments - - a ...See More

Aug 26, 2014

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Vivian lan ahead so you and the other teacher will know in advance what materials are needed by each of you. That way you won't discover at the last minute you both need the same material/s. Also, if time permits, you could go into the music room and put your materials aside so it's a snap to pick them up.

Aug 27, 2014

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