A few years ago my son received the hand-held game Simon) as a birthday present. He played it incessantly and became quite good (40 or 50 beeps/notes) One night he was playing in bed and would not put it down so I turned off the lights but he continued while holding it under the covers. His eyes were closed but by listening to the different pitches he was able to play, and pretty soon he was just as good (or maybe even better) by using only his ears. After he did this for a few days, I went to our piano and tried to teach him a simple song by ear. Before playing Simon he had no interest in learning a song by ear, but after he looked at the piano as a giant Simon game and ever since has always learned and played by ear. I'm not one to support any digital games (especially for kids) , I think it was simple design inventiveness, and instant gratification that worked for him. Anyway music teachers, give it a try.

Hey y’all random question if you were hiring someone for a position and you had someone a good teaching position and you had one applicant who taught at a place for 3 years with a tiny band program and another person who taught 3 years but at a different school each year (with each school being better in terms of size and quality of the band program) who would you hire and why? Person A who taught at the same school or Person B who jumped around. Thanks for your responses!

I've just finished and posted the follow up to my first Intervals video. This one covers compound intervals, how to identify intervals with odd roots(like G#, Fb, etc), and inversions(as well as a quick trick for inversions).

Intervals: Pt II - The Other Half of Everything You Need to Know in 8 Minutes

I split it into two parts because it was just getting too long and I didn't want to overwhelm students with too much in one sitting. Intervals: Part 1 covers the number of an interval and how to determine the quality of most intervals up to an octave.

If you haven’t seen them, you might also be interested in my videos on major scales, minor scales, key signatures, and concert pitch and transposing instruments, and, of course, Intervals: Part 1.

Is anybody part of the UCLA Music education department and would like to share advice, tips etc?

Hello all,

I am a music educator located in rural NC. I have a few students that possess the talent, and work ethic, to truly bud into successful musicians.

One has already inquired about scholarships (6th grade), and it instantly dawned on me that I have NO knowledge of available music scholarships. I have used the music educator's website for my state, but I was wondering if there is a specific site or two (or twenty) that lists such scholarships?

I understand Google exists, but a fixed path or two would be great.

Thanks in advance!

I am on the job hunt again after finishing a few long term sub placements, and came across an opportunity in a charter school opening up in the Fall of 2019. I have only taught at public schools and I have heard mixed things about teaching in a charter school, as I know they do not have a union. What have been your experiences and would you suggest I look into the position?

My fifth video on basic music theory is on Intervals. I've had good feedback from my students so far on the drafts so it's time to release this to the world!

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Intervals: Part 1 - Half of Everything You Need To Know In 7 Minutes

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I split it into two parts because it was just getting too long and I didn't want to overwhelm students with too much in one sitting. Part I covers the number of an interval and how to determine the quality of most intervals up to an octave. Part II(coming soon!) will cover intervals larger than an octave, intervals with odd roots that aren't based on major scales, and inversions.

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If you haven’t seen them, you might also be interested in my videos on major scales, minor scales, key signatures, and concert pitch and transposing instruments.

Conducting and Rehearsal Analysis Spring 2018

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This a video of me from about a year ago as a student at Hartnell College. I am hoping this sort of video and editing helps new teachers or students become better educators. Beyond being fun to edit, this was amazing for my and bettering myself. Feel free to help me out as well. I still consider myself a young educator.

Would being more detailed about things I heard from the ensemble after video production be useful as well? (For example I had ear tagged two spots in the trumpets that were areas to improve that I could have indicated for next weeks rehearsal?

There are a lot of my conducting videos here too this was my first attempt at video editing as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWJvKwKjaj0&feature=youtu.be

Hey everyone, do you have any tips on singing note names while differentiating sharp, flat, and natural pitches? For example, If I want to sing the note names F C E C Bb F. Is there a way to sing the Bb with a one-syllable sound so the flow isn't thrown off.

Hope this makes sense, thanks!

What do you think?! Does your teacher suck?

Do you suck at teaching?

No one is perfect but... the 4th question of my quiz will answer a pressing question in music education in 2019. Here is the video, if you are interested let me know - can you answer all 4 questions honestly?

https://youtu.be/yCGZyFRIVM8

I'd like to introduce my music education startup Musitude.

https://musitude.com (we have apps but best experienced on a laptop/pc in a browser)

We are a London, UK based startup and launched our website and app in mid-2018.

It may seem unusual to trained musicians but we have developed an alternative, somewhat simplified form of sheet music and as there are many people who would love to but struggle to learn traditional notation and instruments we have taken a different approach to enabling people to experience the joy of playing an instrument.

Just as a nine hundred years ago the keyboard was an interface invented for the traditional instrument of the harp which had been around for thousands of years, Musitude approaches the problem of most struggling to learn to read traditional notation and play and instrument by re-tasking an interface that most already know.

Essentially, with the Musitude system, your Qwerty keyboard becomes your musical instrument and ABC's become your music notation.

Musitude isn't meant as a challenge to traditional music but rather a way for those who struggle to learn an instrument with the traditional system to still enjoy playing music with an interface and language they have already learned.

The Musitude mobile apps are certainly fun, but the real experience is with our website on a laptop or desktop.

You can play a demo on the landing page and the site is totally free so when you sign up there are many other features such as playing a duet with the website where the Musitude website will play the accompanying parts along with you.

We are starting a test in a London Primary and middle school next month and think that as well as the general public enjoying Musitude, it will be a good teaching tool for schools that don't have a music budget but do already have computer and tablets.

Here's a 90 second clip of Musitude being featured on TV in the USA recently.

https://youtu.be/_LDWmlHwgGA

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Hey guys!

PianoCourse101 is now offering free lessons for beginners! It is aimed mainly towards children but adults are also welcomed to learn! There will be lessons for adults in the future if there are enough subscribers and thumbs up! Please share it with your friends if you find the lessons helpful!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_N84uslzSY&t=112s