From theTop

This week, I added From the Top to my PLN. This is a fun National Public Radio program that features young musicians doing wonderful things. I have used this site in middle school general music classes. Young people can see what is possible and witness the diverse talent that is in the world. They can see that these very talented young people are normal kids too. The host, Christopher O'Riley has a wit about him that can keep even 8th-grade boys interested. They can look through the site, find a program to watch and listen, then write about it. (A multidisciplinary project when the school's main focus was on writing.) There is a teacher packet available.

MIDI accompaniments and Sequence-stration

The Kersten article had a lot of great ideas for using MIDI at home and school. The suggested web sites that are still available could be very useful. A list of sites like these be made available to parents at open house or at curriculum night or made available on the music homepage. If parents could have a demo of what these do, they might encourage their musicians to use them.

I like the idea in Sequence-stration about using unexpected timbres. Students can play with the whole sequenced piece, then as a music minus one simply by muting the melodic line. The fun accompaniment is still there to keep them moving through the exercise.

I remind myself that most of my private students (all elementary and middle school) tell me that their teachers don’t use accompaniments during class – not even a CD accompaniment. Some of these students do not have adequate computer access at home. These articles are packed with great stuff to know, but the application will depend on the teaching environment.

(Teachers should be aware of DonorsChoose.org. This is a site that allows an educator to describe their equipment need. Donors choose which projects they want to be a part of and make contribute to the cause as they are able. The larger community comes together for the good of the kids.)

The Habits of Musicianship

Robert Duke and James Byo from the Center for Music Learning at University of Texas at Austin have created a band method that goes beyond the rudimentary basic of note reading and technique to include musicianship from the very beginning. While we can be happy when the right pitch is produced with a semi-reasonable embouchure and almost decent tone quality, but a note is wrong if it isn't played in tune and with the proper inflection.

They offer a free download of all the materials. This edition is much easier to read than the last. All students parts are there with scores for the teacher. Even if you do not adopt the method, the introductory text is worth reading.

MIDI readings

The ability to discern which music technology to use for any given situation is dependent on one’s knowledge of the hardware and software. A great experience for a student composer would be to create an MIDI accompaniment, then create a digital audio with himself/herself as soloist. This method could be used for adjudication preparation. The student could punch in the accompaniment for the solo, then play along and assess his/her own performance.

It seems overwhelming to consider teaching the MIDI process to a class. It is a complicated process to me, but may not seem so to students who have grown up with computers and have possibly gained an understanding of how computers work. I found the analogy of the player piano to be very helpful in understanding the MIDI process. The piano roll has all the information and the piano just plays it. Dr. Estrella states, “Similarly, MIDI data produces no sound by itself. Instead MIDI data, like the piano roll, contains a description of the musical performance which, when received by a synthesizer, can be rendered as sound.” The last reading, What is MIDI?, on the About MIDI page is the easiest for me to understand. Students may grasp the concepts easier if they begin with note on and note off, and then move to all the other aspects of MIDI one at a time.

Elementary Music/Music Technology PLN

Here's a blog from Amy Burns, a general music teacher in New Jersey and the president-elect of TI:ME. She has included some great posts of downloadable freebies, her list of "Some Elementary Concert Items That No One Ever Tells You About…" and she explains how she used Apple Keynote to get 250 kids singing together. There's a link to interviews and perfomances from MENC Music Education Week in Washington last June. It will be interesting to learn how she continues to use technology throughout the year for composing or review of a concept. Comments from other teachers reinforce the use of technology. For fun, be sure to watch the YouTube video with the saxophonist explaining triplets. I couldn't resist and added her podcast that includes the opening plenary session from MENC Music Education Week in Wachington, Software for Music Creation.

PLN wk 3

Music Matters: a blog on music cognition

This site caught my eye with the video of the Daily Show conversation with Dr. Oliver Sacks, a noted neurologist, including a comparison of brain scans while listening the Bach and Beethoven.

Other articles include discussions about earworms and why we remember a melody sticks with us, the possibility of the presence of a music gene, and even a dancing cockatoo as evidence of beat induction.

Scroll searching and watch a video of Glenn Gould playing Bach.

Some postings are in other languages.

TI:ME strategies, Peter Webster and Sibelius

It was very interesting to read the TI:ME strategies and learn how they align to the standards of MENC, NETS and ISTE. The skills learned while using music software are not restricted to the technology being used, but can span many avenues of music education. Strategies could be interdisciplinary lessons with cooperation between the music teacher, technology teacher and classroom teacher. One example would be TI:ME standard 9.03 and MENC standard 9. The music teacher would determine the information to be discovered while the technology teacher instructs students on how to do internet searches and gather the information. It could all be tied to a social studies or history lesson. I also found it interesting that the TI:ME standards focus on teacher objectives in addition to student objectives.

Peter Webster mentions this very idea in the introduction of his writing. He offers many strategies on how to get music classes more technologically involved. He suggests a pull-out within the class, allowing students to take actual music class time to work at the computer. I especially liked his idea on creating musical toys by using MIDI sensors. With the current push for robotics teams, I think there would be some positive energy throughout the school for this activity.

We explored the Vermont MIDI project on the Google Earth exploration a few weeks ago. After seeing a performance and now reading more about it, I wonder how/when this will be expanded to other areas.

Notation Software

The three articles on notation software offered a nice overview of Finale and Sibelius. Many ideas shared are used by music teachers, from creating transcriptions to accommodate unique instrumentation to creating missing parts. Worksheets and practice sheets are more beneficial to the ensemble when the teacher can focus on specific concepts for a piece.

The Watson article from Music Education Technology discusses early versions fo Finale and Sibelius. I was reminded of FInale's ability to export graphics for use outside the program. This was a great benefit. The scanning capabilities have improved since Finale 2003 and Sibelius 2. And Sibeius nwo has worksheets and the ability to create custom worksheets.

Tom Rudolph offers ideas for student compositions and compares the use of music software for composing to using a word processor for writing. Niether application does the work, but assists the student in creating a legible, printed page. He suggests using student music librarians to create parts that may be missing or parts that need to be transcribed.

Floyd Richmond reveals several ways he has used notation software in his classroom. The ability to assign computer projects would be determined by the equipment available to the student. In class projects may be difficult if there is a limited number of computers available for use.

PLN wk 2

I've included Classics for Kids in my PLN. I first discovered this site at an OMEA conference a few years ago. It originates from WGUC in Cincinnati. There is a featured composer each week with a podcast, music, games and downloadable worksheets. Lessons plans are available and information for parents. I have used htis for general music classes as well as band to give the students a different way of exploring the life of a composer. Everything is archived, so you can search for a specific piece or composer.

http://www.classicsforkids.com/