/r/MusicEd

Photograph via snooOG

Designed to give music educators an online tool for easy access to forums, discussion boards, advice, teaching strategies, teaching stories, advocacy tips, pertinent articles, rehearsal advice, and anything else that has to do with the field of Music Education!

Designed to give music educators an online tool for easy access to forums, discussion boards, advice, teaching strategies, teaching stories, advocacy tips, pertinent articles, rehearsal advice, and anything else that has to do with the field of Music Education!


Posting and Commenting Guidelines

  • Be civil - Disagreements and occasional heated discussion are to be expected; however, personal attacks, rudeness, and put-downs will not be tolerated.
  • Avoid self-promotion. Sharing resources is OK, but the majority of your posts should not be sharing of resources, blog posts, interviews, articles, etc. that YOU have created.
  • Keep posts and contributions relevant to the topic of music education.

Our Reddit Friends

/r/ChoralMusic

/r/Clarinet

/r/ClassicalMusic

/r/ConcertBand

/r/DoubleBass

/r/EarlyMusicalNotation

/r/Ethnomusicology

/r/Flute

/r/Jazz

/r/LearnMusic

/r/MusicCognition

/r/Musicology

/r/MusicTheory

/r/Percussion

/r/Percussionists

/r/Piano

/r/Saxophonics

/r/Violinist

Some important links:


TEACHING RESOURCES

This is a list compiled by another teacher of MANY websites that other teachers from around the country have found useful!

Online Tutorials & Lessons

Teaching Resources / Forums / Lesson Plans:

Teaching Music Theory/Ear Training:

Free Sheet Music:

Notation Software:

Cool Tools, miscellaneous

Job-finding web sites

/r/MusicEd

21,219 Subscribers

1

What instrument to use to teach rhythm/musical notation to a dancer?

I'm a dancer and a musician. I'm thinking about ways to teach dancers the ways rhythm is expressed through musical notation, with time signatures, quarter notes, half notes etcetera. But I don't want to bring pitch into the equation nor make the person learn a new technique for how to hold a drum stick or anything like that. But I still want to help them learn the concepts and be able to practice them. Is there a good way to do this that people have had success with?

0 Comments
2024/10/10
15:33 UTC

3

Classroom Management Techniques

Hello! I am a first year choir teacher at a high school. I feel like one of my main issues right now is classroom management without being too harsh. All the classroom management techniques I was taught are for younger grades than high school so I feel uncomfortable using those as they tend to irritate and further rile my students. Do you have any classroom management techniques that help keep productivity going while also negating talking and other such negative behaviors?

2 Comments
2024/10/10
12:24 UTC

1

Storing/traveling with jazz band mutes?

I know this isn't the usual conversation here, but if any of you are band leaders or band directors, how do you get mutes to and from the gig?

I teach jazz band and inherited a "y'all come" type group with loads of kids. I'm wanting to start the switch to using mutes, but not sure how to carry 9 trombone mutes & 6 trumpet mutes.

1 Comment
2024/10/10
03:08 UTC

2

First Year Teacher Resume Template / Advice?

I am about to finish my Student Teaching and am beginning work on creating a resume to use when applying for jobs. I have a good general idea of what I should include in my resume, but I'm not confident in the best way to format my resume. I am also curious if there are any common mistakes people make when including or not including things on their resume.

I would love some advice on resume formatting and any other resume do's and don'ts that veteran teachers may have.

For reference, I have a Choral emphasis and am located in Texas. I would ideally be applying to teach at either a middle school or elementary level.

4 Comments
2024/10/10
00:45 UTC

1

The best national anthem video

I’m teaching my students the national anthem right now 3-5 grade and I’m just curious if there’s a consensus on the following.

Whitney Houston’s national anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl is definitively the best performance of the Star-Spangled Banner ever recorded.

View Poll

0 Comments
2024/10/09
22:16 UTC

5

Engaging with shy vocal ensemble?

Does anyone have any advice on how to help 9-10 year olds feel more comfortable with singing in a small group?

I am leading an after school music program with only four students registered, all 4th graders. When I taught this program in the spring we had 8 students and had no volume issues but this group is half the size and they are very shy about singing out in such a small group.

5 Comments
2024/10/09
15:05 UTC

8

No Cellos

Hey all, I'm in my first year teaching high school band and strings, and in my orchestra I currently have a single cello and no basses, the one cello will be graduating this year. My main feeder currently has 8 violins between his 7th AND 8th grade orchestra and not a single other instrument, so it's looking highly likely I won't have any low strings at all next year. The rest of my orchestra consists of 13 violins and 5 violas, and the only one interested in switching is one of the violas onto bass.

How do you handle not having any cellos? Not having a bass isnt that bad but I feel like not having any cellos makes level 3 and 4 music sort of impossible.

4 Comments
2024/10/09
13:49 UTC

78

I mentally quit/froze today

I mentally quit during a lesson today. I physically and mentally couldn't teach and basically stood there with a lost look on my face. I couldn't talk, couldn't sing, couldn't even figure out what to do. I was frozen for basically the whole hour I had my KG. For the context. I have been moved to a new school and have been there for about 2 weeks. I am at this school only for KG and 1st grade and then I am at my regular school for 2-5. They are closing my school and slowly integrating the students to this other school. next year K-2 will be at the other school, etc. Yesterday I had KG and usually I have A.I. (severely autistic students) class integrated in with them. That is about 15 KG and 10 AI kids. The AI kids are definitely the nonverbal, audiation sensory, loud, cant sit, walk around screeching, touching things, climbing on things type. I love AI and have quite a bit of experience with them. It is VERY difficult to teach with that many integrated in a class. I love teaching them as a class by themselves, or having 2 or 3 integrated in a class, but not usually 10 of them. Anyways, yesterday I had KG and the AI class never showed up, I figured they were running late or something was going on in the classroom so I just taught as we waited. They never showed up. Fast forward to today, there was a class in the hallway 8 minutes before I had to start teaching, they were loud and banging on the door. I just got to the building and trying to set up for a full hour of KG (very hard to keep those little ones entertained for a whole hour as it is) I open the door and immediately 20 AI kids run into my room (my normal integrated AI class for today and the AI class from yesterday equals 20 AI kids) and just start climbing on things, grabbing instruments everywhere and screeching. The para said "we confused the schedule yesterday so we missed special so we decided to come today instead. Then my regular class showed up. It was utter chaos in my room and I was frozen, I didn't know what to do, the lesson I had planned today wouldn't accommodate for that many kids or that many AI kids. I eventually unfroze and just started patting different parts of my body and told the kids to follow . . . nope, not one could hear me, or the music, or focus on me with all the kids running around. Then a bee decided to fly into my room and it was all over. kids running and screaming everywhere. I was thinking about just walking out and putting my self in the principals office, it was so bad. I usually have really good classroom management, but no teaching was going to happen today. I opened up the windows, played some music and turned on a big fan and just chased a bee around the room for the entire hour hoping to not accidently whack a child who was randomly jumping around because the bee was near them. It wasn't my fault they confused the schedule, so I shouldn't have been punished like this. My classroom has absolutely no supplies, so I have to plan ahead and bring everything I'm using with me to that school and take it back to the other one, so my backup options are pretty limited. Please tell me someone else has had an experience like this.

19 Comments
2024/10/09
02:08 UTC

5

Hebrew song

Hey all. Looking for a song for my high school choir that’s a secular Hebrew song. We sang Al Shlosha D’Varim last year and that was great. Ideas? Arrangements? I have a winter show coming up and I’d like to have some multi cultural songs showcased but without any political (Israel nationalist) or religious connotations. I understand this is hard but would love some ideas. SAB/2 part or even SATB would work. They are intermediate level.

11 Comments
2024/10/08
16:20 UTC

2

Advice transitioning from music studio to my own studio

Hi all! I’m at a bit of a crossroads in my career and I’m hoping for some advice. I’ve been teaching private lessons for about 5 years now, about 3 years of that at the studio I’m currently working for. I’m in a position in my life where I can teach out of my home and I’m wanting to at some point leave the studio I work at.

I’ve always had a hard time quitting jobs, and it’s hard when I have a lot of students, some of whom I’ve had for years. But it would be better for myself and my family to teach from my home. I guess I’m not sure how much notice would be reasonable/kind to give them. I like my job and my coworkers, but I don’t get paid well and want to have more flexibility in my schedule. Thanks!

0 Comments
2024/10/08
03:12 UTC

6

Teaching Ukulele Tuning

Hey Everyone,

I am at a new school site this year and I am teaching ukulele to the 4th graders. The school has enough ukuleles to loan one out to every student. I am really excited to teach uke to the kids however.... I have got off to a bumpy start.

I just rolled out the ukelele's this last week. Before I let student take their instruments home, I figured I needed to teach them how to tune it. (Otherwise practice is useless you know lol). I have a 15 tuners for a roughly 25 student classes; however, teaching them to tune has been a nightmare. No student has grasped how to do it even when just focusing on one string, and I already have had several students break strings. I am now thinking it was a big mistake to start with tuning.

I am kind of at a loss. I don't have time to individually tune every ukulele when they walk in the class. To those who teach ukulele in a classroom, when and how do you teach tuning? Any ideas would be super appreciated.

Thanks!

15 Comments
2024/10/07
22:23 UTC

18

Writing note names in the sheet music

I've recently started teaching general music in middle school, and students in 7th and 8th grade have sheet music with notes written in it by their old teachers.

What's worse, even their keyboards have note names written on it.

I'm planning to teach keyboard geography and note recognition to 6th graders, I have found excellent exercises on musictheory.net. However I'm not sure if I should do it with the older students, as they will probably be very resistant to it.

Maybe that's the culture and I need to adapt? Maybe the old teachers have figured out it's a waste of time?

33 Comments
2024/10/07
21:10 UTC

12

are most jobs below 1.0 FTE?

I graduated last year and am not currently teaching this year but it seems like every job I see posted is .2-.5 FTE. I ran into the same problem last year, it was like every third job was actually full time. is this pretty normal for music?

16 Comments
2024/10/07
16:42 UTC

6

Choir Song Suggestions?

Hello there!

I am having a hard time finding up beat, easy, but not corny songs for my beginning TB choir to sing. We are just starting to figure out how to hold independent parts, and harmony is still tough. There's only 9 members, so I need fairly simple.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

7 Comments
2024/10/07
14:31 UTC

2

Does anyone know where this worksheet is from? I can't find any resources online

3 Comments
2024/10/07
12:58 UTC

2

Vocal Music Ed Major to Voice Performance Major; Is It Possible?

Hi all,

This is going to be quite the extensive post, so please bear with me.

I am currently a freshman in college, about halfway through my first semester of Music Education with a focus on Vocal/Choral (General).

To give a bit of background towards my situation:

I have always loved working with kids and my entire life I have wanted to be an educator because of that reason. I've always had a passion for education, as I was one of the lucky ones when it came to having great teachers all around. I know not all kids are as fortunate as I was, so I promised myself that I would become an educator and be that teacher that inspired kids when I grew up. I knew in my heart that I was meant to teach, meant to foster young minds and help them grow to face a better future.

Originally, I thought I was going to be an English Education major due to my love of creative writing and reading. I worked my ass off so I would have a good transcript and have a decent chance wherever I applied. I fought through so much just to ensure I would have bright future. The passing of my sister my freshman year, COVID-19, taking honors classes, and a whole lot of bullying. Eventually, my senior year rolled around and I began applying to several colleges (as an English Ed major, keep this in mind).

My hard work paid off, and I was accepted to several different colleges. I had my choice of where I wanted to go, even received scholarships based off of my GPA. However, after I got accepted and did some college tours, I realized that I wasn't as passionate about the English genre as I thought I was.

My senior year, I was put through so much abuse and bullshit (which I won't go into for the sake of personal privacy), and in my worst moments, the one thing that kept my head up was music. I will spare you all the passion story that we've all heard before, music saved me blah blah blah, long story short: my band and choir director had seen my dedication to progressing musically and they brought up the idea of Music Education. I looked into it further and I had an epitome. I wanted to teach music. Because I didn't realize this sooner, I had all but fucked myself over by being accepted into the English programs.

So, by this time, I was rushing to schedule auditions at my colleges of interest and scrambling to put together a repertoire. Eventually, I went to a few auditions and was accepted at my current university. After I was accepted, I went to the orientation, scheduled my classes, and then my mental health took a nose dive. I decided to take a gap year to focus on my ailments and during that time, I was diagnosed with several neurodivergent disabilities:

A severe case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Level 1, along with many other debilitating disorders. As a result, I was federally registered as disabled and couldn't work.

I took this year to focus on Exposure Response Prevention Therapy (which is a whole other story within itself), and have improved significantly since then. I decided to give college another try, and was actually quite excited about it. I repeated orientation, scheduled my classes again, and then started during the fall term.

Now, as I'm sure all of you are firmly aware, the Music Education track (especially for Vocal Majors) is quite rigorous, totaling at an 18 credit hour load for my college. I thought "It'll be fine, I'm doing what I love, so I won't be stressed," and I pushed through the first few weeks. I was having fun, so I wasn't too bothered by the workload.

Come the second week of classes, I take a pretty hefty fall and end up spraining my ankle. I had to miss majority of my classes that day to go to the hospital for an X-ray. My ankle was fine, a minor sprain, but this was not ideal for a college student who needs to walk around campus daily. My ankle is still injured, keep this in mind for later. (And before you all mention the bus system on campus, none of the bus routes stopped at either of the buildings that I needed to go to, so they were out of the question)

So now I've been hobbling around campus for about a week or so, a bit anxious because of the obnoxious workload but functioning at a reasonable pace. The fourth week rolls around and my first concert with my large ensemble is scheduled for Friday night. I wake up that morning and my throat is killing me. So much so that I could barely speak at a mild whisper. Fuck. As a vocal major WITH A CONCERT THAT NIGHT, I was panicking. I emailed my professors and went back to my dorm after my second class that day, hoping I'd be able to recover. At that point, I had started coughing and was clammy, as well as running a temperature. I called my mom (who is luckily about an hour from campus), and she picks me up to go home for the weekend.

So I go home, go to urgent care, they diagnose me with swimmers ear and send me home with eardrops. I go back to campus on Monday and low and behold, I'm sent into a coughing fit and begin to show symptoms of a lower respiratory tract infection. I knew something had been going around the dorm, I was just hoping that by being careful I had managed to avoid it. I scheduled an appointment with the campus clinic the next morning, and they officially diagnosed me with a "lower respiratory infection" (note: they did not specify what kind), and prescribed me steroids along with Z-Pack (an antibiotic I was familiar with due to an extensive history of strep throat as a child).

I went home again, took the medication prescribed, and still wasn't improving, so my mother scheduled an appointment with my Primary Care Provider the next day. She asked me to come in so she could listen to my lungs, and after doing so, she definitively diagnosed me with Lingular Pneumonia. She had me do a breathing treatment and a chest X-ray, prescribed me a stronger antibiotic and gave me an inhaler with albuterol as well as a steroid called budesonide.

I was knocked out for two full weeks, and my symptoms still haven't improved going on fifteen days of treatment. I saw my PCP again and she did a repeat chest X-ray; the pneumonia is gone but I still consistently have a low grade fever (usually 99.2 ~ 99.8).

Now, missing two full weeks of classes would be a nightmare for any college student, but a student in the Music Education track with an 18 hour credit load? You can expect a significant amount of stress.

I currently have 30+ assignments listed on Canvas that I have yet to complete, half of which are overdue because I haven't been able to work since I've been so sick. All of my professors are aware of this as well as my student advisor, and they're willing to work with me, however they are all significantly concerned for my mental health.

I am incredibly frustrated that I've been incapacitated for so long, and the backlog of assignments is causing me a lot of emotional strain and stress (as I'm sure it would for anyone). I have several accommodations in place due to being disabled, however my liaison at the disability center for students firmly believes I should file for a medical withdraw. She had already mentioned that with my disabilities and ailments, an 18 hour credit load would not be feasible, but I was insistent that it would be fine and pushed through.

I'm now stuck sitting at home, hours of bawling my eyes out in the books, torn on what to do. I want this degree more than anything, I have worked my ass off to get here and it's my dream to teach kids music. I am stubborn as hell and if I can manage it, I don't want to withdraw.

That being said, I have thought about this long and hard and, at this point, my mind nor my body are capable of surmounting this task. As pissed as I am about it, I physically do not have the mental capacity to get caught up. Not only that, but this week is midterms and I can't afford to play catch up right now.

I was looking at the requirements for the Voice Performance track at my college, as well as some other posts on this subreddit about the same (if not similar) topic, and the workload is significantly less demanding. I love to sing, it seems to have been the only time I was enjoying myself this semester. The course load is much more flexible and allows for more time to enjoy my major rather than drowning in assignments.

I know I would still have to learn theory and piano (the two classes I am currently the furthest behind in), but I feel as though it'd be much easier for me to achieve.

I absolutely detest the idea of giving up the education component of my degree, it's something I've wanted since I was little. But at this point, I'm simply not capable of doing both. I'm having to sacrifice one for the other.

What I came here to ask was this:

A. Is it possible for me to switch my major to performance IF I choose to medically withdraw and come back for the spring semester?
and
B. Would I be able to go back to school at some point and get my education degree?

I had already planned on getting my masters degree in Music Education, but now am considering doing the opposite and getting a masters in Performance and becoming a professor or private teacher. Either way, I want to be able to work with people of all ages, and I know getting my masters would allow me to do that.

I am located in Ohio, and getting a Music Education degree here allows for us to teach all ages, all music subjects. However, if I deter from that degree, would it still be possible to go back to school to teach when I'm more emotionally prepared?

I've spoken with my therapist, my contact at the disability center, my partner (who is currently in his first year of his graduate degree), and so many other people, and I just can't seem to find the best answer. I am heartbroken at the thought of taking a medical withdraw, but at this point it seems to be my only option...

I am in desperate need of advice from my people, music people, who understand the workload and understand the difficulties...

Please, if you can, provide me with some guidance. Any advice helps, I just need answers from like-minded people who understand.

17 Comments
2024/10/07
00:21 UTC

9

Starting bass clarinet. How achievable?

Hi all!

Tldr- want to do bass clarinet, how much different than standard bb clarinet. How achievable is it to play. Goal is to play at a middle/high school level within the next year or two (have background in sax)

A little background on my self. I am a music teacher (elementary - general, band, orchestral & choral). I teach my students standard bb clarinet. As an educator who is now starting to get into the swing of things (well into my second year of public teaching) I now have time to pursue study of an instrument with a private instructor (piano is my primary, and I played saxophone to a late middle school early highschool level with a decent tone - alto sax is what I use for reading sessions with other educators).

My idea is to work on "normal" clarinet for a few months to continue to build up my foundation (my knowledge I already have is - I know how to set up the basics to get a student ready for middle school). And I would like to eventually switch to bass clarinet (just a hyper fixation of mine).

Is the embouchure much different? Is there a struggle to get the low notes out? Does it feel similar to "normal clarinet?" And just any general pieces of advice. How achievable is it to play at a good middle to decent high school level? In the span of a year (considering I'm not starting completely from scratch)

Because I cut WAY back on lessons, I will have A LOT of free time to practice.

My goal in the next five years is to start playing in community bands. And fill in for my colleagues middle/high concerts (they usually don't have to many bass clarinet players).

13 Comments
2024/10/06
13:50 UTC

5

Undergrad leadership/extra opportunities?

Hello music ed peeps! I am currently in my junior year of undergrad as a Music Education major. At this point I fear that I have not done enough to stand out at this point in my college career. I have not been chosen for any leadership positions and have made relatively poor seating in my ensembles. I am very introverted and am not always the best at asserting myself. My grades are good, and my professors all say that I am doing well, but I feel something is missing.

I grew up about 20 minutes from my college, and hoped that I could help out at my old high school music program (especially the marching band). Even if it was just something as simple as carrying around equipment. But emails to both my old band director and the fine arts director were ignored.

I really want to stay on this career path, but I feel like I'm just kind of floating along at this point. I feel like I'm not good enough. Does anyone have any advice? I have even thought about reaching out to the band director in a neighboring district because they get involved with a lot of different community events and asking if I could observe a rehearsal for that. I don't know if that would be weird though and I wouldn't want to risk a bad impression.

5 Comments
2024/10/06
02:29 UTC

2

Possible College Options

Hi everyone, I’m a Junior in High School and i’m looking to go into a Music Ed degree. I’m a jazz baritone saxophonist and am located in the Detroit area. I attended a college fair today for performing arts majors and talked to reps from different colleges. After talking to them, the schools that I’m interested in are • University of Michigan

• Michigan State University

• Wayne State University

• Northwestern Illinois University

• University of Toronto

Does anyone have experiences, opinions, or things they’ve heard, good or bad at any of these schools? I’m very curious and want to gather as much outside data as well as my own opinions to make the best choice for myself. Any responses are appreciated!!

4 Comments
2024/10/05
22:08 UTC

1

National Board Cert Comp 2

Hi all! Anyone who has completed National Boards for Young (3-8)? This year I'm doing component 2 to hopefully wrap up my initial certification. Any tips/advice for this component? Thanks!

0 Comments
2024/10/05
17:34 UTC

18

Can’t keep my worksheets organized

Hey team,

This is my six year teaching full-time Elementary Music and so far I have gotten away with not really doing worksheets.

At my current position, however, they expect me to be issuing worksheets K – five on a somewhat regular basis.

Keeping track of 386 worksheets is a real struggle for me and I was wondering if anyone might have any hacks or advice for your friendly neighborhood ADHD music teacher.

My current strategy is to glance as they are working on them, and treat it as practice. Then at the end of the class I shred them. If they were there and not sitting out, they get the points.

Thanks!

9 Comments
2024/10/05
16:12 UTC

2

Preferred notation program for students

I am looking into browser-based music notation programs for my students to use. I’ve used Noteflight and flat.io, but haven’t had my students use either. Which have you found to be easiest for students to use? Which plays nicest with Google Classroom? Is there another program besides those two I should consider? I’m not looking for anything installed like Sibelius or Dorico. I’ve heard there’s a workaround to run Musescore on a Chromebook, but I doubt my district would get on board with that.

4 Comments
2024/10/05
02:35 UTC

21

Elementary music lesson ideas

Hi everyone. I’m 2 weeks into my first year teaching elementary music (previously was an elementary classroom teacher). I am traveling between 14 schools, over a two week period, to teach all 4th graders in our school district. I will be teaching them to play the recorder and teaching them to read music. I will be teaching each group/class every other week. Those of you that have more elementary music experience than I do, can you share some fun games or activities you do? Thank you!

Edited for spelling errors.

26 Comments
2024/10/04
16:54 UTC

424

“Dump Elective” kids

So I’m still working on rebuilding a 7-years-dead music program at a high school. Some of the kids were dumped in by admin because my classes “had room,” so now I’ve got 1/4 to 1/3 of each band/orchestra class having no desire to play anything at all.

Still, 90% of them are being troopers and learning and even starting to have fun. I do have a couple who refuse to do anything. They sit there on their phones, pulling chairs out of the band setup so they can be in the back corner, and they shake their heads at me when I tell them to put away the phones (first warning) or turn them in to me until end of class (second warning…school policy).

Now I have an angry parent email from one of these kids’ folks saying that their kiddo doesn’t deserve an F. I don’t feel right just giving out passing grades for refusing to participate & not doing any of the assignments. For those who’ve been here as a teacher in a new school, what’s the dance I have to play with admin & parents given that our bands & orchestras have earned “dump elective” status?

76 Comments
2024/10/04
16:28 UTC

2

Home studio for private lessons - lighting help!

Hello! I mainly teach private lessons in an extra room in my house. It has gorgeous natural light from several windows. However! When it's really cloudy or rainy it doesn't get much light except for the one lamp I have on the desk. I was thinking about getting a floor lamp but there isn't really a good spot for it, and we don't have any electrical set up for an overhead light. I know this is a super specific question but does anyone have any ideas to not make my room so gloomy on cloudy days?

3 Comments
2024/10/04
16:25 UTC

6

Building up a band program

I teach band at two separate elementary schools. So I am the one responsible for recruiting kids and getting everyone set up with an instrument.

At school A we typically have a band of about 60-70 members. There are multiple kids on each instrument and it works as well as 4th/5th grade band will work. 😅

At school B we typically have about 5-10 students in their second year of playing. Then an additional 15-20 students as beginners.

I struggle a lot at school B lately and want to make it better. Ideally I would love to have a group of maybe 30-40 kids. I would also love to create a culture where they enjoy band and want to practice their instruments. Any suggestions on how to improve it? My main areas of struggle are below.

  • Rehearsals have to be in the AM and kids hate it. They try to avoid it because they are tired and getting them to play or warm up is tough.
  • Kids forget their instruments, music, and lesson time frequently. (To the point I have an extra “school folder” for each of them with all their music)
  • We are a title 1 school and getting the instruments is hard for families. The costs continue to go up for renting each year which only drives more away.
  • My district will not provide new school instruments or repair the ones I have. How can I get new ones so we can actually loan school instruments to kids? I’ve used donors choose but it takes a long time to get fully funded. Any grants I could consider?
5 Comments
2024/10/04
14:07 UTC

2

Make-up assignments for student on Homebound

I have a junior student who is homebound for an undetermined length of time in a mental health facility. As part of my class, I have students demonstrate piano skills- right now we are working on scales, but we will eventually move to chords and melodies of the songs they are signing in class. I know they do not have access to a piano or keyboard for the length of their absence, so I would like to give them some kind of make up assignment, but I'm struggling to come up with anything. Has anyone out there had similar issues or have any creative ideas for make up assignments that may minimize now behind this student will be upon their return to school? Thanks in advance!

2 Comments
2024/10/04
13:49 UTC

2

What should I expect from college music auditions?

Hey! I am a senior wanting to major in Music Education (choral/voice) and will be having most of my auditions in January-March. I am aware of the general requirements for music auditions. The majority of the colleges I am applying to require acceptance to the school, a separate music application, and prescreen by Nov-Dec (since I am applying priority for most.) Then have a live audition that requires 2 solo pieces (one english another a foreign language), sighting reading 8-16 measures, pitch matching, and scales. Additionally, I must bring music for the accompanist or provide a track. Some also have an interview following the audition. Does anyone have any advice for college auditions and things to look out for? Additionally, what are the most effective ways to do prescreening and prep for auditions? Is there anything major I should expect or am not aware of? Also I would appreciate hearing your experiences, so I may know what to kinda expect. Thank you for taking the time to read, I appreciate it!

2 Comments
2024/10/04
05:53 UTC

25

Just switched majors to Music Ed after long deliberation! Hyped!

Title says it all - but I'm super excited! Making that decision was super relieving

3 Comments
2024/10/04
02:28 UTC

4

Prospective Colleges

Hi all! I am currently a junior in high school and have been looking to go into an education field for a very long time. Once I began to get serious with trumpet, I knew i wanted to be a music educator. I have been starting to look at colleges and understand the gist of music schools since my sister is a freshman oboe performance major at Louisville. I have had a lesson at UNT and have always dreamed of being in one of their lab bands. Can anyone help me out with some college suggestions? I really want to be a Music Ed major with a good sense of jazz. I also need something a little bit on the more affordable side, but that is not as important. Lastly, I really want a pretty good sport school because I love matches by band and football, and to do that in college is on my wish list. Thanks in advance for any help I can get!

16 Comments
2024/10/03
22:49 UTC

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