Seek the joy! It’s one of the guiding principles of the elementary school I helped to found in the summer of 2015. It’s the core principle of my music classroom. Recently, at a pre-holiday gathering, our school staff all wrote shout-outs to each other. I saw “joy” repeatedly in the…
I’ve been teaching my students in kindergarten and first grade about musical opposites. Right now, we’re especially focused on how pitches can move up and down, high and low. I learned the following finger play from a friend; the author is unknown. I adapted the words to teach more clearly…
Music education is good because it helps raise students’ test scores. I recently read an article by teacher and blogger Peter Greene that adamantly contends we should not use this argument to justify music education. Hmmm. Why not? If test scores go up when music is part of the school…
During the summer of 2016, I had lots of adventures. While traveling through the American south, I stopped at the University of Memphis for two weeks to take a course about an approach to music education called Orff. Orff isn’t an acronym, it’s the name of the founder, Carl Orff,…
“Music Island” is back! My full-length musical comedy for all ages will be staged by the Youth Choir of the First Parish of Bedford, MA on June 10 and 11, 2016, directed by Janet Welby. I invite everyone to sample the delight of Music Island. The show opens on an…
I led a workshop entitled “Cultivating Young Musicians” on April 30, 2016 at the New England Conference of The Children’s Music Network. I highlighted songs that I regularly use in my music-teaching practice to help children learn about basic musical concepts such as scales, pitch, beat, tempo and dynamics. Here…
This is the second in a series of posts about learning through play. I had the opportunity to attend the Massachusetts Music Educators’ Annual conference for the first time this past weekend. This is my first year “officially” to be a music teacher for elementary school students, and I…
“He loves music!” As a children’s musician, that’s a common refrain I hear from parents. It’s just a fact: most kids’ happiness meter jumps several notches when the singing and dancing starts. I’ve written a fair bit about the connections between music instruction and early literacy skill development as well…
This morning, I offered a toddler version of my “Do-Re-Mi ABC” program that I’ve been enjoying with kindergarten students this year. At our local store that sells tots’ clothing and other fun kids’ stuff, I did a sing-along workshop for parents and children about how to have fun singing while…
The Tortoise and the Hare is one of the best known of Aesop’s Fables, stories that are credited to Aesop, a storyteller and slave who lived in ancient Greece. Most children seem to be familiar with the story already; many say they have “seen the movie.” I wrote a song…
