More than just Minutes: Using Practice Charts as Tools for Learning

Music Educators Journal puts out a lot of advertisements, but if you sift through you can find that there are great articles too!

This article "More than just Minutes:  Using Practice Charts as Tools for Learning" was a bit of chatter to read but the charts with it are valuable. As educated musicians we think about all of these things but sometimes we forget that we have to spell them out to our students.


Here is the Sample chart they provided:

They also included an instructional side to this worksheet:

I can't think of too much more to include on this "Detailed Practice Session" other than a section on checking posture at different times during practicing.

This can be overwhelming to young students as well as very wasteful with paper, but it is a great guide to creating your own practice sheets. I will be printing this out (double-sided of course!) once for my students to explain everything and then I will only use it as a guide to practicing.



Leave some other ideas about practice charts ans such!

Catching Up on Life

 I know I haven't posted in a while. I just started my new job working for the Town of Oyster Bay in the Community and Youth Services department. I'm in the Seniors division but I'll be teaching in the preschools run by the TOB in both Massapequa and Syosset. I will also be running music work shops for the CAPA division (cultural arts & performing arts)! I'm so excited!

Check the monthly calendars next year for workshops I'll be running!
Monthly TOB Calendars

DOMAIN 1: INTASC Standards #2 & #5

Domain I
Motivation, Learning, and Development
Overview

Standard #2:  The teacher understands how children/adolescents learn and develop, and can provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social, and personal development.

Standard # 5:  The teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.


A teacher’s approach to each group of students is going to vary from group to group depending upon the students’ levels of development and motivation for learning. Assessing the intellectual and social development of each student as an individual and the group as a whole is going to determine how the teacher will structure the classroom and instruction to provide students with the motivation and guidance to further develop intellectually, socially and personally.



Standard #2 Artifact:  Melody, the beginning of composition

Artifact Rationale

    Creating and sharing music through both written and notation and performances provide a well-rounded approach to the learning and development of music skills. As an introduction to learning what key a piece is in students were given a composition exercise to complete out of the Standard of Excellence band method book by Bruce Pearson. Students were given an exercise with blank beats and were given the freedom to choose any pitch they would like to complete the piece. The only criteria the students had to fulfill were A) to use the specific rhythms supplied for them B) only use notes that you know how to play and C) be able to perform your composition in class. Upon returning to class the students participated on many different levels. They assumed the responsibility for their work by performing it for the class. Then while their peers were performing they listened and responded constructively to their peers’ compositions. After everyone in the group lesson had performed the class participated in a group discussion about the endings of each different composition. This conversation opened the door for the next lesson on keys. I have found that creating a positive environment students have the confidence to take risks. Once a comfortable environment has been created I will continue to provide students with weekly solo opportunities to continue their personal development.
    This artifact is an appropriate example of INTASC standard # 2 because the teacher provides and activity that allows him/her to access the students’ musical and intellectual thinking through performance and discussion.



Standard #5Artifact: 5 Steps to Good Practicing

Artifact Rationale

    As teachers we need to help students become diverse learners in that they can progress as individual learners as well as work cooperatively with others. Practicing is typically thought of as a process of learning alone but it can be done in a group by using a set of guidelines called the “5 Steps to Good Practicing.” During class the students participate on varying levels. Given the “Mexican Hat Dance” out of the “Standard of excellence” band method book by Bruce Pearson the students clapped and counted the rhythms out loud together. Next, for step two the students took turns going around the room naming one note at a time in succession. The students then performed the last three steps together. Once the five steps were completed students had the readiness to perform the “Mexican Hat Dance” as a solo and eagerly volunteered to do so. I found that varying students’ level of participation keeps them actively engaged in the lesson, not knowing what type of participation or when they will having to respond individually keeps them on task.
    This artifact is an appropriate example of INTASC standard # 5 because the teacher encourages the students to develop a sense of value for the knowledge that their peers share have by creating a situation in which the students are dependent upon the information to have a complete learning experience. 

Today, The Police are No. 1!

November 8, 1986 

The Police 
started a two week run at No.1 
on the UK album 
with 'Every Breath You Take-The Singles'

Album Details:                                    

TYPE: single
FORMAT: 12 inch
LABEL: A&M
RELEASE DATE: 1986.10.01
RELEASE COUNTRY: UNITED KINGDOM

Instrumental Music Instruction

        ~ Kristen ~  
 Private Music Instructor
 ..Resume available upon Request.. Please feel free to e-mail any time  
and/or call me (before 9pm) Kristenhal@mac.com  



 Are you preparing for  a festival such as NYSSMA, All State, All county, or just want to receive pointers or advance your skills as a musician?


    All levels:                                               NYSSMA prep package: 
    Flute                                                       Four 30 minute lessons for $100
    Piccolo                    

    Beginner - intermediate level:               Regular rate:
    Clarinet                                                 30 min & 60 min - Flexible
    Alto Saxophone

Nassau and western Suffolk County, Long Island are.
Will travel to you or find a lesson space to your convenience!

This Day in Music

Adolphe Sax

(1814-1894)

Adolphe Sax was born on November 6, 1814 in Dinant, Belgian to a 19th century manufacturer of brass at Woodwind Musical Instruments, by the name of Charles Joseph Sax. As the first of twelve children Adolphe followed in the footsteps of his father. At a young age he was familiar with the hand-crafting of many woodwind instruments such as the clarinet and the flute. He went on to study at the Brussels Conservatory where he excelled at playing the flute.  

Mr. Sax set out to reconstruct the Bass Clarinet, but the result was quite different.

                     "The new bass-clarinet built by Mr. Sax has nothing but the name in 

                     common with the old one. In this new instrument, the holes have 

                     been abolished and replaced with keys adapted to the points 

                     corresponding to the core of the vibrations. The new bass-clarinet 

                     has twenty-two keys and is remarkable for its perfect tome 

                     accuracy and uniform temperaments in all the degrees of the 

                     chromatic scale. Its greater diameter increases the volume of 

                     the sound, without preventing or hindering the performance of 

                     octaves and fifths. This advantage is due to a key drilled 

                     near the instrument's, mouthpiece. Its compass is three octaves and 

                     a sixth. But there is something more important than this huge extension, 

                     for it is obvious that the bass-clarinet is not supposed to range among 

                     the upper register of the orchestra. It is for the beauty of its lower notes 

                     that we appreciate it so much. As the tube is a very long one, when the 

                     performer stands, the bell of the instrument is very close to the ground. 

                     Hence a very unpleasant dulling of the sound would have existed, 

                     had not the skilled craftsman prevented it by adding a concave metallic 

                     reflector fixed under the bell, that not only prevents the sound from being 

                     lost, but directs it in the proper direction, increasing its volume at the same
                     time." 

                     Historical Excerpts from ADOLPHE SAX AND HIS SAXOPHONE
                     by Léon Kochnitzky
                     Belgian Government Information Center ( New York, NY 1964)

Teaching Standards

Seaford HS Music Dept

This past spring I student taught in the Seaford Union Free School District on Long Island. Through the struggles, triumphs and laughter I learned a LOT! This week I am going to be posting the first part of my "Professional Teaching Portfolio"


A teaching portfolio from a CW Post graduate is a map of the students life over the course of a four month period. Sweat, lots of tears, love and hate go into putting together these portfolios because they will follow them for the rest of their teaching career.


Here is the beginning of the "meat & potatoes" of my portfolio; the fluff and filler (rep. lits, concert programs, etc...) will not be posted in their entirety, but enough to show an economic format. All of the lesson plans and Standard examples were successfully created, edited and executed by me with the feedback from cooperating teachers in the Seaford School District and superviors from the CW Post Music Department.

“Philosophy of Music Education”

       The education of our students is of fundamental importance. Music is a medium that offers a variety of areas to study that educates students wholistically. Music education is A) entertaining, B) educates our students mentally, physically and C) expands intrapersonal relationships.
       Music has always been a fun thing to break up long day. Music may not feel like work and hard concentration during grammar school and that’s the point! The most natural progression of learning, such as the Gordon Learning Theory, helps the students to discover a body of musical knowledge with the guidance of a teacher. This theory lends itself to all types of learners and has proved itself very flexible in being paired with other music learning tools such as the Kodaly’s solfege syllables and the Curwen hand signs. Kids need to acquire knowledge and social skills but they should not be boring. Through my student teaching experiences at the elementary level, I have found that by using Dalcroze’s philosophy of learning through kinestetic exercises such as rhythm clapping, and other multi-sensory methods of presentation helps to reach every child. They are more receptive to the material being taught and are more apt to share their musical experiences with others.
       Logical and mathematical skills are positively impacted as a result of learning the organization needed for performing. A substantial amount of music reading is mathematical; rhythms are counted and are proportionate to the meter being studied. Linguistic skills advance as well due to the vocabulary and communication required to discuss music history, playing techniques and music reading itself. Communication is expanded from peer to peer, and student to teacher.   
       While studying music students are working their bodies. Before one even picks up an instrument one is using his or her hands to put rhythms in their bodies. Clapping or patting the rhythms on ones legs aides in the development of some hand-eye coordination as well as helping to internalizing rhythms. Lung capacity is built up slowly over time due to the gradual increasing of practice and performance time. The dexterity of ones hand and finger are also increased while playing instruments.
       Through concerts, athletic support provided by our marching band and participation in community events our music students communicate with our audiences and our community. Music bonds the members of our ensembles and classes together through making music. That in turn helps them to withdraw from the “image” based social criteria. Instead, students are looked at and evaluate others as important contributors to the music making process. Looking back to my high school years, the band gave me a sense of belonging in the overwhelming school community. I recall my first week of high school, being lost and confused with the building and how the schedule worked. By the end of the week my new friends, the upper-classmen from the marching band, had taken me under their wing and taught me the ins and outs of the school. To these juniors and seniors I was not just another sophomore to pick on and trick, I was a member of their band and a friends that they would keep for years to come.
       As a music educator my job is not only to expand the body of music knowledge that students possess, but also to educate each student as a whole human being. Through music I hope to bring students together through learning and fun. 

How It's Made

The Discovery Channel runs a show "How It's Made" and I ran across this one and had to post it!


             

How It's Made - Flute

November 5, 1983

 

Billy Joel was No. 1 
on the UK singles chart 
with "Uptown Girl", 
his only UK No. 1.




  Uptown Girl Video

Music Performances, Long Island

Looking for a free concert? Master class? Recital? Check out a few local colleges for this month's student and professional performances .

C W Post Music Department - Brookville, Ny

Tilles Center  - Brookville, Ny

Suffolk Community College  - Multiple Locations, Suffolk county, Ny

Dix Hills Performing Arts Center/ Five Towns College - Dix Hills, Ny

Adelphi University  -Garden City

A Note of Flute History

The earliest depictions of a transverse flute in Western culture come from Byzantium in the 10^th century.

Between about 1050 and 1200 the troubadors appeared at the courts of Provence together with their most favoured instrument, the fiddle. 

At the end of the 15^th century the military flute becomes common again, particularly in the hands of Swiss mercenary troops and in combination with side drums. The flute and drum combinations quickly spread to Italy, France, the German lands, Spain, and Sweden together with new Swiss infantry techniques.

Flutes begin appearing in French and German opera and chamber music in the 1680s. Jean-Baptiste Lully's opera-ballet Le Triomphe de l'Amour (1681) first specifies Flûtes d'Allemagne.

The flute starts to become popular as a solo instrument and to acquire its own repertoire with Michel de Labarre's Pieces pour la flûte traversière avec la basse-continue (1702).


1860: Louis Dorus (1812-96) introduces the Boehm flute at the Paris Conservatoire and Louis Lot (1807-96) becomes its official supplier of flutes. Silver flutes become popular in Paris.

Wayman Carver (Chick Webb band) becomes the first well-known jazz flute specialist (1932). He is followed by many more during the 1950s.

German and English professional flutists begin to adapt to French-style playing with vibrato. The process continues until the 1970s.


Pre-1940 Boehm flutes are no longer used by mainstrem professional flutists, who now nearly all play the same "French model" flute, with in-line, perforated keys, B-foot, Cooper embouchure and Cooper scale. But by the late 1990s, wooden flutes have made a comeback in a new, Cooperized form. 


Information from  FluteHistory.com