For Travel Tour (a.k.a. Group Class) #5 last night, one of our activities was what I dubbed, “The 1-Minute Documentary Project.” The idea was inspired by the fabulous Videolicious App, and it turned out to be a lot of fun! I started by coming up with a handful of music-related topics, like a composer or […]
Inspiration from Russia
It’s been quite a few years since I first became familiar with 20th Century Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, but I was re-reading his Templeton Address recently and was struck by this observation he makes concerning art: “In the East art has collapsed because it has been knocked down and trampled upon, but in the West […]
What if Your Student Could Compose a Piece and Have it Performed by a Professional Musician?
That is exactly the vision behind Music-COMP (formerly the Vermont Midi Project). The organization began in 1995 with the purpose of “encourage[ing] and support[ing] students in composing and arranging music.” This is accomplished via “A community of professional composers, teachers, pre-service educators, and students engage in mentoring and online discussion of student work.” I had […]
Monday Mailbag – Year End Achievement Awards
“I am curious about student achievement awards. I am wondering what you and other teachers do. Do you give out awards based on years in lessons (i.e. 3 year award) or perhaps awards based on level of achievement (i.e. completed Faber level 2A etc.)? Maybe some teachers simply give out a participation certificate. This will […]
The Ultimate Guide to Playing Piano
I haven’t even begun to check out all the links yet, but just check out this treasure trove of piano playing-related links over at the Artiden blog! This looks like a fabulous collection for any piano teacher, piano student, and piano performer. And if you’re looking for great music resources, visit the Community area of […]
Get Classroom Maestro 3.0 for Free (a $69 value!)
Zenph is one of the leading music technology organizations. I’ve been fascinated by them ever since reading an article last year about some of their projects. Their Classroom Maestro software sounds very interesting – and you can download it for free (a $69 value!) if you complete a brief survey. Classroom Maestro is described as […]
