Month: October 2020

Online Music Ed – How It’s REALLY Going…

How do you even know where to start when it comes to building connections in this strange environment?

And how do you do it without it consuming all your time and energy?

After two months of virtual band this year, and a 95.5% assignment submission rate with my 175 high school band kiddos (who must submit an assignment every day) and even higher attendance rates, I’ve got a few ideas about how to get kids excited and actively engaged in their music classes that I’d love to share with you.

If you are tired of spending your nights and weekends planning and trying to figure out how to get your students emotionally and socially connected in your class, check out my short video and rest easier knowing you don’t have to create your own ideas from scratch!

With you on this journey.

Online Band … Building relationships in a digital classroom

From Classrooms to Concert Halls, the Music Industry and the World of Music Education Have Been Turned Upside Down. How Do We Survive?

In many cases, decisions are being made to cut programs and give up because it’s difficult to see how we can continue to teach performing arts in our current situations.

My former student and Music Director of the Colorado Symphony, Brett Mitchell, and I discuss the future of Music Education and how music educators can support students during these challenging times (without it being a physical, mental, and emotional drain on us as educators!)

There is nothing normal about our current situation, even for those teachers who are teaching in person. There’s no way to recreate the kinds of ensemble situations we’ve had in the past during a pandemic, and the frustrations and disappointments that come with the loss of these important opportunities feel insurmountable.

How do we keep our students engaged when everything is SO hard so they’ll still be around to take our classes when we can return to “normal” rehearsal situations?

Who better to take a situation that seems impossible and create a new and more innovative way to make music than the very people who have been trained to improvise within a given structure when soloing with a jazz band or scatting over the blues?

The future of music education is up to the music educators of today!

It won’t be easy, but WE CAN DO THIS. We MUST do this.

Join Brett and me as we talk about the challenges and opportunities we face and how as a community we can help kids become the best version of themselves through the magic of music education. <3