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music education

Improvisation in Ensembles: Conduction

How might we support creativity in large ensembles? What if students could co-create music with a conductor without staff notation or written music altogether? Perhaps novel in K-12 settings, ensemble-based improvisation exists in diverse musical cultures. What might we learn from conduction, a sophisticated gestural system that Butch Morris developed to facilitate improvisation and creation in a large ensemble setting? I first experienced conduction years ago at NYC’s Knitting Factory. I was in one of the lower floor performance spaces… Read More »Improvisation in Ensembles: Conduction

Create Music with #LiquidWeber Recordings

Welcome How can we create new/original music from existing so-called classical music? More specifically, how can we create music with recordings of the Weber Clarinet Concerto 1? Explore some creative opportunities below: Participate Join us in exploring how to create music with existing recordings of the Weber Clarinet Concerto 1? Connect & Collaborate Collaborate with friends to create your own music with stems and samples of the Weber Clarinet Concerto Share Share the music you create with the world by… Read More »Create Music with #LiquidWeber Recordings

Chunking Music for Practice

How can we chunk our music into smaller parts for practicing? When encountering a new selection of music, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to figure out how to learn and practice it. One way to make the learning and practicing process more manageable and productive, is to chunk it. Chunking music is when you divide the music into smaller parts to practice independently of one another. Interested in exploring how to chunk music for your own practice? Read on and… Read More »Chunking Music for Practice

Setting Up Obsidian for Academic Work

For a little over a year, I’ve been using the free application Obsidian, which I’ve found to be transformative in my thinking and academic work. I keep encouraging people to give it a try as a platform for making notes, keeping track of information, making connection across ideas, synthesizing literature, engaging in research, and numerous other aspects of academic work. I’ll eventually make a post and page dedicated to Obsidian. For now, here’s a video I made recently that details… Read More »Setting Up Obsidian for Academic Work

Is "what works" holding back your music program?

Design More Flexible Music Curriculum by Questioning “What works” !

Wondering how you can design more flexible music curriculum to keep up to date with a rapidly changing society? Watch the video below and follow six specific steps for becoming more aware of and questioning “what works” or the taken-for-granted conventions in our classes, ensembles, and programs to support you in updating and expanding your program. For those curious, I draw upon on some curricular concepts along with some ideas from Chee Hoo Lum’s chapter Shifting landscapes in the 21st… Read More »Design More Flexible Music Curriculum by Questioning “What works” !