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Blog: Catalysts & Connections

Does anyone play the laptop in your school?

The topic of composing and performing with a laptop will be a theme running through this blog I’m sure for a long time. Over at newmusicbox Marc Weidenbaum recently wrote an interesting article tracing the history of musciains using the laptop, focusing on some recent composers/performers making use of it in their own work. After getting a lot of feedback he wrote a short follow up with information that gives a fascinating insight into the possibilties that laptops allow musicians.… Read More »Does anyone play the laptop in your school?

Iconic notation music videos

I have written before about the use of iconic notation in composing with computer software. In having students listen to and analyze music it can be very helpful for them to use iconic notation to help them focus on various details in the music. This online video of Bach’s’ Toccata and Fugue in D Minor is completely in iconic notation. This is just one of many videos created by the music animation machine. By importing a MIDI file into a… Read More »Iconic notation music videos

Reflections on using American Idol in the Music Classroom

As many readers know – ABC world news tonight broadcasted a story on the use of American Idol in the music Classroom recently that included me and many of my 5th-7th grade general music students. In this post I want to provide some background information on why I chose to use the show in my classroom, how I use it, why I participated in the news story and my reflections on the entire experience. I also just found out about… Read More »Reflections on using American Idol in the Music Classroom

My classes on ABC world weekend news online

The American Idol and music education story didn’t make it on air tonight but did make it online. You can see some of my students responding to questions about the contestents performances and what the judges were saying. You can also see how 2nd graders in a school in PA use American Idol in the classroom by judging each other. The story also shows how music programs are loosing funding due to No Child Left Behind shifting focus in schools… Read More »My classes on ABC world weekend news online

Watch ABC World News Tonight This Sunday

There is a very good chance the story on how music educators are using the show American Idol in the classroom will be broadcast Sunday evening between 6:30pm and 7:00pm on ABC during the weekend world news tonight segment. If you happen to be by a TV Sunday evening watch it and let me know what you think. See this post for more details.