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Practicing, Composing, & Thinking Creatively in Music

Dave Douglas recently posted a thought provoking email from one of his readers raising questions about practicing, composing, and thinking creatively in music. Both the post and the comments are worth reading and thinking about. While the email deals with a university context it could easily be applied to public school music programs. The lingering questions I’m left with are: “To what extent do we provide opportunities for our students to think creatively in/with music? And for instrumental programs: How… Read More »Practicing, Composing, & Thinking Creatively in Music

Expanding the voice… From T-Pain to Tuvan Throat Singing

The electronic music foundation is presenting a series of FREE concerts titled “The Human Voice In A New World“. (The New York Times has a review of the first one.) The strand tying the various concerts together is the way the voice can be altered, processed, modified etc. When I first found out about the series I immediately began thinking about the many ways it could serve as a springboard for lessons and forms of musical engagement in both general… Read More »Expanding the voice… From T-Pain to Tuvan Throat Singing

Congratulations to the Lesbian and Gay Band Association for making history!

Music has always played an integral role throughout history in dissolving barriers and bringing people together. The Lesbian and Gay Band Association , with musician members from across the country, will be the first LGBT group in the history of the United States to march as a contingent in an inaugural parade.  Along with many other bands across the nation, the LGBA was invited by Barack Obama’s Presidential Inaugural Committee to march in the upcoming innaugural parade. This is not… Read More »Congratulations to the Lesbian and Gay Band Association for making history!

A Call For Collaborative Musical Engagement: The YouTube Symphony Orchestra and Your Music Program!

The creation of a collaborative orchestra project by YouTube, Michael Tilson Thomas and others is one of the most exciting classical music initiatives I’ve seen in a while. Harnessing the power of the internet, tapping into the notions of participatory culture, and drawing on the abilities of instrumentalists across the world, YouTube’s Symphony Orchestra project has tremendous implications for music educators. What role might music educators play in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra Project? What role might our students play? Why… Read More »A Call For Collaborative Musical Engagement: The YouTube Symphony Orchestra and Your Music Program!

Reluctant composers & Sparking student creativity

Anytime I hear about a music class, whether in K-12 schools or the university level, that makes use of improvisation and composition I get excited. I was happy to read Scott Spiegelberg’s recent post “Teaching Creativity” (via his excellent “Musical Perceptions” blog). At the end of his post he asks the following question regarding students who are “scared or reluctant” about a composition project: “So, how do you light the creative spark in these types of students?” You can read… Read More »Reluctant composers & Sparking student creativity