Useful links

Been surfing around finding neat stuff online to share with my students and found a well-known software called Spotify (https://www.spotify.com/us/) and have used it already in my classroom music settings to great effect.  

Also found this free online string instrument tuner from get-tuned.com (http://www.get-tuned.com/).  

Of the many online metronomes out there this one is really simple and user friendly (http://www.webmetronome.com/).  

Many useful tools for instrumentalists and vocalists to use while practicing.  

Choral Conducting Inservice

At an in-service with Joseph Modica, DMA working on choral conducting techniques.  Amazing to watch how much of a change he can make in a tiny change to his gesture.  More detailed than instrumental conducting but still applicable to the instrumental genres.  Amazing stuff.  The body is the conductor's instrument and there are techniques how to "play" it effectively.  I'll post a video later...

Some spiffy links

http://www.blanksheetmusic.net/  Neat site for printing various sizes and designs of staff paper.  Useful if you can't make it to the music store or you enjoy using school toner and paper instead of your own!

http://keepvid.com/   Site for downloading YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/) videos to your computer.  Just make sure you get necessary permissions first!

Fun times with band nerds!

Student reactions to old music

Today in classroom music class, I showed a downloaded youtube video of the Farewell Symphony no. 45 by Haydn.  Hearing the story behind it seemed to overpower the students' boredom with "old music" and they thought the musicians walking out was hilarious.  Looking forward to showing more Haydn and Mozart to get their reactions.

http://cloud.feedly.com/#subscription%2Ffeed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fjrm.sagepub.com%2Frss%2Fcurrent.xml  Blog about music education research

http://cloud.feedly.com/#subscription%2Ffeed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Ftomrudolph.berkleemusicblogs.com%2Ffeed%2F  Blog about Music Notation Software

Can't wait to start my Technology in Music class.  I love using tech in teaching because the kids love to see it and will pay attention to it.  How to maximize this usage in the classroom is going to help me be a better teacher.  That's why I am pursuing my MMEd, to be a better teacher.  Let's get it started!!