Olympics

As I sit here watching the Olympics, I can't help but think how big a role music plays in the games. Over the last 2 weeks, national anthems have been played, music has been skated to, video montages have been shown, performances at the opening (and soon to be closing) ceremonies, not to mention NBC's theme music and much, much more. This music has to come from somewhere--from being written to performed and published. These people got a start somewhere and we need to encourage that to happen in our schools. Watching the athletes on the podium--music evokes quite a response--wow.

On that Olympic thought, I really wish curling was available to watch more frequently than every 4 years!

Parade of Bands

It's coming. Whether (or maybe weather) or not we are ready. March 2nd is the Parade of Bands concert at the high school--only one week away. We have lost a lot of rehearsal time, but the students have done a nice job the last several days of buckling down and getting some work done. Hopefully my stress level will cooperate. Students were reminded today that they need to be at the high school by 6:40 on March 2nd. The concert should last about an hour. Any MAYBE the weather will cooperate. We'll see. :)

Vocal Nodules

I have been pretty remiss in addressing some of the things we are doing in choir, so I'll attempt to correct that. Ask your 7th or 8th grader about solfege syllables (you might know them better as that Do, Re, Me song from The Sound of Music). We have been using these syllables to help aid our note reading and our sight singing. I even had one student today who mention that they now get this whole note reading thing. Pretty darn cool!

I also have been hoping and waiting for the technology to show this video about vocal nodules. Every day we work to warm up our voice. This video is a great example of what happens when we don't warm up (just like you would for athletics). The doctor speaking isn't very interesting to listen to, but he has some great information. Hopefully we will be watching it in class very soon!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9LKwISwb_c

Week of Feb 8

I was pleased with the solo/ensemble performances last night--many students did some excellent work practicing, preparing and presenting! Special kudos to Jena, Allison and Carly for their I+ ratings!

Because of weather and solo preparation this week, lessons have been very confusing! Due to the random nature of the week, I am not going to have this week count for lesson grades--it is simply too random and a bad measure for grading. Hopefully things will return to "normal" next week after the long weekend.

Only 2 1/2 weeks until the Parade of Bands concert!!!

and a wiki

No--it's not a sneeze. I have added a wiki as one of the resources to for student learning. Wikis are things that are editable by many people, not just me. The hope is the increased involvement and interaction, which hopefully leads to increased learning--at least that is the goal. I am still learning about wikis, so it might be a while before it really takes off.

I think the best feature is a discussion feature. Let me know what you are thinking--everyone can have a say!

http://cmmsmusic.wikispaces.com/

Twitter

In case you haven't noticed the new feed on the right, I have opened up a Twitter account for school. Mr. Ruden convinced me to get going, so I am learning all about Twitter. I am really hoping to use it as another vehicle to communicate with parents/students about important issues relating to our program and education in general. Hopefully it will also lead to increased collaboration with other teachers around the state and country so that I can get better at what I do--teaching music. Feel free to follow me on Twitter--I am always looking for feedback!

7-8 Solo/Ensemble Schedule

I posted a link to the solo/ensemble schedule for Thursday, Feb. 11th at PCM Middle School on the CMMS Music site. Please check it out. I am sorry that it is so late in the game, but with snow days, things have gotten crazy as far as the prep work. Along with a schedule, there should be all the information you should need. Let me know if you have questions!

Grammy Awards

I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of the Grammy Award show and all the hoopla and overdone performances, so I didn't watch much of the awards, but I did catch a couple of things. The first was the call from the president of the Grammys to ensure that all students have music education from kindergarten through high school--something that doesn't exist in many school districts around the country.

The second thing I caught was the performance of the Dave Matthews Band. I am a huge fan of the DMB and always enjoy listening to them perform. One of the things I appreciate the most is the fact they don't have to be dressed in the most ridiculous attire or use inappropriate language to get their point across. They have some great instrumental lines that go through their music and their lyrics are great. Good stuff--check them out!