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This blog post is the second in a series of posts on a song writing unit I delivered for Grade 9 English Language Arts. It is also very appropriate for a music class of any type. Please check out Part 1. 4. Quizizz As mentioned, Quizizz is an online platform with educational trivia games designed specifically for the classroom and works great in an online or in-person environment. It is similar in many ways to Kahoot! but learners seem more engaged with it. What Quizizz does

Contrary to popular belief, I enjoy coaching large ensembles. These groups are really good at facilitating the practice of reading European staff notation, but something these ensembles have historically not been good at is facilitating the practice of learning by ear, arranging, and composition. I know, ear training is part of the training, but ear training and learning by ear are not the same thing. Here is a blog post explaining the difference and the benefits of it. This

Podcasts have become popular, and it seems today that everyone and their dog has a podcast worth listening to. I often think about starting one of my own but am in awe of the shear amount of work it is to find good guests, topics, and to keep a steady schedule of recording. Regardless, I have been interviewed for three music education podcasts to date, and all of them are worth a listen, not just my episode, but the others in their roster too. First Up: The Elementary Music T

Bach is the epitome of composing. His methods are the only way. Sure, he’s good, but there lots of other ways to sound good, and his was only one way to sound good in the 1700s. Music learned outside of school is lesser. It’s not, it’s just different, and much more relevant to how music is made in society in general. Band is everything. It’s not. It only really exists in schools and the military, so why would you think that? And community bands only exist because they exist i

A version of this blog post is being republished in the forthcoming book, Technology for Unleashing Creativity, set for release in 2022. Musicians across all genres of music have heard of Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI). What is interesting, and rather mind-boggling (to be honest), is that music teachers (myself included) trained in university classical music programs either never heard of it or have heard of it but just don’t really know what it does. Music educa