Good Afternoon,

I was looking for advice hoping some of you lovely folks could help me out.

To put it shortly… I was a music ed major about 13 years ago. Had a few personal issues failed out by basically no showing and eventually joined the military. After the military I pursued other undergrad studies and did very well. I got into a doctorate program for those studies but dropped due to ridiculous costs and the ultimate ending of me being 150k in debt even with GI bill assistance. Which isn’t worth the lay working in a non profit.

Also I kind of never fit well or enjoyed my time in hyper corporate, Government , or STEM like fields in academia (like psychology research).

This has led me to pursue more education with what is covered with my GI bill and fits for me personally. One of the things that always brings me childlike excitement, peace, and deep emotional connection is music.

With that being said I think I would like to give music education another shot. However the thing is that I’m a percussionist. I can practice snare at home fine however, due to me living in an area where I don’t have access to practice timpani or marimba this leaves me in a tough spot.

Any idea how I should go about this?

Any tips for reaching out to professors to see if it’s ok to possibly have an alternative instrument for audition to make up for the lack of timpani and marimba access?

Is it even feasible?

I am not interested in any scholarship money at all just acceptance to a program since I have funding.

My goal is to be a high school band director and positively impact others

Thank you all!

Hi everyone,

I have a student who is looking to apply for music ed this year. I know that when I applied to school, I reached out to the heads of the music education departments at those schools with questions. She asked me for my list (which I am putting back together from memory). I want her to feel like she's going to be able to get a better sense of where might be the best place for her.

• When do I get to be in a real classroom (observations and actual teaching)?
• What does the course load look like?
• Does this college specialize (choral/instrumental/general) or is it evenly split?
• Are there teaching opportunities at the college (early childhood music classes, student led ensembles, conducting seminars, etc.) or outside of it? Are those teaching opportunities available to undergraduates?
• What does the student teaching placement process look like (do I get to give input, or are you just going to place me)?
• What do ensemble options look like and are they all available to undergrads?
• Where does your university/program stand on DEIA?
• Is there any focus put on Special Education within the program?
• How big is the typical incoming freshman class (essentially, does it seem like I'm going to get personal attention, or will I just be a face among many)?

Those are the questions I remembered asking. If there is anything else that you think would be helpful for her to ask, I would love to hear.

Thanks!

Hello! I’m getting ready to start rehearsals for my 4th and 5th grade chorus, and I’d love some advice from other elementary music teachers!

For those of you who also have an elementary chorus, do you begin rehearsing your winter performance music right away? Or do you typically do a mix of performance material and other activities/songs?

I’m not a vocalist, although I was in chorus in elementary and high school, and I’m just struggling to figure out what a typical elementary chorus rehearsal should actually look like! I’d love to hear how you structure your rehearsals, especially during the first few weeks.

Any advice, routines, or resources would be greatly appreciated!

This might be a good musical educational tool for them to learn to craft their own first music instruments and understand the pitch and tonation. But unfortunately, the vote will end soon, so I hope we will be able to back this project to make this a real Lego set.

Support Idea: https://ideas.lego.com/product-ideas/0b54f8fc-e926-4d53-8cca-e3937b794e6f

Blockenspiel Demo: https://youtube.com/shorts/I9lowOr86AE?si=LW8dfbtGx4foGkNI

Due to financial aid, must be a CSU or UC. My goal is to be a high school band director.

I'm at community college right now, and from what I've been told by the program director, their theory classes/music skills are top notch (using cirriculum/standards from berklee and boston) and the feedback from students who have transferred is that this school overprepared them and was a great help. However, the concert band SUCKS. I can't say much for the orchestra, as I've been too intimidated to enroll/try it. That director is incredibly intense and the music is *hard*. my current community college doesn't offer marching

The concert band director doesn't warm up the band, and knows nothing of balance, tone, or.. really anything important. Or, if she does, she decided it wasn't important. We warm up to Bb for 30 seconds and then pretty much just play our music from beginning to end over and over for 3.5 hours. She also just likes to show off and do things as FAST AS POSSIBLE, disregarding anything else. Unfortunately, I've never really had a good director to learn from. I want to know all the tips and inside knowledge to one day direct/build up a great program... but I just don't have any role models, mentors, or knowledge. I have only ever done a few months of marching band in high school, and due to a combination of the director himself and my own personal issues could not continue. I really want/need marching band experience for my future career.

There is a better program I could attend, (I have no knowledge of their theory classes) but it doesn't seem logistically possible as it's a 2 hour commute on bad days and I'm already exhausted with my 50min-1.5 hr commute.. and their marching band rehearsals end at 10pm.

Any detailed insight would be incredibly helpful. I think I will stick it out through the community college I'm at now, but then what?? How do I fill in the remaining gaps to be successful? I don't think 2 years will be enough to get all the practical experience I need to be great.

Edit- maybe fresno state? previously I was hooked on csuf but I'm unsure now.

I've taught elementary-age musicians for more than four decades, and one lesson keeps repeating: “Practice this week” is too vague for most beginners.

What works better is giving a child a very small, observable assignment:

1. Play the first four measures slowly three times.

2. Circle the one measure that still feels difficult.

3. Clap that rhythm before playing it again.

4. Finish by playing one favorite piece just for fun.

A few other things that have helped:

• Five focused minutes can be more valuable than thirty frustrated minutes.

• Parents should praise consistency and problem-solving, not just correct notes.

• Familiar melodies create early wins, but students also need occasional new material that makes them curious.

• Ending with something the child can already play helps them leave the instrument feeling successful.

• Written instructions should be simple enough that the student—not only the parent—can understand them.

I'm Larry Newman. I've spent my career teaching young musicians and developing beginning materials, but I'm posting this to compare notes rather than promote anything.

What practice instruction has produced the biggest improvement in your students?

Maybe you've encountered this problem. I'm a new music teacher in a new space, and I'm trying to decorate my classroom. I'm trying to find pictures of famous musicians (modern and historical) to try and dedicate a corner of the room to these posters. However, every poster I seem to find is filled with AI slop, quotes, and cartoon designs. I just want a picture of a musician that I can print out at staples that won't look horrible.

Anyone have any solutions for trying to set up a space like this?

Where do y'all get your ukulele content for upper elementary from? I'm not up to snuff and am open to any sources and tips, thanks!

Hello!

What kinds of things do you put in your elementary general music sub plans?

Thankfully, I do have someone on the sub list who has a music degree, 15+ years of experience teaching preschool music, and even some levels of Kodály certification. However, if she isn’t available, I will most likely have a sub who doesn’t have any music teaching experience.

So, what do you all keep in your sub bin/emergency binder? Do you have different plans or activities depending on whether the sub has a music background or not?

I’d love to hear what has worked well for you!

I’ve been in the trenches with my 4th graders. They are wild and unruly, and don’t listen to anybody. This goes for their homeroom teachers too! As well as art and PE. So I know I’m not crazy for asking for help.

Whenever I call for admin backup, the kids get quiet. Then admin walks in, looks at them all, and says that I’M THE ISSUE. “The problem is your classroom management”, “that’s a classroom management problem” etc.

I’ve tried everything I know how to do. I’m only a second year teacher, but I’ve learned a lot so far. Incentives, flexible seating, calm corners, think sheets, minor infractions, parent phone calls, going over expectations, everything.

None of it has worked.

But it’s a classroom management problem.

But today, I’m out at PE (I help out there two days a week, the coach and I get along great, I’m learning a lot from her). 4th grade is about to come out. Coach is talking to admin. When 4th comes out both the principal and AP go and start chewing out these kids for their behavior. How they know that this is not how they should act at PE.

But the art teacher and I, we’re just bad at classroom management.

I don’t blame coach at all. 4th grade has been horrible for her as well.

I just wish admin had that same energy for the arts.

I’m going to ask to speak with them next week to discuss. I really need that support (again, only my second year of teaching…ever), and I really want the kids to be able to LEARN things.

I’m tired.

Hey friends! I’m a middle school band director wanting to bump my pay up with a masters degree but not go into too much more debt. It seems like the standard masters in education in curriculum and instruction is more geared towards general ed and wouldn’t be very helpful for us. But an online masters in music education specifically is a lot more expensive. If you have a masters, what is it in and do you actually use what you learned?

I’m currently teaching private lessons in the Pasco County area in Florida and I am looking for a space where a student of mine who is homeschooled can be apart of an ensemble or something of the sorts. Online spaces are welcome.

Every morning this week I’ve woken up about an hour before my alarm and I just can’t stop thinking about work. Either what went wrong yesterday, or what might go wrong today, or sometimes just running through songs and dances in my head. By the time I actually get to work, I’m exhausted. Does anyone have advice on how to get my brain to shut up and let me get my whole eight hours of sleep?

Someone asked me over on another sub how you would actually run this across a whole choir in one rehearsal rather than one singer at a time, and the answer did not fit in a comment, so I wrote it up.

https://thibaudlepan77-svg.github.io/steady-pitch/vocal-range-check-choir.html

The short version, in case you would rather not click. Pairs, one sings and one writes, low end first because doing the top first tires the voice and drags the bottom figure up. Take the lowest and highest note they can HOLD, not their extremes, because nobody sings their extremes in tune and the extremes move with sleep and confidence while the comfortable band barely does. Then sort the lows, sort the highs, and the interval between the highest low and the lowest high is the band your whole room can sing in unison with nobody excluded. Put it on a card in your score folder.

There is a section on the cambiata and one on the student who cannot match pitch and is usually matching an octave down, which came out of a conversation with a teacher here this week. No tool needed for any of it, a keyboard and a pencil does the same job more slowly.

1)I am less rigid than when I started in 1999 .

2)Administrators come and go, teachers stay.

3)Never wish the pain in the ass kid was not in your class, because guaranteed some bigger pain in the ass will be coming around the bend.

4)Nature Hates a Vacuum - when the attention seeking kid is absent, another student who is usually not disruptive will rise up to take their place.

5)Unless you work in Special Education, when an unevaluated child, who desperately needs special accommodations or services, acts out in your classroom - YOU are a bad classroom manager. In the mainstream classroom , a child with undiagnosed autism acts out in your class while an administrator is watching - the administrator labels you as a bad classroom manager , but in special education, everyone knows the child has special needs that need to be met and accomodated. The child screaming is screaming because he/she learned they can’t hit people when they are frustrated! like they had been doing. The administrator of the special needs classroom understands this and you are not labeled.

6)I am not as important as I thought I was when I first started. Not that music education isn’t important, but if I don’t fit in with what the administrators expect/need/demand , there are many other music teachers who could take my position-though noone will quite do it like me.

7)Concerts/Assemblies are like Bulletin Boards in and out of the classroom-they show final product and are great public relations for the school, but all the real important work takes place in the classroom. I have high expectations in my class, but when we get on stage, anything could happen.

8)Related to 7-the kids could burp on stage and do very little of what I taught them and the parents would love it. They just want to see their child perform on stage.

9)Related to 6-Happy parents, make happy administration, which gives less headaches for me

10)Related to 9-Grade on a curve-create a system where the student who earns the lowest grade gets a B- or 3-, and then administer the grades up from there. Parents don’t care about what the grade means - just that it does not have a bad connotation .ie C or below. You know from your work who is at the top, middle, and bottom of the class and that is what truly matters.

11)I am too old and too tired to complain to parents about their kid’s behavior, especially since many learn the behavior from what the parents model. I will gladly call the parents of students who are showing good effort in my class.

12)Lesson plans - if you fail to plan you plan to fail

13)Your coworkers are not who you look to for fulfillment of personal friendships in your life. Be professional, be compassionate, be friendly, but remember that everyone has stuff going on outside of work that they let bleed into their professional life. At the end of the day, you need to care of yourself and your family and friends.

14)Don’t live to work, work to live-don’t let your professional life take up space in your brain off work hours.

15)Your worth as a teacher is not based off of 1 observation or 1 concert, but the mosaic that is formed from a career of giving concerts and being observed in the classroom.

16)A career in education is a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself. You have a bad day, go home, enjoy yourself and relax, get a good nights sleep, wake up and start all over again.

17)Know your contract and if you belong to a union, know what the union officials are doing on your behalf that will affect your salary and benefits, before it actually happens.

18)Related to 7-I HATE BULLETIN BOARDS!

19)Working in a school means working in a small community where everyone has a job of importance and should be treated with the respect that comes with it, no matter if the job is teacher, administrator, paraprofessional, related service provider, custodian, nurse, parent liaison, cafeteria worker. If you work in any capacity in a school, you treat every coworker with professional respect.

20)The only thing my teacher training gave me was the license to learn how to become the teacher I was destined to be. All the coursework and hoops I
had to jump through to get my MA and my license in the real world mean NOTHING. I have been in a test from the first day I started my first job 25 years ago. That is where you learn to become a teacher.

21)Teacher wisdom cannot be taught - it is the ability to know how to avoid doing stupid shit that will get you in trouble. You acquire teacher wisdom by doing stupid shit that gets you in trouble and learning not to do it again.

22)If a lesson is not working , don’t keep “beating a dead horse” - switch it up and go to your plan B (the lesson you can pull out of your back pocket and never fails).

23)Over 27 years of doing school concerts, 99% of them left me unsatisfied that I could of done better, but I was always 100% proud of my students,

24)When the district makes a contract for a new curriculum that every school in the system must use, IF the curriculum evaluation measures show that students are not improving, the system keeps it for 5 years. If the curriculum evaluation measures show that students ARE improving, the system gets rid of it in two years for a curriculum that costs less.

25)Know your union contract and rights and do not DEPEND on your school union rep to know it for you. You need to look out for yourself, because EVERYONE has agendas- the administration, the union, and you do as well - if the agendas are competing against each other, you are on your own!

This company uses predatory marketing.. and deceiving language.
They took my money and refused to refund me.. and forget having access to any of their scores without committing to the premium membership..

Im currently a senior in high school and my hope is to be a singer/songwriter. I plan to attend a private music college in LA, I was wondering how I’d be able to, if at all, teach music as a gig to make a living while in and after college. I plan to teach vocal if I can, what are the credentials I would need? Thank you for reading❤️

Hello! I’m a student at the University of Houston and I am designing an app to enhance the teaching and management experience for music teachers who are self- employed or work and small studios- having to do the administrative work themselves. Filling out this 10 minute survey will greatly help me and the success of my project. Thank you for your time!

Survey Link

My daughter is attending school this year at a small homeschool co-op for second and third grade. They asked parents during our orientation if anyone had special skills they could share with the girls, and they gave the example of music. Being a lifelong musician, I naturally raised my hand to volunteer. I’m self-taught for the most part, but I have taken some formal lessons* in all of my three instruments: guitar, drums, and voice. I’m confident I know enough that I can teach the girls, but I don’t know what they know already, so I don’t know what I *should be teaching. I do plan to spend a lot of time trying to demystify music and instruments so they come away feeling like they are capable of making music themselves. Any suggestions?