Warm-up

Check out this warm-up for balance and blend!

PLN- Performing Music

If you're looking for a one stop shop for music performance on the internet, look no further than YouTube! YouTube is great because everyone knows about it and can access it easily, so you can post, with expressed written permission, videos of your choir, band, or orchestra for people to see! This is can be especially useful if you want to have students reflect on and assess a concert; you just pull it up on YouTube and put it on the Smart Board, so they can respond to both what they see and what they hear to get the whole experience of a concert audience member, aside from the live aspect. Also, there are many videos by teachers both for teachers and for students, respectively, to give you or your students a new point of view on a song, technique, or most any other issue out there!

Dear Finale,

You are an absolute life saver! Your powers know no bounds, in my opinion, for you helped me with a project in GarageBand. I like that when I put in a note, I get instant feedback on what it sounds like and how it fits into a piece. And I found this much easier than trying to play a whole piece five times (it had five parts, yikes!) on the computer keyboard by leaps and bounds. You are easy to pick up, and once someone gets the hang of it, they can import, write, and create music quickly, efficiently, and effectively. I think, no, I know, I will continue to use you and your many tools in the future for my musical and teaching needs.

A new fan,

Cameron MichaelJames Forman

Ah, the Internet. A place where people from all corners of the globe can become inter-connected instantaneously. This is used to the advantage of tech savvy teachers who want to get, or stay, connected with colleagues. An excellent example of this is comes from a personal experience I had in an ACDA national choir. We were learning a piece called The Awakening, and the director pulled strings and contacted the composer, Joseph Martin. But there was a slight issue, he was nowhere near where we were! I believe he was at home, probably writing more excellent music, and we were in Chicago (by the way, he lives in Texas). So, he wanted to hear us and talk to us, but he was hundreds of miles away. But, as it turns out, that is not really an issue anymore; seeing as we got to Skype the composer of a song we were singing. He listened to us, gave us feedback, and then told us stories about how and why he wrote the piece. It's a truly inspiring and heart tugging story, but after we heard his story, you could tell, the song was completely different. After just learning and 'picking someone's brain,' I, and my friends in the choir, learned so much. And without technology, none of that would have ever happened.

Ah, the internet. A place commonly used for games, videos, pictures, and procrastinating. But there's more to it than that; it's full of resources and accessibility that can be found nowhere else. Some of these resources are, actually, quite surprising. They are called 'social networks'. These resources can be extremely useful in keeping activities organized. Seeing as nearly everyone these days has a smartphone, or access to the internet at all times, they are often the easiest way to keep or get in touch with people. That simple, yet very important, function can be extremely helpful in organizing an event. Just by making a group or event on Facebook, you can connect to every person involved in just a matter of a few key-strokes and a click, or two! This resource may have a bad rep to some people, but when used in the right way, it can be a powerful asset to any and every teacher.

Sincerely,

Cameron MichaelJames Forman