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Here are simple but powerful ways to use Audacity. In the effects menu, you can change the tempo of a song without changing pitch. You can also change the pitch of the songs to make it easier to sing.

Here are simple but powerful ways to use Audacity. In the effects menu, you can change the tempo of a song without changing pitch. You can also change the pitch of the songs to make it easier to sing.

Wynn Literature is a site I found a few years ago as I was looking for music for my high school Intermediate Band to play for the Georgia Music Educators Association's Large Group Performance Evaluation (concert festival). The band I had one year was unprepared to play most Grade 4 Literature and I needed help choosing Grade 2 or 3 pieces. Wynn created this list of compositions that are on the GMEA LGPE required list. It is important to double check the most current LGPE list as the list is updated yearly. The compositions are written by composers whose works have been deemed to be "Contemporary Concert Band Standards" as they have the best mix of challenging the students as well as entertaining. Some of the composers include James Swearingen, Quincy Hilliard Robert W. Smith, David R. Holsinger, and James Curnow just to name a few. The site has changed a lot since I originally found it. You were able to click on the individual compositions to get more information about the piece such as key signature, meter, performance ranges for most of the instruments, technical issues that may occur (difficult rhythms or harmonies), background on the composer and historical perspective of the composition. Since the site's links do not work anymore, WynnLiterature is a great starting point to search for literature to play at the middle school level as well as the lower/developmental bands in high school.

Wynn Literature is a site I found a few years ago as I was looking for music for my high school Intermediate Band to play for the Georgia Music Educators Association's Large Group Performance Evaluation (concert festival). The band I had one year was unprepared to play most Grade 4 Literature and I needed help choosing Grade 2 or 3 pieces. Wynn created this list of compositions that are on the GMEA LGPE required list. It is important to double check the most current LGPE list as the list is updated yearly. The compositions are written by composers whose works have been deemed to be "Contemporary Concert Band Standards" as they have the best mix of challenging the students as well as entertaining. Some of the composers include James Swearingen, Quincy Hilliard Robert W. Smith, David R. Holsinger, and James Curnow just to name a few. The site has changed a lot since I originally found it. You were able to click on the individual compositions to get more information about the piece such as key signature, meter, performance ranges for most of the instruments, technical issues that may occur (difficult rhythms or harmonies), background on the composer and historical perspective of the composition. Since the site's links do not work anymore, WynnLiterature is a great starting point to search for literature to play at the middle school level as well as the lower/developmental bands in high school.

Wynn Literature is a site I found a few years ago as I was looking for music for my high school Intermediate Band to play for the Georgia Music Educators Association's Large Group Performance Evaluation (concert festival). The band I had one year was unprepared to play most Grade 4 Literature and I needed help choosing Grade 2 or 3 pieces. Wynn created this list of compositions that are on the GMEA LGPE required list. It is important to double check the most current LGPE list as the list is updated yearly. The compositions are written by composers whose works have been deemed to be "Contemporary Concert Band Standards" as they have the best mix of challenging the students as well as entertaining. Some of the composers include James Swearingen, Quincy Hilliard Robert W. Smith, David R. Holsinger, and James Curnow just to name a few. The site has changed a lot since I originally found it. You were able to click on the individual compositions to get more information about the piece such as key signature, meter, performance ranges for most of the instruments, technical issues that may occur (difficult rhythms or harmonies), background on the composer and historical perspective of the composition. Since the site's links do not work anymore, WynnLiterature is a great starting point to search for literature to play at the middle school level as well as the lower/developmental bands in high school.

Purpose of this resource: Chordify is a useful website for determining the chord progressions of almost any song. Musical Content: Chordify allows users to upload or link to recordings and analyze the chord structure. This works for all genres, including classical music. The chords are displayed in text form, and you can follow the chord changes through the piece while your original file plays. Other information: When using Chordify, educators should double-check the chords. Files with extra sounds (such as applause) can cause the program to add extraneous chords, and suspensions/inversions are not written out. This resource is still helpful for score analysis, and even for choral directors with limited keyboard proficiency. Chord changes can be written in to concert music to allow for a simpler harmonic accompaniment when teaching.

Learn Jazz Standards is an online jazz resource for musicians. We specialize in helping musicians learn jazz repertoire and become better jazz players. The Learn Jazz Standards website has two main components: the Blog and our Jazz Standards.

This is the hub for the Learn Jazz Standards podcasts and YouTube videos. This is a great resource for learning jazz theory, ear training and approaches to improvisation.

The Learn Jazz Standards website contains a comprehensive list of jazz standards, including lead sheets (in different transposing keys), essential and/or original recordings, and a recording of a rhythm section playing through the chord changes several times (a la Jamey Abersold). Often, these "jazz minus one" rhythm section recordings are offered in a few different keys. The site also includes a blog, podcast, and a list of articles on the topic of jazz. This resource is especially helpful for melodic instrument jazz players, giving them practice with chord changes, and I use this site frequently in my jazz classes.

North Carolina Music Educators Association. MISSION:  To advance music education by promoting the understanding and making of music by all. VISION:  Leading North Carolina in music education, empowering generations to create, perform and respond to music. VALUES: INCLUSION and EQUITY - Building strength and promoting diversity in a profession representing a wide and changing spectrum of people and culture, abilities, economic backgrounds and gender identities while continuing to carry out the association's letter of intent. COMMUNITY - Collaborating with our members and partners to carry out our mission STEWARDSHIP - Empowering volunteerism and strategically developing leadership, fostering a spirit of accountability and a culture of giving of our time, talents, and resources COMPREHENSIVENESS - Uplifting the human spirit and providing opportunities for all students to create, perform, respond, and connect to all styles of music INNOVATION - Enhancing music teaching through combining effective and dynamic new practices with proven strategies in the context of a changing global community.

This website deals with all things related to the saxophone. There are links on this page for many articles. Some information is geared towards beginners (such as reading notes and how to hold the instrument). Other information is geared toward more advanced players (such as improv and even changing pads/neck cork).

Band Ed Tool Shed is a blog ran by a band director named Roger Whaley who is aiming to work smarter in his music classroom. He also outlines issues he encounters in his system and how he overcomes them. Great resource for directors to use for ideas on how to adapt to changing conditions and create new resources for their classrooms.

Excellent articles on how to work with adolescent voices are on this site, including much insight on helping boys deal with changing voices.

ACTME is the journal of the MayDay group. The May Day group gathers music educators and researchers that have interest in critical ideas and strive for changes in paradigms in music education.

May Day is a group of music educators and researchers that strive for changes in musical education paradigm towards cultural diversity and social justice.

This is a fun website/tool where woodwind players/students can create their own fingering chart.  It is also another way to assess students on knowing their fingerings for their instrument.  There are a number of ways to change the chart in size and color.  

Here are some excellent ideas for introducing various tempo and rhythmic patters to students of grade levels K through 5. The examples go over steady beats, eighth not patterns, and dynamic changes of loud and soft. The first few examples do not specify grade levels but the later examples do. The grade levels are highlighted in yellow.

MusicTheory.net is a great website to teach theory to students. It has lessons on a variety of topics, interactive exercises to support the theory topics, and tools that could be used in conjunction with other activities in the classroom. There are also apps available for devices. The best part is that the exercises can be customized (scroll down to the bottom of the exercise or tools pages) with a permanent link so that students can take quizzes or have additional practice for specifics without having to change the settings for themselves. For example, note identification can be customized to the clef and range of a specific instrument and sent to those students for practice or quizzes.

A blog post which discusses a change in philosophy and perception as they pertain to playing high notes on the trumpet by a trumpet professor from IU.

Especially for private instructors like myself, access to core music standards is not always readily available, or exactly the same as state standards. For fellow WI instructors, it is important to stay abreast of changes made to the Standards for Music. This site directly links to the government page on the topic.

This site is for professional development that provides videos of changing technology to be used in the classroom. For example, training in Go Noodle, Garage Band, Finale Notepad, etc....

Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Auditions is a blog article by Marie Grass Amenta about a man who began his career as a demanding and emotionless choir director. His interpersonal skills were non-existant with his choir. After self-reflection he soon discovers this is not really who he is. A young girl who auditioned for his choir was seen crying afterwards and he decided he can't pretend to be someone he isn't. That experience was a life-changing moment after which he left his current position and went to a community chorus and is now in a more relaxed, enjoyable environment for all.

Allows you to watch performances from different angles in order to see the conductor and different instrumentalists. Allows for a unique view of an orchestra where you can be up close to the people playing in a way that the full view of an orchestra doesn't allow. The interactive nature of being able to change camera angles is also engaging, and would get students interested in seeing the different facets of a whole symphonic performance.