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This is a discussion by New York Times columnist, David Brooks, and Kathy Fletcher, and the director of Turnaround Arts Initiative about the important work that Turnaround Arts does through the strategic use of the arts. The discussion talks about how music facilitates brain development, why certain things in music leave people fascinated, and what magic music brings to emotion. The discussion also unfolds how the arts, and music education in particular opens the student's mind to memorisation. David Brooks says "Students understand better when topics are introduced through music". I agree with that because most students become more alert when a topic is introduced through song and it fosters the interest of students. Therefore we need arts to succeed in education. A lot of artists came from struggling backgrounds so when they talk to children that would like to succeed in the music world but are frightened that they'll never make it, they tell them "I know what you are going through but you can make it". This encourages those children to push on and excel in the arts. Kathy Fletcher says music boosts critical thinking and confidence which is ideal for students and they end up excelling in all other fields. The arts connect us all through music in a way that music created is shared all around the world. Partnerships are created to perform music and people come together to listen to music. This makes us one.

What better way to involve students--regardless of musical talent and ability--in the music-making experience than to integrate technology into our everyday classroom instruction? Blogger Ethan Hein provides his audience with seven sample lessons that use music technology as the means through which to teach music-specific content; among the examples he provides are assignments for making music with loops, MIDI, and found sound. By adapting any of these lessons for use in our own classrooms, Hein is convinced that we can engage and involve all students in the music-making experience.

A fun and interactive source or beat mixing and music making. No account needed. Free options. Allows students to create, record, and download their compositions.

Incredibox is an online and free music technology resource that has the user drag and drop icons to create different arrangements using various loops. The website also creates a game where the user must find the right combination of loops to make creative decisions that the program has pre-determined. This resource is a great tool to introduce students to the world of music technology while also teaching about form, the recording process, sharing of music, and how/why musicians makes creative decisions.

This composition website allows the composer to experiment with form, texture, harmony, and other elements of music without having to read standard notation. Instead of music notes, the music is represented by a cartoon boy in different outfits.

This software is a easy way for students to make, create, compose, their own music. The purpose of this source would be to help student come up with creative ways to make music, using a famous interface call Ableton push. It makes it easy for the composer to create loops, and other things using this software. It comes with many features, like effects, vocals, built in instruments, and loops. There is more than enough tools for the composer to use, to create different types of music.

Picture-dense description of how to make a violin. Suitable for younger students (age 5+), to show them the work and craftsmanship that went into making their violin.

Good article about how to use music in your classroom management plan. Use music to make routines in the classroom fun and time limited. Once the music starts, the students know what to do and how much time they have to get it done.

Good article about how to use music in your classroom management plan. Use music to make routines in the classroom fun and time limited. Once the music starts, the students know what to do and how much time they have to get it done.

This page details the process of violin making, sound production and care and maintenance.  I will include this page on my school website for the students and parents to use as a reference.

An app for the iPad that provides complete mastering for recordings. This app uses pre and post EQ as well as effects for making recordings sound polished and professional. Great to use for the band classroom when making recordings. 

Eric Litwin is an author, musician and producer who specializes in children's music. He is one of my favorite artists for kids. He has many educational resources and a curriculum for preschool children. His books featuring Pete the Cat are awesome and appear regularly in my music room! Eric Litwin also does performances in schools and communities and has visited my school for his "Earth Shaking, CD Making" project where my students learned songs and recorded them to make their own CD.

This articles discusses myths of the saxophone being a jazz instrument rather than a classical instrument. It offers suggestions on instrument selection, mouthpieces, embouchure development and reed selection.

This articles discusses myths of the saxophone being a jazz instrument rather than a classical instrument. It offers suggestions on instrument selection, mouthpieces, embouchure development and reed selection.

I have always found it difficult to make my warm-up something that the students take seriously, and improve from. This is the PDF of Larry Clark's clinic at Midwest 2014. It discusses a variety of different tools to help make warm-up something that the ensemble excels at, rather than a waste of time. Also includes a great graphic for the Circle of 4ths / 5ths.

We are Crossref, a not-for-profit membership organization for scholarly publishing working to make content easy to find, link, cite and assess. We do it in five ways: rallying the community; tagging the metadata; running a shared infrastructure; playing with new technology; and making tools and services to improve research communications.

This page lends itself as yet another valuable resource, especially for those whose weakness is teaching students to play by ear. In it, you will find six games that not only seek to refine our students' aural abilities but also serve to make a seemingly tedious task both motivating and fun; among this list are activities like rhythm chain, scale stops, and interval recognition--all of which can and should be implemented in K-12 music classrooms.

This article brings awareness of diversity in students and activities music educators participated in to receive a different perceptive pf how to engage with students.

Pro Tools is a professional level digital audio workstation. It is used in many professional recording studios and music production facilities. Pro Tools is often praised for its near-limitless capabilities, but its high cost and memory and processing requirements may make it difficult to use for teachers or hobbyists with lesser computer systems. Avid offers different versions of the software that ranges from the free, limited capability Pro Tools "First" to the full-featured Pro Tools Ultimate, which is designed for professional recording and processing. The free version, Pro Tools First is an excellent way for new users to try out professional DAW software without making a large financial commitment.

Sight Reading Factory is a subscription based website with the ability to generate unlimited sight reading examples. This is great for group sight reading in class, individual practice, or assessment purposes. Each exercise is fully customizable to suit your students needs.

This site can be used for practicing sight reading. The possibilities of combinations of notes, short songs, and everything can be found here. I have even found that state all-state bands have used it to create their sight reading pieces for all state band. It does cost, but the price can be worth it even if just a teacher subscription is bought.

The purpose of this resource is to provide students and teachers and alternative method for practicing sight reading. The site randomly generates examples based on level specifications about rhythm, time signature, key signature, and intervals as set by the instructor or students. The subscription is only $2 a student.

Offers a good variety of lessons, for both beginners and advanced students, from notes' duration to Neapolitan chords. Also tools such as chord calculator, metronome, pop up piano window etc., are available for free.

A great free cite for notation practice exercises and lessons.

Music Theory Learning to read music

This article provides ideas for small budget ensembles to make a dream of commissioning a new piece of music a reality. Commissioning music is a great way to get singers invested in music-making, yet the monetary restrictions can be huge. This article encourages the reader to not be afraid to reach out and see what opportunities are possible just from a simple conversation.

This is a wonderful string specific blog that has information for beginniners up through making that audition for college. It has advice to help educators with their classes as well as players make the most of their performance.

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.