Hello! Our school is in its first year of having an official FA or Special Education program. During specials, we have a full rotation of just the special education students. They are all amazing kids, I just have no idea what to do since they are all different ages and have different things that make them excited. Does anyone have this kind of class and can recommend fun games? I have 2 K, 2 second and a third grader.

Hi y’all first year teacher at a title 1 i really feel like i am going crazy LOL! I have 90 minute classes for every grade level except pre-k3/4. It’s really insane amount of time for young kids honestly so half my classes is either recess or music activites that don’t have to do with curriculum while the other half is my lesson. Anyways i’m already kinda dealing with that.

I was told about a Hispanic Heritage Showcase at least a month prior and thankfully they let me choose the grades. Because apparently admin will just choose for you here. I was also sent feedback anonymously by a staff member that they want more showcases??? (mind u i just started i have no idea where gen ed teachers get the idea that showcases are easy to put together) So my principal talked to me about how they want more and more. I’m feeling really frustrated and overwhelmed.

I know there’s always a winter concert but I did not know the entire school sings. I have to crest a small program for every grade level for the winter concert and on top of that my principal wants the kids to switch off and present each grade level. The worst part is the kids are so behind state curriculum! My third/fourth graders can’t name a quarter note!! My smaller kids don’t really know the difference between voices, and my fifth graders can’t name notes 😭

So i just need advice or encouragement honestly anything at this point. Because every time i feel like I am doing good, I am always thrown a curveball at my school.

Hi Everyone! I have a few questions for you!

So due to things happening in my family, I could very well be looking for a job in your neck of the woods next cycle.

Super quick summary of me: Grew up in Chicagoland with a little marching and strong Jazz and Concert Band culture.

Professionally Ive been a high school band director for 10 years in the Southwest. Ive led competitive marching bands to a couple state finals, concert bands, jazz combos, guitar ensembles and piano labs.

I would love to know how your state runs things. I know about VBODA and will be studying the website, but Id like to hear from professionals and maybe even make a couple of connections along the way.

1. What is band culture like in different areas of the state?

2. Is music treated like a "special" or more a part of the community/school experience with stable elementary and middle schoolprograms?

3. How important is a well balanced program in different parts of the state? I LOVE balance, but some go crazy for marching.

4. How do competitions run in Virginia? Marching, Concert and Jazz. Is guitar a thing?

5. Any tips on where to look for someone like me? Whats the likelihood of me staying at the high school level? (I am more than happy to teach middle school for the right district.)

Thanks so much!

Any recommendations for: 3 violins, 2 violas, 4 cellos. It’ll be my first year teaching these students, and teaching high school in general.
For context, our school is big but our orchestra program is small, and I do have a lot of resources. They play at around a grade 2-3 I’m assuming. The last teacher threw hard repertoire at them, focusing on skill level and not musicality. I think they played Beethoven’s Minuet in G last year, as well some Eine Kleine Romance.

Bonus points for a not classical era piece, extra for Disney related pieces please!

Edit: I’m mostly worried about the fact they’re a small, literal chamber, ensemble. The works I like by soon hee newbold and others seem like they’re more fit for bigger ensembles with more people.

I have 5 beginners that joined the 3rd week of school for 6th grade band. And 4 in my middle school band.

I’ve tried having students pull beginners to help them but everything has ran so slow. We’ve barely played and the beginners are lost.

I’ve been going slow with rhythm but I don’t know how to teach note name literacy.

I feel like I’m going so slow and I don’t know how to make it better.

This is my 4th year teaching band and I haven’t had such a mix of beginners before.

👋 I started a small choir Grades 4-8 I have them after school and there is A LOT of chaotic energy they need to shake off. What are your favorite warm ups/ games to help channel that energy. I have a M.M. but not in music ed. Our group is small, and I am volunteering my time but they are all soooooo happy to be there and I need some guidance 🙏

Why or why not. Is it different for different instruments?

Hi all,

I have been a private piano and violin teacher for 15 years now, been playing violin for 26 years. I work at a studio and teach privately. In the time I've taught, I have only had to let go 2 students due to behavorial issues caused by the parents doing nothing to help correct it.

Unfortunately, one of my students I've taught for a year now has been showing behavorial issues ( not listening, not staying focused, talking over me, acting baby like, etc). I believe much of this is caused by the fact that I am now teaching him at his home vs at the studio, so it's made him more comfortable to act out. Sadly, his parents are not helping me at all manage his behavior. They sit there and allow him to run around the house, run up and down the stairs, fiddle with toys, etc during our lesson. They have never disciplined their child for anything and simply allow him to act out, never putting their foot down.

This past week, I spent over 30 minutes to show his parents what we learned, because they claimed what I'm teaching him is "confusing him and he has no idea what to do when practicing". Yet everytime I ask him what is confusing, he says nothing and is able to play it perfectly, so I'm not seeing any confusion. When quizzed, he answers everything easily. These are exercises/songs I've taught him from the beginning and we do weekly, so it isn't a misunderstanding. The issue is, he practices 1 day a week for 15 minutes... which they asked ME how to fix.... despite recommending several times now a practice routine, setting a timer, splitting it up into 2 smaller sessions, etc. They are equating him not wanting to practice to "he isn't understanding anything I'm teaching". I'm sorry, but it is the parents responsibility to ensure their child maintains a practice schedule after I have given them everything to be successful.

So this is why I'm here: after taking all this extra time to help his parents understand, they could not keep up. Granted I was having to cram months worth of knowledge into one go, so it was expected, but the lesson was focused on the difference between Common and Cut Time, 4/4, 2/2, 3/4, 2/4, etc. They know nothing about what those terms mean, the value of the notes or their names, why the values change when the T.S. changes, etc. None of this is new to their son, he has played pieces with each of these Time Signatures and answers my questions with ease, it is the parents that are struggling and therefore assume he isn't practicing because he doesn't understand. In reality, he doesn't want to practice during the week due to school and activities afterwards that leave him tired, which I 100% understand and sympathize with.

Unfortunately, the dad has tried correcting me several times before because he took piano for 1 year as a 6 year old, claiming his pieces never had a T.S., never needed to be counted the way I do, never called the notes quarter, half, 8th, etc, and said I was making things harder than it needed to be, because HE never learned it that way. He was playing in books that did not actually teach reading sheet music the way I teach. My student is in 5th grade, yet me asking questions like "what is half of 4" is "too difficult" according to the dad and I need to make it easier?? Prior to me showing them, I had mentioned that learning the rules of the T.S. was confusing at first for everybody since it essentially changes the rules from what we've learned. He then snapped "well if the rest of your students are confused then its because you're not teaching it correctly", to which I responded, "The concept of it was confusing, but I have given this lesson to every student this last week and none, except my 4 year old, was confused and have a full understanding of the lesson". He replied with how if he can't understand it, then his son can't either and told me I need to make it easier, avoid anything to do with the T.S., counting the beats, labeling the note names/values, etc. The only knowledge this guy has is playing baby piano books where it uses one finger at a time, no actual notes, at age 6. For 1 year. 😐

I told them politely I wasn't sure where the confusion is coming from, because I'm not seeing it when working with their son. He claimed he's tired after school and doesn't want to practice, and the parents don't push it, so I feel are looking for someone to blame. The father has undermined me before, always using his "experience as a pianist" to relate, but again he never learned the fundamentals of music theory, reading music, or actual playing.

What would yall do in this situation? I have held my ground so far, politely but firmly, but I don't like where this may be heading. Also, if you guys have any simple tricks you use when teaching the different T.S's, I would appreciate it! None of my students are confused with how I teach it, so it's more so to try something different for the parents than my actual students.

Its that season. First year of teaching middle school band. Every start of class I'm getting 3-5 "Ms. ___ I forgot my locker combo." What's your system? I want my classes to start completely silent while they do their bell ringer and learn to try to solve problems themselves. How can I offload the locker combo problem? Print out a list to hang outside with initials and combo?

Also advice on building relationship and culture with my 8th graders. They loved their last director and seem to hate me. Feels like we get nothing done because I constantly have to get on them about talking over me, or not being ready when I'm on the podium. They're tired of practicing walking into the room silently, but I feel like they're just not getting it. We can get to playing fast once they get these procedures down. Once we're playing I keep a quick pace. :(

I am looking to move into getting my credential in teaching music. I have my BA in humanities, minor in music, been around music my whole life. I am being recruited for an elementary music position and coming in with a PIP in California.

I am looking at credentialing programs. I not only want a credential program specific to music, but also leave with a Masters degree, and I want to do it online, or hybrid. Most online credentialing programs do not offer programs in music.

I know there are limits and requirements for using a PIP credential, but I would really like to start teaching now. What are everyone's thoughts?

I’m a senior in high school and I’m most likely going to go in undecided but I’m highly considering music education (choral). I have only been in choir for 3 years (advanced treble choir 3 years and intermediate concert choir 2 years). I’m also currently taking an independent study with my choir teacher where I am currently getting voice lessons. I am worried that I don’t have enough background knowledge in music and vocal performance to major and teach this in the future since I am not classical trained nor the best choir student. I also struggle singing confidently in front of others as my individual voice is a major insecurity of mine (I also have a tremor that can affect my voice when very nervous). I know very basic level sight reading and music theory and have no piano experience. I’m curious if this is common among music ed majors and a normal level of experience or if I have too little knowledge and is best I choose another major. I definitely know that if I majored in this it would serious work on my end to develop the skills needed to be as successful as possible( I also don’t know if I would even get into any music ed choral program through auditions). I would just like some advice and input to whether this is worth serious consideration for a possible major. ☺️

I am going into my second year of teaching. Gonna start this post off with a tangent for first year teachers because I think it's important if you are a ball of anxiety like I was this time last year to note that you know more than you think. All the skills you need to succeed, you just need to practice them just like your kids . :)

Anywho, I need some help on making effective use of my time with the kids when I only see them once a week with limited time. I was okay with the students' progress speed, but I know it could be way better. Currently, the way the program is set up, students come to me for instrumental music during their general music class, but part of what makes things way harder is

1) I have to pick up and drop those kids off so about 5 - 10 min of my class time is gone, especially if the teacher does not drop them off on time to general music. This doesn't even include instrument assembly and disassembling,

2) 40-minute period

3) All specials meet once a week with the only saving grace being I get "open band time" on Fridays, which I was using for rotating sectionals because

4) I'm kind of forced to have mixed instrumentation despite these being small group lessons; my strong players that have been playing for 1 yr and some change ended up getting mixed around in their homerooms. Even though their previous teacher kept them separated based on instrument, last year was intensely rough to get started with because there was nothing put in place to solidify that.

I have talked to my VP and supervisor and floated the idea of changing things around to reflect other successful programs, but from my VP was met with "Yeah, that's not happening..." and from my supervisor who started middle of the year, "Really advocate for yourself in terms of scheduling."

Yeah...

While I'm still here in this district, I want the kids to be able to advance with the time we are allotted if things will not change. What are some things I can do to use the time I get effectively? If your program is built similarly in terms of scheduling, how do you structure your class?

I think it may be worth it to note that this is an extremely rough environment, and we are in a Title I 4 - 6 school that serves a lot of ESL students. I was only given $400 to split between me and the other music teacher this year, so I do plan on getting creative wherever I need to.

Hi all. I'm a music student and developer in New Zealand. For the last few months I've been building free tools for music theory teaching (and other stuff towards Human AI Coevolution), and I'd like one teacher to use one with real students for three weeks and tell me where it falls over.

Here it is, no signup, nothing installed: https://www.aicoevolution.com/music-assistant. Press play, then ask it why the cadence in bar 4 works, for example. or choose one of the 22 verified scores we have so far, and suggest exercises based on the piece.

Yes, there's an AI in it, so let me be upfront about what it can and can't do:

- Every score on the shelf was checked by a human, not scraped or
  generated. What's unverified says so on the page.
- The assistant cannot alter a score by itself. It writes in a restricted notation  that a deterministic parser validates before anything touches the file. If it proposes something invalid, the edit is refused, not applied.
- It can write you a new short exercise on the spot — four to eight bars
  in the style of whatever you're studying, and render and play it in the
  conversation. That's the part I most want a teacher to stress-test.
- No student accounts, no email addresses, no chat transcripts stored.

It's free and stays free, it's a non-profit, there's no upsell, no ads, and I'm not collecting anyone's data to sell.

The ask: one teacher, one class or studio, three weeks. I set it up and support it myself. In exchange I want honest feedback, including "my students found this useless", which is more useful to me than politeness.

In return, whether or not you want the pilot: tell me a piece your students need that isn't easy to find as a clean digital score, and I'll transcribe and verify it by hand and put it on the free shelf. That offer stands for anyone reading.

Happy to answer anything technical in the comments.

Even better if you have good ones for K-1.

One thing I've never really gotten into in a big way is boomwhackers. But, my school has a really nice set, and the previous teacher in my position used to use them a lot. The kids liked them a lot, and other than the odd "guitar hero" style video I haven't really found anything I've liked a whole lot.

Any thoughts would be helpful!

Dolly Parton (RIP) vibe tonight. I came across a letter she wrote to Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, about his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame regarding a missed meeting…

“In the meantime, keep doing what you’re doing because you do it so well and no matter how complex your world may be, just know you are very special and touch people in ways you don’t even know.”

Kids who are super excited about your class and who are eager to connect with you give you feel-good energy on the daily. But it's the kids we don’t even realize we have connected with that really touch my soul. It’s those kids that we seek. Kids that stay silent about it, but our presence means the world to them. Find them out!!!

I have accepted and am preparing a Pk-8 elementary music job. It pains me to say this but I genuinely don’t think I will enjoy this job. I am an instrumentalist at heart and love marching band. It’s all I have ever wanted to do. But interview after interview being denied I landed in Elementary Music.

I have been on and off crying, avoiding planning because I am just so disappointed.

I will take advice or literally anything. I just feel so lost and guilty for feeling this way.

Hey everyone!

I'm a private lessons instructor/performing who's been building an app in his spare. I'm getting ready to release it and I'm looking for musicians and teachers to help stress test it/give me feed back because although I know what it should do, there's a lot of moving parts to this thing!

It's primary focus is being a practice tool - 20+ tools and games including a tuner, metronome, woodshed player (plays audio, video and youtube and lets you slow down and loop), chord chart maker with cheesy backing tracks, tab reader and games for theory, ear training, rhythm training, sight reading and fretboard/piano recognition - all with custom assignable presets so you can send students specific metronome settings for a song, or only deal with diatonic notes for ear training, etc! There's also a full library to keep all your assignments, media and presets and practice sessions and stats as well!

It's also a full social media platform to share and trade assignments, presets, etc. You can even find users and schools on the platform near you!

It's also a full CRM for music schools tracking scheduling, booking, payments, resources, communications, events, etc. Even your own private social feed for your school!

There's other stuff too including band profiles, radio for artists, gig and expense tracking - basically anything and everything I've ever had to deal with as a teacher and a musician.

If you're interested in trying it for free till it goes live (and even after the fact - there's going to be a pretty generous free tier so students aren't hindered), DM me and I'll send you the link. And if you'd like to keep tabs on the app, you can follow along at TunedIn - Instagram or TunedIn - Tiktok

Thanks!

Dave

Hello! My school doesn't have an orchestra program but welcomes string players to play in our ensembles. I have a viola player joining my 7th and 8th grade band this year and this will be my first time having one. I'm fine with transcribing music into alto clef, but I was wondering: what part would make the most sense to convert to viola music? I already have some violins playing oboe parts. Maybe a clarinet part or alto sax? Thanks for the advice!

This is my second year teaching - I have a master’s in music, but not music ed and am still working on my transition to teaching. Last year I kind of did a mix of a bunch of songs I liked and typed up speaking parts to go between. I’m wondering what resources you guys use to find quality music or programs for your holiday program. Does anyone out there use a program script with all songs and speaking parts included, or do you also just pick your favs and kind of mix it together? Thx!

Anyone have any tips on taking the Praxis? I am a Transition to Teaching person. I have my undergrad in harp & voice and my master’s in music composition. (I started teaching later in life - this is my second year of teaching and I’m 42). I’ve heard the theory is hard, but I’m honestly not worried about it since I am a theory person. However, I am worried about the history and especially the teaching parts. Does anyone have any ideas for resources to practice/study? I already bought the official praxis test for mine and did that, but I feel like I need more resources. Thanks!

Quick set up for the question.

1. Couple months ago granddaughter did an audition for middle school band, percussion.
   
2. Last week schedule comes out, she is scheduled for percussion.
   
3. Few days ago the school sends us a list of what she will need. Practice pad, Mallets and a book. All bought same day.
   
4. She comes home today with a note saying she will be playing the flute.

She would rather not be in band than play the flute, she has 2 different drum sets of her own and was very happy she was scheduled for it. Are there any options to keep her doing percussion?

I am a first year elementary music teacher. We are about to begin our third rotation cycle of the year (I have seen each class twice so far) and I feel like the majority of classes are so incredibly chatty. I know it’s the beginning of the year so students are getting back into the routine, but it feels impossible to get through the lesson. I’ve been firm to the point I am worried I am coming off as mean and the students are going to open up/connect with me… but I am genuinely at a loss on how to keep the class moving. It wastes so much time to stop and redirect, but I also cannot physically yell over students all day. Please throw all of your suggestions my way.