Not Mozart's notation: How simplified notation helps beginning band sanity

Music notation is a valuable tool. Music literacy (including the ability to read traditional Western music notation) is an important skill which should be developed in order to help students achieve total musicianship. But lines and spaces are not always the best tool for every context, especially when it comes to popular music. I'm using a score consisting of tables for one of our beginning band songs this year. This song is a popular tune (and a student favorite) with rhythms well beyond what is typically covered in first-year band. Here's my score (note the lack of clefs, note heads, and even rhythm notation):

The lyrics are underneath, but before we get there: can you name that tune? It's certainly harder to sight read without the context of rhythm or meter. However, virtually all of my students have heard this song outside of school. So here's what a student part looks like:

Obviously, a beginning band student isn't going to get a whole lot if they just play those notes. I don't use the parts the first time we touch this song. Once we've learned the main sections (in this case, green blue and red), the written parts act as a memory aid. The small lines next to some of the notes indicate that they're "low" (below the tonic of the song). The dashes in the last line remind students to hold that note (the ending I used seems to be less familiar to students than the main tune). 

The benefit of this system is that students can play rhythms well beyond their reading ability. My group hasn't gotten to individual eighth notes yet, or dotted rhythms, but they can execute both well in the song because they know the tune and are playing based primarily on an aural concept. This "part" serves more as a reminder than something to stare at. Today, a student discovered that after a few weeks of practice, she can play the whole thing from memory! I teach band for the music, not the notation, so using this kind of part has helped my students play music that they care about and perform at a high level without getting caught up in music notation confusion. It's another way (not the best way or the only way) to write music to help student learning.

Band teachers: if you'd like parts and score for this tune, leave your gmail in the comments and I'll share with you.

ClassTag Rewards: Perks for Parent Communication

I use ClassTag to manage parent communication with my before and after school ensemble families. One of the big benefits of ClassTag is that parents can get alerts via text, email, and/or in-app notification according to their preferences. As a teacher of a ClassTag class, you're able to opt in to ClassTag Rewards, a great program allowing you to earn classroom goodies just for using ClassTag to communicate with families. Here's a sample of the ClassTag Rewards page for one of my classes:

There are many other rewards, so I could not fit them all in one screenshot. My favorite reward available is a $15 Amazon gift card, which currently costs 2,900 ClassTag coins. As you can see, I've earned more than enough coins in this class to redeem for one with this class. The gift card allows me to buy anything I might need for my classroom (or myself) that's available on Amazon, which means there's a lot of flexibility in how I spend the reward.

In addition to the awesome Rewards program, ClassTag also has top-notch customer service. I recently had a problem redeeming a reward (my school email spam filter is a little overreactive sometimes) and their chat feature was so easy to use. The person I spoke to was super helpful and got me a new gift card code ASAP so I could shop right away. It's always nice when a company seems genuinely interested in helping its customers!

Sign up for ClassTag using my code, and you'll get some ClassTag coins to use on rewards to get you started!

--I am a ClassTag ambassador. I receive referral incentives for sharing how I use ClassTag in my teaching, but really do believe in their service and think it's useful for teachers.

I Hear the World Singing (after Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing")

I hear the world singing in sorrow and joy,
The faithful sing for their church in Paris, Ave Maria for the history lost.
The victors in another athletics event sing their country's anthem,
And some children add "cha-cha cha" to every Happy Birthday.
They sing to their babies, their elders, their lovers,
To mourn, to comfort, to celebrate.
And yet I wonder: do those in the ivory tower, the keepers of the music
Even hear the singing outside?
If music becomes do-ti-do, I V I, it's no longer music at all
For the heart's been ripped out leaving empty notes that mean nothing, plunks of futility.
"It's just music" they'll say, or critique intonation and the tempo that never quite settles
The singing's alive with the hearts of its singers but there's no notation for that.
If "why music?" is still the question they're asking, maybe they need to come down from the tower
Music isn't numbers and it isn't on paper, it's alive in the streets and the fields
I'd rather sing with the masses than with those who can't hear the beauty.
Hallelujah, they cannot trap me in their tower any more.

Teacher Field Trip: Bodhi Spa in Newport, RI

It's school vacation week in Massachusetts, which means I haven't taught all week! This hasn't really been a "break" for me since I still have grad school, but it has been a chance to breathe and catch up on some self-care in between writing papers and reading articles (I've about had it with Reimer and Elliott...)

I took a spa trip with my best friend (who's not a teacher) today to check out the Bodhi Spa in Newport. We went to a Scandinavian hydrotherapy spa up in Montreal a couple years ago, and decided to try a spot a little closer to home this time.

The Water Journey at Bodhi Spa was a cycle of hot and cold water experiences, including steam rooms, showers, pools, and saunas. They have a really awesome chart (anchor charts in the wild!) hanging on their wall to remind you of all the steps in their recommended cycle. Basically, the process is to start in a body-temperature pool, cycle between hot and cold several times, rest, and repeat. The cold really is a shock to the system but it feels oddly good and relaxing in contrast with the heat from the sauna, pools and steam room. It was a great way to spend a few hours away from the New England cold (and constantly pinging electronics!) and refresh.

The spa is pretty small, but they keep the number of guests limited enough that it never got loud or overcrowded. There were plenty of fancy spa waters, towels, and ice towels to be had. The spa provides robes, towels, and flip-flops. We stayed for around two and a half hours, and I think that was about the ideal amount of time.

It was a fun escape, a great excuse to head out on a day trip (we snuck in some shopping and lots of eating while we were in Rhode Island) and I definitely hope to go again!

What's the point?

I had an observation a few weeks ago, and due to life happening didn't have a post-conference until this week. It went fine, with the usual questions and recommendations that I always expect from being observed by an administrator who hasn't taught music. But one question stuck out to me: why were students working towards this objective, and how did they know? It's a legitimate question, and something I definitely hadn't made explicit even though I did have a plan for why they were doing this and where they were going with it. It didn't strike me because of my lesson that I taught. It struck me because of my experiences in grad school.

This is week 2 of my last class, I'm finally almost done. But I have no idea why I'm being asked to re-read articles I've written about before in order to put together a summary in this course's preferred format. I have no idea why I'm being treated like a middle schooler with lots incremental deadlines and paper pushing in the capstone of a masters degree. I have no idea why I have to sit through "live classroom" online meetings that say the same thing I have already read in the course content. Literally, the point of every class activity for me so far is to jump through one of the hoops remaining between me and an expensive piece of paper I need for a pay raise and recertification. It's compliance in the worst sense, doing things for the sake of following directions, earning points, and getting through this as quickly and painlessly as possible. I did an assignment last week figuring it was just barely enough to earn an A... and I was right. Sure, I'd learn more if I put more in. But I just can't. There's no point. Beyond finishing this degree, doing the tasks of this class is merely teaching me how to be a compliant point-grubber who formats really well. It's not learning. It's not useful. Another $3000 plus wasted on educational hypocrisy. Only 72 days until I'm done learning how not to teach.

From Football to the Music Room

Lessons to be taken from the Patriots AFC Championship win:

Never give up, even in the face of obstacles
The Patriots body language on the sidelines is always fascinating. They get frustrated - Belichick swore and threw the tablet - but they never counted themselves out. Even when the Chiefs were up, they were in the game, encouraging their team, and trying to win.

Learning an instrument is hard. Maybe not pro football hard, but difficult and frustrating and sometimes it seems like a certain note or skill will never, ever happen. And yet with enough time, effort, and ragged determination, it happens.

Life isn't fair, play on
There were some horrible officiating calls in the game. Things aren't always just or fair or equal. Sometimes you get five less rehearsals because of snow days, sometimes your instrument's part is way harder than another's, sometimes you don't get that glockenspiel you were desperate to play. And yet we play on, we keep going, we keep trying in spite of whatever circumstances are thrown our way.

Practice hard, but have fun
Sports and music both take focused practice and effort. Improving skills, whether in football or music, requires work. Whether it's a football play or a musical scale, doing the same thing 100 times takes determination and tenacity. Doing the same thing 100 times and improving each time takes effective effort and self-awareness. Those who work hard can always get ahead.

Among all that hard work, find joy and levity. Tom Brady's look of joy after that trick play (that didn't work) or a fifth grader's laugher after figuring out Baby Shark both show the fun and rewards of trying hard. There can be moments of levity amongst hard work and practice, in fact there need to be in order to keep things moving forwards.

Champions win before they're on the field
It's all about preparation. The concert isn't where kids learn music. The Super Bowl isn't where the Patriots get good at football. Success requires preparation and systematic improvement, not simply to show up for the big day. Confidence comes from preparation and practice, and confidence encourages excellent performance. It's not about being perfect, or never deviating from a strict script, but it's about knowing that you've practiced and prepared as much as possible and are able to excel in the situation.

I'll be back in the classroom smiling on Tuesday... and cheering on the Patriots in the Super Bowl!!!!

Sharing Files with Families with ClassTag

I use ClassTag for a lot of my home communication, and often use the file sharing feature to help give families the full story of what is going on. Whether it's concerts, sign-ups for another session of after school activities, or just encouraging students to practice, adding files offers teachers flexibility in how they use ClassTag. It could even be used to post homework. A file can be attached to any announcement, right from the announcement creation screen:

I typically use PDF files, since they open easily and look good on both mobile devices and computers, but ClassTag will let you add all sorts of files that students and their families might need. Flyers, photos, homework, or long messages could all be uploaded as a file and sent out to parents. This feature is unique to ClassTag, and lets teachers share more about their classroom than they might be able to in just text or photos. Need to make sure a notice is seen by parents and not lost in backpacks? A ClassTag announcement is the perfect way to get that information out to parents in a helpful, easy to use format.

ClassTag messages can be sent as email, SMS, or through the app with notifications depending on a parent's preferences. I try to have the "main idea" of my message in the text of an announcement, so parents looking quickly on a phone can get the gist without opening the file at that very moment. But it's great to have the option of sending more information for those who are interested or who need it. ClassTag lets families access the information in many different ways, giving them choices in communication.

If you want to sign up for ClassTag, you can sign up here with my referral link!

--I am a ClassTag ambassador. I receive ClassTag coins and referral incentives for sharing how I use ClassTag in my teaching, but really do believe in their service and think it's useful for teachers.