A Learning by Ear and Transcription Project for Intermediate Band

Contrary to popular belief, I enjoy coaching large ensembles. These groups are really good at facilitating the practice of reading European staff notation, but something these ensembles have historically not been good at is facilitating the practice of learning by ear, arranging, and composition. I know, ear training is part of the training, but ear …

Was Classical Music the Popular Music of its Time?

There was a tweet that really inspired this blog post in the first place. And it went something like this: I've heard people say, "Classical music was the pop music of its time" before and unfortunately that cannot be further from the truth. One of the main reasons folks are led to believe this is …

STEAM in Music Class with Coding

This is an adapted draft of a chapter section that has been accepted for publication by Oxford University Press in the forthcoming book Technology for Unleashing Creativity by Steve Giddings due for publication in 2022. Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math, or STEAM, is an approach to education that prioritizes cross-curricular learning with the five …

32 Tips and Tricks for “Letting Go” of Your Creative Inhibitions

I’ve discovered a few things along the way that have helped me immensely in overcoming my fear of improvising to help me to “let go” and just play. These are either ideas for when you are improvising, soloing, or composing or just some really good things to know. They will work with your learners, too:

How to Create a Safe Place for Improvising and Composing

Here are some simple actions you can take or phrases you can say or think to foster a safe place to explore and experiment with music in your general music classroom, band, orchestra, or choir classes: Things to Do If a learner has a song to play that they created and are enthusiastic about showing …