Anyone that has taught band, orchestra, or any instrument based music class has doubtless had students that can only be described as challenged when it comes to playing their instrument. I’m firmly in the camp that almost every student can learn to play an instrument if they have positive experiences and if they are dedicated to practicing, but we all know that there are other issues that come into play that can wreck even the most brilliant teacher’s plans. Regardless of what those outside stresses might be there are a few things that any teacher should consider before they allow themselves to discount a student’s potential. These are tricks that I have used that I have had success with.

It seems like almost every day I find myself giving my beginning band students a recommendation of a free online metronome for them to use at home as they practice. A real one or even a mobile phone app is almost essential for any musician but the online variety works equally well, especially when faced with the financial issues many music parents have these days.  If you know where to look you can even find online metronomes that do complex rhythm patterns and have most of the features of the expensive hand held units.  So what free ones do I consider the best?  Check out this quick list to find out and then bookmark your favorite.

The iPad is an incredible device when it comes to helping children express themselves in new ways.  When used with some equally creative iPad apps it opens up a host of new possibilities not only for creativity but also for personal expression and musical learning.  Check out this week’s featured list of iPad apps that are essential tools of the trade for your young Mozart in training.

Recently I saw the results of a study by Kenneth Alpus and Carlos Abril (2011) on the current demographics of instrumental music students in our high schools.  To put the results simply, males, non native English speakers, Hispanics, and low income students were much less likely to stay in instrumental music into their high school years, if they even participated in them at all.  A free analysis of the study is available over at Science Daily.   A similar study of middle school students by Daryl W. Kinney (2009) found many of the same generalities in that students from higher income families and two parent households were more likely to join and stay in the band program through the end of middle school.  In light of this maybe it is easier to see and understand why enrollment in United States high school music classes have fallen to around 20% nationally while at the same time over 40% of Americans could be classified as being “low income.”