At the 2008 MENC Conference I was able to attend a session given by
Robert Duke of the University of Texas at Austin and James Byo of
Louisiana State University regarding a new instrumental band method
book that they have been working on over the last several years. Since
the conference the method has been getting some significant attention
on the MENC message boards
from teachers who are looking for something new and innovative to
replace the old, traditional method books that have been used in our
classes for decades. What is making The Habits Of Musicianship
generate such a buzz? Maybe it is because many of the premises behind
it make so much sense. Maybe it is because the progression of
activities in the book is completely different than almost any other
method book out there. Of course, it could also be that "The Habits of Musicianship- A Radical Approach To Beginning Band " is radical in that it is FREE for use by anyone that chooses to download it!
Ever wanted to ask a music education question but couldn't find a good place to ask it? MENC has revamped their music education forums and, at least for now, they are open to anyone member and non-member alike!
I spent the last several days attending the 2008 Music Educators National Conference (MENC) conference in Milwaukee. I had been looking forward to the trip for several months, and as conferences always do, the experiences I had there have recharged my enthusiasm for teaching music and made me want to be a better teacher. In this blog post I will highlight some of the big things I learned and saw over the course of the event.
For over a hundred years school children have been taught that Thomas Edison was the first person to make a viable audio recording. Well, get ready to do some revising of the history books...
I have seen many different online wind band music information sites come and go over the years. When I was a grad student I even made one myself as part of a class project. Of course, it died as all the rest have as a result of an apparent lack of interest by the music education community as a whole. Today I was informed of a new site that in my opinion may have the ability to break free and survive in the long term. Organized and edited by dozens of collegiate faculty and graduate students, the new Wind Repertory Project may provide what many band directors have wanted for a long time. A comprehensive, useful source for information on a large variety of wind band literature. Read on to find out more!