Teaching Music

Why Music Lessons Need to Keep Up With The Times – from The Conversation

The 21st Century Music Curriculum – Why Guitar? – from NAfME  “… I noticed that almost every other musically gifted child also quit.”

The Problem With Piano Method Books – from PracticeHabits.co  “… part of the reason that some students can’t navigate intermediate music”

What Music Should My Child Listen To? – from PBS Kids  “Play adult quality music … Create an ear food cafe”

The Music Teacher as Producer – Video version of the paper by Clint Randles on YouTube

Music Education at the Tipping Point – Excerpt from the full 2007 article by John Kratus  “For music education to remain relevant and provide value, it must change with the times or experience the fate of the stationary shark.”

Making Music Makes You a Better Listener – From Harmony Central

Engaging With Reluctant Students – from Piano Power

Biggest Mistakes Parents Make – from Piano Power

How I Memorize Piano Music – YouTube video by Jocelyn Swigger from TEDx Gettysburg College

Transform Yourself Into a Performer – YouTube video by Alpin Hong from TEDx La Sierra University

Capo Song List – From Fret Gear

Jon Anderson from Yes – discusses how the groups communicates intricate musical ideas without using staff notation – from the Innerviews website.

History & Appreciation

American Sound Studios – History from Wikipedia

The Muscle Shoals Swampers – History from Wikipedia

How A Swampers Session Was Conducted – from Wikipedia  Important insights into creative processes in modern music

Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section History – from Allmusic

Billboard’s Greatest Songs, Albums and Acts

Classical Music

How Do We Fix Classical Music – A discussion on NPR

Classical Music is in Survival Mode – from Marketplace.org

Classical Music Isn’t Dead – from the New Yorker

Classical Music Is Dying … – from CNN

Ten Questions For A Critic: The State of Classical Music – from NPR

Software & Apps

Cakewalk By Bandlab – Create account and download

Musescore – from Musescore.org – Download the app

Amazing Slow Downer – from Roni Music – Download for PC / Mac / Android / iPhone – Mobile versions are integrated with Spotify.

VST Planet – Incredible number of analog synths, organs, 808s, and effect plugins, trial versions, most for free

MusicTheory.Net – Note identification exercise, with customizable options

Music Business

CDs and the Music Industry (from 2000)

Academic Papers

NAfME Opportunity to Learn StandardsSee the sections on Materials and Equipment

The 21st Century Music Classroom

The evolution of popular music: USA 1960–2010 – Royal Society Open Science

Popular Music and the Public School Curriculum

Repeated Listening Increases the Liking for Music Regardless of Its Complexity – from Frontiers In Neuroscience

Instrumentational Complexity of Music Genres and Why Simplicity Sells

The Origin of the European Folk Music Scale – from Ethnomusicology Review  Early uses of the pentatonic scale around the world

Voice Leading in Blues 1 – from Haromony.org.uk

Voice Leading in Blues 2 – from Haromony.org.uk

The Shifting Locus of Musical Experience from Performance to Recording to Data: Some Implications for Music Education “One cannot credibly tell the story of our century’s music without sound recordings.”

Music Teacher as Writer and Producer – abstract from Journal of Aesthetic Education  “I attempt to redefine the role of a music teacher … by using descriptions of the role of writer and producer of student lives borrowed from music education philosophy, screenwriting, and professional music producers.”

 

Non-Musical Links

Greg’s Favorite Animations on Youtube
Some are pretty mind-blowing, if you’ve never seen them!