http://teachingthewirechoir.com The Musings and Mumblings of a String Teacher Mon, 12 May 2008 23:22:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en During a time when music in American public education is an oft endagered component, Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog April entry highlighting the 60 Minutes segment on El Sistema and the Venezuelan National Youth Orchestra was very refreshing. I cannot imagine anyone not being very glad for the positive impact ... http://teachingthewirechoir.com/2008/05/el-sistema-why-not-in-america/ My prior theme was not playing nicely with Wordpress 2.51 on the "back-end" of my blog. So, I've changed to another theme for the short-term. Thanks for your patience! http://teachingthewirechoir.com/2008/05/wordpress-theme-problem-sorry/ I came across a video of Scala on John P.'s One Man's Blog. Scala is a string quartet recently featured on Britain's Got Talent. You will certainly recognize the faces on the panel if you watch any of the American talent shows. This may be something to show your string ... http://teachingthewirechoir.com/2008/05/scala-a-rockin-string-quartet/ Teaching the Wire Choir has a new home and its own domain name! You may be here as a result of an automatic forward from our previous home. The change was made this weekend and fortunately, there weren't too many difficulties. All seems to be working fine. Please bookmark the ... http://teachingthewirechoir.com/2008/05/teaching-the-wire-choir-has-a-new-home/ One of my goals is to help my students learn to listen as they play/sing. I want them to begin developing the ability to listen to themselves and the ensemble and respond appropriately to intonation, blend, balance, phrasing, etc. In short, all those elements that transform those dots on the ... http://teachingthewirechoir.com/2008/04/student-self-evaluation/ A couple of years ago, TI:ME was featured at the FMEA Convention. The focus of the convention was technology in music education. During one of the seminars I learned about TI:ME certification. I have given some thought to taking some of the TI:ME classes. However, while I use various ... http://teachingthewirechoir.com/2008/04/is-it-time-for-time/ At the beginning of this school year, I instituted something called "Music Monday." Every Monday, I would play a recording of a piece of music for my students. They, in turn, would respond to the selection by writing a description the piece using musical terms. We would also briefly discuss ... http://teachingthewirechoir.com/2008/04/youtube-and-expanding-musical-horizons/ . . . or so they say. Assuming it is true, I guess it's time I come clean. I have taught band & strings during my teaching career. But, as of this year, I have ventured into the world of vocal music, teaching middle school chorus. Fellow instrumentalists may be screaming, ... http://teachingthewirechoir.com/2008/04/confession-is-good-for-the-soul/ Wow! Thanks to NAXOS and Dr. Joe Pisano, the first 100 Music Bloggers who join the ME Bloggers campaign will receive a free subscription to NAXOS' new online service. I was considering giving this service a try as a resource for the listening I like to have my students do ... http://teachingthewirechoir.com/2008/04/naxos-online-subscription/ Dr. Joseph Pisano has updated his list of Music Ed bloggers. There are 30 on the list now, about a third of the way to the 100 bloggers by Dec. 31, 2008 goal. Some of those on the list have been blogging for a while and some (like me) have ... http://teachingthewirechoir.com/2008/03/me-bloggers/