moving forward with music.

I am VERY pleased to announce that the new issue of Leading Notes is out now! 

Seriously, the collection of articles - focusing on encouraging creativity and musical independence within the classroom - is amazing. That has nothing to do with me, obviously! The teachers who contributed their ideas are doing incredible things in their classrooms and they’ve been kind enough to share their lessons with you. What possible reason do you have NOT to go check it out?

SOUNDWALKS - A new unit idea from moi!

For those who have been waiting (there’s at least a few of you) for a blog post on my “soundwalk” project, then you’re in luck! There is more information than you could possibly imagine over on Leading Notes - an introduction to the soundwalk, philosophical rationale, a video with several examples, and a lengthy “how-to” PDF that you can download once you’re ready to give it a try! Click HERE to get all of the info! (I’ll include the video examples at the bottom of this post.)

A couple of articles from the latest issue (with great visuals and sound):

• How a mandatory ukulele class for eighth graders became cool: Caitlin McGovern has a GREAT piece with GREAT pictures and a GREAT audio example on her experiences as a band teacher who begins teaching a music elective focused on ukulele and songwriting. 
• Zombies in the Orchestra Room: The Student-Directed Silent Film: Daniel Henderson explains how, by encouraging his students to create their own zombie film, he was able to capture their interest and energy to create memorable experiences. Includes the awesome student film!

Anyway, if you’ve read this far, then go check the issue out! Also, if you’re doing something awesome, then contact me and let me know! I REALLY enjoy the process of working with our authors to create content that is exciting and educational for the field. Contact me: nick (at) leadingnotes.org.

What are you waiting for?! Go over to Leading Notes now!

(As promised, here’s the Soundwalk video with several examples. You’ll have to go HERE to see how it’s done!)

You can stream the podcast new Leading Notes podcast (where I interview James Jordan) directly from this site.

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I’m going to use this space to share my first endeavor into podcasting!

As part of the book club for the June edition of Leading Notes, I was able to interview the author of The Musician’s Soul,  James Jordan. We spoke for over an hour and, I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed it! We talked about his books, his experiences, his outlook on music education. Through no effort or skill of my own, I think that the podcast is an engaging 50 minutes. If you’re reading my blog, then you should definitely check it out. If not for the words of James Jordan, then for my sweet theme song (kidding!).

There are a variety of ways to listen:

1. If you’ve got an Apple computer…

You should be able to click THIS LINK to download the podcast into iTunes. This will allow you to receive future podcasts without thinking about it. This might work for PC users, I’m just not sure.

2. You can stream the podcast directly from this site. 

Unfortunately, Tumblr seems to want to keep me from being able to stream directly from here (grrr). So, you’ll have to go to the other site and stream directly. It’s simple, I promise.

3. You can download the podcast by right-clicking here.

Of course, you always visit www.leadingnotes.org for the latest information regarding podcasts and all sorts of fun things!

In other Leading Notes news…

We’ve announced the themes for the next TWO issues of Leading Notes! AND, I need your help!

Our overall theme is “Educating the New Musician”.

• Our first issue, titled “Rethinking the Concert”, will focus on new ways to consider performance as an important part of music education offerings. 
• Our second issue, titled “Encouraging Creativity”, will focus on creating more opportunities for composition, improvisation, and individual artistic expression within music programs.

The deadlines are always fast approaching so PLEASE let me know if you’ve got an idea to contribute. We’d love to hear from more public school teachers who are engaging with these ideas in their day-to-day teaching. Click HERE to more about submission requirements. 

So, enjoy the podcast and please consider becoming a contributor for Leading Notes.

Until next time…

Yeah, I’m more than a little behind on this. BUT, I’m VERY pleased to announce that the Summer 2011 issue of Leading Notes is out. We worked very hard to get this one together and, I must say, I’m VERY proud of how it turned out. 

The issue covers five different areas:

1. Connecting Through Curriculum
2. Making Expressions Through Creative Teaching
3. Reflections on the Teacher/Student Relationship
4. Connecting Through Social Media
5. New Connections in Pedagogy

While I do think that all 12 articles have some GREAT information (and you should DEFINITELY check them out), I do want to take a second to point out a few individual articles:

• If you’re looking for something new from me, I’ve got a true story titled, “Love, Loss, and the Bb Concert Scale.”
• My Mommy(!), Barbara Grant Jaworski, contributed a beautiful true story (with accompanying collage), titled “Sparkle Net, Light Blue”. It’s about an individual moment that a teacher shares with her student that literally changes the direction of that student’s life. Seriously, this is great.
• Ariel Alexander discusses her time teaching community college in South Central Los Angeles and how she allowed her students to teach her in an article titled, “Getting Schooled in South Central”. 

Don’t Just Stand There and Watch Her Burn: Using (Not Ignoring) Music to Educate About Violence Against Women

Of particular importance to me is an article by Colleen Norton that discusses how music teachers might use popular music (she uses Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie”) to address the very serious issue of violence against women. Colleen, who has a Masters in Social Work and spends her time talking to teens about domestic abuse, has written a very compelling story that speaks directly to music teachers. Here is an issue of real importance! It requires no stretches of the imagination to understand that a lesson like the one she proposes could literally save lives. Violence against women is more common than many think: one in four women will be touched by it in their lifetime. I hope that you take the opportunity to read through what she has written and to SHARE it with others! If this isn’t the type of issue that music educators would tackle, then I honestly don’t know what is.

Our other contributors for this issue are Anthony Denaro, Keith Ozsvath, Lisa Hatfield, James Jordan, Lindsay Morelli, Andrei Strizek, Andy Zweibel, Ben Collins, and my co-editor, Justine Dolorfino.

And, two more matters of business:

The LEADING NOTES BOOK CLUB!

We’ve been working very hard to organize a book club this summer. The book is The Musician’s Soul by James Jordan and we’re very excited to announce that the author will be joining us as we read through it! PLEASE go check out the Book Club page now and see if you’d like to join us! (Want a sneak peak at what’s inside the book? Read an excerpt here.)

You wanna support Leading Notes?

The reality is:

If Leading Notes is going to have any impact on music education, people need to read it.

Alright, gang. Here’s the truth: There is some terrific stuff on Leading Notes. We’re only two issues in, but I couldn’t ask for me. We want to spread the word through advertising. We also want to make sure that we have funds for additional issue artwork and other basic needs. If you like what I’ve been up to for the last year, consider contributing to Leading Notes.  Want more info? Go HERE!

What’s next?

Well, I’ve got some stuff coming up concerning some new projects you could do in your classroom. I’m very excited about these, which is why it’s taking me so long to write them… I don’t wanna mess it up! Stay tuned, though! I’ll get on the ball this weekend.

Go to Leading Notes and tell your friends to do the same!