PLN Classics for Kids--can't stay away from this site.

http://www.google.com/reader/view/?hl=en&tab=wy#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Frss%2Fpodcast.php%3Fid%3D510237

I really really really love this series. If you haven't heard any, I would highly recommend listening to these little kid-friendly 5 minute podcasts. They teach me something new every time. In this one, Naomi Lewin, the writer of the podcasts, extends the Hungarian theme of the past few weeks of broadcasts with this 5 minute introduction to the Kodaly method. She describes solfege and uses examples from The Sound of Music to illustrate the syllables for solfege. She interviews a solfege instructor who describes the hand signals for the syllables. She also breaks down rhythmic elements and melodic elements. She then uses folk melodies to illustrate the Kodaly method, using the syllables. Then she extends the elements of the Kodaly method into classical music.

I love, love, love, love NPR! I am so happy that these podcasts are out there on the Web, accessible to everyone. If I had kids, I would definitely expose them to these little musical examples that cover a wide variety of classical music accessibly.

Sequence stration

These articles describe MIDI techniques to make better sounding MIDI recordings and playbacks. In Watson's article, he uses the word 'Sequence-stration' to describe the technique of layering instrument sounds to produce more accurate MIDI sounds. One major drawback of MIDI is that the MIDI files sound tinny, nasal-y, fake, etc. etc.. Sequence stration addresses this problem by layering MIDI sounds to make the sounds more realistic. He uses 'timbral alchemy' to describe what he does with the MIDI files. If he wants to add a warm quality to a string quartet's lower voices, he uses a low register horn sound for the cello instead of the standard MIDI cello file. He also describes ways in which you can layer MIDI sounds together to create new and surprising sounds.

I think that this is an interesting way to create better sounding MIDI. I have not experimented with it yet, but I think the idea has potential to create more realistic MIDI sound files. One big problem that I perceive with the 'sequence-stration' is inherent to sounds that are created by a computer. I don't hear the natural overtone series, ever, in any digital MIDI files. The MIDI sounds dead to me. The overtone series is a phenomenon that happens in nature. For example, the trilling of a bird activates a host of other sound waves that occur in nature. This is part of the reason that birds, humans, dolphins, insects, dolphins, etc. can communicate with each other, and part of the reason why it is so easy for humans to hear the difference between digital files and sounds in the environment and in nature. I think that when people just can't pin down why it doesn't sound right, this is the reason. Can a MIDI file create a perfect fifth that is completely in tune and resonates with all of the natural overtone series? I don't know. It might. I'll have to try it. But I have a feeling that a bird wouldn't mistake a mating call created by the MIDI for the real deal.

PLN blog I read about why you shouldn't become Facebook friends with your students (obvious, but he had some good points)

http://www.google.com/reader/view/?tab=my#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Ffeeds2.feedburner.com%2FSoYouWantToTeach

As a teacher, I think that it is really important not to cross a certain line with your students, especially if your students are near your age. It can confuse boundaries and make uncomfortable situations for all parties. It is especially important in a private lesson setting. We've all seen Mr. Holland's Opus, right? Remember the girl who wants Mr. Holland to go with her to NYC, and Mr. Holland has the deaf kid at home and is frustrated with his life and almost leaves his wife and kid? That Mr. Holland, he got all the way to the bus station before he realized what a dufus he was being! And this isn't just a story, kids! I think we've all heard of this happening in real life. Anyway, I think it always falls on the teacher to be the responsible adult, which means not messing kids lives up. So, stay far far far away from your student's facebook pages. Maybe when they have degrees and both of you are adults the student can stop calling you Mr. or Mrs. so and so. Until then, its only appropriate and conscientious of the teacher to make boundaries very clear. It is also important to be sensitive to the student's emotions and feelings, but the teacher is also an example to the student of psychological health.

MIDI readings

MIDI is basically a digital piece of software that is useful because it can recreate sounds inputted by the user using a piano keyboard with digital output. It can also recreate sounds inputted by computer keyboard. The sounds that MIDI creates are the same in any application because MIDI is a standardized system. A useful analogy is the player piano. The player piano "reads" the pinpricks on a piano roll and corresponds the correct note with the configuration of the holes on the piano roll. Similarly, a MIDI device "reads" the inputted pitch and timbre and plays a corresponding sound.

This is really useful when there are a lot of sound files to store; the memory taken by the MIDI file is only about 1/10th of memory taken by a digital file. Transposing is also no problem for the MIDI. If one uses MIDI to transpose a song from the key of A to the key of Bb, for example, MIDI transposes the pitches correspondingly. This has no impact on the quality of the sounds, as they are the same across all platforms. This is also one of MIDI's drawbacks. The quality of sound that MIDI produces is undesirable and should not be used to illustrate timbre to a beginning student, for example.

I think that MIDI makes up for this in ease of use compared to a digital audio. As technology gives us more computing power in smaller bits, I think that digital audio will be preferred over MIDI because of the nature of music education and performance. To me, there is no way, MIDI or digital, that can replace the sound of a human being playing an instrument, no matter how far technology in general progresses.

PLN Classics for Kids NPR Hary Janos broadcast

http://www.google.com/reader/view/#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Frss%2Fpodcast.php%3Fid%3D510237

I listened to two podcasts: one about Zoltan Kodaly and one about Kodaly's opera Hary Janos. I really enjoyed them both. They are six minutes each. The podcasts are long enough to be interesting but not exhausting. This is important, since children are the intended audience. The podcast highlights the most important biographical details of Kodaly's life and the opera Hary Janos. The writer of the broadcast (Naomi Lewin) does a good job framing the context of Kodaly's life with different tidbits that might be interesting to kids. For example, she mentions that Kodaly wrote a lot of songs for children to sing and developed an entire method around his songs. She also asks active questions like "can you imagine what a musical sneeze would sound like?", then plays the first two bars of Hary Janos, which depicts a sneeze. In the interjections between sections of the music, she explains what the next passage is supposed to represent. I imagine an interested kid would really enjoy these podcasts. The Hary Janos suite is often played in a youth orchestra setting, and it would probably be helpful and add to the enjoyment of the music if this podcast was played to the kids before and during rehearsals of the piece.

Week 4 blog on readings

These articles are referenced in this blog:

• Notation Software and the National Music Standards – Bb (pp. 99-100, Technology Strategies for Music Education)
• Creative Thinking and Music Technology – Bb
• The Vermont MIDI Project – Bb
• Sibelius: A Comprehensive Guide… – Chapter 14

The Vermont Midi project is an internet based program designed for students in grades 2-12. The project allows the students to share their work regardless of their geographical location, because all of the feedback happens on the internet. The project was born in 1995 when a group of music educators met to discuss the National Standars for Music Education.

The most obvious tool for learning about composition is music notation software. The students write music in several stages and the mentors provide feedback along the way. When a composition is complete, the student can submit their work to the Vermont MIDI project to be performed by a professional ensemble in a sponsored event.

What a great learning experience for both students and teachers. This is using the internet to its full potential! There is no drawback for any music educator to participate in this project. If the teacher doesn't know something about the composition process, it is easy to find out when there are a number of willing collaborators on the other side of the world. Access to knowledge is easy in this forum for both student and teacher.

Creative Thinking and Music Technology provided me with a lot of teaching ideas. One of the most pertinent to me right now is the point that the author makes about putting an 'edge' on teaching strategies. When I teach, I find myself getting into a predictable pattern. Music technology composition software can help me help my students. I will show my students the Noteflight software and show them how to use the software in their private lessons. I will have my students think about what they need to work on in their lessons and have them use the software to create an etude or exercise, which I will print and add onto. I think it will pique my student's interests, too.

Chapter 14 in the Sibelius book also gave me a lot of good ideas. I am realizing that Sibelius is a really powerful tool that I can utilize to help me teach my students in a variety of ways. The plug in for the note names and fingerings will help my students memorize new fingerings and patterns. I often talk about emphasizing the tonic and dominant notes of the pieces that my students memorize. The highlighting and coloring notes plug in will help my students have a visual cue. As a horn teacher, I see students struggle with transposition A LOT. In the professional world, transposition is a skill that must be second nature. If a student is a visual learner, I imagine that using the transposition tools in Sibelius would make it a lot easier to understand transposition. The hundreds of worksheets/warm ups that I will be able to create using Sibelius will be invaluable to my students and myself.

I am realizing that there are a lot of practical and useful applications for educators in the field of music technology. There are powerful tools that I can utilize to be an example for my students so that they will be able to utilize the technology that I never learned as a student.

reflection on week 3 readings

The readings this week pertain to the many uses of music notation software in the classroom. Some of the most obvious uses include notation and composition.

For notation purposes, a teacher can use the software to write parts that are easily legible. Most of the software is intuitive, so it will be easy for the teacher to learn the basics of the software to notate parts quickly. The notation software can also be utilized to write more difficult parts for more advanced students or simpler parts for students who are still learning the basics. It is a challenge to continually push advanced players, so notating a clarinet part for an advanced trombone player would be an option with the music notation software. Conversely, it can be frustrating for a player to switch instruments, perhaps from the clarinet to the bassoon, and have to fumble over the part because it is too difficult. Another great use is easy and automatic transposition from one key to another key. This eliminates a lot of confusion if the band director isn't good at transposition.

Music notation software is also a useful compositional tool. As the student creates a piece, the playback feature allows the student to hear what they have composed. If the student is not familiar with the piano and wants to write a piece using more than one voice, the playback feature is an easy way to hear more than one voice at a time without struggling over piano technique.

awesome story I listened to on NPR.org (PLN)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112336166&ft=1&f=1105

This is an article about a school chorus made up of 10 and 11 year olds in Staten Island, NY. They have recorded several songs for YouTube and have become an internet sensation. They have also been featured on Nightline NBC. The chorus is led by an intense young teacher named Gregg Breinburg.

In my opinion, the musical quality of the chorus is exceptional. They spend hours and hours in rehearsal, and it really shows. They are aware of harmonies, blending, and pitch. These details are a natural outgrowth of their love for the music that they sing and the joy that they get from singing together. It is apparent in their sound and in their faces and body language as they sing. (You can check them out on YouTube; search PS 22 Chorus.) The songs that they sing aren't traditional. Their repertoire is made of up of Lady Gaga, Journey, Michael Jackson, and Coldplay, among other popular artists.

This teacher is really invested in his students. He jumps around in the videos, yells out encouragement in the songs, and expects as much from his students as he does of himself. He prompts emotion and feeling in the songs by asking questions: "I want a little more power, guys," Breinberg says. "I don't feel it! You are questioning the world! Didn't you ever wonder how did all this happen? I want to see it. I want to feel it."

In this school, nearly seventy-five percent of the students are on free lunch. This speaks to the socio-economic status and crime rates of the area. This ensemble, with the exceptional role model it has in Mr. Breinberg, could very well be the future of this Staten Island community. His focus on bringing out the very best in his students could change these children's lives permanently.