For music educators - By music educators

All Blog Posts (17)

Jazz at Lincoln Center's Band Director Academy

Jazz Directors - want to teach jazz more effectively?

Jazz at Lincoln Center's Band Director Academy (BDA) emphasizes hands-on learning and techniques that can be immediately applied in the classroom. This year's BDA focuses on teaching improvisation, and is useful for ANY level jazz director, from beginner to expert.

Dates: June 25-28, 2010

… Continue

Added by Andrea Pelloquin on March 2, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

Jazz Articulation

A hundred years ago, when I was young, they used to teach jazz articulation with vocal syllables. Each type of articulation had a very specific syllable. I sort of remember, but don't. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Continue

Added by Joyce Hibser on December 2, 2009 at 3:55pm — 9 Comments

Jazz Ed Network Conference May 20-22, St. Louis...You are invited!

Make history and attend the first Jazz Education Network Conference at the Univ. of Mo. in St. Louis May 20-22! Better yet....apply to have your group perform or do a clinic! Submissions due Oct. 30th. More info online at: www.JazzEdNet.org .....you can register or apply online today! Continue

Added by Mary Jo Papich on October 12, 2009 at 10:28am — 1 Comment

BAND METHOD!

Hello all, Very exciting news from me and FJH. This week I'm going into the recording studio to begin recording a new band method that will be released by FJH with preview copies available at Midwest. The method, "Measures of Success," is written by an amazing team including Deb Sheldon (Temple University), Robert Sheldon, Timothy Loest, David Collier (Percussion, Univ. of Illinois), and myself. While we're not seeking to reinvent the wheel as many other methods have sound approaches, there are… Continue

Added by Brian Balmages on October 5, 2009 at 11:18am — 4 Comments

What's New for 2009-2010

The members of MSBandDirector.com have added many new content items over the past year through collaboration. These useful educational items appear mostly in the forums with a small few appearing in the blog section of the site. As new items become popular to more and more members, they are tracked and eventually make their way to the main page.

… Continue

Added by Russ Weaver on August 22, 2009 at 12:44pm — 1 Comment

Stimulus package for instruments

I got this as an email and thought that I would share. If anyone takes the initiative on this, please let the rest of us know how it goes... ARRA AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT 2009 EXAMPLE OF AN ALLOCATION UNDER TITLE I FOR EL PASO ISD, TX.: $28,784,966 Important information about ARRA from National Educational Music Company, Ltd. Dear Music Educator, Billions of dollars are on their way to the fifty states to be invested in education. The first of these funds was slated for distribu… Continue

Added by Alan Nowell on June 2, 2009 at 9:55pm — No Comments

Adobe Reader for PDF Documents

Some of the files on this site and many others are designed to be read using Adobe ® Reader software. These files end with the .pdf extension. ex: my_document.pdf You can download and install the Free Adobe Reader here: http://get.adobe.com/reader/. Once you have installed it, these type of documents should open up for you, whether they are stored locally on your machine, or whether they open in a browser window. If you do not wish… Continue

Added by GHN on March 9, 2009 at 10:03am — 2 Comments

free Jazz Handbook

I have a free Jazz Handbook which can be had for the asking. All I need is your name and address and the quantity of the Handbooks. Continue

Added by Jamey Aebersold on March 3, 2009 at 11:15pm — 3 Comments

How to use MSBandDirector.com

How to use MS for blog.mov Directors, Many questions have come in regarding how to effectively use MSBandDirector.com. Let's take it from general to specific:

… Continue

Added by Russ Weaver on February 5, 2009 at 9:00pm — 1 Comment

National/State Coordination of Guest artists for Middle School Band Programs!

Directors, This blog will probably end up as a forum, however let's start by discussing the basic notion of bringing in a guest artist to perform (not conduct or clinic, that's different and it's already in the forums) with your middle school band. In the past, guest artists with middle school bands could be cost prohibitive because of transportation, now through this forum we should be able to coordinate a bit. Let's say I wanted to have a guest artist who lived in Georgia, come perform with my… Continue

Added by Russ Weaver on October 19, 2008 at 2:30pm — 2 Comments

Using MSBandDirector.com as your browser's default homepage at school.

Directors, Thank-you so much for you individual feedback regarding the differences between what you see at home on MSBandDirector.com and what you see at school on MSBandDirector.com. The reasons are varied and many, and it has to do with everything from your machine, your software version, your operating system and especially your servers and the guys prohibiting things from getting to teachers on the front lines. Many members have overcome the "IT" difficulties by simply requesting that MSBand… Continue

Added by Russ Weaver on October 18, 2008 at 8:35am — 3 Comments

All the Good Stuff is in the Forums!

Directors, Please take a minute to browse through the forum section of MSBandDirector.com. All of the really good worksheets, discussions, music lists and information that you need to teach is in the forums. You can also upload worksheets and anything that you use in your teaching. When enough directors view the uploads, they will be moved to the "Main Page" for quicker access by all directors. Let's hash it out in the forum section! Relevant questions are answered and thoughtful commentaries ar… Continue

Added by Russ Weaver on October 12, 2008 at 12:00am — 1 Comment

New Study Shows Professional Musicians Have Higher IQs Than Non-Musicians

Directors, Here is an article that shares some of the latest brain research with regard to music education. A very neat article. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081002172542.htm Continue

Added by Russ Weaver on October 10, 2008 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Middle School Band Directors encouraged to share.

Directors, Did you know that posting to the forums in MSBandDirector.com allows everyone to benefit from your expertise! For instance, if you find a quality piece of usable concert band literature for download off the internet then all you have to do is add the address to that particular forum and everyone can benefit! If enough directors comment that it is a great piece for their programs, it will be placed on the main page for quicker access. This should allow all programs to benefit very quic… Continue

Added by Russ Weaver on October 7, 2008 at 7:15am — 2 Comments

The Anatomy of a Hyperlink

Here is a quick guide to adding hyperlinks to your member pages, particularly useful for linking to your school's website. This technique can also be used to link to MSBandDirector.com from your school website or favorite forums. There are two ways within this platform to add links (hyperlinks) and they work on your member pages in the editable boxes, in discussions and in blogs.

Option 1 - Adding a hyperlink

T… Continue

Added by GHN on October 6, 2008 at 10:30pm — 2 Comments

MSBandDirector.com gains momentum as Middle School Band Directors join together in collaboration!

As directors participate in this incredible global collaboration, everyone benefits! Administrators, teachers, parents and ultimately the music students. Some of the finest practices in Middle School Music Education are available for free on this website. All a director has to do is take a few moments to realize that nearly everything they need to teach Middle School Aged Learners is available on the main page or just one click away. Directors are now networked across the world for… Continue

Added by Russ Weaver on October 5, 2008 at 2:43pm — 1 Comment

Trap Set Rubric

Trap Set Rubric This is by far the best thing if ever seen. I’ve been playing the drums for the last 40 years, now I have something to put the drummers in their place without having to “serve them” as they say by playing it myself. I only do this when I’m in a good mood. Continue

Added by Curtis Edwards on September 21, 2008 at 9:03am — 1 Comment

Featured Blog Posts

View All

Latest Blog Posts

Monthly Archives

2010

March (2)

2009

December (2)
October (4)
August (1)
June (1)
March (3)
February (1)
January (1)

2008

October (8)
September (1)

Welcome to
MS Band Director

Sign Up
or Sign In

Lesson Plans

Grading

Young Band Score Analysis

Repertoire Project

Professional Organizations

Music Teacher Websites

Music Theory Resources

Latest Activity

Becky Harris and Megan Wilski joined MS Band Director

9 hours ago

Jerry Luzeniecki commented on Jerry Luzeniecki's photo 'Selmer Tenor Sax'

The work was done by Pettitfore's in Elkhart, IN.

15 hours ago

Megan Wilski added a discussion

Ideal Band Size for On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss

Hi, I have a very large band, 95 students. I have programmed Holsinger's On A Hymnsong for the spring concert. As we are rehearsing, it just seems loud. I don't want the students to play so softly they lose their support. So many students are…

yesterday

There are 486 members on MS Band Director

yesterday

Jerry Luzeniecki added 3 photos.

yesterday

Marie Sperling and GHN are now friends

yesterday

Mike Doll commented on Mike Doll's group 'South Carolina MS Band Directors'

Good evening SC folks. All-State band is this weekend. We will have two MS specific meetings this weekend that would be awesome for everyone to attend. At 10:00 AM on Friday in Daniel Rectial Hall, we will have a new music reading session with the M…

on Tuesday

Mike Doll commented on Mike Doll's video 'Why Music Matters'