For music educators - By music educators

All Blog Posts (22)

Alex Shapiro writes about her BandQuest residency

Composer Alex Shapiro talks about her experiences writing a piece for young band as part of BandQuest. Continue

Added by Carey Nadeau on August 10, 2010 at 4:39pm — No Comments

How your travel dates can affect band trip pricing.

Did you know that the travel dates you choose can drastically affect the price of your trip? Many people think that group rates are the same across the board no matter when they are traveling. This is a very common misconception in the travel industry. For example, depending on the destination, a Monday through Thursday trip can save you money. In more corporate destinations such as Chicago, a weekend trip can sometimes save you money. Ultimately the rates will be set based on many variables suc… Continue

Added by Marie Sperling on July 12, 2010 at 10:49am — No Comments

Washington DC- Did you know?

Did you know that you can tour the inside of the White House, Congress, or the Senate during your Washington DC Trip? Even with the high security measures, there is still a way to do it!

Here's how- Exactly six months in advance of your trip, send a letter to your congressman asking for the tour. This letter will need to be on school letterhead and cannot be sent until six months in advance of your trip. We recommend that you do not wait until the last minute though! Be

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Added by Marie Sperling on June 30, 2010 at 6:09pm — No Comments

Question...

I'm very curious to know why many Band Directors do not choose to travel with a travel company and would rather book everything on their own? Is it because they feel as though they do not have control over the trip? Is it simply a cost factor? Or is it something else? I've found this subject to be very black and white. Either they do, or they don't. Traveling with a travel company makes the process so much easier on the Band Director. For example if the group increases in size by three people,… Continue

Added by Marie Sperling on June 11, 2010 at 8:03pm — No Comments

Stetson University Saxophone Summer Workshop 2010

Your Saxophone Students are invited! July 12-17, 2010 - registration deadline June 1st. We focus heavily on playing fundamentals, chamber music, all state audition music and Jazz Basics.

Teaching Faculty include:

Jim Bishop - Stetson University - Workshop Director

Dr. Nathan Nabb - Morhead University - Selmer Paris/Vandoren Artist

Dr. John Perrine - Cleveland State University - Jazz Artist

Joseph Kreines - Saxophone Choir Conductor

… Continue

Added by Jeremy Williamson on May 15, 2010 at 8:43am — 1 Comment

Cheap Beginning Band music

So, I decided that, rather than spend a large amount of money in order to stock my large beginning band with a piece of music (125 kids each of the past two years), I would write my own music. Its not complicated, and it is designed for the band's first concert (so far).

http://willowcreekmiddleschoolband.schools.officelive.com/PaulLemenPublications.aspx

This isn't festival qual… Continue

Added by Paul Lemen on April 22, 2010 at 11:00pm — No Comments

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

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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 — 2 Comments

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 — 6 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.

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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 — 6 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:

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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 — 5 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