-
The Great Music Dig – Studio Theme
If I hadn’t become a Music Teacher or Legal Secretary, I think I would have pursued one of the umbrellas of Geology (my brother is a geologist). Volcanology for one really fascinates me. Archaeology does too, so I was thinking towards the end of last term that it would be really nice to have a ‘theme’…
-
How are YOU presenting your lessons?
I was recently reminiscing about a teaching course I attended a while ago which wasn’t specifically about teaching music, but teaching in general. Our course instructor had a gorgeous cake next to her. She asked us if we wanted a piece of this ‘to die for’ cake. Of course we all said “yes”. She proceeded to hand out…
-
Handbells and duration
Handbells are great at helping younger students develop an understanding of duration. Handbells seem to keep their interest going long enough to be able to teach the concept of just how long to hold the notes on for. The only thing to watch is that they don’t bang the bells together, or pull at the…
-
Four Mystery Halloween Pieces
We don’t really celebrate Halloween here in Australia. I have noticed more and more kids trick or treating around my area each year though. I find it’s a great excuse to get my students to do something different and perhaps do some Halloween composing or play some Halloween rhythm games. This year I have written…
-
Musical Mysteries – BBC Flash computer game with lesson plans
I was browsing through a few sites and came across a great game to help students become familiar with orchestral instruments. It can be found here: BBC Musical Mysteries. The aim is to help Robbie find his Grandfather’s music. The Grandfather is a conductor of an orchestra and he has lost his music. He needs…
-
‘Tex Mex Rex’ – a fantastic book especially for the boys
I have to confess, I went totally nuts during the last Hal Leonard sale and as I am in Australia and could only view the online catalogue, I had to mostly pick music based on the title without being able to sight read it. I blindly purchased a book called ‘Tex Mex Rex and other…
-
My Heavenly Father Loves Me – violin and piano parts
I had some spare time this afternoon, and as my Hubby was playing with his new computer, I thought I’d play around with some music programs on mine to see if I was any better at transposing music (takes me ages to learn how to use new software). The bonus was that when I logged…
-
A ‘Handy’ Music Pointer
A ‘handy’ little gadget I use with my piano students is a hand pointer. Reaching over to point out things in students’ music on the page furthest from me was hurting my back until I picked up a couple of these at our Book Week Store at my kids Primary School. You can get ones…
-
October 2010 Music Conference ‘Refresh and Recharge’
The Music Teacher’s Association and Allan’s Music Education are holding a music conference for all music teachers (whether you are an MTA member or not). Presenters include: David Miller AM, Nick Peterson, Elissa Milne, Samantha Coates, Michael Ireland, Chris Wallace, Susan Deas, Barry Walmsley and the NSW Trustee and Guardian. Topics include: The Art of…
-
Bass Clef Lines and Spaces Posters
Some teachers like to use landmark notes, others use ‘rhymes’ or mnemonics to memorise the lines and spaces. I like to use a combination of both – you can’t go wrong then 😀 I have these posters on the wall in my teaching area above my piano. Most of my students don’t need to look at them,…
Gallery
