http://thirdstream.musiced.net Create a personal, emotional connection between students and music Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:45:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A new blog has been added to the Third-Stream blogroll. Welcome to Joar Klæboe Henriksen, a high school student with an incredibly mature blog about clarinet technique, practice strategy, and music in general. We look forward to reading about Joar's growth over the coming years. Thanks to David Thomas over at ... http://thirdstream.musiced.net/2010/03/07/new-clarinet-blog/ Today, in my school mailbox, I received a sample copy of the new Measures of Success beginning band method book, which is to be released by FJH publishers. The method book and its various related pieces were authored by a team comprised of Deborah A. Sheldon, Brian Balmages, Timothy Loest, ... http://thirdstream.musiced.net/2010/03/06/measures-of-success-first-look/ The Music Education Blog Carnival is back! Cruise on over to MusTech.net to read the finest writing and the freshest thinking in music education in the past month. The Music Education Blog Carnival is back with a passion, and today's March Carnival is one of the best editions since the Carnival's ... http://thirdstream.musiced.net/2010/03/01/viva-le-carnivale/ I love this school. Did I mention that yet? We have the best problem, ever: our class sizes are too small. Thanks to superior funding and real emphasis on student learning from our school board, our school has achieved something in the neighborhood of 9-1 student-teacher ratio. The average class size ... http://thirdstream.musiced.net/2010/02/27/music-scheduling-part-two/ Flyers, posters and other ads get deposited in the teachers' lounge regularly. Training, coursework, jewelry, charity drives, puppies, continuing ed credits, seminars, "cute crafts" and more are all for sale. It is a bizarre bazaar of professional and non-professional (and sometimes arguably unprofessional) commerce. I ignore most of the paper ... http://thirdstream.musiced.net/2010/02/23/industrial-counter-revolution/ In college, my clarinet (or was it sax?) prof told my undergraduate clarinet (sax?) methods class that the bottom lip of the embouchure should be like a pillow for the reed. Lower the jaw, get the bottom teeth out of the way, and then let the reed rest in its ... http://thirdstream.musiced.net/2010/02/22/clarinet-embouchure-analogy/ Today's post is a response to Dan Leeman's post "Reshaping our Ears and Eyes" over at Music Education for All. You strive for high standards. But your younger students just do so many things. . . well, wrong. My professional ear demands perfection and I have to stop and fix all ... http://thirdstream.musiced.net/2010/02/10/triage/ I love this school. My colleagues and I have been asked by the middle school principal to write out schedule suggestions for next year's middle school band and choir classes.  There is no promise that we'll get what we want, but WOW what a refreshing way to do business! This week ... http://thirdstream.musiced.net/2010/02/09/music-scheduling-part-one/ A stunning post from Kenneth Woods at A View From the Podium this week. Check out Kenneth's essay on Mahler 2. Especially notable are the dozen or so audio clips of a menagerie of conductors bringing their own (more and less "correct") interpretations to the piece: Who goes for contrast, and ... http://thirdstream.musiced.net/2010/01/26/comparative-interpretation/ By reader request, I would like to make my Audacity instructions available for everyone's use. This is a one-page, full-color handout appropriate for middle- or high-school students (and teachers of all technology abilities!). I use this sheet to introduce my students to Audacity, and I insist that they refer to ... http://thirdstream.musiced.net/2010/01/25/audacity-instructions/