Prior to participating in the 2012 TI:ME Leadership Academy, I was skeptical about technology’s applications in music education.  I thought it was a gimmick.  I thought it was overcomplicating education, and made teachers teach their students about technology, not music.  After attending the Academy, I am a believer.  I believe that it is truly possible to do as Barb Freedman says: “Teach music.  The technology will follow.”   I now realize that technology is the future of music education.  We as educators can use it as a tool to make music accessible to more students than ever before.  Non-traditional music students have so many musical outlets and tools available to them on the computer, and educators have a responsibility to learn about them in order to reach as many students as possible.  If music is important to study, it’s important for everyone to learn about, not just those in band, orchestra, and choir!  We are on the forefront of a movement.  I can’t wait to help shape it!

Matt Ercolani is in his third year as an undergraduate music education major at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey.  At Rowan University, he is the Vice-President of the Rowan chapter of Collegiate NAfME (National Association for Music Education), and helps lead the most active collegiate chapter in the state.  He is also in the process of starting a collegiate chapter of TI:ME (Technology Institute for Music Educators) at Rowan.  Mr. Ercolani has taught at music camps across the country, including as a member of the all-volunteer SWAG Team at the 2010 Music-For-All Summer Symposium in Normal, Illinois.  He has attended numerous regional and national music education conferences.  Most recently, he was selected for participation in the first-ever TI:ME Leadership Academy at the 2012 TI:ME National Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.  Mr. Ercolani is an active freelance private teacher and musician in the South Jersey area.  His research and teaching interests include early childhood music education and utilizing technology to teach non-traditional music students. You can find more about him at http://mattercolani.wordpress.com.

Related posts:

1. 2012 TI:ME Leadership Academy
2. Collegiate Leadership Academy at MENC’s Music Ed Week
3. 2012 TI:ME/JEN Annual National Conference

Special thanks to Dr. David Williams for the Leadership Academy photos! See more at the bottom of the page!

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the TI:ME National Conference in Louisville, Kentucky as a part of the first-ever TI:ME Leadership Academy. I was chosen as one of eight music education students to participate in this academy, and was blown away by the incredible ideas and conversations generated by participants and instructors alike.

Participants

• Ann Dorgan, Senior Music Education Major, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
• Matt Ercolani, Junior Music Education Major, Rowan University
• Brian Rivers, Junior Music Education Major, University of Cincinnati College – Conservatory of Music
• Alyssa Hoffert, Senior Music Education Major, Case Western Reserve University/ Cleveland Institute of Music
• T.J. Wolfgram, Senior Music Education Major, University of Michigan
• Sophie Taft, Senior Music Education Major, Northwestern University
• Camden Ritchie, Master’s Student/Graduate Assistant, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
• Andrew Ritenour, Senior Music Education Major, Grove City College

Instructors

• Rick Dammers, Chair of the Music Department, Rowan University
• Dave Williams, Professor Emeritus of Music and Arts Technology, Illinois State University
• V.J. Manzo, Music Technology Director, Montclair State University

The Other 80%

The participants and instructors of the 2012 TI:ME Leadership Academy discussed the research done concerning music education at the high school level referred to as The Other 80%. The research shows a pyramid effect, where there is a large number of students receiving a music education at the elementary grades. As grade levels increase, a smaller number of students are reached by music education with the largest drop occurring around the high school grades. This leaves the percentage of high school students receiving some kind of music instruction during the school day around 20%. Much of our discussion used this research as a starting point, exploring both the positive effects and concerns about changing curriculum to include these students. One of the biggest fears often expressed by teachers is that offering courses in music technology would take students away from traditional ensembles, causing numbers to drop. But research actually shows that this does not usually happen and in many cases, music technology courses recruit students to participate in traditional performing ensembles.

The Non-Traditional Music Student

Many great thoughts were shared on how to engage and reach this other 80% of students in high schools, referred to as the non-traditional music student. Making up the large majority of the student body, this student is not the typical band/chorus/orchestra/music theory student. Rather they are the students involved in rock bands or audio recording. The leadership academy discussed the fact that these students are at a severe disadvantage in our music education curriculum today as there are often no courses offered to help them create and perform music.

TI:ME Leadership Academy

The Leadership Academy brainstormed ways  to reach the non-traditional music student using music technology. The participants were assigned the task to create a 3-lesson unit plan using music technology that would engage non-traditional music students and reach out to the other 80% of students who don’t participate in traditional performing ensembles. This task required quite a bit of out-of-the-box thinking and consideration of new software, hardware and web-based resources.  Using software including GarageBand and Mixcraft, Audacity, Ableton Live, hardware like the Blue Snowball Mics and  Zoom H4N Handheld Audio Recorders, and online resources like Aviary’s Myna, Tone Mantrix and Noteflight, the Leadership Academy participants created several effective plans to reach these students. Since non-traditional music students often can’t read music, notate rhythm or have basic music theory knowledge, these lesson plans involved quite a bit of differentiated instruction designed to scaffold each student from their individual level of understanding, to a platform where they could make and understand music.

Overall, the TI:ME Leadership Academy discussed and agreed upon the need for current music curriculum to be expanded to include music technology.  Society and times are constantly changing. In order for music education to remain relevant to our society and to our students, our instruction must change and our curriculums must expand. While the core aspects and standards of our curriculum will remain the same, we must find a way to not only change the way we teach this curriculum, but broaden its to reach as many students as we can. Music technology offers many opportunities for music education to remain relevant in our students’ lives.

Matt Ercolani
 

Related posts:

1. 2012 TI:ME Leadership Academy Reflection
2. Collegiate Leadership Academy at MENC’s Music Ed Week
3. 2012 TI:ME/JEN Annual National Conference

After a 6.5 hour drive with Dr. Joseph Pisano, I am finally here! This year, the TI:ME (Technology Institute for Music Educators) Conference, held in conjunction with JEN (Jazz Education Network) is taking place in Louisville, Kentucky.

TI:ME Leadership Academy

I have the privilege to attend the conference as a part of the  TI:ME Leadership Academy. I am very excited to be participating in this way, and look forward to collaborating and working with the other participants of this academy. The participants all look to be very qualified, which should make for some really interesting discussion. Stay tuned, as I will be sharing my thoughts and lessons right here on MusicEdMajor.Net!

Follow Along!

To find out more about TI:ME and the conference, visit the TI:ME homepage. To follow along with my experiences, follow the hashtag #timejen12!

If you are attending this conference, I would love to meet up with you! Send me a Tweet @andrewritenour, or email andrewritenour@gmail.com!

Related posts:

1. 2012 TI:ME Leadership Academy
2. 2012 TI:ME Leadership Academy Reflection
3. MENC’s Biennial Conference Approaching

Musicians and singers face extremely strong competition for jobs. On top of that, education budget cuts from elementary schools to PhD programs often hit music departments the hardest. Music education majors should plan on having a backup career choice, and maybe even earn a double major or a minor in another field to ensure their career prospects will be solid upon graduation. Most musicians have day jobs, since few musicians and singers can support themselves on performance alone.

Music Teachers

Many musicians and singers choose to supplement their income by becoming music teachers. For those who want to teach music in public elementary or secondary schools a degree in music will qualify graduates for a state certificate to teach. Elementary and secondary school teachers earn a median salary of $47,000 to $52,000.

For those who want to become college music instructors, a master’s degree in music will likely be required. College-level music instructors earn a median salary of $59,000. Another option for music graduates is to offer private lessons at local music stores, through local Parks and Recreation, or even online.

Recreational Therapists

Some music majors choose to diversify their studies to become recreational therapists. Recreational therapists use music, games, dance, and arts and crafts to improve the well-being of their patients. The median annual salary of recreational therapists is $38,000.

Musicians and Singers

For those who want to pursue careers in popular musical performance, it’s best to look for jobs in cities where recording studios and the entertainment industry are concentrated. Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, and Chicago are the best places to find work in the music industry. Musicians and singers may also find salaried work with performing art companies, religious organizations, or in the US Armed Forces. Full-time musicians earn a median wage of $21.00 an hour.

Most musicians work part-time and are self-employed. The hours are typically evenings and weekends. Since the competition for long-term jobs is high, few popular performing musicians and singers have guaranteed full-time, long-term employment. For students of music education, performance is probably best left a supplement to a music teaching or other career.

Music-Related Professions

The following are other music-related professions music education students may be interested in pursuing:

 Elaine Hirsch is a jack-of-all-interests, from education and history to medicine and videogames. She is currently working as a writer for various education-related websites and writing about relevant education-related issues.

Related posts:

1. What type of Grad Program is Right for Me?
2. Majoring in Music Education: Graduate vs Undergraduate
3. Music Education Professional Learning Network Opens to Public

Music Advocacy

Karen French presents Dr. Thomas Moore: Educational Consultant Early Childhood Development posted at Dr. Thomas Moore, saying, “This article could also be used in the Music Education Category”

Music Education

Susie Ahrens presents An Interview with Tubist, Andrew Hitz (part 1) posted at For the Love of Tuba.

David French presents Songs with scrolling lyrics posted at Tanbur Music Education Blogspot, saying, “Songs with scrolling lyrics are a feature of TANBUR MUSIC EDUCATION LINKS. You can discover several that are unique to the website, together with related links.”

Eugene Cantera presents 6 Things I’ve Learned WhileTeaching Music posted at Discover, Learn, Play.

Yiyi Ku presents How much should I practice? posted at Yiyi Ku Piano Studio Murrieta Temecula CA, saying, “Piano, practice, teaching, lessons”

Natalie Wickham presents Congratulations on Brushing Your Teeth! posted at Music Matters Blog, saying, “Ever feel like you have to acknowledge every little accomplishment just to feed your students’ sense of self-worth and keep them coming back for more? This post highlights the importance of recognizing and praising true character to help students achieve greater success in all their musical pursuits.”

Music Pedagogy

Thomas J. West presents Teaching Chord Theory To Secondary Music Performance Ensembles – Thomas J. West Music posted at Thomas J. West Music, saying, “As part of a sequential curriculum in music education, my instrumental music performance students continually learn and practice written music notation. This begins with rote scale and arpeggio study. Once the students have become familiar with the first three key areas they are prepared to start talking about chord theory and simple harmonic progressions.”

Music Performance

Lisa Hood presents The 10 Best Diss Songs in History posted at ZenCollegeLife, saying, “If we’ve learned anything from musicals, it’s that emotions are better expressed through song.”

Allan Mathieu Perkins presents the Harmon Mute posted at The Oil Valley Hornist.

Music Tips

Susie Ahrens presents Play Louder Without Blasting posted at For the Love of Tuba.

The next Music Education Blog Carnival will be hosted by David Ahrens (@MrAhrens) at http://www.davidahrens.us/soundeducation. It’s not too early to submit your articles for next month. Just visit the submission page to add your article. If you’re looking for articles from past blog carnivals, check out the index page.

A special thanks to Dr. Joeseph Pisano for facilitating and maintaining the music education blog carnival!

Related posts:

1. November 2010 Music Education Blog Carnival
2. May 2010 Music Education Blog Carnival
3. November Music Education Blog Carnival

Categories

Bloggers can submit articles of a variety of concentrations including:

• Music Advocacy
• Music Pedagogy
• Music Education
• Music Performance
• Music Software/Hardware
• Music Technology
• Music Tips

Don’t Miss Your Chance!

To submit an article to the November Music Education Blog Carnival, just click this link. All you have to provide is a link to your post, your name and e-mail, and a short description of your post. It’s that easy!

Articles will be accepted through Monday, October 31st. Are you a teacher, musician, or music lover? Please consider contributing to this awesome music resource. If you have any questions regarding the blog carnival, you can Tweet me or contact me through the “Contact” page above.

Happy Blogging!

Related posts:

1. Hosting the Music Education Blog Carnival
2. November 2010 Music Education Blog Carnival
3. REMINDER: Last Week for Blog Carnival Submissions

You might be  itching to get back into working on your musicianship and teaching. Maybe your job is less than diserable or just not the right fit. You aspire to teaching at the collegiate level. Your district is offering compensation for continuing your education. Maybe you just need to be “recharge” your musical batteries. Of course, I would be niave to think that the salary increase isn’t a motivator on some level. Whatever the reason there are a variety of ways out there to earn your advanced degree.

The four main ways to earn your Master’s Degree:

1. Return to a university full-time for study.

2. Earn your degree a few classes at a time in the evenings and summers.

3. Summer only course of study.

4. Online programs.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each path. Ultimately, you must chose what is right for you. Let me offer a few suggestions.

You are a full-time teacher who is happy with your job. You can’t imagine leaving your students or school, but you know you’d be a better teacher if you took some more coursework. If that’s the case I recommend looking into programs that will allow you to study evenings and summers while keeping your job. Many universities offer programs like this.

You don’t want to leave your job, but you want to be more immersed in a program of study. I recommend finding a summer only program. Some of these programs can be completed in as little as three summers and will offer a more hands on approach to learning.

For the teacher who is really strapped for time and doesn’t have a way to commit to a regular schedule of classes there are online programs. Even though I’m a techie, I’m not completely sold on these programs because of the lack of face time with your teachers. I’m not saying it’s not worth it, but if you’re planning on going on to a D.M.A. or Ph.D. these degrees will not hold as much weight. Make sure you really check out the accreditation of any online programs as well.

If you are in place in your life where you can take the plunge and go back to school full-time, I recommend it. The immersion in your learning is worth it, if it is feasible for you (both personally and financially). In my opinion, this is absolutely neccessary if you want to get into college teaching or shooting for your terminal degree.

I hope now you’re thinking a little about what course of study might be right for you. In the next series of posts I will roll out some specific information on each of the four ways to pursue a graduate degree. Stay tuned!

Want to talk about it? Find me on Twitter @KFreesen or comment here!

Related posts:

1. Should I or Shouldn’t I? Things to Think About for Graduate School
2. Majoring in Music Education: Graduate vs Undergraduate
3. A Word from a New Editor

I had the opportunity to speak with NAfME representative Elizabeth Lasko about this transition and other exciting development in the national organization. Check out the interview below!

What Is NAfME?

NAfME Website

NAfME Press Release: Building on the Past to Shape the Future of Music Education

Follow @NAfME on Twitter!

If you were part of the MENC Facebook group, be sure to “like” the new NAfME and NAfME Collegiate pages!

MENC Changes Name to NAfME

 

Special Thanks to Elizabeth Lasko for taking the time to do this interview with us!

Related posts:

1. MENC’s Biennial Conference Approaching
2. America’s Giving Challenge-Help Win $50,000 for Music Education
3. Collegiate Leadership Academy at MENC’s Music Ed Week

Stay Inspired

I’m going to be pretty honest when I say I fell out of love with my instrument for a brief period. I am not in any way saying that will happen to any upcoming freshman. What I am saying is in order to remain at the same love for your instrument that you might usually have, I recommend doing whatever you need to do to stay inspired. Keeping yourself inspired will help keep you excited about your art form and help you in those down times.When I had nothing up and coming, no concert, no placement audition music, nothing but etudes and solos I was working on just for the sake of repertoire, there was nothing pushing me and keeping me intrigued. Don’t let yourself fall into this pit hole.

But even if you do, there is always time to jump back on the bandwagon and get back into the swing of things. Ever since I’ve moved into college, a very long ways from home, I have managed to keep myself inspired and trust me – in college this is an easy task. At a music school, there’s music changing constantly all around you, every hour of the day. Whether it be marching band, concert band or even just piano class, there’s always something to keep you on your feet. It’s great to regain my passion and drive for music. I feel wonderful now and wouldn’t change a thing.

Making the Transition

So even if you’re feeling a bit apprehensive about being a music major after going through a lower valley of learning, don’t worry! Just stick it out and you’ll be just fine. Also, if you choose to go to a school far from home like myself (NY to TX) just be aware that their lingo might take a few days to adjust to. Music is music no matter where you may be, but different ways of counting or different terminology may occur when entering a completely foreign territory. Not a hesitation though, you will catch on quick if you know your stuff! Stay inspired and keep a positive attitude…Transitioning from high school to college will be a breeze.

Related posts:

1. About
2. Welcome!
3. College Applications: Prioritizing Schools

My name is Kyle Freesen and I’m currently a graduate student earning my MM in Wind Conducting Performance at Wright State University. I am lucky enough to have my own ensemble here and a graduate assistantship. I direct the WSU Raider Pep Band(@WSURaiderBand), teach High Brass Methods, assist with undergrad conducting, and serve the assistant conductor of 3 wonderful ensembles(Chamber Players, Symphonic Band, and Wind Symphony). I am halfway done with the program at this point and school starts up soon. It’ll be bittersweet as I start having my “lasts” as a masters student. Oh and I’m also on staff with the Centerville Jazz Band, one of the nations premier marching bands.

Before I decided to go back to school I was a music educator in Illinois. I taught in two different schools in my first three years teaching. I’ve taught every level of instrumental music. Fourth grade general music through university classes and everything in between. I think that helps make me a strong candidate for whatever comes next.

On a personal note, this summer I married a wonderful vocal music teacher. We met when she student taught with the choir teacher at my first job. It’s a perfect match and I’m lucky to have someone who was willing to pick up and move out of state so I could pursue my next goal. Trust me a support system goes a long way when working on an advanced degree!

The upcoming months are critical for those that are thinking about taking the plunge and going back to school(or staying in) so I will try to update pretty often. Some possible topics include: the decision to go back to school, the application process, full time vs. evening or summer programs, online music degrees, finding the right school for you, what degree should you get?, staying in school or get out and teach?, and the list can go on and on…

Let me know what you would like to see. I welcome any discussion and I’m pretty easy to get ahold of through the great Internet! It’d be great to hear from grad students out there too if your lurking about the site.

If you want to find my web presence outside of MusicEdMajor.net, I’m on twitter @KFreesen , Facebook(most likely posting in the Band Director Group), and my blog  Comment, tweet, or email me any time with ideas and topics that you want to see here.

Until then, enjoy school starting back up!

Related posts:

1. MusicEdMajor.net Welcomes a New Editor
2. BREAKING: Andrew Ritenour New Editor-in-Chief of MusicEdMajor.net
3. STN Special Edition: Day 1 – Ohhhh No!