Earlier this school year, a 6th grade student in my colleagues general music class was presenting a report on the music of The Beatles.  The students are encouraged to bring in CD recordings to enhance their presentations.  When the student stood up to present, he asked for LCD projector to be turned on and logged into Google.  He then went straight to Google Video.  The teacher immediately stopped him and asked what he was doing.  He replied “I’m showing a performance of The Beatles singing “Help!”.  He then brought up a televised performance of The Fab Four singing away with their mop-top haircuts.  The teacher was amazed - then she asked me if I knew about this feature of Google Video.

Once again, the students often know more about technology than we do.  I thought that the only types of video on Google Video were people doing silly things - like putting Mentos in Diet Coke and watching the result.  I immediately started searching for jazz performers and I found tons of free videos of the giants of jazz - all legal to use in the classroom.  If it’s on TV from that era, it’s “Fair Use” to show it in the classroom.  With performances by John Coltrane, Duke Elllington, Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie, and more, you can’t beat this incredible free resource for showing your students “live” performances of the masters.  It should be noted that many of these videos are now posted on the YouTube site.  Your school might block this site (mine does) so check it out before you use it with your students.  While many videos are available for download they may require access to the YouTube server in order to play them.  Look for videos that are posted on the Google Video server - most schools do not block it.  I think you’ll be as amazed as I was when you see the amount of educational content available.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Perhaps the most amazing resource on the web for recordings and MIDI files of classical music, the Classical Archives has been around for quite a few years now and it still amazes me every time I log on. Literally every piece of music that is in the public domain from the classical genre is on the website. For example, if you’d like every piece written by Bach, simply click on Bach from the main menu and you get to a page that contains not only MIDI files of all of Bach’s music, you also now get live recordings of many of his works as well. Aside from the obvious resource of being able to play recordings for your students, the most amazing feature of the site lies within the MIDI files.

By utilizing notation software like Sibelius or Finale, you can download any of the MIDI files and open them as notation files! That’s right. Think about it. Every piece of music in the classical domain available as a notation file. Is it legal? Yes. Does it cost anything? No. You just need to provide your name and email address for a free subscription to the site to have this amazing resource. There is a paid subscription available on the site that allows users unlimited access to the MIDI files and live recordings - a free subscription gives you 5 downloads per day. I wrote an article for Music Education Technology Magazine a few months ago with specific instructions on how to convert MIDI. Click here if you’d like to read the article.

I use the Classical Archives with my 8th grade general music class. My students are currenlty using a blog to critique music from the classical genre and I include links to the site to allow students to listen to recordings at home. They can get their own free subscriptions to be able to listen to the live recordings. There are also detailed biographies of each composer on the site that my students use to write their critiques. It has been very useful for my students. I strongly recommend getting a paid subscirption of you are going to use the site often in your class. It is important to support such an amazing resource. If you’ve never seen the site, check it out. I think you’ll be amazed.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Anyone who has obtained music technology for their classroom knows that it takes money to get things started.  I personally had to raise funds for my lab over 5 years to be able to afford the lab that I wanted.  While there are many different grants for technology purchasing, few are specifically aimed at the music classroom.  If you don’t have it, I suggest purchasing Tom Rudolph’s fabulous book on grants entitled Finding Funds for Music Technology.  As the former chair of the TI:ME Grants Committee I can tell you, it’s not easy get funding, but it’s possible.  You have to be diligent and persistent.

So why the spelling error in the title of this post?  Meet The Mockingbird Foundation.  The rock band Phish has always been associated with the jam band phenomenon and the extremely dedicated fans that traveled around the country to hear them.  In 1996, fans (often called Phish Heads) began a foundation to fund grants that promote music education.  Ranging in funds from $50 to $5,000, The Mockingbird Foundation funds one-time grants that make music education exciting for students.  While it may not seem like a ton of money, there are certainly enough fund to get started.  There are two rounds of awards given each year - once in August and again in February.  The deadline for August funding is this Thursday.  Check out the site to see who has been funded in the past to get an idea of the types of programs they are interested in.  Come up with an idea - apply for a grant.  You have nothing to lose.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

I had the pleasure of going to the Morris Museum in Morristown, NJ yesterday as a member of an advisory committee for their Musical Machines exhibit, which will be moving into a new facility this Fall. The museum obtained the collection of 700 musical machines from Murtogh D. Guinness, of Guinness Brewing fame. There are player pianos, music boxes, and pieces of musical automata - all incredible works of art in their own right. Seeing all of these instruments made me realize that the history of music technology goes way back. The technology that made these instruments work is extremely intricate - my favorite piece is player piano that also plays four violins with an automated circular bow and pneumatic fingers that play each violin. There are hundreds of cables all neatly woven throughout the machine and it is just as cool to watch as it is to hear. There is also an amazing little pipe organ that also plays drums - very loud - and very cool. I strongly suggest a visit to the museum - especially this Fall when the full collection will move to its new home. It is a great opportunity to show students how technology evolved over the years.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Looking for some great free lesson plans geared toward music theory students written by outstanding music educators?   Log on to Berklee Shares and choose from a wide variety of topics under the Music Education menu.  All of the lesson plans are available as downloadable PDF files, and you can even email plans you like to fellow educators.  Under the Production & Technology menu, you’ll find many tutorials for common software titles.  There are also sections for improvisation, song writing, arranging, and even lessons for individual instruments.  Check it out - it’s worth a visit.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Trying to encourage your students to practice? While SmartMusic is a fantastic way to utilize technology with your students, you can use some free tools to encourage practicing with technology as well. First, tell your students about Home Practice Online, a site by Scott Watson that has many resources for younger students. Scott has truly integrated this site with his students by including downloadble PDF files with warm-up exercises and scales, as well as MIDI files of accompaniments for compositions that he is performing.

Another resource is the Online Metronome. While some might think that it is the most expensive metronome ever created (all the equipment needed to even see it), it is a free service for students, and it’s pretty slick. It has an adjustable tempo wheel and an option to play an A440. There are also online practice record sites like Practice Spot that have tons of free resources for students and teachers, including practice records that they can print out for assessment. Finally, if the students have programs like GarageBand at home, or similar PC side software that allows recording like Audacity, have them record their practice sessions and submit them for assessment. It might be a great way to connect what they are doing in your classroom.

As a band director, encouraging student practice is a constant struggle for me. Perhaps these ideas will get some of my students to practice more. We’ll see.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

What will they think of next?

I came across an article on Wired.com about a musician in Britian who is using her brain as a musical instrument. As part of the Future of Sound Project, Luciana Haill has created an amazing EEG interface that translates brainwaves into a multimedia display that triggers synthesizers in a Theremin type fashion. The interface, called the IBVA, uses Bluetooth technology to harness the electrical impulses of the world’s most powerful computer. The brain music itself is very interesting, and the Wired site has a gallery of images from her recent concerts that show the device in action.
A quote from her site:

“With IBVA - pitch, volume, instrument and channel are all controllable with your brainwaves. By assigning specific MIDI notes to correspond with bandwidths of your brainwave’s Hertz and power, you can generate notes, chords and play ‘phrases’. You may prefer to remix a prearranged composition with a ‘live’ brain interaction. Using the brainwave frequencies to change the experience for each user. 3D sound is controllable by one channel mono IBVA, hearing really is believing ! “

Reading the article raised some questions for me:

1. When will technologies like this be able to record melodies that you think of?
2. How can technologies like this help special learners?
3. What would happen if you put the device on different people an showed them different works of art? Would their music sound similar?
4. What would happen if you played music for someone wearing the device?  How would their brain waves translate to music?  What if you played the same piece for different people?  How would their pieces sound similar? different?
5. How much are they? I want one. $1,740.00 Guess I better start saving…

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

For the past 10 years, I have been teaching my 6th Grade General Music students about the History of American Popular Music. As part of the course, we discuss historical songs from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars as well as folk songs (in addition to the Blues, Jazz, Rock, and the music of today). The project that I have my students do with folk songs is a podcast that provides some history of the song, as well as a performance of the song using GarageBand. For that project, my students visit one of my favorite websites for American folk songs - www.contemplator.com to download a high-quality MIDI file of the song that they are researching.

Created by Lesley Nelson-Burns, Contemplator has hundreds of songs from American history, as well as songs from Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, and more. Each song entry has a detailed history of the song and a MIDI file that you can download for free. Once you’ve downloaded these files, you can incorporate them into your lessons by adding them to a PowerPoint presentation, notating the melody for print out, or have the students use them in a more creative way. If you teach music from America, you must visit this site.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

I have been studying copyright law for quite some time now, and I find that navigating through the Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998 can be a bit confusing. Since 2000, I have presented a session entitled To Burn Or Not To Burn: It’s More Than An Ethical Question on many occasions, and it often leaves attendees with many questions about their own past practices. I also receive many emails from teachers with questions about specific situations, and whether or not they are violating copyright law. In an effort to answer many of these questions, I am starting a new category of posts titled Copyright or Copywrong? This is the first installment.

Recently a teacher asked me if it was Fair Use to record performances of concerts and post those recordings on a department website. The answer is no. Why? Every piece of music published with two copyright protections - one copyright protects the printed music itself, and another protects any recording of a performance of it. Fair Use dictates that you can record the concert for archival purposes only and that the recording may not be lent out to students. It can be played back in a classroom setting for critique - but that’s about it. Without written permission from the publisher of the composition, you may not post a recording of the concert on a website. The rationale is that there might already be a recording of the piece for sale and by offering a free version, you are effectively taking away a potential sale. As crazy as you might think that may sound, the law was written to protect the record companies that produce these recordings and are financially effected by the loss of a sale. Many teachers not only record their concerts, but they sell the recordings as a fund-raiser. This is a clear violation of the law. You must get clearance from the Harry Fox Agency and pay royalties per copy of each CD sold. I recommend reading the MENC publication on copyright law to see how copyright law can effect your program. Better to be safe than sorry.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Sibelius Software has dedicated a large part of their efforts toward helping teachers teach composition in their music classrooms. With titles such as Compass and Compass Tracker, students in middle and high school can learn all about the composition process and using a combination of a sequencer and the Sibelius notation software, can complete some wonderful activities.

But what about students in the elementary grades? That was the question being asked by music educators that drove Sibelius to create a series of three new titles: Groovy Shapes, Groovy City, and Groovy Jungle. Groovy Shapes has been around for quite awhile now, and whenever I demonstrate it for elementary music teachers, they love it. My own daughter Abigail, who is now 6, loves composing with the innovative interface, and also loves the Explore feature of the software that involves games that assess her listening skills. She’s made some pretty cool compositions with Groovy Shapes, and as ever-the-proud father, I think they’re great. Groovy Jungle has just been released, and it looks terrific as well.
Recently, Sibelius sent me a beta copy of Sibelius City, that is geared toward 9 - 11 year olds. The loop-driven composition area contains a bunch of “hip” urban-style loops that students will immediately enjoy. Students drag loops (in a similar way to Shapes and Jungle) onto a street scene. A space-age character struts along the street passing the loops and playing them. Users can see the loops as either graphics, or as notation that can be printed out. You can see the sequencing that Sibelius has used with the software - slowly taking the students from iconic notation in Shapes to traditional notation in City. When combined with teacher-made exercises using Sibelius, students in the elementary grades have a great new resource for learning how to compose that combines the loop-driven phenomenon with the traditional score format. Well done Sibelius, as always!

I welcome your comments and suggestions.