Music in the Middle

 Week 21: Friday, August 10, 2018 “Dance Ablaze!” by Janika Vandervelde Text by Jody Johnson SSA, percussion, hand claps A rhythmic, energetic piece, this work by Janika Vandervelde is both a physically and emotionally engaging selection for your women’s/treble choir. Between the mixed meter, the handclaps, and the poetic text, your singers and audience alike […]

Oh my… Haven’t books been written on this subject?!?   And aren’t seminars almost always presented at every major conference about keeping boys in your chorus? And I’m trying to sum it up in a quick blog post? Impossible. But…as I always say each time I write, I don’t have all the answers…or even half […]

What is your experience with Perfect Pitch? On Monday morning, I was on the treadmill running, and I came across this article about a child in Atlanta who has perfect pitch. I’ve always believed that perfect pitch was far more rare than some of us believe. Maybe it’s because mine isn’t perfect!  🙂 I certainly appreciate the […]

January and February can hit a middle school chorus teacher square between the eyes. The dark, cold days can be trying ones.  It isn’t easy motivating children to sing when they are struggling with the difficulties of getting back into the daily rigor and routine of life.  If our classroom management techniques haven’t been as strong […]

The moment when you introduce a new song to your middle school beginners is so important. If we don’t get them hooked from the start, they shut down and decide they don’t like the song.  Then, it’s like pulling teeth every time we sing the song. Most of the true beginners aren’t ready to sight […]

My first year teaching middle school choral music in public schools was awful. I have no idea how I made it through.  I didn’t know what I was doing.  I was armed with a master’s degree from a very good music school, and I was not good at teaching choral music to beginners. I was […]

It’s a New Year! It is highly likely that we are all teaching new music. Reading music is so natural for all of us who’ve completed college degrees and taken piano since we were children.  Like speaking a language fluently, reading music feels natural to us. h …And it is highly likely that most of us […]

Working with parents in your Music Classroom-Part 3 The Parent/Teacher Conference  This is the final piece in a three-part series about working with parents in your choral music classroom. In part 1 of this series, I shared some ideas about how to get started with parent collaboration.  In part 2, I wrote about some of […]

Here in Georgia, I lead classes for all three grades of the middle school years-sixth, seventh and eighth.  I love getting to experience their growth during the three years, but my teaching improved a lot when I really this important fact: 6th, 7th and 8th graders are vastly different.   For sixth graders, the world […]

Jimmy…A lesson in what really matters. People say that teachers have an indelible impact on the lives of the students they teach. Well…So often during my 25 year career in public school choral music education, it has been the other way around. …Like the time one of my most talented boys opted to leave the […]