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Listen To This: Infusing Creativity into Music Exploration
Mary Claxton | January 19, 2022Listening to music is a huge part of life in the United States. In fact, a 2019 study by Statista shows that 82% of U.S. adults listen to music each week and it is a daily activity for 68%. Clearly, many people use music as a “personal soundtrack.” We can enrich this reality by empowering […] Read More... -
Technology: A Critical Component of the Modern Music Classroom
Tony Sauza | December 18, 2021Like most areas of life over the past year and a half, music education has undergone a significant and irreversible transformation. In the past, new resources, tools and methodologies would typically go through a long process of analysis and scrutiny before they would gain acceptance amongst teachers across the country. In 2020 music educators were […] Read More... -
Flipping the Script on Music Education – Hip Hop in the Classroom
Douglas Brown, Michael Dando | October 9, 2021From fashion to language, music to politics, hip-hop culture, is now approaching its fiftieth anniversary, has permeated all aspects of the modern world. Billboard and Media Rights Capital recently estimated that over 30% of total streams in 2020 were hip-hop artists. With this in mind, educators must question why it is that the most popular […] Read More... -
Student-Centered Decision-Making in Modern Band: Allowing for student ownership in school music programs
Braeden Henderson, Joe Panganiban | September 6, 2021As a midwestern band director, Shemeka Nash has a very typical workload: overseeing beginning, intermediate, and advanced concert bands, as well as the marching band and jazz band at the school. But what sets her apart from many in the region is the role students take in these ensemble offerings—reshaping the repertoire, feel, instrumentation, and […] Read More... -
The Great Return – Modern Band Educators Reflect on the Resumption of In-Person Learning
Braeden Henderson | August 13, 2021The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the institution of remote learning set in motion a frantic adjustment for most music educators, as they adapted to acquire new skills to replicate their classrooms in an online environment. As much as that sudden shift represented a system shock for music education, th impending return to in-person […] Read More... -
Finding the Groove – Building Better Communities
Miranda Altman | July 10, 2021As the most challenging school year in history is now behind us, educators are looking ahead as we emerge from pandemic restrictions and wonder what the classroom landscape ahead will look like. At this year’s upcoming Modern Band Summit conference, music teachers from across the country will convene virtually to share lessons learned and collaborate […] Read More... -
A Reflection on the AAPI Identity
Joe Panganiban | May 4, 2021May is officially Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, celebrating the diverse cultures and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans. SBO welcomes music educator Joe Panganiban’s perspective on how to be more inclusive and culturally responsive educators. Read More... -
The New Normal: An Equitable Approach to Rebuilding School Music Programs
Wanda Vasquez-Garcia | April 6, 2021Music specialist Wanda Vasquez-Garcia, MM, addresses the inequalities and inequities facing students of color, and socio-economic disadvantages revealed in greater detail by the need for remote teaching this past year. Read More... -
Inspired Together: How My Students and I Built a Record Label to Showcase Their Work
Dan Black | March 6, 2021In SBO's March issue, Dan Black details how he turned a no-in-person performance year into a winning learning scenario that involved recording performances and learning to mix and deliver them and more. Read More... -
Incorporating Hip-Hop Into the Remote Classroom
Will Mosley | February 5, 2021Using students’ culture as a springboard, teachers can easily find inroads to foster non-musical skills. These hip-hop-themed lesson ideas, presented by NYC teacher (and Brooklyn native) Will Mosley, can be used with students in grades 3 through 5. Read More... -
Distance Learning Best Practices to Support Your Online Songwriters
Mike Lawson | January 8, 2021Before schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching songwriting in the classroom provided our students with instant feedback and support. When the necessary tools were present in the same room—instruments, recording gear, and, most importantly, teachers and students—teaching songwriting felt organic and natural.
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Encouraging Observations During the Pandemic
Mike Lawson | December 3, 2020It is hard to believe that we are entering the holiday season and are still engulfed in this pandemic. Currently, much of our country is going back into quarantine, with many teachers shifting yet again from in-person to blended to virtual instruction for the umpteenth time. However, there seems to finally be an end in sight with strong news on the vaccine front, and it seems like a good time to reflect on the lessons we have learned thus far.
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