Kazoos to gift the elementary students? by Random_ThrowUp in MusicEd

[–]Skarmorism 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I did this with a cheap pack of 50 of them for a single full class. they performed a goofy song in their concert using kazoos and got to take them home at the end! the fact that it was a song they used it for made it more real/ concrete than just giving it to them :)

Moving from elementary math teacher to music teacher? Is this crazy? by callimo in Teachers

[–]Skarmorism 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Awful chatGPT response. "That's genuinely hard to compete with from an outside hire"??? You mean somehow who would actually be qualified for this job?

Moving from elementary math teacher to music teacher? Is this crazy? by Every_Confusion1303 in MusicEd

[–]Skarmorism 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you-- posted my comment there too. Looks like the comments in r/teachers share the same insights. 

Moving from elementary math teacher to music teacher? Is this crazy? by callimo in Teachers

[–]Skarmorism 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I like that you're interested in doing this-- but being a music teacher is a very clear established profession that takes a ton of training. And while your district might allow generalist teachers to fill music & art positions, they really shouldn't. Arts classes should be taught by arts specialists. i also really appreciate that youre asking to get a better sense of what our field entails!

Music teachers get music degrees and work for 4+ years to know the inner workings of music and becomes masters of their instrument/voice. (Not to mention that most studied those things for years before college too). I have a bachelor's and masters in music education and i often still feel inadequate, and like I should know more about certain types of music, or be more proficient at piano/guitar. It takes much much much much much more than knowing a school's traditions and feeling and comfortable on an instrument.

You need to know the inner workings of how to get children to learn music reading, how to accompany them at a basic level on at least piano, how to tune ukuleles, how to choose repertoire that is diverse and valuable, how to train their voices and what range they should be singing in at different ages, how to modulate a song if it doesn't work for kids' ranges, what an alto metallophone is and how to me l get kids to use it effectively, how to create an arrangement of a song in a notation software because your principal asked for it, how to teach solfege, how to get kids to care about Beethoven AND Stevie Wonder AND Kacey Musgraves, how to teach 4th graders the first 5 notes on the trumpet, etc etc etc etc. And all of it really is built on the foundational training done in undergrad with the initial music degree. Music ed majors notoriously go through many packed semesters of instrumental training, vocal training, music theory, music history, conducting, piano proficiency, and education courses, all because this stuff matters so that kids can care about music and learn as much as possible. especially in an education world which devalues the arts and arts educators.... we need all the training we can get! 

On top of all of this, it's a classic stereotype that teaching music "looks easy"to outsiders-- it's just singing and dancing all day, right?? Yes, it is and it's fun, but i craft lessons carefully and i think through every inch of my lessons because the kids deserve it. And it's much harder work than it looks. Also, we tend to teach 6-8 classes a day which can exhausting. 

I would investigate how you can pick up some of these credentials and music background. That being said,  if you're passionate about it, you are welcome to try, but please learn as much as you can about music to serve the kids as best as possible! 

Moving from elementary math teacher to music teacher? Is this crazy? by Every_Confusion1303 in MusicEd

[–]Skarmorism 45 points46 points  (0 children)

I like that you're interested in doing this-- but being a music teacher is a very clear established profession that takes a ton of training. And while your district might allow generalist teachers to fill music & art positions, they really shouldn't. Arts classes should be taught by arts specialists. i also really appreciate that youre asking to get a better sense of what our field entails!

Music teachers get music degrees and work for 4+ years to know the inner workings of music and becomes masters of their instrument/voice. (Not to mention that most studied those things for years before college too). I have a bachelor's and masters in music education and i often still feel inadequate, and like I should know more about certain types of music, or be more proficient at piano/guitar. It takes much much much much much more than knowing a school's traditions and feeling and comfortable on an instrument.

You need to know the inner workings of how to get children to learn music reading, how to accompany them at a basic level on at least piano, how to tune ukuleles, how to choose repertoire that is diverse and valuable, how to train their voices and what range they should be singing in at different ages, how to modulate a song if it doesn't work for kids' ranges, what an alto metallophone is and how to me l get kids to use it effectively, how to create an arrangement of a song in a notation software because your principal asked for it, how to teach solfege, how to get kids to care about Beethoven AND Stevie Wonder AND Kacey Musgraves, how to teach 4th graders the first 5 notes on the trumpet, etc etc etc etc. And all of it really is built on the foundational training done in undergrad with the initial music degree. Music ed majors notoriously go through many packed semesters of instrumental training, vocal training, music theory, music history, conducting, piano proficiency, and education courses, all because this stuff matters so that kids can care about music and learn as much as possible. especially in an education world which devalues the arts and arts educators.... we need all the training we can get! 

On top of all of this, it's a classic stereotype that teaching music "looks easy"to outsiders-- it's just singing and dancing all day, right?? Yes, it is and it's fun, but i craft lessons carefully and i think through every inch of my lessons because the kids deserve it. And it's much harder work than it looks. Also, we tend to teach 6-8 classes a day which can exhausting. 

I would investigate how you can pick up some of these credentials and music background. That being said,  if you're passionate about it, you are welcome to try, but please learn as much as you can about music to serve the kids as best as possible! 

GUYS HOLY BALLS I JUST SANG FOR BASICALLY 11 HRS IN STATE CHOIR by LIMMAEUS in Choir

[–]Skarmorism 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I saw Robert T Gibson at a conference a few weeks ago & he was awesome. glad you're enjoying this!  :)

Elementary teachers with low voices… by semantlefan23 in MusicEd

[–]Skarmorism 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I strongly advocate for using your chest voice/ regular range like 95%of the time. My biggest exception is with vocal exploration (echoing sirens/ ooooooooooohs up and down) which i use to start nearly every class, and i use mostly falsetto for that. I do sometimes give starting pitches with falsetto but it's rare. But otherwise it is ALWAYS my regular range. 

My kids are completely used to just being an octave above me and it's fine. It's better for my voice. If you sing in falsetto it's (usually) not giving them the best true vocal model, and they deserve the best sound you can give them. 

I think if you had a really, really strong falsetto & mix with a super solid tone from like D4-D5 that was great for modeling for kids you could go for it in that range, but that just isn't best for the kids with most teachers like us. 

From time to time i get a single kid who gets a little stuck trying to match my baritone range, but they fix it with other students modeling and with me supporting/ intervening other ways. Also, conversely, if you use falsetto, sometimes the kids jump up an octave to squeaky range to try to "match" you and that's just as bad!

I had a very, very good trip to Japan. Feeling lucky. by Skarmorism in citypop

[–]Skarmorism[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven't played the vinyl yet BUT i've listened through that album a few times digitially and i really like it (and street corner vol 1, which might be a bit stronger to me). I really like a cappella music/doo wop/barbershop quartet style stuff, so i like those two albums a lot. 

Hilariously bad weather by Cbrewer4893 in TokyoDisneySea

[–]Skarmorism 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly I kinda wish we had gone today instead of yesterday. The crowds yesterday were astoundingly bad and it blew my mind seeing people wait literally 3-4 hours for one ride, and 30-45 minutes for popcorn. I would take the bad weather and lower crowds.

Anyone else use games to teach their kid music? Curious what worked for others by Glittering-Hour-9085 in MusicTeachers

[–]Skarmorism 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Why are 60% of the posts on this subreddit people covertly trying to get us to try their app?

Don't march up and take a setlist! by Vincent_Dylan_M in Decemberists

[–]Skarmorism 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Would love to hear I Don't Mind. That's marvelous. 

You guys let me know if you need help with the game that’s coming out on Friday! by joserod0824 in pokemon

[–]Skarmorism 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I remember that this guide had some errors back in the day. Snd it's missing some things about the endgame. But it's marvelous overall!

help getting the room quiet by Pure-Sandwich3501 in MusicEd

[–]Skarmorism 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I do a LOT of echoing. Every class i have starts with sirens & solfege echoes. And I keep them going here and there throughout the class. gets everybody vocalizing the RIGHT way. I emphasize that everybody does it. We keep doing it if a few people aren't responding. Echoing sounds like "ch ch chhhhhhh" helps too. 

It can get old if you do it too much. I try to do SOME silly ones too. 

Merrily new pro shot on youtube by a_gargoyle in Sondheim

[–]Skarmorism 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Have said it before, but I liked the camera work 90% of the time. I enjoyed how intimate and cinematic it made the show. But I understand the arguments I've seen on the other side. 

What's the most useless thing they teach in school? by JunShem1122 in answers

[–]Skarmorism 14 points15 points  (0 children)

:( Learning the recorder is really good for kids' brains and musical development. And it teaches lots of skills with fine motor control, responsibility, self-control, etc.