Music Teacher Freebies

Hello everyone! After taking the summer off (and then some) from blogging, I am refreshed and ready to start posting more regularly. One of the wonderful things about the Internet is that I have been able to learn and use free music teaching resources developed by fellow music teachers all over the world. Now, it's my turn to start sharing some music teacher freebies. 

Active Listening Handout

When I'm really organized, I have a set of audio and/or video clips lined up for students to listen to. I used to aim for a weekly "Clip of the Week" but we just go too busy. When my students and I do the Clip of the Week exercise, I normally bring out this Active Listening handout to help guide my students in the art of active listening.

These sheets, like all materials I will be sharing here, are free to download and print for teaching and private study only.

 Ways to Describe Music

My younger brother attended Piano Camp for several years in a row. I attended once as an adult. We both had the pleasure of working with Ingrid Clarfield of Westminster Choir College. She had a sheet with some adjectives to help students play more expressively.

Inspired, I found more adjectives and used my basic desktop layout skills to create this handout. One side lists various expressive adjectives while the other has what is the beginning of Maestro's Music Tricks with a bit of a music practice guide, entitled, "Am I Done Yet?"

Visual Music Practice Planners (AKA "Assignment Sheets")

This summer, I researched teaching strategies for autistic students. I don't have any students with autism (that I know of), but there is a person in one of my volunteer groups that might be.

When I looked at various planners and To Do Lists, I realized that this concept would work well for my highly visual-kinesthetic learners (see Teaching Music Using VARK Learning Preferences). I came up with these assignment sheets:

Visual Planner #1: Ideal for younger students, highly visual-kinesthetic learners, and autistic students. I laminated the sheet. Cutting up the practice squares and trying to position them carefully on a laminator sheet was quite the challenge.

Visual Planner #2: For older visual learners. Probably can work with some students on the autism spectrum.

Visual Assignment Sheet #3:Good for multi-modal students with a high score in visual learning.

Lesson Assignment Sheet and Practice Diary for Read/

Write Learners, Teens and Above

I have some students who will be distracted by all the colours. This plain Jane assignment sheet is perfect for them.

Next week, I will share my student incentive program.

Using Waveforms in Music Lessons

Summer lessons give me a chance to try out new ideas with students. One of my students doesn't pay attention to the rhythm and tempo as carefully as he should. I wanted to find a different way to show him that "steady" and "unsteady" are two different things. Last week, I decided to show him what "steady playing" and "unsteady playing" looks like. Not with the webcams but with the waveforms.

Using Audacity, I recorded both of us playing the same passage. I synchronized them and first asked him to study how well our waveforms lined up. Then, I hit Play.

When I asked him to repeat the passage, he was much steadier!

Make a Playlist for Music Teachers and Students

When I was preparing for my ARCT examination in Piano Performance through the Royal Conservatory of Music, I had a "normal" office job. Often, I brought my practice binder to work to squeeze in a few minutes of score study at lunch time. However, the one thing that really helped me practice away from the piano was listening to my RCM CD's as I worked. Now it's so easy for music students and music teachers to listen to various performances of the repertoire they are working on. In fact, I created music playlists on my Youtube Channel so that I can listen to what my students are working on. I've shared the link with their families so that they too can listen/watch. It's a win-win situation. Now only do they get to listen to a variety of performances that I've screened for them (saving them search time), but they get exposed to a wider range of music as they listen to what their peers are working on. It's all about squeezing in music appreciation any chance you can get.

As for me, I get to listen to them as I get some office work done. Somedays, I'll catch something I've never noticed before and make a note to focus on a particular section during a lesson. Youtube, Vimeo, Soundcloud and all the other media sharing sites are wonderful music teaching resources. Here's what I'm listening to right this minute: It's a great way to practice piano (or to practice any musical instrument) - away from the practice room.