Field Notes on Music Teaching & Learning

So often in our teaching and learning experiences, music theory is taught as a standalone subject.

We need to develop an understanding of theory and musical structure just like we need to develop an understanding of syntax and grammar in language. But I've been wondering lately if there's a better way to incorporate these learning experiences and theoretical conversations into our teaching. 

How can we as music educators make more connections between music theory and music practice, between the analysis and study of music and the actual creation of it? How can we make music theory more experiential?

That's what we're going to talk about today.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

“An Enactive Approach to Learning Music Theory? Obstacles and Openings.” (James Gutierrez)

Google Slides

Notability App

How to Use Notability for Written Assignment Sheets in Your Studio

Music Tree: Time to Begin (Activities)

Music Tree: Part 1 (Activities)

Music Tree: Part 2A (Activities)

Music Tree: Part 2B (Activities)

Music Tree: Part 3 (Activities)

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

If there's one thing we know it's that practicing is fundamental to developing skills as a musician. And as music teachers and educators, we're always looking for new ways to encourage and inspire our students to practice at home.

Interleaving is an approach to learning and practice that involves mixing up the sequence of topics, skills, or strategies so they are woven together throughout a practice or study session.

How does it work? What are the benefits? We'll talk about all of that in this episode.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Ep. 037 - Do You Play Your Instrument for Fun?

How People Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens (Benedict Carey)

Varied, Distributed, and Interleaved Practice (The Musician’s Way)

Why the Progress in the Practice Room Seems to Disappear Overnight (The Bulletproof Musician)

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>

Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

When was the last time you sat down at your instrument and played music for fun? I mean, not music you had to practice or prepare, not the music you're teaching this week, but music you chose to play for yourself, for your own enjoyment?

So often as professionals, we don’t make time for this. We assume that the music we’re being paid to learn and practice and teach will also count as the musical satisfaction we need to keep going in our careers. It will satisfy that creative need we all have, the need to create and be challenged and experience something new.

Today, I'm sharing four reasons why playing your instrument for your enjoyment and creative expression is really vital to your music career.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>

Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Improvising and musical creativity is something I value in my studio and something I want to encourage and foster in all of my students. This was not my experience growing up; in fact, I didn't learn how to approach improvising from an educational standpoint until I was in grad school.

Today, I want to share a story from the early days of my studio when I was still a student myself. It's about a lesson I had one October with an 11-year-old student.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

Resources mentioned:

Monster Dance (Jennifer Fink)

A Conversation with Edwin Gordon (Mary Ellen Pinzino, 1998)

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

According to church musician and educator, Helen Kemp, 17% of children need help finding their singing voices. These are the children who often sing with a very limited range, default to chanting low in the voice instead of singing, and/or have trouble matching pitch. Have you encountered this in your teaching?

This does not indicate a lack of skill or potential, but simply a lack of experience and vocal development.

In this episode, I'm sharing six practical teaching strategies you can use with your students.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources mentioned:

The Importance of Music in Early Childhood (Lili Levinowitz, Music Together)

Free vocal exploration cards

Vocal exploration video demonstration

How to Develop Children’s Singing Voices in Choir

40 Call-and-Response Songs and Games

Ep. 012 - How to Develop Musicianship Skills in Those You Teach

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Perhaps you've heard the age-old adage: we teach how we were taught.

Of course, we know this isn’t the full story: we all have unique backgrounds and a variety of experiences that inform the people we are today and the teachers we are becoming.

Observing our own teachers is certainly a part of that, but this alone doesn’t define what type of teacher we are or will become. But it is worth considering every now and again: 

How do these influences and past experiences affect our teaching mindsets, our approaches, and the way we think about learning? That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

Resources mentioned:

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

“Teaching the way they were taught? Revisiting the sources of teaching knowledge and the role of prior experience in shaping faculty teaching practices” (Amanda Oleson & Matthew T. Hora)

Experience & Education (John Dewey)

“Five Things You Only Learn When You Start Teaching” (Cambridge University Press Blog)

“What My Teachers Taught Me About Teaching” (David Cutler)

Perceptions and Influences Behind Teaching Practices: Do Teachers Teachers Teach as They Were Taught? (Stephanie E. Cox)

How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens (Benedict Carey)

Better Learning Through Structured Teaching (Douglas Fisher & Nancy Frey)

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning (Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III & Mark A. McDaniel)

“Review: Make It Stick” (Cult of Pedagogy)

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (Daniel H. Pink)

Ep. 003 - The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise (Anders Ericsson & Robert Pool)

“To Learn, Students Need to DO Something” (Cult of Pedagogy)

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (Angela Duckworth)

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>

Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

If you walk into an elementary classroom, you might notice that everything is color-coded: signs and charts on the wall to labels on bins to pieces of tape marking certain spots on the floor.

This is because colors are easy for most young children to recognize and differentiate between.

But in music, our baseline is black and white, the colors of standard notation.

For this reason, color can be a helpful tool when teaching music literacy and developing music-reading skills. Elementary educator Amy Curletto wrote, “When we use color in a systematic way it can help students retain information better than just using black and white.” (source)

Today, I’m sharing four simple, unique strategies to use color to teach music literacy.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

Resources mentioned:

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Why You Should Be Color-Coding Your Classroom (James Stanfield)

Boomwhackers

Colored handbells

Colored chime bands by ChimeWorks

Electrical tape for color-coding handchimes

Rainbow-colored hair ties for color-coding instruments

Color-coded chord cards

Color-coded fabric staff — available in two sizes: Junior (18"x14") and Large (28"x28")

Colored markers

Colored dot stickers for color-coding handchimes or creating your own colored music charts

Colored music notation stickers

Flat.io — create your own colored notation!

ChimeWorks Icon Chart

12x12” colored cardstock — great for illustrating musical form

Colored bean bags — a fun way to analyze musical form

Erasable pens — my students love these!

Highlighters are great for marking repeated patterns or phrases

The Psychology of Color: How Do Colors Influence Learning? (SHIFT eLearning)

Colored pencils are great for marking dynamics or adding your own

Washi tape

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>

Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Today's episode is a special one because for the first time on this podcast, you'll hear someone other than me talking. In fact, you'll hear 22 other voices — my students!

But first, let me back up and give you a little context.

In the Spring of 2020, I attended a webinar for piano teachers hosted by the Frances Clark Center. Anna Beth Rucker, a piano teacher, researcher, and arts administrator based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, shared a project she did with her students for their virtual recital a month before called "I Make Music Because..." She asked each student to record themselves finishing this statement and then compiled them into a video to share at the beginning of the YouTube recital playlist.

I knew this would be a special addition to our first virtual recital and a great way to encourage my students to reflect on why they make music.

I loved how it turned out last year, so much so that we did it again as a studio this year. And that's what I'm going to share with you today.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

Resources mentioned:

Teaching in the Time of COVID-19: Resources for Online Instruction (Frances Clark Center)

Ep. 020 - Asking the Right Kind of Questions

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

One thing I love about summer is picking out a new book (or three) to read.

I love having a book with me when I travel, but also the everyday times like sitting by the lake on a hot summer day, relaxing on the porch with a glass of sweet tea, or curled up in the sunroom on a quiet Sunday afternoon.

In the summer, I like to have at least one book that's an easy, light-hearted read — easy to pick up and put down, read outside or on a plane or in the car. I also like to choose a lifestyle-related book that will challenge me in some way or help me assess the rhythms and routines I've developed so far this year. And finally, I find summer is a great time to catch up on my development as a musician and educator, so I like having one book that I can learn from in that way.

If you're looking for a few books to add to your summer reading list, you're in the right place. Today, I'm sharing a few of my favorite summer reads (plus a couple I’m planning to read myself).

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

Resources mentioned:

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through some of these links.

25 Books to Read This Year (My 2021 Book List)

Reading People (Anne Bogel)

Digital Minimalism (Cal Newport)

Note By Note: A Celebration of the Piano Lesson (Tricia Tunstall)

The Help (Kathryn Stockett)

Bella Tuscany (Frances Mayes)

The Year of Yes (Shonda Rhimes)

The Time of Our Singing (Richard Powers)

Mindset (Carol Dweck)

A Piano Teacher’s Legacy (Richard Chronister)

Ep. 022 - On Being a Lifelong Learner

National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>

Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Welcome back to Music Education Basics!

Today, we’re talking about musical phrasing, dynamics, and movement and why it’s important to incorporate these elements of musical expression into the teaching and learning process from the very beginning.

Visuals and active experiences are a huge part of the learning process. In some cases, they are more important in our teaching than spoken directions and letting people read things for themselves. How can we be intentional about structuring our teaching in a way that supports visual learning and active, hands-on experiences?

We’ll explore a few useful strategies, ways to create opportunities for active experience, and meaningful analogies you can use to support music learning and the development of musical understanding in your students.

For show notes, click here.

Looking for the workbook? You’ll find it inside the learning platform, ready to download. Sign up for free access >>

Resources mentioned:

The Art of Music Teaching & Learning — A comprehensive online course for music educators in all types of settings. It's kind of like getting a mini-music education degree in only 8 weeks.

Improvisation and the Importance of Teaching Musical Creativity — A great article by Joan Eckroth-Riley