I've been working on creating this practice challenge to help my students finish learning one of our concert pieces: Lion Sleeps tonight.  I occasionally do practice activities in class for 10-15 minutes of rehearsal time.  This enables me to teach students how to practice, give them time to practice, and help them see the benefits of practicing (they can immediately hear/feel a different after these guided practice sessions).  Normally I made worksheets or games for guided practice time...but I had an idea to us a google form.  Students have to look at the music and ..read more

  I've been away from my students for a few days while I attended a conference.  Since I don't really know what (or how) they've been playing while I was away, I want to do an activity to reinforce good behavior and good practice. I just designed this game called ORCHESTRA STARS.  In this game, the 'heart' icons are lives and students lose them if they are plucking or playing out of turn. It's a fun way to reinforce proper rehearsal protocols if you have students who ever play when they are not supposed to... :) Students earn bonus points (stars) for playing with proper posture ..read more

  It's fun making interactive games using Google Slides! I just made a new one called 'Orchestra Rehearsal: The GAME.  It's designed as a retro video game because I wanted to use the idea the 'hearts' as lives in the game...just like old Super Mario and Zelda games.  Students have to beat the game by 'defeating' bad position, poor tone, and mastering tricky measures from our music.  Because this was made with google slides, it is really easy to make changes and adjust the slides to work with any music we are rehearsing.  I opted to use note names, but it would also b ..read more

  Here's the thing about going back to school after Christmas break....most of the students (and even many of the teachers) are sad to be back to school!  It's an adjustment to get back into a routine....practicing....homework....sitting through classes all day long.   I'd like my first day back with my students to set a tone.  I want them to remember how much fun we have together, how we work hard to make progress, and how music is important in our lives.  Recently I was reading some articles about the impact of music education and I found this quote so interes ..read more

  I believe concerts should be engaging, entertaining, with the highest possible caliber of playing...even for beginners.  I had my holiday concert a couple of days ago and we did one of the coolest things ever.  I needed to fill an entire concert with just my beginners because my audiences get too large to fit when I try to combine all my students into one concert.  All of their pieces were quite short, and I wanted to add some length (and some fun) to the program. I found a play along video on YouTube for 'Let it Snow' and created very simple sheet music so my students ..read more

Here's the link:  FREE HALLOWEEN ACTIVITY  Parts for violin, viola, and cello/bass!  Happy Halloween! Also be sure to check out my new 'Roll A Rhythm Game!' HERE ..read more

  I like to call Friday rehearsals 'Friday Fun Day!'  I want Fridays to be a celebration of all we learned during the week, but also serve as a meaningful review and reinforcement of material.  Last week one of my students said, 'It's funny you call Fridays 'Friday fun day' because every day is fun!'  Learning an instrument is fun...that means the pressure is off!  No need to spend hours and hours planning intricate games. I've found my favorite Friday Fun Day is a review day using Ninja Belts as my theme.  Many music teachers use karate belts as a way for stude ..read more

 Have you ever stared at your music library, trying to find something for your beginners to perform at their very first concert, and discovered all of your ensemble music is too hard?  I have a pretty good sized music library with lots of great beginner pieces, but none seems to be quite easy enough for my very near concert. I'm expecting students will just barely be reading notes on the D string.  We have had time for only very basic rhythms.  I needed a concert piece that will be fast to put together and simple to learn. So, I wrote one:  Copy Cat Concerto!  I ..read more

  I went back to school this week and have been busy getting ready for students to come back next week. Before I begin handing out school instruments to my students, I want to make sure they understand how to properly care for them.  I made a video I will be sending to parents to watch with their students about how to care for large instruments at home.  I'll also have students do this online instrument care quiz.  If you would like to to use it, go ahead!  It's free! Please check out my many popular orchestra classroom resources at https://www.orchestraclassroom.co ..read more

I am big on teaching note reading and I have students do a TON of worksheets, games, and assessments to make sure they are fluent at rhythm/notes.  I use a variety of worksheets so they're not the same old boring style all the time.  My students don't complain about practicing note reading. It can be fun!  This new crossword activity is available HERE.   Also, check out my new note reading compilation of creative worksheets and assessments!  This is exactly what I use for my beginners through the first year...along with 'Be An Amazing Note Reader' (which we comple ..read more