sight singing

Do your students FEAR Sight-Singing? Have you tried to make it fun, but it just isn’t working? Is sight-singing a drain on your students, your rehearsal, and your prep time?  If so, I have some suggestions! Here is my latest blog post! 8 Keys to Turn Sight-Singing Fear into Fun!

How do we measure success?  This, of course, is a lifelong question that stares us in the face every day. This article is far less philosophical, but does perhaps pose a way in which we should change the way we view success in terms of high school choral programs.   Find out the 14″Secret” Indicators […]

Choral Clarity Blog Presents: Rubrics have a place in the performing music classroom, but they should not be used to recognize achievement. They must be used properly and give every student the opportunity to be successful. Don’t Use Rubrics Unless Everyone Can Succeed  

What is your experience with Perfect Pitch? On Monday morning, I was on the treadmill running, and I came across this article about a child in Atlanta who has perfect pitch. I’ve always believed that perfect pitch was far more rare than some of us believe. Maybe it’s because mine isn’t perfect!  🙂 I certainly appreciate the […]

January and February can hit a middle school chorus teacher square between the eyes. The dark, cold days can be trying ones.  It isn’t easy motivating children to sing when they are struggling with the difficulties of getting back into the daily rigor and routine of life.  If our classroom management techniques haven’t been as strong […]

The moment when you introduce a new song to your middle school beginners is so important. If we don’t get them hooked from the start, they shut down and decide they don’t like the song.  Then, it’s like pulling teeth every time we sing the song. Most of the true beginners aren’t ready to sight […]

My first year teaching middle school choral music in public schools was awful. I have no idea how I made it through.  I didn’t know what I was doing.  I was armed with a master’s degree from a very good music school, and I was not good at teaching choral music to beginners. I was […]

It’s a New Year! It is highly likely that we are all teaching new music. Reading music is so natural for all of us who’ve completed college degrees and taken piano since we were children.  Like speaking a language fluently, reading music feels natural to us. h …And it is highly likely that most of us […]

Working with parents in your Music Classroom-Part 3 The Parent/Teacher Conference  This is the final piece in a three-part series about working with parents in your choral music classroom. In part 1 of this series, I shared some ideas about how to get started with parent collaboration.  In part 2, I wrote about some of […]

Here in Georgia, I lead classes for all three grades of the middle school years-sixth, seventh and eighth.  I love getting to experience their growth during the three years, but my teaching improved a lot when I really this important fact: 6th, 7th and 8th graders are vastly different.   For sixth graders, the world […]