Category: Music “How To”s

  • 5 Days of a Great Musician: The Story & Music of Pete Seeger

    5 Days of a Great Musician: The Story & Music of Pete Seeger

    A Note to Open School Students and Families: I often tell my students, “it is okay to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them and do everything you can to correct them the next time”. Well, I make mistakes, too. I made two big mistakes on the Specialists Activity page this week. I’m […]

  • 5 Days of Pete Seeger: Day 2, This Land is Your Land & A Pete Seeger Play Along

    5 Days of Pete Seeger: Day 2, This Land is Your Land & A Pete Seeger Play Along

    Let’s learn to play “This Land is Your Land”! A song by Woody Guthrie and sung by Pete Seeger. First, watch a video of Pete Seeger singing this song: “This Land is Your Land” led by Pete Seeger at the 2007 Presidential Inauguration of Barak Obama To play it on an instrument, download the sheet […]

  • 5 Days of a Great Musician: The Story & Music of Scott Joplin

    5 Days of a Great Musician: The Story & Music of Scott Joplin

    A couple months ago, when we all began “staying at home”, I got really excited about sharing more about great musicians with all my students. It is something I feel I never get enough time to do in the classroom. And, I imagined my posts and activities being something that could be done as whole […]

  • 5 Days of Scott Joplin: Day 2, The Entertainer & A Scott Joplin Play Along

    5 Days of Scott Joplin: Day 2, The Entertainer & A Scott Joplin Play Along

    Let’s learn to play Scott Joplin’s most famous piece: “The Entertainer“! If you watched the Spring Play and Sing Along videos I made in April, you already know most everything you need to know to play this incredible piece by Scott Joplin. Here are some of the most helpful parts of those videos to review […]

  • Spring Music Activity Collection: All Sing Alongs & Play Alongs

    Spring Music Activity Collection: All Sing Alongs & Play Alongs

    This past month, I have posted three fun music activities for you to try at home as a family. Here is a quick overview: “Spring” – from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Watch Overview 0:00 – Beginning 0:17 – Instruments you can use / What to do if you don’t have an instrument 3:03 – The “Building […]

  • Rainbow Connection: A Family Music Sing & Play Along

    Rainbow Connection: A Family Music Sing & Play Along

    Celebrate spring with a rainbow sing and play along! Begin by watching this video introduction: Watch the “Rainbow Connection” Overview! Now, sing along with this musical movie clip: Watch the “Rainbow Connection” Sing Along Movie Clip To play it on an instrument, download the sheet music: Download Music:For Most Instruments (Treble Clef)Treble Clef with Ukulele […]

  • Over The Rainbow: A Family Music Sing & Play Along

    Over The Rainbow: A Family Music Sing & Play Along

    Celebrate spring with a rainbow sing and play along! Begin by watching this video introduction: Watch “Over the Rainbow” Overview! Now, sing along with this musical movie clip: Watch the “Over the Rainbow” Sing Along Movie Clip To play it on an instrument, download the sheet music: Download Music:For Most Instruments (Easy Rhythms)For Most Instruments […]

  • Spring Together! A Family Music Play Along Activity

    Spring Together! A Family Music Play Along Activity

    Introducing a great spring time music activity for the family! Begin by watching this video introduction: Watch Spring Together Overview! Then, download the sheet music (for any instrument): Download Music:For Most Instruments (Treble Clef)Treble Clef with Ukulele Tabs And, in case you need some assistance, watch this tutorial… Watch Glockenspiel Tutorial Don’t own an instrument […]

  • 9 Simple and Effective Tips to Get Your Child Practicing

    9 Simple and Effective Tips to Get Your Child Practicing

    Practicing music at home is something that every teacher encourages religiously. After all, it’s extremely important! Students just don’t make the same kind of progress when practice doesn’t happen and their motivation levels fade quickly. That said, students who otherwise might be excited to practice can easily come across many obstacles when they are at […]

  • Tuning Your Drums for the Perfect Sound

    Tuning Your Drums for the Perfect Sound

    Tuning a drum is not an overly complicated process, but it does require a little “know how”. The two most important things to consider are: Getting the drum to sound good it must be in tune with itself (all places you hit should be the same pitch), and for a drum kit, each drum must […]