The F-flat Books Blog is a community-run blog exploring a variety of topics in music teaching and learning.
Browse posts by category or check out the most recent posts below.
Dear, Mr. Stakeholder,
You hold the stakes and the stakes are high. I, too, have held precious things. I’ve weighed the options and made the snap judgments beside the long-furrowed brain circles, when right and left seemed equally tied. I’ve held my breath. As a first-year teacher, walking through halls full of faces foreign to me. Hearts untouched and lives untapped. I held my breath. Would I be enough? Would I know enough? Would I even show enough to say when I didn’t know the stuff? Would the music we made, [...]
What Writing a Book is Really Like…From a First Time Author
I've done a lot in my online music education business over the last 4 years. All of it has taken a lot of hard work and dedication. I just figured out how to make it happen and took it all one day at a time. But, for some reason, when it came to me writing a book, it was a different story. I felt a calling to write my book Make A Note: What You Really Need To Know About Teaching Elementary Music for years, but when it [...]
A Newfound Purpose as a Black Teacher in China
During the onset of the virus, I became stuck in the United States, unable to go back to my home in China. It was during this time that the world - and specifically the US - seemed to be overwhelmed with injustices. Our social media feeds were filled with the onslaught of black lives being taken by police officers; armed protestors against masks being lauded for their dedication; unarmed protestors for equality being tear-gassed and shot with rubber bullets; elderly Asian men and women being kicked and punched [...]
Keep the Drumming Alive!
“Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen, great to see you? Welcome to our drum class. I hope you are excited… I know that I am. Let’s begin.” As I uttered this opening statement, I was looking into twenty-two sets of 4th-grade eyes, sitting in twenty-two little boxes, staring back at me, eagerly awaiting the start of our newly created, highly anticipated Zoom drum class. Normally, I would be addressing a class of young musicians in person. Unfortunately, these past few months have been anything but normal. If you are [...]
From “Professional Voice User” to Singer: My journey during COVID
Do you remember singing as a child? What are your earliest memories of singing? I can remember making up songs and singing for my family from a young age. I loved being silly and creating funny lyrics to familiar tunes. I remember singing hymns in church and singing along to oldies in the car with my mom. I always loved to sing. In elementary and middle school, we all had to sing in the choir. I went to a small Christian school, and singing was part of what [...]
Popular Music Education in India
Indian Popular Music: Defined In India, popular music is Bollywood music! New Bollywood songs are #1 in the list of favorite genres in India, followed by old Bollywood songs and other regional music, while international Pop music is at #5 (ifpi 2019, p. 25). Contemporary Bollywood music producers have been combining western popular music with Indian traditional music to evoke cultural connections that shape this unique genre of music. For this very reason, popular music education in India, though available in limited forms, strives to create versatile music [...]
Music Service Learning Update: Week 6
Crescendo Orchestra Senior Project - Written by Nicole Faiola Madeleine Robinson started working with Music Service Learning in conjunction with her senior honors capstone project at West Chester University of PA. Honors college members at WCU must work on a 150-hour personal project that fulfills a community need and includes a means of sustainability once the student graduates. Maddie, a music education major with a keyboard focus and love for orchestra, created her project to work with the Crescendo Orchestra. The Crescendo Orchestra, located in Phoenixville, PA, provides [...]
Shifting Focus: What I learned during distance learning
“Okay, that’s it! Anyone who has questions can stay on the call; otherwise, you are free to go. I miss you all! Have a wonderful summer!” (double waves and beams) This was how I ended my last 7th-grade choir class of the year. It took place on Zoom, there was almost no singing involved, and a handful of students never turned on their cameras. I wasn’t feeling like my most effective teacher-self. A few of the regulars stayed on the call to chit chat, as did another student, [...]
Music Service Learning Update: Week 5
Creating an Online Resource Database - written by Julia McBride Since mid-March, Julia has been fortunate enough to work as an MSL Helper. It has been an amazing source of volunteering opportunities and connection building in the midst of online learning. Before COVID-19, Julia was in the midst of student teaching where she was enjoying several weeks of working in a middle school music placement. Soon after quarantine began, she learned about MSL and knew that she needed to get involved. One of the first projects Julia had [...]
Integrating Entrepreneurial Technology into the Music Curriculum
Integrating Entrepreneurial Technology into the Music Curriculum The term “music technology” is a vague identifier for a subject that tends to be lumped into the “other” department of study in collegiate and high school-level music programs. Common lesson plans in a music technology course include composing electronic music, recording music, and arranging music on a notation software program. I would like to augment this approach and put music technology into a larger scope. Music technology should include not only the technology to create music but additionally, the technology [...]
Music Beyond the Classroom: Interview with producer and entrepreneur, Louric Oshay
For the next installment of our Music Beyond the Classroom series, we caught up with Louric Oshay, owner of The Oshay Music Group, LLC and accomplished producer, engineer, beatmaker, and educator. Louric and I connected over of our education (we both attended Temple University at the same time) and I love reading about how he moved from educator to entrepreneur, using one to inform the other. Want to know more about how you can take a workshop with Oshay or purchase his beats? Click here. Tell us about [...]
Why we tell the story
Last night, our music department premiered a virtual concert on YouTube. It consisted of virtual performances, testimonials from students, and individual performances. When the show ended, I received an email from one of my administrators. He shared his gratitude for our students and their work and reminded us that this is why we do what we do: to connect and to celebrate. What was shared last night was not new or surprising to us as music teachers. We know that our students are composing, writing songs, and practicing challenging [...]