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.
Routines and Boundaries: Managing anxiety during crisis
I am a music education college professor who teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses. I also keep a foot in the schools by teaching one day a week at a PreK–6 Montessori school. What you are about to read is my specific response to the crisis in which we find ourselves. I know that everyone is different and that what worked for me may not work for others. I am also in a situation where I do not have to worry about childcare or other family members. I [...]
Getting Started with Seesaw for General Music Education
The guiding principle of the Kodaly philosophy is that only the best is good enough for a child. When virtual learning becomes the best delivery method for instruction, educators look for innovative ways to maintain quality music education. We land on our feet, and re-imagine some aspects of active, engaged, and contextual musical learning. The seesaw app is one of the best resources I have found that meets our specific needs for active, contextual, and engaging musicing. It's a digital learning portfolio that allows students to document [...]
On friday: Reflections during COVID-19
On Friday, March 13th I spent my last day in public spaces. It’s funny to look back. I knew that there would be a couple of weeks in isolation, and I even looked forward to the change of pace! However, I never imagined that we would be facing some undefined amount of time with so many added stresses. I think for each person the added stresses look different. At first I tried taking the “I should be grateful approach” to my situation, but after listening to the Brené [...]
Remote music teaching: How I’m surviving COVID-19
This has been an interesting year for me. I just started at a new school this year with the goal of establishing a performing arts program. Prior to this year, they really had nothing...one ‘music’ class was offered that was just basically a hodgepodge of students that had varying interests in music. Some students wanted it to be a choir class, some played instruments and were hoping for it to be band class, some played string instruments, some were just in the class because it was the only [...]
Remote music teaching: An honest review of Moosiko and SmartMusic
Like many other music teachers, I am in the strange position of being a (sudden) virtual teacher. On March 12th, 2020, the governor for our state of Pennsylvania held a press conference in which he announced the immediate shutdown of all schools in Montgomery County, the county in which I teach. On March 13th, I started scrambling. I sent out a message on a large Facebook forum inviting members to share their emails with me for a large resource roundup. At the time, I was hoping to help [...]
Remote music teaching: Using social media for connection
Tiktok from a Freshman orchestra student Social media for school has always scared me a little bit. I grew up on social media- in high school, Facebook was new and all the rage with Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and so many more to follow. I watched friends, family, and eventually my students turn into scrolling zombies with many of these habits trickling into my life as well. If you were to have a conversation with me about social media, I would express a strong dislike for it. [...]
From a Place of Privilege
About a month ago, when it was becoming clear what was happening with COVID-19, I called my sister (who happens to be my F-flat co-founder). I had a slew of suggestions, loose ideas, and questions concerning how we could best help during this pandemic. Sarah, as it turns out, was already on the case — she had already begun to amass free resources that we could disseminate through this web site. #blessed This hashtag, a favorite of our father, feels very apt. Perhaps you are unaware, but I [...]
How to practice during a pandemic: Just keep swimming
The current pandemic has thrust the global population into a period of uncertainty unrivaled in recent history. Music students at universities around the world are being forced to abandon the structure that has helped to frame their success and are now required to adapt their habits to fit the new realities that accompany distance learning and social distancing. While much of the conversation surrounding music students has been largely focused on the loss of milestone events such as concerts, recitals, and graduations, one factor that has been largely [...]
#musicservicelearning
As I watch the education world move to an all online learning, I’m struck positively by several things. First, I love how people are embracing this opportunity to explore new learning platforms! I find it amazing that so many companies have made materials free for teachers during this hard transition. In the face of many deflated and concerned collegiate student comments on social media, I admire the leadership of colleagues across the Nation who rally together to remind students that learning can and should continue, even if in [...]
Teaching Music Online: Strategies and Resources
(Note: this post will continue to be updated with resources as they come in) As I write this post, I am looking at a dozens of text messages from other teachers in my school district. We just received news that we would be closed for at least two weeks to try and halt the spread of COVID-19 in our county in Pennsylvania. As other face similar situations around the globe, I hope this resource roundup can serve to provide much needed help to music teachers who are [...]
Music Beyond the Classroom: Interview with Film and Television Composer, Will Blair
Will and I go way back. I still remember the first time I heard his Philly-based band, East Hundred, in 2008 and fell in love with the song "Slow Burning Crimes." I was playing in a band at the time and female-fronted groups were hard to come by in our city. We bonded over our similar styles and I had the privilege of learning from Will and the rest of his group when we shared the stage. Even after East Hundred broke up, I followed Will's career-from experimental [...]
From Perfection to Authenticity, Orchestra-style
At what point in the music-learning process can creativity be introduced? Maybe when the D-major scale can be played in-tune? Or, could we begin tapping into musical exploration from the first baby steps of plucking strings? A classically-trained violist, I took over 15 years to take the terrifying plunge from the safety of traditional perfection into vulnerable improvisation. Instead of being the “man in the arena,” in the words of Teddy Roosevelt (resurrected recently by Brene Brown), I was the critic in the comfort of the stands making [...]