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.
I wrote a song a day for a month. Here’s what I learned.
Are you a songwriter? Do you want to be a songwriter? I've thought a lot about songwriting this past year. Last spring, I taught a course at Temple University for undergraduate music education majors called collaboration and creativity. One of the assignments was to write a song. For many of my students, it was the first time they had ever written a song before. Ever. When I tell people outside of music ed about this, they are shocked. "Music ed majors don't have to write songs in college? [...]
Viral teaching: How the coronavirus has changed my work
The start of corona It would be extremely difficult to turn on the TV, radio, or even YouTube without seeing some form of announcement or article about the novel coronavirus -- not so lovingly called “corona” for short by some of us who have found ourselves closest to it. The virus struck in the middle of what was supposed to be the most joyful week, not just in Chinese culture, but in several cultures across Asia. It is a time when family members who have left their hometowns [...]
Music Beyond the Classroom: Interview with Britt Daniel from Spoon
I still remember the day that my graduate advisor casually mentioned that Britt Daniel was her step brother. My jaw must have dropped on the floor as she responded, "What? Do you know him?" DO I KNOW BRITT DANIEL? If there was a soundtrack to our home, it would be Spoon. Spoon is the one band that my husband and I can always agree on, and we've followed Britt and his various side projects (any Divine Fits fans out there?) over the years, buying tickets whenever they come [...]
Research in action: Student perceptions of a composition project within a concert band setting
Background This past year, I spent a lot of my time investigating and researching student perceptions of composition projects that they were completing in their band class. This research was for my master’s field project but the entire process was incredibly enlightening and informative. The research showed many different things about student perceptions of their projects. The large themes will be outlined in this blog post but it will in no way share everything that was found and/or reported. I hope this post presents an overview of [...]
My son doesn’t have a music teacher and music education is my career.
When my husband and I decided to stay in Philadelphia after graduating from college, we always got the same questions: "Are you going to stay in the city long term?" "What will you do when you have children?" "Where will you send your kids to school?" In our mid-20s, living in the city was fun. We played in a band and loved taking advantage of all that the city offered us—great restaurants, walkable neighborhoods, close proximity to friends. We also felt compelled to acknowledge the brokenness of our [...]
How I’m approaching musicianship in my choral classroom
Like most music educators, I spend my summers reflecting and dreaming of what I want to accomplish with my students throughout the upcoming year. This past summer I set the intention of creating and fostering more musicianship in my choirs. Sure, this was always something I incorporated to some extent, but I knew there was more to be done. I constantly tell my singers that I want them to become independent musicians, but how was I to do so with so many constraints? Hurdles such as limited [...]
You teach what?!: Music education in virtual schools
Virtual Education When I tell people I teach music at a virtual school, they often have a hard time wrapping their heads around how it all works. My school has no physical school building. All of the teachers, students, and staff go to school via computer. Yes, I get to teach from home and yes, I get to wear comfy pants but the differences between virtual and brick and mortar teaching aren’t as numerous as people think. The virtual school I teach at has over 2,000 students in [...]
Music Beyond the Classroom: Interview with Violist and Social Media Influencer, ThatViolaKid
When I told my students I was interviewing Drew Alexander Forde for my blog (AKA ThatViolaKid), their jaws dropped. One even said, “Wow. You’re not a boomer!” Drew, a dynamic personality and incredible musician, has won over music fans with his engaging social media presence. A Juilliard grad, Drew might be playing a classical quartet one day and sharing the stage with Kanye the next. He embodies the fluidity and creativity that is needed to carve out a space in the music industry today and I wanted [...]
Music citizenship and urban education: Thoughts from grammy-nominated educator, Courtney Powers
As a native Philadelphian, I love the opportunity to celebrate the good things that are happening in my city. Teachers like Courtney are what make our urban school succeed. When I saw that Courtney was a semi-finalist for the Grammy music educator award for 2020, I asked her to share some thoughts via a blog post. In this post, Courtney describes her philosophy on music citizenship and her approach to urban education. Thank you for all you do for students! -Sarah Gulish What is Music Citizenship? Music [...]
New Teacher Series: Tips for concert season
Concert season- it’s one of the most exciting, nerve wracking, busy, and fun parts of our jobs as music educators. It never falls at a good time of the year and is guaranteed to be at least a little stressful. In every year of my career so far, I have been new to at least one building (including this year!). I’ve found some tips and tricks that have worked well in all of my positions regarding concert planning and execution. Although all of your concerts will be [...]
Reflections on 2019 from a new business owner
Have you taken the enneagram test? It’s basically a personality test. The idea underpinning the test is that each person has certain personality traits that are inborn, and can be boiled down to 9 specific types of personalities. I took the enneagram a few months ago thinking it would be fun. What would it say about me? What kinds of cool things would I find out about myself? Instead, it sent me into a tailspin. I scored most strongly in type three: the achiever. As I read the [...]
Music Beyond the Classroom: Interview with Ben Gundersheimer (“Mister G”)
For the next installment of our Music Beyond the Classroom series, we caught up with Bend Gundersheimer, affectionately known as "Mister G" to all his fans. Ben is a true entrepreneur and manages his performing career with a successful writing career while he continues to tour and record. His website sums up all of his roles in the music industry as a"Latin GRAMMY Award winning artist, author, activist, and educator. With 10 albums of original songs composed in four languages, Ben tours internationally as a solo artist and [...]