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.
2022 Summer PD Roundup
F-flat’s Guide to Summer Professional Development Get ready, friends! In this post, we’ll share our recommendations for summer professional development that is relevant, meaningful, and fun! We are so lucky to have such a strong community of educators and authors, and many of them are busy sharing their work this summer. We’ve divided these experiences into the following categories: conferences, courses, workshops, and memberships. Let's get started! CONFERENCES FABSS: First up: FABSS 2022! We are thrilled to announce that our third annual Back-to-School Symposium is happening THIS August [...]
Four Ideas for End-Of-Year Activities with Ensemble Classes (2022 edition)
For many music teachers, this was the first school year since 2019 that ended with a "normal" concert season. And, it might be the first time in a while that you've scratched your head and thought, "What do we do now?" Concerts have ended. Competitions are over. And, you still have a few weeks left. How can you engage in meaningful experiences at the end of the school year? In this blog post, I share four ideas for engaging end-of-year activities in your ensemble classrooms. 1. Create [...]
Teaching Anxiety and the Power of the Present
The bell rings. I see a group of adolescents walking into my room. Under my mask, I’m smiling. But, inside, I’m anxious. I just received an email from a parent who’s upset about a situation that occurred in class the day before; I’m questioning the way I handled a student last period. I forgot to copy the music we are supposed to be reading today. Between war, the pandemic, and social unrest, I don’t know if my students are ok. I worry about my own kids at school [...]
How College Music Majors Can Effectively Practice Self-Care
As a college music major with a demanding schedule, how do we begin to take care of ourselves in ways that are meaningful? In this blog, we will be navigating through what self-care is and how we can embrace it in a way that nurtures us to be our best selves. Misconceptions There are many misconceptions revolving around self-care, especially in the college music environment. The first is that music majors do not have time for it. That is 100000% false. We are indeed swamped, but there [...]
A Music Teacher’s Guide to Soundtrap
A Music Teacher’s Guide to Soundtrap Like all good broke college students, I have a very old laptop - almost 7 years old in fact. It’s very possible that my MacBook Pro has been running on the same software update for as long as I’ve been able to drive. And so, as you can imagine, I have absolutely run my Garageband software into the ground. Even pressing play brings on the buffering and crashing, let alone daring to attempt projects with more than a couple of layers. [...]
