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.
My Favorite Portable Instrument for the Classroom
I spent the first four years of my teaching career with zero instruments for my high school general music class. We had nothing, and I was told there was no budget for my class. I tried to make the best of it by gathering all of the "leftovers" throughout our district. I secured an old drum set from the middle school jazz band (it still sits in my room today, over ten years later), some broken xylophones from the elementary school, and any bass or electric guitar I [...]
What Music Teachers Can Learn From Coaches (and vice versa)
I have spent my entire life in the seemingly unrelated worlds of Sports and Music. Thanks to High School Musical, the narrative that a teenager could live comfortably within the dual identities of Artist and Athlete in the mid-2000s was all but shattered. However, with the anthem of “We’re All in This Together” proudly being the wind beneath my wings, I emerged from the social rubble of this dilemma quite victorious. Now, as a music educator for 11 years and a varsity Cross Country coach for 10, I [...]
Seven Tips for Surviving December as a Music Teacher
(This post was inspired by an interview with Jessica Grant for Afternoon Ti and Musicast) If classroom teachers are overwhelmed in the month of December, there needs to be a whole other phrase coined for what music teachers feel this time of year. In addition to our regular responsibilities, most of us have an absolutely overstuffed December calendar because of school performances, gigs and the occasional play-off game or region band audition depending on your area. While some months are never going to be a breeze for educators [...]
More Than A Music Teacher
I am More Than A Music Teacher. For some time throughout my career, I felt the need to shout that phrase from the rooftops to truly advocate for all I was doing in the music classroom. During my first couple of years of teaching, my identity centered around being a “great” music teacher. I would get to school early every day to prepare lessons and would usually stay late directing rehearsals and inevitably waiting for the last parent to pick up their child. I loved every second of [...]
Where are all the Instruments? Book Review
If you’ve read this blog before, you know that I’m a fan of Nate Holder’s work. In 2020, I reviewed his book, Why is my piano Black and White? Since the release of that work, he has written many other books and has even adapted Where are all the Instruments? into an interactive flipbook on our site. So, you can imagine my excitement when Nate told me he was writing another Where are all the Instruments? with a completely different focus. While the first in this series was [...]
Student-Centered Repertoire Selection Part I: Programming Pre-Written Pieces
Ah, rep selection. Some music teachers become giddy at the thought of programming a concert or selecting new repertoire each season. Still, there are others of us that struggle when it comes to rep selection and can feel paralyzed at the number of choices in our midst. So how do we make sure it's developmentally appropriate? Inclusive? Educationally sound? Engaging for the students? For years, I struggled with these same questions and felt like it was all on me to select and execute the perfect concert program. That [...]
Four Fall Songs For Your Early Childhood Music Classes
No doubts about it -- fall is my favorite season to be an early childhood music teacher and music therapist. I love the themes: bats, monsters, spiders, leaves, pumpkins, apples, candy... the possibilities are endless! To celebrate the release of my Halloween children’s book, The Shy Little Monster, as an interactive flip book here at F-flat Books, I’m sharing 4 fun and engaging fall songs you can include in your early childhood music classes this fall. I’ll share 2 movement songs, a song inspired by the nursery rhyme [...]
The Importance of Trying New Things as a Music Educator
It’s hard for me to believe this is my seventeenth year teaching instrumental music at my school. Seventeen is such a big number! In some ways, the rhythms of the school year are well established. For example, our high school ensemble will perform at a Gratitude Assembly the week of Thanksgiving. We will also give a short music assembly of secular winter favorites the week before Winter Break. Both of these small performances will prepare us for our big concert at the end of our semester in [...]
Confidence in Curriculum Creation
Re-Igniting the Spark Take a moment to think back to your undergraduate college experience. (Perhaps that was only a few months ago, or perhaps you have to reach back a bit more to access this season.) Either way, I would venture to assume that for many of us, our undergraduate experience included meticulously scripted lesson plans. Perfectly sequenced concepts. Full access to whatever materials you might need. And, it was amazing. Until it wasn’t. You no longer have access to all the resources you once did. That map [...]
The Power of Goal-Setting for Your Music Studio
Whether you're a brand new teacher with their first roster of students (congrats!) or you've been shaping minds, voices, and fingers for a while, those who teach private music lessons know every lesson is different. You will have students of different ages, abilities, learning styles, and, often instruments, and need to cater to each student's individual needs and interests. Plus, we're all human and, well, life happens. Some weeks students practice a ton, and some weeks, eh…not so much. Given all that, a complex classroom-style lesson planning [...]
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 [...]