The Importance of Using a Tuner: Finding Your Perfect Pitch
Music is a beautiful language, but like any language, it relies on clear communication. Just like people speaking the same language can do so with different accents to their voice so too can musicians play the same note but with slight changes in the way it sounds. The pitch may be a bit high or a bit low, and over the centuries musicians have come up with ways to analyze these differences so that multiple musicians can better "play in tune." Just as proper grammar and pronunciation are essential for understanding spoken words, playing in tune is paramount for creating harmonious music. This is where the tuner comes in. For the beginner (or even the more advanced musician) it can be a vital tool for developing accuracy of pitch.
Scroll down to view the comparison chart of over a dozen different portable digital audio recorders.
The guys over at Focus On Music have just released a new set of method books called Scale and Rhythm Chunks that are designed to provide a systematic approach to improving fingerings and other skills. From the Chunks press release:
MakeMusic announced today that their upcoming release of Finale Notepad 2012 will once again be a free download beginning on February 15th just as it was back in 2008. No real details on the new version are available and I have not yet seen the finished product, but it looks as though the features and capabilities of Finale Notepad 2012 will be roughly the same as in past versions. .jpg)
Anyone that has taught band, orchestra, or any instrument based music class has doubtless had students that can only be described as challenged when it comes to playing their instrument. I’m firmly in the camp that almost every student can learn to play an instrument if they have positive experiences and if they are dedicated to practicing, but we all know that there are other issues that come into play that can wreck even the most brilliant teacher’s plans. Regardless of what those outside stresses might be there are a few things that any teacher should consider before they allow themselves to discount a student’s potential. These are tricks that I have used that I have had success with.
Recently I saw the results of a study by Kenneth Alpus and Carlos Abril (2011) on the current demographics of instrumental music students in our high schools. To put the results simply, males, non native English speakers, Hispanics, and low income students were much less likely to stay in instrumental music into their high school years, if they even participated in them at all. A free analysis of the study is available over at 
Think that the concept of stereophonic music began with the invention of modern recording technology? In past years scientists have travelled to places like the Rosslyn Chapel to discover that stone carvings in the walls actually represent the visual representation of the tones in an ancient motet. A team led by music technology student at New York University named Braxton Boren has converged in Venice and believe that the churches and the Basillica of San Marco display architecture that was contructed specifically to make the wealthy dignitaries be able to hear the music of the choir in stereo.
I just came from listening to a keynote at the Iowa Music Educators Conf. By NAfME President 
Finding useful, topical professional development courses for music educators has always been a problem. Few districts devote any professional development resources to our specific area of teaching, leaving teachers to go out of their way to find useful, meaningful classes that assist them in their own classrooms. SoundTree seems to be trying to fix that problem by providing a new opportunity for teachers and musicians called the .jpg)
Okay, I should be more clear on this one. The recordings on 
