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.
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Have you ever heard about a new song that you wanted to listen to but did not want to purchase it or subscribe to a music service to do so? Sure, you can go to Amazon or iTunes and listen to a small segment of the song but that is usually less than satisfying. Now the search engine Bing has made another shot across the bow of Google and Yahoo by offering users the chance to listen to an entire song for free (once) when they find it through a Bing search. 
Last week I did 
I was skimming the 
Not too long
ago my son's cub scout den was having a sleep-over party and the big
decision to be made was which movie to watch. Each of the boys had
brought along their own favorite movies and it was up to me to decide
which ones were appropriate and which ones were not. In the pile was a
burned DVD with the hand written words "Tooth Fairy," relating to
a newly released comedy that was still in theaters but not released on
DVD as yet. All the kids knew that it was there and they all wanted to
see it. Unlike the legal gray area of fair use and making backup copies
of DVD's for the owners personal use, this one was cut and dried
illegal as the only way he could have got a hold of it was to have
copied it illegally off of the Internet or some other source. 
The best teachers are those who never give up on their students. Most teachers would probably say that they never would do such a thing, but consider these words of wisdom paraphrased from Randy Pausch, author of
In professional and amateur sports there are serious rules about using performance enhancing drugs. Across the world using such drugs is considered a cheat and getting caught using them carries a stigma that is incredibly difficult to overcome. The musical world has no such rules and probably a more colorful history than most professions in this regard, but a new kind of drug is slowly creeping into the music education arena. The use of the drug combats one of the most common ailments of all musicians, performance anxiety or stage fright. The drug? A type of prescription pharmaceutical known as a beta blocker. 
At one of the schools I work at is a wonderful technology teacher that is constantly forwarding great links to information to use in class. Recently she sent us a link to a short movie that has to do with teaching kids to think about protecting their reputation while online. Considering the many examples of adults posting stupid things to their Facebook and Twitter accounts I kind of have to think that this would be good information for teachers to take a look at too as well as share with their students if the opportunity arises. The video is called .jpg)
Over the last few years the FCC has began to reshuffle the way it hands out licenses for the wireless radio spectrum. The most notable of these has been the transition to digital television from the old style analog TV, but now this transition may bite your music program in a way you had not expected. Certain wireless microphone systems will now be illegal to use under the new rules. Will the airwave police come battering down your office door the next time you use your school or church's wireless microphone system? 
Like most band directors I have had many students with special needs in my marching band program over the years. From the most minor of issues to more serious ones the most important thing for these students was simply being able to have the opportunity to be a part of the band and have fun making music. Regardless of the student's abilities just having them in the program was blessing on many levels both for me and for the student. In a recent issue of the NEA Magazine I happened across an article titled Six Miles in Pasadena. It tells the story of a very unique marching band from Ohio, one that after years of hard work and effort finally made it to Pasadena, California to march in the 2010 Parade of Roses. 
