The Many Benefits of Music Education [Infographic] Music Education by Joel Wagner - July 8, 2016July 7, 20162 Research abounds regarding the incredible benefits of music education. The University of Florida has put together an infographic called "Why Music? The Many Benefits of a Musical Education."Among the benefits listed Benefits to the brain and general learning skills The benefits listed include verbal intelligence, reading skills, fine motor skills, abstract thinking, vocabulary acquisition, and memory. Benefits to academic achievement These include better listening ability, higher SAT scores, higher academic grades, better science skills, greater percentage of extracurricular participation, higher GPA, greater likelihood of enrollment in moderately- and highly-selective universities, much lower dropout rates, and these gains are more pronounced in low-income students. Benefits to life skills and personal enrichment These include helping students become more employable, participate in the political process, volunteer and engage their community, have higher self-confidence,
Six Music Classroom Management Strategies Music Education by Joel Wagner - June 8, 2016June 15, 20160 I recently came across an article by Rachel Maxwell and Jessica Corry called Six Music Classroom Management Strategies. As I read through the list, I noticed many similarities to topics that I have covered frequently. If you find yourself teaching in a music classroom of any sort in the near future, I highly recommend checking out the original article. Teach, Model, and Reteach Routines Use Nonverbal Signals Keep Rules Simple Organize Your Space Play More, Talk Less Consistent Expectations
5 Reasons I Loved Teaching Middle School General by Joel Wagner - February 9, 2014July 3, 20161 This past summer was a whirlwind tour for me and someday I may share a bit about the amazing experiences I had traveling by myself across the country (including three nights stranded in airports, a fourth of July parade in a small town outside of Boston, following my beloved Texas Rangers to Saint Louis, New York, and Baltimore, a ride to the airport from Shelly Terrell, and an amazing time in some of this country's finest cities). But now is not the time for this. Now is the time to address the biggest change in my educational life. After 11 years of fighting in the trenches, I have finally moved on to the major leagues. I moved on from my previous
Should I Keep My EduBlog Anonymous? Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - April 10, 2011April 10, 20111 A reader writes: I'm currently student teaching. I'm very passionate about music and music education. A couple of years ago I felt a sudden terror when I recognized I was nowhere close to ready to be a successful teacher, and I started delving into as much material as I could and doing whatever else I could (camps, etc) to get ready. Your blog was one of the first good, free resources I found, and I've been reading ever since. So first, thank you for your contributions. This past summer I had a friend start a music blog, and I thought, "Wow, that's a great idea." I love to write, especially in reflection and with the goal of learning from my experiences. I
Watch, Practice, Learn Almost Anything — For Free [VIDEOS] General by Joel Wagner - March 12, 2011May 30, 20160 The principal at the middle school where I used to work emailed us a link to a great website. It doesn't really apply to band or music education, but there are a TON of topics covered on this site. So what is it? The Khan Academy is an organization on a mission. We're a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone anywhere. All of the the site's resources are available to anyone. It doesn't matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology. The Khan Academy's materials and resources are
Father’s Day Recommendations General by Joel Wagner - June 16, 2010May 28, 20130 This Sunday is Father's Day. It's not too late to buy that last-minute gift if you haven't already. I read at least four books this school year that were amazing. If your father reads and thinks, these would be ideal. :) I read some others, but some of them were music education related, and others just wouldn't be quite as Father's Day specific as these, so here we go... The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell (Paperback available new for $9.35) Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking By Malcolm Gladwell (Paperback available new for $9.35) Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (Hardcover available new for $11.72) Outstanding!: 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional by
10 TEDTalks of Music Education Greatness [VIDEO] Music Education by Joel Wagner - June 15, 2010June 30, 20100 One of the greatest parts of being a band director is that what I do really matters. Beyond the students acquiring a skill of playing an instrument or working together as a team, there is this aesthetic element of education in the arts that is just absent in most every other line of education. I'm not discounting the importance of grammar or math or science or social studies or athletics or technology education or whatever else might be offered. Were it not for those, I wouldn't have the amazing opportunities that I have. Plus, Texas law says that students have to pass all of their classes in a grading period before they are even allowed to participate in extracurricular activities.
The Evolution of Marching – 2005-2009 [VIDEO] Music Education by Joel Wagner - May 29, 2010June 30, 20100 As we close out the school year and begin looking toward the summer, band directors turn their minds toward marching arts. This year, I'm going through some history and exploring The Evolution of Marching via YouTube. I'm taking you along for the journey as well. Now we come to the most modern marching shows available. Props continue to be more thoroughly integrated into the show, and the color guard continues to be used to add color and visual contrast, as well as actual actors in a story. Electronics are now integrated into the DCI shows as well, and we see the drum majors of Phantom Regiment's 2008 production being used as characters throughout the entire performance. Many corps are now
The Evolution of Marching – 1999-2004 [VIDEO] Music Education by Joel Wagner - May 28, 2010June 30, 20100 As we close out the school year and begin looking toward the summer, band directors turn their minds toward marching arts. This year, I'm going through some history and exploring The Evolution of Marching via YouTube. I'm taking you along for the journey as well. As we moved into the new millennium, the color guard moved further from the hornline and drumline as far as uniforms, but began to interact much more with the individual members. Where the early 90s has included an occasional soloist interacting with the guard, now large groups of the hornline were doing full out ballet moves and poses throughout the shows. Though it had been before, the marching show is now even more dance- and
The Evolution of Marching – 1994-1998 [VIDEO] Music Education by Joel Wagner - May 27, 2010June 30, 20100 As we close out the school year and begin looking toward the summer, band directors turn their minds toward marching arts. This year, I'm going through some history and exploring The Evolution of Marching via YouTube. I'm taking you along for the journey as well. As music selections moved away from the more traditional Broadway and Latin Jazz themes that had dominated the early years of drumcorps, corps began focusing more on classical-type (mostly Romantic era and early 20th century) and concert band music. This development continued through the bulk of the 1990s, with the addition of more elaborate props and other visual elements. 1994 - Blue Devils Video unavailable. In 1994, Star of Indiana left DCI and began touring
The Evolution of Marching – 1988-1993 [VIDEO] Music Education by Joel Wagner - May 26, 2010June 30, 20100 As we close out the school year and begin looking toward the summer, band directors turn their minds toward marching arts. This year, I'm going through some history and exploring The Evolution of Marching via YouTube. I'm taking you along for the journey as well. Last time we saw how the Garfield Cadets transformed the marching by speeding things up and adding pass-thrus and of course the famous "Z Pull." If 1983-1987 was about revolutionizing marching style, 1988-1993 was about bucking the traditional musical elements. One of the key innovators in this area was The Star of Indiana, who left DCI following the 1993 season. 1988 - Madison Scouts 1989 - Santa Clara Vanguard 1990 - The
The Evolution of Marching – 1983-1987 [VIDEO] Music Education by Joel Wagner - May 25, 2010June 30, 20100 As we close out the school year and begin looking toward the summer, band directors turn their minds toward marching arts. This year, I’m going through some history and exploring The Evolution of Marching via YouTube. I’m taking you along for the journey as well. So far, we've seen the first 11 years of DCI. In 1983, the Garfield Cadets began their three-year of DCI dominance with some of the most innovative marching drill ever seen. The Blue Devils won in 1986, and the Cadets were back on top in 1987. 1983 - Garfield Cadets 1984 - Garfield Cadets 1985 - Garfield Cadets 1986 - Blue Devils Embedding disabled, click here for the video. However, since every other year was dominated by the Garfield Cadets, here is
The Evolution of Marching – 1977-1982 [VIDEO] Music Education by Joel Wagner - May 24, 2010June 30, 20100 As we close out the school year and begin looking toward the summer, band directors turn their minds toward marching arts. This year, I’m going through some history and exploring The Evolution of Marching via YouTube. I’m taking you along for the journey as well. Yesterday, we saw some classic footage from the first five years of DCI. Today, we'll look at the next six years. 1977 - Blue Devils I can't find a video! I did find one of the Kilties from 1977 (11th Place) though. 1978 - Santa Clara Vanguard Embedding disabled. Click here to watch the excerpt. Here's the 1978 Phantom Regiment (2nd place) finale. 1979 - Blue Devils Video unavailable. Here is the 1979 Guardsmen (7th Place). Notice by this point the "pit" section has
The Evolution of Marching – 1972-1976 [VIDEO] Music Education by Joel Wagner - May 23, 2010June 30, 20100 As we close out the school year and begin looking toward the summer, band directors turn their minds toward marching arts. This year, I'm going through some history and exploring The Evolution of Marching via YouTube. I'm taking you along for the journey as well. Today, we'll look at the first five DCI finals. Since video footage is rare from these days, I am really surprised to be able to find recordings from each of these years. 1972 - Anaheim Kingsmen YouTube Embedding disabled, watch the excerpt here 1973 - Santa Clara Vanguard 1974 - Santa Clara Vanguard 1975 - Madison Scouts Another video is available here but the embedding is disabled. I link to this one because the first is a standstill performance, and this one
The Evolution of Marching – 38 Years of DCI World Champions [VIDEO] Music Education by Joel Wagner - May 22, 2010June 30, 20100 As the school year winds down, band directors invariably begin turning their minds towards the upcoming marching season. This year, I have a 7th grade percussionist who knows a ton of trivia about Drum Corps International. His father used to march and has taught across the country, so he comes to middle school with a much better background of the history of drumming than most students. Over the last few weeks, I've been having some conversations with him and I began to realize that he doesn't know a lot about the old history of marching, and I don't know a lot about recent marching history. So I thought I'd go look through the YouTube archives and watch parts of as