The Music Tech Teacher Podcast: Recent Episodes
Katie Wardrobe: music technology trainer | presenter | keynote speaker | consultant
The Music Tech Teacher podcast is a show especially for music teachers who'd like practical tips for using technology in music education. Hosted by Katie Wardrobe from Midnight Music, each episode features tips, and lesson plans, ideas and tutorials from the show's host - an experienced music technology in education trainer, speaker and consultant. There are also regular interviews with real teachers who use technology in creative and productive ways.
Today we’re going to look at some of the options for free and low-cost notation software which can be used by you - the teacher - or by your students. We’ll discuss some of the things you need to consider when choosing notation software and then look at 6 different options which work on a variety of devices.
In this episode of the Music Tech Teacher podcast, I share a fantastic free software tool that you can use to easily create your own playalong videos that have synchronised notation showing on the screen.
Back in December we asked music teachers to share a favorite tech tip or tool by recording a short message. A number of teachers contributed their tips and I’m going to share 10 of them in today’s episode.
Today I thought I’d tell you about my desk and the tech gear I use on a daily basis. I’ve included the useful, simple and inexpensive accessories and organizational items that have helped simplify and streamline the gear and cables.
In this episode of the Music Tech Teacher Podcast, I’ll be sharing 5 of the 10 rhythm reading apps that I shared in a recent live webinar. This one is a follow-up to the previous episode where I talked about 5 Note Naming Apps of 2023.
Today I’ll be sharing note naming apps that you can use with your students. There are many note naming apps available and each has different features and functionality. I’ve chosen 5 of the 10 apps that I shared in a recent live webinar which was called 10 Top Note Naming Apps of 2023 which is available to members of the Midnight Music Membership Community.
I know many of you are interested in plugging a keyboard into your laptop so that you can play notes into your music software, but you’re not sure….
- what to buy
- how you would connect the keyboard to the laptop if you had one
- whether it will work if all you have is a Chromebook
- which software it will work with
- and what to do if you’ve connected it but you can’t get it to work
Today we’ll cover all of those areas and more.
In this episode of the Music Tech Teacher Podcast, I’ll be sharing some tips for using the random spinner called Wheel of Names. At first glance, it’s a very simple free tech tool. You can easily add some names to a wheel and then spin it to randomly pick someone. What I love about Wheel of Names is the ability to think outside the box and use it for more than just a name selection tool.
In this episode I’ll cover two areas:
- How to set up and customize your wheel
- Music-education specific ideas and examples for using the wheel
If you’ve ever wanted to learn some basic video editing skills, this episode will give you some tips and ideas for application in music education. I’ll run through 5 easy skills you can learn that will apply in any video editing software - including the free software Clipchamp which works for all devices. For additional step-by-step training there is a webinar recording available inside the Midnight Music Membership Community (you can earn a PD certificate!).
Adding music notation to worksheets, documents and presentation files is a necessary skill for music teachers, but what are the options and which one is best? In this episode, I’ll discuss a range of easy techniques for including notation in your teaching resources, plus share my best tips for making your notation look good.
In this episode of the Music Tech Teacher Podcast, you’ll learn how you can use technology to help advocate for your music program by boosting its visibility.
In this episode of the Music Tech Teacher podcast, you’ll learn some easy ways to incorporate animation into your Canva designs.
In this episode of the Music Tech Teacher Podcast, I share a collection of 10 links to tech tools, resources, and tech tips. They are a combination of things that I discovered recently, or I haven’t shared for a while, or that I haven’t shared at all on the podcast. I hope you find them useful!
In this episode of the Music Tech Teacher Podcast, I’m sharing some of the most helpful apps you can use as a musician. We’ll discuss apps that help you practice music or transcribe music. I hope you find them helpful!
In this episode, we’ll be talking about how to research tech gear… things like headphones, bluetooth speakers, microphones, audio interfaces, keyboards, etc. We’ll discuss where to do your research, and how to find the latest options and best solutions for your particular situation.
In this episode, I share another 10 tech tips and links for you to try. These are things I’ve just discovered, haven’t shared on the podcast before, or haven’t shared in a while. I hope this gives you a chance to discover something new and different. Enjoy!
In this episode, we’ll talk about some useful things you can do with the free video editing software, Clipchamp, including making karaoke-style videos.
Working productively can be a struggle and just when you think you have everything worked out, things shift or you let good habits slide and your productivity starts to wane. I’m trying very hard to stay on track with my own productivity and in this episode I share 7 things that are working for me at the moment.
Incredibox is one of the most popular music tech websites and has been around for 13 years or so. I first showed it in a conference presentation I did about free music tech resources in 2009. It has been a constant hit with teachers and students. In this episode I’ll talk about the ways you and your students can access Incredibox - for free and as a paid option.
One of the podcasts I listen to regularly is The Chromebook Classroom podcast by John Sowash. It’s a useful and interesting ed tech podcast even if you and your students don’t use Chromebooks. John does a regular “10 Links You Should Click” episode and I thought I might start something similar on this podcast - 10 Tech Tips and Links that I will share once a month. It will be a collection of new, interesting or useful tech things to check out or try.
If you or your students are creating videos which include music and you intend to share them online, you will need to find audio tracks that you are legally permitted to use. In this episode, I’ll share nine places to find free and legal music for your video and audio projects.
Today I share some of my favorite places to find images and clipart that you might need when creating teaching materials like worksheets, presentations, interactive Google Slides activities and more.
Today - we need to talk….I want to give you all some tough love tech advice.
I want to talk about all those things you know you should be doing but are procrastinating on or burying your head in the sand about.
I’m going to go through 6 things you need to do which will:
- improve the security and safety of your devices and data
- speed up your device
- give you peace of mind
- good job for the holidays!
I’ve been listening to podcasts for around 12 years now and it’s a daily thing for me. Most of the time I discover new podcasts through word of mouth, so I wanted to share some of my personal favourites in this episode and the next one so that you all might find some new things to listen to.
In this episode and the next one, I’ll be sharing some of the education podcasts that I listen to regularly.
Abelton Live is a hugely popular software choice for professional music producers and DJs and the program that your teenage students probably want to learn the most.
In this episode of the Music Tech Teacher podcast, Abelton’s Education Specialist for Australia/New Zealand Matt Ridgway and I discuss how Abelton is being used in schools, where to find free lesson plans and learning materials and how you can get your hands on free Push controllers.
Many of you will know that one of my favourite tech tools is Canva - the online graphic design tool. Canva adds new features all the time so in this episode I decided to share some recent new additions, plus highlight some of the features that have been available for a while that you might not have noticed. After you’ve listened to the episode let me know if you learnt something new!
Back in December 2021 we ran a music tech survey where we asked you about the types of devices you and your students use, what you wanted to learn more about and which apps or sites were hits with your students. Here are the results of the survey - which included a couple of surprises!
Bill Henry is the creator of Mr Henry’s Music World - a popular Youtube channel and website that provides educational music content for teachers, parents and students. Bill and I delve into his video creation methods: techniques, equipment, the time involved in producing videos and much more.
Welcome to part 2 of our listener questions. In this episode we discuss how to economically print QR codes from Flipgrid, what to learn when you start using a new notation software program, tips for editing sound in iMovie and how to set up sound equipment.
Today I’ll be answering some tech questions that were submitted by you - the listeners of this podcast. In this episode we’ll hear from four teachers and I’ll answer questions from another 5 teachers in the following episode.
The Music Tech Teacher podcast is back with a new episode! In this episode I share a few updates - including why the podcast was on hiatus for a few months - plus my tech tip of the week.
This episode features a collection of questions from music teachers all around the world. Access the full blog post and show notes here: https://midnightmusic.com.au/128
This episode features a collection of frequently asked questions from music teachers around the world. Access the full blog post and show notes here: https://midnightmusic.com.au/127
Back in January I launched a new course inside my Midnight Music Community called Video Creation for Music Teachers. In the 5-module course, two of the modules cover methods for creating playalong videos. The first technique is a simple one - using Google Slides (or Powerpoint) and the screenrecording tool Loom - and in this podcast I outline the 8 steps you’ll need to take to create your own playalong videos.
Today’s episode is a special one - because it includes music tech tips and recommendations from you - the listeners of the podcast! Music teachers were invited to record a short video on a Flipgrid topic that I set up late last year. There are around 19 tips altogether and if you were one of the teachers that recorded something, then thank you!
I’m intending to make this a regular thing, so if you would like to share a tech tip or tool of your own (small or big!), then head over to this Flipgrid topic and record a short video.
Today I’m excited to bring you an interview with Cameron Moten of Elementary Groove Tracks. Cameron makes excellent, high quality playalong videos for elementary students and they have become VERY popular with teachers, especially over the past few months while many have been working remotely, in a hybrid situation, on a cart or working with limited resources.
Cameron and I talk about how he started out creating audio tracks and then progressed to full-blown playalong videos complete with multiple Camerons showing on-screen, notation and a bouncing blue arrow.
Chrome browser extensions can add functionality, allow you to access tech tools and features and increase your productivity. Here are 10 of my most frequently used Chrome extensions. Are your favourites on the list?
Today I’m going to talk about digital badging in the music classroom.
Digital badging is something you might want to consider if you’re interested in increasing engagement with your students. I know many of you have struggled with that this year - particularly when teaching remotely.
In this episode, I have two free rhythm reading tech tools to share with you - both of which were included in my Ultimate Guide To Free Music Tech Resources which is published once a year.
In this episode I talk with my good friend Barbara Freedman - author of Teaching Music Through Composition - A Curriculum Using Technology (published by Oxford University Press) and all-round music technology legend - about setting up your workspace and leveling up the gear you use to deliver your lessons and create teaching materials.
In this episode, I chat to Amy Burns - an elementary music teacher from New Jersey who also happens to be a well-known music tech expert.
In the last episode I also announced that Amy has just come on board as the Midnight Music Community Coordinator and since she started that role a few weeks ago she has been an amazing resource for members in the community. She has answered countless questions and shared a number of tutorials, tips and resources for members and I’m so pleased to have her in there.
Amy and I cover a few different topics during our chat, but in particular I want to mention her new book has just been published - Using Technology with Elementary Music Approaches.
In this episode of the Music Tech Teacher Podcast, I’m sharing a conversation I had with one of my Midnight Music Community members, Kath McGreal.
I invited Kath on the podcast to talk about her use of Wakelet with her music students. Wakelet is a free digital curation tool that allows you to collect, organise and share links, videos, pdfs, images and more and there are many ways you can use it in music education.
Kate Hargreaves runs MusicEDU - an Australian education tech business that focuses on creating e-learning curriculum for students in years 6 - 10 both in and out of the music classroom. Kate and I discuss the four programs she has on offer: Keyboard Evolution, Studio Sessions, Trackformers and Game Composer. We also talk about her newest program AR Classroom which will be launched later this year.
This episode features Aileen Miracle of Mrs. Miracle’s Music Room. Aileen talks about teaching elementary music remotely - what worked and what didn’t work the first time around and what her plans are for the 2020-2021 school year. She also shares some of her favourite tech tools and tips.
In this episode of the Music Tech Teacher Podcast, I speak with Philip Rothman from NYC Music Services - a music preparation business based in - you guessed it - New York.
Philip and I discuss his use of notation software and the ever-changing technology landscape.
I’m very pleased to talk to Thomas J. West on the podcast today. Tom is the blended learning coordinator, instrumental music teacher and a teacher of jazz studies at Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School's Center for Performing and Fine Arts and he has been teaching music online since 2008 (yes, well before COVID-19 hit).
Tom has refined his approach to teaching music ensembles in the online format over the past months and has come up with a program that has been specifically adapted to an online or blended learning situation. There are LOTS of practical tips in this episode so I hope you’ll enjoy listening to our discussion of Tom’s program.
**Note: I apologise for the audio quality in this interview. One of those times where I forgot to check which mic I had selected in Zoom (!).
Shawna Longo is a General Music Technology teacher and Arts Integration Specialist at Durban Avenue School, in Hopatcong, New Jersey. She has been preparing to go back to school where she will now be teaching her elementary students from a cart. Shawna shares her tips for getting ready to teach in an ever-changing environment.
We’re going to wind up our series on DIY music puzzles and games today with the final episode in the series. This one is all about creating your own digital jigsaw puzzles that students can complete online.
Today’s episode continues on with our series about do-it-yourself music puzzles or games that you can use to reinforce musical concepts in a fun way. In this third episode of the series, I walk you through how to make your own word search puzzles that can be completed digitally or printed out.
Today’s episode continues on with our series about do-it-yourself music puzzles or games that you can use to reinforce musical concepts in a fun way. In this second episode of the series, I walk you through how to make your own digital and printable crossword puzzles.
Looking for music puzzles or games that you can use to reinforce musical concepts in a fun way? There are a number of free websites that let you create your own puzzles super-fast. In the next few podcast episodes I’ll introduce you to a few of my favourites, starting today with the flexible bingo creation tool Bingo Baker.
Flipgrid is a fantastic free tool for teachers - it’s a video response platform that allows you to set an assignment for students where they will respond with a video.
One of the great things about Flipgrid is the camera that you use to make videos.
In this episode, I’ll share 3 types of videos you can make for your students.
In this episode, we'll discuss how to use choice boards in music education. We'll cover what they are, the benefits of using them, how students complete them, and some choice board topic ideas you can use right away.
Have you had your school concerts cancelled? All those rehearsals and nothing to show for it :(
So what can you do?
There are a few different ways you can capture all the hard work that your ensembles have put in over the past months.
In this episode, I’m going to discuss three approaches you can take to creating a video that celebrates the achievements of your music ensembles.
This episode is a follow-on from episode 104 where I shared 5 important tech tools to consider for teaching remotely. Today I want to share some specific tips for creating teaching videos.
Being able to create short, effective teaching videos is an important skill to have and it’s become even more important now that many educators are teaching remotely, or planning to.
This episode is going to be a little different and we’re going to take an unscheduled break from our theme of the month.
With the outbreak of the Coronavirus, there are a number of schools that have closed indefinitely and many other schools are preparing for possible future closures. This has meant that educators are now teaching remotely - they are at home, teaching students who are in their own homes. There’s a lot of discussion about this online and many teachers are being asked to formulate plans for remote teaching just in case.
In this episode, I cover the tech tools that can help you teach remotely.
We are continuing with our Canva-themed month! Canva is a fantastic graphic design software tool that is free to use. I’ve been talking about the ways you can use it as a teacher to create your own teaching materials, but it also works really well for student assignments. Instead of giving students a written assignment, you could ask them to create something visual to show what they know. Here are 6 Fun Student Assignments Using Canva.
In this episode we’re continuing with our Canva theme for the month and I’m going to share 12 different ways that you can use Canva for your own needs as a teacher.
In today’s episode we’ll be talking about Canva, the online graphic design tool, and how to use it to create beautiful teaching resources for your classroom.
We’ve reached episode 100!
This year, Midnight Music:
- Published 38 blog posts
- Released 25 podcast episodes
- Hosted 12 free live music tech training sessions
- Welcomed 100+ amazing members into the Midnight Music Community
- Had over 1,000 people sign up for
- Freebie Fridays on our Facebook page
We'll talk about each of those things in more detail, starting with the podcast.
The basic concept of an escape room is that students work in teams to solve puzzles or answer questions to discover a secret code - or series of codes - which will allow them to “escape” the room or solve a mystery. And they only have 30 minutes to do it!
If you’ve ever been interested in setting up your own escape room for your music students, this episode will help you get started.
At this time of year, I often see an increase in student art projects shared on social media. Creating artwork that represents student learning can be a great project in any subject.
Something I saw a music teacher share years ago was soundwave art - a visual representation of a soundwave that had been printed out and added to a picture, but the best part was that it wasn’t any old random soundwave - it was an actual picture of a recording of the student’s voice.
Find out how you can do this fun project with your students!
Continuing with our accessibility theme, I’ve invited Phil Heeley on to the podcast to talk about his work with his business Inclusive Music. Phil has worked with students of all abilities over his 30 year career including the elderly, those with special needs and disabilities, and he also works in mainstream UK education with primary-aged students right through to university age.
Our current theme on the blog and podcast is accessibility and today I have a guest on - a music educator named Alex Rees from the UK - to talk about what he has been doing with special needs students.
Alex is a freelance music and sound technologist, a music producer and education consultant from Wales who manages creative learning projects both in and out of schools. He works with a range of young people with different backgrounds and abilities, using technology to create adaptable music projects.
The next few podcast episodes and blog posts on MidnightMusic.com.au fall into our Accessibility theme.
In addition to sharing apps, software and other tech gear, I’ll be talking to a couple of music educators about their experiences working with special needs students and students with learning difficulties.
I know many of you are looking for ideas in this area and the good thing is that the resources that are out there are super-useful for almost all of your students - they are not just for special needs students.
Today’s episode is the final one in our productivity series and it’s all about templates. I love templates for many reasons and they can truly increase your productivity! I share the benefits of using templates, some ideas for places you can incorporate templates into your everyday life and give some tips on how to save them.
Over the past few years I’ve tried very hard to be more productive. We all have the same amount of time in a day, a week, a year - but it comes down to how you use that time. Today’s episode is another productivity-related one and it’s all about making use of unexpected pockets of time in your day.
A member of the Midnight Music Community recently asked - how can I manage ALL of my links, resources, ideas, and videos so I can find them easily? I ended up running a live training session to explain some of the ways that I manage to organise my digital “stuff” and I thought it would also be of interest to teachers listening to this podcast.
If you’re a member of the Midnight Music Community you can watch a recording of that training - you’ll see me show everything and you can get a PD certificate for the training time.
Google Calendar is one of my most frequently-used tech tools. Do you want to learn some tips for using calendar more efficiently and effectively?
In the first podcast episode for our Productivity themed month, I share some of the Google Calendar shortcuts and hidden features that you might not have yet discovered.
For the final episode in Back to Basics month I share 3 apps that your students can use to create digital portfolios.
In this episode, I’ll be talking about the two software applications that I think every music teacher should know how to use. The ones I’m referring to are music apps and they are both SO useful in many, many ways: for you to use as a teacher, but also for you to use with your students. Which ones are they? All will be revealed in the episode!
In this episode of the Music Tech Teacher Podcast, I'll be talking about the best microphones for simple classroom recordings, mics for students to use, and mics for your own teaching purposes.
Our theme for this month on the blog and podcast is Back to Basics and today we’re kicking off back to basics month with an episode about the differences between audio and midi files. In this episode I cover what are they, the differences between them, when to use them and the unique super powers of each one.
There are many free tech resources that are useful in the music classroom, but not all of them are music-specific. Here are 3 of my favourite non-music free tech tools that are perfect for ALL teachers across all subject areas.
Our theme for this month is free music tech resources and in this episode I share 9 different places you can find free sound effects for music tech projects your students might be working on.
I’ll also cover
- Tips on how to expand a limited sound effects library without downloading any extras
- Why it’s good for students to make their own
- Example projects involving sound effects
Each year I put together a list of free music tech resources – websites, software and more – that you can use in your music classroom. The latest version of the Ultimate Free Music Technology Resources Guide is out this week!
So what's new? There are around 40 new listings in this year's guide and I’ll talk about some of my favourites in this episode. I hope you enjoy the guide and find the resources useful!
We’re continuing with our theme for this month on the blog and podcast which is holiday PD for teachers AND back to school ideas to tie in with extended summer break that’s happening right now in the northern hemisphere.
In the previous episodes for this month I shared some free online music tech webinars that you can take at any time of the year (episode 81) and talked about some must-read music tech books (in episode 82).
This episode is going to be about creating your own awesome teaching resources using software you already know and love (well...maybe not “love”!).
Our theme for this month is on the blog and podcast is holiday professional development for teachers AND back to school ideas since most of you in the northern hemisphere are on your extended summer break.
In the previous episode - number 81 - I shared some free online professional development opportunities that you can pursue at any time of the year. In this episode I share some of my must-read books for music technology in education.
If you’re interested in any of the books I talk about during the episode, you can find the links below.
Our theme for this month on the blog and podcast is holiday PD for teachers AND back to school ideas since most of you in the northern hemisphere are on your extended summer break. I know many of you use this time to do some professional development and start to gather ideas for the next school year.
In this episode I share a range of free online professional development opportunities. There’s something for everyone!
Recently, I was a presenter at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) 2019 conference. In this episode of the Music Tech Teacher Podcast, I share some of my highlights from the conference.
Our theme for this month on the blog and podcast is iPads and in today’s episode I’m going to talk about some of the useful accessories and adaptors that you and your students can use with iPads in order to expand their capabilities in the music classroom.
In my new GarageBand for iPad course, I’ve put together a whole module on this topic of accessories and extras that you can use with your iPad. In this episode I share just a few of things that I cover in that module:
How to connect
- Microphones
- Guitars
- Keyboards
In the course I also cover:
- Hands-free control of your iPad so your can turn sheet music pages or control apps
- Ways to share iPads among multiple students
- Options for mounting your iPad on mic stands and tripods
- Tips for displaying your iPad on screen and why Apple TV is not the best option
- Ways you can amplify your iPad
One of the more complex aspects to using the app is how to access the student GarageBand project files so that you can assess them.
When assessing work done in GarageBand, as a teacher you will generally want:
- to be able to hear the student’s work
- to be able to see the GarageBand project - how many tracks were used, how were they arranged, whether the student has made an effort to adjust the levels of the tracks, which ones were created using software instruments (green regions) and which ones are audio (blue regions) and so on
Having both the audio and visual information makes it much easier to assess student work but what are the options for getting students to send their GarageBand iOS projects to you, the teacher?
In this episode of the Music Tech Teacher podcast I’ll run through 5 possible ways.
We’re back with another episode of the Music Tech Teacher podcast. We’ve had a bit of a break recently and I wanted to catch everyone up on what’s been going on at Midnight Music recently, some special events that are coming along in the near future and I share a few tech-related things that I’ve been loving lately.
For a number of years now I’ve been using screencasting software to record my computer screen so that I can make tutorial videos, show someone how to fix something technical, provide feedback and assessment, answer a music tech question quickly, or capture student work on websites that don’t have a save option.
There are many screencasting software applications available but in this episode of the Music Tech Teacher podcast I want to talk about Loom and why it’s my favourite free option for music teachers.
Learn how you can make your own iPad video tutorials for students by using the inbuilt screen record function.
Youtube - it’s a tech tool that’s used almost daily by most music teachers. Today I’ll share some simple keyboard shortcuts that will make your Youtube use a breeze (and make you look like a total tech ninja).
Discover the free, “works-on-any-device” online digital audio workstation Bandlab. Lauren Hendry Parsons is the Associate Vice President of Communications and Partnerships for Bandlab Technologies and she comes on the show to talk all things Bandlab.
John Mlynczak - the Managing Director of Noteflight - is a passionate advocate for music education and technology. John and I discuss Noteflight Learn and the new Noteflight Marketplace - where teachers can purchase sheet music in a notation file format that they can legally edit and arrange.
Marc Gelfo is the Co-Founder & CEO of Modacity - an app that aims to help musicians use their practice time efficiently and effectively. Marc and I discuss how Modacity works, what it’s like to create a mobile app from scratch and tips for practicing more effectively.
Katie Miller, a K-5 music teacher at Hadfield School in Wisconsin, has had some great success running tech-based projects with her elementary students. Recent favourites include digital book reviews in which she showed students how to create soundtracks using GarageBand and a composition project where her grade 3 students composed for grade 3 students at another school in her district. Katie shares her successes during this episode.
Lyric videos that have lyrics that show up line-by-line in time to an audio track can be a useful tool in teaching students songs and helping them to learn lyrics by heart. They are not hard to make but they do take a little investment of time. For this reason, they’re best suited to songs that you are teaching to many students - perhaps across multiple year levels - or for singalong songs that you are going to use in assemblies, concerts or religious services.
There’s more than one way to create lyric videos but today we’ll look at a simple method that involves using Powerpoint (on PC) or Keynote (on Mac). The result will be a simple video with a soundtrack and lyrics that appear at the right time throughout the song.
If you’re a member of the MMC, look out for an instructional tutorial video that will show you the process step-by-step on both a PC and a Mac.
Today we welcome back Shawna Longo - a music educator from New Jersey - for the third time. Shawna has just finished creating a full online course for Music First and I thought it would be great to have her on to share some tips for tackling course and lesson design when you’re starting from scratch.
In the previous episode - number 66 - we had part 1 of my interview with middle school choir director Christopher Russell from Oltman Middle School in Minnesota who describes himself as a traditional-style music teacher who uses technology to support his program.
If you haven’t already listened to that episode, I would suggest going back to listen to that one first.
In part 2, Chris and I talk all things ukulele and the way in which he has been creating ukulele play-along videos using a handful of apps on his iPad.
Chris shares lots of great information and tips in this episode so I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed talking to him.
You can find all the links, apps and resources on the shownotes page for this episode at midnightmusic.com.au/67
This episode is part 1 of 2 where I speak with Christopher Russell of Oltman Middle School in Minnesota.
Chris is a great example of a traditional-style music teacher who uses technology to support his program.
Over the years he has utilised technology to increase his productivity and assist the smooth running of his program.
He’s an expert at creating music notation files and rehearsal tracks for his students and lately one of the most effective ways he has been using technology is to create ukulele play-along videos using a handful of apps on his iPad.
We mention quite a few links, apps and resources so if you’d like to follow any of those up you can head to the shownotes page for this episode at midnightmusic.com.au/66
This episode is part 2 of my chat with Sydney based music educator Brad Fuller and we continue our discussion about Brad’s innovative teaching space and the way he uses technology to deliver his music program.
When students join Brad Fuller’s ProjectRnB music program, they are greeted with “Welcome to show business…!”
This episode is part 1 of my chat with Sydney based music educator Brad Fuller.
In 2012, Brad was contracted to redesign the teaching space at Northern Beaches Christian School where he is now the director of music. The redesign of the physical space is innovative and works hand in hand with Brad’s unique approach to teaching his year 7-12 students.
Technology plays a very big part by helping Brad and his colleague Peter teach effectively and by helping the students work independently.
Deborah Smith is an Australian music educator who has a very strong background in the Kodaly method and over the years she has made a name for herself as one of Australia’s leading ear-training and musicianship experts. Deb self-publishes a series of books and I speak to her about the tools and resources she uses, how she creates video and the influence of technology on her processes.
My guest is Daniel Spreadbury - who was the Senior Product Manager for Sibelius in a previous life - but for the past 6 years he has been working on the conception, design and marketing of the new professional-level scoring application Dorico. Daniel and I discuss what it’s like to start a new software application from scratch and what makes Dorico different from the other notation software on the market.
This episode is brought to you by my free hour-long online training 7 Easy Ways To Use Tech In Your Music Classes (all attendees receive a professional development certificate of attendance).
David Bennett of Overnewton Anglican Community College has been working on remixing projects with his music tech students in years 7 through to year 10.
He also likes to keep things fresh by using current music with the students and his projects incorporate music theory skills as well as technology-based skills.
In this episode, we talk about where Dave finds audio stems for remixing projects, the software he uses with different year levels and the process the students use to create their remixes.
Recently I gave a keynote speech for a music education conference with the theme Play, Create, Inspire. I loved this theme because it was simple to tie into what’s going on in music technology right now.
In the keynote speech I covered 4 topics - songwriting apps, multitrack music videos, sampling and live looping. Today I’m going to share the songwriting apps that I mentioned during the keynote speech - what they are, how super-successful musicians are using them and how you can use them with your own students.
Tech issues happen to the best of us - me included.
In the past few weeks I’ve had not one, but TWO major tech issues - both of which were beyond my control. I managed to get through them (just!) thanks to my contingency plans, a little luck and some understanding on the part of others around me.
In this episode I’ll share both tech disasters with you, talk about what I did to get through each situation and what I plan to do in the future in the hope that my key learnings might also help you. At the very least, you will understand that these things really can happen to anyone and that it’s not “just you”!
Lately I’ve been preparing a keynote speech for a music education conference with the theme Play, Create, Inspire. It’s an easy theme to tie into music technology because there are so many cool, inspiring things going on right now.
One of the topics I’m going to cover in the speech is multitrack music videos. They are the ones you see frequently on Youtube which feature a singer performing all the parts of an arrangement by themselves. You see the performer multiple times on the screen in boxes - a bit like the opening theme to the Brady Bunch.
Today I share some tips on using this concept as a project with your students at school - the educational benefits, which apps to use and a few tips.
Dr Jim Frankel is the Director of MusicFirst and the Head of Digital Education for the Music Sales Group.
He is also on the faculty of Teachers College at Columbia University where he runs courses in Music Technology in Education.
In a couple of previous lives, he worked as the Director of Instrumental Music at Franklin Avenue Middle School and later worked as the Managing Director of Soundtree.
Jim has authored and co-authored multiple books including The Teacher’s Guide to Music, Media & Copyright Law, YouTube in Music Education, and Making Music with GarageBand & Mixcraft.
Although we live on opposite sides of the world, Jim was an early influence on my own work in the area of music tech in education. I discovered Jim and the podcast he had at the time which was imaginatively titled Dr Frankel’s Podcast and through it I was able to listen to the audio of his conference presentations and workshops and listen to samples of student projects.
And if you ever decide to follow Jim on Instagram or Facebook you’ll get to see his latest experiments in brewing beer which he has been doing for almost 20 years.
Shawna Longo - the Music Educator, STEAM Facilitator and Arts Integration Specialist at Hopatcong Borough Schools in New Jersey - was my guest on episode 53 of the podcast but she’s back to chat about STEAM lessons in the music classroom.
Shawna shared some great ideas during the episode and we mentioned a number of links and resources which as listed below. You can download a copy of the list, plus my outline of the lesson ideas by using the download button below.
In just a few weeks the first International Music Education Summit will take place. It’s a 3-day conference which is purely online - there’s no travel involved, no hotel accommodation to pay for and you can “attend” in your PJs. Founder of IMES Elisa Janson Jones tells me why she decided to launch the event and how she fits it in around her job as a full-time K-8 elementary music teacher, band conductor, and host of the Music Ed Mentor podcast.
A while ago I asked members of my email newsletter list to suggest topics for upcoming podcast episodes. If you would like to nominate something, I’ll add a link in the shownotes to the place where you can let me know any ideas. One of the most popular
Shawna Longo is the Music Educator, STEAM Facilitator and Arts Integration Specialist at Hopatcong Borough Schools. She teaches General music technology classes to grades 6-8 students, has established makerspaces as part of the STEAM initiative at her sch
Today my guest is Jenny Chapman who is the Junior School Music Co-ordinator at St Johns Grammar in Belair South Australia which is in the beautiful Adelaide Hills. She teaches students from the Early Learning Centre, through to year 6. In 2017, Jenny’s
In this episode I catch up with Zachary Gates - a young music teacher I met at the Texas Music Educators’ Association (TMEA) convention that I attended in February this year. Although Zach has only been teaching for a couple of years, he presented some
We made it to episode 50! I’m celebrating this milestone by talking about 10 tech things that are working for me right now. I’ve been using some of these things for a long time (and still love them!) and others are relatively new, but they all have on
Martin Emo is a New Zealand based teacher who is Head of Performing Arts and Teacher in Charge of Music at Waimea College. He’s currently on study leave for 12 months to complete his Masters in Education majoring in Elearning. Martin is also working wit
Back at the end of January on my Midnight Music Facebook page, I posted a question which was: “What music tech projects are you currently working on in the classroom?” Carole Corman - a teacher from Canada - commented and said “For the first time, I
Capture your students’ musical creativity and share it with your school community by creating an interactive display. In this episode - part two of a two-part series - I talk about the ways you can use augmented reality via the HP Reveal app (formerly k
Capture your students’ musical creativity and share it with your school community by creating an interactive display. In this episode - part one of a two-part series - I talk about the ways you can use QR codes to add an audio-based element to bulletin
As someone who uses multiple tech items on a daily basis it’s easy to get frustrated with all the cables, adaptors, plugs and all the other bits and pieces that you need. Over the years I’ve found some ways to organise my tech gear so that things are
There are lots and lots of ready-made music education worksheets, Powerpoint files and interactive whiteboard resources available for purchase or free download if you look hard enough online. But what about those times when you want to create something fr
In part 2 of this series, I share some intermediate and advanced lesson ideas for using GargageBand or Soundtrap with your music students
Almost every day I see a music teacher post on Facebook asking for ideas for using GarageBand or Soundtrap with their students. Most teachers are keen to use GarageBand or Soundtrap in a meaningful way and want lesson ideas that will teach musical concept
In this episode I talk with Christopher Sutton - a musician who discovered a fascination for ear-training quite some time into his own personal journey as a musician. Realising that there many other people who also need help developing their inner musicia
In this episode I talk with David Biel, Director of Bands at Heritage Middle School in Lubbock, Texas. He also has his own podcast, Beyond The Clef. David shares some of the tech tools he uses to run his band rehearsals more effectively and we chat about
Today’s episode is a mini-training. I talk about basic audio editing skills every music teacher should learn and teach you the essentials right here on the podcast.
I recently posted the following question on Facebook: “What’s one piece of tech-related advice you would give to another teacher?”. Teachers from all over the world contributed ideas and shared tips. The responses were so good that I decided to dedi
In this episode I’m going to share some ideas for using the free interactive music website Incredibox.
Dr Scott Watson has been incorporating technology into his music teaching for many years and takes a project-based learning approach when it comes to creative music assignments with his elective students. He also uses technology on a daily basis for his o
Gary Heimbauer is a music tech superstar who uses video to increase his reach as a teacher and to differentiate learning in his classes. Learn why it’s important to “just get started” and how you can do that using tools and resources you probably al
“Which apps should I request for my music class set of iPads?” It’s a question that comes up a lot, so in this episode I share my top 10 app choices for student iPads in the music classroom.
Padlet is an online "virtual wall" where you and your students can post text, links, videos, photos and more. It’s a great free tech tool that is brilliant for all subject areas and music is no exception. Discover some ideas for using Padlet in your music classroom