Guitar 2 really took a turn the past week and a half. Students really enjoyed working in SoundTrap while they mixed the most recent album. As they were working in SoundTrap, many of them asked if we could do a project where they could create their own music. Why not? Music is music and guitar is one vehicle through which we create music. 

Here's the cool thing about SoundTrap: it's cloud based, which means it is accessible on any device. There is even a SoundTrap app, so the students could access their songs via their mobile devices. It works on Macs AND PCs. Super cool. 

I thought it would be fun if the students created a South High Soundscape, where recorded sounds from our school found their way into their songs. We listened to to versions of Soundscapes: Steve Reich's "Different Trains" and "City of God's Son" While these might push the envelope of a "soundscape" I thought they might provide two contrasting styles.

What the students put together is uniquely them and intriguing. When I asked them what they enjoyed about the project they replied that they enjoyed creating their own music (even if using pre-established loops), that everyone's creation was different, and there was freedom. Although-that freedom was met with a bit of anxiety at the beginning of the project because there was just SO MUCH for available for the students to work with. 

Below is the project description along with some of the songs (students gave me permission to use their work.) Some students, like Diego who wrote "Doors" were very thoughtful in their approach. Diego shared that each section starts with a door sound that he recorded. He indicated that doors open and close to different sections of a school and therefore each time you hear the door in his composition, there is a new and different sounding piece. Woah...that's deep, man. (Also, this is Diego's first time being in a music class). 

Please enjoy and please feel free to use this assignment in your own classroom. I believe this kind of music experience can work with ANY grade in ANY setting! 


​Student Examples

Perhaps I was naïve. I was finally sitting on the adjudicator side of the table. I had attended the Eau Claire Jazz Festival as a high school, then worked and played the festival as a college student. I brought bands to the festival (one of my students even won a scholarship to Shell Lake for outstanding musicianship), and now I was working as an adjudicator/clinician. Surely this meant I had broken down some of the barriers that women face in the jazz world. I should note that I was the only woman adjudicator and we were a pasty white bunch. 

​And then it happened. About four bands into the day, (all 15 or so bands were directed by men) the other two adjudicators and I were approached by the band director. (Shout out to John and Harvey-they were a blast to work with and I learned a ton watching them work with bands and tag-teaming with them). The band director shook their hands, exchanged pleasantries, gave them the scores, and walked back to his band. Yep. I was completely ignored. I muttered "did that just happen??" I was in shock. I was pissed. I honestly could not understand how this person did not see me as an adjudicator. Who did he think I was? A student aid working at the festival? (I have a bit of youthfulness to me, but not THAT much.) Maybe he saw me as one of the festival managers (perhaps a bit higher up on the ladder.) But the fact that he did not even acknowledge had me without words. I will come back to how I dealt with this.
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​Sexism in jazz has long been an issue. I experienced it first hand at Eau Claire in Jazz 1. Never from the guys that I played with. There was mutual respect there. (shout out to all the guys in the 2001-2002 bands-you rock!) Eau Claire does have a history of fewer females in the bands, but that generally is a reflection of the larger jazz community. I  do remember playing at the Viennese Ball (a glorified prom for grown ups) wearing my red dress and playing bari, overhearing a listener refer to me as the "Title IX" of the group. I didn't understand that. I auditioned into the band. I worked my ass off to get into that band. I started out in Jazz 4 and worked my way up. I earned that seat at the table and I was invited to sit there. I worked hard and owned my hard work, despite nasty rumors that circled around about me and how I got into the band. (Keeping it classy, right?)I took lessons with Kathy Jensen (bari player extraordinaire, and spent some time touring with this guy Prince. You may have heard of him) the summer before jazz auditions to help me prepare and get me to a place where I could hang with jazz 1 ("hang" in the meaning of being able to hang musically) So to think that there were people out there that didn't know how hard I really worked to get that seat really was upsetting.  
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​When I was in high school there were a ton of girls in our jazz band. My senior year, the saxophone section was all girls. I auditioned and played second alto in the all-state jazz band. It's not like I haven't been around this music. My dad is a phenomenal jazz musician. He actually is basically a walking encyclopedia of jazz, with an emphasis on early jazz. He coached me early on in my saxophone playing years and I was transcribing solos as early as 7th grade. I loved jazz, it was my music. (Don't make this statement more problematic than it needs to be. I identified with this music, and understood it's history and my relation, or lack there of, to the people who originated the music. I call it mine because this was the music that got me through my teen years....) It spoke to me. I was that nerdy kid that was learning all the Cannonball and Hodges solos while everyone else was digging in on the Backstreet Boys. My dad, being the jazz guy that he is, saw this passion and introduced me to the band "Diva" and bought me a book about women jazz musicians. It was in that book that I read about Ingrid Jensen, who I would then later meet when she was a guest at the Eau Claire Jazz Festival and who asked why there weren't any women in the band, and told me to "get your ass in there." So I did. I want to think that I didn't work any harder than those other guys. I worked hard because I needed to get better because that was a kick ass band.  
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I loved jazz in high school. I loved playing jazz, I loved soloing....it was freeing. When I was registering for classes the summer before my freshman year at Eau Claire, I remember the advisor discouraging me from signing up for jazz band. I needed to get X amount of marching band and regular band credits, along with private lessons (another blog post that needs to be written about the lack of equity that jazz receives in teacher education prep...) I was heart broken and didn't know any better. So that summer I spent most of my time getting my classical chops into shape. When I got to school in the fall, I remember walking around the practice rooms and listening to the amazing saxophonists. I came from a small school where I was a big fish in a small pond and now I was a minnow in an ocean. It was incredibly intimidating. I didn't audition for jazz band that semester, but I did the spring semester. I was disappointed that I got into jazz 4, so I took the following fall off again. But I missed it to much and ended up getting into jazz 3, then jazz 2, then....jazz 1. The first woman in about 10 years to get in the band. I also co-directed Jazz 5 with a friend. That was a great experience for so many reasons. Eau Claire is a magical place. The school is all undergraduates, but we are provided so many opportunities to play. It also is a place that allows for growth-an obvious story for myself. 
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So, back to yesterday. I had multiple emotions and thoughts running through my brain from "what the actual fuck" to "those students deserve better than that" to "I have to prove myself." I needed to let these young and beautiful students, and especially the girls in this band that women CAN play music. I wanted to make sure these girls know that it is ok to be a girl and be smart, beautiful, strong, confident, and create jazz. So, I marched past that band director and got to work. I had about five minutes to do something with them. So we talked about the importance of articulations and the feel. Then I gave them listening homework over the weekend. Their charts were 'inspired' (for lack of a better word) by jazz standards. I told them to go home and listen to "So What," "Lil' Darlin," and "Sidewinder." Those kids had no idea who Miles Davis or Count Basie were, and definitely not Lee Morgan. We had a good time together in those five minutes. I want to think that they took something home from that experience with me. I hope that ALL the bands we worked with saw that men and women can work together, but that women ARE capable of doing this job and doing it well. 
 
​It's going to take some time for me to process this whole experience. I am not going to give this guy any excuses. Not today. Not in 2018. This is not a women's fight. This is not just a white woman's fight. This is fight for all women to be heard and recognized. It's not just in the jazz world either, but damn, it is frustrating to see this happening to educators. Men, we need you to speak out and get with us on this. We need men to program more composers of color, and more women in their programs for concert band and jazz band. IT DOES MATTER. 

​Moving forward I am going to be reading some other stories to help me process this and figure out what we do next. My friend and colleague, and all around badass, Erin Holmes and I are planning on how to open up a dialogue this summer during all-state camp. BTW-she is the first woman to hold the Jazz Chair for MMEA. Like I said, a total badass, mother of three, and high school band director. I found this today, from a young jazz musician studying at the New School. This story is not unique. The comments are mostly helpful and empowering. Other articles of note include this New York Times commentary that celebrates women jazz musicians of 2017. Our very own local radio station recently highlighted 20 women jazz musicians here in the Twin Cities. But these are not isolated issues. And the women who are celebrated in the Times article and the Current blog are not being celebrated because they are just women. It is because they are strong, fierce, musical, smart, and talented. Those words can describe just about anybody (if they put the work into it). However, we do have to work *that* much harder (even in 2018) to be recognized. We are at the table. ACKNOWLEDGE us at the table. Have a conversation with us. Do not be offended if we might have more experience or understanding than you. We can learn from each other. But again, it takes both sides.

​#timetostart 

Organized chaos occurs on a daily basis in the South High guitar rooms. If you were to come into my room, you might find students working in pairs, groups of 3-4, or by themselves. You might find me working with individuals, mediating groups, or just sitting back and observing the learning that is occurring. Once in a while I may need to re-direct students to the task, but the generally rule of thumb is 80-20. Meaning, 80% of the time the students are on task, focused, and engaging in learning. 80% is a solid number and I think most them achieve that.

Today, I was inspired by the 6th hour class to start writing this blog. I am literally writing this entry while they are working in groups to put together a song. We have been working on "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons. Yesterday they listened to the song, and, as individuals, came up with their own strumming patterns. Volunteers from each class shared their patterns and we learned them from the students. I came up with an easy bass line. Today, they are working in groups to put the patterns together so they make a cohesive whole. So, one person is playing a bass line and others are creating or re-creating the strumming patterns we learned. I am watching students take on leadership roles in their groups, and other contribute their ideas. I am watching two young men work together. One young man who has struggled to find his place in class mentor another young man who has missed so much class that I barely know him. The mentor is an excellent teacher!! I am watching four girls who speak four different languages work together to figure out the song. It is really incredible. I am just sitting back and observing and watching the learning take place. 

What happens when we get out of the way and let students experiment? There are eighteen different students in this class, eighteen different musical backgrounds, and eighteen different learning styles. These students are sometimes much better teachers than we will ever be, and it is important to let them take on that role. 

"Remember focus on the music. Listen to what you are playing."-WOW. That just came from a student who has never had any "formal" music training. That's amazing. That is beautiful and so encouraging. I am going to steal that from him. 

We have all had those students that have, for whatever reason, cause immense amounts of stress, emotional heartache, the sweats, and quite possibly hives. These students often act out in class, are insubordinate, don't contribute to conversations in a positive manner, or attract negative attention. THOSE students. I remember having a class of 6th graders that caused me so much anxiety that I would almost get sick to my stomach 5 minutes before the bell would ring. THOSE students, that you silently think, "thank god, they are not here today...." THOSE students.

Look, I am not a perfect human being. I am not a perfect teacher by any means and I have made my fair share of mistakes, but I have done a lot of thinking about these students and their role in my growth as a teacher. It would be naive to think that these students don't have a lot of baggage when coming to school. Baggage that we think they should leave at the door so they can focus on learning. However, for these students, that is heavy baggage that they just can't drop off-some of these students are dealing with some serious issues that go well beyond my understanding and my experiences. These are the students that need the most love from us. These are the students that need a caring relationship with an adult. Please allow me to clarify here-we are not here to "SAVE THE CHILDREN." No, this is not our role as teachers and puts us in a position of power that can not be exchanged. Rather, our role is to meet the child where they are at, and not give up. We cannot give up on these young people.

I have a new set of students this semester and of course, every class has a unique dynamic. One young lady comes to my class late every.single.day. She is defiant, she puts on a attitude that she doesn't care, she rolls her eyes at me, and just tosses my words aside. She struggles with most of her teachers. The young lady is a freshman and I don't know enough about her to understand what has caused this child to have such a negative life view. I have been struggling with how to connect with her and I and shared this with her yesterday. She responded with "Why do you want to connect with me? I don't care about you." That stung and caused me to have a nightmare last night. Today, I sat right by her and worked with her on the song "De Colores". I sat with her for 15 minutes (with 20 other students in room-who were all just happy as clams strumming and playing their melodies). I sat with her and told her that what she was doing was good work. When we were done, I looked at her and firmly shared with her "I will not give up on you." I looked at her again and said, "I will not give up on you." 

I think, in my mind, I was saying that to her, but I was also saying that to myself. So often, we work with these students. They are frustrating and we wonder what went wrong with the student. But if we dig deeper, can we ourselves work harder to build a connection, even if a fraction of a connection. If these students see us believing in them, they might start to believe in themselves as well. 

The hardest students to reach can be some of our best teachers. They will test us to limits of emotional and mental stress, but I firmly believe that we can learn and grow so much as educators. While I would not wish for a class of students like the one I described, I do know that I have re-committed myself to showing and demonstrating compassion for all of my students, and not giving up on them, or myself. 

Rehearsals at 7:15 in the morning are rough....for anybody. However, I am grateful that I get to start my day playing jazz with a bunch of high school kids who enjoy playing enough to get to school an hour early (every day) to have some musical fun. We are getting ready for our next performance, which is Swing Night-a super fun experience that we share with Jazz I and the community jazz band. We are playing some standard charts, 'Woodchopper's Ball", "Darn that Dream", "It Don't Mean a Thing..."....you get the idea. Today I noticed that the students were playing pretty tentatively, even thought the rhythms and notes are familiar to them (I remind them that they have seen these notes and rhythms before, they are just in different configurations). The trumpets in particular are incredibly tentative in their playing and I have tried every trick in the book to encourage them to play with more volume, air, confidence....etc.

So, fast forward, I haul out my cornet and just sit in with kids. I haven't played cornet in forever---especially jazz. I mean...I don't play cornet/trumpet. I *taught* it for many years as a middle school band director and would regularly play along with my kids in lessons, band, and jazz band. But I don't actually play it. And I really only know how to play: loud (the only way, amiright fellow trumpet players??) Anyway, I got back there and started playing-missing notes, hitting the wrong partial-not on purpose, but mainly because I was just going for it (and not warmed up at all and likely playing on a mouthpiece that was way too small.) It was SO.MUCH.FUN!! And, the kids started to play a bit louder. After we got done, I exclaimed "WHO CARES IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE?!! I mean, who really cares?? We are playing a chart at quarter note equals 160. How long does that note actually last? Nobody is going to stop you at the gates of wherever in your afterlife and say to you....'oh, no....you can't enter, because remember that one time in jazz band you played a wrong note...'' I went on to share with them that we should not fear making a mistake in place of playing with passion and energy. Mistakes WILL happen, and IT'S OK. They WILL happen in a performance, and IT IS OK. I countered this exclamation with the caveat that to purposely make mistakes is completely different than going for it and making a mistake. But that by focusing so much on playing the right notes, we are missing so much more of the experience.

Yes. Notes are important. They were intentionally put there by the composer and we as musicians have a responsibility to honor those notes and the meaning behind those notes. However, what kinds of disservice are we doing to the students with whom we work if that is the only thing we focus on? In what ways can we encourage students to make mistakes and reflect upon the experience and then in turn change how they approach the piece the second time around. 

After my exclamation we started the tune over again, and by golly, it was a different band! The trumpets were playing with a newfound confidence, which encouraged the rest of the band to go for it. A few mistakes were heard, but it wasn't because the kids were purposely playing wrong notes, they were going for the notes. And I could not have been more proud.

Between classes I was going from my office to my classroom and one of the jazz band members (newer the past few weeks) stopped me and shared with me how much he enjoyed "today's lesson on making mistakes". He shared with me that he instantly became more confident because he was ok making mistakes and that only by trying and going for it, would he actually be able to learn anything. #daymade. So, while this post might ruffle a few feathers (and I welcome the conversation) I hope this offers a perspective of learning to gain understanding, versus learning out of fear-which actually does not really increase learning. 

I hope to approach more things in life like this: embracing the wrong notes and all the mistakes because by doing so, we can only reflect and learn, try it again and hopefully do better. 

Is it program numbers? Awards? Festival ratings? Awards you receive from various advocacy groups touting your program's numbers, awards, festival ratings? It seems that this is what we (the music education profession) deems to be "successful" in K-12 music education. I recently read an article that suggested what successful guitar programs teach their students. That sentence in itself seems problematic to me. Are the programs teaching? In all of this, where are the students? What role do the students play in all of this?

I have found that highly successful guitar classes and programs will cover similar fundamental performance techniques and employ a lot of notated music reading (solo & ensemble) to push and challenge students.

This begs the question, what does "successful" even mean? A quick search for the definition reveals the following definitions:
1)the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the  accomplishment of one's goals;
2) the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like;
3) a performance or achievement that is marked by success, as by the attainment of honors;
4) a person or thing that has had success, as measured by attainment of goals,  wealth, etc.

It seems to me that in general that our profession tends to promote success as defined by a mash-up of these definitions. As educators, we have goals for our students and hopefully, we share these goals and involve the students in the goal-making. Ideally, the goals should come from the students first and we help them get there. But if this is what it means to see success, for the students to succeed, why are we not reading about their accomplishments? Why am I reading more about the teachers' accomplishments? This is not to dismiss the hard work that teachers do, we work our asses off, no doubt about that. But why? Do we work our butts off to receive awards, or do we work our butts off to watch the students struggle with a musical problem, only to work through the problem themselves and possibly others, and come out with a better understanding on the other side? 

So, back to the quote that I posted. The program that was highlighted in this article is VERY different than the 'program' at South High. The program highlighted comes from a performance driven program, which is 100% ok and has lots of benefits for students. However, as someone who facilitates guitar experiences in my class, I wonder what the consequences are with a statement that suggests that if one does not employ these techniques for teaching guitar, is that program "less successful"? I doubt that is what the author intended, but it caused me some panic as to how I facilitate guitar experiences at South. We don't do anything that the article suggests, but I feel that the experiences that the students have with guitar are just as important and can encourage music making beyond the classroom. But we don't focus on traditional notation. While we do spend about a week with basic theory, the majority of what we do in class is what I would like to consider "functional guitar". I consider the class to be a successful experience if, by the end of the semester, the students have a better understanding of guitar through multiple experiences that include creative projects such as song writing and cover projects. Through those experiences they will learn the beauty of music making with others, but also develop some sort of vocabulary that will allow them to communicate musically through playing guitar. 

If I may be so bold as to share a very cool experience that the Guitar 2 students had last week. We went to a recording studio at McNally Smith College of Music and the students spent all day recording covers and originals that will eventually be uploaded to Bandcamp where they will be available for a sliding scale donation. All proceeds will be going to a relief fund for victims of recent natural disasters. The students did ALL the work. I just sat back for 8 hours and watched them collaborate, work together, problem solve, and make music. It was incredible. Not once did they ask me for help. Today we got the tracks from the studio and the students started mixing their tracks in Garageband. The only thing I really needed to do was show them how to open a zip file. From there they just started experimenting with the program to learn how it works. I had thought about creating a tutorial, but there are enough students in the class that have worked with Garageband that I was confident they could work with each other. And they did. Again. Without me. Is that success? I don't know. I *think* it is. The album itself is not the success. It is what the students have experienced in the past month to put that album together that makes it a "success". 

This is an excerpt from my written comprehensive exams that I completed in the Spring of 2016.
Creativity in music education has been a hotly contested issue. Those who teach performance based classes such as band, choir, and orchestra often argue that within those ensembles, students are creating. They are creating music with their peers in a collaborative manner that produces a final product. Some educators and researchers may disagree and suggest that students and teachers in these ensembles are not creating, but rather, re-creating music. Musical decisions have been already been created by the original composer and it is the ensemble’s duty, often at the discretion of the ensemble director, to ‘realize’ those musical directions that are on the page. So, based on this generalized description, it is hard to argue that large ensembles are truly embodying the process of “creating”.

 It might be wise to consider the words “creating” and “creativity” and if there is a difference between the two. “Creating” may be best defined as the act of doing, whereas “creativity” may be best understood as the thought process that initiates “creating.” So there may be “creativity” in place but perhaps the act of “creating” has not occurred. Within this debate comes in “composing”, another word that creates angst among music educators for a myriad of reasons. (Dr. Sandra Stauffer has greatly influenced my thinking on this term and rather than use "compose" in my own classrooms, I use "create" and will refer to this term versus composition.) With a push from the National Standards for educators to embrace "composing" in their ensemble classes to further students creative and creating potential, it is no wonder our profession is having the sometimes heated conversations that we are having. To some educators, playing in ensemble, as described above, is a perfectly acceptable form of creating. However, we must look deeper to the student’s individual needs to perhaps have a better understanding as to why encouraging students to compose, actively engaging the creativity process to participate in the act of creating, might be incredibly beneficial to the student as a musical being. 

Research related to creating in the classroom is mostly regulated to experiences of elementary students. Something happens when students enter a large group experience and no longer have the opportunity to create.  The little research on creating in secondary ensembles attempts to understand how students create in quantifiable terms (Menard, 2015). While this is useful, especially measuring comfort levels of students attitudes towards composing via a pre-test and post-test and their ability levels, I believe this potentially undermines the greater affect of the process.

Research suggests that secondary educators are resistant to creating for a variety of reason that include: time, attitude towards composing, fear of quality and lack of preparation to teach composition (Hickey 2010, Menard, 2015). Many educators fear that devoting time to creating in the performance-based classroom will take time away from performances. With this time element is an attitude that creating does not belong in the large group ensemble experience. In a past conversation with a previous colleague, I recall sharing a great experience that I had with my bands as we negotiated a creating project within the confines of the space that was afforded to us, and the colleague responded with “band should be band, if kids want to compose, they should take music theory or a composition class..” While anecdotal in nature, this opinion is not entirely uncommon and raises a whole host of issues regarding the ways in which we teach creating and who has access to those experiences. Because performance-based classes are grounded in the "traditional' expectation of high quality performances, there is a fear among educators that a lack of quality in the student compositions may be reflective in the teacher’s inability or lack of training in composition. This raises another issue in regards to teacher preparation and how colleges and universities are including creating in their studies (Stringham, 2016).

While these issues and challenges are very real and cause for concern, perhaps we can take a look at what our elementary counterparts are doing to include creating in their classrooms as a way to reinforce musical concepts. Hickey (2010) suggests that every new concept that is being taught can be reinforced through creating. This is where the word “composing” starts to raise fear in music educators. There is a mis-guided belief that in order to teach "composition" we must start with theory and our students should be creating four part chorales. In reality, creating a short rhythmic motif is a form of creation. Stringham (2016) suggests that for more advanced students, using the current repertoire in their folders as a basis for creating will foster additional understanding of musical ideas but also encourage student’s to create their own understanding of music.

The concern of time is a huge issue for music educators, especially in high school ensembles where it seems, especially in the band world, there are performances that occur monthly, if not weekly, depending on how the basketball team is doing. However, how might music educators incorporate students’ compositions into a performance? Taking the lead of colleagues at a local high school in Spring Lake Park, Minnesota, I would encourage music educators to think about how they might create a unit on composition that reinforces a particular theme for the concert. For example, this particular music team (Nora Tycast and Brian Lukkasson) chooses a theme each spring; one year it was poetry, another year it was film music. Using this theme, students picked a silent film, or a piece of poetry and wrote music to accompany the film or represent the poetry. These were collaborative groups that students worked together in for two months. All of the creations were a part of the concert. The unit was embedded within the rehearsal structure so that ample time was given on music prep but also creating. When asked how this unit affected the overall performance of the ensemble, the directors both agreed that it only enhanced the experience because students became more aware of compositional decisions made by composers of the music they were playing, but it also encouraged the students to take musical risks. The directors prepared one or two fewer ensemble pieces so that the students would not feel overwhelmed by the whole process.
 
Allowing for these experiences encourages students to become more independent musicians. Through creating their own music, students think critically about musicial decisions and have specific reasons for the decisions they made rather than “that’s what’s on the paper”.  Additionally for students who are in the large ensemble, but are more ‘section’ players versus ‘lead’ players, this allows opportunities for these students to perhaps develop a more personal musical identity. Finally, through creating music, rather than re-creating, students have the opportunity for a different musicking experience that may potentially carry with them when their large ensemble experience ends. 

So, what am I doing?

We at the midpoint for the quarter and beginning band is well on our way into making musical decisions. Like I mentioned with the Hickey (2012), I use creating as a way to reinforce any sort of new concept. This entry from last year describes a bit more about what we do at the beginning of year. We are now into reading "traditional" notation. The students are doing really well and I think we are enjoying ourselves. Every couple of weeks we have "playchecks" that help inform the student and myself of how they have progressed and what they need to work on in the upcoming week. These are nice little check-ins that allow a little one on one time with the students, something that is often lost in a "large" group setting.

This upcoming week students are creating their own playchecks. Doing this allows for several observations: what is the student's understanding of what we are actually "learning". Do they really understand rhythm, or are they just using their ears? By creating their own melodies, they are demonstrating their understanding of rhythm and structure. By writing their own notes, they are demonstrating that they have an awareness of what notes their instrument can play. Then, they play their creation for me. Sometimes, not always, what they have written doesn't always translate to their instrument and that is OK! We talk, as a class, how sometimes the visual and the physical don't quite line up-that it might take our muscles (facial) to catch up to our visual. Again, it is OK! I try to not stress to much about their abilities to read music right away. I want them to have fun (what a concept, right) and encouraging them to write something that they can show off for me, encourages that. After all, isn't the whole point of participating in a communal activity such as music to have fun?

As the summer winds down to a close, I am looking forward to another school year. Year number 15 to be exact (whhhaaaaatttt????). This year I do not have to write any new curriculum, but will be refining and accommodating as needed. However, what is more important to me than curriculum (again....whhhhaaattttt????) are the discussions that we will be having in class. No doubt, our country is at a pretty tough spot right now. The summer started out rough with the acquittal of Jeronimo Yanez in the shooting of Philando Castile. This verdict came out two days after school was let out. I was pained by the fact that I could not connect with students through music, to allow their frustrations and anger to be heard through music. Minneapolis has recently seen verdicts that favor police officers over their young male, black victims. Jamar Clark was an unarmed young black male who was shot and killed by police in 2015 and the police officer was acquitted in 2016. It is tough times to be a young black man in this country. Has it ever been easy? Side note: did you know that during the '50s and '60s many black jazz musicians converted to Islam because, at the time, it was easier to be a Muslim than to be a black man? WTF?

We now have a president (#notmypresident) who does not acknowledge the hate groups that have caused pain, suffering, death, and further division of our country. Additionally, #45 continues to spew hurtful stereotypes of immigrants, specifically latinos/as and Muslims. Generalizations are dangerous and only lead to fear, which is what #45 feeds on. The students, and their families, with whom I work could be further representations from these stereotypes. These are beautiful children, young adults, are just trying to live a life of freedom, something we proclaim as a basic value in our country. 

So, what do we do? I'm a white lady who has lived a pretty privileged life. I went to a relatively white school, both of my parents supported me and they are still married. I had opportunities to education, private music lessons, and never had to question my place in society. What is my role in all of this? My role IS this. It is time to #riseup and fight the fight. 

How do we do this in education? Some might argue that politics have no place in education. I respectfully disagree. Education IS political. What is we say, or even more importantly, what we CHOOSE to NOT say, can have a lasting impact on students, the people we work with, and the community at large. I'm not saying that you have to go into a classroom and announce your dislike for #45 (but go ahead if you feel so inclined....that is really up to the school climate), but you CAN engage your students in thoughtful conversations and musicking that will stimulate conversations to encourage different viewpoints. This is healthy. This is democracy. LISTENING to each other and engaging beyond 140 characters is important.

These conversations are not limited to "core" classes like civics classes or language arts classes. Music classes have a HUGE potential to be a place where students can converse about current issues. What has the role of music been in society during turbulent times? In what ways have artists used their voices, or instruments, or creative compositions, to speak out against injustice? What songs that were written during the Civil Rights movement are still applicable to today? What artists today are using their music to speak out against injustice? Two that come to mind are A Tribe Called Quest and their in your face "We the People" and basically anything by Kendrick Lamar, but most recently his 2015 album "To Pimp a Butterfly" and his 2017 release "DAMN". Some of the material in these songs will be offensive. The language is harsh and real. But in this day in age, I find these less offensive than what #45 stands for. 

There are a lot of websites out there for educators to help them facilitate these tough discussions in class. I would encourage you, educator or not, to look through these websites and consider how you might be able to inform yourself, which will give you the confidence to have these discussions. Let me be clear. These are NOT easy conversations to have. It will take thought and time from you. You may have some upset and frustrated students. However, it is really important. I would encourage you to not just do a one-stop-shop lesson, but rather embed these conversations and activities into your curriculum. Healing from words takes time. It can take months. We need to be there for students. We need to show them that there are adults out there who care for them. We need to show them that adults can be civil towards one another, and that we do listen. How will you #riseup this year?

Websites:
Teaching Tolerance
Cult of Pedagogy
Teaching for Change
Teaching Social Justice in the Music Classroom (article)
The Oxford Handbook of Social Justice in Music Education an incredibly important book. Expensive, so perhaps a professional development purchase.

What other sites am I missing? Please join in the conversation! And remember, use your voice. We do have the power, use it to your advantage. 

I'm settling into summer break quite nicely. After three summers of intense doctoral work and comps, I am enjoying a bit more 'down' time. That's not to say I am not keeping myself occupied, but I am really trying hard to enjoy being in the present, relax, and feel ok about relaxing. That is not in my nature. So, I am writing this from my backyard-enjoying the smells of freshly cut grass, the birds, and an iced-coffee. But of course, there is a list of things in the back of my mind that need to get done, but I am trying not to think about them too much (ie, clean out the breezeway-do we really need a speaker that doesn't work?!)

So, this post is a bit about this summer, and what is coming up for me in terms of research and some teaching. Yesterday I began the first round of interviews for my dissertation. I have asked six individuals to join me in a journey that will explore the experiences of gay and lesbian K-12 music educators and how they negotiate the personal identity and sexuality identity. This is an inter-generational (cross-generational??) study that includes a first-year teacher through a retired educator. I am really excited to work with these folks but wary of how my emotions my get involved, considering my involvement with LGBTQ youth. However, I will do my best to put that to the side. I have a nice lengthy researcher's journal that basically goes with me wherever I go. I write down comments I hear, my responses (internal and external), and others' responses. The hope of this study is to better understand the needs of our gay and lesbian colleagues, which will hopefully generate discussion (much needed, I might add) in the profession. We'll see what happens. I am looking forward to this experience!

Next month I will be presenting a paper (the pilot study for my dissertation) at the Feminist Theory and Music 14 conference in San Francisco. This will be the third time that I have presented at this conference-the first being at ASU after I had completed my master's degree. I remember thinking "who the hell would live down here in this heat" (it was September and still rocking 100+ temps). My, how things have changed.

In August I will be a part of a panel at the National Flute Convention  . While I don't identify as a flute player, I do teach in a school that has a large amount of diversity. The session description: 
                          Embracing our Races: Connecting with Communities of Color
Presented by the Cultural Outreach Committee, this panel shares the ways they connect with underserved communities. Panelists include Caen Thomason-Redus, Director of Community and Learning at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Teresa Campbell, MacPahil Center for Music, Sarah Minette, faculty at South High School (MN), and Andrea Myers, Director of the Hopewell Music Cooperative (MN). Paula Gudmundson, moderator.

I find the term 'underserved' to be problematic, but I think this will be a great experience!


In September the Society for Music Teacher Education (SMTE) is descending down to Minneapolis and I couldn't be more excited! I have three research posters that I will be presenting. The first is based on part of my literature review for my dissertation, entitled: "Communists and Queers": Historical purges of gay and lesbian educators. This is an UGLY history of American Education that started back during the Cold War and heavily encouraged by Senator Joe McCarthy. So, I am looking forward to putting together a poster that will be provocative and at the same time educational.

I am also working on a pretty cool research project with two friends, Dr. Amy Spears and Dr. Danelle Larson, and we will be sharing a poster as well. Our research stems from a night at a piano bar in Chicago a few years back. (Three researchers walk into a bar.....). Our research is looking at how piano bar musicians learn their music and share their music as a case for informal music making and music education. The research has been super fun. Go to a bar, get a drink, listen and watch the musicians and then ask them questions. Best.Ever.

The other SMTE project that I am working on...or will be working is with Dr. Lori Gray and Dr. Kyle Chandler. We considering the implications for changes in music educator curriculum and how that may be reflected in actual teaching practices-with my school as the 'model' school. Super excited to be working on this!

The last project I am working on is with Dr. Shilad Sen of Macalaster College in St. Paul. Shilad is a fantastic musician, but is actually a computer/math/stats/IT sort of guy (totally foreign to me and not something I completely understand). BUT he is totally into gender related issues and asked me to jump on board a study that is examining how women are perceived and critiqued on a Facebook page dedicated to jazz transcriptions. It is FASCINATING and it is fun to work with someone outside the music education community, but also someone who gets the music education community. 

So. That's a lot of projects this summer to keep me occupied. As long as the weather stays like it does, I anticipate a lot of time sitting in the backyard with a computer on my lap and some sort of iced-beverage next to me. 

​​I LOVE making research posters. For some reason I find that this is one of the few ways I can create something visually appealing and I find satisfaction in creating posters. Call me crazy, but sometimes it is a nice change of pace.
​
​I also love research poster sessions. I love chatting with researchers, hearing what they are working on and having meaningful conversations about research. So, why not create a research poster session for the Music In America crew? However, I felt the need to amp it up a bit and create an interactive poster session. Obviously the students (or researchers) would be interacting with other students, but why just stop at a poster? Why not have the poster linked to a website they also created?! WHHAAAA?! So that is exactly what we did.

The posters and websites varied in terms of completeness and "tidiness". However, I can say with authority that all the QR codes and tinyurls DID work (whew....). But just to be on the safe side, we had computers with the websites up and ready to go in case the sound files and videos did not work on the variety of phones that student have (or don't have). For many of these students, creating a website is an entirely new venture for them. In fact, many of them are just learning how to use computers altogether. 

​I coordinated with the media center and a couple classes came up and chatted with the researchers, explored the websites and asked some really great questions. They thought it was cool that they created websites as well as the codes to link the posters to the websites. 

​Today I asked the students about what, if anything, should I change about it (they are pretty honest with me). All of them said they enjoyed the project, the ability to go further on a topic that interested them, but what they can work on as students is time management. So, I figure that is success. 

​Here are links to some of the websites. We used Google sites which, for the most part, are pretty user-friendly. But, like most things technological, there are always glitches. 

Ecuadorian Music
Nimco Yasiin
Nirvana
​Social Effects on Music 
Transgender Figures in Music 
​Sampling