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Two Down...

...one to go. Composing and Arranging World Music for the Classroom was not all I hoped it would be, but I did learn some things and was exposed to some good resources. One of the highlights for a lot of people in the class was that we built our own guitar-like instrument and a xylophone. I'm not really too much into building things so it didn't excite me that much. In the end, however, I have to admit that it was kind of fun.

I have a week off now followed by Choral Conducting the following week.

One Class Down...

...two to go. I spent the last week driving down to Villanova, which is near Philadelphia, for a graduate-level class. It's about a 2 hour drive each way. The class was called Understanding Rhythm Through West African Culture. We learned to play drums, sing, and dance to several different styles of music from Ghana. We also learned how to teach complex rhythms by simplifying them and then gradually increasing the complexity. It was a lot of fun, including the dancing. I wasn't very good at that part, but I think it's something students of all ages could get into.

Next week: Composing and Arranging World Music for the Classroom

Melodic Transformation

I've been working through a book called Composing Music: A New Approach by William Russo. This book is filled with exercises and I've assigned myself the task of doing two per day. I find that I just want to keep going, though, so in the space of five days I've done 44 exercises!

The third chapter deals with melodic transformation, which I decided to create my first podcast about. To listen, click on the play button below or click here to download the file.

Melodic Transformation [5:26]

Click here to view a PDF of the music.

Substitute Choir Director

On Wednesday night I got a call from the music supervisor in the school district I just finished working for. One of their elementary music teachers will be unable to attend her final rehearsals and performances for two different schools. He wanted to know if I could step in! Thankfully, the teacher I'm subbing for lined up a good accompanist for the job.

I had one rehearsal yesterday and I will have two in each school next week. The concerts are Wednesday and Thursday. The kids responded well to me yesterday, which made me feel better about the prospect of working with that age in the coming year.

Summer Goals

Today I mapped out my whole Summer. I'm going to be working on several musical goals 6 days a week:

1. Work through Composing Music by William Russo
2. Finish all of my projects for Professional Orchestration with Peter Alexander
3. Work through the online version of Principles of Orchestration by Rimsky-Korsakov
4. Improve on my familiarity with the work of classical composers.
5. Learn the basics of playing clarinet, flute, and trombone and get some of my trumpet chops back (in preparation for becoming an instrumental music teacher).

I have it all scheduled out on an Excel spreadsheet! I know...I'm a nerd, but it's got me excited about how much I can learn this Summer while I have some time off. I will probably tell you more about it as I go along. Will any of you be interested? Possibly not, but blogging about it is one way of keeping myself accountable!

New Directions

My temporary teaching job came to an end on Friday and I am currently looking for a new one. I have had three interviews so far and will have a fourth tomorrow. I have sent out about 30 resumes so hopefully there will be more to come!

When I first started on this teaching path, I saw it as something to do while I get my composing career going. Now, however, I am beginning to look at teaching as a career that will include composing. Having said that, I am currently working on a master plan to not only improve my composing skills, but to improve my knowledge about music in general. This blog will probably focus more on my progress in this regard than on the theological debates that filled its pages in the past. I am hoping that it will help to solidify the things that I'm learning. As always, it will also be a place where my readers can ask questions, share thoughts, etc.

I also want to announce that my wife, Valerie, will be starting her own blog. I will post the address as soon as she's up and running!