Segue 61: You Must Be Present to Win When Damon Atkins walked into my office on the campus of Catawba College in December, 2015, the words he spoke left me speechless, a foreign state for me. “Whatever you tell me to do next, I’m going to do. I think I want to quit school […]
There are simply no words to describe the impact Give A Note Foundation has made not only in the lives of our students, but also in my teaching. Student participation is like never before — 100%! Because we have an adequate and abundant array of instruments, we can reach a multitude of student interests. Our […]
How Piano Led to a Passion for Music Retail Music has been an integral part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father started teaching me to play the piano when I was 4 1/2 years old, and seeing my immediate interest and love for the instrument, he enrolled me […]
The new Disney●Pixar film Coco offers educators a chance to introduce Mexican culture and Mexican music into their classrooms and engage students with the film as well. The movie’s central theme is the “Day of the Dead” (Dia de Los Muertos) which is a traditional celebration in Mexico and now has become very popular in the […]
Made ya look! Yes, I stand by that statement, but I am not placing value on one more than the other. When I was a teacher, I often plainly stated that my value as an arts teacher was to do everything differently than those in the academic building, and to do it in support […]
Walking in to Tony Cosby’s advanced woodworking class at Sisters High School in Sisters, Oregon, is just what you would expect in many ways. You are greeted with the smell of sawdust and the pitch of sanders and saws whirring away. But what is somewhat unusual, and at first pass seems like a huge […]
SEGUE 61: Keys to the Musical Highway (Owen Bradley’s Vision Revisited) Those who know me best say I am an INFORMED CONSUMER of music, with what is described as an unusual (unhealthy?) amount of information about and passion for a creative craft in which I was never a participant. It’s what likely armed me […]
Born to a home-based piano teacher mother, and an amateur violinist father, we three children knew we had to learn to play an instrument as a basic life skill. To their credit, we were never driven by our parents to excel, just left to enjoy music as a language of togetherness and family expression. I […]
How Has Give A Note Inspired You to Support Music in Schools? The global giving movement #GivingTuesday, now entering its sixth year—it’s Give A Note Foundation’s sixth birthday, too!—is hosting a #MyGivingStory campaign this year. And Give A Note Foundation wants to invite you to share your story about the impact of music education […]
Please help Give A Note Foundation WIN $25,000 to help more music programs across the United States! Please view and like our video before 11:59PM PT, October 31, and spread the word! Click here: In honor of Upstanders Season 2, the Starbucks Foundation is launching the “Upstanders Challenge” to celebrate charities that are making […]