by Glen McCarthy | Jul 14, 2014 | Classroom, Education, Principles, Stories, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized
Your students probably heard their first Beatles song before they were five years old. But do they know who’s behind the genius of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Here Comes the Sun”? Some of Harrison’s guitar flourishes are the most hummable parts of many...
by Glen McCarthy | Jul 9, 2014 | Classroom, Education, Principles, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized
5 Ideas for Large Classes The trickiest part about managing a large class is getting everyone on the same page and keeping them there. (Anybody have a megaphone?) Attention gets diverted easily and extraneous chatter spreads like wildfire. Here are five ideas to make...
by Glen McCarthy | Jul 9, 2014 | Classroom, Education, Principles, Tips + Tricks
How to Win Over Bad Students and Influence Classes Every teacher – whether they’re presiding over guitar or Algebra – has had a class utterly ruined by a bad student. Student with bad attitude, tough home life, too many jokes (funny or not); somehow they managed to...
by Glen McCarthy | Jul 2, 2014 | Classroom, Education, News, Principles, Tips + Tricks
A feeder program will keep music strong in your community and help to stave off problems like budget cuts, recruitment, retention, and weak programming. Here are a few ideas for establishing and strengthening your feeder program. Meet Your Neighbors Reach out to the...
by Glen McCarthy | Jul 2, 2014 | Classroom, Education, News, Principles, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized
It would be extremely handy to rent a time machine and drop in on live performances by Page and Hendrix, just in time for the solo. There’s really no better way for your students to learn the art of soloing than to see and hear the performance as it happens. But since...
by Glen McCarthy | Jun 24, 2014 | Classroom, Education, Principles, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized
Inhale. Count to five. Exhale. Repeat. It’s performance time! Organizing an ensemble performance will require skills beyond your garden variety instructional/class management skills. You’ll need to prepare your students, your venue and your audience. But follow these...
