Teaching & Learning

What’s the backbone of healthy musical practice? As it turns out, our backbones; when our bodies feel at odds with our music–making, we risk injury, fatigue, and poor development.

Free stuff! Check out these self-paced online courses available to teaching artists worldwide:

A few news hits from Sistema programs around the world:

Research is beginning to show how much new technology can benefit students in the music classroom. David Knapp’s recent study, published in Research Studies in Music Education, offers a few good reasons why music educators should be outfitting their classrooms with digital audio workstations (DAWs).

The European Commission has set out to show how participation in arts and cultural programs positively impacts youth mental health in a recently published Brainstorming Report, “Youth, Mental Health, and Culture.”

El Sistema programs, mark your calendars: the second Global Congress of El Sistema will be held at the Centro Nacional de Acción Social por la Música in Caracas, Venezuela on September 10–24, 2023.

Ensemble editors spoke with three Firebirds about which teaching muscles have been most transformed, asking them to describe a specific change that they attribute to their experience in the Fellowship. Their responses were rich, thoughtful, and relevant in any classroom.

Two comprehensive resources have been put together by international music associations to connect Ukrainian musicians with opportunities for essential support.

Schools and families around the world can register for free access to on-demand lesson plans and concert videos on the L.A. Phil’s website and will receive an access link when the platform launches on May 9.

Carnegie Hall is known for its excellent professional development. If you’re looking for ways to improve and enliven your own teaching, you can explore their Great Music Teaching Framework, with selected videos from the Music Educators Workshops that model the seven foundations of great music teaching. Explore improvisation and movement games, conducting techniques, tips to create more symbiotic learning environment, strategies for approaching tricky texts, and more.

Also, some may be interested in Carnegie Hall’s early-learner rhythmic training videos.

Note that Carnegie Hall has just opened up applications for their 2022 national youth ensembles. Music-for-social-change program leaders in the U.S. should take a close look at NYO2 for their most motivated students. It is a free, life-changing intensive experience for youth ages 14–17, designed particularly for young people from communities underserved by and underrepresented in the classical orchestral field.