On Wednesday, I had the privilege of directing over 200 students in our school's annual Spring Concert. https://youtu.be/v4p2Ldfgtt0 This year, we were focusing on good character. Our title was based on the closing song, "We Are One", by Alternate Routes. For me, the process of putting together a concert is very exciting. I get to learn, arrange, and perform new songs; see the songs change through my students' voices, and in the end, hear it come to life better than I could have ever imagined. These performances are reflective of my students' talents and personalities, and are an extension of the music making happening in the classroom.  The Story I like to think of a performance as a story, with all the qualities that make a story great: theme, characters, value, captivating plot, tension, resolution, and a strong ending. But most of all, a great story takes you away from reality, and touches you on an emotional level: it makes you FEEL.  My Set Lists...

Some of the best teaching moments in my classroom happen spontaneously, without prior planning or expectations. My favorite musical moment of this week was improvising with my choir the last two minutes of rehearsal.  As buses were lining up outside the music room windows, my fourth graders and I were interacting in Dorian tonality. I started by improvising a simple repetitive chord root melody, and invited the altos to join in. As they got comfortable with it, I demonstrated a slightly different part for the sopranos, using the fifth of the tonic chord.  Finally, I added an improvised melody over the two-part harmony. There was a magical feeling in the air: we were making music together, spontaneously, without any preparation or memorization. The music brought us to a logical conclusion as we organically slowed down and struck the last chord. I am inspired to continue exploring this musical journey with my students next week. Perhaps we can try a different chord progr...

Students are naturally curious about other languages Over the years of interacting with my students, I have noticed their natural curiosity whenever we discuss cultures, traditions, and languages. My students love learning new ways to say things. Their eyes light up when I introduce simple vocabulary in other languages: greetings , numbers, movement verbs, body parts, etc. My students get especially excited when I engage in an audible conversation in my native language: Russian.  Greeting songs One of the most accessible ways to incorporate other languages in the music room is exploring various greetings.  Hello and Goodbye songs  are a staple in most elementary classrooms. As students become familiar with the songs, change “hello” to “ hola ”, ”ciao”, or   “bonjour”. With a little creativity and good musicianship, any greeting song can be modified to include other languages.   A peek into my classroom:  “Hello, Everyone” Song Review...