The Beth and Kelly Show: Music Teaching (and Life)

This episode features an exceptionally inspiring music educator, performer, singer-songwriter, and music education mover/ shaker named Ailisa Newhall! She is SO aligned with our vision of collectively transforming our practice to focus on the artistic PROCESS and de-emphasize the sports-like mentality of competitive music performance. You will come away with motivation and ideas for making moves of your own — so check it out , and join our coalition!

In this show we talk with thought-leader Kelsey Nussbaum about ways to shift music education to be more about honoring and building skills in the Artistic Process (over competition, and perfection in performance). And we “go there” by opening up discussion about Texas. Yes. We. Did.

Wobbly internet won't stop a music educator that KNOWS WHERE ITS AT — Liana Green. Empowering kids to love music and giving them the tools to seek it out and make it happen for themselves (even (gasp!) non-trad band or orchestra instruments). If you need a boost of inspiration, check this out. And — be on the lookout for work that Liana is contributing to in our community orgs The Rhapsody Project and Seattle JazzED!

“Part Deux” of our assessment discussion with string and Mariachi educator/ music ed pedagogue Scott Glasser . We talk about strategies for building a culture in the classroom where PROCESS is finally valued more than PRODUCT. He shared some interesting ideas for ensuring the ability to provide feedback to students on a regular basis through low-stakes “rough drafts” for playing tests.

Are you looking at an empty grade book and thinking , “hmm…maybe I should have a playing test…?” We are only BEGINNING the convo about assessment in the music classroom, and what it all means as we emerge form COVID. We kick it off with Music Ed professor and inspiring pedagogue Dr. Jenny Stogner Neff from UARTS!

The one. The only. The amazing. Scott Brown. Roosevelt High School is in the house for our first ever public broadcast!

Megan Vinther teaches in Everett, WA and does it ALL. It's concert/contest season and we dig into being a woman with a baton and the hurdles that come with it.

We got the chance to hear from saxophonist and educator Derek Douget , Director of Music Education at the Heritage School of Music, a part of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation. 1. You SIMPLY MUST listen to Derek talk about his inspiring approach to teaching kids and reaching them not just with music but with community building, PLUS his amazing story (how he was mentored by and then was the saxophonist in Ellis Marsalis’s band for more than 20 years). And, H. You WILL ABSOLUTELY BE WAY TOO EXCITED to plan your next student travel excursion to the BIG EASY.

This week’s show was just Kelly Clingan and I asking YOU: what should we talk about next?!?!! Who should we have on the show to enlighten us in this dumpster fire-within a dumpster fire-within a dumpster fire of a a year?

This week’s show was with Reese Tanimura, one of the main organizers of NW Foklife and a huge contributor to all kinds of other arts and culture things in our region. We had a great convo about what FOLKLIFE is (not just a cool festival in Seattle in May), and how it is literally the convergence of everyone/ everywhere/ everything in a community. Our schools and our music classrooms are gardens where Folklife blooms with the type of fruit that changes the course of our students’ lives! What would happen if we decided to identify, and then center the folklife in our midst?