Monday, May 31, 2010

NCSSM Concerto Concert, May 2010

Hi all.
Many of you know that the annual NCSSM Concerto Concert was held about 2 weeks ago at our school. I am so proud of the orchestra and all of the soloists. I'd love to share the performances with you. So, over the next week or so, I will post each of the 5 soloists here on my blog. If you would like to check out all of the soloists at one time, they can be found on the NCSSM Fine Arts Youtube Channel.

The first is Oboist, Suna Li. this is Movement 1 of the Vaughn Williams Oboe Concerto. It is a beautiful piece and Suna does a great job with it, as do the strings!

Friday, May 28, 2010

The Lesson Room

Hi all!
Today I want to give you a little bit of insight on using the new teaching resource from D'Addario, www.thelessonroom.com.

This new resource is an exciting tool that can be used as a supplement to any solid instrumental music program. It is populated with video and other content that can be used by instrumental teachers, regardless of the method book or curriculum that they are using. Students can find good lessons that cover technique and ideas, taught by master teachers in an easy-to-use, free package.

In the coming months, we will be populating this site with solid video instruction on violin, viola, cello, bass, and guitar that you can use in your classes or as a resource for homework. We also anticipate that teachers will be able to use these videos to enrich their own understanding of the nuances of the individual instruments and techniques. Or, maybe to just pick up a tip or trick to use in their own teaching.

Much of the instruction on violin and electric violin is already there and can be found at this link: http://www.thelessonroom.com/LessonRoomResourceLibrary.Page?query=laird

Our planned content includes the following:

Introduction/Explanation: Scott Laird, NC School of Science and Math
1. Welcome
2. Students: How to use
3. Teachers: How to use

Violin: Scott Laird, NCSSM
1. First Year Technique
a. Playing position – Seated and Standing
b. Left Hand set up
c. Right Hand (Bow hand) Set-up
d. First year finger patterns
i. Upper strings: 2/3, ½, 3/4
e. Basic Note Reading
f. Rhythmic Patterns
g. Long tones
h. Tuning Tutorial (how pegs work, tuners vs. fine tuners, getting in tune)
2. Second Year technique
a. Finding third position
b. Finger Patterns
c. Shifting
d. Major Scales (with or without music)
e. Changing strings

Viola: Scott Laird, NCSSM
1. First Year Technique
a. Playing position – Seated and Standing
b. Left Hand set up
c. Right Hand (Bow hand) Set-up
d. First year finger patterns
i. Upper strings: 2/3, ½, 3/4
e. Basic Note Reading
f. Rhythmic Patterns
g. Long tones
h. Tuning Tutorial (how pegs work, tuners vs. fine tuners, getting in tune)
2. Second Year technique
a. Finding third position
b. Finger Patterns
c. Shifting
d. Major Scales (with or without music)
e. Changing strings



Cello: Mira Frisch, UNC Charlotte

1. First Year Technique
a. Playing position – Seated and Standing
b. Left Hand set up
c. Right Hand (Bow hand) Set-up
d. First year finger patterns
e. Basic Note Reading
f. Bow Placement and use
g. Tuning Tutorial (how pegs work, tuners vs. fine tuners, getting in tune)

2. Second Year technique
a. Extensions
b. Shifting
c. Major Scales
d. Changing strings

Bass: Paul Sharp, University of North Carolina School of the Arts
1. First Year Technique
a. Playing position – Seated, Standing, Bent Endpin
b. Left Hand set up
c. Right Hand (Bow hand) Set-up – French and German
d. Basic Note Reading
e. 1/2 steps, whole steps, introduce 1/2 and 1st position,
f. Early scales: G, C, D, and F and Bb

g. Early thumb position
h. Basic Instrument set-up
i. Tuning Tutorial (how pegs work, tuners vs. fine tuners, getting in tune, harmonics?)
2. Second Year technique
a. Simandl and Rabbath method
b. Advanced thumb Position
c. Shifting
d. Major Scales
e. Changing strings


Guitar: Todd Miller, Wake County Public Schools

1. First year Technique
a. Finger patterns-basic right hand/left hand technique
b. Natural notes on the guitar
c. Open chords primer and 1st song
d. Intro to Tablature
e. Basic note reading
f. Basic finger Picking
g. Basic Strumming
h. Blues in A

2. Second year Technique
a. Strumming Technique
b. Finger-picking Technique
c. CAGED Concept

Various Round Table Discussions oriented towards teaching and pedagogy.


This content should all be posted by the start of the 2010-2011 school year and we hope that teachers and students all around the country and world will take advantage of the content on the site. We have plans for worksheets, hoework assignments and quizzes as well.

It is definitely an exciting time at D'Addario and we look forward to your feedback on this cool site.

Best,
Scott

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Underground Caverns

Hi all! the following is a video that was created by the NCSSM Distance Education Department. It centers around a performance of the NCSSM Orchestra and Ligon Middle School Orchestra in Wake County, NC. This was a really cool performance and a marvelous technological and artistic experience for the students of both schools. I think that my music technology friends around the country will be pleased with this one. I hope that you enjoy the video!



NCSSM Music Instructor Scott Laird explains a collaboration with Ligon Middle School Music Instructor Ruth Johnsen. Interactive Videoconferencing was used to conduct 'Underground Caverns for Double String Orchestra' by composer Martha Bishop, a piece specifically written with the built-in latency of videoconferencing in mind. Student musicians from both schools got to experience a unique musical collaboration using IVC technology.

If you are interested in more information on this performance, the following is a link to an interview with Ruth Johnsen from Ligon Middle School that is posted on the WakeCounty Schools website.

http://www.wcpss.net/announcements/archives/2010/04/two_orchestras.html

Peace.
Scott

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Technology Jones

Lately, I have had the technology jones. April was not a good month for me and technology. My technology at school and at home has let me down and I have a few thoughts as a result of these technology disasters, now that I am on the other side.

First, early in the month, the NCSSM Moodle site, a course management software system, completely crashed. those of you that know me, know that I have COMPLETELY invested in the blended curriculum concept and that crash really handcuffed me in all of my courses. I have created instructional videos for all of my classes I have students taking quizzes and turning in audio projects via Moodle for my recording classes. And, I use it extensively in my orchestra class for instructional videos, distribution of recordings and other related music, as well as for jury sign ups and other purposes. In my piano and guitar classes, it is simply the portal for the entire course organization. So, when it crashed and the backup servers didn't do their job, I lost a ton of information and work. I would estimate that I have something like 50 to 60 hours of work to bring my courses back to a fully functional place. Not to mention the fact that I lost several assignments that students had submitted to me electronically earlier in the term. That makes giving mid-term grades pretty dicey. Not fun.

Second, at about the same time as the great Moodle crash of 2010, i decided to take the leap and purchase a Blackberry. I stepped up my wireless plan to an unlimited DATA plan and picked up Blackberries for both my wife and me. We felt that we had arrived at a place where we really needed to have phones that would provide us with our e-mail and calendars on a portable basis, as well as the ability to get to the web on a moments notice for information purposes. Our scheduling has become so complex that it felt like the right thing to do at this point. No problem - right? Wrong!

In my zeal to get the Blackberry synced up to my computer, I somehow removed all of my calendar info from my laptop beginning in June of this year. Now, for those of you that know me, this is a huge problem. I am booked sometimes as much as 18 months out for various appearances and performances. I am constantly juggling a busy school, performance, and family schedule and pride myself in my organization. This was a DISASTER. I spent the next several days trying to hook up with the nice folks at Sprint. I must say, they were very helpful and after two LONG days of troubleshooting at the store, my data was restored. This situation caused me a ton of stress, at least one sleepless night, and several hours of troubleshooting at this store and at home.

Add these two major catastrophes together with the usual Windows freeze-ups, I-pod battery dieing, cable out, and other day to day tech issues and it was an April to remember.

I think that I could have handled one of the two major tech disasters this spring without much of a problem, but the two simultaneous problems definitely left me with the technology jones.

So, I have a couple of big reminders for everyone today. First: back up your information. This is a hard lesson to learn. We had been assured at school that our Moodle courses were being backed up weekly. It didn't happen. I actually bought an external drive to back up my Moodle pages at Christmas time. It never happened. I also intended to back up my Outlook Calendar. This, too, never happened. We have to do it. We are all relying on technology for the organization of our lives more and more each day. We, as individuals, can't afford to lose it. It isn't that hard and it doesn't take that long. Take a minute today to find out how to back up your Outlook calendar. A quick Google search will give you the procedure.

Second: Listen to the cues that your technology gives you. If things aren't working properly, that is the time to back things up. right now, my fan in my laptop needs cleaned. It has been shutting down intermittently due to overheating and I haven't found the time to get it into our IT guys for a cleaning. I have to make the time. Otherwise, it could spell disaster.

Our technology is so important to us today. I use it for my teaching, my social life, my bookings and performing life, my family schedule, my creativity, and for so much more. Be smart about the way that you care for your information. I know that I have learned the hard way. I am hoping the this season of the "Technology Jones" is about over. As I work today to rebuild my courses, I am hopeful that I won't have to do this again. The ball is in my court.

Peace.
Scott

Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy



Hi all!
I know that this video has made the rounds lately, but I would like all of my students to see it. It makes some really great points.

To my seniors: as you move into this crossroads period of your life, heading off to college and preparing for life after schooling, you will have many opportunities to be a leader. In addition, you will have many opportunities to be the second one to join a movement. That, as the narrator says, is really the hard spot. It takes courage and discernment to know when the potential movement is worthwhile. Be thoughtful about your actions and allegiances. Have the courage to lead and the wisdom to seek out worthwhile endeavors.

This is just a short video, but I hope that you find some value and application in it.

Peace.
Scott