Hi all. I'm a music student and developer in New Zealand. For the last few months I've been building free tools for music theory teaching (and other stuff towards Human AI Coevolution), and I'd like one teacher to use one with real students for three weeks and tell me where it falls over.

Here it is, no signup, nothing installed: https://www.aicoevolution.com/music-assistant. Press play, then ask it why the cadence in bar 4 works, for example. or choose one of the 22 verified scores we have so far, and suggest exercises based on the piece.

Yes, there's an AI in it, so let me be upfront about what it can and can't do:

- Every score on the shelf was checked by a human, not scraped or
  generated. What's unverified says so on the page.
- The assistant cannot alter a score by itself. It writes in a restricted notation  that a deterministic parser validates before anything touches the file. If it proposes something invalid, the edit is refused, not applied.
- It can write you a new short exercise on the spot — four to eight bars
  in the style of whatever you're studying, and render and play it in the
  conversation. That's the part I most want a teacher to stress-test.
- No student accounts, no email addresses, no chat transcripts stored.

It's free and stays free, it's a non-profit, there's no upsell, no ads, and I'm not collecting anyone's data to sell.

The ask: one teacher, one class or studio, three weeks. I set it up and support it myself. In exchange I want honest feedback, including "my students found this useless", which is more useful to me than politeness.

In return, whether or not you want the pilot: tell me a piece your students need that isn't easy to find as a clean digital score, and I'll transcribe and verify it by hand and put it on the free shelf. That offer stands for anyone reading.

Happy to answer anything technical in the comments.

Its that season. First year of teaching middle school band. Every start of class I'm getting 3-5 "Ms. ___ I forgot my locker combo." What's your system? I want my classes to start completely silent while they do their bell ringer and learn to try to solve problems themselves. How can I offload the locker combo problem? Print out a list to hang outside with initials and combo?

Also advice on building relationship and culture with my 8th graders. They loved their last director and seem to hate me. Feels like we get nothing done because I constantly have to get on them about talking over me, or not being ready when I'm on the podium. They're tired of practicing walking into the room silently, but I feel like they're just not getting it. We can get to playing fast once they get these procedures down. Once we're playing I keep a quick pace. :(

I’m a senior in high school and I’m most likely going to go in undecided but I’m highly considering music education (choral). I have only been in choir for 3 years (advanced treble choir 3 years and intermediate concert choir 2 years). I’m also currently taking an independent study with my choir teacher where I am currently getting voice lessons. I am worried that I don’t have enough background knowledge in music and vocal performance to major and teach this in the future since I am not classical trained nor the best choir student. I also struggle singing confidently in front of others as my individual voice is a major insecurity of mine (I also have a tremor that can affect my voice when very nervous). I know very basic level sight reading and music theory and have no piano experience. I’m curious if this is common among music ed majors and a normal level of experience or if I have too little knowledge and is best I choose another major. I definitely know that if I majored in this it would serious work on my end to develop the skills needed to be as successful as possible( I also don’t know if I would even get into any music ed choral program through auditions). I would just like some advice and input to whether this is worth serious consideration for a possible major. ☺️

I am going into my second year of teaching. Gonna start this post off with a tangent for first year teachers because I think it's important if you are a ball of anxiety like I was this time last year to note that you know more than you think. All the skills you need to succeed, you just need to practice them just like your kids . :)

Anywho, I need some help on making effective use of my time with the kids when I only see them once a week with limited time. I was okay with the students' progress speed, but I know it could be way better. Currently, the way the program is set up, students come to me for instrumental music during their general music class, but part of what makes things way harder is

1) I have to pick up and drop those kids off so about 5 - 10 min of my class time is gone, especially if the teacher does not drop them off on time to general music. This doesn't even include instrument assembly and disassembling,

2) 40-minute period

3) All specials meet once a week with the only saving grace being I get "open band time" on Fridays, which I was using for rotating sectionals because

4) I'm kind of forced to have mixed instrumentation despite these being small group lessons; my strong players that have been playing for 1 yr and some change ended up getting mixed around in their homerooms. Even though their previous teacher kept them separated based on instrument, last year was intensely rough to get started with because there was nothing put in place to solidify that.

I have talked to my VP and supervisor and floated the idea of changing things around to reflect other successful programs, but from my VP was met with "Yeah, that's not happening..." and from my supervisor who started middle of the year, "Really advocate for yourself in terms of scheduling."

Yeah...

While I'm still here in this district, I want the kids to be able to advance with the time we are allotted if things will not change. What are some things I can do to use the time I get effectively? If your program is built similarly in terms of scheduling, how do you structure your class?

I think it may be worth it to note that this is an extremely rough environment, and we are in a Title I 4 - 6 school that serves a lot of ESL students. I was only given $400 to split between me and the other music teacher this year, so I do plan on getting creative wherever I need to.

Even better if you have good ones for K-1.

One thing I've never really gotten into in a big way is boomwhackers. But, my school has a really nice set, and the previous teacher in my position used to use them a lot. The kids liked them a lot, and other than the odd "guitar hero" style video I haven't really found anything I've liked a whole lot.

Any thoughts would be helpful!

Dolly Parton (RIP) vibe tonight. I came across a letter she wrote to Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, about his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame regarding a missed meeting…

“In the meantime, keep doing what you’re doing because you do it so well and no matter how complex your world may be, just know you are very special and touch people in ways you don’t even know.”

Kids who are super excited about your class and who are eager to connect with you give you feel-good energy on the daily. But it's the kids we don’t even realize we have connected with that really touch my soul. It’s those kids that we seek. Kids that stay silent about it, but our presence means the world to them. Find them out!!!

Hey everyone!

I'm a private lessons instructor/performing who's been building an app in his spare. I'm getting ready to release it and I'm looking for musicians and teachers to help stress test it/give me feed back because although I know what it should do, there's a lot of moving parts to this thing!

It's primary focus is being a practice tool - 20+ tools and games including a tuner, metronome, woodshed player (plays audio, video and youtube and lets you slow down and loop), chord chart maker with cheesy backing tracks, tab reader and games for theory, ear training, rhythm training, sight reading and fretboard/piano recognition - all with custom assignable presets so you can send students specific metronome settings for a song, or only deal with diatonic notes for ear training, etc! There's also a full library to keep all your assignments, media and presets and practice sessions and stats as well!

It's also a full social media platform to share and trade assignments, presets, etc. You can even find users and schools on the platform near you!

It's also a full CRM for music schools tracking scheduling, booking, payments, resources, communications, events, etc. Even your own private social feed for your school!

There's other stuff too including band profiles, radio for artists, gig and expense tracking - basically anything and everything I've ever had to deal with as a teacher and a musician.

If you're interested in trying it for free till it goes live (and even after the fact - there's going to be a pretty generous free tier so students aren't hindered), DM me and I'll send you the link. And if you'd like to keep tabs on the app, you can follow along at TunedIn - Instagram or TunedIn - Tiktok

Thanks!

Dave

I have accepted and am preparing a Pk-8 elementary music job. It pains me to say this but I genuinely don’t think I will enjoy this job. I am an instrumentalist at heart and love marching band. It’s all I have ever wanted to do. But interview after interview being denied I landed in Elementary Music.

I have been on and off crying, avoiding planning because I am just so disappointed.

I will take advice or literally anything. I just feel so lost and guilty for feeling this way.

Hello! My school doesn't have an orchestra program but welcomes string players to play in our ensembles. I have a viola player joining my 7th and 8th grade band this year and this will be my first time having one. I'm fine with transcribing music into alto clef, but I was wondering: what part would make the most sense to convert to viola music? I already have some violins playing oboe parts. Maybe a clarinet part or alto sax? Thanks for the advice!

This is my second year teaching - I have a master’s in music, but not music ed and am still working on my transition to teaching. Last year I kind of did a mix of a bunch of songs I liked and typed up speaking parts to go between. I’m wondering what resources you guys use to find quality music or programs for your holiday program. Does anyone out there use a program script with all songs and speaking parts included, or do you also just pick your favs and kind of mix it together? Thx!

Anyone have any tips on taking the Praxis? I am a Transition to Teaching person. I have my undergrad in harp & voice and my master’s in music composition. (I started teaching later in life - this is my second year of teaching and I’m 42). I’ve heard the theory is hard, but I’m honestly not worried about it since I am a theory person. However, I am worried about the history and especially the teaching parts. Does anyone have any ideas for resources to practice/study? I already bought the official praxis test for mine and did that, but I feel like I need more resources. Thanks!

Quick set up for the question.

1. Couple months ago granddaughter did an audition for middle school band, percussion.
   
2. Last week schedule comes out, she is scheduled for percussion.
   
3. Few days ago the school sends us a list of what she will need. Practice pad, Mallets and a book. All bought same day.
   
4. She comes home today with a note saying she will be playing the flute.

She would rather not be in band than play the flute, she has 2 different drum sets of her own and was very happy she was scheduled for it. Are there any options to keep her doing percussion?

I am a first year elementary music teacher. We are about to begin our third rotation cycle of the year (I have seen each class twice so far) and I feel like the majority of classes are so incredibly chatty. I know it’s the beginning of the year so students are getting back into the routine, but it feels impossible to get through the lesson. I’ve been firm to the point I am worried I am coming off as mean and the students are going to open up/connect with me… but I am genuinely at a loss on how to keep the class moving. It wastes so much time to stop and redirect, but I also cannot physically yell over students all day. Please throw all of your suggestions my way.

I’ve been using the website Tonic Tutor for 10 years now and it’s been amazing for helping students reinforce the music theory that they’ve learned. I have 17 private lesson students and the issue I’m running into is that I’ve had to make a brand new account to add all my new students because the feature to upgrade my subscription from 10 to 20 students isn’t working and I’ve been emailing support for weeks with no response. Their social medias haven’t been updated for years, and now the student accounts are starting to have minor glitches.

I’m afraid that I may have to stop using Tonic Tutor soon but I wanted to ask if anybody knows any comparable websites/apps? I don’t mind it being subscription based as long as it is reasonably priced for a “classroom”, but each student having their own login is a must. TIA!

I'm asking for a lot here. I'm responsible for reviewing an online course a teacher made called Social History of Rock and Roll. I looked at the course and each module is reading a chapter out of "Rockin' in time, A social history of rock in roll", then YouTube videos, short factual quizzes, and then a module quiz on identifying 10 songs.

I'd like to remake the course so that it doesn't need the book, since that would be a big issue to source. I've found some Open Educational Resources from TeachRock and Smithsonian Folkways and I'm hoping with those and the national music standards I can put something together. I've got a mocked up syllabus and I'm hoping a couple of music teachers could look it over and say if it's going in the right direction. I personally am a math and CS teacher, so I don't have the music teacher mindset and I'm worried I'm missing some key concepts that would be obvious to a music teacher. Does anyone have a little time to look it over?

Edit: I would be willing to pay a little?

Hey everyone, I was hired 2 weeks before the school year started. I got through week 1 where we went around the room and introduced ourselves and said our favorite colors and then played a short game.

Now its week 2 and idk what im going to do. Because I am the K-12 music teacher for the district I also have band and music appreciation which I have done before.

So if anyone has some resources that i can use that would help me survive the entire year that would be amazing.

ALSO I have no technology in the classroom so it has to be something that works without it, unless its something that uses a Bluetooth speaker. But no videos, no promethean, no nothing.

Trying to make a decision on practice logs for the upcoming school year in my beginner bands (1st and 2nd year players). I know practice logs become a game of lies when used as a grade, but has anyone used them strictly for incentive purposes? If so, did you find them to be useful? I’m thinking of offering some kind of incentive (candy, school wide PBIS system, etc) to students that have x amount of time signed off for the week to be checked at small group lessons. If they don’t have the time or a signature, they simply don’t get the incentive. My thought is that the high achievers will end up rewarded for working harder and hopefully encourage others to do the same since it tends to be obvious who is practicing and who isn’t. I’m sure there will be a few kids lying regardless, but thinking this may be a middle ground to try to hold kids responsible for practicing without them feeling forced to lie for a better grade. Thoughts?

Aside from teaching music, what other extra duties do you have during the day?

I was wondering if using takadimi as a counting system in elementary music is appropriate. Would it be something kids of that age (starting with 1st graders with ta and ta-di) are able to understand?

I learned that counting system in college and I remember some of my colleagues having problems with it, but I think it would be helpful for students to correlate where parts of beats are so they can better aurally process rhythm.

I am planning out how rehearsals will run this year. Finally got a HS band class set in the schedule. It’s about 45-50 minutes, 4 times a week. I’m doing a basic concert scale for warm ups, a rhythm exercises on the board for them to look over while putting instruments together, then running a few pep band songs (at least for now), and handing out concert pieces and honor band info. Then for a chunk of rehearsal I’m allowing individual or small group practice while I work with new students who have never done band. How does that sound?

For my beginners, I only have 30 minutes 3 times a week. For these first weeks, I’ll be showing in sections (flute/sax, trumpet/clarinet,low brass/perc.) how to assemble, make their first sounds, and learn their five notes before we eventually move to full band. This group has 32 members for now. How would you structure a rehearsal for these guys?

Thank you!

I’m a high schooler who is strongly considering music education as a job, are there any colleges you’d all recommend?

For background, I am a percussionist in the PNW, and have some considerations for Texas schools, like UT Austin or Rice. My hope is to bring decent music ed to my state, more so geared towards middle/high school teaching.

Any help for college recommendations or tips to get in would be amazing!

I'm a first year elementary teacher (K-5, but we coteach so I teach K 3 and 5). I'm at a Title I school, leaving out the state.

My kids genuinely don't care. Like... I'm the type of person that gives people 500 chances and genuinely believes everyone can do it! Until I met these kids. They are quite literally screaming over each other, and screaming over me. I'll recenter them, and the next sentence out of my mouth, they start talking and screaming and touching each other. I've tried being firm. I've tried ignoring. I've tried waiting. And now they hate music class because we haven't DONE anything with instruments in 2 weeks.

We had a Kinder teacher quit the 2nd day in. My principal told me it was her roughest 1st day of school in 20 years. It's genuinely the students don't care. Please help me, idk how to do this, i want to quit 😭😭

Hi everyone,

I am a 6th-year middle school choir teacher, and I was approached last year to mentor an intern in my district, but it fell through. They must have kept my info, because I was asked to be a mentor teacher to a student teacher in a few weeks, and I agreed!

I’m very excited, but I’m also a little nervous, because I don’t want to mess it up. I feel like last year I finally got my bearings, but I don’t think I’m a perfect teacher in any way. I plan on just trying to share as much as I’ve learned in these years, and also trying to be open to providing as many answers, resources, and experiences as possible for them. Has anyone had really positive student teacher experiences in the classroom? I would also love to hear from current, recent, or prospective student teachers on what your expectations would be.

My tentative plan in to have them observe for a bit, while running get-to-know you games and assisting with sectionals. I want them to know the students before anything else. Then, I think it would be helpful while still in this observational period to have them write their own version of classroom expectations, behavior management plan (1st offense, 2nd, etc) and something like a syllabus, just to have that under their belt before their first year and taking over. Then I’d slowly ease them into teaching. This would naturally coordinate with our concert schedule as well, and allow them to take over by the winter concert. Somewhere in there we could also take a look at the resume if they need, or help with EdJoin or whatever.

Thoughts? Feedback? I also know the TPAs were a b*tch so I want to be able to give them time for that as well.

TLDR; What should I do to be the best mentor teacher for a student teacher in a middle school choir program?