We’re back today for part two of our practice episode, where we finish talking about how we teach kids to practice. In the last episode, we really only talked about an approach to teaching practice to beginners and didn’t get much into the nitty gritty of actual long term strategies. So today we’ll give you all the things that we use to get kids to hone their skills and take ownership of their playing past the beginner stage. We draw several of our ideas from brain science, specifically from the work of Dr. Molly Gebrian, a professional violist with a background in neuroscience but we also give you some trusted and likely stolen strategies designed to “fit” certain musical dilemmas. Jessica is going to remind us of her latest obsession “evidence-based practice,” then we’ll get into some of Dr. Gebrian’s work and then give you the rest of the “tried and true” strategies we use. We’ll wrap up this episode with real talk where we tie everything together for you!

In the first episode of our second season, we begin our discussion about practice, our philosophies, some approaches and how we expect beginners to understand its value. This is a two part episode, and in part two, we get into strategies for older students.

Our friend and colleague Leyla Sanyer is our special guest in this episode, where she discusses her best practice strategies for advocating for orchestra education in our schools. Leyla often refers to her approach as "embedded advocacy;" this episode will help you learn strategies for effective communication with stakeholders.
As a retired orchestra teacher, former president of NAfME North Central Division, and WMEA advocacy committee member, Leyla continues to do great work as a tireless advocate for arts education at the state and national level. She also generously provided us with many advocacy resources, which are linked in the notes below.

Public school orchestra classes are often perceived as elitist or "for white kids." One reason for this is because a symphony orchestra is a largely Euro-centric performing ensemble, performing music by dead white guys most of the time. How can we, as educators, help our BIPOC students see themselves as string players and move beyond the stereotype? We interviewed Stephen Spottswood, a Black orchestra educator and performer, for his perspective and some ideas for engaging our students' diverse cultural needs in the orchestra setting.

Janet and Jessica share their ideas for orchestra games that energize and enhance the classroom and rehearsal setting. Why "gamification?" It's engaging while also improving your students' skills!

Do you ever feel like you have to remind kids constantly about technique in the classroom, and then feel discouraged that you're correcting more than playing? Do you feel like basic things like bow holds and posture just aren't retained between class meetings? Jessica and Janet share your frustration and discuss some solutions in this episode. 

Remember learning about general music education methods such as Orff, Gordon, and Dalcroze? What about Kodaly? In this episode, Janet unpacks the Kodaly approach, which is most commonly seen in choral and general music classrooms, and discusses ways to integrate it into your string orchestra classroom setting.

The "two J's" - Jessica and Janet - discuss the "two R's" - recruitment and retention! Material in this podcast is based on research journals as well as their own personal experiences.