Advocate For Music

This book is a summary of the practice of music advocacy. It is a compilation of research and experience gained from 30 years experience by one of the nation's most successful advocates for music education. It provides the music educator, administrator, school board member, and community advocate with step-by-step procedures for saving and building school music programs.

Across the US, school budgets are tightening and music programs, often the first asked to compromise in the name of a balanced budget, face a seemingly grim future. Monetary restrictions combined with an increasing focus on test scores have led to heavy cuts in school music programs. In many cases, communities and teachers untrained in advocacy are helpless in the face of the school board, with no one willing and comfortable to speak up on their behalf. In Advocate for Music!: A Guide to User-Friendly Strategies, Lynn M. Brinckmeyer, respected educator and past president for the National Association for Music Education, provides a manual for music teachers motivated to advocate but lacking the experience, resources, or time to acquire the skills to do so effectively. It will serve as a toolkit for advocating, and also for sharing resources, strategies and ideas useful for educating everyone - from community members to political representatives - about the immediate and long-term benefits of music education. In Advocate for Music!, Brinckmeyer draws on a lifetime of arts advocacy to provide answers to the questions so many teachers have but are afraid - or simply too busy - to ask. A simple, hands-on guidebook for becoming an effective advocate for the arts, Advocate for Music! is structured around six key questions: what is advocacy? Why focus on it? Who should do it? How does one do it? Where should we advocate? And when should we advocate? Readers will have access to step-by-step guidelines and strategies on how to engage others, and themselves, in a variety of levels of advocacy activities. In addition to granting access to compelling research projects, the book will provide models of letters, webinars, research findings, printed documents, websites and contact information useful for communicating with local, state and national decision makers. Working in an informal, hands-on manner, Brinckmeyer lays out advice on who to work with and what to do: providing concrete examples of advocacy tactics from ideas on how to cooperate with the gym teacher to a sample speech for the holiday concert. As she walks the reader through the a myriad of real-life examples and practical answers to her central questions, Brinckmeyer shows that every educator, parent, family member, and administrator can and should be engaged in advocating to maintain, and support, the right for today's children and adolescents to have access to high quality music education. Advocate for Music! is an important book not only for all pre-service and inservice music teachers, but aso for state MEA leaders and staff, administrators, parents, community members, and all those involved with arts or education associations.

"In Advocate for Music!: A Guide to User-Friendly Strategies, author Lynn M. Brinckmeyer provides a comprehensive toolkit for advocating about the immediate and long-term benefits of music education. Brinckmeyer draws on a lifetime of arts advocacy to provide answers to the questions so many teachers have but are afraid -- or simply too busy - to ask. A hands-on guidebook for becoming an effective advocate for the arts, Advocate for Music! is structured around six key questions: what is advocacy? Why focus on it? Who should do it? How does one do it? Where should we advocate? And when should we advocate? Readers will have access to step-by-step guidelines and strategies on how to engage others, and themselves, in a variety of levels of advocacy activities" -- Back cover.

A lot can happen with 10 minutes of musical practice a day. Self-disciplined, compassionate, responsible, collaborative, confidant, and proud. These are all characteristics of children who play musical instruments. What's more, the benefits of music education reach far beyond the lesson and well into all aspects of adulthood.This book will help your child reap the rewards of opening that case; together, you will learn what music can teach:* Every child is naturally talented.* Consistent practice is the key to success.* Parents and music educators are partners in the learning process.* How to remove barriers to successful practice.* The importance of giving your child ownership of their learning.With the right approach, your child will do much more than grow in musical proficiency, they will become the person they were meant to be.

An eminent conductor's theories on musical training--musicians should read full scores and be familiar with the musical conventions and cultural milieu of the composer's time--are punctuated by lively anecdotes and reminiscences of his international musical career

"An excellent piece of writing, exhibiting splendid communicative sensitivity and command of language, and fully representative of the remarkable mind of the author. . . . A book any musician, or any serious student or concertgoer, will find stimulating, provocative and instructive." -Robert C. Marsh, Chicago Sun-Times "Wise, detailed and valuable book. . . . Should become a set text for all performing artists."-Andrew Porter, The New Yorker "Throughout the book, Leinsdorf displays his knowledge and wisdom with a near total lack of pretense or vanity. This work would be considered one of the most significant books on conducting ever written, ranking in importance with those of Wagner and Weingartner. Its scope, however, suggests that it should be read not only by conductors but by ever practicing musician."-Robert Johnson, Music Library Association Notes

When the artist moves into the classroom or community to educate and inspire students and audience members, this is Teaching Artistry. It is a proven means for practicing professional musicians to create a successful career in music, providing not only necessary income but deep and lasting satisfaction through engaging people in learning experiences about the arts. Filled with practical advice on the most critical issues facing the music teaching artist today--from economic and time-management issues of being a musician and teacher to communicating effectively with students--The Music Teaching Artist's Bible uncovers the essentials that every musician needs in order to thrive in this role. Author Eric Booth offers both inspiration and how-to, step-by-step guidance in this truly comprehensive manual that music teaching artists will turn to again and again. The book also includes critical information on becoming a mentor, succeeding in school environments, partnering with other teaching artists, advocating for music and arts education, and teaching private lessons. The Music Teaching Artist's Bible helps practicing and aspiring teaching artists gain the skills they need to build new audiences, improve the presence of music in schools, expand the possibilities of traditional and educational performances, and ultimately make their lives as an artists even more satisfying and fulfilling.