Choral Educators Resource Handbook

"This book comes from a very fine music educator with exceptional experience, who has common sense and a real understanding of what a beginning teacher should know. The book puts into print issues that are widely discussed at conventions and at conferences, and that are common knowledge for the experienced teacher, but that are not covered in a music education class. It is a plain and simple book, written in a language that is easy for anyone going into the profession to understand. It makes valuable suggestions in just about every aspect of the role of a choral music teacher." -- Michael Schwartzkopf, Professor of Music Education, Indiana University School of Music

With the popularity of television shows such as Glee, American Idol, and The Voice, show choirs have become a vibrant component of college and high school music programs. Music teachers must not only know how to teach choral singing for popular music, but also be versed in show design and production. In The Show Choir Handbook, Alan L. Alder and Thalia M. Mulvihill address both song technique and show presentation, giving show choir directors the full set of tools they need for successful performances. The Show Choir Handbook is a resource for current and future music educators who administer show choirs. With most literature on the topic either out of date or focused on the teaching techniques limited to vocal jazz (drawing on the choral genre’s origins as “swing choirs”), instructors are in dire need of a resource that addresses music produced by publishers and choral arrangers.

Take the fear out & step up to the plate w/ confidence! Whether just starting or continuing an already established choir, this handbook/guide provide a beneficial checklist. Included are a dept. mission statement, forms, letters to parents, warm-ups, rehearsal techniques & a simple fund-raising idea to bring necessary funds to your program. After directing his own choirs for 20 years, Jeff found that his routine was fairly well established. Armed with a truckload of past letters & forms, as well as tested strategies, Jeff decided to compile the ideas for the creation of this book. The footwork has been done. The strategies have been tested. Do yourself a favor and avoid the pitfalls of reinventing the wheel. Use this guide to your advantage. You won't be sorry. Scott Jeffries JavaMusiK Publicist

Building Strong Music Programs uniquely focuses on music programs in the public school community, providing strategies and tools for developing a vibrant music program and building community support. Covering relationships with colleagues, parents, staff, administrators, and the community at large, Charlene Ryan also provides tactics for developing courses, performances, and publicity to enhance your program. Build a repertoire of tried-and-true strategies covering curriculum, classroom management, special needs, concerts, assessment, budget, and more that are based on years of teaching at all levels. While program building is an essential, time-consuming part of every music teacher's job, students are rarely prepared for it. The questions for discussion and student assignments make this an excellent choice for preservice teacher training courses. Ryan covers issues important to student teachers, new teachers, teachers changing schools, and teachers looking to rejuvenate their existing programs. From student trips to music software to district ensembles to advocacy to entry-level instrumental courses, Ryan covers it all in this comprehensive handbook.

This practical and essential resource guides preservice and beginning music teachers through the most difficult years of music teaching. Part One assists undergraduate music education students in navigating early observations; Part Two offers advice for music student teachers; and Part Three is an invaluable reference for the beginning music teacher. Nineteen real-life stories are interspersed throughout Handbook for the Beginning Music Teacher, and most include questions for discussion developed by the story authors. -- Publisher

As the landscape of choral education changes - disrupted by Glee, YouTube, and increasingly cheap audio production software - teachers of choral conducting need current research in the field that charts scholarly paths through contemporary debates and sets an agenda for new critical thought and practice. Where, in the digitizing world, is the field of choral pedagogy moving? Editor Frank Abrahams and Paul D. Head, both experienced choral conductors and teachers, offer here a comprehensive handbook of newly-commissioned chapters that provide key scholarly-critical perspectives on teaching and learning in the field of choral music, written by academic scholars and researchers in tandem with active choral conductors. As chapters in this book demonstrate, choral pedagogy encompasses everything from conductors' gestures to the administrative management of the choir. The contributors to The Oxford Handbook of Choral Pedagogy address the full range of issues in contemporary choral pedagogy, from repertoire to voice science to the social and political aspects of choral singing. They also cover the construction of a choral singer's personal identity, the gendering of choral ensembles, social justice in choral education, and the role of the choral art in society more generally. Included scholarship focuses on both the United States and international perspectives in five sections that address traditional paradigms of the field and challenges to them; critical case studies on teaching and conducting specific populations (such as international, school, or barbershop choirs); the pedagogical functions of repertoire; teaching as a way to construct identity; and new scholarly methodologies in pedagogy and the voice.

The Oxford Handbook of Preservice Music Teacher Education in the United States identifies the critical need for increased cultural engagement in Pre-K-12 music education. Collectively, the handbook's 56 contributors argue that music education benefits all students only if educators activelywork to broaden diversity in the profession and consistently include diverse learning strategies, experiences, and perspectives in the classroom. In this handbook, contributors encourage music education faculty, researchers, and graduate students to take up that challenge.Throughout the handbook, contributors provide a look at ways music teacher educators prepare teachers to enter the music education profession and offer suggestions for ways in which preservice teachers can advocate for and adapt to changes in contemporary school settings. For example, educators canexpand the types of music groups offered to students, from choir to jazz ensemble. Building upon students' available resources, contributors use research-based approaches to identify the ways in which educational methods and practices must transform in order to successfully challenge existing musiceducation boundaries.