Music – Page 3 – Ed Castro's Blog

Teaching Orchestra and Band in a Digital Space: Day 7

Tools for the job: As mentioned in a previous post, I want to take the time to talk about specific tools used in my day to day virtual classrooms. First, I feel the need to mention that the hardware and software I use are just my preference of tools, and these are the one which…
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Teaching Orchestra and Band in a Digital Space: Day 6

Project based vs. and Performance based curriculum: Over the years I’ve gone back and forth between teaching a project based curriculum versus a performance based curriculum. At least for me, taking a deep dive in performance meant having students work on a challenging pieces of music and pulling curriculum from the practical application and the…
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Teaching Orchestra and Band in a Digital Space: Day 5

Breakthrough Day: Today was full of meetings (non-instructional time) and grading assignments. However, my last class of the day offered signs of encouragement. I met with the beginning band students and we started working with their instruments in an interactive space provided by the company which publishes the text books my students use. The sign…
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Teaching Orchestra and Band in a Digital Space: Day 4

Virtual Practice Rooms & Unintended Benefits Today is starting to feel like things are getting into a rhythm. The first classes were a lot of “me” talking at kids and waiting for their responses, after a day of that I need to shorten the response time by students. Using the text section of our meeting…
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Teaching Orchestra and Band in a Digital Space: Day 3

The Good, The Bad, and The Surprising: After a few days of meeting with classes and individually with students, I’m finding the work happening in this virtual space is providing great opportunities to work with students one on one. Setting aside time to chat with my advises has been really helpful. Meeting with a few of the…
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Teaching Orchestra and Band in a Digital Space: Day 2

Today I want to talk about my set up for online classes. As you might imagine, space is at a premium, considering the usual amount of space most music teachers need to instruct large ensembles on a regular basis. I typically work out of several locations when I’m on campus (my office, my classroom and sometimes our…
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Teaching Orchestra and Band in a Digital Space: Day 1

It’s hard to imagine how someone could remotely teach an interactive music class like an orchestra or band, but given the current situation, with Seattle being the epicenter of the Coronavirus, this is now my new reality as an instrumental music instructor. This week starts our three-week (or until further notice) experience teaching and learning…
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A Composer Puts Her Life in Music, Beyond Labels – The New York Times

My new favorite composer and the article about her.
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Tips from Trumpeter Allen Vizzutti – YEB

Still learning from Mr. Vizzutti. This is a great blog post practical tip for any artist. Making connections is key for musical success, according to trumpet master, Allen Vizzutti. Source: Tips from Trumpeter Allen Vizzutti – YEB
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My Experience With Classical Music This December

As a trumpeter within the symphonic musical sphere, I don’t always get to look into the audience and notice the demographics of the patrons. A few years ago I started to take stock of the audiences I get the opportunity to perform in front of in December. I wrote about this in a post called…
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Category: Music