New “Idea to Try” – Rain Song with Meter Change
Song with meter change for children
Dalcroze Artifact, 1931
A Boy's Radio Request It came up on eBay – a piece of yellowed paper with pencilled German words in the careful handwriting of a child. The letter was written to a radio show host who broadcast Dalcroze exercises and games to children in Germany during the late 1920s and early 1930s. [...]
Music for May
I save music and other materials whenever I come across something I might want to revisit later for teaching, writing, or blogging. In addition to files of works chosen for their music content - such as phrase structure, harmonic pattern, polyrhythms - I also have files for extra-musical themes. This is one example. [...]
Sherman Center Announces Monica Dale as 2020-21 Research Fellow
Research award to support study of MusiKinesis® in urban Baltimore The Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities is pleased to announce its 2020-2021 research fellow, Monica Dale, Music Coordinator & Adjunct Faculty in UMBC’s Dance Department. Ms. Dale will work with early childhood educators at Arundel Elementary School to investigate the effects [...]
Fanciful Falsehoods about Piano Tone: Part I
Myths Die Hard It’s human nature to look skeptically at information that contradicts something we believe. Once we become anchored to untruths, reality is an annoying intrusion. Psychology has terms for the defenses used to hang onto false beliefs. Confirmation bias: seeking only information that conforms to the belief, dismissing new information; Assimilation: reshaping [...]
Celebrating the Centennial of Women’s Suffrage: The Music of the Movement
Happy Anniversary! Today is the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. It’s hard to believe it was only two generations ago that American women were disenfranchised. My own grandmother was prohibited from casting a ballot. Even after the ratification of the 19th amendment, black women (as well [...]
MusiKinesis® with Dance Students: a sample
Among my ongoing, unfinished projects is creating and publishing a multifaceted Music for Dance course curriculum. The design would include guided study for teachers, audio files, work sheets, lesson outlines, and videos demonstrating exercises. Here, a small group of students from my undergraduate "Music for Dance" course shows a few exercises. [...]
Happy Birthday, Saint Valentine
The Hill Sisters' Claim to Fame I remember when the candle shop burned down. Everyone stood around singing 'Happy Birthday.' – Steven Wright We all know it. We all do it. Singing “Happy Birthday” has become a cultural phenomenon. The Guiness Book of World Records has called it the best-known song in the English language. [...]
Fascinating Freda Miller
Freda Miller Modern Dance Musician, 1911-1960 Remember Modernism? Soon after women won their right to vote, they began the audacious exploration of dance as their own art form. Women were often their musical collaborators, as well. Here I'll introduce you to a significant one: Freda Miller. The staples of suburban dance studios seem to reference [...]
Dancing
Inside out <-> Outside in We’ve all heard the phrase, “dance like nobody’s watching.” It’s a cliché now, but it caught on because it means something… Something about feeling free in one’s own space, and therefore happy. Not that freedom to feel always means feeling happy. Otherwise, people wouldn’t have come up with so many [...]