Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band

Episode 27: You can learn a lot from a dummy

Remember the car crash dummies? They taught car manufacturers a lot about how to make cars safer. You too can learn a lot by watching the "dummies" in your life.

Episode 26: Ten Tips To Help You Burn Out As A Band Teacher

Musicians have a high emotional IQ. We feel things more deeply. We work hard for success, really hard. And if we're not careful, we can easily burn out doing a great job, and then what good are we? Listen to these tips and DO THE OPPOSITE to have a long and successful career teaching band, touching many lives.

Episode 25: You Snatched The Love Of Music Right From My Child

Naysayers. Complainers. Blamers. We all fave them. To be successful, we can't let them affect us. The title of this podcast is an actual statement from a parent of one of my band students. Does it hurt? Yes! Is it true? No!

Episode 24: Why You Should Have A Bake Sale

A bake sale can be a great way to raise funds for your band, and it takes very little of your time if you have parents do most of the work.

Episode 23: 8 Tips For Reclaiming Your Time

We all have the same number of hours in a day, but many of those hours get wasted. James shares ten tips that can help you regain 5-10 hours a week of your time so you can do more of what you REALLY want.

Summer Hiatus

The Music Ed Podcast will be on summer hiatus. Check back in August for new episodes. Go to the blog at www.themusicedpodcast.com for helpful articles through the summer.

TMEP 22: 10 Ideas To Make Your Concert Better

10 tips that will make your school concert even MORE successful.

TMEP Episode 21: Band Travel 101

In this episode, I interview Andrew Yaracs, retired music educator and author of Travel 101: A Band Director's Guide for Planning Student Travel. Get your softcover or ebook today at www.authorhouse.com ; Softcover ISBN 978-1-4918-6310-7 $14.95; E-book ISBN 978-1-4918-6309-1 $3.99. Also available at Amazon or Barnes & Noble Andrew's website: http://www.bandtravel101.com Andrew's Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/bandtravel101...

Episode 20: Write It Down, Make It Happen

We often lose great ideas because we don't have a way to capture them. Here are several tips to help you capture your ideas.

TMEP Episode 19: What to do during spring break.

Need some tips on what you can do (or not do) during your upcoming break? You get five of them here. Don't worry, they don't involve work (or only slightly).

TMEP Episode 18: 30+ Warm-up ideas in 12 minutes

Directors are always looking for ways to make warm-ups engaging and still learn music skills. Start by calling it "Ensemble Sensitivity Training" instead. Get 30+ ideas in this 12 minute podcast. Also find a link to download a pdf at www.themusicedpodcast.com.

Episode 17 - Tips & Techniques for Improving Your Sax Section Sound

James talks about how to help your band sax section sound better. He covers reeds, embouchure, mouthpieces, high/low tones (free worksheet included), recruiting and what to do with beginners.

TMEP Episode 16: Interview with Dr. Mark Montemayor

In this episode, I interview Dr. Mark Montemayor of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley during a break from the Colorado Music Educator's Conference.

TMEP Episode 15: Start A Coffee and Talent Night

One of my band students was disappointed last year when he was rejected for the talent show as an instrumentalist while singers who sang poorly were accepted. He mentioned his disappointment to the event organizer, who told him the audience wanted singers, not instrumentalists. He mentioned to me that we should hold our own talent show, thus was born Coffee & Talent Night, an event for students run by students where they show off their musical talents. The amazing display of talent - songwri...

Episode 14: Setting boundaries

One of the hardest things to do as musicians is setting boundaries, especially around our personal lives and with our time. In this podcast, you will learn strategies to help you be better about setting boundaries so you can have success not only in music, but in your personal life too.

Episode 13 - 4 Things To Avoid

These four things - if left unchecked - can be poison to your career, health and emotions.

The Music Ed Podcast - Episode 12 - How To Attend A Music Conference

In this episode, we discuss how to make the most of your conference.

The Music Ed Podcast - Episode 11 - Using the Acronym DIAC to aid rehearsals.

Download a free chart in the show notes at www.themusicedpodcast.com.

The Music Ed Podcast - Episode 10 - Why I Don't Do Christmas Concerts

The Music Ed Podcast - Episode 9 - The Most Neglected Thing In A Music Teacher's Life

Living a balanced life. See show notes at www.themusicedpodcast.com for additional resources.

The Music Ed Podcast - Episode 8 - Stick with your music program

Importance of longevity.

The Music Ed Podcast - Episode 7 - Interview with Dr. Matt Roeder

See the show notes at www.themusicedpodcast.com for additional resources.

The Music Ed Podcast - Episode 6 - Teaching National Music Standards 6-9