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Top 10 Videos for Scales & Key Signatures
The aim of the game here at DSMusic is sequential music literacy and really knowing. This means step-by-step teaching and learning of music aural and music theory concepts, followed by the practicing of these in a variety of ways. Scales and key signatures (tonality) are a vital part of any music literacy approach. They pop […]
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4 FREE compositional device resources for music performance analysis
Dive into the four compositional devices in the VCE Music Study Design – with tips and listening examples.
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Step-by-step tips for getting better at rhythmic dictation.
A question I often get asked by students – especially in the lead up to exams! – is how to do dictations. Here at DSMusic, we’re big on really knowing these concepts, whether it’s scales or intervals, or chords or rhythm. It’s important to remember that everything you’re doing in a music language space is […]
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Top 10 Videos for Chords, Chord Progressions & Cadences
Here at DSMusic, we understand that a lot of what we teach and learn in the music aural and theory space is connected. While this often means we can practice several musical concepts within the same activity, it can also make step one a little daunting. Concept-wise — chords, chord progressions and cadences definitely fit […]
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Ways to gamify rhythm in your music classroom.
When exams are looming it can be tempting to take what’s needed for test-time and build your music classes around that. Here at DSMusic though, we’re fans of fostering music literacy and as keen on finding a variety of ways to scaffold really knowing these musicianship concepts in your spaces. You can’t always address these […]
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Top 10 Tips for Tackling Music Performance Analysis
Here at DSMusic, we’re pretty heavily focused on the music language side of things, and the really knowing. However, we’re also big fans of music performance analysis — understanding what other performers are doing musically to make us feel a certain way. We really get lost listening to music and decoding the mysteries behind mood, […]
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Why singing is key for music teaching and learning.
When I set out to design the DSMusic material, I knew I wanted to create a program that would teach my students to become truly musically literate – to be able to ‘read’ and ‘speak’ music like we do other languages. That is, when we see words written we understand their meaning and we know […]
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A Few of my Favourite ….. Interval Activities
A Few of my Favourite ….. Interval Activities I was recently struck by how many activities we need to keep our students interested and engaged in our music classes. If we teach something to our 4 year old students (e.g. “beat”) then we need to have sufficient practice activities to challenge our students enough […]
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Top 10 Videos for Music Theory & Aural Concepts
Here at DSMusic, we’re big on all things music language, and building music literacy using Kodály-inspired strategies. We know that while the fundamentals of what we’re teaching and learning in these spaces hasn’t changed too much, what we’re required to do come exam time often gets tweaked. This is the case for us in Victoria […]
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3 FREE activities for mapping melodic contours in your music classroom.
Ever wondered why the Star Wars main theme makes you feel ready to run off and join the Rebel Alliance and take on the entire Empire? Sure, that fanfare has some pretty epic blasting brass which has something to do with it, but there’s another reason. The answer? Melodic contour. Not sure what that is? […]
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Why scales are key when it comes to tackling tonality.
Anytime we’re approaching questions or activities built around the concept of tonality or key signatures, there’s a great deal of assumed knowledge we’re trying to tap into. As with much of our musicianship elements, everything is interconnected. We can’t teach and learn and really know tonality until we have an understanding of scales and key […]
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Top 10 music literacy tips to set up your school year!
Look, let’s be honest, returning to school for a new year feels a little bit like coming out of a deep festive-season-holiday hibernation. The thought of showing up on day one and having your entire music theory approach planned out for the year can be daunting. However, what you do on day one is actually […]
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Top Tips for Linking Music Literacy with Music Learning in the Instrumental Lesson
My goal as a music teacher is to help students become musically literate in the same way as a language teacher helps their students become literate in the language they are being taught. But what does this mean? The Australian Curriculum document states that “Literacy” (referring to the English language) is the ability “to interpret […]
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Practicing Transcriptions
It’s not as easy as you think! When we do transcriptions with our students in class that is exactly what we are practicing – the process of TRANSCRIPTION! Yes of course we do have to learn and practice that process but it is learning and practicing the content of the transcriptions that will actually help […]
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My Tasmanian Adventure
A couple of weeks ago I was one of the key note presenters at the ASME (Tasmanian branch or “TASME” as it’s affectionately known) conference, held at Scotch College Oakburn in Launceston. Having never been a key note speaker before and having never visited Launceston either I was VERY excited (and just a tad nervous). […]
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Tone Ladders (What are they & how do I use them?)
What are Tone Ladders? Tone Ladders are a great way ofvisually representing pitch in anintervallically accurate way –that is so long as the intervalsbetween the notes are representedaccurately on the tone ladder. For example, if a tone ladder looks like this: or this: it is NOT representative of the different intervals between the notes e.g. of […]
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The Three “Ps” (Preparation, Present, Practice) Kodály Fundamentals
What ARE the Three “Ps” One of the first things an aspiring Kodály teacher is taught when embarking upon any Kodály course are the Three Ps – Prepare, Present and Practice. These three things form the basis of the process we use to teach ANY and EVERY element of music. Our belief is that students […]
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FAVOURITE QUOTES ABOUT MUSIC and MUSIC EDUCATION
Often, when asked to speak at various conferences or workshops on a particular topic, I like to find a quote that reinforces what I am talking about. Over the years I have put together quite a list which I thought I would share with you. Of course there are many more great quotes out […]
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What is DSMusic?
Deborah Smith has taught music in many classrooms, ran Music Departments in schools and now helps students and educators to keep making wonderful music through DSMusic. She is active in the Kodály space – lecturing, advocating and creating content that supports this comprehensive music literacy approach. DSMusic is built from understanding the realities of the classroom […]
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do re mi songs that are NOT Hot Cross Buns
Tired of the same old do re mi songs? Me too. So here are four you may not know for your song collection. Girl with clock and pirate images courtesy of photostock Bored teacher image courtesy of saphatthachat Flea image courtesy of debspoons All available at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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Why Teach Music?
We are being bombarded by articles in the press, on the internet and everywhere in between, about why music is such a valuable subject to teach our children. There are reasons both musical and non musical for including music as a core subject in our very crowded curriculum. Plato said “I would teach children music, […]
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How to Extend Your Most Musical Students
Something I love about teaching music literacy, musicianship, aural and theory using the Kodály method is how easy it is to create extension ideas and activities suitable for the HUGE range of student abilities within our classes. As any music teacher who has taught the first year of high school will know, our student’s abilities […]
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Taba Naba – traditional song, new game!
It’s usually around this time of the year that I start getting bored with the games I am using with my Year 7 & 8 classes. (Note that I say “I get bored – not THEY get bored? We get tired of things much faster than our students do. Still it’s nice for us to […]