02/05/12

MusicEdMajor.Net is Expanding!

It’s hard to believe that summer 2011 is coming to a close! In just a few short weeks we will all be heading back to school or going back to work. Many band directors already have begun their summer camps in preparation for the marching season to come. We here at MusicEdMajor.Net are also gearing up for another academic year with some fresh new changes. This site has undergone quite the transformation this summer, and has hopefully become an even better resource for Music Ed Majors of all walks of academia. Check out some of the new changes below!

New Editors

In the beginning of the summer, I had the honor of taking over as Editor in Chief of MusicEdMajor.Net. In doing so I not only wanted to continue the mission of MusicEdMajor.Net, to be a great resource for undergraduate music education majors, but expand to become a resource for high school students considering Music Education as a career path, and also graduate students building upon their undergraduate education. With this thought, I quickly realized that I needed help. While I can easily write and discuss issues dealing with undergraduate music education, I have no experience as a graduate student, and it’s been four years since I was a senior in high school. That being said, I would like to introduce the new additions to the MusicEdMajor.Net blogging team!

Sari Feinstein will serve as the High School editor for MusicEdMajor.Net. Sari comes to us from Commack High School and has had experience as an author of quite a few guest posts right here on MusicEdMajor.Net. Sari will be attending the University of North Texas as an incoming freshman Music Education Major in the fall. We have seen many great posts from Sari already on the process of applying, auditioning and choosing the right music school. We certainly look forward to many new posts from her on making the transition from high school student to music major and tips for living life as a music ed major.

Kyle Freesen will serve MusicEdMajor.Net as a Graduate Editor. Kyle is currently a graduate wind conducting student at Wright State University. At Wright State, Kyle serves as a graduate teaching assistant, teaching Brass Methods and serving as an assitant to conductor Dr. David Booth. He also has much experience blogging at his own site, The Virtual Podium. Prior to attending Wright State University, Kyle graduated from Western Illinois University and has taught as a band director at all levels of public school. We look forward to many blog posts from Kyle regarding a wide array of aspects from the graduate music major perspective.

MusicEdMajor.Net Reading List

One of the best ways to continue learning about a particular subject is to dig in to a good book. The big question is where to start? MusicEdMajor.Net is making this process a little bit easier for you with our interactive reading list. Just head over to this page to find a list of books that deal with music, education and technology uses in music education. If you find a book that’s intriguing, just click on it to be taken to Amazon for ordering! We would love your input on this list! If you have read a book that belongs on this list, let us know via the contact page, or Tweet us (@MusicEdMajor)!

Stay Tuned

These are just some of the great changes coming to MusicEdMajor.Net. With the addition of the specialized editors, we hope to have current and relevant information being regularly written for the site for every type of Music Ed Major. Get the RSS feed to stay updated with the latest posts! And as always, we value any input to the articles posted here. Just leave us a comment with your thoughts!

BREAKING: Andrew Ritenour New Editor-in-Chief of MusicEdMajor.net

It is with great pleasure that I announce that Andrew Ritenour, incoming senior Music Education Major at Grove City College in Grove City, PA, will be taking over the duties of Editor-in-Chief of MusicEdMajor.net, effective today! Andy has been an incredible co-editor for a long time here on the site, and has written plenty of posts both here and at FutureMusicEducators.net. He will be taking over responsibility for the day-to-day operations and the content of the site.
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What I’m Reading: A Shared Notebook

I have written extensively on how I use Evernote to manage my daily life, and I hit a few times upon the fact that Evernote allows users to share any of their notebooks with the general public. I have taken the next step in my Evernote life by setting up my first such notebook, which I am excited to share with you today.

There is so much great content out there. Between blog posts, web articles, books, recordings, and musical scores, it becomes difficult to keep track of all the “stuff” I want to consume. I have created a notebook, called “Things to Read” for lack of a more creative title, in which I am compiling all the books and scores I hope to purchase, the articles I plan to read, and the musical recordings I hope to hear. The notebook will be updated frequently with new content, and once I do read something on this list, I will remove it. This way, the notebook always only contains the most recent things on my mind.

This is what my shared notebook looks like. Check it out!

The notebook is publicly visible, and can be accessed at any time by clicking the link below. It is updated automatically when I make a change. Do you have any suggestions for books I should add to my reading list? Please leave them in a comment!

Things to Read | Shared Evernote Notebook

Quarter 1 Recap: The Top Posts of January, February, and March

Happy April! Hard to believe, but the year 2011 is already 25% gone! It has been a hectic first three months of the year, but 2011 has brought some great content to MusicEdMajor.net. It’s time to take a look back and explore the most popular posts on the site! Check it out:

NOTE: Popularity based on page views since January 1, 2011
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VIDEO: Update on New Content

It has been almost 3 full months since MusicEdMajor received its new look, and that means it is about time for a new video for the homepage! In this video, I explore some of the great new content and news happening around MusicEdMajor.net. Stay tuned in the coming weeks/months for longer updates with more content in them! For now, though, here’s the video. You can also find this embedded in the VIDEO area of the homepage: [Read more...]

Music and Arts Enthusiast Award

I am extremely proud to say that MusicEdMajor.net has been selected as one of online colleges website eCollegeFinder’s top 75 Music and Arts Enthusiast websites! This award, “recognizes the websites that best represent the voice of music and arts in both culture and education.” I am joined on the list by many of the colleagues with whom I have been blogging for years now, including Dr. Joe Pisano, Tom West, Chad Criswell, Larry Marra, Sarah Johnston, and many more. The full list of winners is embedded below!

Thank you to eCollegeFinder for this award, and thank you for compiling a fantastic list of resources for anyone interested in learning more about music or arts in education! [Read more...]

Welcome to the NEW MusicEdMajor.net!

Happy New Year, everyone! It is my pleasure to welcome you to the new and improved MusicEdMajor.net! I am pleased to say that MusicEdMajor.net is now running the Genesis Theme Framework, which means load times should be significantly faster, and you have a brand new design to enjoy! Here are a few of the great new features of the new MusicEdMajor.net: [Read more...]