Music from an Upside Down Point-of-View!

This week has been a doozy! I traveled over  2000 miles this weekend to present a clinic on Brazilian music at the 2019 Illinois Music Educators' Conference this weekend.  It was my first time seeing a snow storm! The attendees were wonderful and I had a great time!  While on the trip, I would stop and work on my homework assignments when I needed a break from the road. The temperature was -2 degrees, though! It really makes you appreciate Florida!!! I explored the cloud-based music production program called Soundtrap.  I have to say, I really enjoyed this assignment.  I was a little apprehensive about it, but the interface and the program proved to be quite simple to use.  I completed my first composition and it turned out pretty good. There are a few things I want to explore in depth, though.  The help section is not quite as forthcoming as I would like it to be, But, I prefer just exploring a program and figuring things out on my own. I am ...

This has been one heck of a week! First, the county comes out and films my capoeira program to showcase at a school board meeting.  Not only that, Rehearsals begin this week for the Spring Semester and I have to prep everything for my trip to Peoria, Ill to do a session at the Illinois Music Educators Annual Conference.  Oh Yea, I have projects to do as well for my Masters!  No one said that this would be easy! So, let's talk about Musescore.  I know this will not be popular, but I am not a big fan.  With the exception of some of the inputting features, I had a difficult time with this. I have been using Finale for over 20 years and the system has been improved and made more intuitive over the years.  Musescore did not seem very user-friendly to me.  the interface had a hard time adjusting to my HP laptop.  Also, there were some quirks to the program.  To have to keep changing views and sizes of the screen was ...

Hi Everyone!  Welcome to my Blog Music from an Upside-Down Point of View!   My name is Ed Anderson and I am the Music Teacher of Triangle Elementary School in Mt. Dora, Florida.  I have been a music educator for 21 years and have taught Band, Orchestra, General Music, Chorus, and Steel Band.  I also am a Capoeira Instructor for Capoeira Angola Palmares and run an after-school capoeira program and a community group.              I call this Music from an Upside-Down Point of View because, as a capoeirista, I spend a lot of my time upside down doing cartwheels and handstands.  It reminds me that things can always have a new meaning when they are seen from a different point of view.  So, here it is.             This week, I began the next class in my quest to complete my Masters in Music Education Degree.  The class is entitled: MUE6696:...