Boonshaft’s Blog

#53. Still I Am Learning

#53. Still I Am Learning

Fact: I want my students to relish learning new things. Fact: My students will often model and imitate the things I do. Fact: My students should see me excited about learning...

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#52. Confidence

#52. Confidence

James Russell Lowell asserted that “More men fail through ignorance of strength than through knowledge of their weakness.” That is probably true, but I would contend even more...

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#51. Be A Turtle

#51. Be A Turtle

As teachers, we often find ourselves wrestling with whether to "stick with the old tried and true" or "try something new." But it’s scary to try the untested or experiment with...

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#50. Don’t Do It Again!

#50. Don’t Do It Again!

Have you ever repeated a passage several times in rehearsal only to find that it starts to get worse? One theory to explain that is that after a student does it, his or her brain...

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#49. Persistence

#49. Persistence

Calvin Coolidge stated, “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not;...

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#48. Curiosity

#48. Curiosity

The older I get, the more I am convinced that piquing the curiosity of our students is one of the most, if not the most, important results of teaching. Learning a fact is great....

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#45. Nonverbal Signals

#45. Nonverbal Signals

At your next rehearsal, try using a nonverbal signal to represent something you want students to do, or not to do. Then, for the first few times you use it, say what you want as...

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Dr. Boonshaft, Director of Education for KHS America, is the author of the critically acclaimed best-selling books Teaching Music with Passion, Teaching Music with Purpose, and Teaching Music with Promise. He was honored by the National Association for Music Education and Music For All as the first recipient of the “George M. Parks Award for Leadership in Music Education.” Dr. Boonshaft was selected for the Center for Scholarly Research and Academic Excellence at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, where he is Professor Emeritus of Music.