The Beth and Kelly Show: Music Teaching (and Life)

This episode features an exceptionally inspiring music educator, performer, singer-songwriter, and music education mover/ shaker named Ailisa Newhall! She is SO aligned with our vision of collectively transforming our practice to focus on the artistic PROCESS and de-emphasize the sports-like mentality of competitive music performance. You will come away with motivation and ideas for making moves o...

In this show we talk with thought-leader Kelsey Nussbaum about ways to shift music education to be more about honoring and building skills in the Artistic Process (over competition, and perfection in performance). And we “go there” by opening up discussion about Texas. Yes. We. Did.

Wobbly internet won't stop a music educator that KNOWS WHERE ITS AT — Liana Green. Empowering kids to love music and giving them the tools to seek it out and make it happen for themselves (even (gasp!) non-trad band or orchestra instruments). If you need a boost of inspiration, check this out. And — be on the lookout for work that Liana is contributing to in our community orgs The Rhapsody Project...

“Part Deux” of our assessment discussion with string and Mariachi educator/ music ed pedagogue Scott Glasser . We talk about strategies for building a culture in the classroom where PROCESS is finally valued more than PRODUCT. He shared some interesting ideas for ensuring the ability to provide feedback to students on a regular basis through low-stakes “rough drafts” for playing tests.

Are you looking at an empty grade book and thinking , “hmm…maybe I should have a playing test…?” We are only BEGINNING the convo about assessment in the music classroom, and what it all means as we emerge form COVID. We kick it off with Music Ed professor and inspiring pedagogue Dr. Jenny Stogner Neff from UARTS!

The one. The only. The amazing. Scott Brown. Roosevelt High School is in the house for our first ever public broadcast!

Megan Vinther teaches in Everett, WA and does it ALL. It's concert/contest season and we dig into being a woman with a baton and the hurdles that come with it.

We got the chance to hear from saxophonist and educator Derek Douget , Director of Music Education at the Heritage School of Music, a part of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation. 1. You SIMPLY MUST listen to Derek talk about his inspiring approach to teaching kids and reaching them not just with music but with community building, PLUS his amazing story (how he was mentored by and then was...

This week’s show was just Kelly Clingan and I asking YOU: what should we talk about next?!?!! Who should we have on the show to enlighten us in this dumpster fire-within a dumpster fire-within a dumpster fire of a a year?

This week’s show was with Reese Tanimura, one of the main organizers of NW Foklife and a huge contributor to all kinds of other arts and culture things in our region. We had a great convo about what FOLKLIFE is (not just a cool festival in Seattle in May), and how it is literally the convergence of everyone/ everywhere/ everything in a community. Our schools and our music classrooms are gardens wh...

ATX educator and entrepreneur Estela Aragon is the founder and CEO of two great companies for trumpet learners: MusicFit Academy and Trumpet Headquarters. We dig into the concept of folks like us (music educators with degrees in music ed and/ or music performance) actually making a living as an entrepreneur. Actually making life happen and THRIVING outside of the confines of the classroom walls WH...

We are joined by best-selling author Lesley Moffat for some real talk about the business of choosing to take back our own health and well-being as human beings that happen to be educators for a career during this unprecedented time; so that the health and well-being of our music-learning communities and all the people in them can ALSO flourish!

Dr. LaSaundra Booth (professional cellist, professional conductor, music educator, professor, and founder of the Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra) tells us her story of building orchestras for youth despite roadblocks at every corner. She charges us with an important to-do list for making our learning space relevant and culturally responsive.

On this rare show without a special guest, we get autobiographical in our first #metoo discussion. We open up with the story of how two young tattooed music teacher colleagues (us) who decided to create a music department website that had our new professional headshots on the teacher page were characterized in feedback from the public. You’ll want to listen if you are interested in the sordid deta...

We are joined by music educator and performer extraordinaire Annie Savage , and one of Nashville’s most in-demand pro mandolin players Tristan Scroggins (who also does a lot of music teaching ). We open up about deliberately choosing a sober lifestyle in our personal lives and our music teaching and professional performing careers. We are honest about our stories, and what brought us to realize we...

We are joined by GRAMMY Award winning music educator and leader Jared Cassedy , the Director of Performing Arts for the Lexington, Massachusetts School District. We talk candidly about why it seems so god-awful hard to do our jobs in this specific moment in time, coming out of the most unprecedented year in education’s history and feeling like we have to revive all the things we used to do pre-Cov...

Are the all-consuming ways we approach teaching music in high school sustainable? Chandra decided to address this problem head-on.

Adam shares about his new course "Black American Music" for non-musician high schoolers. Check out this honest discussion about an important curriculum.

The Beth and Kelly Show Season Two Premiere! We are joined by members of the Washington Music Educators Association board of directors to talk about our return to the classroom and our State’s updated guidance document. Super Informative, and GREAT perspectives are shared!

It's our Season One Finale and we're joined by former students Maia Nelson, Tate Linden, Sean MacCarthy-Grant, and Mariah Roberson. In conjunction with the NAfME Council for Jazz Education, we talk openly and honestly about the effects our "jazz is for everybody" program had on their creative lives. Extra bonus as we're joined at the end by listeners David Kauffman and Scott Brown.

Berklee has very purposefully changed the narrative on who can study music in college, on what instruments are acceptable, and on what type of music must be demonstrated to get in. Further demonstrated with The Berklee World Strings, and an extremely cutting edge American Roots degree program (i.e non classical for strings and other instruments) whose grads are making a presence on the airwaves an...

Lisa Linde is the ultra inspiring instrumental music director at Newton South HS in Newton Center, Massachusetts. She is ALSO one of the only female band directors whose jazz band has ever played LIVE on the stage of the storied Rose Theater (the home of Jazz at Lincoln Center )for the Essentially Ellington high school jazz band festival/ competition. Listen in as we discuss how this festival is s...

We discuss the skills that ACTUALLY help us play music with other humans, and why it is imperative for us as educators to help students bring their own musical interests to life.

Peter Briggs is the band director at Lincoln HS in Tacoma, WA and has made a lasting impact on his community by centering students. Music is just the vehicle, folks!

Celebrating Episode 40 of the B&K Show with concert violinist, hip hop artist, pastor, and educator John “Adidam” Littlejohn, our neighbor to the north (from Vancouver, BC)! John shares ideas for connecting with communities through really listening; for transforming our teaching, our programs, our schools and our organizations by seeking, welcoming, and honoring new voices and perspectives and...