Who Moved Our Band?

After an amazing year of concert band, jazz band, small ensemble and solo concerts, we were all anticipating with joy the upcoming summer vacation.  Warm summer weather, time to be free of a daily routine, time with family and friends gave all of us a chance to reflect on just how much we enjoyed the […]

A”Round” the Office

By Mark T. Burke Life has been a ton crazy lately. It feels good to get back to the blog. The practice grounds me, gives me a place to think through complex issues and adds stability to what is often an endless stream of new ideas rushing around my head.  Today I wanted to post […]

Embracing the Inspiration of Concerts

By Mark T. Burke When was the last time you came away from a concert feeling a bit…,tingly? You know the feeling.  Your senses are all peaked, your creative juices flowing at full spigot, your vision clear, solutions to age-old problems seem to be flying into your mind at break neck speeds and…Well, you get […]

Innovate or ???

By Mark T. Burke Innovate or die.  This is a common phrase in the business world, often aimed at the indie businesses of the world.  Indie businesses, those businesses known as the mom and pops, the downtown niche markets and boutiques. But, the phrase isn’t just a warning to the small business entrepreneur.  The prediction […]

Performing is NOT the Ultimate Test: Projects and Chronicling in Education

By Mark T. Burke We all want our students to perform well.  No matter what we’re training them to do, the way they ultimately perform demonstrates proficiency.  But, there is a dark side to performing.  If we allow ourselves, we can become (and have been) convinced that performing is the reason we educate.  In other […]

FLEX Model of Education: Is it a Superhero?

By Mark T. Burke What kid doesn’t want to FLEX their muscles and be a superhero, capable of saving the world from forces unimaginable?  Creativity, individuality, problem solving and leadership…all characteristics of great superheros. Well, we all know superheros don’t exist (well, I think they do, but for the sake of this article, let’s pretend […]

APP Review: My Story iPAD APP

By Mark T. Burke Storytelling, the predecessor to formal education, takes center stage once again. Storytelling has a history that goes back to the very first human communications.  In early cave drawings, isolated images are rare.  Rather, drawings depict events, stories, beliefs, instances of great complexity that only a story can convey.  I believe when […]

Musical Dream Classes

By Mark T. Burke The other day, a friend of Music Within Me’s Facebook page, Mike DePalma (eLearning Developer, Designer, Leader, and general do it all guy), shared Seth Godin’s new eBook “Stop Stealing Dreams.”  Last night, I started reading and couldn’t put it down.  I’m looking forward to getting back to it today.  Seth’s […]

Defining Cooperation

By Mark T. Burke Cooperation…the core of every musical performance.  Players must cooperate during, before and after performances in order to create a lasting, musical experience. Cooperation is such a powerful byproduct of musical education that we count on the benefits to justify our programs and their place within our schools. But how do we […]

APP Review: NOTION Notation and Composition APP

By Mark T. Burke Notion for iPad is one of those APPS that just feels good. No, actually, it feels GREAT.  The graphics are excellent, the UI is intuitive, the work flow, well, works, and the output is fantastic. There you have it, my shortest APP review ever 🙂 Maybe I’ll add a bit more. […]