THE J. W. PEPPER BLOG | DELIVERING MUSIC SINCE 1876

THE J. W. PEPPER BLOG | DELIVERING MUSIC SINCE 1876

THE J. W. PEPPER BLOG | DELIVERING MUSIC SINCE 1876

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How-To

How to Add Social-Emotional Learning Lessons in Your Music Classroom

I think we can all agree Social-Emotional Learning and Trauma-Informed Education are making their way into the teaching mainstream. There are a variety of...

How Church Music Directors Can Help Congregants Overcome Fear

In recent months, there have been many days when it has been tough to find courage. So, you may be asking yourself: As a...

Ways to Virtually Engage Your Church’s Music Ensemble

When we go through a crisis in life, we do two things: we go back to foundational constants, and we seek connection. We listen...

5 Tips from Pros on Making Music at Home

More time at home means more time to practice and create music. But keeping motivated, organized, and stress-free can be challenging. That is when...

The Year of Beethoven: How to Help Students Understand Musical Genius

There’s no shortage of ways to celebrate the upcoming 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birthday in December 2020. Numerous special events are planned around the...

20+ Surefire Ways to Warm Up Your Choir

What types of vocal warm-ups do you use for your choir rehearsals? The answer to this question can take on myriad forms depending on...

How Music Helps Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease

One viral video revealed the power of music in a way few other film clips could. It shows a patient suffering from severe dementia...

Vocal Belting 101: How to Help Your Students Use Their Full Voice

When I was an undergrad, I was told that belting would ruin my voice. I shunned the music I loved and focused solely on...

8 Tips for Teaching Orchestra for the Non-String Player

Perhaps you're a long-time band director asked to start a string program at your school. Or you're a first-year teacher looking at limited job...

How to Plan Visuals, Formations & Choreography for Your Marching Band

The pressure to create visually spectacular marching band shows can be high in the age of short attention spans, reality TV competition shows, and...

Building Successful Band Programs in Smaller Schools

The student population at Louisburg High School where I’m in my 40th year of teaching is about 535 students. Yet we’re proud that more...

Vocal Health Tips: How Choral Directors Can Help Students

One of the most important but sometimes overlooked jobs of a choral director is to help their students take care of their voices. With...

How to Handle Easy Instrument Repairs

As the school year progresses, instrument repairs are an unavoidable fact of life. The good news is many of the most common repairs can...

Back to School: Tips from Teachers

J.W. Pepper talked to current and former teachers during one of our summer workshops to get some ideas for starting the school year right. Here...

How to Practice Music Effectively

There’s an old joke that just about every musician has heard that starts, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The punch line, of...

Building an Advanced Music Lab in your Classroom, Part 3: Do It Yourself

A dedicated music tech lab is a terrific way to supplement and reinforce the learning that is happening in the classroom and through ensemble...

Building an Advanced Music Lab in Your Classroom, Part 1: Elementary

When I began teaching in 1982, everything from lesson planning to grading was done by hand with paper and pencil. I was part of...

Teaching Music to Deaf Students

As a musician and a person who deals with both the music business and the deaf world, I assumed, as many people do, that...

Mixing Live Sound

Here are a few handy tips and some basic information on what goes into setting up and mixing live sound: A "mix" is created...