Posts by
Justin Caithaml
Ever wanted to combine a popular children’s book with pieces for the “Music for Children” volumes? Here is an idea to get you started! Check out the attached presentation handouts for ideas for a student-centered performance inspired by “The Day the Crayons Quit,” by Drew Daywalt! The Day the Crayons Quit
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The closer and closer we get to January 1, the more and more we hear…”What is your New Year’s Resolution?” Personally, I have never put too much thought into a resolution, opting for a simple, generic answer with the common theme of just “being better.” But this year, I began to think of resolutions from…
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As Fourth of July weekend festivities continue across America, I was drawn to the folk music that symbolizes our great freedoms here in America. One cannot look far in the folk music tradition without encountering Pete Seeger, a true icon of this music in the 20th century. Pete passed away this past January, but his…
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The second edition of our Orff in Pop Culture series once again features the musical talents of Jimmy Fallon and crew. A video circulating social media shows Jimmy with Kevin Spacey and a barbershop quartet…singing a rendition of the popular song “Talk Dirty.” What does this have to do with Orff, you ask? To me,…
Read More >>I recently ran across a great video on YouTube…Jimmy Fallon and Billy Joel singing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” on The Tonight Show. As this impromptu duo records the vocal accompaniment into the iPad app, I couldn’t help but realize that this was Orff in action! These two were recording layered vocal ostinati as an accompaniment…
Read More >>It was an inspiring weekend at the Ohio Music Education Association Professional Development Conference this past weekend in Columbus! There were many phenomenal general music clinicians, including some Orff specialists. I have outlined some of the sessions I attended below, as well as some resources they have published that are very helpful in supporting your…
Read More >>I was searching for music education-related videos on YouTube recently and stumbled upon an amazing video of what looked like a scientific convention. After taking a closer look, I realized it was Bobby McFerrin demonstrating the pentatonic scale to an audience. The funniest part actually was that the audience did not know they were singing…
Read More >>I recently attended a local chapter workshop where the presenter keep saying that the “Orff spirit” would move us to complete the activities that were presented to us in a creative way. Very rarely would assignments be given, but rather a simple reminder that this “Orff spirit” would guide us to what instrument we wanted,…
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I am thrilled to share a new program at Baldwin Wallace University that infuses Orff concepts in its effort to combine music and literacy concepts. The primary goal of this program is to increase students’ reading fluency. Our 2013 program just finished last week. Stay tuned for more details about our program! A summary of the…
Read More >>It is my pleasure to be posting to the Teaching With Orff blog from the collegiate perspective! I am currently a junior at Baldwin Wallace University and will student teach this coming fall in a general music classroom that incorporates the Orff approach. It is my goal to make my posts to the blog a…
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