picardyhermes-blog

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thank you to @tchaikovsgay and @freckledai who suggested some very amazing puns on my “under the c” post

i present

mozhark and bachtopus

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Our #Kickstarter is LIVE! Help us improve the ways we learn musicianship and donate today!

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Finals are upon us

Besides not forgetting to eat, sleep, and drink plenty of water (easy on the coffee), here are a few easy tips on setting yourself up for a more successful Final Exam, especially in your often nerve-racking Ear-Training Dictation Final.

1) Basically stick to your general routine. Just because it’s a Final Exam don’t go overboard with disrupting what’s worked well in the past.

2) Remember to breathe. It clears your head and keeps you calm.

3) Don’t leave anything blank. Better to do this early in each dictation. Remember: it’s always easier to correct it on your paper instead of imagining it in your head.

4) Listen to the WHOLE playing. Take at least one hearing to listen to the whole thing without stopping to write something in detail on your paper. Often times, this helps to make sense of the whole mess.

5) Breathe. Breathing calmly helps you to avoid panicking.

6) Bring a second pencil, eraser, and blank manuscript. Even if you don’t use it, it’s nice to know that you have it in case you need it. #peaceofmind

7) Before the exam, go to a practice room (or other private space) and SING -- especially something as simple as solfege scales or simple rhythms. Warming up musically will get you in a better mindset for taking the exam.

8) Don’t forget: to breathe. Have I mentioned that yet?

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Can’t even begin to describe how much I agree with this -- not only for its emphasis on the importance of the arts in a well-rounded education, but the point that students learn and synthesize ideas/concepts/things more quickly and wholly if they 1) try, 2) fail, 3) fix, 4) repeat until they ultimately 5) succeed.

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Looking at my friend's notes for seminar

She’s a beast.

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The 40 Acres becomes Pac-Man game

RT @UTxTEx: Google’s April Fools’ prank turns their maps into a Pac-Man game. The @UTAustin campus is tricky! pic.twitter.com/iIPYAcJFut

— UT Austin (@UTAustin) March 31, 2015

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Alongside technical skills, America needs the creativity that a liberal arts education provides.

Focusing on STEM disciplines certainly produces more immediately practical skills, but it shouldn’t take the place of a broad education. The difference? By going to school to learn to think instead of simply learning one thing means preparing a person for potentially many careers, instead of just a single occupation.

A broad education in the arts and sciences (STEAM) allows one to develop skills in reading critically, writing clearly, speaking convincingly, and arguing objectively. If you can do those four things well, you quite literally can do just about anything.

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In science classrooms across the country, middle-schoolers will take part in an iconic activity this year: frog dissection.

This article calls attention to the cross-section of "traditional" education and education technology with a twist: at one point the approaches were adversarial but have now found a happy medium.  The idea of one approach complementing (read: not replacing) the other embodies much of what we're trying to do at Picardy. For the subject matter we cover (and frankly any subject matter), it's still much more desirable overall to have the one-on-one or classroom interaction a student gets from a teacher. But having something like Picardy to assist during those many hours outside of the classroom or office hour is vital in helping to ensure that the student is "getting it."  

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Another show and another great weekend meeting teachers and students! Thanks again, #TMEA 2015!

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This is part of the team posing at the end of AMS-SMT in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Our first of many conferences/conventions/trade shows! 

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We've got a logo!

Finally, we’re done relying on my sad logo design. Thanks to the awesome Jennifer Choi, we’ve got a great looking logo and a sensible color scheme and font. The color and font changes are subtle, but we think it makes a huge impact on our site.

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Come see the new Picardy! We have a new approach to building skills and added several new interactions and features.

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Unveiling Something New

Stay tuned as we unveil a completely new site and features!

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What is Picardy?

At Picardy, we’re building a better way to develop music skills, both inside and outside the classroom. It goes without saying that we’re focused on creating meaningful content that’s engaging and pedagogically sound. For every part of Picardy that we build, we place a lot of emphasis on the user experience, whether you’re the student or teacher. For us, that means spending all of your time learning and interacting with the content, rather than fussing with a bad interface. If we do our job right, you won’t even notice how easy Picardy is to use.

Please visit us at picardylearning.com to find out more.