Soundscapes

by Jennifer Shaw | Apr 8, 2026 | Building Your Classroom Instrumentarium, Product Reviews | 0 comments

My concert is this week!   The theme is “Landscapes.” We’ve taken a creative approach, shaping the music to reflect the ideas and sounds of different landscapes, making our performance into a bit of an immersive musical journey.   Our process started with a simple...

Creating Eerie Classroom Soundscapes

by Jennifer Shaw | Oct 3, 2025 | Building Your Classroom Instrumentarium, Product Reviews | 0 comments

This season is the perfect time to explore soundscapes with your students! Soundscapes are musical environments that capture a mood, setting, or atmosphere. They’re not about structured rhythm or melody; instead, they use layered sounds to create an almost cinematic...

Building Your Classroom Instrumentarium: Drums

by Jennifer Shaw | Sep 7, 2024 | Building Your Classroom Instrumentarium | 0 comments

At the beginning of the school year, when choosing an instrument to introduce first to students, drums (tubanos) would be high on the list of what I’d put in front of them.  Am I crazy?  Maybe, but I want students to understand how to approach an instrument...

Building Your Classroom Instrumentarium: Recorders!

by Jennifer Shaw | Sep 7, 2024 | Building Your Classroom Instrumentarium, Product Reviews | 0 comments

Recorders!  It had such a positive impact on my elementary music experience that it’s to blame for starting me on my musical path!  The rest is history, and here I am, full circle as an elementary music teacher! Now, I know you’re excited and committed to...

Building Your Classroom Instrumentarium: Unpitched Percussion

by Jennifer Shaw | Sep 7, 2024 | Building Your Classroom Instrumentarium, Featured | 2 comments

I have walked into classrooms that have 40 triangles but only 10 strikers, an entire box full of shekeres in 3 different sizes, and jingle bells to outfit the entire school, but not one decent hand drum or pair of claves!   This has kinda been my world since jumping...

Building Your Classroom Instrumentarium: Mallets For Barred Instruments

by Jennifer Shaw | Sep 7, 2024 | Building Your Classroom Instrumentarium, Product Reviews | 0 comments

Mallets make a difference….a big difference!  The mallets you choose to use will affect everyone’s overall playing and listening experience. When it comes to selecting mallets, both teachers and students prioritize two important factors:     how the mallet feels in...