entry 2

Music is everywhere, and in every part of life. Everyone everywhere has contact with
music from shortly after birth until the end of their life. Because everyone has exposure and
access to music everyone should also have access to music education so they can appreciate
what they are hearing for what it is. Music is also a form of expression for most people, but
many people would not be as able to express themselves through music if music education was
not offered to them. Music education should also expose students to as many styles and
musical cultures as possible.
There are many styles and musical cultures in the world and a student being taught
music should be exposed to as many styles of music as possible. A student’s musical education
shouldn’t be limited to western music. Western music makes up only a fraction of the music
that exists in the world and students should have access to as much music as possible.
Music is present in every corner of the globe, and music should then be taught to
everyone who has access to any of this music. The mission statement for The National
Association for Music Education is, “The mission of MENC: The National Association for Music
Education is to advance music education by encouraging the study and making of music by all.”
Music can teach people some things that are difficult to learn in other subjects, things like
teamwork (needed for ensemble playing), and self discipline (needed for practicing and learning
fundamentals of music). These skills are very important for a person in the work force to have.
If one doesn’t have good teamwork skills then that person will have a very hard time working in
most places. A good teacher will be able to teach his or her students these skills effectively.
It takes certain skills to be a music teacher. A music teacher needs to know the
fundamentals of all instruments and how to teach these fundamentals to any student who
wants to learn regardless of special needs that a student may have. A teacher needs to be
willing to put in extra time to help a struggling student or a student who needs special or
individualized attention to learn the music. A music teacher needs to be able to make music
fun. Music needs to be fun and playful, but it also needs to be engaging and educational. A
good teacher will be able to find the balance between fun and education to make sure the
students learn as much as possible.
Music is everywhere and in every part of life, there is no escaping that fact. Students
have the right to learn as much as they want about whatever they want, whether that is music,
Spanish, or cooking, all students deserve the chance to learn as much as they can. Music
programs are being cut everywhere because of budget cuts, but this is making it difficult for
many students to get a well rounded education of which music is an essential part. Music
needs to be offered to every student and every student should have the opportunity to learn as
much as they can whenever they can.

Entry 1

My name is Ben Marquardt. I am a Music Education major, and I am one of the assistant directors of the U W Oshkosh Pep Band in the 2009-2010 season. My primary instrument is euphonium, which no one ever knows what it is (it is a small tuba basically). I can also play trumpet, tuba, French horn, flute, clarinet, bassoon, and percussion along with being able to sing. I am in the University Choir this year, along with the Symphonic Band (on trumpet), and the university Wind Ensemble (on euphonium), and I am also in the University Hand bell Choir. In the Wind Ensemble I am the principle Euphonium player. I am also on the executive board this year for Rainbow Alliance for H.O.P.E where I have taken the position of co-programming coordinator. Some of my favorite movies are August Rush, Coraline, Dragonball Evolution, X-Men, V for Vendetta, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Finding Nemo, Cars, and The Incredibles, among others. I like cheesecake, which means that The Cheesecake Factory is one of my favorite restaurants. Another of my favorite restaurants is Red Lobster. I love their grilled salmon, and their mudslides are to die for. I went to high school at Campbellsport High School. The music program at that school was really bad, I never realized it until I came to college and began to study music that I realized how bad it really was. Euphonium is my favorite instrument to listen to with French horn being a close second. I also really enjoy listening to oboe, bassoon, flutes, clarinets, bass clarinets, trumpets, and tubas. Pretty much the only instrument I don’t like to listen to is saxophone. I don’t really know why but I find the tone to be airy and scratchy. The saxophone is good in certain places, like jazz, but in classical repertoire, places where saxophone fits are few and far between. Maybe one reason for not liking saxophones is because there are always so many of them, its like everyone wants to play saxophone rather than an instrument that actually needs more players, like euphonium or French horn or tuba. Gustav Holst is one of my favorite composers. In his music he likes to give beautiful solos to euphonium players all the time, and this semester in Wind Ensemble I get to play 2 of them. My favorite color is blue with red as a close second. I like to wear red more than blue because I look better in red but I still like to wear blue, I look pretty good in orange too.
My technological skills are minimal. I know how to use a computer for what is absolutely necessary and not much else. I can use Microsoft Word, and PowerPoint efficiently, but I don't really know how to use excel or publisher much at all. Other than that I don’t really know anything about technology, much less actually using it in my classroom.