B.P.M.
B.P.M. is a practice tool to encourage creative practicing with music, rather than just with a metronome.
B.P.M. includes a series of 24 playlists - 12 at different tempo groups and 12 in different keys - along with a full Google Spreadsheet that includes information on each track, including tempo, subdivision (duple versus triple), and key.
You can find the full spreadsheet here.
Some ideas for implementing B.P.M. into your practice routine:
• Get psyched about your warmup: Practice slow, comfortable techniques to warm up your muscles and brain without the mind-numbing click of a metronome. I like to pick a fast song and play half time!
• Isolate technical passages: Practice just the technique (e.g. rudiments, bowings, tonguings), then practice the measure by itself, then build around the measure to play the difficult technique in context.
• Improvise: Find a song in the key and tempo that you'd like to play in (sort the "All Songs" sheet by Key!), play over it, using your ear to find what sounds right or wrong to you!
Some ideas for implementing B.P.M. into your teaching:
• Introduce form: "Stay on this pattern for the whole phrase. We're going to play 16th notes at the chorus. Play softer at the outro."
• Cultivate guided listening: "What instrument can you listen to for tempo? Who has the melody? Are you at an appropriate dynamic?"
• Create tangible practice goals: "I want you to be able to play your scale exercises with this song by next week. I want you to work on flams for 3 whole songs every day. We're going to be warming up with TG08 after the break."
All of the music is "clean" and can be reasonably played in a 6th grade classroom.
Click here for Tempo Group Playlists
B.P.M. is sponsored by Omnis Management - the Online Teaching Management Tool.