Dixieland Jazz as a Foundational Early 20th Century Form of Music

Robert Styron is a music educator who delivers instruction to students in New Orleans public schools. He emphasizes music theory, analysis, sight reading, and singing. Robert Styron is also active with the Jazz Educator Network.

Dixieland jazz developed around the turn of the 20th century. It is an improvised ensemble form that became popular in small-town marching bands. The version combined New Orleans ragtime with blues, polka, spirituals, and waltzes. An assemblage of instruments supports the confluence of cultures and traditions, including the clarinet, trumpet, and cornet for melodic elements and tuba or string bass for a bass accompaniment. The banjo or guitar supplies the rhythm, while percussion adds simplicity or complexity to the music.

Unlike later styles of jazz, such as swing and bebop, which emphasized harmonic complexity, Dixieland jazz remained essentially free from embellishments. It heavily favors basic seventh chords and triads, with only a few altered chord forms and extended chords. The form gives nearly unlimited room for each musician to improvise within the set meter. Often, one instrument tackles the melody while a second delivers free-form variations. With multiple instruments sometimes improvising together, it provides an exuberant, multilayered quality to the music.

Tips for Learning to Freestyle on a Snowboard

Robert Styron studied music education at the University of Colorado, graduating with a master of arts in 2000. Then, Robert Styron became a resident artist at Hymel School of Music in Gretna, Louisiana, in January 2019. Outside the school, he is an avid sailor, water skier, and snowboarder.

Snowboarding is a winter sport that combines creativity and agility. Freestyle snowboarding lets riders express themselves with a variety of tricks and techniques. However, novices need to begin with the basics. For example, pick up the right gear: a snowboard, boots, and bindings. Freestyle boards are typically shorter and more maneuverable, making them ideal for tricks and stunts.

Next, master the fundamentals of snowboarding. Develop a solid foundation by learning how to carve, control the speed, and ride comfortably in various terrains. As riding abilities improve, pick the suitable terrain. Designers specifically create freestyle terrain parks with jumps, rails, and features for tricks. Begin with more minor features, gradually progressing to larger ones as your skills improve.

Freestyle snowboarders will find that maintaining proper balance and body positioning is critical to executing tricks successfully. Keep weight centered over the board, bend the knees to absorb shocks, and maintain control during landings. Start with ollies and 180-degree spins, then go on to grabs, flips, and spins.

Finally, prioritize safety. Wear appropriate safety gear, including a helmet and protective pads. Remember to take breaks to prevent fatigue and learn from others.

Hiking from Eaton Canyon to Idlehour Trail

A distinguished music aficionado in New Orleans, Robert Styron serves as a talented music specialist with Jefferson Parish Public Schools. His responsibilities span a diverse range of musical aspects, from piano methods and vocal technique pedagogy to music composition and performance coaching. During his leisure time, Robert Styron enjoys outdoor activities such as water skiing and hiking.

For hikers in Los Angeles who are looking for a moderately challenging trail destination, the Eaton Canyon route to Idlehour Trail Camp is a good choice. The distance between the two points is foot-accessible and roughly 6 miles, which means a round trip of 12 miles. According to theoutbound.com, it’s ideal to come along with water, sunscreen, and trekking poles when tackling the journey.

Located near Pasadena, the Eaton Canyon route features challenging terrain, limited shade, and steep ascents for the initial 3 miles. On weekends the first 2 miles are busy with day hikers, but the trail becomes less crowded at Henninger Flats. Beyond that point, most hikers come across occasional mountain bikers, and the trail typically changes from these points as hikers pass a sequence of coastal oak and manzanita bushes. Idlehour Trail Camp is about one mile from this point.

The Basics of Planning a Music Festival

Robert Styron is an accomplished music educator and musical director with two decades of experience. An alumnus of the University of Colorado, Robert Styron is well versed in multiple areas including music performance and directing, retreat planning, teaching music, and music festival planning.

Planning a live music festival requires a lot of coordination in order to create a unique musical showcase that will attract both members of the local community and guests. For a music event to be successful, the purpose of the event has to be clearly identified from the outset. Musical events should always begin with a concept that will focus on what the event hopes to achieve, whether the event will focus on a specific musical genre, for example, and what will make the music festival or event unique among others.

Once the goal or purpose of the festival has been identified, the next step is to gather the performance lineup. The goal should be to determine how many musicians will be invited for the concert and start sending out invitations to find out their interest and availability. A good idea is to first book the main or headlining performers as early as possible. Once this has been done, organizers can then focus on contacting other smaller or local performers expected to be part of the event. Having backup performers is also recommended, as they can fill in should one or two groups be unable to make their appearances at the last minute.

Posture and Breathing in Sight-Singing

An accomplished music specialist and educator, Robert Styron serves as a resident artist at the Hymel School of Music in Gretna, Louisiana. He also teaches and mentors students at Jefferson Parish Public Schools in New Orleans. Robert Styron’s expertise extends to music arranging, performance coaching, and sight-singing.

An essential skill for vocalists and musicians in general, sight-singing is the practice of reading and singing music on the fly without prior rehearsal. It requires the ability to translate a musical score’s pitch, rhythms, and other elements and execute them vocally. Sight-singing practice helps develop skills for learning new music quickly and accurately independently.

Sight singing is typically done while sitting. Maintaining good posture by sitting upright at the chair’s edge, keeping the back straight and the thighs parallel, is crucial. Sight-singing performers focus on diaphragmatic breathing, not chest breathing, and articulate syllables clearly while singing and counting.

To perform diaphragmatic breathing, the shoulder should be relaxed while one sits and breathes in through the nose and out through the mouth. This causes your abdomen to move in and out, indicating free blood flow through the diaphragm. Diaphragmatic breathing uses full lung capacity to produce sound rather than exerting tension on the throat and neck.

About the Modern A Cappella

Robert Styron leverages his graduate degree in music education to serve as a resident artist at the Hymel School of Music in Gretna, Louisiana, and as a talented music specialist with Jefferson Parish Public Schools in New Orleans. A lover of music, Robert Styron also performs in several local bands and makes music education presentations, such as “Jazz Improvisation and Contemporary A Cappella.”

The “a cappella” is a musical term that refers to a piece performed solely by a vocalist or vocal group, with no instrumental accompaniment or another musical backing. Translated as “in the manner of the chapel,” this style of performance traces its origins back to the times of Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato.

In the early 20th century, a cappella began to find popularity beyond religious. Modern a cappella groups began with the founding of the Northwestern A Cappella Choir and the St. Olaf College Choir. Numerous colleges took up the tradition and a cappella soon began to evolve into distinct mainstream movements, including barbershop and doo-wop. While doo-wop music sometimes features musical accompaniments, both sub-genres typically feature a lead vocalist backed by three or four vocal harmony parts.

While a cappella persists as a popular activity at schools and universities around the world, several pieces have enjoyed considerable success as pop songs, including “Mbube” by Solomon Linda, better known in the United States as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, “Homeless” by Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and most successfully, Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy.” The latter, released in 1988, became the first a cappella song to reach No. 1 on the United States Billboard charts, a position the song held for two weeks.

The J-35 Sailboat

Robert Styron is an experienced music educator and director in the greater New Orleans area who has been a resident artist at the Hymel School of Music since June 2019. In his free time, Robert Styron crews on a J-35 sailboat named Footloose Too.

The “J” in the J-35 sea vessel is short for Johnstone, the surname of the brothers who founded J Boats in the late 1970s. The “35” represents the length of the J-35 in feet.

Over the years, J Boats have designed and manufactured a range of racing sailboats. The latest of J Boat’s premium racers, the J-35 has been in production since 1983. Its production numbers exceed 300.

The J-35 found immediate success in the world of grand prix racing, becoming one of the most successful boats of its size. In fact, many sailors welcomed the J-35 as a relatively affordable way to begin competing at a high level. The J-35 boasts performance standards that are traditionally associated with larger and more expensive 40-foot vessels.

The Basics of Ethnomusicology

A graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder with a master of arts in music education, Robert Styron has provided instruction in multiple musical disciplines and fields and directed choir activities at a number of learning institutions. He is a current resident artist of the Hymel School of Music in Greater New Orleans, Louisiana. One of Robert Styron’s professional and academic interests is ethnomusicology.

Briefly defined, ethnomusicology is a field of musical study that concentrates on the sociocultural elements and implications of music. Regarding music as a human process, the field investigates various types of music to determine what they mean to those who create and play them and those who listen to them.

Ethnomusicologists come to this highly interdisciplinary field from backgrounds that range from musical performance and theory to cultural anthropology and folklore. Although they use different methods and focus on different areas of study, they universally approach music with a global perspective and examine it within a broad social and cultural context.

The J/35 – A Popular and Fast Boat

As the former director of vocal music at the Denver School of the Arts, Robert Styron taught grades six through 12 and managed resident musicians. Now living in Louisiana, Robert Styron is a crew member of the Footloose Two, a J/35 sailboat.

Around 330 J/35s are on the water today. These boats are part of the J/Boat line, whose parent company was started in 1975 by brothers Rod and Bob Johnstone with a $20,000 investment. Located in yachting hub Newport, Rhode Island, the company is now owned by the next generation of Johnstones, and offers nine models.

The J/35 is considered to be a forgiving vessel due to its favorable handicap. (In boating, handicapping refers to a combination of physical measurements and past performances in competitions.) The J/35 boasts a streamlined hull, a straightforward rigging system, and a logical deck plan. These and other features have made it popular for both racing and cruising.

Although the J/35 is a crowd-pleaser, it has also attracted some of the world’s top mariners. Around three dozen of the boats have made it into world-class championships, with a few placing in prestigious offshore events.

A Brief Overview of NAfME Virtual Learning Resources

Robert Styron recently spent 14 years as the director of vocal music with Denver School of the Arts. During his time in this role, he received the Colorado State Most Outstanding Musical Award, among other distinctions. Robert Styron is a member of several professional organizations, including the National Association for Music Education.

The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) provides musical educators with a range of services, including an ever-expanding library of virtual teaching and learning resources. Through this service, members have access to various resources developed by NAfME society and council leaders, including members of the Society for Music Teacher Education and the Council of Music Program Leaders. Members draw on their personal teaching experience in crafting lessons and other teaching tools, while also referring to other trusted, peer-reviewed resources.

Members are further aided through a series of free webinars. Recent webinar topics have included introductions to online music education methods and insight into developing more responsive students. To register for alerts regarding upcoming webinars, or to learn more about virtual teaching and other NAfME membership benefits, please visit www.nafme.org.

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