Who We Are
The SongWorks Educators Association (SWEA) is a community of educators who engage learners through SongWorks, a principles-based approach to teaching music.
SongWorks principles and practices offer teachers both grounding and flexibility in making purposeful, caring choices in their interactions with people and music. Songs are the foundation for study and learning experiences that nurture playfulness, responsiveness, and musicality.
Through developing and sharing ideas centered around the SongWorks teaching approach, SWEA members support each other in growing as educators and learners.
Events
Certification Courses
Summer 2023
Norfolk, VA & Provo, UT
Annual Conference
March 17 – 18, 2023
Boston, MA
News
SongWorks in Action at ODU: An Interview with the Faculty
Kylie Decker sits down with SongWorks Certification Executive Director, Betty Phillips, and Level 1 faculty members, Molly Feigal and Sandy Murray, to talk about their experiences during the week.
We’ve Had a Good Time Playing the Game: Now What? (Revisited)
From the ArchiveHave you ever felt stuck or unsure what to do next after you’ve played a game with your students? In this article from the August 2013 MEI (SWEA) Newsletter, Dr. Peggy Bennett gives us specific ideas for how to progress from sounds to symbols in order...
My Introduction to SongWorks
This article was originally published in the Rhode Island Music Educators' Review Vol. 65 No. 2 (Winter 2023). It is reprinted here with permission of the Rhode Island Music Education Association. My introduction to SongWorks was a webinar offered through the Boston...
SongWorks in Action at ODU: Student Reflections
After their Level 1 Certification Course, SongWorks in Action students shared their reflections on a week of deep learning and engagement with SongWorks Principles and Practices. From Left to Right: (Row 1) Kylie Decker, Sandy Murray, Betty Phillips, Kayla Buchanan;...
SongWorks in Action at ODU: An Interview with the Faculty
Kylie Decker sits down with SongWorks Certification Executive Director, Betty Phillips, and Level 1 faculty members, Molly Feigal and Sandy Murray, to talk about their experiences during the week.
Resources
Looking for Songworks I & II or other printed resources?
Head over to our Books page for these and more!
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From the Archive
A Musical Evolution of Notation: Introduction
Often, conventional music notation is studied on an elemental level by pulling visual symbols, representing rhythm and pitch, out of their musical context for study. What happens when we consider that complex traditional music notation has become so rigid that its study at an elemental level lacks value, function, or power?
‘…that by which…’
In 1946 during my first year of undergraduate studies, I took my very first course in philosophy. How I loved that course! Yet for all my enthusiasm at the time only two precise memories remain. Those of you who know me will laugh at this first one simply because I haven’t changed a whit to this day!
The Children Are Coming: An Interview with Leah Sunquist
At the beginning of the school year, I’m excited to see my students! I’ve missed them, and I’m excited to rekindle the relationships. I like to touch base with what’s going on, see the growth and find out what’s happened in their lives. I am also excited about all the new things I have to present to them, and the journeys I want to take them on throughout the year.
Looby Loo Scores and Scrambles
Playful Teaching – Vibrant Learning! What an inspirational tagline! Yet we easily fall into ‘habitual teaching’ where we take the same route to achieve a specific learning goal. This group of lessons is suggested as a pathway to vibrant learning. The ultimate goal is to be skillful in reading and musical in performing several different scores for “Looby Loo.”
A Musical Evolution of Notation: Introduction
Often, conventional music notation is studied on an elemental level by pulling visual symbols, representing rhythm and pitch, out of their musical context for study. What happens when we consider that complex traditional music notation has become so rigid that its study at an elemental level lacks value, function, or power?