Music and Magic : Resources

Resources to accompany my 2024 AVCA convention presentation

Here’s the page with the video and slides for the presentation itself. Below that are notes and references for the presentation.

I don’t remember where I got the land statement but I think the quotation that follows it is the most important part. The map of native territories comes from Native Land Digital and it’s a fascinating resource for learning about indigenous peoples.

I previously presented some of these ideas as a webinar for the AVCA in 2023. I really like the concepts contained here but I’m still not completely sure I’ve nailed what I want to get across. I do like today’s version better than last year’s though.

There are two books I refer to here:
Becker, H. S. (2008). Tricks of the Trade: How to Think about Your Research While You’re Doing It. University of Chicago Press.
and
Schön, D. A. (1984). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think In Action. Basic Books.
I recommend Becker to anyone who is in social science research. I highly recommend Schön to anyone who wants to excel at their craft.

For the record, “But Not for Me” is from the 1930 George and Ira Gershwin musical Girl Crazy. Sinatra’s version is from 1979-80 album Trilogy: Past, Present, Future. Davis’ versions are both from the 1954 album Bags’ Groove.

The Herbie Hancock interview clips come from this interview. I had read about it elsewhere but it made more sense to let him tell the story than for me to recount it.

You can start learning about modal jazz here. George Russell can be thought of as a forefather of modal jazz because he “re-conceptualized the matching of scales with chords”.

I first read The Passionate Teacher when I was at the tail end of my brief high school teaching career because I was looking for a way to teach that felt more genuine. I had gotten rid of the book some time ago but I ended up buying another copy a few years ago because I kept remembering the idea of the stance and wanted to make sure that I gave the stance its proper understanding whenever I talked about it. While the entire book makes the most sense for teachers, I think that there’s much to be learned about teaching and learning for anyone.

I’ve been sitting on that Miles Davis quotation about attitude for a few years now. I love it so much and I’m happy that I could find a place for it here.

If you have further questions, you can always email me or comment here.

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