Swap between reading and listening to the same book with Kindle and Audible

I’m trying to read more these days.

It might be extra of me, but I am finding more motivation to read by buying duplicate copies of books on Kindle and Audible. The read position syncs between the two. It’s easy to swap between reading and listening depending on whatever is most convenient at the moment.

The Kindle app will even play the Audible recording and highlight each word as it goes by. Though the audio quality is smoother in the Audible app. Audible books are discounted when you already own the Kindle version.

Play controls at the bottom of the Kindle App will play audio from the audio purchase of the same book in Audible.

Play controls at the bottom of the Kindle App will play audio from the audio purchase of the same book in Audible.

The play screen in the Kindle app.

The play screen in the Kindle app.

My place in the book is in sync with the Audible app.

My place in the book is in sync with the Audible app.

METT Episode #25 - Mastering the Practice Process, with Rob Knopper

Rob Knopper (Metropolitan Opera, auditionhacker, percussionhacker) joins the show to talk about mastering practice, improving the audition process, and using technology to support his multifaceted efforts as a performing percussionist, teacher, and creator of web resources for musicians.

Other topics include:

  • How to Practice With Technology
  • Technology for Making Content
  • Developing Diverse Skills/Remaining Teachable
  • Finding Generalized vs. Specialist Mentors
  • Comprehensively Studying Masterworks and Making Practice Resources for Them
  • Acquiring Phrasing Language
  • Teaching Students to Recognize Mastery
  • Embracing Failure/Auditions Are Process Not Product
  • Our album and app picks of the week

Show Notes:

App of the Week:
Robby - SoundSource
Rob Knopper - Anki

Album of the Week:
Robby - An Oscar Petersen Christmas
Rob Knopper - Pictures at an Exhibition | Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Where to Find Us:
Robby - Twitter | Blog | Book
Rob Knopper - Twitter | Website

Please don’t forget to rate the show and share it with others!

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METT Episode #24 - Bringing in the New Year, with Richard McCready

Richard McCready returns to the show to bring in the new year. We reflect on what we learned over the past year and discuss how music teachers can challenge their perception of tradition, creativity, and learning process, moving forward. Of course we also share our app and album picks of the week.

Show Notes:

METT Season 2, Episode 1 - Digital Organization Tips for Music Teachers with Guest Richard McCready (Richard’s last appearance on this show)

Maggie Shorb on Twitter

Essential Music Technology: The Prestissimo Series (Oxford University Press)

RiverHillMusicTech.com

Truckin' My Blues Away - Blind Boy Fuller

App of the Week:
Robby - Apollo
Richard - Jamzone

Album of the Week:
Robby - Christmas with Travelin Light
Richard - Classic Delta and Deep South Blues from Smithsonian Folkways

Where to Find Us:
Robby - Twitter | Blog | Book
Richard - Twitter | Website

Please don’t forget to rate the show and share it with others!

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METT Episode #23 - Rogue Amoeba Audio Apps, with Paul Kafasis

Paul Kafasis, CEO of Rogue Amoeba, joins Robby to talk about the stellar audio apps they make and how Robby is using them in the music classroom both before and during COVID.

Show Notes:

Rogue Amoeba Website: Macaudio.com

Robby's Scale Exercise Play-Along Tracks
Stream Deck

Rogue Amoeba Apps:

Audio Hijack
Loopback
Sound Source
Piezo
Farrago
Fission
Airfoil
Ultimate Podcast Bundle
Educator Discount and Volume Pricing

My blog post on Audio Hijack
My blog post on Loopback

Mimeo Photos Extension for the Mac | Make premium printed photo projects right on your Mac

Acorn | Full Featured Photo Editor for the Mac

App of the Week:
Robby - Pixelmator Pro
Paul - Tot

Album of the Week:
Robby - Charlie XCX | How I'm Feeling Now
Paul - The Colour and the Shape | Foo Fighters

Where to Find Us:
Robby - Twitter | Blog | Book
Paul - Twitter | Website

Please don't forget to rate the show and share it with others!

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Set your iPhone to open a tuner or take a screenshot when you tap the Apple logo on back

I have been seeing this tip gain popularity with teachers online, so I feel obligated to share it here:

You can program your iPhone to do a nearly endless list of things by double or triple tapping the back of it. Go to Settings-->Accessibility-->Touch and then scroll down to the option called "Back Tap."

Alternatively, you can swipe down in settings to reveal a search bar and then type in "back tap."

You can program a tap of the Apple Logo on the back of your iPhone to do tons of system actions like going home, muting your phone, taking a screenshot, or launching Control Center.

The Touch options in the accessibility settings.

The Touch options in the accessibility settings.

Setting a double and triple-tap.

Setting a double and triple-tap.

There are lots of options!

There are lots of options!

You can also choose a Shortcut to launch. And Shortcuts can do anything from launching an app to running JavaScript. So you can imagine the possibility...

Personally, I have a double-tap set to reveal Control Center and a triple tap set to initiate open a new note in my note-taking app, Drafts.

To open a specific app, you will first need to make a Shortcut that performs the “Open App” action and then select that Shortcut from the available options in the Back Tap settings. To do that, open the Shortcuts app (pre-installed on every iPhone or available from the App Store on older versions of iOS).

Once in Shortcuts, create a new one with the plus icon in the upper right. Name your shortcut if you want (by pressing the three-dots “More” button), and then press “Add Action.” There is an overwhelming number of options if you are unfamiliar with Shortcuts, so just use the search and look for the action called “Open App.” Select this action from the search results and then a block will appear with a blue “Choose” option where you can choose the app you want it to open. Choose your tuner of choice.

Once saved, this Shortcut will be available as an option in the Back Tap settings.

***Note: The Tonal Energy app actually allows you to set up Shortcuts that jump to specific places within the app like the Analysis or Metronome section. You can find this in the TE settings. It will save you a bunch of extra taps.

Creating a new Shortcut.

Creating a new Shortcut.

Search for the Open App action.

Search for the Open App action.

Tonal Energy allows you to make Shortcuts that launch to specific parts of their app in the settings.

Tonal Energy allows you to make Shortcuts that launch to specific parts of their app in the settings.

METT Episode #22 - Teaching Hybrid, Composing Music, and Finding Balance, with Tyler S. Grant

NPR's The 50 Best Albums Of 2020 - an Apple Music Playlist

Happy Friday! It's that time of year. Time for me to fulfill my annual tradition of making an Apple Music playlist out of NPR's top 50 albums of the year.

Read about their picks in the linked article below:

The 50 Best Albums Of 2020, Ranked : NPR

At certain moments, 2020 felt like a year that might not ever come to an end. Now that it's mostly in our rear view, can a retrospective give a shape to that swarm of weeks and months? Can we make sense of layer upon layer of fear, anger, frustration, confusion, exhilaration and exhaustion that piled up like soil falling over our heads? Sometimes art breaks through. Better to think of the best music of 2020 as an urgent cacophony of distinct voices rather than a chorus with a single melody. Many voices, with many stories to tell. Here are the 50 best albums of a year unlike any we can remember.

Click here to view my playlist.

Two records were not available on Apple Music but you can hear them and learn more here and here.

Lately NPR has been making a Spotify playlist of the albums. It isn't out yet, but if they do it, I will edit it in to this post.

FREE: Remington Exercise Play-Along Tracks - Holiday Edition

If you have not already checked out my Scale Exercise Play-Along Tracks, do it now! Everything is currently 10 dollars off on my store if you use code THANKFUL at checkout. This puts them at only $5! Sale ends tomorrow.

And if you are itching to add some holiday cheer to your rehearsal warmups, you can download my Holiday Edition of the Remington play-alongs from that collection here. These are free of charge.

What makes them a “Holiday Edition?” Sleighbells, of course. And that half-diminished 7 chord everyone thinks sounds “Christmassy.” Sample below.

METT Episode #21 - Music and Technology We're Thankful For, with Craig McClellan

Robby's cohost from The Class Nerd podcast, Craig McClellan, returns to talk about recent smart home and Apple purchases, speakers with digital assistants, technology and music we are thankful for.

Sponsor Music Ed Tech Talk! Do you have a product or service related to music or technology that you would love to get in front of music educators? Reach out to me on my Contact page to learn more about advertising on my site and this podcast.

Use code THANKFUL at checkout to buy anything on my Store for $10 off! This puts my Scale Exercise Play-Along Tracks at only $5!

Show Notes:

The Class Nerd Podcast - Listen to Craig and I talk about using technology in the classroom
Philips Hue Bulbs
Lutron Caseta Light Switches
MyQ Garage Door Opener
Netatmo HomeKit Doorbell
Nest Hello Doorbell
Starling.io
Eero
Sonos One
Craig's Guitar:
Cory Wong
Vulfpeck
Robby's Viral TikTok:

@_robbyburns

#duet with @_robbyburns I added the percussion. #sleighride #concertband #bandmusic #fyp #foryou #christmasmusic #percussion #babiesoftiktok

♬ original sound - Flute Dude Music
Robby's Way More Viral (But Less Good) TikTok:

@_robbyburns

#duet with @_robbyburns

♬ original sound - Flute Dude Music

Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride Arrangement
@flutedudemusic on TikTok
Star Wars Themes on Guitar During Worship Songs - TikTok Robby's We Wish You A Merry Christmas Meme TikTok:

@_robbyburns

#duet with @simplyaleah_ #christmasmusic #musictheory #musicnotation #vibraphone #percussion #fyp #foryou #accidentaljazz

♬ original sound - Aleah Vassell

Tech We're Thankful For

HomeRun App
Kemper Amp
TikTok
TextExpander
forScore for Mac
Apple Pay

Music We're Thankful For

Brahms Symphonies - George Szell/Cleveland Orchestra

Ruston Kelly - Shape & Destroy

Painted - Lucky Daye

NEEDTOBREATHE - Out of Body

Boston Brass - Rewired

Thad Cockrell - If In Case You Feel The Same

Where to Find Us:
Robby - Twitter | Blog | Book
Craig McClellan - Twitter | Website

Please don't forget to rate the show and share it with others!

Subscribe to Music Ed Tech Talk:

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Subscribe to the Podcast in...
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Scale Play-Along Tracks on Sale Until November 30 ($15–>$5)

My Scale Play-Along Tracks are on sale for $5 from now until November 30. Use code THANKFUL at checkout.

The code is for 10 dollars off so it will also get you a discount on the stems for the play-alongs if you would rather go that route.

The tracks feature three speeds of a chromatically descending Remington pattern, and the following scale patterns in all 12 major keys: whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, scale in thirds, mini scale ending in arpeggio.

Each pattern has a beat underneath and drones in just intonation. You can read more about them here.