THE “D.A.H.M.S. METHOD”: DAHMS’ ACRONYMS (FOR) HELPING MUSIC STUDENTS
Clinician(s): Heidi Dahms
See what I did there? The title of my session about using helpful acronyms to teach your music students IS an
acronym! In education we are surrounded by acronyms: we first use them as students in math (PEMDAS) or
science (Roy G. Biv) and as elementary musicians we are taught to reverse engineer acronyms into silly
sentences to remember the names of the notes on the staff.
Ms. Dahms has developed these tips and tricks over her nearly 30 year career of teaching youth orchestras,
honor orchestras and public school bands and orchestras. Come enjoy this entertaining and interactive session
and learn fun and funny acronyms to help teach your students to remember the elements needed for orchestral
string tone production, tips for practicing and steps for sight reading or score study and leave the session with
some helpful music acronyms of your own.
Session Handouts