McKinley Kjell
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YMCA Music Special

After working at the Brandywine YMCA summer camp for two years, I decided that I wanted to bring my passion for music to camp.  Although there had never been a general music special at camp before, I was honored to be given the position of Music Specialist.  

As the camp Music Specialist, I had the autonomy to design and teach my own program where campers internalized music theory through the learning of fundamental skills on instruments such as the guitar, bass, drums, ukulele, and voice.  In my program, I was able to combine my love of teaching music with my deep rooted past as a singer-songwriter by taking a School-of-Rock-esque approach to music teaching.  The way in which I chose to teach my curriculum is especially important to me.  When students can learn music without the restrictions of unfamiliarity, nothing can stop their potential for knowledge and creativity.  And although my special may have seemed like one big jam session, I was basing my curriculum off of Music Learning Theory.  This is an explanation for music learning which emphasizes the use of audiation, or the comprehension of the music.  Audiation is a way of internalizing and understanding music as opposed to reading notes on a page and "pushing buttons" on an instrument.  

The youngest group of campers, ages four to eight, spent their time internalizing beat competency and tonality.  In the video below, the youngest campers are practicing their ability to beat rhythm sticks along to the beat of the song, a challenging task for a four year old!  

The older the group of campers, the more instruments they learned.  My oldest group learned to play two drum rhythms as well as a bass line on the guitar, ukulele, and bass.  However, they learned the bass line by listening to the song and audiating the bass line.  They were not given music or a lead sheet.  
By the end of the program, my campers were playing covers as an ensemble and beginning to write songs together.  

Needless to say, based on the outcome of my first year as a Music Specialist, I am very excited for the potential of the program!

Camp Newsletter: 

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Original Music

I began singing in choirs in elementary, and shortly after, I began writing original music.  It was not until high school, when I picked up the guitar, that my music began to seriously develop.  After sheepishly playing a few open mic nights, I was booked by a local business, Gable Music Ventures.  Since then, Gayle and Jeremy at Gable have given me a wealth of opportunities to advance my career as a singer-songwriter.  I have played Wilmington's Ladybug Festival three times, the Rockwood Ice Cream Festival, World Cafe Live at the Queen's Singer-Songwriter series as well as several shows in the Philadelphia area and more.  About a year after I started playing publicly, I began to record my first EP.  And in the spring of 2013, I made my first release, an EP consisting of five songs:

1. For You Love
2. Can't Win
3. Little House
4. Fall Behind
5. Sad Love Story

The EP was titled Empty Spaces, after a lyrics in one of the tracks, and it was recorded at Studio 825 with the help of Joe Trainor from the Joe Trainor Trio.  Several tracks were immediately promoted on Graffiti Radio and WDDE 91.1 FM.  After the released, I was nominated for a 93.7 WSTW Homey Award for 2013's Best New Artist, and I became a Semi-Finalist in the Unsigned Only Music Competition.

In the spring of 2014, producer Ritchie Rubini pursued me in an effort to produce a new song of mine.  Not long after, I released my first single, The Girl You're Looking For.

I am currently writing and performing new music!

Performance Videos 

Click the drop down arrows for videos and lyrics
Ride

Ride Lyrics:
As far as I may go your arms I'll call them home
Your sweet sweet smell of summer time
Your familiar places I'll always call mine, oh
Your secret melodies that spur my memories
Are the highs and lows of me unseen, my endless sea of green

And I'll be dreaming about the day I
Make it back to the place where I
Can take the road that leads to the sky
Kick back and just ride

The laughs we've yet to share are wholly unprepared
For the worn out things we hold so dear
For what they've seen throughout the years 
An open window can fill an empty soul
The mountain breeze will let you roam
But your tired feet will lead you home

And I'll be dreaming about the day I
Make it back to the place where I
Can take the road that leads to the sky
Kick back and just ride

To the place you feel most alive 
The road is long but it'll lead you right

And I'll be dreaming about the day I
Make it back to the place where I
Can take the road that leads to the sky
Kick back and just ride


That didn't come out right
That Didn't Come Out Right Lyrics:
​
Words oh they're meanless but they
Hold so much meaning and they
Swim around my mind, taking up my time
​You say you've got good intentions
But by the things you mention, I don't think you mean it
So I don't believe it
So I don't believe it

You say you're just taking care of business baby 
But when you speak, do you listen?
​You say just what you want
You say what you just thought
But I'll shed some light, that didn't come out right

I might appreciate your honesty but honestly 
​You don't have much to lose
And I don't think that's news 
​You won't say the right thing cause you really think you're helping 
​So I, I just leave it and 
I just say so be it 
So I just say so be it 

You say you're just taking care of business baby 
But when you speak, do you listen?
​You say just what you want
You say what you just thought
But I'll shed some light, that didn't come out right

You know that words can bite if they don't come out right
But if you give it a try, they can come out right

You say you're just taking care of business baby 

But when you speak, do you listen?
​You say just what you want
You say what you just thought

But I'll shed some light, that didn't come out right
silence
Silence Lyrics:

And so you lay in the comfort of your bed
With unsettling thoughts invading your head
Sleep is a place you've grown miss
But pain is the reason and you try to forget

And your screams they echo in your head
But we hear silence instead
This is not how you want it to be
This is not how you want it to be

Your body is weak 
So frail and so ill
But mind of stone and made of steal
Holding on to what is left
You grip the slightest sense of rest 

​And your screams they echo in your head
But we hear silence instead
This is not how you want it to be
This is not how you want it to be

And so you lay without a sound
Helping hands do surround 
Desperate heart
Restless head
This is the start of a bleeding red

And your screams they echo in your head
But we hear silence instead
This is not how we want it to be
This is not how I want it to be
fall behind
Fall Behind Lyrics:

​I don't know where this is going
And I don't know where I'm supposed to be
Take the blindfolds off of my eyes and uncover
Take a part of me oh be my lover

I get so lost in mind
But I don't wanna keep wasting my time
Why do the answers seem so hard for me to find?
Oh, I'm so inclined to fall behind

Let's fill the empty spaces
Clouding my mind as it races
Paint me a picture, I'm drawing a blank
Color my world, I'll tell you what I think

I get so lost in mind
But I don't wanna keep wasting my time
Why do the answers seem so hard for me to find?
Oh, I'm so inclined to fall behind

I always fall so far behind
It seems as if I'm walking on a fine line
Tell me, tell me what's on either side
I'm caught in between what's wrong and what's right

I get so lost in mind

But I don't wanna keep wasting my time
Why do the answers seem so hard for me to find?
Oh, I'm so inclined to fall behind

Released Music

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The Girl You're Looking For - Single 
Picture
Empty Spaces - EP

1. For You Love
2. Little House
3. Fall Behind
​4. Can't Win
listen on reverbnation!

Teaching at the University of Delaware

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The University of Delaware has led me to the most amazing experiences I could have as an undergraduate student, most of which through the Community Music School.  I am honored to have been involved in:

University of Delaware Children's Gold Choir (Intern)
University of Delaware High School Choir Camp (Intern)
University of Delaware Musical Theater Camp (Intern)
Dickinson Middle School A Capella Club (Director)
ACDA Executive Board (PR Officer)
Project Music Opera (Instructor)

Below is my teaching philosophy, a perspective on music education that I have developed during my time at the University of Delaware.  
Teaching Philosophy

Music education is quite different than other subjects found in the typical academic setting.  There is already a universal appeal to music, due to the fact that music pervades so much of each student’s daily life.  Music also provides many avenues for exploration, striking interest in a wide range of diverse students.  It is the teacher’s role to take advantage of the widespread appeal to music, by utilizing what is familiar to students to facilitate the furthering of their music education.  A great teacher does so by fostering an environment in which students are able to form their own unique emotional connections to music.


As educators, it is important to view music education as holistic.  Music in itself embodies a multitude of subjects, and it is so much more than the physical act of singing or playing an instrument.  The study of music includes science, psychology, history, math, literature, art, and much more.  Therefore, every student can find their niche in music.  Although the final goal is to have every student playing and creating music, there needs to be a hook that draws students in and keeps them coming back.  This idea is implemented by offering a wide range of musical pathways to students; thus, allowing each student to find meaning in their own individual way.  Creating a meaningful educational experience will create a lasting impact for them.  

When music has been given meaning to a student, they begin to draw happiness from it in the form of a sense of accomplishment.  This sense of accomplishment may derive from a student getting into the ensemble that they wanted.  It could also derive from the completion of a student composition.  As students begin to form this relationship with music, where they put in effort and receive positive results, they will be more motivated to learn.  As educators, we have two roles in this process.  The first role is to give meaning to a student’s music education.  This is done by diversifying curriculum to appeal to a wide range of students’ needs and interests.  The second role in this process is to provide opportunities for students to challenge themselves and further their education.  I believe that it is the teacher’s job to facilitate a positive learning environment instead of dictating every operation in the classroom through teacher-based instruction and lectures.  By entrusting students with the power to guide their education, they will have the independency to pursue music outside of the classroom and throughout their lifetime.

One of the most significant characteristics of an excellent music teacher is their ability to prompt conversation in the classroom and encourage students to express their feelings about music.  The best learning experience is cultivated in a positive and open atmosphere which allows for the natural flow of creative expression.  In order to create this atmosphere, a teacher must first be open with her students.  Allowing for students to understand how their teacher relates their life to the music will provoke their own personal connections.  Many students, upon receiving a piece of music, may not draw any kind of emotional connection.  An excellent teacher is able to fill those gaps by initiating dialect between students.  In doing so, students are exposed to different interpretations leading to a better understanding of the music being studied and a solid foundation for creative expression.

The method of initiating open discussion not only allows for a better understanding of the music, but for a more unified choir and sound as well.  Teachers lacking this activity in their classrooms often find that their choirs lack emotional direction when singing.  In a communicative environment, students are able to bounce ideas off of each other and eventually come to a general consensus about the meaning behind a piece.  Whether that general consensus varies slightly from student to student or is more concrete, finding the meaning is an important factor in creating a unified choir and sound.  Encouraging discussion in the classroom also allows for trial and error.  Students feel more comfortable suggesting musical ideas, and although they may or may not be applicable, the student is consciously making an effort to contribute to the group.  Making important contributions to the group, such as ideas and constructive criticism, leads students to feel like a significant member of the choir with the power to make an impact on the choir’s overall success.

Music teachers, more so than academic teachers, are challenged with the necessity of creating an emotional connection between the student and the subject.  Without this type of engagement, a choir is unable to move past the simple task of reading a score and onto the joy of making music.  This type of self motivated educational environment will have a lasting impact on students who have found meaning and positive fulfillment through music.  The best music teachers carry the exceptional quality of creating a learning environment in which these emotional ties can develop.

Delaware Choral Academy Summer Symposium

In the summer of 2015, I was accepted into the Delaware Choral Academy Summer Symposium in France.  The program took the form of a two week long choral workshop for singers and conductors which culminated in performances in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille.  The resident chorus that I was a part of was made up of "high caliber singers from the University of Delaware, other universities across the nation, and professional choral conductors."  

My experience spent in South France was inspirational.  I had never been a part of an ensemble that was so in tune to the music, and I had never imagined singing such awe-inspiring churches and abbey's.  This program renewed my love for choir and music education. 

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