Have you ever dreamed of having students who understand form and structure, time signatures, pattern matching, beat competency, and can spell all of their triads? Well, Aaron has too, and he has dedicated himself to helping students gain this musical fluency—with much success! In this workshop, we will explore powerful tools to foster musicianship and compositional confidence in students of any age, including games, exercises, improvisation, song, dance, modeling, and effective yet simple approaches to music theory involving hands-on practice. We will focus these activities through the lens of composition and draw additional inspiration from several legendary Los Angelenos. All material has been developed and tested in the classroom with real students, and we will view examples during the workshop. Attendees are encouraged to bring recorders.

Aaron Williams is a virtuosic tap dancing multi-instrumentalist, trained in classical music, jazz, and rudimental percussion technique. He achieved internet fame with his viral video, Mario on Marimba, which has received millions of views on Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites. He appeared in Coca Cola’s “America the Beautiful” campaign which aired during the Superbowl, the Olympics, and the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. He is the composer of “Jazzy Note Blocks,” the music behind Note Blocks – AVM Shorts Episode 5, which has racked up nearly 70 million views on Youtube.

In addition to his online and commercial successes, Aaron is a world-class music educator. He holds Level 3 Certification in Orff Schulwerk pedagogy, and he has presented teacher training workshops for AOSA, KIPP Schools, CMEA (California Music Education Association), and several colleges and universities. He is a recipient of the ACEMM Winter Spotlight Award, which is granted for outstanding work in learning communities utilizing music and movement. Aaron has done extensive work as a Band Director, Private Lessons Instructor, and Music Specialist for students ranging in age from 2 to 92.