Confessions of a Traveling Music Teacher

Reflections teaching Orff workshops around the world.

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

No Potato

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I woke up this morning with this revelation, spoken out loud:    There’s no potato!   So today’s post is a shout-out to that grand mystery, ...
Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Homage to John Steinbeck

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As a lifelong reader, I know what separates, for me, good fiction from great literature. Both depend upon memorable characters and compellin...
Monday, July 7, 2025

Inside the Chrysalis

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One of the xylophone pieces we learned in Ghana was about a caterpillar and her grandmother who always came home late at night. I made up a ...
Sunday, July 6, 2025

Home Sweet Home

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After some 18 hours of travel and one-hour of airplane sleep, I had a series of little challenges getting back from the airport to my home. ...
Saturday, July 5, 2025

Leaving Dzodze Blues

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  The date palm tastes so sweet, but at some point, you have to stop eating it. -         Ewe Proverb (approximately) And so we come to the ...

Pool Party and Fashion Show

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  “Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am, Stands amused, complacent, compassionating, idle, unitary… Looking with side-curved ...
Friday, July 4, 2025

The African Queen

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The film  The African Queen  is on my list of top 25 favorite movies. I’m sure there are parts I would cringe at now as it’s in the genre of...
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About Me

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Doug Goodkin
“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” (E.B. White). Early on in my adult life, I was convinced that the world is a mess that needs fixing. But I also sensed that life is short, that miracles and beauty abound and that we would do well to pay attention to them. In a stroke of good fortune, I stumbled on a life that allowed both to happen at once. Teaching music for 45 years at The San Francisco School with children between three and 14 years old guaranteed a fair share of miracles and beauty. The sense that happy children playing, imagining, thinking and creating might help a bit with that improving-the-world side of things made it easy to plan my day. Alongside a half-century of teaching children is a parallel life of traveling and teaching the Orff approach to music education—some 50 countries to date banging on xylophones and slapping our bodies. This blog now in its fifteenth year sharing these experiences. Settle back in your armchair and enjoy!
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