Amanda Hahn, Playnotes Editor, playnotes@ncaosa.org

NCAOSA's journal The Orffion, in print since 1978, is a forum for our chapter members and colleagues to contribute news and information about our teaching, learning and music-making lives. As of the fall 2006 issue, the new name PlayNotes appeared to support the theme of The Art of Play for the Northern California-hosted Orff National Conference in 2007. The playful name and image seemed more compatible with our ideals in general, so the name has stuck.

Beginning with the fall 2009 issue, PlayNotes is going green! It will now only be available in a digital format. If you are on the Topica email list, you will receive a pdf of each issue as it is released; they will also be posted on this website.

Contact Editor Amanda Hahn at if you have an article ready, or one in mind and would like some preliminary feedback. See the Formatting Guide, below, to make your article edit-ready.

This website houses a digital version of past issues of The Orffion/PlayNotes from Fall 2005 issue to Spring 2008. Some of our recent editions include web-exclusive content. In addition, we reprint older articles from the repository of wonderful past writings. Each article is in PDF format. Enjoy reading!

Click here to read archived issues.

Publication Schedule
All NCAOSA members are invited to contribute articles to PlayNotes. There are three issues per year—Fall, Winter and Spring—eleased in time for each of our three workshops.
Submission Deadlines for 2010-2011
Fall: September 17 (for release at October 16, 2010 workshop)
Winter: December 3 **early this year! (for January 22, 2011)
Spring: March 25 (for April 30, 2011)

Upon submission, the editor will review your piece and either:

1. Accept it as is (least likely.)
2. Accept it contingent on some editing.
3. Reject the submission, with suggestions for other venues (rarely) or ideas for a future article.

Possible Submission Ideas
PlayNotes welcomes articles on such topics as:

• Workshops attended or given**
• Research or publishing activities
• Educational travel
• Classroom projects
• INterviews and profiles
• An exciting new song or game
• Performances
• Reviews of books and DVDs
• A survey question for music teachers**
• Dialogues

We also publish original and public domain music, children's artwork, digital photographs (with permission), thought-provoking quotations, first-person reflections and remembrances.
**According to an informal poll, articles that include insights from a class or workshop, or collect responses to an inspiring survey question, with concrete examples that can be applied in the classroom, are the most valued by readers. Send your suggested survey questions to the editor!

Article Formatting Guide
Articles can be up to four typed, double-spaced pages. If possible, use 12-point Palatino font. Create articles in Word or rich text (.rtf) format and send them to the editor as an email attachment. Please be flexible about receiving editorial changes that may be necessary for space or other reasons. Email articles to Amanda Hahn, playnotes@ncaosa.org

Biographical Information
Please include with your article a three-line biographical tag with such information as: where you teach, ages of students, your training, musical interests, or little-known facts about you. Also include your email or website address if you'd like readers to be able to contact you.

Digital Photo and Art Archive
PlayNotes is looking for photographs of children singing, dancing and playing in your classes. If you are taking photos for publication, please set your camera to the highest pixel count available. Email your photos to orffion@ncaosa.org in groups of two or three, because of storage size. Please edit and send only your best pictures, not a whole disk. We also welcome digital scans of children's black and white or color drawings.

Release Required for Photos, Artwork or Music Featuring Children

Click here to download children's release form.

Please use this release form for any child's work you would like to submit for publication by NCAOSA. We take permission seriously, and informed consent is critical. If the parents of your students are not fluent in English, please contact us so that we can provide you with a translated form.
Permission in Advance: You will want to request permission before you shoot photos, video or write an article around a student's poem, for example, as consent may not be given, or may be difficult to get.

Your feedback and ideas for PlayNotes are always welcome.

Please be in touch! playnotes@ncaosa.org

Archive (.pdf format)