Help for Music Teachers
    The National Association of Music Merchants will provide help to music teachers, music booster groups, and parents of music students when their programs are on the chopping block. “The budget process in public schools is a public process; it doesn’t happen behind closed doors,” Luehrsen says.  “Budgets are posted on web sites. Budgets and budget hearings at school board meetings are open to the public, so there is an opportunity for anyone concerned about their music program to get the information about what is happening. The sooner a group of concerned folks has that information, the sooner they can react to it positively.
    “NAMM can connect the interested parties – a teacher, a school administrator, a group of parents,” she continues. “We might put them together on a conference call, send them each other’s e-mail addresses, or develop a peer-to-peer network.” She suggests teachers use the materials on the web site to start.
    “We are moving through April and May with a lot of concerns. It has never been more important for local arts advocates to be attending school board meetings and remaining calm, clear-headed advocates for a complete education that includes music. We approach this from the perspective of what the research is telling us about the value of benefits of music learning in the lives of children, and how they align with state and national goals that we have for children around graduating from schools.”

Winning the Battle
    Benham says it takes several components to win the battle in a budget crisis, beginning with the power parents have in the cause of saving music programs. “When I visit a school, I never speak to the board or to the administration. I speak to parents because it is their right and responsibility to save their own programs. Usually a person who lives outside a school district’s boundaries has no voice at a board meeting.
“We also have to unify the music profession by saying, ‘We are saving music education; we are not just saving band programs, orchestra programs, general music, or choral programs.’ Music teachers become part of the fault themselves because one side suggests a cut in the other.”
    Music teachers also need statistical analysis to save their programs from budget cuts, which is what Benham does. When Fairfax County’s proposed budget in­cluded a cut of $7.1 million for the music program, Benham’s statistics showed the county would end up spending $8 million because students not signing up for music would need to be in different classes.

The Teachers’ Perspective
    A retired Fairfax County orchestra director, Mary Wagner says “the most important rule for teachers is to speak from the perspective that the school is losing a program, not that teachers are losing their jobs. People are interested in what will happen to the students, especially here in Fairfax County because 25,000 students is such a large number. Yes, 146 teachers may lose their jobs with the budget cut – and young teachers may be scared to death – but the community isn’t particularly interested. There is a lot of tension with the teachers because of the unknown.”
    Parents in Fairfax County have formed the Fairfax Arts Coalition for Education, with groups attending budget hearings, speaking out, and signing a petition to keep music in the schools; to date that petition has 11,780 signatures. Students have helped to protest music cuts by standing next to empty music cases, filling the school’s halls as members of the school board walk by to attend budget hearings.
    “We have been getting positive comments from members of the school board,” says Wagner, “and we are lobbying the board of supervisors as well as members of the Virginia general assembly. The school board presents its budget to the board of supervisors on April 6; next the board of supervisors sets its final budget on April 20, and then it goes back to the school board.”
    As these negotiations are played out in Fairfax County and in school districts across the country, the value and benefits of music learning in the lives of children continue to be at stake. We will keep you posted.

Editor’s Note: Band and orchestra directors who are interested in sharing their school budget problems and successes with The Instru­men­talist should send them to . We will keep contri­butors’ names anonymous.

The post A New Wave of Cuts in Music Programs appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Women’s Interview Attire
•  Solid color, conservative suit
•  Coordinated blouse
•  Moderate shoes
•  Limited jewelry
•  Neat, professional hairstyle
•  Tan or light hosiery
•  Sparse make-up & perfume
•  Manicured nails
Men’s Interview Attire
•  Solid color, conservative suit
•  White long sleeve shirt
•  Conservative tie
•  Dark socks, professional shoes
•  Very limited jewelry
•  Neat, professional hairstyle
•  Go easy on the aftershave
•  Neatly trimmed nails

    An obvious part of the interview process is answering questions. If you are a recent graduate it is important to have thoughtful answers ready for commonly asked questions because just “winging it” might cost you a good position. Veteran teachers applying for new positions should be no less prepared. Here are some commonly asked questions:
    What is your philosophy of education? Some districts may have you write your philosophy on an application form. Write legibly and with good grammar.
How do you see the band program in terms of its relationship to the rest of the school? This is a very important question to potential employers. Band directors are notorious for their tunnel vision, while administrators want someone who is dedicated but also realizes the band’s role within the big picture of the school’s overall goals and priorities. Coming across as a team player is important; administrators want someone who meshes with other faculty members.
    Where would you like to see yourself in ten years? Don’t be afraid to express vision and drive – administrators will respect that.
    Why do you want to leave your current job? Don’t say something like “I hated my last principal” or “My last principal was an idiot.” If you despise the administration at your previous position it would be best to avoid the issue altogether and stay positive as much as possible. Complaining about where you currently work may make a future employer think that you would not be happy anywhere. Principals and superintendents will be more sympathetic with someone of their own position in the educational system than a potential employee. There’s also a chance that they may be friends or a strong acquaintance with the administrator you are talking about. (They have state and regional organizations like band directors.) If you are bitter, keep it inside and show optimism. Start complaining and you will probably be rejected immediately. Do you like working with a complainer?
    If you feel the need to address conflicts with a previous administration then calmly address the matter without sounding like matters were personal, and you should express problems in terms of conflicting philosophies.
    Also, if you are asked why you are leaving a previous position it’s best not to mention money as the prime factor—some may think that when a better deal comes along you will jump ship the first chance you get.
    If you change jobs frequently, you may be asked why. This can be problematic depending on your circumstances, but again, it’s important to put your reasons in as positive a light as possible. It would do well to convince them that you see the need to stay put in one position and that you are looking for a position that would provide stability.

    On the next few questions I follow the question with answers from real interviews.

What is your biggest weakness?
    “I’m really not a big learner. You know, some people love learning and are always picking up new things but that’s just not me. I’d much rather work at a place where the job is pretty stagnant and doesn’t change a lot.”
    This is the wrong answer. No one is perfect so you should not have a problem answering the question but make sure you have an answer that is not going to ruin the whole interview. You might pick some aspect of your teaching that needs to improve, but whatever it is, it should be something you have already taken steps to improve; at the very least have a clear plan that addresses the weakness.

Have you ever committed a felony or a misdemeanor?
    “I stole a pig once, but it was a really small pig.”
Full disclosure would be best, and you should accept complete responsibility for your actions with out minimizing or rationalizing your actions.

Do you have any questions?
    “If you were a fruit, what fruit would you be?”
    “Can we wrap this up quickly? I have someplace to go.”
    “If I get an offer, how long do I have before I have to take a drug test?”
    “No, I have no questions for you.”
    Having good questions prepared is important. Besides the fact that you glean more information, it will indicate a true interest in the position.  However, don’t go too overboard with your questions; determine what matters are most important to you and ask questions that address those issues. The following questions would be important ones to ask if they were not previously answered in the initial interview process:
    “What are your expectations of the band director and the band program here?”
    “Does the community support education?”
    “How does the school compare with others in the state?”
    “What budget can I expect? Are transportation costs included in that?”
    “What instruments does the school own? What condition are they in?”
    “Is there a long-term purchase or repair plan in place?
    “Is there a strong band booster organization?”
    “What is the school schedule like? Is there a conflict with athletics or AP classes?
    “What salary can I expect?”
    It is best to wait as long as possible before asking about salary so it doesn’t look like money is your number one priority. However, most employers know this is important and will bring the topic up first. On the other hand, you don’t want to look too nonchalant about the salary or you may come across as desperate.

The Resume
    A good resume is a must. It’s best to keep it one page in length and have it printed on high-quality paper with an attractive, yet easily readable font for a professional look. Some applicants include a photo but unless you have movie-star looks it may be best not to – conscious and subconscious factors come into play as potential employers look at the photo whether it be matters of looks, race, or whatever.
    The following are some essential things to include on the resume:
    Appropriate contact information. Include a mailing address, an e-mail address, and at least one phone number (preferably a cell number) so that you are easy to contact.
    Academic qualifications. As your work history develops, academic accomplishments carry less weight. If you’ve been around a while, you don’t need to include much here. Simply list your alma mater and the degree earned. If you are recent graduate, a high GPA or degree from a prestigious university should be listed near the top of your resume.
    Previous work experience. If you’ve held a lot of jobs in a short amount of time it may be tempting to omit a few positions, but it’s better to go with full disclosure. If you’re a recent college graduate with little experience, remember that the resume is not just for paid, full-time work. Internships, part-time work, volunteer work, or other applicable experience should be listed. List everything chronologically with appropriate dates.
    Achievements. Make sure these are relevant and noteworthy, unlike the ones listed below, which are drawn from real resumes:
    “Finished eighth in my class of ten.”
    “Donating blood – fourteen gallons so far.”
    “My twin sister has an accounting degree.”
    “I am fluent in both English and Spinich.”
    “Excellent memory; strong math aptitude; excellent memory.”
    “Attended collage courses.”
    Hobbies and interests. Interviewers can learn a lot about you from what you do in your spare time. A person with other interests may be perceived as someone who will not burn out as quickly. However, you don’t want to look like you have so much going on the side that it will conflict with your work. This real sample would have been better off not shared: “Sitting on a levee at night and watching alligators.”
    References. Research indicates that 80 percent of employers call at least one reference. Three contrasting references are sufficient; for example, an administrator, a respected band director, and someone from the community like a church minister. You should ask for the reference’s permission before including their name on your resume. If they consent, you can include their physical address, but a phone number and e-mail would be enough unless an em-ployer plans to mail a reference form to the references to complete. However, many evaluation forms are online now. At all costs, avoid the following:
    “Please do not contact my previous principal.”
    “Bill, Tom, and Eric but I do not know their phone numbers.”
    “My girlfriend.”
    “None. I left a path of destruction behind.”

    You’ve worked for many years to get the best job possible, so don’t blow it at the last minute with a poor, unprepared resume and interview. Use the tips above and you’re well on your way to receiving the position you’ve always wanted.              
    A special thanks to Claude Smith, former band director and current principal of Searcy High School for his views from both sides of the fence. Additional kudos to Dr. Bob Reely of the Harding University College of Business Admin-istration for his suggestions.

The post Getting the Gig, Tips for Job Hunters appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Timothy Hudson, Trumpet
    Timothy Hudson is the founder of Carolina Brass. He teaches at Gardner-Webb University and is a Yamaha Per­forming Artist and Clinician. He is a graduate of Indiana University, New Eng­land Con­servatory, and UNC Greens­boro. Com­poser Bill Holcombe and Musician’s Pub­lications anticipate publishing new compositions and arrangements commissioned by and dedicated to the Carolina Brass. 

    One of the best things a band director can do for the music program is to implement chamber music groups – small ensembles of strong players – as part of the school curriculum. These groups raise the level of playing and motivate top players to become more skillful, in turn raising the level of larger groups to play with greater confidence and leadership.
    Trumpet players who participate in a small group, such as a brass quintet, will greatly improve their endurance, which is such a major part of playing the instrument well. Because there is no place to hide in a chamber ensemble, students in small groups quickly learn to attend to the details and basic fundamentals of good music making, such as tone, rhythm, pitch, dynamics, and articulation. They learn how to listen to each other in a different way that can be applied to larger ensembles. For brass ensembles, I suggest adding percussion at every opportunity be­cause it adds new dimensions of sound and color while giving another student the op­portunity to play.
    When I give clinics to entire bands, one concept I stress is listening across the ensemble: each player has to hear what everyone else is doing to understand how his part fits into the whole. In a small groups, however, each player listens to the person next to him or across from him, not across the room.  Once chamber musicians get accustomed to this, they begin to apply it to larger groups as well.

Introducing Brass Ensembles
    As far as getting students excited about chamber ensembles, I recommend playing recordings of some of the top brass groups to introduce them to the sound and possibilities of this type of group. Some other good quintets are the Carolina Brass, Empire Brass, Canadian Brass, and Am­erican Brass. I also like the Center City Brass, Atlantic Brass, Ger­man Brass, Chest­nut Brass Com­pany, Chicago Brass, Bos­ton Brass, Dallas Brass, Rhythm & Brass, and the Meri­dian Arts Ensemble.
    The Carolina Brass recorded a sample CD, That’s A Plenty (Summit Records DCD 352), intentionally including many works that are play­able by young quintets to help directors develop their own groups.
    Some of the popular pieces that are great for new student brass quintets include A Night­ingale Sang In Berkeley Square by Manning Sher­win and Eric Ma­schwitz, ar­ranged by Jack Gale (Music Express); Fats Waller’s Ain’t Misbe­havin’ arranged by Lee Morris (Gordon V. Thompson, Canada); “Carolina Brass Rag” from Pops Suite #4 by Arthur Frackenpohl (Kendor); Carolina In The Morning arranged by Frack­enpohl (soon to be published); and Rod­rigo Vill­anu­eva’s arrangement of Sousa’s El Capitan (Musician’s Pub­lications).
    From classical repertoire, I suggest groups play Gabrieli’s Canzona per Sonare #4 arranged by Graeme Page (Gordon V. Thompson). Robert King arranged and published many works for brass quintet, including Sonata from Die Bankelsangerlieder by Daniel Speer, Gabrieli’s Canzona per Sonare #2, Three Pieces and Six Pieces by Johann Pezel, Five Pieces by Holborne, and Rondeau by Mouret.
Bach’s Contrapunctus IX, arranged by John Glasel (Chamber Music Library), will be challenging for students, and his My Spirit Be Joyful arranged by Harry Herforth should have a great tuba player; it was published in a supplement to the Inter­national Trumpet Guild Journal. Other fine pieces for brass quintet are Marc-Antoine Charpen­tier’s Prelude to Te Deum arranged by William Picher (PP Music), Susato’s Renaissance Dances arranged by Iveson (J.W. Chester, Ltd., U.K.), Scherzo by John Cheetham (Western Int’l Music), Sch­erzo and Lied by Maurer (Mentor Music), and Purcell’s Vol­untary On Old 100th transcribed by John Corley (Robert King).
    For directors who have established ensembles, I suggest getting the group off to an enthusiastic start in the fall with a mixture of difficult and easy pieces, some that are challenging and some that are fun. While rags are  ent­ertaining for audiences, playing them should include extra time to study their history; and by the way, rags are often played much too fast. It’s not a race! Studying, listening and practicing are the important elements in developing an ability to play in all styles.

First Performance
    The sooner a new ensemble performs in public the better, because positive playing experiences help students to relax, become confident, and at the same time reduce anxiety. When anxiety levels rise, the body typically tightens up and tension sets in, which is destructive for all players and their music.
    The typical problems of inexperienced trumpet/brass players are the result of a lack of attention to the fundamentals. Long tones, scales, and slurs should be a part of every practice session.
Trumpet players in particular have a tendency to play in a crass manner, partly because of the nature of the instrument but mostly due to the approach of the player. Observing the interpretive marking of a composer is also important.
    Playing lyrical etudes, such as the Giuseppe Concone Lyrical Studies (Editions BIM and The Brass Press) will help to improve and develop a characteristic sound as well as improve pitch and overall musicality. I suggest students approach the in­strument in a singing style with good inflection and not as though they are going to battle. If you play all the right notes and rhythms but without inflection, then as far as I’m concerned you’ve missed every note.
    Brass players often tongue notes too hard. Instead, they should define each note and give it shape with the tongue, supported by a healthy column of air support. Always inhale to the fullest capacity and blow the air freely through the instrument, anticipating the correct release. Articulation is not an attack; it is a release.

Valuable Practice
    There is no substitute for practice. The only way to go forward in music is by practicing, working out difficulties in the practice room. During a concert people in the audience may think there is something magical about my playing, the playing of the members of Carolina Brass, or being a brass virtuoso; but it simply comes down to the common ground that each of us practices. If you don’t, then you’re not going forward, you are going backwards. Most band directors understand the commitment of spending countless hours in the practice room individually, then bringing that experience to rehearsals and performances.
    Students need to be reminded of the value of daily technical practice of scales, arpeggios, etudes, and pieces so directors can polish their interpretations during rehearsals. The great cellist Mstislav Rostro­povich once said, “If I miss one day of practicing I know it. If I miss two days of practicing, the whole world knows it.”

Dennis de Jong, Trumpet
    Dennis de Jong is the music program coordinator at Johnston Com­munity Col­lege. He earned a master of music degree from Du­quesne Uni­versity and a bachelor of music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
   
One of the great challenges of a brass instrument and one of the utmost difficulties on any instrument is producing a great sound. The sound is the first thing anyone hears about a performance. It is all about sound. When I am performing in a brass quintet, it’s about sound. When I play as a soloist, it’s about sound. As a choral director, it’s about sound. Above all, I strive to cultivate a great sound in music.
    What makes brass playing so difficult is that sound is one of the last things players develop, and it should be one of the first. Students usually begin by learning how to discern different pitches using the three valves of the instrument. Next they have to understand how to color the sound and make it musical by giving each note some resonance – overtones – that are pleasing to hear.
    A brass ensemble gives players a chance to resonate together as one large instrument without reeds or percussion. It gives students a chance to listen more acutely to the sound they are making and hear how it contributes overall to one instrument – the brass ensemble.
    Depending on the genre, a brass ensemble or a brass quintet can be akin to the idea of a pipe organ in terms of colors and the registration between lows and highs. Brass ensembles and brass quintets offer players the opportunity to cultivate a beautiful sound as a starting point for growing as musicians.

Music for Brass Quintet
    Good repertoire will get young trumpet players excited about brass quintets. My instructors remember Robert King as a kind of default publisher for brass literature, and since then many different publishers have added new works, including any number of independent music publishers.
    Brass quintet players have a wide array of music to choose from, including specific works of Gabrieli and the music of Bach, whose contrapuncti have been ar­ranged for brass quintet. There are a number of collections of Johann Pezel and other early composers that go to the heart of simple polyphony, working to develop each individual in the ensemble as a soloist.
    Then there is an entire set of more advanced Ro­mantic re­pertoire by Victor Ewald that is part of the standard quintet repertoire for upper-level high school and precollege quintets. More contemporary composers in­clude Eric Ewazen, whose instrumental colors are highly evocative, and  Morley Calvert has a nice arrangement titled Suite for the Monteregian Hills (Berandol Music).

Trumpet Range
    Directors should have the goal of challenging young players while un­der­standing the limits of any particular group. In terms of repertoire a comfortable range for sophomore trumpet players extends from low F# to G at the top of the staff, or maybe even an A or a Bb. By the junior or senior year in high school the top range should be at C above the staff. This means students should strive for warming up to reach double F in the upper register, extending down to the low pedal register as well. Success will vary greatly, depending on the location of the school and the kinds of experiences the students have had.
    When it comes to range too many young trumpet students like to talk about how high to the point that it reminds me of a competition with bragging rights. The notes somewhere between G and C are good at the top of the range, but most of the traditional repertoire doesn’t exploit the upper register to that extent. It’s all about the sound.
    Many high school trumpet students have difficulty making a consistent, good-quality sound; it comes back to being efficient on the instrument. During lessons I’ll ask students to imagine a sprinter who wants to run fast but is hindered because he makes extraneous movements, puts one foot in front of the other inconsistently, or wobbles his head back and forth, which would be silly for anyone to watch. For brass players those inconsistencies might not be as obvious but they hinder good playing in the same way.
    An inexperienced player may have an inconsistent sound, trouble playing in different registers, and difficulty varying articulations. Students need a variety of articulations to draw from, and they need to be able to color different articulations – make different colors out of their sound.
    It’s not a matter of having just one articulation or one sound; they should be able to manipulate the instrument in ways to better present the stylistic requirements of the repertoire in terms of matching articulations, matching a sense of rhythmic style, and being able to keep a sense of agility on the instrument, from low to high.
 
Bob Campbell, Horn
    Bob Campbell graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts. He is on the faculty at Wake Forest Uni­versity and is a member of the faculty woodwind quintet. He is a founding member of the Winston-Salem Bolton Project Wind Quintet.   

    In high school I thought articulation meant playing notes shorter or longer, and dynamics referred to playing louder or softer. Actually, there are thousands of gradations of each one. Young chamber musicians usually try to get their attacks together, but once they learn to release together, they will really make music; this is what we strive for in Carolina Brass. In general releasing together helps students to listen and to realize they have to play their part the best they can so that each one fits with the others.
    Playing in a quintet makes students better listeners because all of the parts are so evident. In a wind ensemble or an orchestra students can get away with “swimming” around in the middle of their parts, but they learn to listen small groups.

First-Time Ensembles
    Directors who are offering brass ensemble for the first time should find pieces in brass-friendly keys so students can think more about ensemble and less about fingerings. The first quintet pieces I played were the old Robert King publications that were always arranged in a friendly key, challenging, with lots of Bach and Gab­rieli. Sometimes they in­cluded fugues with each part playing different rhythms. I remember a disaster the first time we played a Bach contrapunctus in high school because students couldn’t follow their parts. When I was further along and new players tried out for a group, the quickest way to see if they could keep up with their part was to play a fugue.

Difficulties for Young Hornists
    Rehearsals can be frustrating if the hornist doesn’t start on the right partial and as a result can’t find the right notes. Becoming familiar with all the scales and arpeggios helps young players know where they are on the instrument. Some students don’t put enough air through the horn, while those who switch from trumpet often put too much air through it. Others are scared to put too much air through the horn.
    To get the horn playing at the same level as everyone else a director may want to rethink the dynamics of each work and have the hornist play a little  louder for a forte. At the same time, everyone in the ensemble should listen to who has the tune and be certain it comes through, especially when it is in the horn.
    Seating a hornist can contribute to volume. In Carolina Brass I sit on the left side of the group, from the audience’s perspective, so the bell faces outward, helping the sound to project. Other brass quintets put the horn in the back with the tuba on the side, and the hornist plays into a reflective surface that is put behind him. Whether a director has the horn play with more volume, adjusts the seating, or both, the horn sound has to match the rest of the group. I’ve heard countless recordings where the horn sounds like it is off in another room.
    I play in both woodwind and brass quintets, and to hold my own in a brass quintet I have to step it up a bit by putting out more sound because the horn tends to get lost; in a woodwind quintet I usually overpower everyone and have to hold back. It’s the worst of both worlds. For orchestral playing I use both types of sound, depending on the music.
    A good rehearsal technique for any group is to leave out the main voice and have the musicians play with good balance in the accompanying voices; then the lead voice returns so that the sound is on top of the accompaniment. This gives each player a better sense of volume and balance within a passage.
    It’s harder to get a crisp start to a note on a horn than it is on a trumpet; the player has to put a little more into it. The horn is similar to a trombone and a tuba in that both are conical instruments, and the construction makes them somewhat harder to get a crisp front end on a note, but it can be done.
    There should be a lot of air at the beginning of every note, especially when the notes are fast. Young brass players tend to shut down the air for fast notes, and that’s when the air should flow.

David Wulfeck, Trombone
    David Wulfeck received music degrees from the University of Northern Colo­rado, the University of North Caro­lina at Greensboro, and had doctoral studies at In­diana University. He teaches at St. Au­gu­-stine’s College and Shaw University.   

Students learn to focus so much more in a small ensemble, like a brass quartet or quintet, than they do in a band or orchestra. The trombonist doesn’t have flute or clarinet parts to think about, so with only a few players it is easier for him to figure out what to do to play his part well.

Range, Good Keys
    The trombone part in much of the early high school literature doesn’t have an expanded range, so a player who is able to reach a Bb in the upper register should have no trouble with these parts. In standard brass quintet music the other parts are written more in the upper register, whereas the trombone is not.
     Low E will be the lowest regular note on trombone. The player will need to get up to a G above middle C, which is standard, but the music should not go down to the trigger register.
    Large skips, up or down, can cause problems for brass players, who have to be absolutely certain they can hear the note they are about to play, otherwise they may end up on the wrong partial.  Scalar-type passages tend to be easier for students to learn quickly. In terms of keys for brass, I suggest looking for music in flat keys for brass, perhaps up to four flats, as well as works in sharp keys. Directors tend to not like sharps as much, but band students need to know there are sharp keys early on.

Accompanimental Parts
    Trombone parts in a brass quintet tend to be more accompanimental than melodic. In my experience there is one piece in which the trombone plays throughout: Die Bankel­sanger­lieder (Alphonse Leduc/Robert King). Two trumpets play for a while, and then the horn and tuba jump in; the instruments go back and forth, but the trombone plays the entire work. It doesn’t have an extended range, but the music may be taxing for high school musicians.
    Typical playing problems of student trombonists include not moving the slide quickly enough to the right place with a relaxed right arm. Lyrical pieces especially can be troublesome for inexperienced players, who tend to move the slide too slowly. Getting it to the right place at the right time is important.
        Some students tend to play certain notes sharp or flat, depending on their skill, so a director should point out these tendencies and have the students adjust each position on the slide so the notes are in tune. Articulation on trombone requires the coordination of the tongue with the slide movement; the tonguing has to be exact or the sound becomes a big smear. A young trombonist who has never before played in an ensemble may naturally hold back as he tries to figure out what is going on before he jumps in.

Exciting Music for Students
    To get the school year off to an enthusiastic start some pieces a director might rehearse include the Robert King publication titled “Rondo.” Al­though music from King generally has parts for euphonium and not tuba, this work has a tuba part and it stays high. Robert Nagle’s arrangement “This Old Man March” (Mentor Music) is a fun standard. The trombone, which plays both the melody and harmony, begins the piece and has the first measure to himself. It has a loud ending and is fun to play with several double-tongued places.

Matt Ransom, Tuba
    Matt Ransom is on the faculty of Wake Forest University, and he is the artist-faculty instructor of tuba and euphonium at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He earned a bachelor of music degree and an arts diploma from the North Carolina School of the Arts and has pursued graduate studies at Appala­chian State University.  

     The tuba is the foundation for pitch, rhythm, and tempo. In a brass quintet, players find it easier to hear every single voice in the ensemble than when they are in band or orchestra, and they have a much better idea of who is in tune, out of tune, and how to adjust. They also have a much better idea of what it is like to interact musically with other instruments in different styles.
    With fewer people it’s always obvious who you are playing with, and it’s a lot easier to hear when notes don’t line up as they should. We have to make adjustments quickly, either with our lips or with slides. In a large ensemble with three tubas, seven trom­bones, and two euphoniums, it’s important that everyone listens and adjusts.

Band Keys
    High school tubists typically play in band keys: C major, F, B flat, E flat, or A flat. Band directors should include more sharp keys to challenge students and to prepare them to play in all the keys they find in band, orchestra, or chamber groups. Musicians practice scales for a reason, and it’s not just for all-district and all-state auditions.
    As for the range for tuba, high school musicians should be able to play from F, four lines below the bass clef staff, up to B flat at the top of the bass clef staff. That being said, it is hard to be exact because high school players are so different. Some easily play in the upper register, while others are better in the lower register. When band directors are intimately acquainted with the strengths of their players, they can help target problem areas. Many professional players call the F to B flat range the cash register because much of the music we play lies within that register. 

The Melodic Tuba
    The great thing about a brass quintet is that there are only five people, so other than Dixieland arrangements, I  play the melody in some portion of a piece because there are  five of us to share it.
One thing I’ve noticed over many years of hearing auditions for schools  and listening to private students is that many low brass players should be challenged more. Flute players are accustomed to playing difficult musical passages in their band literature, but the difficulty level of tuba music is not as high. This is another reason why chamber music is so important to the development of young players.

Playing with a Broad Sound
    Many tuba students don’t understand the importance of playing with clarity. If they want to be heard clearly, they need to concentrate on playing with concise articulations and accurate rhythms. It is not just a matter of playing louder. Because of the nature of the tuba, the sound is very resonant; it’s like the carpet that you put under the band for everyone to sit on top.
    The duty of the tuba player is to lay down a solid foundation so the other musicians can build on top of it.  If you tune a chord, you do it from the bottom – the foundation – up. Brass sections in particular need to listen across the spectrum so the chords blend properly. I’m an advocate of playing Bach chorales in chamber groups because it is very ob­vious when the chords do not completely lock in. The goal should be correct balance and blend. When those two things happen, intonation becomes much less of an issue.

Starting Notes
    High school tuba players typically have difficulty getting the note started; they don’t realize that air is important in every facet of each note they are playing, from beginning to the end. When the tongue releases, air crosses the lips, which begins the buzz into the mouthpiece. If there is a breakdown in the process, you will not have a clean attack. A great sound is created by a great breath.
    Many students do not use enough tongue. The tuba sound is very wide and clear, making accurate articulation important. Players should always keep in mind what the audience is hearing, not just what they hear near the bell. As someone who plays in many different venues with different sized ensembles, I always pay attention to the acoustical problems I might find. Reverberant rooms need very clear articulation and even a slight separation between notes. Faster notes need a more staccato approach. Dry rooms are exactly the opposite; they require a little less punctuation and more continuity between notes.
    To help with accuracy and pitch in leaps and octaves on tuba, I’ll play the note an octave below a written pitch to make sure that I have the pitch in my mind. I’ll go to the piano and play the intervals. For troublesome intervals, such as a minor seventh above the staff, I’ll play the note on the piano and then buzz it on my mouthpiece with the piano; I’ll even sing it. I recommend a lot of singing. If you can hear and sing an interval, you can play it on your instrument.

Programming Suggestions
    If I were to select music for a high school brass quintet to rehearse at the beginning of the school year, I would include a fanfare-type piece that is  short, loud, and fun. Next, I would add something jazzy, such as a Joplin rag or the “St. Louis Blues,” which will keep students’ toes tapping. I would also find a classical standard like Die Bankelsangerlieder, as well as something new, written recently by a contemporary composer for brass quintet. The most important factor in choosing repertoire is that it is fun for the students so you can keep them interested in playing chamber music.

John R. Beck, Percussion
    John R. Beck is a faculty member at the North Carolina School of the Arts and Wake Forest University. He received music degrees from Oberlin College and the East­man School of Music. He is a former member of the United States Marine Band.    

Typical high school students take part in marching band for most of the fall or playing relatively easy traditional band literature indoors. There are exceptions, such as music that involves more instruments by Mas­lanka or by Husa; but most of the repertoire doesn’t require the listening skills that are so important to playing in small groups.
    More important than listening is the ability to play soft and to blend, two topics that never get discussed on the football field where it is always about playing louder. Even in jazz band, it’s about driving the band.
    For a brass quintet or a small chamber percussion ensemble, students have to refine their skills and learn to listen and play softly and to blend. A director may talk to the winds or the brass about blending, but not the percussion. You are forced to deal with those skills in a small chamber groups where balance is always about soft playing.

Percussion Parts
     There is little music available for brass quintet with printed percussion parts, so a drum set player improvises by watching the tuba part, which gives him a sense of time with the rhythm of the bass line; he can follow the lead trumpet part because it has important rhythmic figures he can double. By following both parts, he will have more flexibility in creating a drum part, always remembering not to over power the other musicians. Creating a percussion part requires musical maturity and guidance from a director because the student is actually orchestrating.
    Directors who are starting a brass quintet with percussion should look for a percussionist who has played in band, orchestra, or possibly a jazz band because he will bring more to the group. A small ensemble can be a good vehicle for someone who usually gets kicked to the back of the percussion section playing triangle and gong because it becomes an opportunity for him to shine and discover his abilities. Adult supervision is important for small ensembles because putting six students in a classroom and giving them music to play rarely works.

First Concert
    For holiday concerts, arrangements of carols tend to be easy and sound good quickly. If there is no percussion part, you can easily add a percussionist on sleigh bells or a bit of light drum set for a swing arrangement of “Jingle Bells.” A spring program would be a good long-term goal. The group could play in a solo-and-ensemble contest so they actually play for a judge. By that time of year they would have played together enough to feel confident.
    The percussionist could possibly have a xylophone or marimba solo spot. There are also shuffle arrangements, commercial arrangements that work well, and things like “Sing, Sing, Sing” where the drummer can stretch out a little and take some of the solos.

Motivation From Videos
    Students are certainly driven by video, so directors can tap into this tool. Many established ensembles post fun video clips (Canadian Brass, Rhythm and Brass, the American Brass Quintet, and the Dallas Brass) that will get rehearsals off to a solid start and show students the excitement of playing in an small ensemble. Videos give students something to relate to. My students are always looking for new music on U-Tube. The music may or may not be played well, but it is an easy hook for students who like to research that way.

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Roy Holder
     Roy C. Holder (left) has taught in the public schools for the past 40 years. For the past 22 years he has been the Director of Bands at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Fairfax County, Virginia. Holder is a member of the Virginia Music Educators Association, the National Band Association, and the American Bandmasters Association. He is currently the high school representative on the N.B.A. Board of Directors, on the School Bands Committee of the A.B.A., and on two selection committees for the John Philip Sousa Society.

     I wish I had known how far a box of oranges on the custodial office desk at fruit truck time, or a simple please or thank you on a request to a secretary, or taking a minute to talk to the finance lady or the athletic office administrative assistant, or sweeping the floor after we track in football field grass would go in terms of not only good will in the building, but in terms of actually being able to get my job done because all these important people appreciate having their work acknowledged as valuable.
     I wish I had known the importance of finding people with the time and interest in doing a thousand little things that leave me time to select music, study scores and spend the majority of my time dealing directly with students. I don’t let go of everything and I keep an eye on every aspect of the program, and yes, it gets more difficult every year to not spend too much time on the administrative aspects of the job, but the more time I spend on music and students and the less time I spend on things that others can do, the better for everyone. The more people are involved the more committed they are to the program and the more time I spend on the kids and music the better we perform.
     This also applies to students and rehearsing. I wish I had known that it was best if I did not try to do everything for them. Early on I tried to rehearse everything into a finished form, check each passage for who was creating the problem, and check every student for marching band music memorization. As I learned to turn over the marching band music pass-off charts to the section leaders, the students begin to take more responsibility for the success of their sections and the group as a whole.
     As I learned to make sure everyone understood what was needed to prepare a certain passage-rhythms, style, phrasing, odd fingerings-then created the atmosphere that assumed that it was unacceptable to not prepare the material, students became more responsible for their own music preparation, and we not only played better but were able to cover a lot more material.
     Granted, I can never walk away completely. There is definitely the “Walk softly, but carry a big stick” element to all of this. Students have to know you are serious and that there is a consequence for not meeting the standard. However, the better I get at creating the atmosphere of expecting excellence and trusting them to get the job done the less often the big stick comes out and the more time we spend creating music, not rehearsing notes and rhythms. This leads to more enjoyment for the students the audience, and the conductor. For those who do not think their students will respond to such an approach, I understand that students today are busier than in the past and surrounded by the “what do I have to know to pass the test” mentality.
     I also know that as long as we do everything for them they will be perfectly happy to let us do just that. Teach them that real success is not in just getting the “right answer”, but in struggling to accomplish something you were not sure you could do when you started out. Teach them to enjoy the process and not just the final product. Teach them that real accomplishment will require frustration and failure along the way. And make sure through your words and actions that they know you believe that they can and will do what is necessary to accomplish the tasks before them.
     Of course, the most difficult part is balancing the elements of when to push them to get the job done and when to leave it to their sense of pride and self respect. If you think you are getting this right all the time you are probably missing something. If you are frustrated that you often don’t get this right you just may be doing the other thing I wish I had understood early on. I wish I had known that the best thing about this process is that it is never done. No matter how well I did today and how great our performance, tomorrow I get to start over and try to do more. No matter how frustrating today was, no matter what did not work, no matter if the students were unprepared or did not respond well to what I did today, if I go home and think about what I might have done differently, if I ask some questions or ask someone to come in and watch or work with my students, the next time I go in the door I can be better. That is what we should expect from our students, so surely it is the way we should approach our responsibilities with this job.
     There is no “magic bullet”, just the opportunity to do something special that we can constantly improve at doing. I wish I had known that the more I focused on that aspect of the job and the less I time I spent worried about the administrative frustrations, the happier would be going to work each day.

Charles Menghini
     Charles Menghini is director of bands and president of VanderCook College of Music. He is an internationally recognized author, clinician, adjudicator, and guest speaker. Menghini received a doctorate in wind conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. He is a member of the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic Convention Commit-tee. Menghini taught at the high school level in the public schools of Kansas and Missouri for 18 years before coming to VanderCook. He also played lead trumpet in the Kansas City Chiefs Profes-sional Football Band.

    Teachers face many decisions, including what music to select, what sections to rehearse, how to approach each rehearsal, how to discipline a student or handle a situation, or how to communicate with an administrator in order to get additional support for your program. Here are a few things I have learned about decision-making:
     1. Don’t Rush To Judgment. When things happen, wait until you get as many of the facts as possible. There may be a good reason why the student was late for your class or missed a performance. That a student has not performed up to your level of expectation in the past does not guarantee that a new situation is not unique and beyond their control. Get the information first, it will save you lots of time and headaches in the long run.
     2. Select Appropriate Music. There is a list of music that we want to play and then there is a list of music we should play, but these are not always the same. Make sure that the music you choose fills an educational or programming need and is something your students will be able to perform at a high technical and musical level.
     3. Know What You Can and Cannot Fix In A Rehearsal. A missed key signature or an accidental, incorrect rhythm, a wrong fingering, or poor mallet or stick choice are all examples of things you can fix immediately. In these cases, stop and fix them. Have students write in specific information in their music to help solve the problem. Don’t circle the wrong note, because this only calls attention to it. Instead have them mark a sharp or flat in front of the note. When a wrong rhythm is played, have them write in the counts using the counting system you have taught them. If a note is played using a wrong fingering, have them write in the correct fingering. If they consistently play a note flat or sharp, have them write in an arrow going up to raise the pitch and down to lower the pitch.
Things that cannot be fixed immediately require a different approach. Such problems may include an awkward fingering, a string of sixteenth notes, or a difficult interval. In such situations the best approach is to give students a strategy practice this area, then revisit this spot daily to monitor progress. Don’t ever simply tell students to learn it.
     4. Put Yourself In Their Shoes First. When you are going to meet with a principal, parent, or colleague, don’t just approach the situation from your point of view. Instead, try to put yourself in their position and decide how you would want to be approached. In doing this you come across as cooperative instead of confrontational. This same idea of putting yourself in another person’s shoes first also goes for things as simple as writing an email. Remember that email is read from the mindset of the reader and not the writer. Don’t assume that people have the same information you do. When communicating with people either face to face or in writing the rule is to assume little and explain lots.

Anthony Gibson
    Anthony Gibson is the director of fine arts for Allen Independent School District in Allen, Texas. For 26 years he was director of successful Texas high school bands ranging in size from 70 to over 600+ members of the Allen Escadrille before moving into fine arts administration.

    Twenty-six years in music education and administration has taught me that success with students, parents, colleagues, administrators, community, and family is about dealing with relationships. I feel strongly that the ultimate goal in music education is to have a good effect on our students. There were years that I had hundreds of students as a captive audience on a daily basis, and sometimes their parents had me captive at booster meetings or conferences. Over time, my line of thinking shifted from "how do I deal with every moment” to “how do I live every moment”.
     High-profile positions demand living every minute of every day as if under a microscope. Peering through the lens are students, parents, the community, and my own family. This accountability is the ultimate test of our personal lives anyway. Effective communication of emotion, empathy, and motivation can be so taxing while on stage at all times. Often I found myself in a prideful state, narrowly focused on what I was doing, but pride consistently, cometh before a fall. I also got caught up in the competitive winning rather than staying focused taking care of people.
     In hindsight, the plastic trophies and dusty plaques mean very little. Yet the relationships that were built will last forever. With the accessibility of networking in technology today, forever becomes increasingly more literal. How I wish I could make a convincing apology to so many former students to whom I did not give that second chance, or take back a comment. It really would have been okay to just agree that it was their reed. The opportunity to have a mulligan on some of the situations in the past would be a gift. I would have kept my passion, and focused on the relationship when correcting a student, a parent, or a staff member. I could have found a nicer way to say that I was not going to sit in the band booster dunking booth at carnival.
     I consider myself blessed to have had strong relationships with mentors, colleagues, and my wife. They were willing to chime in and beat some wisdom into a young whippersnapper band director out to change the world. I am so grateful for their love as well as their confidence in speaking the truth.
     With the change to administrative position, my responsibilities grew from hundreds of band studentss to a fine arts staff of 90 and a program encompassing all students in the school district. However, the common goal is still building relationships with students. The pain of missed relational opportunities of the past is diminished when I receive a note of thanks from former students or colleagues.
     A meaningful saying and reminder in my family is that “friends are friends but family is forever.” The true testament to relationships, love, and values is no further than my own home. Family comes before ensembles, regardless of the endless hours preparing for rehearsal, sectionals, or charting marching band all night. You never get that time back. First steps, taking off training wheels, or escorting a daughter at homecoming ceremonies are once-in-a-lifetime mo-ments. Let your example be your family. Grandchildren produce an even bigger change in your priorities; they are your legacy staring you in the face.
     In closing, I recently attended the funeral of a colleague and long time educator, and in the service the priest said, “When you stand before God. . .” and my thoughts lingered on this question. If you approached every rehearsal, parent conference, or conversation with your spouse after a three-hour bus ride from a football game as if you were standing before God, what would change? There is no telling how many times I have preached that music is just a way for us to make a difference in students’ lives, and that all begins with relationships.

Joseph Manfredo
    Joseph Manfredo is on the music education faculty at the University of Illinois where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting and instrumental methods. Manfredo is also on the state board of the Illinois Music Educators Association and is head of the Music Teacher Education Division for IMEA.

    Establish a network that includes experienced music educators as well as novice teachers. Any person new to a profession will face difficulties and struggle with the many facets of the job. You need a support group that understands what you are experiencing and can also act as your sounding board. It is very easy for the novice music educator to feel isolated, unsupported and frustrated. Reaching out to the right people can help you navigate through these early years in the profession.
     You will, however, need to develop this network; it will not be provided for you. This is actually quite easy to do. First, contact members from local organizations such as the National Band Association or from your state music educators association. You can also contact a veteran teacher from an nearby school. One of the best strategies is to volunteer to assist with the organization of a music festival or contest. Your help will be appreciated and will provide you access to many new colleagues. Ultimately, you will find that the music education profession is made up of people who are more than willing to assist you. Just take the initiative and make yourself known. You can’t do this job alone.

Scott Casagrande
    Scott Casagrande has been director of bands at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois since 1999. He was previously director of bands at Plainfield (Illinois) High School from 1991 to 1999 and at Stephen Decatur High School in Decatur, Illinois from 1988 to 1991. A native of Fairfax County, Virginia, Casagrande earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He has completed additional coursework at the University of Miami, North Central College and VanderCook College of Music.

    I think that the most significant lesson that I have learned in my 22 years of teaching is that if isn’t tested, it isn’t learned. A college professor said that to me and the thought that has always stuck with me. Even the most organized, motivated, and committed students must make choices in their busy and hectic days, and the chances that they will learn material is greatly increased when they know that they will be assessed.
     The number of mistakes and misinterpretations when I listen to one student perform is enormous, and it is amazing what mistakes I miss in a full rehearsal, even when I record it and listen to it later. Individual assessment is vital to making sure that a student is performing well and understands musical concepts taught in class. Testing students on parts in class, having students submit recordings of parts, and outside of class sectionals are three ways that I assess students individually.

Anthony Pursell
     Anthony Pursell is the newly appointed director of bands at Tarleton State University (Stephenville, Texas) and will begin that position in July 2010. He is currently the assistant director of bands at Kansas State University. He earned bachelor and master of music education degrees from Loyola University (New Orleans) and a doctor of arts degree from Ball State University (Indiana).

    In my fourteen years as a music educator, there are two things that I have learned with age: empowering students from the podium, and the power of forming relationships. I can only imagine what I could have accomplished earlier in my career would provide had I known these things then.
     The ability for an ensemble at any level to improve depends on the ability to know both their parts and the parts of the other ensemble members. The best way I have found to make this happen is for students to be forced to listen to one another, so I will often stop conducting an ensemble and let them go through a piece by themselves, including changes in tempo and meters. Although the first few times students are left on their own may not go well, when they begin to trust one another and learn to listen, the maturity of the ensemble will become very apparent.
     In addition to preparing an ensemble well, one of the most important values in teaching is to form strong relationships. Not only will these relationships be beneficial in a time of need, they can assist young teachers in so many ways that will allow them to focus more on the bigger picture of teaching. Here are some of the most helpful people:
     •  Parents can assist you with many tasks that get in the way of great teaching. They can help with anything from sewing buttons on uniforms to photocopying music and folding letters. Many parents are ready to assist if they are asked.
     •  Coaches can be a powerful advocate for the music program. Directors with athletic band responsibilities should build a strong relationship with the coaches and athletics director. This is also good for school unity.
     •  Feeder program directors would be excited to have an opportunity to assist as it gives them an opportunity to revisit students they used to teach. In many ways, this gives young high school directors some much needed professional assistance.
•  Counselors: can be great at resolving scheduling conflicts, and those who are your friends will be happy to resolve things in your favor when possible.
     •  Custodians are the most essential people to have a good relationship with, especially for those nights when an emergency occurs a few minutes before the down beat of a performance. One way to show appreciation for custodians is to ask the studentss to stack up all the chairs, take out the trash and clean the rehearsal hall with a broom, vacuum and mop. Leave the custodians a note and let them know that you appreciate them and to have a great weekend.    

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What are the overlooked aspects of the physical side of conducting?
    Tension is something incoming graduate students and conductors in general seem to have in common. This gets in the way of showing the music physically, so we immediately work on ways to release tension, which everyone holds in a different part of the body. Tension limits expressiveness.
    Jerald Schwiebert at the University of Michigan works frequently with conductors but is actually an expert on human anatomy. He says that a fluid motion requires using as many joints as possible. Many conductors only move the arm while the rest of the body is still. This looks artificial and stiff, because moving the arm across the body normally causes the rest of the body to move to accommodate the shift in weight. Conductors should move not just their arms, but the entire body to produce the fluidity that we see in the most graceful conductors. All motions in conducting start from the center of the body, which in Eastern philosophy is right around belt level. With many people you see a lack of connection between the motion they’re making with the arms and the rest of the body.
    Conducting is an interesting discipline because conductors make no sound. Conducting teachers often talk about looking like the music, but Robert Spano, the conductor of the Atlanta Symphony, says, “More importantly, we want to create the gesture that elicits the sound that we imagine.” That could mean that a gesture doesn’t really look like the music, but it gets the sound that you want. The most important thing is the sound we get, not how we look. Even before I work on technique with students, I make sure they have a strong aural image. Only then does conducting become a matter of using gestures and the body in the most expressive and communicative way possible to get the desired sound.

How should conductors develop ideas about the sound they want?
    Score study combines years of musical study with an idea or point of view. Some people say that what’s in the score is in the score and that’s it, but I don’t agree. I think Pablo Casals said it best: “About 60% of what is in music is actually on the printed page.” I share that quote with students and then ask where the other 40% comes from. The answer is that it comes from themselves. As conductors, we bring our perspective as musicians to every piece. Interpretation should be within the context of the period, style, and practice and shouldn’t be so far removed that it doesn’t sound like the composer. That being said, conductors who don’t infuse a work with their own ideas come up short.
    I ask classes to listen to a recording of Rostro-povich playing the first movement of the Bach First Cello Suite in C major. We go through the score phrase by phrase while listening and talk about things Rostropovich did that made the score come alive. These include rubato, tone color, and placing weight on certain notes. Going through a recording of an expressive artist makes it easy to measure the contributions of musical interpretation. Conduct-ing students can try those things that they heard in their own interpretations.
    I often compare shaping a musical line to language. When we speak we use inflection, emphasis, pitch, and pacing as dramatic elements. Music should be the same way. We also talk about the three ways in which music moves: pressing forward, relaxing back, or in repose. I give students a melodic line and have them sing or play it, deciding on the focal point of each phrase, which notes  to stress, and the ones to relax.
    Developing a strong concept of ensemble sound is also essential. As part of the conducting audition I play recordings of the same piece played by two bands with a dramatically different sound. The candidates have to discuss what they hear, what the differences are, and which they like best.

What areas should conductors spend more time addressing?
    The way we give instructions and interact with people from the podium are an important part of conducting but don’t always addressed in conducting study. Conductors cannot make music in a vacuum; they rely on good communication with others to make music. Master teachers exhibit three traits. The first is having extremely high expectations and setting high standards for students. The second is taking an interest in every individual in an ensemble, both personally and in their musical development, which is sometimes difficult with a large ensemble. The last one is passion for and knowledge of your subject area.
    Conductors who want to evaluate their technique should record themselves conducting both a performance and a rehearsal. A concert shows skill at nonverbal communication and how much energy you can generate. A rehearsal tape shows how you hear, how you communicate what you hear, and your skill in fixing problems. A portion of the graduate conducting audition is designed to assess these things. Candidates have a scripted 20-minute audition with the wind ensemble. The first few minutes they run through a piece so I can see how they establish a relationship with the ensemble and how well they communicate nonverbally. After that, I’ll have them work through something I noticed about their conducting. That tells me how open they are to input and how quickly they learn. In the last couple minutes they can rehearse anything they didn’t like from the run-through. That remaining time illustrates efficiency and rehearsal skill.

What is the best way to build a strong program?

    Great music teachers or performers are not always the most talented, but rather the people who don’t give up. They learn from mistakes and keep trying. You can often learn more from mistakes than from success. My first teaching job was as an assistant band director at a big high school in New York state. It was a diverse school, and I was assigned to teach a new class called Music In Our Lives, a required high school general music class. There was no curriculum, and I was coming in with stars in my eyes, excited to have a job and ready to inspire students about classical music.
    I prepared a lesson on Mozart for the first day, but these were tough students who didn’t want to hear it. They walked all over me. I had a terrible time of it; the first week was a nightmare. After being extremely discouraged, I rethought my strategy and decided to find something they were interested in and could relate to.
    Everyone loves music, so I asked the class what type of music they listened to and why they liked it. Their answers sparked a change in my approach to this class. I actually received a small grant to buy guitars for the entire class and started teaching some basic chords, how chords worked, and how lyrics express thoughts and feelings, using music that they liked. Students brought in recordings of their favorite rock groups (at the time it was heavy metal bands), and we analyzed those pieces at a basic level. The class had much more relevance, and in the end I taught some important musical concepts with the students’ favorite music.
    When you come in to a new situation, you have to assess where that program and those students are, and help take them from point A to point B. Of those three elements that I cited, the one that’s most important to all of this working is taking a personal interest in and building a personal connection with each student. This may be as easy as taking a minute to say hello and ask how they’re doing. If you know that students are interested in something outside of band, ask about that. The fun part of teaching is getting to know the students. When I student taught in Indiana, one talented trumpet player gave me all kinds of grief because he was bored. We butted heads frequently until I finally sat down with him and picked his brain. I asked what he liked about music and whether he wanted to play the trumpet after high school. It took a little while to develop a rapport, but it definitely helped.
    Once those connections develop over time the other things become possible. If you’re a new teacher placing demands on students, it’s not going to work. Students need to know first that you care about them.
You can set reasonable expectations when you begin and then gradually increase them. Every day I try to raise the bar a bit. Students are happiest and most excited when they feel like they are learning and growing. Giving them attainable goals and setting standards a bit higher each day, each year, will end with greater music making. Directors should also model what they want from students by being passionate and working hard. People notice when a teacher is willing to do what he asks of others.

What is the most important part of mentoring future teachers?
    It is important to show them that you believe they can do well. There is nothing more powerful for students than having someone they look up to believe that they can accomplish their goals with hard work. This also helps when they hit the valleys, especially in the first year of teaching. A good number of teachers quit after the first year, but if they have the voice of a mentor in the back of their minds, it can be enough encouragement to persevere when things get difficult.
    That happened to me in my first year as a doctoral student. I had a wonderful mentor, Eugene Corporon, who pushed me extremely hard and had very high expectations. I wondered if he thought I didn’t have what it took, but I found out a year or two later that he said I was one of the most talented students he’d worked with. I didn’t realize it at the time, but having that knowledge gave me great confidence and motivated me to do many things.
    Part of mentoring is helping students find their ideal career path. That too comes from getting to know the students, seeing their strengths and presenting a variety of different scenarios to them. Sometimes I come up with an idea a student has not considered, as was the case with a recent undergraduate who wasn’t sure whether she wanted to pursue music performance or music education. We found out she had an aptitude for arts management, so she took her talents in that direction. Not everyone has to take a traditional path.
    An undergraduate music education major may not be sure what level he should teach. So many want to be high school band directors, but some people are more effective with middle school students because of their energy, passion, and enthusiasm. Extremely patient and detail-oriented people often work well with beginners. I remember a person who student taught in high school band but fell in love with elementary education.
    Students at the graduate level know what they want to do, and I expect doctoral candidates to have a very clear idea of where they want to end up. Even then, I try to expose them to working with athletic bands or give them a taste of being a director of bands. It all comes down to getting to know students well and having them share and then refine their goals.

What are the biggest differences between choral, orchestral, and wind conducting?
    The basic skills involved are the same for all three types of ensembles. The differences are in the individual techniques of how the instruments or voice produce sound. The variance is in the rehearsal process – understanding the physics and physical differences of how that works. A choir director needs to understand diction, vocal placement, and head voice versus chest voice. A band director must know how wind instruments work and the acoustics of wind and percussion instruments. Orchestra conductors need to be knowledgeable about string techniques, such as bowing. The actual technique of conducting is the same, though. We teach a basic conducting technique common to all disciplines.
    A band director who learns in summer that he is also responsible for the choir next fall should study with someone who understands voice rather than worry about his conducting technique. Knowledge of your particular discipline is extremely important. I’m a woodwind player, so I’ve spent a good portion of my career picking the brains of professional brass players and friends who are brass pedagogues, so I can be the best brass teacher I can possibly be. The same is true for percussion. The people who are really knowledgeable about how each instrument works have a great advantage. One might argue that at the professional level you’re not going to teach people how to play their instruments, but for school teachers, this is essential knowledge. I would even argue that although you might not tell a professional how to play his instrument, it aids a conductor in understanding what a problem is. If a passage isn’t working, it could be a simple articulation issue, something that you wouldn’t realize without that knowledge base.
    I was invited to guest conduct a professional chamber orchestra in Alessandria, Italy last December. It took me back a bit because I haven’t conducted an orchestra in years. I had to prepare well and do rigorous score study to figure out how I wanted things bowed. The musicians didn’t notice that I wasn’t a string player.

When you conduct school groups, what trends, both good and bad, do you see?
    There is a lot of sharing of ideas by top directors and programs. Improving a program is not a matter of resources. There are proven ways to succeed. The best directors focus on fundamentals of sound production at the youngest levels and spend a lot of time being very careful about the embouchure, hand position, and the basic sound of the instrument. They emphasize good habits and don’t let bad things slip by; this produces a rock-solid foundation.
    It takes longer in the beginning because directors have to be more patient and use more repetition. That’s tricky because you have to keep the students interested too, but once students have that foundation, they take off in years two, three, and four.
    I’ve noticed that students tend to be most successful if directors steer them toward an instrument for which they have a timbral affinity. That’s why you see tuba players who double on upright bass or sing bass, or people who sing soprano and play instruments that usually play the melody line. If you can capture that in beginners they have a better chance of success.
    A general problem I’ve noticed is a lack of variety in programming and an overemphasis on the latest, flashiest pieces. Because the music we select is our curriculum, I feel that it is important to program a broad range of high-quality music, keeping in mind the standard masterworks of the band repertoire and the great composers. Our medium is band but our subject is music.

When did you become interested in composing?
    I took a composition course at Eastman while doing my master’s work. My teacher, Sam Adler, was encouraging and suggested I try it. The more that I work with bands the more I learn what works, what doesn’t, and how to write idiomatically for the instruments. That knowledge plus the ideas I’ve always had motivated me to try writing a piece. I wrote my first composition while at Emory University in Atlanta about 12-13 years ago and premiered it with the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony and later recorded it With the Emory Wind Ensemble.
    I learned quite a bit from the first piece about developing and writing transitions, which are really difficult. I wrote my second piece while teaching at the University of Kansas and have a third one, a theme and variations, in the works. I only have time to compose during summers and on vacations, so if I come out with one every five years I’ll be happy. Composing is simply a matter of wanting to express myself in a different way. It’s fun and exciting to create something where there was nothing.

If you were going back to the public schools, what would you do differently?
    I would strive to have more balance in my life. The most effective teachers have a life outside of their jobs. As a high school band director, my life was my job for ten years, and that isn’t healthy. We bring more to our students each day if we have time to recharge our batteries and have a rich life outside of work.                   

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