I probably did that to make myself feel better more than anything – just making sure there were no unforeseen gaps in my parenting. While our kids might go out with no true concerns of their own, graduating college seniors certainly have their own fears. When I began teaching, my biggest concern was “Am I going to be any good at this?”

I could have done any number of things in education and felt more confident about my success, but music was my passion. In music, I was a grinder. There was no seemingly easy path to success. On the other hand, I didn’t want to be lousy at something for thirty years. Frankly, I had some teachers who were not so great, and I wondered how they could be that ineffective for so many years. These teachers seemed to lack self-awareness.

Despite the myriad fears that students can have on this journey, I’ve whittled my comments down to five things that make the journey easier.

Know what you don’t know.
It’s impossible to cover and master everything before you graduate, and some schools do a better job than others. Ultimately, it’s up to you to recognize your gaps in preparation. What are some things you don’t know right now that you need to know to be successful? Some graduates blame their school, but much of the responsibility should be borne by the graduate.

However, before looking at your weaknesses, consider your strengths. This will help you keep things in perspective. It can be overwhelming to catalog all of the things you feel unprepared for and do not know. Trust me, you probably know enough to get your career rolling, but the more you know, the better off you are. I felt overwhelmed entering the field, but my dad helped keep me focused by pointing out my strengths as I fretted over my weaknesses. I hope you can find a trusted mentor who can do the same.

As for weaknesses, it may be as obvious as needing improvement on secondary instruments or having limited experience leading an ensemble. It may be more nuanced weaknesses like human relation skills. Whatever the case, develop a plan to improve those gaps as soon as you can. I took courses at other universities that my college did not offer and took nine years of private lessons on different wind and percussion instruments.

Focus on Growth, Not Results
This should be a trait you have and pass on to your band. Instead of focusing only on results, a growth mindset emphasizes moving from point A to point B. Even though B might not be exactly where you want to be, focusing on growth allows you to see progress, not just some result that will make you feel like a failure. What areas do you need to grow and improve in? You can’t do it all at once, so prioritize and take it from there. I took guitar lessons in my 30th year of teaching, and they improved my jazz band instruction. I wished I had done it earlier, but more pressing areas needed improving.

Working to improve things can be energizing. This may seem counterintuitive because, on the surface, it looks like you are adding another stressor to your life. In reality, you become energized by discovering that the better you are at something, the better your instruction will be, and the better your band will be. It’s humbling and sad that your weaknesses will be passed on to your students. The good news is that you can delegate, but that’s another story.

Turn on the charisma.
We typically think of charisma as something afforded to a lucky few with a winning smile, movie star good looks, the gift of gab, and the mysterious “it” factor. While individuals with these qualities may have a step up on the rest of us, there is more to charisma than that. Don’t sell yourself short on this one; the keys to charisma are surprisingly doable. Here is one suggestion to help: Be present. One of the greatest qualities I find in other people is their ability to make someone feel like they are the only one in the room; their focus is entirely on the other person for that moment. (Hint: This may require putting away your smartphone.) Don’t think “Here I am,” but rather “there you are” when you enter a room. Try to be interested in others more than focusing on being interesting yourself.

Have a firm classroom management plan in place and be consistent.
Few things can derail your hopes and dreams as quickly as an unruly band class. You must have a plan in place before your first day or you might get eaten alive. Be determined and skilled in behavior management – you have worked way too hard to have students ruin your career.

Think long term.
Be patient and keep your expectations positive but realistic. Don’t be surprised if you have long periods of time where you are not particularly happy. I had a 34-year career, but there were three years of the 34 that I did not, for the most part, find enjoyable. I survived with patience and the confidence (however shaky) that doing things the right way would lead to success. I found nuggets of happiness within some of the long, bad days. Remember that a bad day is sometimes only a bad five minutes that gets out of control and ruins the whole day.

That’s it in a nutshell. You’re almost there for the big journey, so buckle up and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

The post One Last Thing Before You Go appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Ron Carter, highly respected jazz educator and saxophonist, passed away on February 24, 2024. He was professor emeritus at the Northern Illinois University School of Music and directed the NIU Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Studies program. Carter helped to grow the Jazz Studies program, considered one of the top graduate programs in jazz. In 2009 Carter was named an NIU Board of Trustees Professor, one of the first six to receive the honor from the university. Prior to his appointment at NIU, he began his teaching career at Lincoln Senior High School in East St. Louis, Illinois. He taught in East St. Louis for 17 years. He earned his baccalaureate degree from Bethune Cookman University and a master’s degree from the University of Illinois. He collaborated professionally with such artists as Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, The Temptations, Wallace Roney, and Lena Horne. His many career awards include the Downbeat Magazine Jazz Educators Hall of Fame and the Midwest Clinic Medal of Honor.

The following are excerpts from our 2014 interview with him as a tribute to a remarkable life and career.

Who first nurtured your passion as an educator?
My high school band director, Sam Berry, started me on trombone first, but I was so small I couldn’t get the position. I switched to bass clarinet and then Bb clarinet. My family was the only black family in the middle school. This was in the early 1960s in Georgia, so you can imagine what was going on. They actually closed all of the black high schools and bussed all of the black kids over to the larger white high school. Sam Berry took the job at Lowndes County High School for one year before becoming director of bands at Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach. He instilled in us a strong work ethic and demonstrated great dedication to students. It made me want to do the same thing. I was an all-state clarinet player in my junior and senior year in high school, and I played in the youth orchestra in the local college, Valdosta State, at the time and studied clarinet with a professor named Robert Barr. At this time I wasn’t into jazz at all. I was a classical nerd. I told my mom that I wanted to go to school and major in music. Berry said that when I graduated, he wanted to give me a scholarship to come there, so that’s where I went.

What are some ways in which you have seen jazz or music education change since you started working in East St. Louis through your time at Northern Illinois?
The biggest change is that because of technology, students don’t really communicate with each other anymore, so they don’t know how to listen. I teach all over the world, and students in other countries listen to the music and study it. Students in this country learn a solo or they learn some scales, but do not commit to learning the jazz language. I think that’s the biggest breakdown that’s happened now.
Students have the illusion that you can learn a scale, core relationship, and improvise, and think that was the foundation of improvisation, not realizing that it is a language that you have to study. I taught at Lincoln High School for all those years, where Miles Davis went to school. I talked to Miles Davis about whom he listened to, and I also talked with Dizzy, when Dizzy played with my high school band, about what you should listen for. There’s no such thing as stealing in jazz; you learn the language and you use it.

There are still many jazz bands that play great traditional jazz and teach students that musical foundation. We don’t speak negatively about traditional wind literature or traditional orchestra literature. I realize the importance of making that foundation. It is essential to study and perform that music. I tell students all the time to study Duke Ellington, who is the foundation for everything. The foundation for every voice spoken out there came through that Duke Ellington band or the Count Basie band in some kind of way. If you study those two bands, then everything else falls somewhere within there. A student might say he likes Michael Brecker or Stan Getz, and I will ask “Okay, who’s he coming from?” Whoever you like, go back and find out who they studied, and go study those people as well. Then put your own spin on it – put that in your language and personality and develop your own voice. That’s the point you’re trying to reach. Benny Golson taught me something that stuck with me for many years. He said, “When you hear something and you really like it, it’s already a part of you. Your job is to connect with it.” If students don’t listen, they never connect with it.

There are many factors involved in teaching students how to listen and learn the jazz language. I am giving a workshop at Midwest on this. Students are listening, but then they don’t know what to listen to and they are not committed to listening the same way we were committed to listening to learn language.
I give students names of jazz artists with the instruction to put these players’ names in their cell phones, because they are not going to lose that. I give them very few names for people to listen to now. I say, “Just go listen to Lester Young and listen to Ben Webster” for tenor saxophone. Some directors give out these long lists, but it is wasted ink. Students are not going to go through these long lists. It’s like saying, if you want to learn English, I’m going to give a thousand different folks to listen to from across the country who speak English differently. Attention spans are extremely short now, and that makes this very difficult.

If I was to start teaching at a school without a jazz band, what would you tell me are the benefits my students could gain from jazz that they would not learn from concert band or marching band?
They will learn how to use the human voice. Once you start singing phrases, you start listening to how you fit, balance, blend, and intonation – all of the things that most directors address. I am constantly working with my college group by singing phrases. If they get used to hearing when the focus is pitch, and they are singing and reproducing it, then it helps with their instrument. On all the instruments, you’ve got to be able to hear. It’s not just pressing the right valve, putting the right slide position out, you have to be able to hear.

Also, jazz is an essential part of this country’s history. You can study classical literature, but it is really music from a foreign land. Jazz is the only music that was actually molded in the United States. Everyone else in the world realizes that and respects American jazz musicians at a high level, but in this country everything is taken for granted.

Of course, I am classically trained, so I’ve studied Brahms, Mozart, and Webern, but I couldn’t really study who I am through that music or what happened in this country through that music. I just loved the music and still do. I learn so much from understanding what Duke Ellington went through – how he had to buy his own train car because he couldn’t ride in the other cars. In all these different Ellington songs you hear train effects or how he voiced a chord sounded like a train horn blowing or steam coming from a steam engine. Those insights are very influential.

What is the best advice you can offer to fellow educators?
Never stop learning. I was telling a young man recently that during my first ten years of teaching, I went to school every summer to take jazz arranging, brass methods, and rhythm section methods because those were areas in which I needed more expertise. I didn’t run from what I didn’t know. After a while, my rhythm section was always the best rhythm section. I learned how to play trumpet all over again, so if a student had a problem, I knew how to help. I truly believe that the only thing that can hold a student back is the teacher because students will learn anything if you give them the opportunity and have patience to give them enough time.

The post Remembering Ronald Carter appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The passing of Kenneth G. Bloomquist in 2021 marked the end of a significant era of instrumental band directors. Bloomquist’s generation bridged the gap between the old guard band directors from the pre-World War II era to a new generation that pursued graduate degrees in conducting performance and embraced the wind ensemble as part of the band program. He retired from Michigan State in 1993 after two stints as Director of Bands (1970-1978, 1989-92) and a long tenure as Director of the School of Music from 1978-1989.

I met Mr. Bloomquist when I was a doctoral candidate at Michigan State University in the fall of 1986. As a fellow University of Illinois graduate, he knew my parents and immediately reached out to me at Michigan State He was the faculty member I interacted with the most during my two years at MSU, and this continued well past the completion of my degree. This was especially true when he returned to the podium during my last academic year on campus.

When Bloomquist left administration and returned to serving as Director of Bands, we began to discuss my research idea about the history and concert programming of the Michigan State University Bands from Leonard Falcone’s retirement to Bloomquist’s return as Director of Bands.

One critical element of research involved interviewing each of the MSU band directors who followed Leonard Falcone – Harry Begian, Kenneth G. Bloomquist, Stanley E. DeRusha, and Eugene Migliaro Corporon. Each conductor agreed to a set of fixed questions regarding their MSU ensembles, philosophy of programming and their perspectives of the wind band as it had evolved since the time they were at Michigan State University. The following are excerpts of that interview as reported in “Programming Trends of the Michigan State University Bands, 1967 to 1988.” DMA diss. Michigan State University, 1991.

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What factors determined the instrumentation and number of players for the wind ensemble and Symphony Band during your tenure?
The wind ensemble was basically a concept of one on a part. We had a pool of players sufficient to supply the needs of the wind ensemble activities schedule for a term. The Symphony Band was conceived as a group that had more than one player on a part, and it changed through the years, but it has usually maintained 60 to 80 members.

Wind Symphony membership was based on a pool of 40 to 60 players. The number of players varied depending on the selection of literature that we played in the Wind Symphony. That changed when the literature dictated that doubling was appropriate for the composer’s wishes. With the Wind Symphony, we created various chamber groups from a quartet, to octet, to 12 to 16 players – whatever the composer dictated. The larger Symphony Band included between 60 to 80 players. the largest group that I ever had in the Symphonic Band was around 84 players.

How do you view the role of the university wind ensemble and symphonic band program in reflecting contemporary music trends?
We are cursed with not having a great deal of music from the masters. That is something the symphony orchestra enjoys, so we focus much of our attention on contemporary music. That is controlled in two ways: the ability of the player and the advances in technology of the equipment today. University wind programs are at the cutting edge of new music in the 20th to 21st centuries.

How did you select music for the wind ensemble?
I have a wealth of material that I want to do. My experience tells me what needs to be covered, and I take a pragmatic approach to music selection. approach. I consider the strengths of the players and the need for literature that is stylistically varied. Its easy to stick to wind literature written in the 20th Century. That is where the most exciting literature is except for Mozart, Dvo˘rák, Strauss, and a few others. I think of programming relative to individual pieces, but I also think of programming relative to the total program.

What is your opinion of various commissioning projects by various universities, CBDNA, American Wind Symphony Orchestra, and their influence on wind ensemble development?
I am extremely supportive of any commissioning project that generates repertoire for the winds. There is nothing more important than generating literature to perform. Repertoire is our heartbeat, and we are not going to survive without it. My biggest disappointment with commissioning projects is that we have not gone to the current so-called masters in commissioning, probably due to a lack of money and shying away from the Samuel Barbers, the Aaron Coplands, the Stravinskys, Bernstein, Gunther Schuller – the names we think have a chance of becoming monumental composers in the Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Berlioz, and Schubert tradition.

I have been involved in several commissioning projects. Some I wish I hadn’t been involved in and some I’m glad I was. I am not convinced that the commissioning I have done has been monumental enough to be remembered as a major stroke.

I have only been involved in the Big Ten commissioning projects recently. We have generated works from very good composers including Warren Benson, Michael Colgrass, and H. Owen Reed, who was a professor at Michigan State University and the chair of the composition area. H. Owen Reed wrote many works for winds, and I commissioned one of these works, The Touch of the Earth. I consider H. Owen Reed one of the more interesting composers as he wrote works for winds that encompass an incredible change in his philosophy towards composition.

Some current literature is generated by those who are out to make a living at composing. Some of them are gifted writers.…They understand the wind medium, and write the level of music that serves the educational process very well. Whether their music survives and becomes standard repertoire like the Symphony in B-Flat for Concert Band by Paul Hindemith, Symphony No. 6 for Band by Vincent Persichetti and certainly some of the Percy Grainger repertoire is questionable in my mind. It disturbs me that some people like Samuel Barber wrote one piece for band, Commando March, and all the efforts by so many people, could not make him write any more. That’s sad!

What other thoughts do you have about the wind ensemble?
I’m very concerned about the wind ensemble and the broader perspective of live concerts in the concert hall for any medium. Any ensemble performing for public consumption needs a public. We have to be incredibly careful to program concerts that appeal to an audience that are not too long, too short, too dissonant, or too much of one style. We have to listen to appealing concerts by major symphonies and see what makes the audience react. That is what we have to do in the wind symphony.

Secondly, we spend way too much rearranging the stage during concerts, and the audience gets bored. When you take five to ten minutes between each number to reset the stage, repopulate the stage, retune the ensemble, and make a grand entrance by the conductor, that’s a good intermission time between each number. Consequently, I had to decide whether I was going to do chamber music on band concerts at all. The answer in most cases was no.

As far as literature, I feel strongly that contemporary repertoire has to be part of almost every program that I do. I brought Karel Husa to Michigan State as a guest conductor because I think his literature is something that will last and become standard repertoire. I wanted students to get a perspective of how he conceives his music and how he wants it to be played. Twenty years from now, that experience will be more important than they think right now. They will also have a concept of that piece (Apotheosis of This Earth) tonally, melodically, and texturally that they could not have without him there. It wasn’t the execution. They executed the piece fine before he [Husa] got there.

Emotionally (aesthetically), they probably had no idea of what he was trying to say. Husa said things differently than I’ve ever heard him say about the piece. I’m a strong believer in bringing composers to the podium. I don’t really care if they conduct or not. William Schuman was on campus and never conducted a note.

Persichetti came here several times and was one of my favorite composers. He conducted sometimes, and didn’t sometimes, and most of the time he probably shouldn’t have. He was a genius. I loved that man dearly for what he was, and what he offered our profession. I always think of him as a major composer, that I have experienced, getting to know him personally and his writing for winds.
I asked him how he wrote his first piece for winds, Divertimento for Band. He gave me the perfect answer. He said, “when I was writing the piece, I wrote what I heard. I never heard strings so I didn’t write any.” That was his first famous band piece. That’s a wonderful way to generate a band piece.

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Kenneth G. Bloomquist retired from Michigan State University in 1993 and began a second career as a guest conductor, clinician and lecturer. He was guest conductor for multiple years at the Musashino Music Academy in Tokyo, the most prestigious music school in Japan. Among his numerous awards, he received the Midwest Clinic Medal of honor and was inducted into several halls of fame, including the National Band Association, which he served a term as president. Bloomquist became a member of the American Bandmasters Association in 1973.

The post Bridging the Gap: Reflections from Kenneth Bloomquist appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

When you choose music for a concert, what approach or criteria do you use in deciding what will constitute a good concert?

My traditional opener is a work the entire ensemble can use to adjust to the temperature and acoustics of the hall and relax the nerves. I try to find something not too long, maybe about five to ten minutes in length, so latecomers won’t have to wait outside for an extended period of time. The second piece is often more profound or serious, such as a full symphony or a major work with multiple movements. This is a piece that could last 20 or 30 minutes.

I may pick a chamber work, such as Mozart’s Serenade “Grand Partita” or Gounod’s Petite Symphony, to begin the second half. Chamber pieces add variety. I always use the number of players called for in the score. Although my wind band has a pool of about 65 players, only one or two pieces on a program may use the entire group. The score always dictates the number of players.

The final work usually brings everybody on stage to receive the audience’s appreciation. I consider marches to be serious works, definitely crowd pleasers, and frequently program one or more on a concert. Also, I clearly focus on original wind repertoire rather than transcriptions, not to imply that there aren’t some fine transcriptions in the repertoire.

Can you identify more specific criteria to select music for a concert?

The process is a composite of many things. One of these is that I have to like the composition from some standpoint. It has to be good music, or good for the ensemble to play, or has terrific audience appeal. Another consideration is whether a piece will sustain the interest of students over the course of several rehearsals. The ability of the ensemble is also an important factor when selecting compositions. If the percussion section is weak, I would not try to do Persichetti’s Symphony No. 6 or music by Karel Husa (right). If the clarinet section is terrific, I may choose a work that features clarinets. I also consider the historical significance of a work, its intrinsic musical value, and how each piece fits into the complete program.

If there are five weeks to prepare for a concert, I might choose a piece by Hindemith (left) or Schoenberg. With only one or two weeks to prepare, I would program something technically and musically less challenging. Once with only a couple weeks to prepare, I programmed a Sousa concert, which upset the graduate students. I insisted that Sousa was a good conductor, composer, and musician and that by performing his works and that by performing his works they would learn some interesting things.

Keith Brion (right), who knows a lot about John Philip Sousa, came as a guest conductor and gave students a lesson in the performance practices of Sousa that those students will never forget. By the end of the experience, they understood how Sousa interpreted and used accents to embellish his music. Some students did not change their views about an all-Sousa program, but most learned something in the process. If our sessions exclusively on Sousa had gone on for many weeks, I would have had a rebellion on my hands, but this concert had incredible appeal to a large audience and was a good way to relax a bit and end the school year.

I screen out music that is trite or too predictable. I also look at whether a piece is crafted with parts that are characteristic for each instrument, how the composer treats each idea, and whether too many ideas are included and developed poorly or not at all. Directors should analyze each piece to determine whether thematic material or textural ideas are developed throughout the composition. I also look for intellectual significance and emotional content because a worthwhile work has to say something. However, a good conductor can sometimes achieve an emotional performance of a bad piece by experimenting with tempos, textures, dynamics, balance, and blend.

When preparing for an interpretation of a work, to what extent do you investigate its historical context?

I spend a great deal of time with each score. If I was preparing a Persichetti (left) symphony and did not know the work, I would probably spend between 20 and 40 hours studying the score. The first step is to gather general information about the composer, arranger, publisher, level of difficulty, type of score (concert pitch or transposed) and how it is laid out. I examine the orchestration for thin or thick scoring, contrasts, choirs or groupings of instruments, special effects, or aleatoric writing. Textural and atonal writing without melody, as opposed to melodic and tonal writing are particularly important in wind literature because of the vast array of the orchestration. A conductor should consider the size of the ensemble and how his choice of doublings will affect the texture of the composition.

I next identify tempo changes, key signatures, and any unusual directions, such as Grainger’s “to the fore” and unusual foreign words or unfamiliar terminology. In the beginning stages, I sing through the score at a manageable tempo and try to hear the melody and harmony without using a piano or recordings. However, after the initial study, I listen to as many recordings of a piece as possible. I put them away once rehearsals begin to prevent being overly influenced by someone else’s ideas so that the final interpretation is mine.

After attempting to sing through a score, I often use a piano to learn the harmonic structures, cadences, modulations, and unusual chords. At this point, I make note of all meter changes, peculiar rhythms, tempo relationships, and tempo interruptions such as ritards, accelerandos, and fermatas. I find it helps to mark tempo changes, indicating the relationship between the old and new tempo. Regardless of whether a conductor adheres to the suggested metronomic markings, the relative change in tempo is important.

Finally, I identify the primary lines throughout the score and indicate which instruments have that line and which instruments play countermelodies. After analyzing a piece, I diagram the work to indicate introductions, themes, and transitions. This culminates in an outline, usually on one 81/2 x 11-inch sheet of paper. A conductor who thoroughly understands a piece and has good diagram of it should be able to conduct the work without a score.

Do you advocate score memorization?

Score memorization is not a primary goal, but it can be inevitable in the process of learning a piece. Memorization is sometimes dangerous; some directors who conduct from memory tend to be overly flamboyant. When I ask students to conduct from memory, I remind them that the audience comes to hear the music and not to let gestures detract from that end.

Do you have a specific method for marking scores?

Although I mark scores less at this stage in my career than I did in the past, I use a color-coded system to highlight dynamics, tempos, melodic lines, and cues. Some conductors mark scores so heavily that there isn’t any white left on the page when they are finished, but this is unnecessary if you know the score well.

Score marking procedures differ according to the piece and the group. Basically, I highlight all dynamics, marking loud dynamics in red and soft dynamics in blue. I highlight primary lines in a light color, usually yellow, and draw big lines over whole phrases. As a young conductor I marked scores quite heavily, sometimes making them almost illegible after several performances. In a work such as For the Unfortunate by H. Owen Reed (left), which is pointillistic writing that has instruments entering in quick succession out of rhythm, I use a different marking principle and simply mark the score to show the location of instruments in the ensemble. To cue an entrance, I would not write the name of the instrument in the score but just put an arrow pointing toward the location of the player in the ensemble. Some directors call this cheating but it’s safe.

Do you add marks to scores as rehearsals progress?

Yes, I add marks all the time; I write in the score with a pencil to keep track of ideas during rehearsals and erase the marks if I change my mind later. My Persichetti scores are a mess because I’ve changed my mind about his music as I’ve grown older and become better acquainted with the man. For example, I choose tempos in some of Persichetti’s music that I feel are musically satisfying but not what he indicated in the score. I knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t care. I bring everything I know into the interpretation of that score, including my knowledge of the composer.

Conductors should understand the historical significance of composers and the period in which they wrote a piece in order to make intelligent decisions about how to interpret a work. The difficulty lies in offering a subjective interpretation of a piece while remaining loyal to the composer’s intent. Fortunately, much of the band music we play is written by composers who are still alive; this is a fantastic opportunity for a conductor to talk to the composer or acquire a recording of the work with the composer conducting. However, I have learned that the composer doesn’t always come up with the best interpretation.

Vincent Persichetti was one of my idols, so I often invited him to guest conduct my bands. It seemed to me that every time Persichetti conducted one of his pieces, he would take a different tempo. One day I asked him if he really wanted the tempo he had chosen, and he said, “Oh yes, I think that sounds great today; this band plays that tempo very well.” It was considerably faster than indicated in the score, but this was the tempo he liked that day. To have a composer of his stature say that was enlightening.
On the other hand, Stravinsky became upset if anyone varied his tempos even the slightest amount. He wanted his music played exactly as he had written it, without compromise, so we have examples of two great minds and two completely different ideas about interpreting their compositions.

Is your preparation for a rehearsal with a large ensemble much different than it would be for a small group?

The simple answer is no. The preparation is similar, but rehearsals may differ with the size of the group. I try to use a chamber music approach with all ensembles and try to make players see all music as chamber music. I want students to be able to hear all the other parts while playing. If a director has to conduct beat patterns throughout an entire piece, the ensemble has a big problem. I try to be a metronome as little as possible and instead be an interpreter who teaches students what to listen for in each measure. Approaching your group as a chamber ensemble will help this technique.

To what extent do you use score analyses and articles by other composers and colleagues in preparing a work?

I read as many articles as I can find and study as many interpretations of a piece as possible. Conductors should use every resource available to learn the score, including recordings, which offer examples of both good and band interpretations of a piece.

How do you identify the style characteristics of a composition?

The period in which the music was written or the composer’s intent of the composition, regardless of when it was written, should be ascertained. Knowledge of music history and performance practices in different historical periods is important. The thematic material in a composition should be played in an authentic and consistent style. I often rehearse all sections of a composition that use the same theme, motif, or style, even when written in another key or scored differently so students hear the similarities. This makes better musicians of them, and makes them aware of style, and increases rehearsal efficiency.

What are some of the steps you take in preparing for a performance?

After the music is learned and ready for performance, it is important to play pieces from beginning to end as often as possible so students learn to recover if something goes wrong during a performance. Directors in academia are under tremendous pressure to produce exceptional concerts because each program is usually given only once. We prepare repertoire, take it to the concert hall, and start a new program the following day, unlike professional groups that take a concert on the road or go off-Broadway to hone a work before doing it for real.

Educational ensembles usually have only one chance to do it right. I insist on a dress rehearsal in the concert hall before every performance so I can stand in the house and listen to the ensemble from the audience’s perspective. At this point, I may rebalance the ensemble to produce the sound I want the audience to hear. When the music sounds balanced from the house, I go up on stage and listen to how this adjustment sounds from the podium. If I had asked the tubas to play out to be heard in the audience, I don’t want to react differently when I am on the podium because they seem too loud from that position.

During the performance, conductors should not show any emotion if a problem arises or something makes them angry. Showing these emotions could affect the performance. A conductor should put these feelings aside and concentrate on the music. When a conductor steps onto the podium for a performance, the initial responsibility is to set the correct tempo. I look for the place in each composition that helps me determine the opening tempo, and that may not be the music in the first few measures.

How do you teach conducting techniques to others?

The best way to teach conducting is one on one, but all students can learn by watching other conductors at work. With all students, including graduate students, I always reiterated the basic skills. The conducting field is an imaginary box from eye height to belt buckle and from shoulder to shoulder. For lyrical lines, the conducting field is the same size but turned on its side. Marches usually call for a vertical field, while lyrical music, such as Irish Tune from County Derry, calls for a horizontal pattern. To conduct lyrical lines, students might imagine that they are standing in water up to their rib cage and conduct in broad horizontal lines without touching the water. It’s amazing how their lyrical conducting improves. Conductors can use the area outside this imaginary conducting field to emphasize an accent or a dynamic or to cue with clarity.

The essence of conducting is speaking with gestures instead of the voice; talkative conductors are easy to ignore. One technique to demonstrate this to conducting students is to forbid them to talk in rehearsal, even to the point of putting rehearsal letters on the chalkboard for them to point to and indicate where to start or where they are directing their comments. This exercise teaches them to communicate phrasing and dynamics with only conducting gestures and facial expressions. It’s also amazing how quiet the ensemble becomes when the conductor is completely silent. We record all rehearsals so student conductors can see their themselves and discuss their progress in private. These recordings are also used in conducting seminars so students can critique and learn from each other.

How should conducting techniques be balanced with score preparation in college conducting courses?

Score preparation was certainly a major part of my conducting classes. This was followed by preparation of a composition for rehearsal and performance with conducting gestures. Conducting classes often devote considerable time to gestures and little to score study, even though score study is the basis for interpretation. I always ask students to evaluate the sounds they create. Often, after listening to recordings of their rehearsals, they realize that the music sonorities are terrible. They get so involved in the execution of the notes and the precision of the ensemble and their gestures that they forget to listen to the sounds of the ensemble.

The measure of success for a conductor usually is how the ensemble sounds. A conductor’s behavior and personality determine effectiveness on the podium. You can be a scholar in music and a skilled conductor with a great ear, but if you cannot relate to the musicians and motivate them, your chances of success are limited. Some of the best ensembles are led by directors who are obviously skilled but who also have pleasant dispositions and good manners. They dress and speak well, and continue working to improve their skills as conductors.

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Over the years I have taught many beginning oboists, but I have also worked extensively with young professionals who are college-aged and beyond. This dichotomy of varied abilities has granted me the opportunity to observe the threads of problems that often start with beginners and, that left unchecked, become hurdles for more advanced players. This article will focus on smoothing the trajectory from beginner to advanced oboist, and offer guidance in bypassing a few of the most common pitfalls before they become ingrained habits.

Starting at the Top:
The balance of the oboe reed is as important as the instrument itself. Stable and functional reeds are a major part of successful learning as they determine response, sound, intonation, flexibility and the ability to establish a concept of air/embouchure balance, an important pillar of wind playing. I have found that even the least experienced students seem to have a concept of how they would like to sound, or at least know what sounds bad. If the oboe and reed set up sounds far from desirous, students often contort physically to get closer to that desired sound. Physical contortion is where bad habits are born.

As an example, students often play with their heads down and oboes up to tame unstable or too-open reeds, thereby biting, shrouding vibrations, and choking off a free airstream. With equipment stability, students feel no lack of control when they hold the oboe at the angle at which it balances with the right-hand thumb rest, and they blow over the reed, releasing vibrations and encouraging a fluid airstream. With the embouchure out of the way, endurance improves drastically, and students are free to explore the many colors that can be accessed by allowing the instrument to vibrate. The formation of a strong and flexible embouchure with powerful endurance is a result of the equipment carrying its share of the load. I always tell students that I expect my equipment to carry 98% of the load of stability so that I am free to be musically creative.

Students must have access to balanced reeds from the start of study. I strongly recommend that any beginning oboist study with a teacher and, if possible, one who makes and supplies reeds. While it can be tempting to start a beginner on longer-lasting and nearly-unbreakable fibercane reeds, the lack of refinement of sound will have lasting effects on the student’s long-term playing. If it is not possible for a student to get reeds from their teacher, I recommend ordering high-quality reeds online. (A list of a several resources is a available at the end of the article.)

People vary in body size, lip shape, and sinus cavities. A reed that feels excellent to one person may not fit another and will need to be adjusted. Students will need to try a few different types of reeds before finding one that feels best.

I recommend that students have at least three reeds of varying ages (and others on order) in their case at all times, since they break and change with the weather and shifts in humidity. Beginners will likely break many reeds, but that should not be a deterrent to seeking out top-quality reeds – which do tend to be more expensive and delicate.

The process of reed making begins as soon as I feel students have an understanding of what result they like, have established a good balance of air and embouchure, and can be responsible with sharp objects. This is a long process best learned when not under pressure, so starting early allows time to solidify the steps and for the whole process to settle into a natural routine.

The Oboe
Beginner oboists should have a good-quality instrument with a full conservatory system of keys. There are many student oboes offered on the market that are lacking significant keys: left F keys, low Bb keys, split D-ring keys, forked-F and Bb resonance keys, trill keys, etc. There are other ways to bypass those fingerings and still play the notes, but the result of missing keys will be faulty technique that will have to be corrected once the student switches to a full conservatory system.

It is also important to know when shopping for instruments that oboes, unlike instruments like violins, trumpets, and flutes, do blow out. While a 30-year-old instrument may provide the full conservatory system at a lower price point, the oboe may well be past its prime. Blown-out instruments are more challenging to play in tune regardless of reed quality, and students will quickly hit a ceiling on such an instrument. I recommend that students who are considering a used nistrument, buy something five years old or less.

Some brands of oboe with a full conservatory system that I consider excellent for beginners include: Lorée (there are many used ones on the market), Cabart (Lorée’s student model), Fox 450 (wood), and Fox 300 (resin, but with full conservatory). Students should have their teacher help pick out the instrument or have a professional player test the oboe thoroughly before purchasing.

Beginning Students
Once a solid set-up of oboe and reed has been established, a teacher can put full focus on the student with a fair expectation of developing consistency. Students should also be taught that even when (not if – it is the oboe after all) something goes awry with equipment, they should resist contorting their physical approach. I always tell my students that they are playing the oboe – not the other way around.
Important pillars of playing include:

• Formation of the embouchure
• Hand position
• Articulation
• Air and embouchure balance
• The angle at which the instrument is held
• A good posture that promotes excellent support through use of the full air column

Teachers should always explain the why behind the do, so students know what they are pursuing in each exercise and can link the physical feeling to the desired outcome.

The embouchure will fall into place quickly with a stable set-up, as the physical requirements fall easily within the natural use of the human mouth and jaw. It is not an easy subject to write about in detailed description and without any knowledge of equipment, but a general description for a starting point is: place the reed on the lower lip, roll the lower lip in, bring corners in like you’re saying “O”, then bring the top lip down. Everyone is different physically so this will vary, but a rule of thumb is that as little reed as is possible should be placed in the mouth, with the concept being that the player will roll the embouchure out towards the tip for the low register, and further in towards the reed thread for the high and extreme high registers. (See below for some examples of a well-established embouchure.)

A Well-Established Oboe Embouchure

Hand position should be relaxed, and fingers should glide over the keys – never grabbing or squeezing. If the oboe is in good adjustment, there should be no need for heavy finger pressure. The right hand thumb and forefinger should form a backwards C while engaged with the thumb rest and F# key. The half hole technique may take some time to establish, but creating an exercise that reviews that motion will solidify it pretty quickly. Make sure that the left-hand pointer finger slides rather than rolls to perfect this technique. Fingers themselves should not be straight or locked. Think of loose rubber bands that are completely free of tension.

Articulation should be explained in several categories. I always start with showing where on the tongue the reed should contact (slightly above the tip). Have students play a few notes and then stick their tongue out with reed on it to make sure it is contacting the correct place.

After that, introduce the process of starting a note beautifully: breathe through the mouth, set the embouchure on the reed, place the tongue against the reed, establish the correct air/embouchure balance for the note that is about to be played, and then pull the tongue back from the reed. It is also good to introduce articulating on the wind, which is easiest to demonstrate by comparing it to the articulation of human speech. Tongue (speak) on a solid airstream, touching but not breaking through the air in the process.

The air column should be without constraint, so good posture is extremely important. Remind students often that the oboe should come to them rather than them bending to the oboe. Playing the oboe requires involvement of the full upper body.

The oboe is held at an angle, where it balances perfectly on the thumb rest. Bringing the oboe to the player results in excellent posture.

Another subject I feel strongly about regarding the airstream is that students should not be introduced to vibrato before they have had the time and experience to truly establish a well-supported airstream. Vibrato needs to fit within the sound, which isn’t possible if students are not supporting consistently.

Air/Embouchure Balance
For the past few years, I have asked every student who has walked through my studio door why we practice long tones, an exercise that I think encapsulates everything important to oboe playing. Out of dozens of students, I have gotten perhaps two somewhat correct answers, and a lot of puzzled looks. The physical knowledge is key to the success of the exercise: the oboe is an ongoing study of air/embouchure balance, and long tones are a study of that. They take us from a niente attack to the oboe’s loudest dynamic, and then back down to niente again. Pitch should not fluctuate, crescendo and diminuendo should be metronomically measured, and attacks and note endings should be beautifully controlled. It is all about the embouchure/air relationship.

While the perfection of this exercise may be a tall order for beginning oboists, the concept of this ongoing balance is one that should be imparted at the beginning of study and reminded often, so that students never forget the significance of the airstream. There are many beginning (and even advanced) oboists who bite their reeds for control rather than using their air. It is easy to fall into that trap.

The oboe is a difficult instrument, but success in teaching students lies in reducing the many inconsistencies the the oboe naturally brings to the table. This allows students to become the main focus for teachers as they help them develop a solid foundation.

Online Reed Resources

RDG Woodwinds:

Bocal Majority:

Wildflower Reeds:

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Most of us have had teachers who instructed, “Breathe from the diaphragm.” Actually, the diaphragm is an involuntary muscle. It separates the thoracic cavity (where the lungs are) and the abdominal cavity (where digestion occurs). The diaphragm moves down when we inhale and up when we exhale.
It is the intercostal muscles, between the ribs, that we employ when playing. Singers, especially those with vocal training rooted in the Italian tradition, use a technic called appoggio. This is used to keep the air from coming out all at once by creating a balance between the abdominal and chest muscles. Basically, when blowing, the musician keeps the rib cage extended away from the lungs.

Many teachers instruct students to take a big breath. Rampal, the legendary French flutist, said he had never had a big breath that he could control. Thus, the reasoning for using appoggio is that it keeps the exhale more under the control of the player. For example, many auditions require a flutist to play a three-octave chromatic scale in one blow. This is quite difficult for most. Often students think that if they take a bigger breath, they will be able to play this scale in one blow. However, there is simply too much air to control, and they dump most of it in the first three or four notes they play. It is better to think of holding the air and portioning it out. The lower octaves can be played with little air while the top notes need a faster air stream. By using appoggio the amount and speed of air at any one time is controlled.

When I was a student, many remarked on the long phrases that Rampal was able to play. One day a flutist turned up the volume on one of Rampal’s recordings and realized that he was breathing all the time in short phrases that were constructed to sound like one long phrase. This type of breathing is called a sip breath. To sip is the same as if sipping a soda with a straw. James Pellerite (retired professor of flute, Indiana University) taught this by counting 1+, 2+, 3+, 4+ and having flutists play on all the +’s. I have found that using appoggio with the sip breath allows artistic freedom in creating the sound and shaping the phrase.

When teaching breathing, remember the sound is made on the exhale, not the inhale. Focus on what you want the air stream to do. Flutists should artistically use the intercostal muscles, the vocal folds, and the aperture (the hole in the lips). Michel Debost wrote in The Simple Flute, “Blowing is where the art is.”

Students often ask how tight should the abdomen be when playing. Have them sit in a chair with their legs extended in front. This is as tight as the abdomen should be. Teachers often use the word support, but to many students this implies tightening the abdomen and keeping it tight for long periods of time. Actually, breathing is a fluid process, so there will be moments of tightening and relaxation. We need to rethink our use of the word support.

How to Breathe
Drop the jaw to open the mouth. Some musicians get this reversed and leave the jaw stationary and tilt the head back to open the mouth. Breathing by tilting the head back is very wearing on the atlanto-occipital joint. Some flutists also inhale through their nose. If it works for you, do it.

Noisy Breathing
This occurs when students breathe with their tongue too high in the mouth. First, the tongue’s natural resting place is on the roof of the mouth. If the tongue is left there, there will be a swashing sound when taking a breath. Simply, lower the tongue. This will help in creating colors and more resonance of the sound too, so it is a win-win.

Sometime breathing is noisy because the note before the breath is held too long and there is not enough time to prepare for the breath and to breathe. Shortening a note, creating an articulatory silence, helps a player shape the phrase and breath quietly. After taking a breath, play the next notes softer to shape the phrase. Most flutists fall into the trap of playing loudly after the breath because they have too much air. It is the “all tanked up and ready to go” mentality.

Where to Breathe
Breathing in a rest is always a good idea unless the rest is part of the phrase such as in accompanying off-beats. However, off-beats may be successfully played with a sip breath. The player should play close attention to the dynamic when entering after a breath as it is easy to play off-beats too loud. It is the old story that melody is played louder than accompaniment.

Breathing at the end of a phrase is always the goal as it shapes the phrase. One of the first things seasoned flutists do is mark the breaths they plan to take. Most use a “v” to indicate a breath while others use an apostrophe. There may be a few that are in parenthesis because in a performance situation, players may be shorter of breath than they were in the practice room, and it is good to be prepared. In many modern editions of Romantic flute etudes, editors indicate places to omit notes so flutists can breathe and stay perfectly in time with a metronome. However, a metronome beat continues on and on with no relationship to phrasing. I suggest that flutists listen to violinists playing Romantic literature. They take time to shape the last notes of a phrase or a bow retake. Flutists should do the same. This means that when practicing etudes by Andersen, Kohler, Furstenau, Paganini or some other Romantic composer, there should be a turning of the phrase before the breath. The large beats are in time or a maybe bit slower, but the partials of a beat are played a bit slower to allow for a graceful breath. I think this is one of the most important reasons for studying this literature. The concepts flutists learn with these etudes teach them how to play Romantic orchestral literature. There is a saying about auditioning – play in absolute metronomic rhythm for the audition, but when you get the job, you will be playing in orchestral rhythm, taking time to shape phrases.

If a breath is needed before the end of the phrase, flutists may breathe after a note of longer duration, in between repeated notes of the same pitch, in between syncopated notes, and in a wide intervallic skip. In many of these instances, the sip breath will be used.

When entering after a rest, it is advisable to breath earlier than later. If flutists wait to breathe as they enter, then they will be playing late. Learning to count sub-divisions is helpful in this endeavor.
If students are running short of air at the end of a phrase, suggest leaning forward. This pushes the ribs against the lungs and provides a bit more air. It won’t be a lot of air, but if they have made a diminuendo already to conserve air, this may be just enough to end the phrase gracefully.

Practice Ideas
Every flutist has felt at one time or another that they could use more air. This is probably true for every wind instrument besides the oboe. A good exercise to naturally be able to sustain a note longer is to set the metronome on q = 60. Start by playing a note in the low octave first for one count followed by a rest, then play the same note for two counts followed by a rest. Keep adding a beat until you can reach 24 ticks on the metronome. Repeat in various octaves in differing dynamics. Almost everything is possible to play in the literature if you can sustain a note for 24 ticks. This works well for phrases too. Play one beat followed by a rest, then two beats followed by a rest until you can play the compete phrase. Sometimes I practice this by starting at the end of the phrase and working towards the beginning, measure by measure.

The opening of the Mozart, D Major Concerto, K. 314 has a third octave D for four measures. This may present breathing challenges initially. First note that the flute does not have the melody, which is in the first violins, so they don’t need to play loudly. Then while counting the opening rests of the exposition, they should slowly empty the lungs by blowing out so that the breath taken before the trill and opening scale is really needed. If flutists play quieter than they think they need to, they will have ample air to complete the phrase.

While breathing is a concern for flutists, what players do with their breath is an illusion to the audience. Hopefully they are not be conscious of what players are doing but just enjoying the wonderful music making.

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Introducing young students to brass instruments requires careful consideration to ensure a positive experience on their fresh, musical journey. Deciding to start young trumpet students on the cornet, rather than the trumpet, presents several advantages with minimal drawbacks.
While the trumpet and cornet share the same length of tubing, their main distinction lies in their respective shapes. The cornet features a more compact and conical shape, while the trumpet exhibits an elongated cylindrical form. Understanding the differences between conical and cylindrical shapes is crucial.

The conical shape of the cornet entails a gradual widening from the mouthpiece to the bell, resembling a ice cream cone. This shape promotes a more focused and mellow sound, offering better control over intonation and enhanced responsiveness for softer dynamics. Conical instruments, including the cornet, are known for a warm and rich sound.

On the other hand, cylindrical shapes maintain a consistent diameter throughout the instrument. This shape enables a brighter and more powerful sound, lending versatility and the ability to produce a wide range of dynamic and expressive sound to cylindrical instruments like the trumpet.

The decision to select between conical and cylindrical instruments should be based on the desired sound and playing style. Conical shapes generally provide a more lyrical and expressive quality, while cylindrical shapes deliver a more brilliant and projecting sound.

A primary advantage of starting young trumpet students on the cornet is improved tone production. The cornet’s conical bore and mellower sound provide a gentle introduction to brass playing. Its smaller bore diameter encourages students to focus on embouchure, breath control, and technique, establishing a solid foundation for future trumpet playing.

The conical shape of the cornet’s bore contributes to improved tone production in several ways. First, the gradual widening of the bore from mouthpiece to bell allows for a more focused and centered sound. This means that the vibrations produced by the player’s lips are channeled, focused, and concentrated, resulting in a more centered and mellow tone.

The conical shape also facilitates better control of intonation. As the diameter of the bore gradually increases, it helps to balance the harmonics and overtones produced by the instrument, producing more accurate and in-tune playing, particularly in the lower register. In addition, the conical shape provides enhanced responsiveness at softer dynamics. The gradual tapering of the bore leads to a quicker and more controlled response when playing at lower volumes. This is particularly useful in melodic and lyrical passages where a gentle and expressive tone is desired. Overall, the conical shape of the cornet contributes to a warm, rich, and expressive sound, making it an excellent choice for beginners and those seeking a mellower tone.

Another advantage of starting on the cornet is the better weight and balance it offers. The cornet’s compact and balanced design permits easier and more comfortable playing. Its smaller size and lighter weight reduce strain and fatigue, letting students concentrate on developing embouchure, maintaining proper hand position, finger technique, and overall musicality. These attributes also make it more manageable for students who are smaller or have a delicate physical build. In contrast, a trumpet tends to be heavier at the bell, which can contribute to more tension in the wrists, especially for beginners. With the cornet, the weight of the instrument tends to be distributed and balanced towards the backside, near the shepherd crook in the bell and mouthpiece, resulting in more balanced and ergonomic playing.

Starting on the cornet cultivates a heightened sensitivity to sound. Students learn to listen attentively to their own playing, developing a discerning ear for intonation, tone quality, and musical expression. This keen sound awareness enhances their ability to play in tune and blend effectively with other musicians, fostering their development as well-rounded and accomplished musicians.

Students also find that it is a seamless transition to the trumpet. Skills and techniques acquired on the cornet effortlessly transfer to the trumpet. Students with a solid foundation in tone production, technique, and musical interpretation experience a smoother transition, minimizing frustration when learning a new instrument. This continuity allows them to focus on refining their skills rather than starting from scratch, accelerating their progress.

Beyond the musical benefits, starting on the cornet builds confidence in young players. As they develop their skills on a more manageable instrument, they gain a sense of accomplishment and self-assurance. This confidence carries over to their trumpet playing, enabling them to tackle more challenging musical passages and perform with greater ease.

The only true disadvantage to starting on the cornet arises when only one student in a beginner class begins on the cornet. In such cases, it is essential to explain that there is no significant difference between starting on the cornet versus the trumpet. The teacher must address any concerns or questions from the other students regarding the cornet players in the class, providing accurate and comprehensive information about both instruments. The goal is to create an inclusive and cohesive group dynamic, ensuring that the student on the cornet does not feel singled out or left behind.

In closing, starting trumpet students on the cornet offers numerous advantages that significantly encourage musical development. The improved tone production, better weight and balance, seamless transition to the trumpet, enhanced sound development, and heightened sensitivity to sound are just a few of the benefits. Moreover, starting on the cornet builds valuable skills and fosters confidence. The cornet serves as an ideal and practical starting point, setting young musicians on a path of excellence.

Focus on the Lower Range

The lower range of the trumpet is unfortunately overshadowed by the heroic monster of the first trumpeter’s high register. This emphasis on the first trumpet, particularly among younger musicians, neglects the essential contributions of second and third players. It is essential to correct this imbalance and make sure that that the entire trumpet section feels valued as contributors, regardless of the number marked on their parts.

Audiences members and students, tend to focus on the impressive brilliance, power, and flash found in the upper registers of the trumpet, leaving the lower range relatively unexplored and forgotten. However, when these lower notes are written into a piece, we should treat them with the attention they deserve. Unfortunately, in assigning second and third parts, we often underestimate the abilities of our students in this range, as we have not spent sufficient time developing their low register skills. As a result, these students may struggle with instability and uncertainty. It is imperative to shift this mindset and prepare our lower section players with the necessary skills and confidence to play effectively and reliably in their lower range.

While I understand that the low range may not be the most glamorous job in the trumpet section, with dedicated practice, we can transform students’ timid and unsteady entrances into clear and controlled sounds. This improvement will extend not only to the low range but to all registers of their trumpet.

When playing in the low range, it is crucial for students to anchor their corners and keep their embouchure as relaxed as possible. This range demands a significant amount of air. Surprisingly, by maintaining relaxed embouchure within the corners, they will encounter minimal resistance for the airstream. This relaxation widens the aperture of their embouchure, allowing unrestricted vibrations to pass through the lips and into the mouthpiece. However, if their sound lacks depth and strength, it may indicate excessive tension in the embouchure. In such cases, tongue placement becomes an important factor. Students should be reminded to drop the back of their tongue, producing a vowel sound akin to oh.

It is important to note that with the tongue positioned lower in the mouth, quicker tongue movements are necessary for articulation. Unfavorable tongue angles can present challenges in achieving rapid articulations when playing in the low range. Additionally, the lower pressure of air in this range may not immediately move the tongue, resulting in a prolonged contact with the hard palate (alveolar ridge). This can create an unintended gap between notes. To address this, students should strive for using faster, fatter air, quicker tongue movements to compensate for the lower tongue angle.

Developing their low range skills will not only expand their musical capabilities but also provide a more solid foundation for technical proficiency across all registers. It is also important to emphasize that low range practice is not exclusive to third players. This discipline should be cultivated among the entire section, providing equal opportunities for growth. Additionally, practicing in the low range can benefit those aspiring to play higher by instilling the necessary micro-movements, albeit with reduced pressure on the embouchure muscles. As a well-known saying in the trumpet realm goes, “To play high, practice low.”

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Effective Metronome Use
Musicians use a metronome to learn how to play with a steady pulse. However, many musicians have had the experience of practicing regularly with a metronome only to find that they still rush or drag when playing the same passage without one. There is a good reason for this: the brain works in a fundamentally different way when the metronome is on versus when it is off.

In a study by Rao, et al., (1997), non-musicians tapped to a metronome and then continued tapping at the same tempo after the metronome was turned off while researchers looked at their brain activity. They found that entire areas of the brain that were silent while the metronome was on became very active when the metronome was turned off. Specifically, the supplementary motor area (SMA), the putamen (put.), and the thalamus (thal.) are only activated when the metronome is off. These areas together comprise the sensorimotor loop and are important for the internal self-timing of movements. It makes sense they would be active only when the metronome is off because the metronome provides an alternate external source to help time movements. Incidentally, it is these areas that are affected in Parkinson’s disease, which is why Parkinson’s patients have difficulty initiating and controlling their movements.

What this means for musicians is that while practicing with the metronome, the brain is doing something fundamentally different than it will have to do in performance without a metronome. So in the practice room, it is imperative to make sure to practice what the brain must do in a performance situation, not just what the body has to do.

courtesy of International Music Camp

Armed with this new information, here is a step-by-step guide to using the metronome to help improve the sense of pulse.

1. Play a passage perfectly steady with a metronome clicking on each beat. If this is a challenge, practice conducting the passage while singing it, and walking with the metronome while playing until it is perfectly in sync with the metronome.

2. Play the passage with the metronome, but use the clicks as offbeats – the and of the beat. Because many musicians find this difficult try this exercise to trick your mind into feeling the clicks as the offbeats. Turn on the metronome and tap on the offbeats. Then count out loud (1, 2, 3, 4 etc) with the tapping – not with the metronome. Stop counting and tapping, and it should feel like the metronome is off the beat. If this is difficult, work at it until this feels natural. Struggling with this exercise is clear confirmation that the internal sense of pulse is weak and is reliant on external reinforcement.

3. Another exercise is to play the passage while the metronome clicks on every other beat. So, in 4/4, it should only click on 1 and 3.

4. Play it again and have the metronome click only on the downbeat.

5. Have the metronome click only on every other downbeat.

6. Continue to move the clicks further and further apart. A metronome app is useful because any beat can be manually silenced. For example, you could set the metronome to 12/4 and make everything silent except the downbeat. If the passage is in 4/4, the metronome will click on the downbeat of every third measure or every fourth measure in 3/4.

7. A random beat generator, such as the app TimeGuru, will randomly silence a certain percentage of the beats. It is very challenging to play with 75% of the beats randomly missing and then line up precisely with the metronome when it does click. This is the ultimate test for steadiness of pulse.
This process gradually makes the brain increasingly responsible for generating the beat itself, while still having something objective to check in with. It is a great challenge, a lot of fun, and will dramatically improve the sense of pulse and timing.

Random Practicing
All musicians have dealt with the frustration of being able to play something perfectly in the practice room, only to have it completely fail on stage. All teachers know the, “But I played it perfectly yesterday!” excuse. Some of this is performance anxiety, but it also can be attributed to the specific practice method being used, namely blocked practicing. Nearly all musicians are taught to practice this way. It involves doing something X number of times and spending a big chunk of time perfecting a particular piece or passage before moving on to something else. Random practicing is the opposite of this. The name may conjure up an image of a hopelessly unfocused practice session that could not possibly be beneficial. On the contrary, when it is done correctly, random practice is anything but unfocused, and research has shown it to be the most beneficial type of practicing for good performances.

The bulk of the experiments on random practicing come from the sports world. One of the clearest experiments on random practicing comes from a study on baseball players that examined athletes on a collegiate baseball team (Hall, et al., 1994). Researchers wanted to see whether blocked or random practice improved batting performance more. They divided the players into two groups, and each practiced hitting 45 pitches. In the blocked practice group, they were thrown 15 fast balls, then 15 curve balls, then 15 change-up pitches. In the random practice group, they never knew what was coming, so they might get two fast balls, a curve ball, then three change-up pitches, then two curve balls, etc. They found that in the practice session, the players in the blocked practice group hit more balls than those in the random practice group. However, when they tested their batting performance at a later date, those who trained with blocked practice had gotten 25% better, while those who had trained with random practice had gotten 57% better. These results (better performance during training in the blocked practice group, but better performance in an actual performance situation in the random practice group) are found over and over again, in a variety of sports.

In 2013, two researchers decided to test this in pianists (Abushanab and Bishara, 2013). In their study pianists had to learn a group of brand new short pieces. The pieces were hard enough that they were not easily sightread, but easy enough that they could be learned in a relatively short amount of time. All of the pianists learned all of the melodies, but some were learned using blocked practice, and some with random practice. The actual procedure was a bit more complicated, but an example of blocked practice would be 30 minutes on Piece A, then 30 minutes on Piece B, and 30 minutes on Piece C. Random practice would be 5 minutes on Piece A, 5 minutes on Piece C, 5 minutes on Piece B, 5 minutes on Piece C, 5 minutes on piece A, etc. until each piece had been done for a total of 30 minutes.

Two days later, the researchers brought them back to perform some of the pieces. Just like the baseball players, the melodies they had learned using random practice were performed much better (measured in terms of note and rhythm accuracy) than those learned using blocked practice. Strangely enough, when they asked the pianists which practice method they thought was better, they said they thought blocked practice was better, even though they could see that random practice resulted in better performance. This finding is so common that psychologists have a name for it: the illusion of mastery.

Understanding why random practice is so effective can help protect against this illusion. Like the baseball players, pianists did worse in practice when using random practice. This is because of something called the contextual interference effect and is the whole reason why random practice works so well. When doing something for the first time, the brain has to recreate from scratch how to do it. If it is done again right away, the brain does not have to remember how to do it, it simply repeats what it just did. This is why everything often sounds much better the second time through, even if no new learning happened in between the first and second time. It creates an illusion of mastery because it seems like the passage is fine, whereas in reality, the brain is just better at repeating something than figuring how to do it from scratch. During random practicing, the brain has to keep switching between different things, which interfere with each other (hence the contextual interference effect), forcing the brain to continually have to reconstruct things as if it is the first time. This is exactly what happens in a performance: the brain has to reconstruct everything from scratch on the spot to get it right the first time.

Musicians often wish they could get a second chance at a particular passage when it does not go well in performance. This happens in the first place because, through blocked practicing, they have gotten very good at repeating something correctly, but not at playing it perfectly on the first try. Random practicing is the answer to that frustration. Studies of brain activity during random practice back this up. Researchers see greater sensorimotor activity during random practice. During later performance, they show activity in higher cognitive areas that are involved in planning and working memory. This is not seen in people using blocked practice; their brains have just performed the activity, so they do not have to plan or access memory to do it correctly a second time.

There are, of course, an infinite number of ways to use the principles of random practicing. Here are just a few:

• In order for random practicing to be effective, the passage has to be reliably correct when played X number of times in a row. If it is not, random practicing will never work. In fact, one study (with basketball players) found that the most effect way to practice is to do blocked practice (AAABBBCCC), followed by serial practice (ABCABCABC), followed by random practice (ACBCAABCCA). First, make sure you can play the passage at least five times in a row correctly (so, if it is correct twice, and then on the third try there is a mistake, you have to start over at zero). Then, pick several passages and put a small sticky note in the music by each passage. Play the first passage and if it is correct, put a tick mark on the sticky note. Do the same with each passage until you have done them all. Then, come back to the first passage and if it is correct, make another tick mark. If there is a mistake, erase the first tick mark and start over at zero. Continue through each of the passages until you have done each one at least five times in a row correctly in this serial way.

• Get an interval timer app and set it to go off every X number of minutes (every five minutes, for instance). Go about practicing as usual (probably using blocked practice, which is fine), but when the timer goes off, immediately switch and play a passage that is difficult. It could be the very first note of a certain piece, an entire orchestral excerpt or solo, or a particularly challenging measure in the middle of a chamber music piece. Just play it once, and then even if it was awful, go back to whatever you were practicing. When the timer goes off again, play that tricky passage again. Keep doing this for the duration of the practice session for as many days as it takes. Eventually, that difficult passage will be perfect every time the timer goes off. When it comes time to play it in performance, you will feel confident, and the passage will be secure and reliable.

• At least two weeks before a performance or audition, play through the entire program or do a mock audition at the end of each day. This will mimic what it will feel like to just play everything from scratch with no chance to play the hard spots first.

• In doing scale and arpeggio practice, rather than going around the circle of 5ths (or some other systematic method), try incorporating random practice. Put little slips of paper in a plastic bag, each with a different key on it. In another bag, put different tempos, articulations, or dynamics. Each day, pick a slip out of the key bag and one out of the tempo (or articulation, etc.) bag to determine which scale you will play and how.

There are many, many more ways to incorporate random practicing. The most important aspect of random practicing to keep in mind is that its effectiveness comes from forcing the brain to reconstruct how to do something from scratch with no preparation or warm-up.

Musicians tend to think learning to play an instrument is about training the body to perform certain skills, but it is really the brain that is trained. Learn to structure practice sessions so the brain gets to rehearse and not just the body. When the brain becomes the focus of practice, performance feels effortless and reliable.

* * *

Works cited:
Abushanab, B., and Bishara, A.J. (2013). “Memory and metacognition for piano melodies: illusory advantage of fixed-over random-order practice.” Memory and Cognition 41(6): 928-937.
Hall, K.G., Domingues, D.A., Cavazos, R. (1994). “Contextual interference effects with skilled baseball players.” Perceptual and Motor Skills 78: 835-841.
Rao, S.M., et al., (1997). “Distributed neural systems underlying the timing of movements.” The Journal of Neuroscience 17(14): 5528-5535.

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It all started so innocently. A year after retiring I became homesick for members of my high school band. Nostalgia prompted a “Remember Me” party of alumni and friends. After eating, we sat around recalling the excitement of performing halftime shows, planning concerts, taking overnight trips, waiting for the judges’ decisions…and then it happened.

Bert, a former drum major, had an idea. “Wouldn’t it be great to get an alumni band together? If we could get 10 or 15 of the old gang, would you be willing to direct us?” Suffering from nostalgia, I replied, “Why not?” The subject changed, and soon the evening ended, but not the idea of an alumni band.
The following week, Bert called to report that 26 former Chaffey musicians were eager to start playing again. No longer suffering from nostalgia, I began facing realities. We had no music library, no rehearsal room, and no place to perform.

There was a momentary silence on the telephone. Bert said, “I’ll get back to you,” and hung up.
Three days later the telephone rang again. It was Bert, and his excitement fairly shook the telephone out of my hand. “Well, it’s all settled,” he said. “I talked with the principal of the Chaffey Adult School, and he has agreed to offer band as one of the Adult School classes. Rehearsals will begin in six weeks with the new semester.”

After the initial shock, I was overcome by misgivings. As a public school band director, I had scarcely been aware of community bands, although there were 3 operating within a 20-minute drive from my home. I called the directors of these groups for help and information. All three invited me to bring my horn and get some firsthand experience in the world of community bands.

What an eye-opener. In one group, rehearsals were only loosely organized. Members came to play, but playing was interspersed with a generous amount of socializing, and music was selected for the performer’s and audience’s enjoyment. The audience provided the primary reason for playing, a 180-degree reversal from my 42 years of selecting music for its educational value. This was an important lesson for a fledgling community band director.

The second group I visited was in direct contrast to the first. Membership was by audition only, rehearsals were tightly controlled, and programs were designed to impress the audience with the band’s technical facility. This approach did not invite wide support from the community, however, and musicians frequently outnumbered the audience. I learned a valuable lesson.

The third group was a disaster. The director was late for the rehearsal, members came and went without explanation. I finally packed up my instrument and left with the crowd.

Drawing on these experiences, I began to recognize both the similarities as well as the differences in working with high school students and adults.

Both school and adult musicians are volunteers. The former immediately are regimented into an ongoing system, but the latter consider band a recreational activity.

Students accept the organizational plan as it exists. The adult musician is not bashful and will question any or all organizational formats.
School band members are required or strongly encouraged to attend all rehearsals, performances, and contests. Adult players attend as often as work and family responsibilities allow.

Students are disciplined to expect many hours of rehearsals, but adults do not want to spend too much time rehearsing and polishing music. They want to get on to the next number.

The director is considered a wise and infallible musician by most students; but the adults in a community band see the director as a human being, not an idol to be emulated.

The second semester began, and so did my first rehearsal. As the clock edged toward the 7:00 p.m. rehearsal hour, I became apprehensive. Would anyone really show up? Why in the world had I agreed to become a re-treaded band director? The answer came quickly as players started to arrive. Not 10, not 15, not 25, but 42 enthusiastic alumni began hugging and talking, and talking, and talking. Finally someone suggested that we get down to the business at hand.

What a short rehearsal. Twenty-three minutes after starting to play, we were finished, in more ways than one. After years of neglect, sagging embouchures quickly gave out. We ended the evening remembering old times and promising to practice before the next meeting.

The following week, 10 more alumni found their way back into our ranks. By the third rehearsal, I could almost recognize the music the group was playing. The principal of the school was so enthusiastic about our progress that he sent notices inviting the teachers to bring their classes to a special concert being given by the Chaffey Adult Band. It was a captive audience; we were on our way.

A community band should have a friendly atmosphere. Members new to our community have expressed surprise at the family atmosphere prevailing at our rehearsals and concerts. One woman said that she had been shy about joining a community music group but was pleased to find that our organization placed more emphasis on people than on musical expertise.

When new musicians join the group, they fill out a short questionnaire stating their name, address, telephone number, and birth date, and giving a short autobiographical sketch. A birthday committee is responsible for light refreshments at those rehearsals that coincide with a member’s birthday. This festivity takes place during the break and helps build a warm atmosphere.

Our community band is open to all adults regardless of their musical ability; we hold no auditions. If a person has an instrument and the desire to play, he or she becomes a member simply by attending rehearsals and concerts. Although this policy is nice for the participants, it does have the drawback of creating a wide range of ability levels. I have come up with three solutions to overcome this major flaw.

Keep your group in mind. Choosing music to suit your group is important. Students and adults easily become discouraged when the music is too difficult or too easy for them to play. Determining the average ability level and choosing selections slightly below that level minimizes this problem. It also reduces time and builds confidence in the players.

Select composers and arrangers who know how to write for the young band, avoiding technical difficulties yet making the music exciting for both audience and performers. Look for arrangements that use generous cross-cueing for oboe, bassoon, bass clarinet, French horns, and other instruments you may lack.

Feature soloists. Certain sections in most band music contain passages that can be played by one musician or a small ensemble, allowing individuals to stand up and be featured. The length of the showcase can be as short as 8 measures or as long as 32. The idea is to give all members of the band a chance to be featured in each concert, whether they are solo players or sit in the back row of clarinets.

Weak players can stand with the section being showcased, while strong players are individually featured. Musicians find this recognition stimulating, and audiences enjoy the added flair that showing off soloists gives to a band’s performance.

Feature sections. Another technique that helps weaker players improve is to assign a section solo or an ensemble part to every person in the band, with the goal of performing the music at an undetermined future concert. Members know that their moment in the spotlight may come at any time during the season, a strong incentive for outside practice.

With million-dollar talent offered free on T.V., attracting an audience is a major concern for the community band. The usual newspaper announcements, radio plugs, posters, and handbills all help. However, another approach works well to target special segments of the community.

Over the years, we have developed a growing audience in the 50+ age group. Senior citizens living in mobile home parks and retirement villages are always looking for new things to do and places to go. Our publicity staff contacts the recreational directors of local parks and provides handbills for distribution to their tenants. Many parks own a van to transport members to special events, and a free concert makes an attractive outing.

To broaden the target audience and attract other segments of the population, we use a theme for each concert. Some successful themes have been:

• Best of the Big Bands
• Best of Broadway
• Best of Hollywood
• Best of Rock and Roll
• A Salute to Veterans
• Concert for Lovers
• Senior Citizen Christmas Festival
• Meet the Band
• America, The Beautiful
• I Love You, Mother

In our community, audiences appreciate some preliminary background on the selection to be performed. We use a master of ceremonies to provide this information as well as to keep personal contact with our listeners.

Our concerts are informal. We invite audience participation by encouraging spontaneous applause during numbers in which soloists or ensemble groups are featured. This format is familiar both to the older groups who remember the big band era and to the younger generation who delight in a constant show of appreciation during a performance.

To prevent listeners from becoming restless because a selection is too long, we edit all numbers to last only 3-5 minutes. This allows a wide variety of music and a refreshing change of pace. After all, T.V. is a hard act to follow.

Money is always available for a band that serves its community. Parks and Recreation departments, the Chamber of Commerce, music stores, newspapers, the City Council, or adult schools such as Chaffey are all possible sponsors. We schedule 10 concerts each year, and our sponsoring groups allow us to be paid for additional programs if the cash donations are used to expand the music library.

Members of the band represent a cross-section of the professions. There are Ph.D.’s, music teachers, auto mechanics, medical doctors, realtors, and so on. With this wide representation from 17 neighboring communities, we get good results from encouraging band members to offer our services to groups in their areas looking for entertainment. When asked how much a performance costs, the standard answer is, “We do not charge a fee but welcome a donation for our music library. A special one-hour program for your group requires 12-14 band arrangements. Each arrangement costs $40-$60. The music for your program has cost the band $500-$600; however; since this music can be used over again, we can accept a much smaller donation. We will leave the amount up to you.”

This policy has been a winner, bringing in donations ranging from $100 to $600. Everyone wants to help expand the band’s music library.

For a recent concert given at Disneyland, we did not have money to buy band uniforms, so each member wore a white shirt or blouse, dark trousers or skirts, and a black bow tie. At the end of the program, a Disneyland representative complimented our performance but ended by saying, “It’s too bad the group doesn’t look as well as it sounds.” In my next budget request I quoted this Disney-land official, and the following year’s allotment included $2,000 extra toward uniforms.

Over these last years of directing a community band, I have recognized the need for adults to participate in music both as performers and as listeners. Adult musicians who remember the satisfaction of performing in high school or college bands get another chance to relive these performances. With the growing number of retirees, more people have leisure time available and look for the kind of wholesome entertainment that a community band offers.

Even my objectives have changed. I no longer search for educational materials; I concentrate on finding music that the adults in my band will have fun playing and the adults in my audience will find enjoyable.

I am concerned that our programs are interesting and polished, as far as that is possible with one rehearsal a week. I have learned to accept occasional intonation problems and rhythmic insecurities, but our musical family is satisfied with their performances and so are our audiences. As part of this family, I couldn’t be more proud.

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