Lights up with teachers slowly filtering into the library. Large wall clock indicates 8:00. Bob Bandy walks toward the back of the room, looking for an empty desk.

Coach Callus
(reading sports page from newspaper, but not looking up)
You’ve gotta come early to get a prime seat.

Bob Bandy
(points to sheets on Callus’s desk)
What’s that you got there?

Coach Callus
Oh, just a few new plays I hope to work on when the meeting gets going.

Bob Bandy
I brought some stuff with me, too.
(plops music scores, drill charts, and catalogs onto desk)

Principal Pouriton
Good morning! I hope everyone had a great summer. This is our first of five days of meetings.
(Half the teachers continue talking.)
We have several new facilitators this year so I’d like to take a few minutes and have all of you introduce yourselves.
(Only one fourth of the teachers are now talking.)
I think it would be helpful if you say your name, what subject you teach, and what you did over the summer.
(Now only Candy Chatter is still talking.)
Candy, we’ll start with you.
(Candy looks startled and has no idea what is going on. Her cell phone rings, and she quickly leaves the room to answer the call.)

Blackout.

* * * * *

Light returns. Large wall clock indicates 8:30.

Principal Pouriton
Well, I hope that everyone knows each other a little better now, but we will have some activities to get to know each other better tomorrow during our six-hour session.
(Bandy’s eyes roll. Callus is still looking at sports section. Eric Enthusiasm claps.)
I went to a workshop in Tahiti this summer to learn more about the new teacher evaluation program we are going to follow this year. It’s called S.C.O.R.N., which stands for . . .
(looks at notes on yellow pad)
School Collected Observations and Review Narrative. I will have to meet with each of you five times this year: the pre-observation, the concurrent observation, the post observation, the summative observation, and the post-summative observation. We are also the first school in our state to become a S.C.R.A.M. school. S.C.R.A.M. stands for Standard Cyber Reclamation and Maintenance. All of you will have to attend thirty hours of in-service on how to construct your own computer using parts from computers donated to us from a private school in Vermont.
Bob Bandy
(to Callus)
Just last year we were a H.I.-T.E.C.H. school.

Coach Callus
(to Bandy)
I remember the days when we were a sports school.

Principal Pouriton
We are scrapping last year’s two initiatives. However, I am assured by state education officials that these new programs are not passing fads and will be with us for a while.

Eric Enthusiasm
Do we still get to be a P.E.P.P.Y. school?

Principal Pouriton
No, I’m sorry.
(Eric shrugs good-naturedly.)
As you can see from the large post-it notes on the wall we are going to divide into groups. I want you write how the thought of having these new programs makes you feel. Also list any questions you might have on the bottom portion of the post-it note.

(Teachers divide into four groups. Bandy and Callus are with Billy Bluster.)

Billy Bluster
What did he call us a while ago? A facillasomething or another?

Bob Bandy
A facilitator. Apparently we are no longer to be called teachers.

Billy Bluster
He must have learned that at some program in Cancún over the summer. Well, by golly, I’m not changing. I’ll retire before I ask students to call me a facilitator. My grandfather was a teacher, my mom was a teacher, and that’s what I am. Darn proud of it, too.

Bob Bandy
Rumor has it that students are now to be called learners. This one change alone will transform education as we know it.

Coach Callus
(taking a break from devising a new offensive scheme)
Nobody asked me if I wanted to be called a facilitator or not. That makes me feel powerless. Write that on that there big post-it note of yours. (Returns to his work.)

Billy Bluster
(leaning over to Bandy)
This too shall pass.

(Blackout.)

* * * * *

(Light returns. Clock indicates 9:30.)

Principal Pouriton
I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts and fears with us today. I do believe that is the best we have ever sung Kum Bah Yah since I have been here. I’d like to turn things over now to our Mr. Longneck, our assistant principal. He’ll be talking to you about duty rosters and discipline.

Brewsky Longneck
(tugs at the back of his pants)
Things went pretty well last year, but I would like to remind you that we do have a dress code here. It is outlined in your handbook.

Wendy Whiner
(wearing low-cut blouse and extremely short skirt)
Last year I felt like I was the only one enforcing the dress code. I had girls walking into my classroom sixth period with more holes in their pants than a piece of Swiss cheese and boys with the seat of their pants dragging the ground. Someone should have caught it by the time they got to me.

Brewsky Longneck
And also remember our cell phone policy. Students should not be on their phones at any time in your classrooms unless it is for educational purposes.

Wendy Whiner
And the boys and girls are hanging all over each other in the hallways. You’d think our school was the love shack.

Clueless Carol
I think we need to do a better job of enforcing the dress code. If we’re not going to do what is in the handbook, then we should take it out.

Repetitive Roger
And what about the cell phone problem?

Candy Chatter
(puts her cell phone down)
We tell them the rules, but kids today just don’t know how to listen!

(Blackout.)

* * * * *

(Light returns. Clock indicates 10:30.)

Brewsky Longneck
And while I have enjoyed this extended discussion on dress code and cell phone use, I think we need to move on to other topics.

Principal Pouriton
Now it’s time for us to write our mission statement for the year.

Bob Bandy
(To Callus)
I think it should be “We avoid meeting together as much as possible so we can actually work with our students.”

(Blackout.)

* * * * *

(Light returns. Clock indicates noon.)

Principal Pouriton
So we are all in agreement that it will be “Shaping today’s young people to their maximum potential to prepare them for success and the use of correct grammar in the real world.”

Eric Enthusiasm
I think we should all get t-shirts with that put on it!

Principal Pouriton
That’s a great idea. Could you head up a committee to get that done?

Eric Enthusiasm
(jumping up and down)
Sure! Who will do it with me?
(No hands raise. Eric shrugs good-naturedly.)

Principal Pouriton
It’s time for lunch now. Everyone should be back at 1:00.

Wendy Whiner
(whispering to no one in particular)
We’ve been on here for four hours with no break! We don’t even ask our students to do that!

Principal Pouriton
Is there anything else?

Wendy Whiner
Are we ever going to get time to be in our classrooms? I have three bulletin boards to put up.

Principal Pouriton
You will get about ten minutes in your classrooms tomorrow.

(Bandy stands, gathering his materials.)

Repetitive Roger
Did we ever decide what we are going to do about enforcing the dress code?
(Scattered chatter.)

Principal Pouriton
We can talk about that more after lunch. Is there anything else?

(Bandy is halfway to the doorway.)

Repetitive Roger
Can students use cell phones in the hallways?
(More scattered chatter.)

Principal Pouriton
No, the handbook says that they cannot. Is there anything else?

(Bandy is standing in the doorway.)

Principal Pouriton
Before you leave, make sure you get the stack of forms by the door. Be sure and get the Just Thinking About a Field Trip Form, the Actual Field Trip Form, Parental Permission Form, Medical Release for a Field Trip Form, Successful Return from A Field Trip Form, and Bus Request form. I have also shared seven Google docs with you that you will need to look over, complete and get back to me by this afternoon.

Bob Bandy
(to Callus, who has edged between Bob and the door)
What’s a Google doc?

Coach Callus
I don’t know, but we’ve got twenty-six more hours of meetings to find out.

(End of scene.)

The post A Teachers’ Meeting: A One-Act Play appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Tongue
    Our MRI films answer some important questions concerning the role of the tongue. We wanted to know if the tongue is involved in shaping the oral cavity differently when playing in the low, middle, and high registers. Although our initial findings pertain primarily to horn players, it appears that the tongue assumes a low, pulled-back position during lower notes and progressively moves forward and upward in the mouth as higher pitches are played. (See Figure 1)
    This is not a new idea by any means, but the predominance of this movement pattern seen in the films of elite horn players provides concrete evidence of a recurring pattern. Our preliminary, unpublished results suggest a similar pattern with trombone players, but trumpeters seem to keep the tongue up and forward throughout the range of the instrument. In many players affected by dystonia, this level of tongue control may actually be lacking. This appears on the MRI films as a more static, low, and forward thrusting tongue throughout the range of the instrument. (See Figure 2)
    Another question concerns movements of the tongue in producing different dynamic levels. It has long been posited that the tongue rises within the oral cavity as a point of resistance to reduce airflow in soft playing, and our data confirms this. However, we found that an actual channel forms between the top surface of the tongue and the roof of the mouth, with the sides of the tongue rising to seal the edges of this channel on the upper molars. The size of this channel changes depending upon how softly (small channel) and how loudly (larger channel) a performer plays. (See Figure 3) Although results are preliminary, this appears to be true in horn, trumpet, and trombone players. We have seen one dystonia patient who could not form this channel because of a lack of tongue control.


Figure 1. Side view of tongue position during sustained notes in elite player (left to right: Eb2, Eb4, Bb4, and Eb5 concert).

Figure 2. Side view of tongue position during sustained notes in dystonic player (left to right: Eb2, Eb4, and Bb4 concert; Eb5 was not possible for this player).

Figure 3. Front view looking through the cavity formed by the tongue surface and the roof of the mouth (Bb5 at pianissimo, left and at fortissimo, right). The cavity is the large central dark area.

Glottis
    A third finding from our MRI films concerns movements of the glottis during brass playing. Brass teachers have long advocated keeping the throat open during performance. We wanted to find out if this was an accurate suggestion. For air to move from the windpipe (trachea) into the oral cavity, it must move through the passageway between the opposing vocal folds. This opening, which sits at the upper extent of the larynx, constitutes the glottis. Presumably, keeping the throat open involves keeping the opposing vocal folds pulled apart, preventing them from contacting each other and creating vibrations that we associate with vocalizing. We wondered if this actually happens. Renowned horn player and teacher Philip Farkas created quite a stir when he advocated using the glottis as a controllable point of resistance for soft dynamic playing. He suggested that the glottis acts as a whisper valve to help regulate the volume of air moving through it, perhaps providing assistance at soft dynamics.
    We have developed a way to visualize the movements related to the glottis during playing, and have many MRI films showing its position during playing. From those films, we recently published some interesting findings that support Farkas’s original idea. Indeed, it appears that in the elite horn players we have studied as well as in a trumpet player, the folds come closer together for soft notes and move farther apart for loud notes. The glottis appears to be involved in staccato note playing as well, closing completely at the termination of each note during slow tempos.
The idea of using vowels to assist in note production during brass playing is not new, but in terms of the role of the tongue in producing different pitches across the range of an instrument, our films confirm the legitimacy of this approach. We have numerous MRI films of horn players speaking the syllables haw, huh, heh, and hee and then playing notes in the low, middle, middle-high, and high registers. In many of our elite subjects, the tongue positions for these notes are remarkably similar to the positions that occur in speaking these syllables. Eli Epstein, horn faculty member of New England Conservatory and Boston Con­ser­vatory at Berklee in Boston, advocates using vowels to conceptualize efficient tongue positions during melodic playing to assist the young player who is having trouble instinctively producing the correct notes. This seems to be particularly helpful for playing the higher notes using a hee vowel position.
    Instructing students to employ the glottis for soft or staccato notes is probably more controversial. Some teachers may fear that an effort to regulate the opening between the vocal folds involves excessive tightening of the neck muscles. However, this is avoided with proper instruction, and showing students how the glottis actually moves may provide helpful insight for those struggling with soft and staccato playing. Certainly Philip Farkas advocated teaching glottal control, and his book provides helpful ideas for how to do this effectively.

Conclusion
    When considering how to use these RT-MRI films, I would like to mention two colleagues with stellar careers as both artists and teachers, Eli Epstein (Cleveland Orchestra, horn) and Douglass Yeo (Boston Symphony, trombone). Both have been in the MRI scanner in Germany, and have shown keen interest in this work, advocating strongly for continued research to provide objective, scientific evidence for best practices in pedagogy. Epstein has already used images from our work in his third edition of Horn Playing from the Inside Out: A Method for All Brass Musicians, and Yeo is working on a book on trombone that will feature a chapter on the MRI work and its implications.
    Our RT-MRI work was recently featured on the Deutsche Welle television program Sarah’s Music (episode title, “Music and Science,” 9/4/2016, ), hosted by the Berlin Philharmonic hornist Sarah Willis. In the interview segment, she asked me whether I would actually show these films to my horn students. Without hesitation, I answered that I would. In fact, if I were a band director, I would consider showing selections from these movies to my entire brass section. (Anec­dotally, a prospective music student recently told me that her band director had actually done this with some her MRI videos currently published on-line at ). Of course, careful interpretation of these videos is crucial, and to help with this, Epstein and I have collaborated on a YouTube site titled MRI Horn Videos: Pedagogy Informed by Science. This site is a work in progress but provides some solid recommendations to those who may be interested.
    There is much more that we will be working on in the near future. In collaboration with Dr. Jens Frahm of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, a new project has been launched called the MRI Brass Repository Project (MBRP). The goal of this project is to continue applying RT-MRI technology to the search for ways to cope with the career-ending movement disorder embouchure dystonia and to acquire, organize, and make additional RT-MRI films available featuring elite brass players. We intend to organize this repository so music educators can easily identify and use individual films of top players performing musical exercises designed to illustrate varying aspects of brass technique. We anticipate making these films available by the fall of 2019. Updates for the project may be followed at .
    Finally, a word of caution is in order. No two brass players do everything the same way. Although our films have shown patterns of movement consistency between elite players during specific exercises, every performer has unique anatomical features that will necessitate careful interpretation by the teacher in the specific way these films may be applied. Further, there is a strong argument for not becoming overly analytical about the mechanics of brass performance. Too much attention to the tongue or throat could easily detract from making beautiful music. It would be foolish to suggest one size fits all with regard to our data. However, an equally strong argument is that these examples of top players represent a gold standard of performance. The sounds these artists make are sonorous, powerful, and accurate, and these players do it all with great efficiency. Moreover, their approaches apparently lead to sustainable, healthy careers. If we can learn general principles from these MRI films that can help developing students to play more efficiently, then their use seems warranted.   

Bibliography
Inefficiencies in Motor Strategies of Horn Players with Embouchure Dystonia by Peter W. Iltis, et al, from Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 2016. 31(2): p. 69-77.
Divergent Oral Cavity Motor Strategies Between Healthy Elite and Dystonic Horn Players by Peter W. Iltis, et al, from Journal of Clinical Movement Disorders, 2015. 2: p. 15.
Real-Time MRI Comparisons of Brass Play­ers: A Methodological Pilot Study by P. W. Iltis, et al, from Human Move­ment Science, 2015. 42: p. 132-45.
The Art of Brass Playing: A Treatise on the Formation and Use of the Brass Player’s Embouchure by Philip Farkas. (1962, Bloomington, Ind.: Brass Publications. 65 pages.)
Movements of the Glottis During Horn Performance: A Pilot Study by Peter W. Iltis, et al, from Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 2017. 32(1): p. 33-39.
Horn Playing from the Inside Out: A Method for All Brass Musicians by Eli Epstein. (2016: Eli Epstein Pro­ductions. ix, 156 pages.)

The post When Science Meets Brass appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Students’ Strengths and Weaknesses

Interactions Among Parts
    In addition to assessing and addressing individuals’ particular strengths, directors should take into account the ways that given parts within a piece interact. For example, complicated passages of on- and off-beats between two players on bass drum and crash cymbals require not only that two players be confident in their own parts, but that they be able to play together seamlessly. Extended unison passages on marimba, xylophone, and bells require not only that three of your players have strong mallet skills but that they can match each other’s dynamics, articulations, and phrasing exactly.
    Assigning parts according to the musical interactions they contain is akin to fielding a sports team; the relative roles of the players is what helps make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Ultimately, we would love for all of our percussionists to be able to play any part in any situation. The question to consider as players develop is “When is the most appropriate time to introduce each new challenge?” Again, keen perception of students’ natural and conditioned skill sets will help directors organize their players’ roles effectively.

Overall Time on Task
    Many percussion parts in large ensembles are rather sparse when compared to those of other instrument families. Cymbal crashes, chime notes, and bass drum rolls, for example, occur relatively infrequently within most pieces, requiring students to be patient, count carefully, and enter with confidence. When a student is assigned to a number of parts containing only a handful of notes, engagement problems, substandard music learning experiences, and even classroom management issues can ensue.
    Remember that percussionists can learn valuable lessons from both busy, constant parts (a snare drum ostinato or glockenspiel melody) and sparse, isolated ones (a tam-tam blast or delicate triangle tap). From the former, they may learn how to groove with others in their section and the rest of the ensemble; from the latter, they may develop independence and self-confidence to make their solo entrances strong and clear under pressure. Offer your students many opportunities to do both, and in doing so, you will help balance their overall time on task as well.

Logistics
    In addition to fostering breadth and depth of students’ musical growth and engagement, directors must remain keenly aware of logistics. Consider how much time students have to move between instruments or stations, whether they need to change mallets, if they can see you during and after their shift, whether other students are shifting at the same time, and how they can leave clear paths among all instruments. These concerns in combination can help you set all students up for success on their assigned parts.
    Sometimes, two or more of these questions taken together can provide surprising answers and lead to creative solutions. It may seem logical, for example, to have a student cover vibraphone and chimes at a single station because both are mallet instruments. However, switching back and forth between those two types of mallets is cumbersome. Perhaps the vibraphone player could instead cover a suspended cymbal part using the same mallets, while another player stays at the chimes. If that suspended cymbal is too far away because, for example, the snare drummer has to play it also, add a second cymbal to the overall setup. Making sure students have all the right instruments and mallets in the most efficient, effective locations often requires placing doubles or triples of them strategically throughout the section. Similarly, putting players in the right spots by assigning them parts wisely can save a lot of trouble in both practice and performance.

Turning Over Assignment Responsibility to Students
    This may be the most important part of the whole process; students should understand for themselves all of the above considerations. The best way to accomplish this is to gradually and consistently turn over the responsibility of part assignments to them. You may want to develop a system in which more experienced students assign parts while also training less experienced students how to do it. All of them will reap great benefits from understanding how their own current strengths and weaknesses fit with available parts, how those parts interact, the role of time on task in their own musical development and engagement, and the practical necessity of logistical planning. The better you train students to clarify these perspectives themselves, the better equipped they will be to handle musical challenges as a section.

The post Part Assignment appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Familiarization
    The first step in score study is gaining a basic idea of the layout of the work, which can be accomplished by flipping through the score a few times. Although this step is most important if the piece being studied is one that is completely new to you, it is still important when returning to a familiar work. Each time you study a piece you will find new things. During this process, I lightly circle things that come to my attention while perusing the score. Make quick notes in the margins of the score about anything that will require further thought later in the process. I always circle all the tempo markings and make notes concerning major changes in the orchestration, including thinly or thickly orchestrated sections or specific instrumental colors that should be prevalent. Examples are the thickly orchestrated section at m. 99 of the piece, the opening tempo marking of quarter note = 63, and the marking of “slower” at m. 119. This is not a comprehensive list, but these are some of the things that should jump out at you as you browse through a piece.
    During this step, research the composer and the work itself. Good information to find includes the composer’s background, if the work was a commission, and what, if anything, the title says about the piece. Use a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words in the title.

Precision Study and Absorbing the Music
    The next step is learning each portion of the score. Begin at the top of the score and take one instrument at a time. As you go through each part, mark everything that is of significance. I recommend using only three primary colors, red for crescendos and dynamics mf and louder, blue for decrescendos and dynamics mp and softer, and green for everything else. I will also use a pencil to mark cues, entrances, tonal analysis, and any important conducting cues. As you mark each part individually, sing the part while sitting at the piano. Use the piano to help you find the beginning pitch, and while singing to stay in the correct key center. When first learning this method, you may find yourself playing every few notes to stay on the correct pitch. It will be slow going at first, with practice you will be able to achieve longer and longer phrases with only singing. At the same time, you should be marking the part as mentioned above. The example on the next page contains markings I have made to first page of the score.

The first score markings should include changes in orchestration (top) and tempos (bottom).

    Continue down the score through each of the instruments. If you make pitch mistakes, go through the part again until you have an accurate rendition. This will help commit each part to memory and thus make hearing pitch errors during rehearsals much easier.

Multiple-Part Vocalization
    As you finish the individual marking of a family of instruments, it is then time to put the sounds together. There are many ways to do this. The first step is singing and playing any two of a family of instruments together, such as singing the flute part while playing the first clarinet part, or playing the bassoon part while singing the alto saxophone part. Cover as many different combinations as time allows. The amount of time available to learn the score before the first rehearsal will dictate how much of this is possible.
    Another method that can be used is to record yourself and then overlay with additional tracks. Multiple parts can be recorded and played back while you sing or play a different part. Although this takes time and effort, you will reap the benefit of hearing the score with no interpretation but the one you are developing.

Instrument Family Audiation
    The next step is to audiate an entire section of the score. This step can take place after singing and playing through every part in the score, or it can also be done when finishing each instrument family. I prefer to do this after finishing each family while each part is still fresh in my mind. It takes practice to hear numerous instruments in the mind at the same time, but if you have strictly followed through singing and playing each part, as well as singing and playing two or more parts together, you will find that the inner ear will become unable to turn off the sounds of the other instruments.
At this point, set a metronome to the given tempo and mentally listen to the instruments you have studied so far. This is the time to start forming an interpretation and make key decisions about phrasing, tempo, articulation, and all the small things that come up in rehearsal.

Full Score Audiation
    Hearing the entire score in your mind can be difficult and time consuming at first. If you use a piano to help with pitch centers, chords, and non-chord tones, you can then rely on the work you have done in the previous steps to hear the score internally. Avoid listening to recordings during these steps. It is tempting – and quicker – to go to a recording to get the score in your ear, but what is learned is someone else’s interpretation, and the chance to form your own is lost. If you have done the proper research and background study on the work you are learning, you will be able to make an educated and viable interpretation of the work without listening to a recording.

    Take as much time as possible to go through the work diligently and thoroughly. Use a metronome to help with tempo decisions and to stay as true to the score as possible. This crucial phase is your time to create the perfect recording of how the work should sound in your mind. When you begin rehearsals this is what will help you shape the music as desired through educated and through score study.

Score Timeline
    At this point you have internalized the score and are familiar with the themes, key centers, and development sections. It is time to restate this knowledge concisely as a timeline useful for seeing the big picture. This can be done while audiating the full score or afterward. Everything you circled or noted in pencil in the score should go here, as should anything noticed during the precision study phase. A timeline can be as detailed or as sparse as necessary but should include enough information that notes can be found quickly during rehearsal. Below is a basic timeline for Ayre for Eventide.

Begin Preparation
    Although there are many variables for what might happen, you should now be able to sculpt the ensemble’s sounds to match what you have created in your mind during study. However, score study does not end at this point. As rehearsals progress you may find that some initial decisions are not viable or do not convey the essence of what you believe the work is supposed to be. This is fine. Although initial thoughts may be revised, what matters is that you are prepared to make the best decisions about the music.
    This is the time to listen to recordings and compare other interpretations. Check as many recordings as possible to avoid being influenced by any one interpretation. Take what you enjoy and add it to your interpretation. Part of what makes music wonderful is the ability to perform it multiple ways and still be correct and true to the composer.

Perform
    It is easy to say that the time needed to prepare every score in this manner is unrealistic, but this is why it is best to focus on what only you can do and recruit others to handle as much of the rest as possible. Although much time and effort should be invested in the preparation, the satisfaction of hearing your students present a wonderful performance and departing as better musicians than they were when you started should be a source of pride.

The post Steps to Score Mastery appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Voices
Group 1: soprano instruments
Group 2: alto instruments
Group 3: tenor instruments
Group 4: bass instruments
 
Volume
Group 1: softest
Group 2: soft
Group 3: loud
Group 4: loudest (not loudly)

    Once the instruments are categorized by voice and volume, have group 4 voices play a pitch at a piano dynamic and invite each of the other voices to enter with their respective volumes in relation to group 4. In our experiences, starting softly in group 4 quickly produces a decently balanced sound, especially when working with unisons and octaves. From here, designate one hand to identify voice group and the other to indicate volume. By changing the group number and the volume, we can affect the presence of sound of each voice. It is important that students hear both good and poor balance and visually and aurally experience the changes the conductor is making.

Interval and Intonation Awareness
    Set a drone pitch and have every student sing to match the tone. Once established, use one finger to identify the drone as tonic. Have the students sing the word one multiple times. Continue the exercise by changing the pitches of the drone to the second, third, fourth, and fifth scale degrees of the major scale while directing students to sing two, three, four, and five respectively. As each pitch changes, change the number you show in your hands to reflect the scale degrees being sung. Do this both ascending and descending while reinforcing ensemble intonation; this is especially important when descending.
    Set the drone pitch back to tonic and have the students sing scales up and down to the different scale degrees indicated by your fingers while bringing attention to the intonation of the interval they are creating against the drone. Bring the ensemble back to the tonic and have them continue the exercise using their instruments. This is a great foundational exercise that can be adapted to more advanced interval and intonation concepts, such as playing scales in thirds with accurate intonation as well as introducing harmonic functions of music.
 
Dynamics
    Numerical systems work well for teaching terraced dynamics levels as well. Giving dynamic levels a numerical value (pp = 1, p = 2, mp = 3, mf = 4, f = 5, ff = 6) will help students understand the differences and distances between them. This can be reinforced in warmup routines while playing long tones at a dynamic level determined by the instructor or by isolating a section of music in which terraced dynamics occur. Additional teaching strategies to reinforce terraced dynamics require students to identify the dynamic level, using correct musical terminology, and determine which number should be assigned. Students can reinforce this in the music by writing the corresponding numeral assigned to the dynamic level printed on the page when encountered in the music.
 
Crescendos and Decrescendos
    A numerical system can also be used to help students pace crescendos and decrescendos. Use the numerical system described above to establish the starting dynamic and identify the arrival dynamic. If a crescendo begins at p (or 2) and arrives at ff (or 6) five counts later, the students will need to increase their volume incrementally over five counts of music. Visualizing this concept through standing up and sitting down works effectively and is a great opportunity for students to get cues from each other. If someone stands up or sits down too quickly to demonstrate a dynamic change over a number of beats, students can look around and help each other control their pacing. A few laughs and smiles along the way are to be expected, especially the first few times. Try varying the exercise with different dynamic ranges and tempi. It is key to practice this with good balance based on the instrument voice designations from the balance exercise; dynamics and dynamic contrasts are contextual.

There are innumerable variations on these rehearsal strategies. However they might be used, implementing numerical systems is an efficient way to introduce, reinforce, and refine ensemble awareness and execution across many fundamental performance concepts.

Ernest Jennings and Steven Riley

The post Counting in Rehearsals appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    In November 2010, we chatted with Spring (Texas) High School Director of Bands Gabe Musella. We recently caught up with him to ask how his teaching has changed in the last seven years.

How would you say the way you teach changed in the last seven years?
    In Texas we have to be trained in CPR to teach marching band. I was never more glad for that training than in 2013, when my father had a heart attack in front of me and my family on Thanksgiving Day, and I had to use CPR to save him. Since this happened, my band has taken off, and I liken it to putting everything in perspective. Teaching and shaping young people is important, but at the end of the day it’s not life or death, and I think that perspective has made me a better teacher. I feel less pressure about our performances, and this makes students feel the same.

Are there any new ideas you’ve incorporated into your teaching?
    After our saxophone quartet played at the Midwest Clinic in 2013 we increased the emphasis on chamber music to the point where we have year-round chamber ensembles. After watching the quartet’s spectacular concert, I remember thinking there was no need to worry about what I programmed in the spring; my saxophonists were going to play anything I put in front of them. Wouldn’t it be cool if I felt that way about every section?
    Assistant director Jason Smith, who coached the quartet, now runs our chamber program, and he has had a lot of success. There is a competition in Austin called the Coltman Chamber Compe-tition, and Jason has gotten a woodwind quintet, sax quartet, and clarinet quartet into the finals, plus additional groups accepted. Some of our groups now meet all year and rehearse by themselves quite well. We have three or four bands depending on enrollment, and all of the ensembles come from the same band. I usually assign them after our June marching camp, but in the last couple years students have begun forming groups on their own, which is gratifying to see.
    Gary Lewis from the University of Colorado has worked with our band. He notes that within any given piece there are moments of chamber music, and the more we get the performers to realize who they are playing with and what their role is in that small ensemble, the better the piece sounds.

Are there any aspects of musicianship that you plan to focus on this coming school year?
    There is always a quest for students owning musical decisions. I am always trying to find music that will let some of my soloists shine. I frequently tell the group that everyone is a soloist. In our daily drill, we use an exercise where somebody at some point will get a chance to play a three-note phrase, which the entire ensemble has to mimic. We call it an Inverted Remington. It is two half notes and a whole note (F-E-F), and the lead student can shape that anyway he wants – crescendo through two notes, decrescendo through all three notes, or play the whole thing pianissimo. We frequently discuss communicating intent to the audience. If you communicate a pianissimo properly then the ensemble will get it, and if not, that’s a learning opportunity. Students always enjoy that drill, and it builds confidence in playing alone, and they have the freedom to shape and articulate those three notes any way they like. Sometimes no one conducts it, and occasionally I turn off the lights and we play it in the dark.

What are some of your other favorite daily drill exercises?
    Well my favorite is an interval exercise I got from Tom Bennett. The band is split into two groups that alternate when they play roots and fifths. In the beginning stages all we do is lock in that fifth, but then the exercise gets more complicated.
    The aim of this exercise is to make it impossible to tell when the two groups switch notes; we do not want to hear a rearticulation of the C. This is difficult to accomplish, but it sharpens the ears immensely and works wonders for balance and fitting into your neighbor’s sound.
    After the fifth, we play the tri-tone, then perfect fourth, major third, and all the way down to the unison. Sometimes I continue all the way down to a perfect fifth below the F. It takes several minutes to go through this full range, but the time spent is worth it. Other times we go up to the major sixth. I have not been bold enough to try the octave yet.
    Occasionally we send groups off in trios to master just a couple of intervals. I might say, “Go off to a corner somewhere and work this exercise for five minutes. It is a chaotic sound, but when we come back to the ensemble, it is amazing how much more resonant everything is.

In 2010, you mentioned that one of the keys to a good performance was giving students the correct information on their instruments. Give an example on any instrument.
    I was a tuba player, so I will use that instrument as an example. To make the low register speak correctly, tongue placement should be much lower than some players may think. In the extreme low registers the tongue has to go between the teeth, because there’s no other way to make that happen.
    When considering a transcription to play, people immediately check high woodwind parts for technique, but the low string bass parts have to be covered by tuba players and lower reeds. Technical facility is important, but with transcriptions, it is also important for bass instruments to create the right sound. It takes a great deal of air to get a sound that matches a string bass, and it is important that students know what to aim for.

What is your best advice for a new teacher?
    Seek out the information you need, and do not be afraid to call to an experienced older person. This will be my 30th year of teaching, and I would not have enjoyed any success if I hadn’t had access to so many wonderful mentors. I have a broad support network and am grateful to so many people for taking the time to give me some advice on this profession. I think too often we lose young teachers because they never pick up the phone. They graduate from college excited and ready to go, but they are afraid of looking dumb by asking for help.
    Reach out and get a mentor or two – or ten. There is no way anyone could possibly know everything there is to know about this business. My initial reaction to your first question was to tell you I’m not as smart as I thought I was. The longer you teach, the more you realize there is no way to know it all. All teachers should accept that and seek out mentors. There are a lot of people who would be happy to help.   

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    The key to a successful marching band camp is to set up a system. Ideally, there is a crew of student leaders in place well ahead of time. This creates an overlap between one team and the next, and students in leadership positions have time to reflect and prepare for the upcoming season. However, sometimes, this isn’t possible, especially for teachers hired late in the summer or for those who were unaware that they were expected to run a band camp. Here are tips for getting ready at the last minute.

Finding Help
    If possible, reach out to the departing teacher to learn who some of the student leaders could be. If there is one, a middle school band director might have some suggestions as well. Barring either of these options, ask administrators or other teachers. If all else fails, do not be afraid to telephone students and ask for help. Say “I see you’re in band and a senior. Would you help be a leader of the band during band camp?”
    Start with the seniors. It is their last year, and they are often the most invested in the program. Transitions between directors are difficult, but the students who still sign up for band after a teacher leaves are in the program for reasons other than devotion to a teacher and have skin in the game for making sure the transition goes well. Consider getting juniors on board, also. They can ease the transition into this year and the next.

Training Student Staff
    Start band camp with just the student leaders and review technique with them. At the University of Iowa, we start with undergraduate staff rehearsals on the first day. Even a morning session with just the student staff will be a big help. This is an opportunity for practice teaching. Invite an experienced marcher to intentionally march incorrectly and give students a chance to identify and solve problems in a controlled environment.
    Teach student staff how to teach. An influential article in my teaching was Verbal Instruction in Instrumental Rehearsals: A Comparison of Three Career Levels and Preservice Teachers by Thomas W. Goolsby (Journal of Research in Music Education April 1997). Inexperienced teachers – such as a student section leader – might say “let’s do that again,” but without explaining why it needs repetition or how to solve the problem. Even if student leaders do not know how to fix a problem on their own, they should still share what they hear with the others; perhaps the section can solve it together.
    Another common mistake is to identify a problem without giving the group an opportunity to play through the passage again. If section leaders hear a problem in their section’s playing, they should run the passage again, and give additional feedback afterward: praise if the problem was solved or encouragement and another repetition.
    Emphasize that students’ jobs are to teach and to help, not to be the boss. I am a fan of legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden and his rule that students were not allowed to criticize other students. He would say criticism was his job as the one in charge, but if students wanted to help each other, that was a different story. In the Hawkeye Marching Band the hierarchy is squad leaders at the bottom, then section leaders, drum major, graduate staff, and finally director Kevin Kastens. Knowing that there is someone to go to for assistance makes solving problems simpler. Squad and section leaders have important jobs, but they are not in charge of the program, and having everyone know that makes things easier on the student staff.

Delegating Responsibilities
    Delegation is one of the signs of an effective teacher – they can distribute the load instead of carrying it all themselves. The former Iowa director of bands Myron Welch once told me that the people who don’t learn to delegate don’t last.
    Start music rehearsals in like instrument groups. This gives students a chance to hear each other and build community. Students can easily lead warmups and tuning. There are many tuning apps available for download and therefore no reason why a section leader with a smart phone or tablet cannot have one available.
    When working on marching basics, occasionally pull section leaders out to guide people and help with technique. People holding back their section or the overall progress of the band can be pulled out of the block to work with a leader one on one. Diligence during camp with fundamentals can be an ounce of prevention saving you a pound of cure later. If your student staff members have strong mastery of marching techniques, they can teach these as well, but even if some of your volunteers that first year are not completely solid, they can still be pulled out to observe other students. They will be more solid than new band members. As an example, when marking time, some people tend to creep back and forth. They may be unaware of this, but any observer can point it out.
    During drills (such as a box drill), have student leaders call out commands, so no one forgets which direction to go. Other band members should echo these commands after they hear them. This includes commands like mark time and horns up.
    Section leaders can also be a demonstration group. Have them model various techniques to the rest of the band. This is an ideal use for section leaders. When they are pulled out of rank to observe, that is one less repetition they get. Occasionally calling them out to demonstrate to the rest of the band gives them the practice they miss at other times in rehearsal. A good demonstration exercise with everyone on the field is to run a box drill and have section leaders play a concert Bb scale while other band members practice calling out what is coming up. Then switch roles, so section leaders are providing the reminders while everyone else is playing and marching. The end goal of this exercise is no verbal commands at all.

Assigning Permanent Roles
    A formal leadership structure is helpful, but, in a last-minute camp, you could delay final leadership decisions until the end of band camp. This gives you time to get to know the volunteers and evaluate who would be the best permanent leaders.
    Selflessness is the number one trait I look for in student leaders. These students are not there to be taken advantage of, but those who are generous with their time and knowledge will be the most beneficial to the program. They should also be good teachers, able to demonstrate technique. Although you don’t want a section leader who struggles to play or march well, sometimes the best performer is not the best teacher. The best performer may not be able to relate to struggling students well. Leadership is not a popularity contest, but student leaders should also be likeable and approachable, so struggling students are unafraid to ask for help.   

Quick Tips for Success

    Never assume students know something. The Green Bay Packers suffered a last-minute loss in the 1960 NFL Championship game. When camp started the next July, the first thing Coach Vince Lombardi did was hold up a football and say, “This is a football.” He started with the basics, and the Packers became the best at them. Likewise, Denis Wick wrote about taking summers away from his instrument. Then when he picked up his trombone again in August he would meticulously focus on every aspect of playing and get the smallest details perfect.
    Give students an overview of the show. Directors spend hours writing – or at least studying – drill, but students see things from their spot on the field, one move at a time. If you design drill on computer, let students watch how the show progresses. Students may benefit from viewing drill on an app on their phone. Seeing the bigger picture helps them know what the group is working toward.
    Insist that students use the correct terminology. Teach it, and then expect students to use it. Some students will be too shy or intimidated to ask about unfamiliar terms, and marching bands are usually large enough that it is possible to spend the entire season hiding. Make sure everyone knows what you are talking about when you use phrases like “cover down.”
    Split the yard line. Many bands have their rehearsal block organized so all students are on a yard line. For variety, condense the form so some students are on a yard line and some are halfway between them, and work on daily marching drills this way. Then have everyone move up four steps so the other half of the band has to work splitting the yard line.
    Practice multiple step sizes. We work eight-to-five steps often, but occasionally work twelve-to-five or sixteen-to-five as well. This gives students practice on adjusting step sizes. A drill I like is mark time 8, forward march 8 (eight-to-five), forward march 16 (sixteen-to-five). Combine this with splitting the yard line. Students may be tempted to fudge step sizes if they overestimate the first few steps. Watch for this, and give students an opportunity to do it again correctly. Otherwise, students only learn how to come close to the target and make up the difference at the end of the move.
    Have students freeze. Explain, “When we start this next exercise, I’m going to say ‘one-and-two,’ and everyone should freeze in place on beat two.” Staying frozen in place can be taxing, so avoid it for longer than it takes for student leaders to check everyone’s position and make corrections as needed. To break things down further, freeze the band on the and of the beat. Consider having students take pictures or video of each other so people can evaluate their marching technique. Also record students demonstrating good technique, so you can send video for students to watch before rehearsal.
    Use a drone with video capability for a new perspective on how the band looks. Check with your administration, but drone use is becoming much more common as a diagnostic tool in marching band rehearsals.
    Bring in guests to work directly with your band or observe and offer suggestions to you. Timing and availability during band camp season can be tricky, but if not a neighboring director, then perhaps college directors or even college students still on summer break. People who have judged your group in the past are another option. A new perspective is always helpful, and clinicians are useful for emphasizing concepts from the podium. Sometimes hearing your thoughts from someone else’s mouth is what makes a concept stick.
    Finally, end camp on a high note by showing off student progress at a parents’ night. March the show (or part of it) and perform all the music. Parents will appreciate the time and energy invested, while students will get the thrill of performance and a rewarding conclusion to camp. This is an important benchmark from which you can measure growth throughout the season and generate ideas on how to approach the next rehearsal.

The post Last-Minute Band Camp appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    James Seda has been Director of Bands at Southwest DeKalb High School near Atlanta since 2001 and began his teaching career at Chapel Hill Middle School in the same district in 1999. He emphasizes that recruiting for a program is an ongoing task that begins long before students reach high school. “One thing that impresses the parents early is when you come up and say their student’s name. That shows a connection, and parents start to develop a trust. We maintain those relationships as students go through the middle school, and ultimately when they reach high school, they’re not new.” Seda earned a Bachelors of Science Degree in Music Education from Florida A&M University and pursued further studies at Northern Illinois University. His trumpet playing has taken him to Switzerland, Holland, St. Thomas, Jamaica, and across the United States. Among other media projects, he worked on the movie Drumline as a music arranger, creative consultant, instrumentalist, and acting extra.

When did you know that you wanted to teach music?
    I knew in college. During my first two years at Florida A&M, I was an engineering major but spent so much time around music that I knew this was the direction for me. I dropped the engineering as a major and switched to music education. At the time I wasn’t sure about teaching; I just loved to perform. I had the opportunity to travel and play internationally. I completed my student teaching at the same high school where I teach now. The directors at the time attended Florida A&M years before I did. They threw me into the fire immediately. After a quick introduction, I was teaching an intermediate class by the third day. It was a wonderful experience as I had the opportunity to work and learn hard. I made a strong connection with students and discovered how much I loved teaching. I also figured out what I did not know.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your position?
    I think it is making personal connections with students. When you get an opportunity to connect with a student and find out about their life, you realize that an organization like band is much bigger than music. It is a safe haven, a place where they can develop friendships and even set themselves up for a future career. I frequently remind students that they are part of a team and every member of the group has value from the most accomplished to the least experienced. Marching band helps to develop that feeling of community because you have all different ability levels working for a common goal.
    I also tell students that everyone has a story. When an alumnus returns to visit us, I will stop rehearsal and introduce them. I will describe what they did in school and also what they are doing as adults. I try to recall an interesting fact or memory about the alum, perhaps a great performance or experience. It is another way to remind each student how we all contribute to the whole.

What strategies do you use to recruit students and keep them in your program?
    We are visible in the community and advertise our successes in every possible way. We connect with students from a young age so they know what to look forward to in high school. We have always had a good relationship with our elementary and middle school feeders to the point that we know students by name, and they know us from a young age. Fifth and sixth graders coming up through our cluster know each other. Our high school student leaders mentor, coach, and develop good relationships with the elementary and middle school students, occasionally offering musical and academic tutoring. We attend their performances; they attend our performances. Friendships are formed.
    Each fall, we host a band day that allows the elementary and middle school students to spend the day with the high school band. Before one of our football games, we set up a festival like atmosphere with games, activities, and a big cookout. Even the parents get an opportunity to visit and develop relationships before we all get on the bus together to perform at the football game. Playing alongside the high school students leaves a tremendous impression on the elementary kids. We give each participant a band day t-shirt, and the kids tend to wear that shirt with great excitement because they feel such pride. It’s incredible. There are so many high school activities that compete for student time. I also discovered that many activities and clubs try to recruit band students because they have strong discipline and commitment. They know these students have a high sense of accountability. We do not try to compete with other groups for students, but we work hard to keep the band program interesting all throughout high school.

How do you balance your family life with the many demands placed upon your professional life?
    I am blessed to have an incredible wife, Jennifer, who is a successful middle school band director.  We were married two years ago. It is sometimes hard to find a balance because our programs each have about 200 students. When we are at home, we don’t talk band a lot, but we understand the demands and requirements of running a successful program. That common perspective helps us as we try to keep a balance at work and home.

What type of balance do you try to achieve between your marching and concert bands?
    Marching band is a voluntary after-school activity that spans from band camp in late July to the last football game in November. In late April, we have a two-week mini camp intended to introduce middle schoolers to marching band, anticipating their rise to high school band. The culminating event is a spring exhibition performance. Everything else is concert band and ensemble work. Concert band is a year-round activity, and it drives the band program. We have three concert bands, a jazz ensemble, a percussion ensemble, and several instrumental chamber groups. Throughout the spring semester, marching band is inactive.

What types of warm-up strategies do you employ with your ensembles?
    One benefit of a block schedule is seeing our students every day for 85 minutes. We begin the first 15 minutes of rehearsals with six minutes of long tones, six minutes of breathing exercises, and then various exercises. The brass play lip slurs, and the woodwinds might work on two-octave scales. We follow this written routine before we go into other music. It is easy to modify for advanced players or beginners.

What is your tuning process?
    We start by tuning to a concert F. We play a concert F on the loud speakers and try to get everybody to center in on it. Then, I go from instrument to instrument starting with the low instruments and fine tune them. Tune their concert Bb pitch and play up to the note F, G, A, Bb. Four-valve brass instruments also tune low Cs. Trombones, euphoniums, trumpet all follow a similar process. Trombones with an F attachment and bass trombones will tune low Cs and Dbs.     We tune three parts with the clarinets: the barrel, the middle joint, the low joint. Flutes will tune to Ab. Oboes will tune to An and Bb. Saxophones will tune to their F#. Horns must tune both sides of the instrument, playing C, Bb, Bn, and A, adjusting each valve slide. The process takes about ten minutes.

What are your daily goals for rehearsals?
    I tell students that we want them to laugh every day. That is not a musical goal, but you can get so tense and focused close to a performance. Students are accepting of what happens in rehearsal and rarely complain. We want them to laugh every day.

How would you describe your rehearsal room management style?
    My approach to managing rehearsals came from Alfred Watkins. In one of his sessions with directors, he said to monitor everything students do for the first two or three weeks in class. We meet them at the door, watch how they set up, and study to amount of time it takes to get in their seats. Class instructions are written on the board, and once in a while I put something in just to see if they are paying attention. By watching everything from entering the room to playing the first note, you avoid the temptation to hang out and talk with their friends.  Outlining the lesson on the board lets kids know what is going to happen and in what order. This helps them focus on the expectations for the day. Once students learn the routine, they tend to follow it on their own.

Is there any secret to getting your ensemble to play so beautifully together as one?
    It is no secret. I use an amplified metronome every day with each class and rehearsal. Throughout the breathing exercises, long tones, scale exercises, unison studies, and chorales, the clicks are sounding.This process teaches students to listen with great focus, subdivide rhythms, and play together with great accuracy.
    Another method that helps my students is playing various exercises extremely slowly. We have a saying: “Slow practice is good practice.” On every day except Friday, exercises are very slow. Even if we’re playing a sixteenth note scaling exercises, I’ll dial the metronome down as low as it can go: quarter note=32. We set the subdivisions, so they’re playing these sixteenth notes but at a very slow pace.
    The payoff to the students – because they all want to play high, fast, and loud – is Friday; we call it the fast day. Of course, fast is all relative. We play at quarter note=32 the first four days of the week, so quarter note=50 can be a fast tempo for them. When we dial the tempo up, and they can move their fingers successfully through the exercises, students still feel accomplished, but we still going at a snail’s pace tempo, to the point that they can feel each subdivision. The fast day gets faster as the year progresses, but for the slow days, the metronomic setting is always at 32.
    I develop our literature much in the same way. After we do our initial read we take everything slowly, so the rhythms and subdivisions are as clear and clean as possible. Everyone understands where the pulses are before we move the tempos up. It really helps once we get up to the tempo on the page.

You told me earlier that one of your mentors encouraged you to develop a private lesson approach to teaching a full rehearsal. What does this mean to you?
    My college band director, Julian E. White, often stressed the importance of developing a strong pedagogical knowledge of each instrument. Having long class periods allows us to have daily lessons and discussions about embouchure, breathing, tone production, intonation, hand position, tongue placement, and other essential methods. Our goal is to approach the study of these methods in the same manner as a student would receive in a private lesson.
    In my community not many students can afford or have convenient access to private lessons. The daily lessons in class must be filled with good information on methodology and performance fundamentals. As a teacher, I continue my education by attending clinics, seeking the knowledge of my colleagues, and listening to good instrumental examples. I’ve discovered some cool new methods, but the proven old methods continue to work just fine.

How do you handle assessment?
    We assess our students in three ways. The first is a weekly notebook check. It is important that students are neat and organized with music and material issued to them. Each student must also submit a weekly practice log, signed and dated by a parent. We trust that they will be honest with the practice hours that they report. Fridays are filled with playing tests. This includes scale exercises, tuning tests, solos and ensembles and excerpts of concert music.

Beyond being successful in their school curriculum, what advice would you offer university students as they prepare for a career in instrumental music education?
    Try to find as many opportunities as you can to perform on your instrument. I am fortunate to play in the Cobb Wind Symphony, a community band that allows walk-ins. Having the chance to hear good sounds in a performance setting, gives perspective about what sounds to expect from your students. It is important to experience music simply as a performer, not just a teacher. Connecting with the joy of performing strengthens and encourages you as a young teacher in front of a group.

What are the most common mistakes that first-year teachers make?
    First-year teachers often enter the profession without a clear plan for setting up a band program or steps to follow to accomplish their goals. Seeking the guidance of experienced, successful teachers to be mentors is vital to their development. Another common mistake that I have observed is how some young teachers would choose music for their ensemble or select activities that are only designed to make students happy but do nothing to enrich them artistically.

What, if any, roles have mentors played in your career?
    The high school director when I was growing up, Curtis Byrdsong of Southside Comprehensive High School, was a mentor even before I joined the band. My older brother and sisters were all in high school band, and I loved to sit and watch my brother practice on euphonium or my sisters on saxophone and clarinet. They wouldn’t let me touch the instruments often, but they would always let me listen. I just admired the command and impression Mr. Byrdsong had on them, because they thought that he was the world. I always looked forward to the day that I could join band. My middle school teacher, James Camp, had the biggest impact on me. In the three years that I played in middle school band I gained such a high appreciation and love for music and playing the trumpet. He was a tough teacher, old school in every sense of the word. He had strict standards. He didn’t accept anything besides your best. We learned that early. He also was nurturing and compassionate, taking the time to learn every student’s situation. This school was in the inner city of Atlanta, and the majority of the band students lived in housing projects and government homes. We did not have much, and this gentleman managed to give us a successful band program in a community where you would not expect that. At Florida A&M, William Foster and Julian White convinced me that I could have a career in music. Their impact on me as accomplished music educators and musicians gave me and so many others the confidence to have success.
    During my 18 years of teaching, a tremendous amount of guidance and mentoring has come from Don P. Roberts (DeKalb County School System Music Coordinator), Reginald McDonald (Tennessee State University Director of Bands and Orchestra), Natalie Brown (Director of Bands at Chapel Hill Middle School) and Alfred Watkins (Director of Bands, retired, Lassiter High School). Along with Julian E. White, they all continue to be guiding forces in my professional life.

What have been the keys to your success at Southwest DeKalb High School?
    I started my career here and have never been anywhere else. Expectations are expectations regardless of where you are. As the county defines it, our school is about 98% African-American, 1% Caucasian, and 1% others. About 58% of our students receive free and reduced lunch. I find that students want discipline and structure. Students want to be in a safe place where they are nurtured and encouraged. They work hard to comply with whatever the standards and expectations are. They want to be part of something meaningful and work hard to stay.
    I am exceptionally proud of our students and how they commit themselves to the program and artistic excellence. They want to be good. A high standard in this community might be completely different than a high standard in another community. We get them to listen to good music whether it is live or through social media or internet access.
    I have experienced a few situations when after a successful band performance, people have asked about our groups, “how do they do that?” It is a loaded comment. They mean, “how do they do that where they come from?” We present our students with good information and expose them to the best music. They work hard and believe they can achieve excellence. I have always been proud of how the students step up.
    One thing that impresses me most about my students is that when someone plays well in class, they clap. We do not rehearse this. They get to a point where they appreciate excellence. Everyone wants to feel that praise.   

photos by Vincent Myers

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