The resumption of fall activities presents challenges and opportunities for those who teach and adjudicate the marching arts. This hit home for me recently when I judged the Maine All-State virtual jazz and solo and ensemble festivals.
    Many schools have had no in-person music classes this year. Others have had truncated student contact and socially distanced outdoor rehearsals. The groups that prepared recordings for the festival crammed six months’ of rehearsal work into a month. A few groups rehearsed virtually and made the recording that way. One group rehearsed virtually, and the only time they were in the same room was for the recording. The results were remarkable.
    I thought about the upcoming fall season as I evaluated these performances. The need for empathy was strong, but also the need for honest, accurate assessments. I constantly put myself in the shoes of the director. What will we be hearing, seeing, and teaching in
the fall? In many cases, programs of less complexity. The groups that I heard played literature of more modest difficulty out of necessity. A test of great teaching is great programming. Directors who pay attention to this area will produce results that judges can praise and reward.
    Ensemble skills may be very rusty, especially early in the season. Judges should note this, but be sure to search for moments when the ensemble’s potential peeks through. Staffs need to redouble their commitment to the basics. The temptation to take shortcuts will be great. Both judges and staffs need to be patient with this part of the process. This is a great opportunity for a reset for the relationship between adjudicators and staffs.
    After suspending the 2020 season DCI faced dilemmas in how to approach programming. The results indicate that many groups wanted to reestablish a strong audience connection. Phantom Regiment and Cadets programmed greatest-hits material from previous years for DCI’s truncated, non-competitive season. The initial reaction was very positive. This audience-friendly approach extended to others. Blue Knights programmed music of Louis Armstrong, and Boston      Crusaders planned music by Perez Prado and Billy May. Rosemont Cavaliers announced a show with a simple message – roses, riffing off the group’s physical location and including La Vie En Rose and Sing, Sing, Sing. Under normal circumstances, these groups would never have performed literature of this sort.
    A season without competition encouraged several groups to put concern for audience involvement first. This is encouraging. The world will certainly not be worse for having Rainbow Connection on the field. This may be an opportunity for a creative reboot
    Drum corps has for some time grappled with a balance between esoteric and populist. Because of the groups that succeeded in competition, the pendulum had swung solidly esoteric, at the expense of audience engagement. Michael Cesario tried to reverse that trend when he was DCI’s artistic director and made a great deal of progress. Lessons learned post-Covid may accelerate that trend. Applause can be addictive. The question all marching arts organizations must ask is, “Do pandemic-weary audiences want heady programs or are they simply looking to be entertained?” History can offer a useful guide – whether it be the Depression-era escapism of Busby Berkeley’s films or the swing dancing craze that swept the nation at that same time. (The latter makes Cavaliers’ choice of Sing, Sing, Sing prescient.) How this translates to venues like Bands of America, where message shows have been predominant recently, will be fascinating to watch.
    Many teachers have had horrendous schedules and had to develop educational strategies and curricula on the fly. Their work to keep music alive has been heroic. The same applies to the students. This is the opportunity to revel in this work. Teachers and students will be eager for feedback. One suspects all involved will be ecstatic to have band back. Adjudicators probably can’t wait to judge again, and performers and staff long to thrill audiences again. This is a fresh start, a new and promising day.
    All concerned should be prepared for a rebuild, as some programs could have significant attrition. When continuity in music programs is broken, it is tough to recover the lost year of music development. There may be smaller groups and lesser skills on display for now. Some bands may be very young, but this fall marching band season can be a celebration of triumph over adversity. What a great lesson for our students! 

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    A key part of music contests is developing healthy relationships with the judging community. These relationships are important to the growth of your group and can sometimes be challenging and frustrating.
    No one wants rocky relationships, but that happens more frequently than we would like. If there is tension between judges and staffs, nobody is at their best and the free flow of information slows to a dribble. This is unfortunate and avoidable. At its best, interaction with the judging community is symbiotic. The possibilities for meaningful collaboration between judges and staffs are significant and central to student growth. That, and not the competitive result, should be the bottom line. When it isn’t, problems – occasionally major – occur. Ego has ruined more than a few opportunities for teaching and learning.
    I grew up in competitive drum corps in the mid-1960s and have taught it since the early 1970s. Many great professional relationships, but more than a few frustrations, have come from this experience. In the late 1970s and ‘80s, Drum Corps International was like the Wild West for teachers and judges. There were such visionary judges as Bernard Baggs, Don Angelica, George Olivierio and Shirlee Whitcomb, but also those of another stripe. I recall one judge railing at my group’s performance, and then adding, “but everybody on the East Coast sounds terrible this year.” This was a prominent judge, but one who had limited teaching and no writing experience. Two of the top three DCI finalists that year came from the East.
    John Phillips, then a young brass judge, was a much-needed mentor. Once, a constructive critique led a few days later to two unsolicited pages of suggestions from John. He was invested; he wanted my group to improve. Things later improved in DCI, and John remains an essential part of that. When I entered public education, this approach was vital for my staff and the progress of our groups. The judges and those judged are in this together.
    Here are some things to remember as you approach your next season of judge interactions:
    •    You can choose to make the judging community be an extension of your educational faculty. If you believe this, your staff must share that belief. Hold them accountable for approaching things in that way. If they want to vent about a judge, let them vent to you.
    •    Judges want you to succeed. No judge wants groups to look or sound bad. Most of us have walked in your shoes. We are pulling for you.
    •    When judges offer ideas and suggestions, you have to momentarily suspend ownership and ego, and accept what is said objectively. This is particularly true for designers. It can feel like someone is calling your spouse or child ugly. It is helpful to think, “Maybe this isn’t as good as I thought it is. How can we make it better?” Then ask for help.
    •    Avoid the trap of thinking that “The judges are trying to rewrite our show.” Usually, this is not the case. Sometimes it may be that your design intent is not clear. You can point out politely what the judge has missed. As a judge, I love having that conversation because I learn more about the show and can help the staff define how to clarify the designers’ intent through the performance. The best approach is to say, “The next time I’d like you to notice….” Or, “We need you to credit….”
    •    Do not disparage a judge to your students. Many of us grew up with directors who said, “The judges hate us” or “We’ll do better with out-of-state judges.” This doesn’t explain an outcome or encourage the students. Instead, they end up thinking the system is rigged, which it isn’t.
    •    Occasionally, judges make errors. If you must address this with the group, say, “I don’t agree with how this judge saw things, but let’s see what we can learn.” Then, make your case to the judge administrator in a calm, factual way. This is a teaching moment for your students, and a good judge administrator will help you negotiate these rough seas.
    •    The staffs that listen most closely and act on that input get the most information from the panels and ultimately come closest to their group’s potential. There is nothing more frustrating for a judge than to give good information and suggestions to staff and discover later that they have not implemented any of them. When I first started judging marching band, a director came into the critique and announced, “I am not going to change anything.” So, a deeply flawed design was left unfixed. I felt bad for his students.
    •    Make sure your show has pacing and transitions that you can defend. Those areas tend to be groups’ greatest weaknesses and are hard to fix in the short fall season.
    •    Do not discuss or disparage other groups in critique. Word will get back to those groups, and judges will lose respect for you.
    •    Take critiques seriously. It is disheartening to have staff from a band that has performed early in the show come into critique without having listened to the judge audio files. There is usually no good excuse for this, and it’s not very respectful.
    •    Be the model for your staff and students. Competition is unhealthy only if you let it be.
    •    Consider sending out a libretto that lists staff and a brief description of your program. If you can, include links to the source material. Judges who are invested will do their summer listening for two reasons: to better serve the bands and to become more musically literate. We are lifelong learners.
    •    Be patient with inexperienced judges. Some may be evaluating you for years. You can help them improve or make them an enemy.
    •    Be self-critical about why effects aren’t working. The idea in your head may be great, but does it translate? The rise in narrative shows has been a good development in the marching arts but creates problems if the idea is too abstract. Seek judges’ help in making the intent clear. What is clear to you isn’t always clear to us.

    I recently did an in-service with one of the more creative staffs with which I deal. They had a clear narrative with a coherent story. The titles of the tunes furthered the narrative. However, somehow the intent was murky and didn’t articulate what the staff intended. Further study revealed that the lyrics told the story but were not reflected in the music the staff chose. (The band did not use voice patches.) That band would have been better served with music that had nothing to do with the narrative but reflected the moods of the show. Sometimes what looks great on paper is ineffective in practice. We discovered that in a post-season post-mortem, which leads to this next point.

    •    Think beyond the season. Judge relationships don’t have to end with the finals. When I was brass caption head of the Boston Crusaders, I asked the chief brass judge’s permission to send a short survey to selected judges, that asked for their perceptions of our weaknesses and strengths and suggestions for the future. We got information that shaped our winter’s approach, and the next year the group improved exponentially.
    •    Ask a judge you respect to do an off-season in-service with your staff.

    The reward of judging is much more than the paycheck; it comes from the joy of helping staffs and groups develop. There are many groups with talented, creative staffs that just need a gentle guiding hand. Staff, it is up to you to be open and come with your ego checked at the door. Judges, it is up to us to always be willing to be patient mentors. We are all part of a continuum.

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Research
    Before introducing any activities to students, I did my research. There are plenty of resources online about how to speak to students of different ages about culture. I also benefited from multiple courses in my master’s degree that addressed cultural appropriation and authenticity in programming.
    The Iceberg Concept of Culture is a great starting place. This concept explores the idea that such aspects of culture as food, music, clothing, crafts, and celebration are like the top of an iceberg resting above the water. A casual observer can see these parts of a culture. However, as you go deeper, the next section of the iceberg just below the water includes interpretations of culture or how people’s culture affects their behavior in certain situations. The deepest part of the iceberg is a culture’s core values. These are the most significant part and inform the rest of the iceberg. These core values explain how people decide what is good or bad and what they deem acceptable or not. The majority of a culture is invisible, and the deepest part of the iceberg represents the institutions of influence. You can find examples of the Iceberg Concept of Culture from PBS Learning Media’s website. I found this concept helpful in collecting research and deciding how to talk about culture in class. However, when working with my students, we discussed the cultural iceberg only briefly to illustrate how deeply culture is rooted in people.

Getting Started
    To begin, I divided students into small groups and asked them to define culture and share their answers with the class. Culture is a construct and contains so many aspects. Hearing students express their ideas helped me to understand their thoughts and what they remembered from social studies classes. (For those who like graphic organizers, a KWL chart works well here.) Next, I filled in some gaps in their definitions. I noted that culture is an umbrella term for social behaviors and norms found in human societies. Finally, we discussed how people learn culture. Humans are not born knowing culture; they pick it up from people around them.

Discussion Rules
    We continued with a large group discussion about how to speak about culture in class. We set ground rules for discussion because many parts of culture are deeply personal. I took notes so students could see the ideas and refer back to them. Encourage students to set the rules. You can guide them, but they will have good ideas. Students generally do not want to be mean or insensitive.
    Often, when middle school students say something insensitive or inappropriate towards a group of people they are repeating what they have heard. Take a careful approach to correcting these comments. If a student says something inappropriate, they may not know it is hurtful.
    Do not shame students when correcting them. If you act shocked or respond harshly, they often shut down and miss the chance to learn. Researcher and author Brené Brown defines shame as “the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging – something we’ve experienced, done, or failed to do makes us unworthy of connection.”
    A good way to respond when a student says something inappropriate is to ask, “why?” or “what do you mean by that?” Over the past few years, I have adopted this as my blanket response when students say something hurtful or inappropriate. It causes them to pause and think, and frequently they realize a particular comment is problematic, and the issue resolves itself. If the student genuinely does not know a statement is harmful, address them in a one-on-one conversation about treating others with respect.
    A few ground rules my students came up with were:

    ●    No one is forced to share.
    ●    Keep an open mind.
    ●    Be respectful.
    ●    Listen when others are talking.

Exploring Culture
    After setting these guidelines, students again split into small groups to think of examples of their culture in America, the South, Georgia, Monroe County, and even their own families. While students talked, I kept our rules projected as a reminder of the norms for discussion. After about 5-10 minutes (or once I heard conversations starting to drift) we came together to discuss each of these cultures. Many student responses about their culture lived at the top of the iceberg, but a few made it just below the surface. Then, we had a large group discussion on the areas of culture.
    At this point, I also asked students about their experiences visiting other places. These stories can illustrate that unique experiences affect how we see and interact with culture. To encourage students to share their experiences, I exposed a vulnerability and told them about the culture shock I felt in my first position teaching elementary music in North Dakota. I grew up in the South and expected a kindergarten student to say “yes ma’am.” When I said this to her, she looked at me like I was from Mars. My current students, mostly native Georgians, found this culture clash hilarious.
    When teachers share a past mistake, it makes them more human, and students remember it. Sharing my misunderstanding allowed students to feel more comfortable talking about their experiences. Some students shared personal and touching information about their family cultures. Some chose not to share, and that was also fine. When covering these complex topics, I want to make sure that everyone stays engaged.
    As students shared their experiences, I avoided language that affirmed or negated their experience and instead said, “thank you.” If you use responses like “good,” “perfect,” “fantastic,” or “okay,” students may take those as validation or negation of what they shared. Their classmates are listening as well. It is common for people to unintentionally affirm experiences that are closely aligned with their own. Using neutral responses for all students averts the problem of elevating certain experiences.
    In talking about family cultures I discussed how as adults they can decide which parts of their family culture to keep and which to change. I revealed that I grew up in a similar but still different family culture than my spouse, and that there are elements that we each brought to our shared family and others that we have agreed to change. It is important for students to hear that one day they will have control over the culture of their home.

Programming Music
    The other component of my goal for the year was to incorporate this study of culture into the music we played. The pieces I chose for my students were African Folk Trilogy by Anne McGinty, Sakura arranged by Mike Story, and African Festival arranged by Quincy Hilliard. I searched for pieces that were authentic to their respective cultures and appropriately challenging.
    Avoid music that is written “in the style of” as such pieces will not provide your students with authentic experiences and are disrespectful to those who belong to those cultures. Look for arrangements of traditional songs or pieces written by people from the culture you are studying. The goal should be for students to begin to develop a true understanding and not just a superficial or stereotypical awareness.
    We must teach them about the actual thing and not just an idea or interpretation from an outsider. For example, I was intrigued by a piece about a spirit in Pueblo culture. After further study, I discovered that the music had nothing to do with the ceremony for the spirits, nor any part of the Pueblo tradition. It just had the name and a certain sound, so I skipped it.

Connecting to the Culture
    No matter which pieces you use, find ways to bring in people connected to what you are studying. I used YouTube videos to do this. For African Folk Trilogy, I found examples of people performing the original folk songs. When learning about Sakura and hanami, watching the blooming of the cherry blossoms, we watched a YouTube video of some friends in Tokyo sharing tips for how to hanami. A nearby cherry blossom festival in Macon, Georgia was an opportunity for my students to compare and contrast their experiences with cherry blossoms to those of people in Tokyo.
    I worried about how to discuss the background of Quincy Hilliard’s African Festival, a setting of Siyahamba, an anti-apartheid song from South Africa. I never learned about apartheid in school and felt uncomfortable about teaching the important meaning behind the piece. I did some research, and then showed students videos about Nelson Mandela as well as some by author and comedian Trevor Noah speaking about his childhood in South Africa. Many students were familiar with Trevor Noah, so his videos created a nice bridge that connected something new with the familiar. Also, I was honest with students that these were topics I did not learn about in school but were important parts of history and that I was learning right along with them.
    Even better than showing students videos is bringing people into your classroom. If you know a teacher, parent, or community member with direct knowledge about a culture, bring them in to speak with your students. Always try to get your students as close to the source as possible, as this makes the experience much more enriching.

No Politics
    I firmly believe in checking politics at the door when I teach. I never make these conversations political and redirect statements that veer this way. I do not address what any politician or political party says or does. Instead of being guided by politics, I follow a teaching philosophy that all humans deserve equal access to high-quality music education. I also believe my students deserve an education that sees them as individuals and gives them the opportunity to form opinions. I never tell my students what to believe or think. Instead, I guide conversations, encourage them to develop thoughts, and never avoid important, but challenging topics.
    I mentioned at the beginning how so many directors want to make changes happen. It begins with educating yourself, getting a little uncomfortable, and then trying something new in your classroom. It will be okay. Your students are human, even the seventh graders. They appreciate honesty. If you are unsure about something, let them know this is new for you, and you want to give it a try. Not having all the answers is okay. It may not feel like having conversations about culture will change the world, but done with care and preparation you can have a positive impact on your students and community.
    By having students first explore their own culture, you provide a foundation for learning about cultures different from their own. It gives them a point of reference as they explore the world around them. Engage students on a deeper level and step outside your comfort zone. As Jonathan Kozol writes in On Being a Teacher, “The most memorable lesson is not what is written by the student on a sheet of yellow lined paper in the lesson pad; nor is it the clumsy sentence published (and ‘illustrated’) in the standard and official text. It is the message which is written in a teacher’s eyes throughout the course of his or her career. It is the lesson which endures a lifetime.” Taking lessons beyond the page of sheet music and connecting them to students’ lives will help your lessons endure a lifetime.  

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Dealing with the Case
    A college violin professor colleague remarked that he could tell what level of advancement prospective students were at before hearing them play by simply watching how they took the violin out of the case. An advanced student, who perhaps possesses a more expensive instrument, carefully and slowly removes the violin from the case while a less experienced student exhibits little care or respect for the instrument by quickly removing the violin from the case and perhaps accidentally banging the instrument on the case or table.
    This scenario is often repeated in the flute studio. The student quickly removes the flute from the case and begins to put the flute together without aligning the tenon on the footjoint with the tenon box (or receiver) on the body of the instrument. Then the headjoint is inserted at an angle which with repeated attempts, the end of the headjoint is no longer round. Inexperienced students do not realize how critical the fitting of the tenon and tenon box are to the flute having the capability to produce a ringing sound. Inexperienced flutists may also grab the keys when assembling the flute rather than placing the hands on the tubing where there are no keys. Grabbing the flute by the keys can bend them, while the natural oils on the hands have an adverse effect on the pads.
    How many teachers take the time to show how to take the flute out of the case other than in beginner lessons? It is equally important to demonstrate how to take the flute apart after playing and replace it in the case. While discussing assembling the instrument with students, remind them that there should be nothing in the case except the flute. Cleaning rods, pencils, pens, glasses, phone, and change are best kept in a zippered compartment of the case cover or flute bag. A couple times a year, have a handi-vac available for students to vacuum the case. The lint that appears over time can affect the performance of the pads and rods.

photo by Kirby Fong

Aligning the Flute
    I asked a clarinet professor friend if his students aligned their instruments well. He said he had never thought about it, but the next day checked students’ alignment and found that not one had the clarinet adjusted correctly. This is true for flutists too. The better you become as a player, the more you strive for consistency. The only way to have consistency is to have the flute aligned the same way each time you play.
    There are three common threads in aligning the headjoint of the flute with the body. The classic alignment which was taught by Joseph Mariano, William Kincaid, Julius Baker, and Frances Blaisdell aligned the center of the embouchure hole with a line in the center of the right-hand keys. There is another group of flutists that prefer a modified Rockstro which aligns the outside of the embouchure hole with a line in the center of the right-hand keys. In some areas, flutists play with a full blown Rockstro where the embouchure hole is rolled in even more. The Rockstro position results is having the right shoulder in an uncomfortable position, so in the US, it is not in favor as eventually the flutist will experience pain.
    In beginning lessons, many teachers align the headjoint and mark straight lines on the headjoint and body several times around the tube to aid in aligning the headjoint. These marks last only a few weeks and then must be redone. As students advance, they will be able to place these marks themselves.

Stance
    How students place their feet when playing tells you a lot. Students who play in a marching band have been taught to play with the feet side by side. However, the flute is an asymmetrical instrument and should be played with the left foot in front and right foot in back. Other asymmetrical instruments are the bassoon, French horn, trombone, tuba, and strings. Marching band rules also require flutists to hold the instrument parallel to the marching field with the elbows up. Most professional flutists turn the head to the left and then let the flute angle down somewhat and let the arms hang which positions the elbows in a more down position.

Warmup
    When listening to a flutist warm up, band-trained flutists often play long tones on a Bb major scale and continue with the type of warmup a band might use. They may only know a few scales (such as F, Bb, Eb, and G). A good warmup should include harmonics for embouchure agility, articulation strokes (T, K, Hah, TK and TKT), trills (for warming individual fingers), finger patterns (half and whole step, gruppettos, mordents, top octave), vibrato work, and theoretical material such as scales of all kinds, thirds, sixths, arpeggios, and seventh chords. From a student’s warmup, you can calculate what is missing and develop a plan to fill in the gaps over the next months. Working with a printed circle of fifths and a photo of a one or two octave keyboard helps to explain what half and whole steps are, and how scales are constructed.

Etudes
    Many students arrive with no etude books; others arrive with etude books in which only regional and all-state etudes have been studied. Many times, I have asked, “What etudes have you studied?” and received the reply, “Some in the blue book and a few in the red book.” This response offers little help in learning what the student has worked on in the past. There are many blue and red books.
    Students often view etudes as the weekly torture; however, as their theoretical technical skills improve, so will the ease in which etudes are learned. This is one of the best reasons to teach scales and arpeggios. Some students are not used to preparing one to four etudes a week and have poor practice skills to use in learning new material. Here is a simple practice outline that the students can use and then check off once done. In the early lessons, the teacher should mark the breathing places that are appropriate for the student’s size and advancement. I also mark the section so students learn that once they have mastered the first 16 measures, they are repeated at the end with few alterations.

    •    Tongue each note 4 times, 3 times, 2 times using varied tempos.
    •    Tongue each note 1 time, using T, K, or Hah, at a slower tempo.
    •    Chunk by beamed notes. In 4/4, this would be also by beat.
    •    Chunk by one measure, then two, then four.
    •    Metronome work: start slowly and work up a few ticks each day.

    Piano methods often have four books for students to use at the same time. These may address technique, simple pieces or etudes, performance repertoire, and theory (note-speller). While flute method books are usually inclusive of many of these things, this curriculum may be duplicated by assigning etudes in several books that are in the same key. Key saturation is more beneficial for an inexperienced student than changing key every week. Once a student is more advanced, changing keys at each lesson offers benefits that are more useful at that stage of development. Etudes by Kohler, Kummer, and Gariboldi are a good entry point for students who have only studied in a band program.  These may be found as a free download on . If you enjoy adding duets to the curriculum, there are many available on imslp.

Solo Repertoire
    For over 20 years I taught at a summer music festival. Each spring I listened to audition recordings to select 10 flutists to attend the festival. I heard some amazing Hue Fantasies and Nielsen Flute Concertos only to find when students arrived at the festival that they had extremely poor sightreading and theoretical technical skills. As a result, I added a section to the audition form that asked them, “How long have you been working on this music?” The answers surprised me – two years, three years etc. Recently I was talking with a university professor who also had noticed the discrepancy between recorded and in-person auditions. The professor said he too had added this question.  Teaching music by rote is a slow process and really does not make students more advanced for the future. They may be able to play a challenging piece because it has been parrot-taught to them, but as a functioning musician, there simply is not anything there.
    When I re-auditioned students for the festival or for university ensemble placements, I added a simple sightreading piece. One of my favorites was by Kuhlau, 8-bars long, in 3/4 meter, G minor, and with some dotted quarters. Almost every flutist stumbled someplace in the melody and later apologized for their poor sightreading skills. Most students have played very little in 3/4 meter and in minor keys. It is a telling experience for them when confronted with sightreading simple melodies.
    This leads me to encourage teachers to select level appropriate solo repertoire. While is it fun to teach concertos by Ibert, Nielsen, etc., many students never learn the intermediate level repertoire which includes Handel, Telemann, and Vivaldi Sonatas and works by Donizetti, Bizet, Gluck, Godard, Andersen, and Kohler. Teaching this repertoire first means that when students are ready for the Ibert, they will be able to learn it by reading the notes and understanding the rhythm rather than by rote instruction.

Last Caution
    When teaching pedagogy seminars, I encourage teachers to go slowly and thoroughly building a foundation from the bottom up. This takes patience. I also encourage teachers to teach what a student needs rather than what interests the teacher. Each of us in our enthusiasm for the flute and music would really like to talk about what we are thinking and practicing, but for students these topics may be years off.    

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Word Find (Musical Alphabet)
    For this activity, I use slides that I have made or a dry erase board depending on the available technology. The activity introduces the musical alphabet and gets students thinking and engaging with the concept in different ways.
    I start by projecting the musical alphabet, out of order, in a cloud bubble using Google Slides. I ask, “What do you notice about the letters? How many do you see?” Next, I have students see how many words they can make using the letters on the board. This part happens in small groups with a five-minute time limit. After the time is up, we go around the room and make one list on the board. When all of the responses have been recorded, I comment, “Even though we only have seven letters we can still say many different things.” Words that the students have found are used later as practice for spelling things out on the staff.
    Next I comment, “These letters that we have been working with make up the musical alphabet. We will only use those seven letters when we play.” I display a slide with the alphabet written out to the letter G horizontally. I ask students to say the musical alphabet forward and then in reverse out loud as a class. The next slide shows the music alphabet written out vertically forwards and backwards. I ask, “What do you notice about this slide?” I have the students read out both columns and then ask, “What do you think happens after the letter G? Do you think that we always have to start at the letter A?” We discuss their ideas, and I reveal that you can start on any note and go forward and backwards when using the musical alphabet. The goal is for students to connect the order of the alphabet and moving vertically in both directions just like the staff as this sets up the process for ledger lines and spaces.
    The next slide shows music alphabet typed out in a grid in which each row and column starts with a different letter for a total of seven rows and eight columns. We practice as a class first, and students select the columns and rows they want to practice. They really enjoy this slide as they do all of the different rows and columns going forward and backwards. When the students understand the concept, I add a metronome and play games in small groups while increasing the tempo. When the students are reciting all of these items, I have them point to the letter in the air as they say it to begin building the concept of steady beat and tracking.

Cloud Bubble

Musical Alphabet Grid

Five Pencils (Understanding the Staff)
    This activity requires five unsharpened pencils of the same color. Put a piece of electrical tape, different color for each pencil, wrapped around the end opposite the eraser. With this activity, the questions for students are crucial.
    Hold the five pencils in one hand covering the end with the electrical tape. Ask students the following questions: What am I holding in my hand? How many do I have? How are they similar? How are they different? The goal of this line of questioning is to have the students understand that they are all the same things. Now flip the pencils over and ask the same questions. The goal of this line of questioning is to have the students understand that while they are all the same things, each one is a different color making it uniquely distinct from the others. This is similar to the lines on a musical staff. They have the same look and basic shape, but where they are located on the staff gives them their unique letter names.

    Then, drop the pencils onto the floor so that when they fall most students can see them. I say, “This is an arrangement, similar to flowers. The pencils landed in a certain way. You can think of it as a picture. Can anyone think of another way to arrange the pencils to make a new picture?” I have several students try it and show the class and then continue with the following even if someone has made a staff.
    I say, “There is a musical picture we can make with these pencils. Does anyone know what that might look like?” Usually, one student does, and I let them make it with the pencils on the floor. If not, I will make it. After the student makes a staff on the floor, I ask, “How would you describe this picture?” The emphasis should be on learning to analyze what they see and hear. I explain that music is a series of pictures brought to life by our choices.
    After making the staff out of pencils, I demonstrate extreme high and low notes with my voice. I repeat this and have students echo me. I tell them, “In music we organize high and low sounds using clefs that we hang on the staff.” I ask if they know what the clefs are called. If anyone does, we keep the conversation going based their knowledge.
    I comment, “We have a clef for high sounds and a clef for low sounds. They are always hung on the staff to the far left like the first word of a book.” I draw an example on the board or use a projector to put an example up for students to see. Next, I mention that “Sounds that are high use the treble clef and sounds that are low use the bass clef. It is similar to organizing a binder with folders for each class.”
    “Each line has a name just like you and me. We are all sitting in different places, and so do the lines. So each line has a name different from the others.” At this point, I teach the names of the lines in both clefs and go through the mnemonic device for each clef. Not only do the lines have names but so do the spaces All Cows Eat Grass (bass clef) and FACE (treble clef). I have students come up with their own mnemonics in small groups and share them with the class.
    If there is time remaining, students practice drawing the staff, treble clef, and bass clef. I turn it into an art lesson and let them have fun with it. The bass clef is half of a heart with a colon or a sad emoji rotated with a long lip. The treble clef is a P that continues into a low spiral. The staff is just five pencils or five straight lines. After students have practiced, they receive a sheet with three big boxes on it so they can submit an example of each. I use this as a fun competition to see which looks the closest to a printed one.
    I then cover why we use names and what makes a name special. The goal is for students to understand that names identify things and different names set things apart from each other. “Each line and space has a specific name like you and me. It is how we know which note is which.”

Lifesavers and Peppermints (Reading Notes)
    For this activity you will use Lifesavers, peppermints, a Tootsie Roll Pop, a Caramello candy bar, and a peanut M&M. (I leave the M&M’s in the bag due to allergies.) I have a large bag of both peppermints and Lifesavers but only one of the other candies for demonstration purposes. The goal of this activity is for students to become comfortable reading notes on the staff.
    I start by holding up the Caramello, Tootsie Roll Pop, and small bag of M&M’s one by one and asking what is in the middle of each one? “How do we know? Where do you look?” I steer the conversation toward the fact that what is in the middle of the candy gives the information. I highlight that the middle is the what gives the candy its name, and that this is similar to musical notes.
    While holding up a peppermint and a Lifesaver,  I ask how they are similar and different. The goal is for them to observe that one has a solid center and one has a hollow center. I continue, “All of the noteheads that you see in music will either look solid like a peppermint or a hollow like a Lifesaver and you always need to look at the middle.”
    I then mention that noteheads can be on a line or a space regardless of whether they are filled in or not. Digital flash cards that I have created allow students to practice with and without a clef. Students can select cards (sorted by instrument) and start answering the questions. After clicking on answer, the card tells them if they are correct or not. I use these flash cards just for student practice and not for a grade or to keep score.
    The next step is to put the peppermints and Lifesavers on the staff. The class practices identifying whether the note is on a line or a space using slides I created that show a staff with either a peppermint or a Lifesaver on it. (See below) If a student answers correctly, they get a peppermint or Lifesaver. After half of the students have answered a question, I open a new set of slides that practice the same concept but with the two different types of noteheads.
    Then I review the lines and spaces of both clefs, reminding them of what was covered previously. I have another similar set of slides to practice as a class with a treble clef and bass clef on the left side. As I use these slides, I ask students to identify which clef they use when playing and then identify the note name.  

Conclusion
    I have many other games and activities that I use with students to engage their interest in these concepts. The new school year will have many challenges. Presenting topics by focusing on the process, teaching the students how to teach themselves, and engaging with the material in new, fun ways will be critical for success. Create and light the sparks that will keep the fires burning throughout the year. 

Identifying Peppermints and Lifesavers on the Staff

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