Donald E. McGinnis passed away on October 28 in his home in Hilliard, Ohio. He was a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music with degrees in music education and clarinet performance followed by MA and PhD degrees in music theory and composition from the University of Iowa.  In 1941 he was hired at The Ohio State University where he taught woodwinds, assisted with both the concert and marching bands, and conducted the regimental bands. During WWII, he was the Communication Officer on the USS Lucidor in the South Pacific.
    After the war, he returned to The Ohio State University  where he became conductor of the concert band. Under his leadership, the band gained national and international recognition through recordings and performances in venues like Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. He was principal clarinet of the Columbus Symphony for two years and principal flute for ten years.
    During his retirement, he was the interim conductor of the Capital University Wind Ensemble, Columbus Youth Wind Ensemble, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He also conducted the Southwestern Sym-phony Orchestra from 1979-1987.
    McGinnis was a member of the American Bandmasters Association and served as president of the organization. Memorial contributions may be made to the Dr. Donald E. McGinnis SOM New Day Fund (#314212) and sent to The Ohio State University Foundation, Attn. John Swartz, Director of Development, College of Arts and Sciences, The Ohio State University, 1501 Neil Avenue, Suite 020, Columbus, OH 43210.
    Katherine Borst Jones has compiled a timeline of his life and achievements that may be found at .

The post In Memoriam appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Listening Experience
    As with any repertoire development, broad and deep listening is essential. In addition to studying the particular musical they will be playing, pit percussionists should listen to numerous examples of the styles indicated in their parts. Online music streaming websites make this step easy. Help students determine appropriate keywords to find tracks demonstrating salient aspects of style indicators like “Stately March,” “Raucous Blues,” “Country Swing,” or “Viennese Waltz.” Music teachers know these musical flavors cannot be easily described. Guide them to listen to examples instead. Broad listening experiences will help students grasp essential style characteristics, enabling them to make appropriate interpretative choices and play more sensitively.
    Composers of musicals often write a vague version or caricature of a style, requiring players to internalize the defining characteristics of that style and project them clearly through their playing. Many percussion parts for Broadway shows are notated rather sparsely – especially for the drumset – so percussionists should use their aural repertoire to decide exactly what and how to play. In addition to online music streaming websites, canned styles in audio editing and notation software programs can be a valuable reference for this aural information. Although students should be careful not to let digital examples become a complete model for their playing, they can use them like an encyclopedia of musical style information.

Practicing the Instruments
    Pit percussion parts usually contain a wide range of instruments, including drumset, timpani, mallet instruments, and many accessories (e.g., tambourine, cowbell, triangle, and woodblock), to be covered by one or two players. Some percussion students tend to gravitate towards certain instruments and neglect others in their general studies. For example, the star snare drummer in high school might not play mallets, or the pianist-turned-keyboard-percussionist might avoid the timpani and drumset. Even in programs where directors take a comprehensive approach to percussion, the Broadway musical will no doubt introduce some less familiar, and less comfortable, instruments to students.
    Directors should review the percussion instrumentation for an upcoming musical and guide students to practice those instruments early and often prior to rehearsals. Reviewing the instrumentation will also alert percussionists and directors to instruments that need to be purchased, found, or made. Percussion students should learn to be creative about producing particular sounds, and teachers can help them develop the innovation and resourcefulness to find just the right one for a given situation. For example, the score may call for a ship’s bell, anvil, car horn, or whip. Where can students go to get these? They might check the school shop or local junkyard, or ask parents, teachers, or community members that work with such items and materials. Sometimes people are trying to get rid of old stuff that could be converted into the perfect instrument. With a bit of financial resources, teachers can find great sounds at the local pawn shop or garage sale as well.

Sticks and Mallets
    To achieve a desired sound, students also must make wise stick or mallet choices. For example, a ship’s bell might be played with a plastic mallet, metal triangle beater, small utility hammer, or wooden rod. Any of these could provide the ideal sound, depending on the musical situation. On the wind chimes a student might play a glissando with a finger, a stick, or a triangle beater, and down towards the bottom or lightly across the sides, each combination producing a unique effect. Young percussionists need to know that sticks and mallets do not have to be standard, commercially available items; I have used coins, small chains, chopsticks, knitting needles, and claw hammers in the professional pit regularly.
    Percussionists will likely use multiple versions of sticks and mallets during the course of a show or even a single tune. For example, they might use thin drumsticks for the two-beat dance number on the drumset, but larger sticks for the big snare drum roll on the trumpet fanfare. On the timpani, they could play with harder mallets near the edge of the drum for the exciting drumroll introducing the entr’acte, but then switch to softer, heavier mallets played in the sweet spot for the dramatic funeral scene. The materials with which the mallets are made and the hardness and weight of the mallet head make a big difference in the sound and mood of the passage. Students can also use a variety of sticks and mallets to get just the right sound on a single note. For example, a simple x| quarter note might suggest that a cymbal be struck sharply with a wooden stick, calmly with a fluffy mallet, or anything in between.
    Given these considerations of ideal instrument and mallet choices, students may find themselves needing to switch between sounds and instruments too quickly. In these situations they can hold multiple mallets or use double-ended mallets. Holding multiple mallets enables players to shift quickly, for example, from a suspended cymbal roll with two soft mallets to an immediate triangle note. Standard three- or four-mallet grips learned for marimba or vibraphone solos work well; students will simply need to adjust their grip to hold, in this case, one of the soft mallets and one triangle beater in one hand. Players can also use double-ended mallets; some common examples are standard drumsticks with timpani or bell mallet heads on the back ends, bell or xylophone mallets with timpani mallet heads on the back ends, and snare drum sticks with a bit of metal around the back end or shoulder for quick shifts to the triangle. Double-ended mallets are commercially available, but can also be made by students relatively easily. Students may enjoy making just the right combination of tips, and may also want to create other combinations not available on the market for a particular musical situation.

Preparing the Part
    The musical situation is mostly determined by the notated part in Broadway musicals, and students need to prepare their part thoroughly to play well. Percussion parts for many musicals are somewhat sketchy, so students will need to interpret them wisely, using their listening experience to grasp the right idea and clarify the notation. Some parts include cues, but generally rather few. Students will need help learning to mark cues thoughtfully, taking into consideration the most salient instruments in a given passage, the most consistent players in the ensemble, and their physical ability to hear certain parts of the orchestra from their location in the pit.
    During rehearsals, students should also be prepared to make numerous notes to themselves to help them perform the part effectively. Professional percussionists’ pit parts are usually full of scrawled messages like “Hang slide whistle around neck now!” or “Get bass drum mallet ready!” Reminders like these help players prepare for their entrances way ahead of time, in a moment when it is feasible. After that moment has passed, they may have no later opportunity to prepare such things because they sometimes play without stopping for quite some time.
    Percussionists are also well known for counting rests, a task they must learn to do accurately and consistently. Because they sometimes wait for extended periods before their entrances, they can mark and follow meter changes, key changes, written cues, and their own added cues to guide them. In most cases, however, there is simply no substitute for focused attentive counting. Surprisingly, what seems like a simple task can be quite difficult to maintain. One strategy students can use is marking additional cues within long stretches of rest. For example, in a bracketed section of 28 measures of rest, a student might write “11” as a reminder that a prominent entrance occurs in the ensemble at the eleventh measure of that section.

Arrangement in the Pit
    Finally, students need to set up their instruments and music stand logically, in a way that is accessible at all times. The general arrangement of their instruments should reflect what they play most on a given production. For example, a show that calls for a lot of drumset with occasional bells and timpani would best be set up with the drumset directly between the player and conductor, and the bells and timpani off to each side. Players should avoid turning their back to the conductor as much as possible, but sometimes it may be necessary. In those cases, they should determine what they feel most comfortable playing accurately and consistently in that situation, and place that instrument in that spot. For example, repeated quarter notes on a large suspended cymbal would be safer in the backwards position than complicated xylophone passages. While this tip may seem obvious, all too often students create their own problems by neglecting to think through logical reasons for their setup. This challenge is fairly unique to percussionists, and may require some basic coaching by directors.
   The physical distance between player and instruments is paramount to successful performance. In general, they should keep everything as physically accessible and easily movable as possible. Setting and adjusting all instruments thoughtfully will increase their confidence and success during quick switches. Choice and adjustment of stools can be helpful in this regard, freeing students to tune the timpani quickly or balance themselves comfortably at the drumset pedals. On the other hand, stools sometimes get in the way, so students should be prepared to play the timpani on their feet, from a stool, or sometimes both, even within the same tune.
    In general, players should take advantage of vertical space to keep instruments closer to them. Orchestra bells on an adjustable stand can be raised over the xylophone or timpani; suspended cymbals can be mounted on boom stands to position them exactly where desired. Professional percussionists often say there is no need to be a hero. Set up your instruments – and yourself – in a way that will make technical execution as effortless as possible.
    To facilitate quick changes, students should also mount as many instruments as possible. They should not need to pick up instruments like triangle, tambourine, or ratchet, unless there is plenty of time to do so. All of these can be mounted safely and easily without negatively affecting their sound, and hardware designed for this purpose is commercially available. Players should use plenty of stick trays placed strategically in their setup. Standard padded trays or music stands covered with black towels will provide a place to set up and discard mallets quickly without making unwanted noise. Hopping across the setup to grab a mallet at the last second is no way to make a beautiful musical entrance.
    Finally, students should put their music stand in a place with a good visual angle to the conductor and close to themselves. This is the advice directors might give to all instrumentalists all the time, but for pit percussionists the situation is complicated by multiple parts for multiple instruments. Players can adapt their book for ease of use, copying and taping certain pages for easier turns, and placing copies of pages on extra music stands for instruments that may be far away from their original stand.

Conclusions and Applications
    All suggestions outlined in this article are applicable to other areas of percussion performance in schools. Here is a summary list of advice for teachers coaching percussionists in the pit, followed by examples of how each suggestion could apply to other learning environments.

• Listen broadly to examples of styles to be performed.
• Gather, create, and practice all instruments in the score well ahead of time.
• Choose, adapt, and create sticks and mallets for technical ease and musical effect.
• Mark the part with cues, notes to self, and reminders during long rests.
• Set up instruments, and yourself, in ways conducive to successful playing.

    Many contemporary concert band and orchestra pieces are based on the music of a specific historical period, geographical area, or folk tradition. Directors can guide percussionists to listen not only to recordings of the pieces themselves, but also broader repertoire exemplifying the original music, to help students choose instruments, mallets, and techniques conducive to successful performance.
    Teachers and students should try to have all instruments and mallets ready to go as soon as possible in the rehearsal cycle for any ensemble. All too often I have heard directors say, “Oh, right, Tommy, we need to get that brake drum [or gong mallet or thunder sheet or tambourine head] before the concert.” Students should have the right instruments and mallets, selected for good reasons, with plenty of time to practice them fully. Having these instruments in rehearsals from the beginning is also helpful, of course, to the rest of the ensemble as they listen and play.
    In contemporary pieces, students are often playing from multiple percussion setups. When making quick changes between instruments, they may need to hold multiple mallets in each hand or create double-ended mallets. The examples cited earlier for use in the pit could also be helpful in such situations on stage. Technical challenges like shifting from a rhythmic ostinato on concert toms to a soft suspended roll, or from a boomy timpani roll to a subtle triangle note, can be solved by one or both of these approaches.
    Drummers in jazz band may be looking at sparse notation, lead sheets, or nothing at all on the music stand. Helping them sharpen skills in recognizing cues, understanding form, and writing worthwhile notes on the part can be invaluable to their own development and the ultimate success of the ensemble. Jazz drummers are often responsible for transitions in meter, style, or tempo within a tune, and their indications written in the part can help them lead these effectively.
    Finally, in all ensembles the physical proximity and arrangement of music stand, instruments, player, and conductor are a high priority for percussion performance. Rarely do percussion students remain in front of a single instrument for an entire concert – or even for one piece. Directors can coach students on how to set up their instruments and themselves logically prior to beginning, but more important, how to move smoothly and efficiently among instruments once the music has begun.  

The post Percussion Clinic: Percussion in the Pit appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Listening to the Language
    Music is a language. Certainly, jazz is a very specific – but always developing – language. It has rules of grammar and pronunciation, as well as dialects from Dixieland to Bebop to Fusion. As discussed by jazz pedagogue Mike Steinel, “the easiest way to master any language is to learn it conversationally. As we learn to converse with others we not only expand our vocabulary, but we also gain an intuitive understanding of proper pronunciation and grammar.” A saxophonist cannot perform out of a jazz etude book and learn the correct dialect or pronunciation of the language through the notation alone. It is essential to hear fluent performers and then imitate them, one word or phrase at a time. By listening to Charlie Parker, the solos in the Omnibook instantaneously gain greater clarity. When performing a solo from the book, saxophonists should strive to copy every aspect of Parker’s playing, including his tone, inflections, vibrato, and articulation.

Tone: Embouchure
    In The Art of Saxophone Playing, Larry Teal goes to great lengths to describe a classical saxophone embou-chure, including photos showing correct and incorrect examples. One of Teal’s incorrect examples shows a bunched chin, with the caption, “chin muscles bunched.” However, a bunched chin can be seen in pictures of almost every jazz saxophonist, and it is one of the correct approaches to jazz embouchure formation.
    Students should experiment with this to hear if the resulting tone is desirable. The chin itself does not control tone; it is a signifier of how the lower lip is making contact with the reed. A bunched chin will cause the lower lip to roll slightly forward. This provides a fatter lip with more cushion for the teeth, allowing for flexibility to move the jaw. Saxophonist Steve Duke describes what he calls a “flat lip” embouchure as “basically the same as a classical embouchure, except that the jaw drops down, the bottom lip rolls out slightly, and the chin is bunched and drawn upward toward to the reed. The lip is more mushy and has more surface contact with the reed than in classical saxophone embouchure.” The larger surface area of the lip against the reed outside of the mouth slightly restricts reed vibration. This brings more subtone to the sound, which is usually desirable in a jazz setting. This can be checked during practice either by feel (with a finger) or by sight (using a mirror).
    A variation on this approach was taught to a number of jazz masters by pedagogue Joe Allard. This approach to embouchure also requires flexibility of the lower jaw, but David Liebman, one of Allard’s pupils, states that the position of the lip on to the reed should change based on register. For low notes, “less of the reed tip vibrates as the bottom lip moves towards the tip of the reed.” For upper register notes, “more of the reed tip vibrates as the bottom lip rolls away from the tip of the reed.” In other words, a fatter lip is used as a cushion for the jaw to move towards and away from the tip of the reed. Although approaches to a jazz embouchure can vary quite a bit, it is universally agreed that the lower jaw is much more flexible and engaged than that of the classical embouchure.

Tone: Airstream
    Airstream is arguably the most crucial difference between classical and jazz performance. In classical performance, saxophonists generally strive for a high degree of “air stream artistry,” to use a phrase coined by Jim Riggs. This refers to tapered staccatos, crescendos and diminuendos, and accents, all of which are mastered by controlling and managing changes in the airstream.
    In jazz performance, however, the airstream is generally constant. An effective analogy is a garden hose attached to a faucet. When the water faucet is turned on, the water source will be continuous and consistent. The flow and pressure of the water can still be manipulated and controlled, but this happens at the end of the hose rather than at the faucet. While playing a phrase in jazz, the air will be continuous, just like the water source, and should not be turned off until the phrase is finished.
    To encourage a full and supported airstream, stuff a medium-sized towel into the bell of the saxophone to create resistance. The towel will completely block the lowest tone holes, so it will likely be impossible to play below a low D. With the towel in the bell, the performer should play a chromatic scale from middle D to low D, as loudly as possible; despite the resistance of the towel, a fortissimo dynamic should be the goal for every note. Then, remove the towel and play the same scale using the same airstream. With the resistance of the towel removed, the instrument should feel more free-blowing and the tone fuller and louder. This simple exercise generally produces immediate results.

Tone: Pitch Center
    The primary reason younger jazz saxophonists often have a thin sound is that they do not move enough air through the instrument. The above exercise provides the first step; however, a jazz tone will be possible only once the performer has lowered their pitch center. This is a result of a focused, more-supported airstream, and a manipulation of the oral cavity. A simplified method of lowering pitch center is to push in the mouthpiece, drop the jaw, push a large amount of air through the mouthpiece, and play in tune, despite the mouthpiece being pushed in.
    Although Eugene Rousseau recommends a mouthpiece pitch of concert A5 for an alto saxophonist playing classical music with an appropriate airstream, when performing jazz, my mouthpiece pitch on alto saxophone is as much as a perfect fourth lower. In her dissertation comparing mouthpiece pitch in jazz and classical performance, Vanessa Hasbrook suggested an Eb as the mouthpiece pitch that creates a jazz tone, and others use a mouthpiece pitch closer to G, so there is no consensus on which should be considered correct, beyond that all of the mouthpiece pitches are lower than the A recommended for classical saxophonists. Suggested mouthpiece pitches for jazz saxophone performances are alto: between G and Eb, tenor: between E and Db, and baritone: between D and C.
    Voicing, an awareness and control of the muscles and soft flexible tissue in the oral cavity and vocal tract, is crucial when working on such performance aspects as mouthpiece pitch, overtones, and altissimo. Changes to the oral cavity can be as simple as moving the tongue around while sustaining a note. Additional exercises to are discussed by Donald Sinta and Denise Dabney in Voicing. One of these exercises, taught by a number of saxophonists such as Noah Getz, is to speak the long vowel sounds in the English alphabet (a, e, i, o, and u). When doing so, one notices a change in tongue position, with u (as in new) being lowest in the mouth and e (as in we) the highest. When saxophonists say “drop the jaw to lower the pitch,” what is really meant is a change in the oral cavity; generally instigated by a lowering of the front of the tongue in the mouth.
    The next step is to lower the pitch center gradually by playing the following exercises on the mouthpiece alone. Every day or two, try to begin a half-step lower than the previous day, until an E – or whichever pitch is the goal – is reached. It is important to be patient and realize that this may take several weeks to accomplish.

Mouthpiece Pitch Exercise
(for alto saxophone)

    Even after students can consistently produce a lowered mouthpiece pitch, it still should be monitored occasionally throughout practice sessions. Remove the mouthpiece and play on it with the airstream and embouchure used during practice. Pitch can be checked with a piano or tuner. There may be a difficult transition initially, but it is recommended at this point to push in the mouthpiece and practice with a tuner. Play in tune by dropping the jaw and moving more air. It is important to keep the airstream constant.
    Tone is a personal and distinctive aspect of jazz saxophone performance. Many great performers can often be identified solely by their sound. Although a wide range of tones exists among saxophonists, a common thread among top jazz artists is consistency; their tone is consistent across all registers of the horn. It is therefore crucial to practice full-range scales and arpeggios while maintaining a consistent sound across all registers.

Style: Vibrato
    Bridging both tone and style concepts is vibrato. In both classical and jazz performance, trends in vibrato usage have changed over time, speed and depth of vibrato can vary from one piece to the next, and no two performers use it exactly the same way. Because of this, it is difficult to make sweeping statements regarding vibrato. Generally speaking, however, today’s jazz saxophonists tend to use narrower vibrato than earlier saxophonists, such as Marshall Royal or Coleman Hawkins, and they use it less frequently. Sonny Rollins, for example, is often extremely selective in his application of vibrato. A phrase consisting of several sustained notes might include a single note embellished with a constant traditional vibrato, while the rest are performed with a straight tone. In his performance of The Surrey with the Fringe on Top he uses vibrato only twice in sixteen measures.
    For many saxophonists who are new to jazz, there is a tendency to use too much vibrato. It is best for students to eliminate vibrato until tone and articulation are consistently being performed in a satisfying way.
    Terminal vibrato is common in jazz. This term refers to vibrato that ends, or terminates, a note. This can be heard in the playing of saxophonists as diverse as Sonny Rollins, Art Pepper, Cannonball Adderley, and Jon Gordon. Notes with terminal vibrato appear at all tempos, from ballads to up-tempo bebop. To incorporate terminal vibrato into jazz performance, it is first recommended to practice the technique on single notes. Play a whole note at quarter note = 100 with a straight tone for three beats. End the note with an exaggerated shake of the lower jaw to get two or three undulations during beat four, before the release. It is important to maintain a consistent airstream until the note is released. At first, it is acceptable to exaggerate to the point of shaking the lower jaw off of the mouthpiece. This may feel quite awkward initially. Ultimately, however, the jaw can be pulled backwards at the moment of the note’s release to muffle the reed vibration and stop the note. Once a convincing terminal vibrato can be produced on a single note, apply it to sustained notes in the melodies of jazz standards. Students should also transcribe and emulate jazz saxophonists playing these tunes, which often consist of longer note values and provide good examples of terminal vibrato. Once mastered in these practice situations, the technique will begin to feel natural and can be used within improvised solos. It is important to keep in mind that this is a method of ending a note, rather than a typical expressive vibrato.
    Young players are encouraged to listen and emulate their favorite saxophonists. After adopting the styles of several players, a student’s voice will emerge.

Style: Offbeat Articulation
    Articulation has been examined in-depth by a wide range of saxophonists, including Joe Allard, George Garzone, Jean-Marie Londeix, Larry Teal, and Scott Zimmer. In 2002, Zimmer used fiber optics to study the articulation of jazz and classical saxophonists. Among other discoveries, Zimmer found that there are essentially two different approaches to saxophone articulation: “The exploratory study suggests that, generally, more tongue surface area touches the reed in jazz articulation than in orchestral articulation. Also, the entire tongue appears to move in jazz articulation, while the tip moves somewhat more independently of the middle and back of the tongue in orchestral articulation.”
    In jazz performance, articulation may appear to have undefined rules, due to the improvisatory nature of the genre. Additionally, notation is inconsistent in jazz. For example, an eighth-note phrase may be written in a highly notated fashion with slur and articulation markings, have no articulations at all, or use a slur marking to indicate a phrase. Performers can, however, apply a few clear concepts in order to interpret these varying approaches to notation.
    First, regardless of the notational style, the default interpretation for playing eighth notes in jazz should be to use an offbeat articulation. As seen in the example below, this means the offbeats will be articulated and then slurred into the following downbeat. The sound should be continuous and unaccented. In swung jazz, eighth-notes should always be legato and connected, unless otherwise indicated. As always, a consistent airstream is important. Play a scale to the ninth with swinging eighth-notes, and articulate the offbeats.

    To avoid articulating the first two notes in a row, the exercise can be altered simply by adding a leading-tone pickup. This can be seen in the following example and may provide a more desirable starting point, since the phrase begins with the offbeat articulation. Again, strive for a connected sound and legato articulation. A constant airstream will avoid the phrase sounding too bouncy. This is a good rule for a standard articulation in swung music.

    When applying this rule to a jazz etude, and ultimately to improvisation, longer phrases may become too predictable. Once comfortable with articulating every offbeat, begin to vary articulations by sometimes articulating every fourth note. This approach of articulating less frequently typically sounds more effective on descending passages. Ascending scales and changes of direction within a melodic line often require more frequent articulation. Generally, articulations can also be added following a large leap. After mastering offbeat articulation, performers should trust their ear and good musical instinct to determine whether longer slurs should be added into a phrase to smooth it out.

Style: Marcato Accents
    Another articulation to address is the marcato, or housetop, accent. The marcato is rarely indicated in notated music, therefore the performer is expected to know when it is appropriate. This type of accent is often used on eighth notes preceding a rest as well as quarter notes, which are by default staccato or marcato.
    Marcato notes (whether notated as quarter or eighth notes) should be performed as fat, full-bodied notes stopped by the tongue on the reed. The daaht syllable is good for expressing the articulation (d), a full-bodied note (aah), and finally the tongue closing off the reed (t). The air pressure must remain constant, which can be elusive for a classical performer more accustomed to tapering releases. It is crucial to remember that the tongue stops the sound, rather than the airstream. Returning to the water hose analogy, this would be the equivalent of a hand covering the end of the hose, blocking all water from escaping. The faucet remains on, and the water source is constant. On saxophone, the air has nowhere to go, as the sound is stopped by the tongue against the reed. Therefore, the saxophonist should feel the air pressure against the tongue and reed until either the air is stopped after the t of daaht has finished or the tongue is released to attack another note.

    If the marcato note is followed by another note, then the release of the tongue will serve as the articulation for the next note. A famous example of this can be found in the opening phrase of In The Mood. The silence between the repeated notes is a result of the tongue stopping the reed vibration while the airstream remains constant. The tongue’s movement off of the reed provides the articulation for the following note. Practice this at various tempos. As in classical performance, the length of the note gets shorter as the tempo increases. At slower tempos, notes with a marcato will have quite a bit of body, while faster speeds will necessitate shorter marcato notes.

As Written:

Suggested Interpretation:

Style: Ghost Notes
    When the tongue stops the airstream, it creates the sharp cutoff required for marcato notes, as discussed above. The tongue can also limit the amount of air that gets into the mouthpiece. Accents and ghost notes often go hand-in-hand in jazz performance, partially because of a motion of the tongue on and off the reed.
    A ghosted, or quieter, note is not produced by a reduction of air. Rather, a portion of the tongue touches about half of the reed in order to dampen the sound. A by-product of this is that ghost notes generally go sharp; however, this is nothing to be concerned about. To create a ghost note, this author articulates further back from the tip of the tongue than a standard articulation, approximately 3⁄4" from the tip. This part of the tongue touches almost half of the tip of the reed, which muffles the vibration. Completely covering the reed is not desirable for ghost notes, as it will completely stop the sound. Alternatively, ghosting too lightly with the tongue will cause a ticklish vibration. A full airstream must be maintained while the tongue firmly touches the reed. In the example below, daaa represents an articulated note with a full tone, and nnn represents a ghosted note. Like repeated marcato accents, the articulation following a ghost note results from the tongue’s motion off of the reed. It is not a re-articulation, but a release from the ghosted note. In other words, the release of the tongue will then become the articulation for the next note. A slight accent is produced when the reed is able to once again vibrate freely. If there is no accent, it may be an indicator that the airstream has been reduced.

    After it becomes comfortable to ghost single pitches, the technique should be practiced on a melody with a repeated melodic pattern, such as Night Train, in which every downbeat is treated with a ghost note. If the technique is applied correctly, the accents and ghost notes will be greatly exaggerated.

Style: Jaw Accents
    When observing jazz saxophonists, one immediately notices jaw movement, which is almost never a part of classical saxophone performance technique. It may appear as if the performer is chewing on his mouthpiece. In reality, this is a method of creating accents. Put simply, the jaw can either move backward in order to muffle the reed vibrations or forward to free up the reed vibrations, which creates an accent. Play the two above examples, creating accents only by moving the jaw and without articulating. The jaw should jut forward on the offbeats to create an underbite, and pull backwards on the downbeats quickly to create an overbite. This may feel and sound less natural than the ghost note articulation. Play Night Train again, but articulate the offbeats in addition to the jaw accents. As always, maintain a steady airstream.
    This technique can be used on its own or in conjunction with a ghost note articulation. The two techniques should be practiced both separately and simultaneously. When using the tongue to ghost a note, it can be combined with a backwards jaw movement. Likewise, the forward jaw motion can coincide with the tongue’s release to create even more of an accent on the following note. The accents will be greatly exaggerated in the exercises; however, in an actual playing situation, these elements should be applied more subtly. A combination of these techniques can result in quite a variety of possible articulations and accents. Recordings of Cannonball Adderley provide innumerable examples of virtuosic and varied jazz articulations.

Applying The Techniques
    These techniques may feel foreign when first encountered, and a student may not believe that such approaches to articulations and accents are feasible in actual performance situations. However, after careful practice of a handful of jazz etudes, they will begin to feel natural. First, isolate short phrases from a jazz etude and write in exactly which notes should be ghosted, accented, or slurred. Then, move on to longer phrases, repeating the phrases slowly and ensuring that a constant airstream is maintained while accents are created with the jaw and tongue. Be rigorous and consistent; the belief that jazz music is less precise than classical music can be a hindrance when learning these techniques. Below are two short phrases similar to those found in a jazz etude, a transcription, or a big band chart. These two phrases demonstrate all of the stylistic techniques that have been discussed.

Offbeat articulation, ghost note, accent, and marcato. As written:

Suggested interpretation:

Slurs, offbeat articulation, repeated marcato, and jaw accent. As written:

Suggested interpretation:

   Below is a stylistic analysis of one chorus from Cannonball Adderley’s recording of Barefoot Sunday Blues (beginning at 0:41), showing how stylistic elements are used in performance. It is impossible to know Adderley’s exact tongue and jaw movements during the performance; however, based on those techniques discussed above, a best guess regarding his jaw position is shown in italics below each staff. The forward jaw position allows the reed to vibrate freely, resulting in a louder and more open sound. The back position creates a softer sound with more subtone. The ghost notes (measures 3, 5, 9, 10) are created with a combination of a back jaw position with the tongue on the reed (an nn syllable). Notes following the ghosted ones are accented as a result of the tongue release and forward jaw movement. Measure 6 indicates a gradual movement of the jaw, as opposed to the sharp movements forward and back that are otherwise used. This essentially creates a crescendo across the ascending arpeggio and a slight diminuendo on the descending triplets. As always, Adderley demonstrates a consistent and supported airstream. The changes in dynamic predominantly result from jaw movement and ghost-tonguing. A consistent vibrato is used twice in this example (measures 2 and 11), with an exaggerated depth in measure 11. Adderley does not employ terminal vibrato in this example, although it was certainly an element of his style on numerous recordings. Adderley always performed with a variety of articulations, and these are evident in this excerpt. A few suggested syllables are written in, including the housetop accent in measure 4. Measure 10 contains the only phrase in which he uses the traditional offbeat articulation.

Conclusion
    While improvisation is crucial to jazz performance, the building blocks are a personal and consistent tone and an attention to style. An analysis of just one chorus from a single saxophonist highlights the necessity of mastering techniques specific to jazz. A classical approach to air, articulation, accenting, and vibrato will yield different results than those achieved by Cannonball Adderley. Transcription and etude books often include only a few notated articulations; it is up to students of jazz to listen and emulate articulations, accents, tone, and vibrato. These elements are a part of the jazz vernacular and can be mastered through careful practice and repetition.

Resources
    There are a number of excellent jazz etude books available. A few suggested books are listed below, in order of difficulty. All of these books come with CDs that demonstrate one interpretation. Embrace the individuality of jazz and remember that other interpretations are allowed, as long as they are performed consistently and with confidence.

Basic Jazz Conception for Sax-ophone, Vol. 1 by Lennie Nie-haus (Try Publishing). This is an excellent book for beginners, with all articulations written in.

Jazz Conception by Jim Snidero (Advance Music). More challenging than Niehaus, etudes are based on the chord progressions of jazz standards. Some articulations are written in.

Jazz Saxophone Etudes, Vol-ume 2 by Greg Fishman (Greg Fishman Jazz Studios). With excellent etudes in multiple volumes, this collection is idiomatic and challenging. Few articulations are written in.

14 Blues & Funk Etudes and 12 Contemporary Jazz Etudes by Bob Mintzer (Warner Bros.). Etudes move beyond standard swing and bebop phrasing and require greater variety of articulation.

The post Tone and Style for Saxophonists appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Click It
    Japanese bands are known for their big, resonant sound, which they get in part through a small and basic piece of equipment: the wind-up metronome. More than just a timekeeper, a pendulum metronome heightens focus and helps give students a visual target to project their sound towards. Because students must look up to see it, better posture and breathing are implicitly encouraged.
    Place the metronome in front of or next to the podium on a fully extended music stand. It should be at least as high as eye level while standing. Try using it for breathing exercises, balance builders, and chorales. Put down the baton. The first few times will be a challenge, especially with your chorale. If the ensemble is having a hard time playing with the metronome, it is most likely because too few students are watching it. Try isolating two- to four-measure phrases until they can play without checking in with their music.
    A metronome will not hurt the phrasing of a chorale. This practice is less about playing with metronomic precision and more about the sway and flow of the pendulum. Once your ensemble gets comfortable watching it, you’ll find that they can still play with expression – only now with a focused, beautiful and resonant sound.
Sing, Sing, Sing
    We have all preached “If you can sing it, you can play it” before. The archetypal doo-wahs, dahs, dits, and duhts heard in most concert, jazz, and marching band rehearsals serve their purpose to help ensembles better understand rhythm, articulation and feel, but it should not end there.
    In Japan, school bands make singing with choral tone part of their routine. Whether they are singing the four parts of a chorale or practicing sing-buzz-play drills in unison, they sing with a sound that would make Eric Whitacre proud. Japan has particularly strong elementary music programs in which singing with beautiful tone is paramount. The challenge lies in that most band students in America are rarely taught proper vocal technique. Directors may find that students are either too shy (inaudible) or too ambitious (shouty) when it comes to using their voices. As a result, the sound will be unpleasant and musically counterproductive. However, there is a solution.
    Instead of singing with random syllables or the traditional articulations, many Japanese bands favor mah or maw. If you limit your group to this one syllable, you will find that a nice vocal sound is well within reach. Set a drone to F and have students stand. Next, have students hum the pitch. Encourage them to crescendo their hum until they can really feel the vibration in their face, particularly the nose. Be careful that they are not pushing sharp. Once the pitch is stable and clear, have students transition to mah by slowly opening their mouths. The biggest hurdle is meh, which happens when students are awkward about opening their mouths. Scan the room for students that aren’t fully dropping their jaw. Give them a visual cue to drop it further, and take time to address the unpleasantness of a meh sound. Sing both versions for them, get a chuckle, and ask them how they would rather sound. At this point, your group should already be singing with better tone. To push them even closer to a choral product, use all the language a choir teacher would use: stand straight, raise your soft palate, and keep your head forward.
    Our program uses choral singing on a regular basis. Although I’m not certain that Eric Whitacre would be proud of our sound, I can say that ever since we simplified and normalized the way we sing, we have been better equipped to deal with tuning, balance, and overall musicality. The beginners hum, sing, and play every note they learn. The intermediate band sings their scales, flow studies, and other technical exercises. The advanced band uses it to study harmony. If we are having trouble tuning a chord, I’ll have the ensemble sing their individual notes, and determine which part of the chord they are on. They can now make musical decisions as to how loud or soft they should be playing, and if they need to be lowering the third to play with pure intonation.

Tearing Down the Wall Between Music and Athletics
Mike Morgan
Wednesday, 12:00 p.m.

    In 400 BC, the great philosopher Plato believed that “to be a complete individual, young people must participate in fine arts as well as athletics.” It was true then and is true now. Our young people have a small window of time to participate in activities while in school, and as I have often said, school is just dress rehearsal for real life. The skills learned in music and athletics will carry students on to success in the real world. The statistics are clear. Musicians and athletes have higher grades and better school attendance. They also have lower discipline referrals, contrary to all of the stereotypes out there. Schooling should be like a puzzle; you need every piece of the puzzle in order to complete it. Too many people think that one puzzle piece should be made bigger than the others by emphasizing one activity over another. I have yet to open a puzzle and find one huge puzzle piece with a bunch of smaller pieces that fit around it. Puzzles are filled with pieces that are all the same size but different shapes, much like our youth. Young people need the freedom to participate in numerous activities that will help them lead productive lives.

Dispelling Brass Playing Myths
Greg Spence
Wednesday, 1:15 p.m.

    The common and simple ideas of buzzing the lips, buzzing the mouthpiece, or even blowing the trumpet can negatively affect the progress of not only beginners but full-time working professionals. Efficiency is the key to long-term improvement, and recognizing overexertion in your students is of paramount importance. Have your students take a deep breath and hum a note as freely as possible. Repeat this process with eyes closed. Get them to recognize how the expansion and reduction of the body after a good breath effortlessly fuels the sound. Use a balloon to demonstrate movement of air without squeezing. I want the lips to interact with the air as if they are the vocal cords. Students should play as they would sing.

Thrive, Not Survive: Achieving Success as a First-Year Teacher
Jonathan Villela, Christopher Yee, and Jessica Gonzales,
Wednesday, 1:15 p.m.

    Although I (Villela) knew in high school that I wanted to be a music teacher, in college I questioned myself more. I attended conventions, workshops, and teacher panels that strengthened these uncertainties. I heard phrases like “stay afloat,” “just stay one step ahead of them,” and “survive.” This led to a survival mindset; I accepted the fact that my first year in the profession would be a bad experience – a year to make mistakes and a year to misunderstand. I began my teaching career in the survival mindset, prematurely adopting negative experiences from others and making them mine.
    When school began, I worked diligently to learn the flow of my colleagues, students, and community. I triple checked each email before I sent it. I stressed about each word I uttered to my ensemble, about each sound created by my beginners. I tore through method books, called past professors, and approached my colleagues for guidance.
    My first semester at Four Points Middle School felt only like weeks. I sat across from a friend over the winter break and shared my thoughts on the job thus far. I gleamed while speaking of colleagues and laughed while sharing great memories of working with my students. I talked about my wonderful community and administration, the process of traveling to Chicago, and the memory of conducting on the Midwest stage. Retrospectively, I realized the year I had been conditioned to dread – conditioned to fail, was actually a year that I grew to treasure. Instead of failure, I found success.

Public Relations and Music Education Work Hand in Hand
John J. Gallagher
Wednesday, 4:00 p.m.

    The focus of this session is to introduce public relations and publicity techniques to the music educator – essentially providing rudimental tips on how to be a publicist for your program. Working with your school district to build good relationships with local media outlets and reporters will enable music educators to take advantage of media placements to promote concerts, festivals, and award ceremonies.
    We will discuss the difference between public and media relations versus paid advertising, how to write a news release, developing media lists and contacts, and generating a positive image for your brand. Teachers will be directed to the Press Room of the NYSSMA website for Swiss cheese template news releases on a variety of topics, an example of which is below. Just fill in the holes, get approval from your school district, and mail. ()

Optimizing the Big Heavies in Your Ensemble
David Zerkel
Wednesday, 2:30 p.m.

One of the concepts that I try to establish early on with my low brass students is the notion of the default exhale. While there are as nearly as many ideas about breath support as there are teachers, I have whittled my concept down to a simple four word mantra: Blow until you stop. The consistency with which one blows through the instrument has everything in the world to do with the consistency of the sound.
I do the following exercise with my ensemble regularly. Set the metronome at 70 and choose any scale. Have students play the most perfect eight-count long tone, free of timbral variety and pitch inconsistencies, that they can produce. Proceed all the way up the scale. Next, cut the note length in half, so students are still blowing out for eight counts, but slurring two whole notes together. Proceed up the scale and back down, being sure to repeat the top note. Now do the same with half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes, all slurred. The lesson is that we use the same default exhalation whether we play one note for eight counts or 32 notes over eight counts. This is also a great way for students to get repetitions of less familiar scales.

Making Something from Nothing: Group Exercises to Build Improvisational Confidence
Taylor Morris
Thursday, 12:00 p.m.

    Although many musicians think they cannot improvise, the simple truth is that each of us is improvising most things we do throughout the entire day. The conversation you just had with your colleague was improvised. Your lesson plans when you discover the real problem is not what you thought it was is improvised. Your drive home from work when you hear there has been an accident on the freeway is improvised.
    Improvisation, like nearly everything you do, is a learned skill. You may not have worked on improvising with an instrument, and your ability to do it may be poor at best, but you cannot lack an ability to improvise. If you are an educator who struggles with the idea of improvisation, keep this in mind.
    Start small. Practice a scale with new rhythms instead of making every note even. Create a new way of going up or down a scale, skip some notes and keep some others. Play around with just a few notes at a time and see what you can create. If you think nothing of interest can be done with three notes, remember that the main melodic hook of Vince Guaraldi’s Linus and Lucy uses just three notes. If you are helping students to cultivate their improvisatory abilities, make sure they realize this, too. Im­pro­visation is not an elusive ability only some are born with; improvisation is a way of life.

Sound Practice
Marie Speziale
Thursday, 12:00 p.m.

    Young brass players have a tendency to lift their shoulders when they take a breath. This action results in a false sense of full inhalation. The reality is that they tap into only a small portion of their lung capacity and quite likely wind up introducing upper body tension and/or tightness in the neck and throat area, thereby affecting tone production and reducing performance anxiety.
    My intent is to focus on ways to help students establish habits that will help them develop a more natural, relaxed manner of breathing for easy, efficient tone production. I will discuss air flow: the direction, quality, quantity, velocity, and temperature of the air line. I will share practice tips to help students develop new habits, approach their practice sessions in an organized, thoughtful manner, and develop efficient practice techniques to achieve maximum productivity with a minimum of wasted effort and without contributing to unnecessary embouchure stress and fatigue.

Creating an Online Presence for Your Program
Brad Meyer
Thursday, 1:30 p.m.

    One of the most helpful tools to help create an online presence is to have an up-to-date website that can help people learn about your program, lit audition requirements, and view videos and photos of past performances all in one place. Creating a website can seem like a daunting task for busy directors. However, a band parent, co-worker, or friend can help set up the website and then show you how to update and edit it. The ability to update and edit things yourself is important; not only will managing the website yourself save money in the long run, it will also expedite the process of updating and changing pages because there will be no need to go back and forth with a webmaster to get your website looking the way you want it. Schedule time every month to update the site with current events and any recent videos or photos that will help people connect with your program.

Breathing and Buzzing to Beautiful Sounds
Chris O’Hara
Friday, 8:30 a.m.

    One of the easiest and greatest ways to improve playing is to play tunes on the mouthpiece. Pick a song that you know so well that you could sing it or at least hear it clearly in your mind. It is recommended that you start with simple melodies like Mary Had a Little Lamb.
    Sing this tune in your head a few times to make sure that the song in clear in your mind. Then try to buzz the tune while singing it in your head. It doesn’t matter what note you start on, as long as the tune sounds right. Try to keep the notes you are buzzing lined up with the tune in your head. When you feel confident buzzing these tunes try playing them for friends, family, or teachers. If they can easily guess the name of the tune you are buzzing then you are well on your way. As you master simple tunes, try more difficult melodies. The better you get at this process, the easier playing the trumpet will be. If you can sing it, you can buzz it.

Bowing Concepts for Musical Phrasing
Frank Lestina
Friday, 12:00 p.m.

    This clinic is a direct result of observing and analyzing band and choir rehearsals throughout my career. We all know how important it is to observe other directors and guest conductors in rehearsal. Too often, we only observe others in our specific area. I feel it is equally important to observe other colleagues outside your specific area. For me, this started early in my career out of necessity because there were no other orchestra programs in my immediate area. Observing band and choir directors in my school district allowed me to grow as a music educator and had far reaching influences in my career.
    We are all familiar with the natural connection between phrasing and breathing. While trying to teach phrasing to my string players, I noticed that it took much longer for my students to make this connection with the bow. Even with good bowings in the music, the phrasing was often not acceptable. Students would follow the bowings, but there was no connection between the bowing and the phrase. Over the years, I started to notice some predictable patterns. This session exposes all the little habits that string students develop over the years and provides suggestions to change those habits.
    String players are presented with many challenges when it comes to finding the right bowing to preserve the musical phrase. This is especially true when the note values are inconsistent. Playing down bow for two counts and up bow for one count creates an opportunity for an accent, which may not fit the musical idea. I will present specific examples in standard repertoire along with suggestions to allow for a musical phrase. The goal is simple: hear how you want the phrase to sound, find the best bowing option, and then (the hard part) listen to make sure you performed the phrase the way you heard it in your head. Too often, string players play with unwanted accents or allow their bow to dictate the dynamics and accents. It must be the other way around. Make the bow work to create the phrase.

Fourth Finger First: Why the Order of Finger Introduction Matters
Sandy Goldie
Friday, 1:30 p.m.

    If you are frequently frustrated with the left hand position weaknesses of your beginning string students and tire of repeating requests for good left hand technique, consider what might happen if you changed the order in which you initially introduced the fingers of the left hand to students in your beginning classes. Try starting with the fourth finger first. A recent action research study (and many years in the trenches teaching public school orchestra) found that using fourth finger as the first fingered pitch in beginning string instruction had several benefits for students including improved positioning of the left hand, wrist, and arm; improved intonation accuracy; and increased voluntary use of fourth finger for violinists and violists (even when sight-reading). All best wishes to you and your students as you strive for fabulous fundamentals as the foundation for future musical success.

How to Land Your Dream Job and Keep It
Raeleen Horn
Friday, 3:00 p.m.

    In both my professional and personal life, my motto has been “You never have a second chance to make a first impression.” Being a music educator is a public and people-oriented role. A myriad of opportunities are put before us each day, and how we select and approach these opportunities can magnify or diminish how we introduce ourselves into a variety of situations. Seeking employment and landing your dream job is one thing. Retaining the job means much more than successful music making. Positive and sincere interactions with administrators, colleagues, students, and their parents is the key to success and one of the most meaningful components of being an educator.

Middle School Full Orchestra – Making It Work for Your School
Sandra Dackow
Saturday, 8:30 a.m.

    Of the many classes and levels that I have taught, nothing has quite the life-changing impact of the middle school full orchestra experience, targeted at those impressionable and fearless young musicians not yet in high school, but willing to try anything.
    Too often a full orchestra experience is postponed until high school. Both string students and wind/percussion students are shortchanged unless the foundation of full orchestra skills are established at the middle school level. When a middle school full orchestra is part of the instrumental music curriculum, the chances that the high school orchestra will be primed to perform standard, unarranged literature goes way up, benefiting the entire department and community.
    The integration of woodwind, brass, and percussion players with stings at the middle school level is not only advisable but is a richly rewarding experience for the entire music department. A variety of scheduling strategies will be explored and team teaching models discussed. Tuning of individual instruments, sections, and the full ensemble is demonstrated, along with articulation and sound production for different instruments and sections. Achieving balance and blend will be explored. The differences between orchestral percussion technique and band percussion will also be demonstrated. A range of rehearsal techniques will be presented and discussed. Sources for literature will also be shared.
    The most important idea of this presentation is to go for complete instrumentation (as complete an instrumentation as band personnel permit) right away. Many schools begin by adding just flutes and clarinets to strings, calling this a full orchestra. While these intentions are good and meant to involve the most advanced and capable woodwinds so as to minimize the rehearsal challenges of different instruments working together, I recommend, instead, to bring everyone on – especially low brass and a full, colorful percussion section. Get as many stakeholders as possible excited about the sound of a full orchestra. Even if some of the wind players are neither advanced nor facile in sharp keys, good, well-edited material that will enable a group to be inclusive and to sound full is out there. Once involved with full orchestra, strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion will want to continue if they have had an exciting experience – and these experiences are possible every place where there are bands and string classes. When the department breaks down barriers and collaborates on this task, everyone wins.

The post A Preview from the Presenters appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

As you began conducting what we now know as The Desert Winds, was performing at Midwest part of the plan?
    When the original ensemble evolved from a fledgling orchestra into a dectet of wind players, the initial focus was to save the organization from collapse. The recession of 2008 affected Las Vegas later than most of the country, and many musicians in town left for better opportunities. Luckily, the wind players in the group were mostly band directors who had secure jobs within our school district. As the ensemble grew into a community band and then an auditioned community wind ensemble, the plans have adapted to mirror the need for continued musical growth. The plan to audition for The Midwest Clinic was first discussed in the fall of 2014 and became a concrete goal during my attendance at the conference last year. There is an immediate feeling of inspiration when one attends The Midwest Clinic. Its historical significance to our profession coupled with The Desert Winds increasing quality made the decision clear.

How did you approach Julie Giroux to commission her for The Desert Winds’ Midwest Clinic performance?
    When my father passed away, I witnessed love and sorrow simultaneously filling the chambers of my mother’s broken heart. It is something that you cannot fully explain or understand until you have come to this place in life. For my healing, I needed to have my father’s story written down but in a way that would be unique for me. Julie Giroux has long been a favorite composer of mine, and although I had never had a conversation with her, I became familiar with her through her poignant social media postings on healing, loss, and love. I realized that she might be the person to write my father’s story but it took some time for me to reach this conclusion.
    As an undergraduate at Troy University in Alabama, I had an incredible experience learning from many fine composers. My first thought was to have Robert W. Smith or Ralph Ford compose the work for my father, but I didn’t want their experience with me as a student to influence a piece that was in remembrance. It is difficult to know if my being late for Ralph’s 8 a.m. theory class or missing one of Robert’s dress rehearsals would have influenced what they would have written. My personal growth as a musician and teacher were influenced heavily by them, and ultimately I felt that this piece needed someone from the outside to look in on my life to fully realize the artful healing that was needed.
    I sent Julie a message at the beginning of April after The Desert Winds team had our initial Midwest Clinic plans established. At around midnight on April 27th, she asked if I was able to talk on the phone. We touched on many things during our discussion of the piece and I found myself feeling like she had been in my life for all of my years. I was able to talk to her openly about my father and the impact his passing had on my mother. Before a note was ever written, I knew that the piece would be a journey of healing for me, and that she would get something really special out of writing it. She captured my father’s story brilliantly. In many ways, this is the most difficult piece I have ever conducted because Julie has forced me to look in the mirror and face my heartbreak. She has masterfully created a path to understanding, reconciliation and love through the music of HearthStone. Performing this work with your musicians will guarantee deeper understanding and connection to the world around you.

Speaking to band directors who have low student enrollments, how would you suggest they create high expectations where previously there may have been none?
    The first questions I would ask are “Why do you have low enrollments?” and “Are there ways in which you can improve your educational environment through consultation with administration, counselors, and other school stakeholders?” The first objective is to establish a consistency in enrollment. Quality is improved within clearly defined systems that have consistency as a foundation.
    Once you have begun improving enrollment, then you have to establish clear objectives for your ensembles. Simple parameters will allow you to foster the quality that you desire. The most basic of these is to set students up for success, which starts by measuring where the students are. Inexperienced directors might feel compelled to play a certain piece because it is on a state list for their band, but students may not be at that level yet. It is better to pick something they can succeed at.
    Many bands devote much less time to ear training then they should. Traditionally, choirs are able to hear things better than instrumentalists. To improve this skill set, we must have band students sing more. Getting characteristic sounds from the instrument and getting the correct pitch both relate back to singing and being able to hear pitch in the head.
    The first singing exercise that I teach band students uses the first five notes of the Bb scale. Everyone sings on la, because this syllable opens the throat, and I want students to get used to dropping the jaw and having the air be supported. I split the band into three parts: soprano instruments, alto instruments, and tenor and bass instruments. The exercise builds a triad.

    Younger students do not begin band with an understanding of how harmony functions, but you can get them to hear these things without using advanced concepts and language. In other words, you can train the ears without overloading students with the technical terms.
    Throughout the process of building a program, remember every part of your support system, considering how a good program looks to parents, administration, community, and students. Each of these stakeholders has a different idea of what a good program is, and until you can educate them on excellence through regional, state, and possibly national performances, the path to the program you wish to build is through the hearts and minds of those people. Programming is key. Do not be afraid to make decisions; you know your band and its support system better than anyone else.
    When I was in my first year of teaching at the high school in Goshen, Alabama, my principal would come to the band room just to hear us play My Heart Will Go On from the movie Titanic. This request frustrated me because I had so many things that I needed to accomplish with my students and this tune was obviously not listed among the standards that I wanted to perform with my band. I remember wondering what education can possibly be found in a pop tune. It took me years to realize that music education reaches beyond your classroom and your students. My principal was dealing with some pretty harsh realities at home. At the end of the year, when she decided to go into retirement, she told me that those private concerts for her allowed her to experience joy during a dark time. The following year, I got the band schedule that she had fought many directors about in years past. In one year, enrollment went from 14 to 61. The answers are not always right in front of you, and solutions can often be found in the hearts and minds of those who appreciate what you do.

How would you encourage directors who inherit underperforming groups to invest in their students in meaningful ways?
    In my years of teaching, there has been no bigger joy than accepting difficult teaching positions and fostering programs in ways that no one could imagine. The first step to investing in your students comes from checking your ego at the door. At the end of your life, do you want to leave a legacy where your students found their one sure shot at a meaningful life in the lessons that you provided?
    We must recognize that success comes in many different shapes and sizes and has little to do with awards and accolades. One student finally learning a Bb concert scale after three years of trying may be no less successful than the student who wins an audition. As an educator, you must accept that if knowledge is imparted and absorbed, your role has been meaningful and successful. Directors are a boastful bunch and we are quick to puff our chest out and display like peacocks the many honors and awards that we have received. Within that sea of accolades and awards is that one student whose life was made meaningful because of the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than oneself.
    One particular Las Vegas teacher comes to mind when I think about how success should be measured. Elizabeth Reineke teaches at Bailey Middle School in Las Vegas, and she has had to adapt to the many difficulties that her students bring to her door each day. When those students enter, they get an enthusiastic smile and a fist bump from her, and those things change the trajectory of children’s lives. They come to her from broken homes experiencing daily violence that even our news channels have grown tired of reporting, but for one hour a day, those students are encouraged through her thought-provoking engagement with them. Their music class serves as a refuge as they work to perfect their scales and music. She does not make excuses for these students but instead loves them through their experience. These students are successful if they have made it through one more day with one small moment of joy. Ms. Reineke provides their joy and in some cases a reason to live through their pain with the hope that tomorrow will be better. Adjudicators just cannot judge t​ hat kind of success.

How does The Desert Winds contribute to the music education in the Las Vegas metropolitan area?
    Las Vegas differs from many other large cities in that the developed parts of the town are not that old. We do not have the legacy of band students found in other major metropolitan areas. Many of our music students do not come from homes that included music, so our place in this community is unique to others. We have spent time building relationships with our community and building programs that allow audience members to feel welcome and part of the performances that we put on. We had about 1,000 people come to our Veterans Day concert because we met with veterans groups to let them know we were doing this for the community. Historically, art music has been reserved for the elite in society, and concert bands have an excellent opportunity to end these reservations and perform music for all.
    The Desert Winds plays its opening piece with no introduction, and after that, I ask everyone to take out their cell phones, which is the opposite of what is expected at a concert. Our concert halls usually ban cell phones, so we have to get permission from them to do this. I tell the audience members they can take pictures, check in on social media, and post that they’re here and enjoying it. I also say if there’s something they don’t like, we are asking for feedback because we want them to be a part of the process. Orchestras these days are working hard to keep and expand their audiences. Knowing that this is a concern, our approach is to eliminate the things that keep people from choosing to attend concerts.

What is your process when programming a concert?
    There are many considerations that go into programming for The Desert Winds, but my first consideration is our audience. For programming, we find the visual ideas and graphics draw people in. The entire season’s concerts are related to each other through visual or more tangible concepts. I work with a talented graphic designer who puts my thoughts and feelings about a programming season into a visual presentation. When our community comes to our concerts, we want to make them feel as welcome as possible.
    When people come to the concert, they already have a visual of what the concert is going to be about, so they feel like they’re more a part of the process. Two seasons ago, we performed a season of colors entitled Colorations. Each concert was built around a color. Once the colors were established, the literature choices came into play. I always have a running list of works that I would love to perform and if these works fit within the concepts presented, they will get programmed. I always consider current events to see if there is something that has impacted our community and ask if there is a way to reflect that musically. Our goal is to present music that is as relatable to our audience as possible without trying to be something that we are not. We must remain honest and we do that through consistently reflecting humanity whether through cheers or tears. We perform truth.

What role does the march play in the modern music education curriculum?
    In a rich and diverse band curriculum, music history is as significant as the study of fundamental playing techniques. In band, we assume the role of band musicologist and present the historical position of the march to our students in ways that are indicative of its significance. If a director finds that marches are uninspiring to conduct or so repetitive that they deplete the time allotted to teaching kids about “real music,” I must suggest that we revisit the trove of musical teaching devices found within a march. We must rededicate ourselves to learning the intricacies of how a march should be played and how to impart this knowledge. Only in a march can you find so many different styles, moods, tempos and compositional techniques jammed into one tiny package.
    The basic idea of a march is that it is the opening, middle section, and finale of a concert condensed down to three minutes. There is a huge amount of information that comes from a march. One of the most basic teaching devices in a march is articulation. Any band director who just plays the page and moves on hasn’t really dug in to it. Staccatos have to be defined; a British march will have a different type of staccato than a Sousa march. We have to be creative but clear in how we describe articulations because the staccato is not just a staccato. That is the base point, but the articulation’s meaning depends on the style and time period, and we have to be able to draw from that.
    In addition, nowhere else in a program are the dynamics as important as in a march. There are melodies and countermelodies, and decisions have to be made on when to omit a part or what should be brought out and when. Using dynamics to execute the performance is the best way to get a band to understand how dynamics work in just one piece. These elements exist in other types of music, but articulations and dynamics are more important in a march than in anything else.
    Marches teach students the importance of listening. There are more unison lines with people in a march, and these need to be balanced well. Students light up when they realize there is something that’s been going on for a month that is finally brought out. Things start clicking for them as far as listening and how to listen across the ensemble.
    We have 48 high schools in the area, and last year at festival only three bands played a march. Only one of them did it well. I wonder if teachers are afraid of marches or perhaps just don’t like them, but marches are part of our heritage. If one really becomes intimate with the march, rehearsing any other form of music will become a breeze. If you truly believe that marches are predictable, you need to adjust your approach. There is joy in marches if you are willing to take the time to find it and use it.

What role do community bands play in the current evolution of the American wind ensemble?
    You can’t discuss American music history and not touch on the significant role that community bands have played throughout American history. We have seen the community band rise up from military and ceremonial needs to becoming a major part of culture in small towns everywhere, but with the implementation of school band programs, for a while community bands dwindled in numbers. However, each year at the Midwest Clinic, you can see that community bands are programming and reaching for higher artistic integrity and more meaningful programming. We have not reached the full potential of what is possible and the journey is an exciting one.

The post An Interview with Charles A. Maguire, Artistic Director of the Desert Winds appeared first on The Instrumentalist.