“Play with heart.” Ray E. Cramer often spoke these words to encourage the 640 students he has led in his 20 years as a guest professor with the Musashino Wind Ensemble. In that time he has been involved with other Japanese bands as an honorary advisory board member of the Japan Band Clinic in addition to serving as chair of the Indiana University Band Depart­ment and president of the Midwest Clinic.
    The alumni band consisted of 155 former students with 70 more alumni among the audience. Attendance at three weekend rehearsals was required to perform, so many who wished to play could not. Each piece was performed by a smaller group of alumni who had played the work with Cramer as students, and before each piece he introduced the music and spoke of his memories of Musashino. Many were concerned that the three rehearsals were not enough, but that proved wrong.
    The concert started with Washington Grays March, the piece that opened Cramer’s first performance with the ensemble. The band played with the same excitement and heart in its sound as it did 20 years ago.
    When introducing Grainger’s Irish Tune from County Derry, Cramer explained that the piece has great personal significance because his wife Molly has Irish roots and the beautiful horn melodies remind him of his daughter who played horn. She died in a traffic accident the year before while Cramer was at Musashino preparing for a tour. There was a moment of silence for her following the deeply emotional performance.
    After the main program all 155 participants performed a few encores, including The Stars and Stripes Forever. As an unusual touch, the solo piccolo part was played once by harpist Kyoko Okuda, once by Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra principal trombonist Akira Kuwata, and a final time by four piccolos.
    Cramer received the enthusiastic applause of the audience and the performers on stage, and at the end he thanked his wife Molly for her support and delicate care for all of the students. Molly also received warm applause. The emotional event demonstrated the wonderful relationship between a teacher and his former students.              

– Shigefumi Akita, Professor
Musashino Academia Musicae

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I remember when…

    The recruiter from the local music store came and showed my fifth grade class at Floyd Elementary School in Montgomery, Alabama all of the band instruments. I was most impressed by the trumpet.
    I started beginning band in the sixth grade on a tarnished silver Olds cornet my dad played when he was in band. My parents told me I would get a new instrument if I worked hard and made progress. To make the old, worn case look better, my mom covered it with red, white, and blue contact paper. Initially I thought it was cool but was ashamed once I got to school. Things could have been worse. My friend Doug started on his grandfather’s soprano saxophone.
    My first band book was the Belwin First Division Band Method.
    Each day we walked from the elementary school to the band room at the junior high school for practice.
    My main competition for first chair was Bucky. His older brother was in the high school band so Bucky always took marching music from him. I had never seen music printed so tiny – I wondered how the high school students could possibly read it. The only tune I remember was “Killing Me Softly with His Song.”
    One day we entered the band room, and our director was not there. Our primeval instincts took over, and we could not resist trying out all the available percussion instruments. I was playing the bass drum when the director returned. He moved me from first chair to last, and to make it worse, I suffered the indignity of being unable to control my emotions. I could not hold back tears as I returned to the elementary school after practice. A boy crying was big news in the sixth grade.
    The director also moved me to last chair when I accidentally made a sound on my instrument. I had not done this before so it seemed a rather harsh punishment. I can’t remember if I cried that time.
    We sold toothbrushes as a fundraiser, which was difficult because they had hard bristles.
   Bucky and I played a “Carnival of Venice” duet on the final concert. The lab band (what it was called before giving way to jazz band) also played at the final concert, and I really loved the up-tempo catchy music. I believe one of the songs they performed was “Proud Mary.”
    After the sixth grade I moved to Auburn, Alabama, and I could not believe that the band was so large and good. It really opened my eyes after the insular world of a small beginning band.
    I felt uncomfortable as the only seventh grader in the eighth grade band. I was there because they started band in seventh grade. I was no longer the first chair and not even close. I was, however, a couple of chairs ahead of a cool dude named Kenny who slouched in his chair and carried himself like a gang member from West Side Story. My only real time of bonding was when everyone in my section got licks from a coach, who was substituting for our director, Miss Patrick. We played our instruments loudly and obnoxiously in the shop building while we were waiting to be tested, but she had told us not to play at all. For the record, I was not there when she told us not to play, and I was actually practicing my music. However, I took one for the team.
    Miss Patrick had a three-strikes system: you received one strike for each time she caught you talking. Some­times she would ask everyone who was talking to raise their hand so she could issue strikes. Honesty was at its highest for the first two strikes but diminished drastically afterward. We all had to hope she didn’t catch us individually for the third strike.
When I was in eighth grade, Miss Patrick gave me a progress report to take home. Up to that time I had only seen progress reports given to students with bad grades so I looked at the paper with some concern only to discover that she was telling my parents how well I was doing.
    We played Pan American March and Kensington Overture at region and state contest that year, but I can’t remember the third selection. We received first divisions at both events.
I remember my hands shaking like crazy on a trumpet solo when some visitors from outside the school watched our rehearsal. I produced the widest vibrato in history.
We had a band skating party and a couple of other band parties. The skating rink was an old, narrow building with dirty wooden floors. I know it was narrow because I never could make it around the corner without hitting the wall.
    Our band uniform was a white shirt with a maroon vest, navy blue pants, and a white sash I could never tie without help.
    I worked with a trombone player named Jimbo on a music project where we arranged a song into a duet. The title escapes me.
    I remember thinking how cool the percussion cadence was, and I can still remember it.
    At our final concert, Miss Patrick dedicated an Olivia Newton-John medley to us. One of the tunes was “I Honestly Love You.” It seems sappy now, but not at the time because we loved her, too.
    I moved back to Montgomery after eighth grade, joining my third band in four years.
    Because I jazzed up the four tuning notes for trumpet (G, A, B, C), I received a C in conduct for the nine weeks, even though I was not called down for anything else the whole grading period. This kept me out of the Junior Honor Society. I apologized to the director the next day but he didn’t seem to appreciate it.
    We played a medley of hits by the group Chicago, and I had a solo on “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”
    I remember the displeasure the band director showed when I tried to coordinate after-school band practices with basketball try-outs.

    As I reflect on these entries I can’t help but be saddened by how much I have forgotten. If there is anything I would change from my childhood it would be to have kept a journal. Also, it’s interesting that my memories closely resemble many of the Facebook entries of my former students who often reflect upon their band memories: firsts, music played, awards, disciplinary measures, seemingly traumatic circumstances, sentimental moments, and social events. If there are any entries on unfair treatment, they’ve blocked me from seeing them.
    Some of these episodes influence my teaching to this day. I don’t move students from first to last chair for disciplinary reasons. If a non-percussionist wants to play drums I will let him play for five minutes if he donates a dollar to the band. I’ve never had my band sell toothbrushes. At the end of each year I write notes to every senior thanking them for their contributions to the band. I help organize social events apart from the regular band events. I treasure and respect the few kids who take time to apologize for their actions. Working amicably with athletes who have conflicts with band is important to me. I once tried the three-strikes system during my student teaching but quickly realized that if every kid received two strikes in a class of 30 students that is a total of 60 times that they could talk without getting in trouble. I decided to go with a stricter system. And finally, to the relief of my own children, I never covered their instrument cases with gaudy red, white, and blue contact paper.

The post I Remember appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Adding Variety
     It was important to me that the curriculum provide as comprehensive a view of guitar playing as possible. With the help of the internet, articles, interviews, with university guitar instructors, and music DVDs, I was able to construct a sizable unit on the origins of the guitar and its use in American music. I also found a wealth of research papers on such important guitar players as Jimi Hendrix, Django Reinhardt, John William, and Yngwie Malmsteen. I also spent time introducing and researching the various components of the guitar, various types of wood used, the layout of the fret board, tuning, and how to restring a guitar.
     The curriculum in those first years allowed me to adapt and modify instruction based on the motivation of the class. It quickly became apparent that not everyone was in the program to learn the guitar to become a musician. Some just needed the credit to graduate. Knowing that the administration required facts and figures to justify the program, I showed progress through regular informal assessments, weekly playing exams, practice logs, and public performances.

Public Concerts
     We give a Christmas concert and a spring concert each year, but perhaps the most fun we have as a class is an annual Christmas tour to various group homes, veteran’s hospitals, and senior centers. We treat the tour like a professional gig – we are out the door by 7 a.m. and home by 5 p.m. Last year we managed to travel to six shows in five different towns. The schedule was so busy that I found myself stumbling over my words by the last event.
     The concept of a Christmas tour has been a part of my teaching from the very beginning. Long before I taught a guitar class, I took small band ensembles to play in different parts of the state. I found that older audiences actually prefer the guitar ensemble because the guitar sound is less overwhelming than brass instruments. The concerts help promote community awareness of the guitar ensemble and at this point many places contact us to set up another performance. Students also benefit from feeling like professional musicians. The tours are all business, and students know I expect adult behavior when we are out in the community.

Practice Logs
     I tell students at the beginning of each year that they will only get out of the guitar what they put into it. We meet five days a week for a full hour, but it is essential that they practice on their own. I tell them that to be an okay guitar player might require 30 minutes a day. If you want to be great, you have to practice for hours. Some of my most dedicated players clock in three hours a night on their practice log. These students start as beginners, tap into playing serious solos in just a few months, and discover that they love playing.

No Pain, No Gain
     I make sure young players know from the start that playing guitar involves some physical pain. They are pushing metal strings in between two metal frets so it takes some pressure on the strings to produce a clear tone. Repeating this over and over develops calluses on the fingers but it does not happen overnight. It takes a few weeks for the fingers to harden from the repeated thrashing on an acoustic guitar. With an electric guitar, there is less initial pain because the strings are lower to the fretboard and require less pressure. I always tell students that if your fingers are not hurting a little bit after the first couple of days with the instrument, you are not working hard enough. You can tell by the sound if a student is not pushing hard enough on the string.

Moving Forward
     Seven years have passed since the my first guitar class. Those early years of teaching guitar in Kansas made me appreciate the dedication needed to promote a new type of class. I discovered that I was the only director in Western Kansas who was brave or crazy enough to teach a daily guitar class. Even as a trained band director, I felt some fear of the unknown. I worried about giving students an excellent guitar education because I lacked experience with the instrument.
     I laugh now at how much I did not know in the beginning and how much higher my expectations have become for students. The curriculum has been completely overhauled. I no longer use a published method book but  have developed my own that I hand out on the first day. The book is written so that it can be adapted to meet the learning curve of each class from year to year. For seven years my guitar class has ­been a remarkable experiment and adventure. I encourage more directors to give it a try.   

The post No Experience Necessary, Building a Guitar Class from Scratch appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Preparation
     Directors wishing to bring in a clinician for a one-day visit should make first contact by telephone or email ready with a couple of different dates and times in mind. Getting schedules lined up is always the first thing to handle. The next important hurdle is to make sure the clinician knows whether you will be in the rehearsal room, the marching field, or somewhere else. Be sure to give the clinician clear directions on how to get to the rehearsal spot. I always get the cell phone number of the director in the event something should go awry, even if communication is primarily by email.
     Clinicians are there to help the band in any way they can, and they prefer to know what needs the most attention. It is essential that the clinician knows what pieces the band will be rehearsing in advance, so he can study the scores before stepping in front of the ensemble. A clinician may be able to teach something familiar or easy without reviewing the score beforehand but will need extensive preparation to conduct a new piece. Also, tell the clinician if there is a specific movement or section that you would like to see addressed.
     When working with a marching band, the clinician needs to know which elements (drill, music, percussion, visuals) the director wants to be addressed. Most clinicians can help in any capacity, but it is usually more productive for them to focus on one area than trying to fix everything at once. The visit can be most productive when the clinician knows what role to be in. Directors should designate if the clinician is to act as a judge, whether he should be in the tower or on the field, or if the focus should be on footwork, balance, or drill design. Although there are many men and women capable of addressing all of these areas, very few of them can do so effectively in a two-hour rehearsal.
     I ask hosts to prepare a rehearsal schedule for me to ensure that we rehearse all of the important sections, especially if I am asked to address a long list of problems in a relatively short amount of time. It is best when the director orders the schedule from the piece that requires the most attention to the one that needs the least. For example, a few wrong notes in the march will likely correct themselves, so place that at the end and begin with a difficult section of one of the more challenging pieces.
     While I was teaching in public schools I found it frustrating when clinicians would spend 45 minutes on the march and barely work on the more difficult pieces. Later I realized this happened because I never communicated with my guests about the specifics that I wanted them to address. The end result was that students didn’t learn as much from these clinicians as they could have.
     I will also call to confirm everything a few days before the event because I have encountered band directors who forgot the date we agreed upon. It is advisable to touch base right before the visit to make sure that everybody is on the same page.

When to Bring in a Clinician
     Although I am happy to work with a marching band at any point in the season, the ideal time seems to be three quarters of the way through development of the show. At this point the director has been listening to the same pieces several times a week for two months, and a fresh set of ears can be tremendously helpful. Directors can get bogged down in minor details, and a new listener can offer a perspective on what shape the show is actually in and where the real problems still lie.
     On first seeing a show, clinicians hear what the audience and judges will hear, meaning they will typically notice general problems more than minute details. Perfect intonation in the third clarinets doesn’t matter if they can’t even be heard in that measure. Directors hear the music so often that they may lose perspective, while fresh ears may think to add a musical effect in one place or assure the director that the show is in better shape than they think. It is common for directors to harp on minor details and miss the big picture.
     Precedence should go to the clinician if there is a conflict of opinion, although the director may change back to his preferred way afterwards. I find that disagreements occur most often at marching clinics when directors include effects the band cannot handle. Facing backfield for 3⁄4 of the show may work for a drum corps but the high school horn line may not have enough power to manage that. Similarly, a drum corps like the Cadets may be able to place their drumline at the front of the field during the ballad, but they can play softer than most high school drumlines.
     One of the greatest lessons I had as a high school band director came from a band parent who was a former band director and had taken a group to the Midwest Clinic. One day he pointed out that I was humming on the podium, and this was keeping me from hearing what the band was actually playing. I was not aware how bad this habit had become and have worked hard to overcome it.
     A director should never expect fish for negative comments about colleagues or other programs from a clinician. We are there to help you get better, not to compare your groups to others.

Rehearsal
     My preference is for the host directors to warm up the band and run through the pieces I will be working on while I sit and listen for the first portion of the rehearsal. As the director has the ensemble play through the music I can focus better on the dynamics and articulations than when I am on the podium. This allows the clinician to get a much broader perspective of what needs to be addressed and to get a feeling for the technical and musical capabilities of the ensemble.
     Directors should not waste time making excuses for every problem, musical or otherwise, that arises. The majority of clinicians have been in similar situations with their programs and are well aware that they are dealing with imperfect people and less-than-ideal situations. It is imperative to spend as much time as possible focusing on solutions rather than problems.
     The worst scenario I have encountered was when I sat through a two-hour long rehearsal and was expected to correct every problem in the last five minutes. This is impossible and a waste of the clinician’s time. Clinicians are happy to simply observe a rehearsal and make comments but should be given ample time in which to do so.
     The director should be responsible for dealing with discipline problems by quickly removing the disruptive student from the room. Otherwise it wastes rehearsal time. Some clinicians are willing to help with discipline, but directors looking for help in this area should make this known in advance. I have helped young teachers who wanted some ideas for maintaining discipline by leading the band while they observed.

Compensation
     Payment should be clearly agreed upon before the clinic and the best way for a director to bring this up is to ask if the clinician charges a set fee. This allows the clinician to name an amount or let the host know that there will be no charge. If the director solicited the visit, payment is probably expected, but many college directors do not expect to be paid because they consider classroom visits to be recruiting opportunities and so part of their job. However, if a clinician does not accept payment, offering to reimburse the clinician for gas is often a welcomed gesture if the travel time is more than an hour. Although many college professors enjoy making such trips and see them as recruiting opportunities rather than a chance to make some extra money, clinicians who are high school teachers, graduate students, composers, and professional players do not have recruiting duties and will probably charge a fee.
With a little planning and communication a good clinician can make a significant difference in a band in a short amount of time. Bringing clinicians into my room was often as much of an education for me as it was for my students.             

The post Guest Clinicians appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Pick the Right Students
    I try to identify students who can produce a proper buzz on a horn mouthpiece. Some students struggle with this and have a difficult time on horn. The quick test I use is to explain and demonstrate the technique and simply ask students to match this. If they fail, I move on to another candidate.
    It is important for a student to have the right mental attitude about making the switch. It will take dedication and hard work to do well. Some students are unwilling to take private lessons and devote the extra time necessary to catch up with others in the section, and should be passed by. A good attitude is more important than whatever their current ability is on another instrument.
    A common fallback by directors is to choose a trumpet player to make the switch to horn. The obvious allure is that the mouthpiece rims are close in size and both entail blowing and buzzing. In fact, horn mouthpieces are quite deep and have a much thinner rim. This is often uncomfortable for trumpet players, and there is the additional problem of changing the upper-lower lip ratio. The standard balance for trumpet players is 50/50, but on the horn it should be 2⁄3 upper to 1⁄3 lower lip.
    Woodwind players do not have this baggage to hamper them, and they often make the switch quite easily. The clarinet and saxophone embou-chure is completely different, but does use the same general muscle sense. A flute embouchure is surprisingly similar to a brass embouchure and avoids problems in shifting the mouthpiece placement. Woodwind players have no preconceived notions about how to form a brass embouchure and are simply a clean slate to draw on.
    The change from any instrument to another has some common problems. Regardless of what their past level of proficiency was, these students are suddenly beginners again. The horn is probably larger and heavier than what they are used to and the inevitable fact is that they will miss many notes for awhile. Suddenly, they are at the bottom of a section and their confidence may fade. It helps greatly if the director and other students are enthusiastic about gaining a horn player and offer encouragement from time to time.

Embouchure and Position
    After selecting a student, the first step is to form a proper embouchure. This is basically described as holding the corners of the mouth in a tight very slight smile. The center of the lips should remain relaxed and very slightly pursed to produce a buzz. The mouthpiece should be 2⁄3 upper lip and 1⁄3 lower lip. Moisten the lips before blowing.
    The horn can be an awkward instrument to hold. It is not held in front of you and many students have a hard time remembering and understanding the mantra of correct position: bring the instrument to you, do not force your body to accommodate the horn. In doing this the lead pipe/mouthpiece angle will be correct. With small students a horn may be impossible to play with the instrument on the leg. Instead they should put the bell on the chair between their legs.

Range and Instruments
    The horn has a large range compared to the trumpet, and the partials are closer together. Student trumpet players find it difficult to hit a note on horn because the gap between notes is narrow. Muscle memory may interfere at first, and a single F is the biggest challenge because the F side uses the longest tubing (about 12 feet). Several problems can be avoided with a single Bb horn; its shorter length (approximately 9 feet) increases accuracy. If a student has a traditional double horn, it will almost certainly stand in F until the thumb valve changes it to Bb. However, the thumb valve can be reversed on many instruments to put the horn normally in Bb.
    This is done by reversing the string-linkage on the thumb valve. To reverse an American instrument is generally more complicated, but horns from overseas are easier to reverse by changing a screw. European horns with mechanical linkages can be reversed, but most American horns with mechanical linkages cannot. It is generally best to leave this change to an instrument repairman.

Right Hand Placement
    Older students have an easier time learning the proper use of the right hand in the bell, and this technique should be taught from the first lessons. This is done with the right hand extended as if shaking hands with straight fingers that are not spread. Place the tip of the right thumb on the middle knuckle of the index finger and cup the hand. Insert the hand into the bell of the horn until the thumb and knuckle can support the weight of the instrument. The back of the fingers should contact the bell. With smaller students this should be postponed until they grow and can comfortably hold the instrument properly.
    For many years horn was an instrument that many directors were afraid to teach. Few educators played the horn and there was a bit of mystery surrounding it. In the 21st century things have changed dramatically. Almost every band method includes diagrams, written information, and a DVD/CD to guide new players. YouTube has a variety of videos online. The Army Field Band (http://bands.army.mil/masterclass/tusafb/2004/french_horn_fundamentals.PDF) has a comprehensive guide to horn playing. John Ericson at the University of Arizona runs a site called Horn Matters (http://hornmatters.com) that has information about all kinds of horn and related issues.    

Advice from Dale Clevenger and Alice Render
    There are no absolutes on embouchure placement, but 2⁄3 of the rim on the upper lip and 1⁄3 of the rim on the lower is a good target. Another way to think of this is to put the bottom of the rim just inside the fleshy, pink rim of the lower lip, letting the top of the rim touch wherever it may. For most students this will put about 2⁄3 of the rim on the upper lip, but lips, teeth, and jaws come in various sizes and call for different solutions.
    Beginning horn students should buzz with the mouthpiece alone right from the outset, especially given the bulkiness of the instrument. The air is the most important thing to work on. Children are usually uncomfortable taking in a full amount of air. I often use Arnold Jacobs’ fight or fright image. The kind of breath you need every time you play the horn is the kind you would take if there were a guy behind you with a big knife. Don’t worry about whether the shoulders, stomach, or chest move. Any kind of movement is fine. Don’t even bother talking about the form of breathing, just the fact that it has to happen naturally and there has to be a big breath taken in every time.
    The buzzing sensation will seem foreign to beginners, so encourage them to make any noise at first. It helps to buzz along with them; start in the middle register and move to lower notes. Play a glissando for them to match, moving over the full range to find out where they are most comfortable. Explain that by making the aperture smaller and closing the jaw up a little the notes will go higher, while a wider aperture and lowering the jaw slightly is the way to get a lower note. If a student puffs out his cheeks like Dizzy Gillespie, correct this at once. Explain that the fleshy part of the chin should be firm, to act as an anchor, and that the lips are tiny muscles to alter the tone. In addition to perfecting all of the physical aspects of playing horn, it is crucial to be sure that air, or wind, is always passing through the horn. The intake and outflow of air is absolutely crucial because in the grand scheme of things the simplicity of the statement “wind and song” should be the main focus.
    Watch for any shifting or movement of the mouthpiece in anticipation of playing a note after breathing. Some beginners use almost no pressure between the lips and mouthpiece. They play with flaccid lips and sometimes blow their lips right out of the mouthpiece because there is too little pressure. Very few beginners will use too much pressure at first. You have to tell students to press a little more, but demonstration and experimentation is so important.
    Most small children have a lung capacity of only 1-11⁄2 liters of air, so the object is to get them to use the maximum they can push out. Students rarely breathe too much, so it often helps to suggest wasting more air and taking another breath. Point out how much better the sound is if they use more air. When they can get a good sound on a home base note, such as C, try using this as a reference point throughout the lesson. Then add a G and use these both as reference points from which to gradually develop an octave of good notes.
    It is so important for a beginning horn student to see how someone else plays a note and have an example to copy. Even if the teacher only studied horn for a few weeks in college while learning to play all the instruments, it helps to demonstrate everything for a beginner. An alternative is to bring in an advanced student from high school or college. Every beginner should have a mirror on the music stand to observe where the mouthpiece meets the lips. If a beginner can see how a good position looks, he will be able to match this during practice sessions at home and relate how it looks to a beautiful tone.
    It is unfortunate that 50% of entering college freshmen have bad embouchures to correct. Either they did not receive good instruction at the outset or developed bad habits, but it is very difficult to change embouchure at this stage. A beginner should not use a mouthpiece with a very deep cup. A middle-of-the-road mouthpiece works best.
    The cleanest and clearest articulation is produced when the tongue meets the bottom of the upper teeth. This position always provides good potential for varying the articulation. The attack (the initial articulation or the start of the tone in the case of non-tongued notes) is fuzzy if the tongue contacts higher up on the upper teeth or the roof of the mouth. Arnold Jacobs recommends practicing without tonguing at all because it forces the player to move the air, which is what produces the tone in the first place. This is a good technique for starting solos and can be practiced on the mouthpiece alone. Beginners can quickly hear and sense the value of playing and performing without tongued attacks
    To play the French horn, students have to put the mouthpiece on their face while holding one hand inside the bell. Many beginners are simply too small to do both, but it is far more important to put the mouthpiece on the face correctly than to worry about the hand. Sometimes a child is too small to hold the bell on his leg because his torso is so short that the mouthpiece will hit him in the middle of the forehead. The best solution is to rest the horn on the chair instead of the leg, using a towel or a book to cushion and raise the horn to the correct level. Most people put the horn on their leg because this is where they think it belongs. They do this even if it means craning their neck to reach the mouthpiece. The opposite should be the case. Put the mouthpiece where it has to be to form a good embouchure and let the bell sit wherever it can. Embouchure problems are much trickier to correct than the hand position in the bell.

The above is excerpted from First Lessons on Each Instrument, available at www.theinstrumentalist.com

The post The Switch to Horn appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Prepare the Students
     In the secondary grades temptation to misbehave will be strong, so students should know that the student teacher will be enforcing the same rules that are in place already. This has to be done with caution. If you give students the impression that you don’t think they will behave, they might view it as an opportunity to see what they can get away with. It is better to remind older students of the importance of student teaching. High schools have final exams and graduation exams, and a good approach is to convey to students that this is like the big final exam for the student teacher – an opportunity to practice their teaching before they go out into the field. Creative students may consider making a welcome sign or banner to hang on the student teacher’s first day.

Prepare the Classroom
     Set up a space in the rehearsal room for the student teacher. Even a simple table and chair or student desk that is designated just for the student teacher is a welcoming gesture. Include basic office supplies, and gather class schedules, curriculum guides, teacher manuals, music scores, method books, and district policies for the student teacher prior to his arrival. Seating charts are especially helpful for a nervous beginning teacher struggling to get to know many students at once. Another commonly overlooked reference for student teachers is procedures for lockdowns, fire drills, and tornado drills. If there a computer available for the student teacher to use, be certain compatability and internet permissions, including access codes, are taken care of. If there is a code for making photocopies, the student teacher will need that as well.

Prepare the Student Teacher
     Give the student teacher all upcoming calendar dates, including after-school rehearsals, meetings, concerts, and field trips. It is best for student teachers to tag along to as many of your responsibilities as possible. Avoid excusing student teachers from meetings that might seem boring or irrelevant. Prior experience attending meetings will help a student teacher know what to expect in his first job. When bringing a student teacher with you, be certain to introduce him and help him feel welcome.
     Make sure the student teacher understands whether he should use the material you provide for lessons or if you would like him to create his own lessons using what you have given him as a guide. If you intend for your student teacher to conduct a selection at an upcoming concert, it is never too soon to provide the score. If there are students who require accommodations or modifications to lessons, the student teacher should have this information early as well.

Lesson Plans and Discipline
     Require your student teacher to turn in lesson plans. Be sure to share your lesson plan format with the student teacher, but also be aware that the student teacher may have a required format from the university. Even if the student teacher is not required to submit formal lesson plans back to the university, you should still require full lesson plans from your student teacher so he can develop the ability to think through the lesson in its entirety, including procedures, accommodations and modifications, and assessment.
     Inexperienced teachers struggle with the pace of rehearsals; they may finish early and not know what to do. Encourage student teachers to plan a main lesson but have some side activities prepared. The aim of such activities should be to support the main lesson, but they should be things that can be abandoned if unneeded. The easy way out is to give students time to visit with one another or to play favorite songs with no real goal in mind other than to take up time; it is better to have worthwhile back-up material. The cooperating teacher should not always bail student teachers out, but rather inspire student teachers to see what they can do with that spare few minutes. Student teachers sometimes overplan, as well. Discuss ways to handle a rehearsal if they get bogged down.
     Some universities expect students to come up with a classroom management and discipline plan. Although the student teacher should follow discipline procedures that the school uses, the advantage of writing and testing such plans early is the chance to see what works. Student teachers may see the purpose of this as simply rules to keep order, but the ideal classroom management plan is one that makes students want to do what they are supposed to. One of the more difficult lessons a student teacher will have to learn is that if students don’t care, they won’t behave. Also, it is not always possible to rely on calling parents, because if that doesn’t matter to a student then it isn’t a consequence.
     Conversation between the cooperating teacher and the student teacher about classroom management is extremely important. A student teacher who takes the time to learn why the current rules are in place is better prepared for the real world.

Observation and Teaching
     Some colleges may specify a progression from observation to full-fledged teaching, but more than likely, you and the student teacher will determine how quickly this process goes. Time spent observing in the beginning is essential, but the student teacher can become antsy with a combination of eagerness and nervousness about actually teaching.
     All student teachers should observe first, even if only for a day. When I did my student teaching, my cooperating teacher’s father died the weekend before I was scheduled to start. She called me over the weekend and said, “I need you to just teach it.” While such things certainly happen,  baptism by fire denies student teachers a chance to watch their mentor teach.
     Other options for the first day or week include joining large ensemble rehearsals. If a percussionist is absent in the band, the student teacher can cover the part. Student teachers can also start teaching group lessons on at least their primary instrument from the first day.
     As soon as possible, provide your student teacher with opportunities to teach. Early teaching experiences might include leading warm-ups, teaching small group lessons on the student teacher’s major instrument, or teaching movements to a song elementary students already know. If a student teacher is conducting a piece, he could start running through it in the first or second week.
     Cooperating teachers should find appropriate tasks for their student teachers. Student teachers are going to make mistakes, but don’t set them up to fail or look incompetent in front of students. If a student teacher says percussion is his weakness, you should let him observe percussion lessons for a while but expect that he is going to teach percussion by the end of the semester. My instrument was flute, so at my instrumental placement, the director, whose primary instrument was trumpet, gave me all his flute students the first day because I had more experience with flute than he did.
     Let student teachers do what they’re confident with in the beginning, but they should be able to work with all the instruments by the time they’re done, and in an ideal situation, the student teacher should be teaching the entire load of the classes and handling all administrative responsibilities well before the end of the semester.
     It is worthwhile for student teachers to take time to observe any good teacher. Last spring I had a student teacher in the high school I graduated from, and my former Latin teacher was in her last year there. She was a fantastic teacher back when I was in high school, and I wanted the student teacher to observe her class. Students in the school enjoy Latin because she’s such a good teacher and they learn. It is beneficial for student teachers to see that you don’t have to be a dictator to have an effectively managed classroom.
     Art teachers and physical education teachers are a good choice, as in both of those classes, as with music, students are quite active. If a student teacher is struggling with a particular group of students, observing these students in the classrooms of several different teachers can be enlightening. Sometimes they can learn a little bit about the rapport, or expectations, or classroom climate in general from other teachers.

Critiquing Student Teachers
     A student teacher will not know what you are thinking unless you tell him. Offer critiques and suggestions every day, ideally immediately after every class the student teacher teaches. Be certain to point out the good things the student teacher is doing, even though it can be tempting to focus only on the areas that need improvement. A student teacher should be able to articulate his strengths and areas for improvement. If you notice unprofessional behaviors, such as arriving late, inappropriate dress, or failure to write lesson plans, address the problem promptly and involve the university supervisor if the problem persists or is significant.

Assessment
     Share your assessment practices with your student teacher, including how you determine grades for students in performing ensembles or lessons and how the district grades music on students’ report cards. Student teachers should also learn to assess each day to ensure that objectives are being met and that the students are making appropriate progress.
     Assessment is a difficult subject for inexperienced teachers, some of whom may think that assessment always means giving a test. When questioned about how they will assess a lesson plan, they either err on the side of saying, “I will give the students a test and they will get a good grade if they understand what the concepts are,” or they say, “I will watch and make sure the students are participating.” This is sometimes the best option, but it can lead to a philosophy of students earning an A by simply showing up and doing what is asked. If student teachers want to give writing assignments or tests, have them visit the English teacher to learn what reasonable expectations for writing are for each grade level.

Conducting Struggles
     Many student teachers struggle with conducting. When they are having a difficult time getting students to play what they want I recommend having them videotape themselves. Peter Boonshaft has described an excellent way for conductors to check how well they communicate. When watching the tape, instead of just evaluating conducting technique, sit down with the third clarinet or the third trombone part and play along with your own rehearsal. Most conductors know what they mean when they conduct, but the perspective of playing an inner part will help show whether gestures are believable.

     A good cooperating teacher should be organized, open to trying new ideas, confident, optimistic, and a good communicator. Cooperating teachers do invest a significant amount of time and energy into their student teachers, but the benefits to the cooperating teacher and his students can be immeasurable. People often learn more by teaching someone how to do something than by actually doing it. Working with a student teacher will force you to think more about why some things are done, and your teaching will likely improve in the process.  

Struggles of Student Teachers
By Charles Groeling

     The first step should be to interview the student teacher to find out what his goals are and what he thinks are his strengths and shortcomings. At that point a cooperating teacher could probably devise a strategy that would help the most; each student teacher will have different abilities and struggles.
     For the first day or two student teachers should simply observe, and should watch the students as much as the teacher. It is important to find out how students perceive and respond to what the instructor does to get an idea of how the personality of that class is met by the teacher.
     One thing not given much attention is assessment, but that is a big deal in schools today. Assessment can be both formal – for a grade – and informal, an evaluation of progress and pace that is crucial to keep the class moving forward and allow a teacher to maintain control of the direction of the class. Student teachers have to learn to develop some strategies without intimidating students to monitor what they are accomplishing in that particular period. That of course requires that they have a goal that they can measure. Student teachers should write a lesson plan for each day. Every lesson plan ought to include the overall content of the course, the material to be covered, and how it would be done.
     One problem that might surface would be if a student teacher tends to mirror or reflect the style of the college director he had. A student teacher used to an authoritarian figure will run the class the same way, while those used to a personable individual try to mirror that. The key to this is whether it is believable. Students can detect a phony approach better than anyone else, so I always encourage student teachers to be themselves. If a teacher is honest and consistent in his dealings with these students, they will accept it. It’s the individual who intrinsically is a tyrant and tries to come off like Garrison Keillor that turns students off. They don’t buy it.
     The other difficulty is discipline – how well a student teacher can control a class. From my experience in teacher education that was the biggest problem new teachers have. They don’t know how to establish some kind of rapport with students. What happens is that they forget their age. Many of them are only four years removed from high school themselves, so they’re not perceived in the same manner by the students as a 40-year-old would be. This is what makes a consistent teaching style and personality that the students can accept so important.

Charles Groeling supervised student teachers for Roosevelt University for 25 years and Northwestern University for two. While teaching at Niles (Illinois) West High School he had many student teachers.

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How did you train students to march the long route for Macy’s?
     We haven’t marched any big parades, so it took extra conditioning for the 2.8-mile route. Two weeks before the parade I found a route about an hour away, at the White City Domiciliary, the veterans hospital. The route went around the perimeter of the entire facility, on a road that varied between two and three lanes. Many people came out of the building and had no idea what was going on, but they applauded us as we passed.
     We marched the loop until we had gone about four miles playing our first parade tune, a Christmas medley, then a 40-second cadence, then our other parade tune, an upbeat,“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.” Macy’s wanted something upbeat and lively and did not want all Christmas music.

What was the difference between planning a parade show and a football field show?
     At the parade showcase, there was no room for a drum major or director and no yard lines or reference points for students to use. The space to move around is quite small. Every fall I think that if I had 30 more students I could fill up the field, but that would have made the parade extremely difficult.
     We had 136 marching, enough to produce a full sound, but not so many that the group couldn’t fit. We wrote drill at a 2- or 1.5-step intervals, which makes things extremely tight, especially if you don’t want trombone players in the front row. The drill consisted of contrary motion, side-to-side, what we call do-si-so, zig-zagging in and out of folks, effects that come across well on television.

What is the application process for Macy’s?
     Macy’s plans a year and a half in advance; we received the nod for the November 2010 parade in April 2009. They want a history of the program, including festivals and competitions attended. I sent in DVDs of our halftime shows and festivals we attended in Oregon and Washington, as well as recordings of our concert band performing. Macy’s also requires letters of recommendation from other programs, so I contacted the directors at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. I also asked for letters from other directors in the Northwest; many of us bring our bands to the same competitions and have become good friends over the years.
     I considered skipping the fall competitive season this year, but directors at other schools convinced me that doing what we did every year would be great training for the students and that the community would still get a great halftime performance at the football games. Grants Pass is a small town, and everybody knows the band competes every weekend in October, sometimes as much as four hours away. In the end it seemed wisest to keep playing as usual for the community.

How did you raise funds to go across the country?
     The trip cost $326,000, so we cut out smaller fundraisers like car washes and focused on the big ones. Grants Pass is an artsy town with a tradition of placing sculptures all over town. For the past few years the sculptures have all been of bears, and the theme of the last year was Bears on Hogs. As the sculptures of bears riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles came in, they needed security at night, so band parents (with students on weekends) guarded these sculptures from 6:00p.m. to 6:00a.m. for 100 days. After getting administrative approval, I met with the parents and asked every family to sign up for one or two nights. Many parents enjoyed sitting and talking with their children. When you have teenagers sometimes you don’t get those opportunities to spend time with them.
     We started a program called Pay the Piper, advertising the services of students for yard work and odd jobs around the community. It was all for donations; there was no fixed price. Sometimes students would earn five dollars, sometimes one hundred. The public saw students in their band shirts working hard, doing whatever it took to raise the money, and I think that made a stronger impression than just asking for money or doing cookie dough sales.
     There is an activity called Cycle Oregon, for which cyclists come from all over the country to bike around Oregon. We played while they biked through town and also helped set up tents for them.
     The band parents also run bingo every Monday night of the year. We hold it at the Fruitdell Grange, a little place on the south side of town. Usually 30-50 people show up, and it is a slow but steady source of funding. It’s time-consuming to the point that there is a bingo chairman on the booster board. A number of the volunteers for this are parents of students who have graduated; they believe in the program, so they help when they can.
     We produce a highlight video of the marching season. We hire a company to videotape the band throughout the season. They tape from the first day of camp, are at all halftime performances, and travel with us to the shows. Parents take pictures throughout the season as well, and at the end we compile them to make a highlight DVD of the year, and at our fall banquet to wrap up the season I give one to every senior as a gift, and parents and students can purchase one for $20.
     We also host a marching festival. The biggest challenge is promoting the show to all the groups up north. Ours is the farthest show south; the closest one is at the University of Oregon, which is about 21⁄2 hours up the road. After that is Salem, and there are a lot of shows up in Portland and Vancouver area. It is costly for those bands to travel down here, so we have to sell our show quite a bit. We usually get 11-12 bands, which is a good number. We sell a program, which is an opportunity for students to earn money. They sell ad space and get 50% of the donation toward their account.


How often does the marching band practice in the summer?
     My student leaders, who I choose for the upcoming season each spring, contact each member of their sections, including incoming freshmen, before summer starts and plan barbecues, swimming parties, or trips to the movies. Each section schedules one or two social activities throughout the summer so that the incoming students know people before the first day of camp.
     I try to have a three-hour rehearsal every two weeks in the summer. Although attendance isn’t required, it is strongly encouraged, and I usually get 60-75% of the band. Three weeks before school starts there is a guard and percussion camp from 9-5 on Monday-Friday. The guard gets an early start because although many students have played their band instruments since 5th or 6th grade, the guard and dance people are mostly new to the activity. Percussionists start early so they can set the line and the pit and learn cadences.
     Two weeks before school starts, the full band comes to camp. The first week we go Monday-Saturday with three 3-hour blocks each day. The second week is Monday-Friday, and if there is no home football game that week we do a public performance that Thursday or Friday for the parents.
     The first 3-hour block is a visual technique block with everyone outside. We work on marching basics and dance fundamentals with and without instruments. The afternoon block is an indoor music rehearsal. Starting on Wednesday of that first week the entire band is on the main field learning drill during the evening block.
     Each year I write a technique book that takes students through a series of different exercises to strengthen their chops. I wanted to turn on the metronome and let students play on autopilot through a series of exercises to warm up chops and fingers.
     We use the book each day in warmups, but the book is extremely useful the day of performances. At show sites it can get extremely noisy, and rather than yell over all the other groups warming up at the same time, it seemed like a good idea to give eight clicks of the metronome and let students go through an eight-minute warmup without me yelling over other groups. The book starts out with easy things like Remington exercises, and then the brass start on lip slurs while flute players focus on harmonics and the rest of the woodwinds practice leaps to their different registers. It’s all designed so all students can play at the same time. The book reduces some stress, because even at a competition the warmup is routine.

How do you start band camp?
     On the first day of camp, I have everybody lay down flat on the grass, and we practice marching flat on our backs. It sounds crazy, but lying flat helps students focus on breathing and learn how a correct posture feels. I have students flex their shins, pulling the toe toward the head, which is easier when not fighting gravity, and while flexing the shin students lift the left leg up toward the sky to simulate taking the first step. When they do that, I ask them what muscles they are using. We use a West Coast, Blue Devils-style technique with a fairly straight leg, so I want students to take that first step without bending the knee too much.
     As students are lying on their backs they can feel where the head aligns so their ears are over their shoulders and shoulders are over the hips so the spine is straight. Students can also swing the legs freely and isolate the muscles being used. We don’t take a step for the first three hours.
     When students do finally stand up, they mimic the straight spine they had while on the ground. I have them take a step forward to see if they can do it without leaning. Once they learn that motion and they understand the muscles used, then we go forward one step.
     Instead of leaning into a step, the whole body should move as though somebody is pulling you straight forward from the center of the chest. Strength training and core exercises help that. Throughout the season I tell students that when I am working with one section or group, they have the opportunity to work on strength training. This isn’t a punishment, but rather an opportunity, and students learn to quietly start doing push-ups or crunches at these times. There are always students who are tired and don’t want to do push-ups, but I remind them that the more they do it, the easier it gets.

What strength training exercises do you use?
     We work on crunches, planks, side planks, and leg lifts – anything that strengthens the abdominal, oblique, and back muscles. These muscles help with everything that students do in marching band.
     We also do push-ups and quite a bit of running, but the best training comes from working on marching basics at as much as 190 beats per minute. I come up with different drill exercises in which students line up on the 20 yard line and maintain that tempo down to the opposite 20 yard line and sprint back to repeat it. Looping exercises at that speed elevates the heart rate and makes the show tempos of 132-144 feel slow and comfortable.

What aspects of dance work best in marching band?
     We start by teaching the first through fifth ballet positions. From there, we talk about relevé, which is raising up on the toes and is a great exercise for balance. I have students get into first position and then relevé; it gets them to stand tall and find their balance. From first position students go into second position and do the same exercise.
     We use a lot of pliés, a bending of the knees. We also do a passé exercise in which students lift a leg and extend it while fighting the urge to lean. Tendu, in which students stand in first position and bring the left leg straight forward, keeping it low to the ground, with the toe turned out, is a good exercise, as is rond de jambe, bringing the left foot across the right foot and around, somewhat like drawing a circle in front of you.
     In drill, there might be an instruction for students to go to second position and plié. Phrasing such things in ballet terms reminds students to be graceful and also makes learning drill faster because having students know the terms makes choreography easier. It is also a better option than having students just stay in one spot and play. Dance training actually provided the inspiration for parade show visuals. We had students go into second position and then lunge to the left and to the right.
     I was fortunate to have some guard instructors in the past that helped me learn ballet basics, and from there I did my homework. I use students who have taken dance classes to lead by example and will occasionally pull those students out of formation and ask them to check foot position. The local newspaper featured the band on the front page in late 2010, and one of the photos was of the wind section in a second position plié while playing.
     We started a eurythmics class this year, inspired by the Kodaly method, which is experiencing music through movement. It is not necessary to know how to play an instrument to be in the class. Students listen quite a bit and also learn basic music theory. The idea is to get dancers to analyze music a little bit. I want them to be able to identify phrases and then choreograph them.

How do you split students up into concert bands?
     We have three bands, and I try to keep as many of the freshmen as possible together in the concert band. They feel safe in that environment, and many of them are at the same skill level. The symphonic band consists of freshmen through seniors and is a group for students who enjoy band but don’t want the workload of the advanced class. The wind ensemble, the advanced group, is by audition only. This group attends a couple of festivals and is a serious commitment. We have evening rehearsals throughout the year and hold additional sectionals almost every week. All wind ensemble members are also required to play in the district solo and ensemble contest.
     Sometimes I give students Wednesdays, which are shortened days, to practice solo and ensemble music, but they are required to find time outside of class to do most of their rehearsing. As festivals approach we designate Fridays as the performance days; a couple of individuals or ensembles play and receive comments from the other students. They get extremely nervous about playing in front of their peers, I think more so than playing in front of thousands of people.
     There is also a jazz band, which meets during the school day. All members of the jazz band have to be enrolled in one of the three concert bands; jazz band is in addition to that. I have a percussion ensemble that in the fall focuses on the marching band music with the bass drums, tenors, and snares and all the mallet percussion. At the end of marching season we get into concert band literature, and everyone gets training on mallets and auxiliary percussion.

With the long tradition of marching in Grants Pass, how do you keep students excited about concert band?
     The biggest struggle is finding literature that’s challenging but exciting and fun for them. My students like the expressive, pretty pieces of music. They like to be expressive and experience the different nuances of a piece. For expressive pieces we often create a mental image, or do a story board to a piece of music, even if the story has nothing to do with it. Students use their imaginations to create a story and remember the details of this when they’re playing.
     The students also like mixed meters. That’s something they don’t hear on the radio or television, so when they get a piece with mixed meters it’s like a new toy. Grants Pass is in a small valley, and we’re the only high school in this valley. We don’t often get the benefit of seeing what other high schools in the area are doing.

What aspects of music theory do you focus on in rehearsals?
     In my percussion class we learn quite a bit of theory, so students don’t think of themselves as just snare drummers. I teach a lot of vocabulary words, explaining that these are the instructions to the music; when you pull up a new piece of literature there are specific instructions to perform it well. We discuss transpositions, and I try to do some rhythmic dictation and a little bit of melodic dictation. I should focus more on theory, but the closer you get to the concert the more time you spend on the music.
     I think it’s one of the big problems with music education. When you’re learning the alphabet and how to spell, it’s not all aural. Students practice writing letters and then short words, but I think that gets skipped in music education. Students understand how to read a quarter note, but it seems that few of them start writing quarter notes and developing different rhythms and melodies themselves. For the last several years we have offered a music theory class at the high school, so anyone who wants to learn more has the opportunity.

How much sightreading do you do?
     We do a lot of work on rhythms. I try to do a new rhythm, be it 8 or 16 or 32 measur­­­­es, every day. I want all my students to become independent readers, so after high school they can comfortably read music if they play in college or in a community band somewhere.
     It seems like there is rarely enough time to do everything I want to during the school day. We are on an eight-period day, and classes are 55 minutes four days a week, with a late start on Wednesdays for staff meetings. I see the students every day, but by the time they finish warmups, tuning, sight-reading, there are only 15-20 minutes left to tackle literature.

    Jason Garcia earned a bachelor’s degree in instrumental education from the University of Oregon, where he studied trumpet with George Recker and eventually directed the university’s famed Green Garter Band. Immediately following graduation, Garcia accepted the director of bands position at Grants Pass (Oregon) High School where he has been teaching for the past eleven years. Since that time, the Grants Pass High School marching band and auxiliary has won countless awards and is recognized as one of the leading marching programs in the state.
    The wind ensemble has qualified for state every year since 2001 and has been the Southern Oregon District winners for the past four years, finishing as high as tenth at the state level. The jazz program has traveled and performed at the Mount Hood, Portland, and Reno Jazz Festivals where they have received excellent and superior ratings. Recently the jazz band was awarded the judges’ choice award at the Willamette University Jazz Festival and had the honor of performing with jazz trombonist Andy Martin.

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