When a band director says, “I love you,” he doesn’t say it in the regular way.

    Instead, he might say something like, “Don’t forget your flute lesson after school today.” Even though you didn’t practice much before the last one, and he knew it.

    Sometimes a band director says “I love you” by getting the stuck mouthpiece out of your trumpet – just like he did the day before.

    A band director can say “I love you” by trimming your reed, smiling and nodding after your solo, or playing duets with you.
He can say it by listening to you play scales. (Yes, scales!) And by patiently listening to you jam on your favorite song at full volume for the hundredth time when he would rather you practice something else.

    He might say “I love you” by teaching you a solo on a Friday afternoon, and by standing outside your room at solo and ensemble competition to hear how you did.

    A band director can say “I love you” by explaining something five different ways to find the one that makes things clear to you.

    Or by telling you a corny joke. Again.

    Sometimes a band director says “I love you” by giving you a hard “talking to” – and then by giving you a second chance.

    He might pat you on the back. Jab you in the arm. Or give you a fist bump.

    Or maybe he’ll say it by saying how proud he is of you. Or he might just call you a knucklehead.

    A band director can say “I love you” by saying “one more time” and then doing it three more times. (Okay. Maybe not.)

    But most of all, a band director says I love you just by being your band director.

    The message is much the same in a tender scene from the musical Fiddler on the Roof. A contemplative Tevye, who first laid eyes on his wife Golde on their wedding day, asks her if she loves him. She ultimately responds that she has lived with him, fought with him, and starved with him for 25 years and that “if that isn’t love, what is?” I believe we can express similar sentiments when considering all the things we do for our students. After I give my students the valentine, they, like the Tevye and Golde, might decide that “it doesn’t change a thing, but it’s nice to know.”   

The post It’s Nice to Know appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

What do I practice?
    In band programs, emphasis is often put on having a successful performance. Although it is excellent to work toward mastering parts, the fundamentals of playing the instrument must not be overlooked. Teach students to identify these fundamentals and provide a structured method for practicing them. Trumpet player and music teacher Scott Freeby breaks the practice session into five sections: warmup, workout, break, sightreading, and cooldown. Five minutes are devoted to the warmup, which should include exercises for tone development, articulation, and finger dexterity. Fifteen minutes are devoted to the workout, which includes scales, repertoire (band music), etudes, and solos. After the workout, four minutes are taken to give the body a short time to recover. Once the break is over, four minutes are devoted to sightreading or other related exercises that require the brain to work. The final two minutes should be reserved for warming down. This kind of a routine is efficient and, if practiced regularly, will result in rapid improvement.

Where do I practice?
    As much as students want to believe otherwise, standing in front of the television is, in fact, an ineffective place to practice. The best practice environments are ones that promote focus. Therefore, it is recommended to have a designated area away from distractions like the television, computers, smart phones, and noisy younger siblings, so all attention may be focused on the practice session and meeting the practice goals for that day. To enhance the productivity of the session, some additional items this area should include are a chair, a music stand, a tuner, a metronome, and sufficient lighting. In this environment, the productivity of a practice session improves ten-fold in comparison to distracting ones.

When do I practice?
    All directors can attest that the most work in rehearsals seems to get done during the week before the concert. Unfortunately, one cannot develop the necessary musculature when only practicing sporadically before performance exams and concerts. The analogy of brushing your teeth only on the days of a dentist appointment comes to mind; it doesn’t do much good.
    The short answer to the question of when to practice is regularly. Practice daily to build the muscles used to perform on an instrument. Consistent practice fine-tunes muscle coordination, develops muscle memory, and increases endurance. Rest is also required to develop fully. In the time between practice sessions, muscles repair and strengthen. This is why four hours of practice over the course of a week is more beneficial than four hours crammed into one session. When practice is daily, the material learned on previous days carries over into subsequent sessions and provides more continuity.
    Once a certain level of performance is achieved, it must be maintained. Inconsistent practice results in stagnation or even deterioration in performance ability. Daily practice ensures that our students are always getting better.

Why do I practice?
    As mature musicians, music teachers often overestimate students’ prior knowledge. Students do not always set goals for themselves and approach their assignments with the step-by-step method expected. I can personally attest to writing “practice scales” on my students’ practice logs. How much more vague could I have been? Does that mean practice major or minor scales? Does that mean practice slurred or tongued scales? Does that mean practice scales at a certain steady tempo? Or does it mean something different altogether? Although teachers may know what they mean, expectations must be clearly and specifically articulated so students can go into their practice sessions with clear goals in mind. Then, when our students ask why they have to practice something, it will be apparent.

How do I practice?
    It is a common occurrence for students to practice music by running through it repeatedly at performance tempo. In some instances this is valuable, but in most, it is not. In this form of practice, it is nearly impossible to play all musical aspects correctly. This ultimately leads to learning passages incorrectly and developing poor habits. To ensure this does not happen, students must be taught how to practice.
    There are many recommended approaches for this, and I have adopted a colleague’s method, called the Five Points of Practice. These points include: rhythm, pitch, articulation, dynamics, and phrasing. The approach to this method is simple. Play the music at a slow enough tempo where all five points can be done correctly at all times. Once the piece is learned slowly, it is only a matter of speeding up the metronome before the piece is mastered. I have experienced success with this approach both as a teacher and as a performer. Students should avoid practicing each point individually for extensive periods of time. For example, if rhythms are practiced exclusively for ten repetitions, pitch, articulation, dynamics, and phrasing have been practiced incorrectly for ten repetitions. Now, in exchange for developing one good habit, four bad habits have been learned. With a structure such as the Five Points of Practice, students will develop each of these areas of musicianship equally and will become well-balanced players.

    Practice outside of class will always be a necessary responsibility for music students to succeed in band. By answering what, where, when, why, and how to practice, students are provided with both material and methods to practice. When students have these answers, it validates the assignments they are given and will increase their productivity and success rate dramatically.

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Musicality Matters
    Because a snare drum does not have the multitude of pitch possibilities that other instruments do, opportunities to stand out from the other performers must be created, and one of the best ways to do this is through dynamic contrast. It is impossible to have a high-scoring performance if dynamics are disregarded; this includes crescendos and decrescendos. Students should record themselves playing the material and pay attention to the dynamic levels and contrasts to get an idea of how the etude will sound to adjudicators. A snare drum can be an incredibly musical instrument when played properly, but it can sound like a machine gun when played unmusically.

Embellishments Are Important
    Just like the variety of articulations on a wind instrument, embellishments on a snare drum cannot be ignored. Accents, grace notes, or slashes on the note stem all have very specific performance instructions. Ignoring these instructions fundamentally alters the music. These embellishments are not optional and will help to separate the drummers from the musicians in the audition. The difference between the measures in the passage below is extreme, both in how it feels to the players hands as well as how it sounds to the audience. The only compositional difference is the placement of the accent on each count of sixteenth notes.

    Two grace notes are performed differently than three grace notes. Typically, in concert percussion music, it is appropriate to play the quarter notes below with two-note grace notes as a multiple bounce stroke or buzz, whereas the three-note grace notes are to be played as single-strokes. Often, students perform each of these ornaments the exact same but they are written to be performed differently.

Hidden Pitfalls or Traps
    As students learn the music they should look for traps, which are extreme changes in dynamics or tempo. In the example below, the last count in the second measure should be noticeably stronger than the rest of the excerpt. A common mistake is to play the last count only slightly stronger than the previous passage when the sforzando accented quarter note calls for a drastic dynamic change.

    Sometimes new dynamic markings or meter changes are placed at the beginning or end of a line of music and therefore can slide past without being given the performer’s full attention. All dynamic changes and phrasing instructions should be played with their full weight and consideration, regardless of where they are in the excerpt.

Use Appropriate Implements
    Students should be sure to use the appropriate implements for the instrument at hand. Avoid yarn or cord mallets of the excerpt calls for xylophone. Avoid hard rubber or plastic mallets if the excerpt calls for marimba. Marching sticks are never appropriate for a concert snare performance and will cause the overall volume to be too loud. Soft yarn marimba mallets will work much better for a suspended cymbal excerpt than timpani mallets. Be sure to use a concert bass drum mallet rather than a marching mallet for concert bass drum excerpts.

Be Consistent
    Consistency is key to any successful performance and includes such components as dynamic levels, rate of crescendos and decrescendos, tempi, and playing spots on the various instruments. When listening to recordings of themselves playing, students should check whether a return to a softer volume from a loud volume, is the same volume as when they previously played softly. The same holds true for loud volumes.

Sightreading Tips
    If sightreading is required, students should look at both the beginning and the ending. Often performers spend all the allotted preparation time focusing on the beginning and fail to check the ending. Dynamics and dynamic contrast are especially important in sightreading; students are guaranteed to score higher if they perform musically, even if they miss a few pitches or rhythms when sightreading.
    The sightreading tempo should be what allows the student to perform the most technically challenging passage at the highest level. Often, sightreading excerpts start relatively easy and increase in difficulty as they progress; students must resist the temptation to start too fast based on the appearance of simpler rhythms at the beginning of the sightreading excerpt. One suggestion would be to find the shortest note value in the excerpt and select a tempo at which the percussionist can accurately play that passage. Use this method makes it unlikely that the student will have to adjust tempo while playing.
    Audition etudes often contain multiple-instrument parts with multi-measure rests between each. Students playing such an etude should pay strict attention to counting the appropriate number of measures between each instrument passage as they change instruments. A common mistake is to treat each instrument like separate excerpts and not commit to counting the correct number of rest measures.

Equipment Concerns
    If the performance calls for instruments other than snare drum or a mallet percussion instrument, it is always wise for students to bring their instruments if possible. They have been rehearsing with those specific instruments in preparation for the performance and will be more familiar with them. There are a wide variety of professional-level triangles, triangle clips, triangle beaters, tambourines, concert bass drum mallets, etc. available, and each can provide a different feel or sound. To allow the performance to be as consistent as possible, the same small instruments or mallets should be used each time.

Only Play What’s on the Page
    The adjudicators listening to the performance only want to hear the music contained in the actual etude. Students should not audibly count rests or loudly tap feet during rests. The shoes a student wears can affect the performance. Hard-soled shoes will make foot-tapping easy to hear during rests and will add extra sounds to the performance.
    This also applies to transitions between small hand-held instruments like triangle and tambourine. There should be no additional sounds are made as an instrument is picked up or set down. A small hand towel on a flattened music stand will muffle the transition between these instruments.

Leaving the Performance Room
    Once your performance is complete, students should quickly gather up their belongings and thank the room monitor as the exit. It is worth taking the time to practice the exit as students did entering the room. Every aspect of the performance should be as professional as possible; this includes entering, setting up, and exiting the room. Percussionists who focus on these details separate themselves from those who do not. A musical performance is all about the details.

    Auditions and solo performances are intense and stressful activities. If students take time to prepare for logistics of the performance prior to the actual event, they can dramatically lower your stress levels on the big day. Students are far more likely to have a successful performance if they can manage stress to allow them to perform at their best.   

The post Percussion Clinic: Great Percussion Solos and Auditions appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Embouchure
    Embouchure position is probably one of the most important fundamentals of clarinet playing. When comparing the soprano and bass/contrabass embouchures, a young player should be aware about not only the obvious differences between the two, such as lower jaw position and amount of mouthpiece in the mouth, but also the similarities, such as the shape and placement of the chin and lips.
    M.W.: The biggest difference between the soprano and bass/contrabass clarinet embouchure is that on bass and contra it is necessary to open up and loosen the jaw. It is like whistling compared to eating an apple.
    A.R.: On the bass clarinet, wrap the corners of the mouth around the mouthpiece and make sure the embouchure is flexible and relaxed. Going back to soprano requires a firmer embouchure and a flat chin.
    S.M.: Once a soprano player tries a contra clarinet, their world will change. I encourage them to remember two words: open and relaxed. These apply to the entire range of the instrument. The embouchure necessary to make a chirp-free sound on contrabass clarinet will be well outside the comfort zone of a poor soprano player. This will be strange at first, but once a clarinetist opens up and relaxes, the sound will come.
    These changes will help the soprano player play the lower instruments in the family, but it is critical to change back when returning to the soprano clarinet. If you are a bass clarinet player switching to soprano, make sure you firm up that embouchure, otherwise you will have a very difficult time making a pleasant sound in the clarion and altissimo registers.
    A.G.: When switching from soprano to bass or contrabass, the player should take in more of the mouthpiece and keep the corners of the mouth more out than usual. When switching back to soprano, the player should take in less of the mouthpiece and keep the corners more in than for the bass embouchure.

Air Support and Breathing
    Air support is similar on both soprano and bass/contrabass clarinets; players must blow intense and focused air. Keep in mind that bass and contrabass clarinets will require significantly more air due to the larger size.
    A.G.: Just like soprano clarinet, one should have a concentrated, fast air stream while trying to play bass or contrabass. Students will need a lot more air to fill up the bass clarinet and even more for contrabass. Every breath must be full and deep.
    S.C.: Because of the size of the instruments, the clarinet player will need significantly more air on the bass clarinet than on soprano. This will definitely require taking deeper breaths. Students who frequently switch between soprano and contrabass clarinets should do breathing exercises to get used to taking deeper breaths without the danger of passing out, something that has happened to me while playing.
    S.M.: Air support is generally the same across the clarinet family. There are some concepts that can increase your awareness of how you use your air. Bass and contrabass clarinet players can visualize the necessary volume of air by thinking about filling up the entire length of their instrument with air right at the beginning of the note. This concept is comparable to water filling up a garden hose. They should also think about sending their air straight across the neck and avoid trying to aim the air down.

Voicing & Tongue Position
    Voicing and tongue position are similar on both soprano and bass clarinet. Students should use the syllables ee or hee and raise the back of the tongue. In the lower register of the bass and on the contra, however, ah, dah, or oh syllables are better.
    A.R.: Voicing an ee vowel is quite typical for soprano clarinet players to produce a decent tone and intonation. Voicing ee and keeping the tongue high is also beneficial on the bass clarinet, especially in the high register. In the low register this can change to eh or even ah.
    S.M.: An ah vowel sound on a bass clarinet is the first option. I would encourage bass clarinetists to experiment with an ee vowel sound and find the registers where that is appropriate. Bass clarinet players will need to think ee again when they switch back to soprano clarinet. I spent many years in college in high register slurs trying to focus in that ee tongue position.
    Bass and contra players will want to use a dah syllable for articulation because of the angle that the mouthpiece enters the mouth. It is also ideal on these instruments to articulate just slightly (one to two millimeters) below the tip of the reed. This will allow for more effective articulation. Soprano clarinet players will want to use a dee syllable because of their regular ee vowel sound.
    A.G.: Playing bass clarinet takes a da syllable, and on contrabass students should use an aw syllable. When playing the soprano clarinet, the back of your tongue is raised like you are trying to say ee.

Hand Position
    One of the main challenges for a clarinet player is going back and forth between spreading the fingers on the bass and contra and squishing them back together on soprano. Covering tone holes might present an additional challenge when switching from bass to soprano.
    M.W.: The biggest concern when moving from bass to soprano clarinet is the tone holes, because the big clarinets have keys instead. Another big difference is that bass clarinet has more keys than soprano, and the contrabass can have even more. That is why it is quite easy to fumble the hand when switching from soprano to bass or contra. You’ll also have to learn some new fingerings on the bass clarinet, especially if it is an extended-range bass.
    S.B.: On bass clarinet, the left hand index finger must cover the small, single tone hole at all times up until written B5. For everything else, hand and finger placement is the easiest relation from soprano to bass. Granted, the fingers will feel stretched out more than the usual, so students should be sure to feel and adjust where their fingers are from time to time. Finger accuracy will develop over time.
    The primary concern is low C bass clarinets. On these, both pinkies have additional keys to use, and the right-hand thumb now controls keys as well. The same additional key sets are also applied to extended-range contrabasses. The best way for students to become familiar with these additional keys is to accurately play the C major scale, starting on C4 and slowly descending to the lowest C, which is fingered with the bottom key of the right-hand thumb.
    S.M.: A common mistake among many beginner bass clarinet players is to keep the elbows turned out too much. The key to fixing this is to keep the wrists straight and the hands perpendicular to the instrument. Bass clarinet players also need to be vigilant about adjusting peg height or the neck strap to make sure that the instrument always comes directly to them. Avoid bending the neck or leaning into the instrument; this can put pressure on the back and neck.
    G.C.: When switching from soprano to bass, a clarinetist will have to keep the hands slightly further apart. It would be a good idea to practice where to put fingers for muscle memory. Bass and contrabass clarinet have no holes to cover, which is a significant advantage. When moving from soprano to contra, a clarinetist will have to keep the hands and fingers quite far apart. I would suggest practice putting hands on the instrument several times daily until it becomes a natural movement.

Handling & Maintenance
    It is important to be extremely careful when assembling or disassembling bass and contrabass clarinets. The large rods and keys on these instruments can easily become bent.
    S.M.: The bass clarinet and contra clarinet can be quite frail. The large rods necessary to make the lower notes seal can easily move out of alignment. When assembling the instrument, be careful to handle the upper and lower joints with the hands as close to playing position as possible. Gripping the lower joint by the long stretch between the right pinky keys and the tenon can, over time, bend the rods.
    Never hold a low clarinet by just the upper joint. The bottom half is heavier than the upper half and can easily fall off. A common mistake I have seen students make is too much dependence on the neck strap, which is not meant to support the entire weight of the instrument. Having the bottom half of the instrument fall off can incur many thousands of dollars in repair.
    Low clarinet players will likely not need as hard of a reed as they would use on soprano. For instance, on soprano clarinet I play on 31⁄2+, but on bass and contra, I never use anything harder than a 3. Low clarinet players may also have much more success with synthetic reeds compared than their companions on soprano clarinet.
    S.B.: Aside from playing big, the handling of a larger instrument also requires basic observation when assembling and taking apart. Always have cork grease before assembling a bass or contrabass clarinet; the assembly will be easier. In addition, reed cycling is even more important on low clarinets. The bigger reeds bass and contrabass clarinets require will warp quickly if played every day. Rotate reeds just as on soprano. After playing, swab bass clarinets by using a large silk cloth to drain the moisture from the wood inside.
    Clarinetists who double on bass and contrabass must pay attention to their physical well-being. Carrying cases for large instruments by the handles can cause hand fatigue, which will interfere with playing ability. If it is possible to get a backpack case for bass clarinets, do so.
    The size of a contrabass case can present a significant physical challenge. Use a dolly or have two people be responsible for the case while traveling longer distances, because the internal shuffling of the instrument could possibly bend the contra’s keys.
    G.C.: Be cautious of all bridge keys. On instruments with a low C extension, make sure the bell key lines up correctly. The contrabass has several bars that are more than a foot long, and these can get bent easily.
    Always take the reed off the mouthpiece after use. It is always a good idea to wipe the keys with a polishing cloth after use to remove fingerprints and grime. Also, keep in mind that contrabass clarinet reeds are quite expensive and can be difficult to find in an emergency. If this happens, contra players can use bari sax reeds as a last-minute substitute.

    Transitioning between soprano clarinet and the larger sizes can be simple with work and attention to detail. Clarinetists need not be frightened of a switch to bass or contrabass. 

The post High and Low, Switching to and from Bass and Contrabass Clarinets appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

How important is it for directors to keep playing their primary instrument?
    It’s a question of time and balance. Dividing time between sleep, family, work, studying, and playing your instrument is different for everybody. When I taught public school I stayed connected to my instrument by practicing as much as possible. When I went back for my master’s degree, I played in ensembles again. That is the vehicle we have to learn musicianship. If you take one night a week to play in a community band to keep your chops warm, that is a great thing.
    If you can’t play something on your instrument, it is difficult to get young players to learn it. There is nothing more valuable than having students see you play your instrument. My high school director was a trumpet player, and I remember him playing trumpet during jazz and concert band. He practiced and warmed up in his office. That made a lasting impression on me. He was still working at it; he had not mastered his instrument yet. That is something students need to see.

When you conduct honor bands, literature with each group can vary widely. What criteria do you use when selecting music for these groups?
    Whether I am selecting music at CU or for an honor band, I look at the group and figure out what repertoire will provide a varied diet of music – composers, stylistic changes, and genres. Here at CU variety in instrumentation is sometimes a consideration. When I attend concerts, I want to hear a variety of timbres and orchestration techniques, and I think our job as educators is to find the appropriate music for our ensembles. With an honor band, I do not think we program enough marches, so I will often program a march I like. We have so much good music at every grade level now. That is the beauty of our medium.

What are the five most significant works that you feel high school students should play?
    So many high school groups focus on the newest pieces out there, and do not expose students to the core repertoire.

• Students should be exposed to the Holst suites, even if they cannot play all of the movements.
• The Vaughan Williams Folk Song Suite is a wonderful piece for style and music of the early 20th century that has folk nationalistic elements in it.
• William Schuman’s Chester Overture is a great piece that demonstrates mid 20th Century techniques
• Lincolnshire Posy. Some high school directors look at this piece and feel their students cannot play all of the movements. If you can expose them to select movements, it can be a great experience.

What should high school directors do to help students who are considering majoring in music?
    Students are less rhythmically aware today, and this is particularly apparent in sightreading. I would love for students to develop an independent sense of rhythm rather than relying on external cues. Many times in band, we teach by rote, which leads to rhythms that are an estimate. Exact rhythm comes from great subdivision and awareness as an individual. Rhythm is the backbone of everything we do in music.

When you get incoming students and interact with high school seniors, do you feel that they are prepared for college music? What areas could be improved?
    I think that band directors do a good job at teaching students to play with great fundamental sound. The goal after that is to learn how to change the sound to meet the needs of the music. Articulation is not long or short – there are variations of articulations within that spectrum. Being able to change the sound and manipulate articulations is essential. Incoming college students have to learn to trust themselves and let that serve the music and the composer. Many students arrive with strong playing skills but begin to play with less trust in an ensemble.

What is your philosophy of music education?
    For me the foundation of a good music educator is musicianship. You have to have a great sense of what it feels like to turn a phrase, execute a ritard or accelerando really well. Directors need a great skill at harmonic and melodic listening. That core musicianship should feed the pedagogy

Where do you feel that marching band fits within music education?
    I began to judge marching bands in graduate school but eventually decided to stop. Once I judged a competition on a windy, rainy day with plumes blowing off students heads and into the end zone. I was talking about tone production and realized that something was not right about this equation. Students are not set up for success in that scenario. At that point, my career in competitive marching band was done.
    I know many terrific teachers with competitive marching band programs. The key that makes them successful is that they do not lose the focus on the concert band program. When I taught marching band in the public schools of Pennsylvania, my arts administrator made a firm line that the concert band was the core of the program. The jazz band and marching band played at a high level, but concert band drove the program. If you stay grounded in great sounds and high-quality music making on the field, you have a good defense for making the marching band a valid part of your program.

How has technology affected the way you teach?
    It has changed the band classroom drastically over the last ten years since the rise of smart phones. I have noticed a change in honor band players and undergraduates, who want instant access to all facets of music making. They want the instant gratification of success, but music making takes rehearsal time. Being good at an instrument takes patience.
    Here is how I use technology at CU. I usually display a score behind me, and I have a graduate student with an iPad. The graduate student projects the score from a iPad to the screen behind me. This person can enlarge parts of the score to quickly illuminate what we are rehearsing. I share a PDF of the score with our players, and they are able to learn the score from my perspective. We publicize our events through Facebook and social media. I communicate with students through a text messaging service that shields my phone number. I use technology but am also clear with students that I do not want to see their technology in rehearsal. We might get to the point of electronic stands and iPads all the way through the group, but I think the hard, diligent work of music making will never change. It still requires the same process.

What advice can you give on balancing work and home life?
    This comes up at every conducting symposium I have attended. I hosted a panel at Interlochen and asked Gary Green and Jerry Junkin that question. Their response was laughter because we all struggle to find the right balance. I do think this question is particularly important for young directors to consider. I want to be remembered as a great director and a great person who has experienced life. You have to be able to put family just as high as directing. Make yourself a great person and let that feed your directing. If all you do is teach band 12 hours a day, life becomes one-dimensional. Experi­encing great art, museums, and people will inform your teaching so much. On certain days you have to decide to go home at 4:30. There is always more to do, but it can wait until tomorrow.
    As a young teacher, I was horrible at balancing music with life. I thought every waking hour had to be driven by directing. I burned myself out very quickly. Everyone saw how driven and passionate I was as a teacher; they encouraged me to keep up that frenetic pace. You can’t do it for very long.

What do you do with your recreation time to keep that balance?
    This past summer was the first time that I have taken a long break since I was a high school student. Many of my days last summer were spent reading, listening to music, and reflecting on where I am professionally. It is the first chance I have had to sit back and think holistically about where I am going and where I see myself and this program. I live in Colorado, one of the most beautiful places to live, so I take advantage of the wonderful resources here that inspire my music making more than anything else I could possibly do. I am striving to find a healthy work-life balance. It is a commitment to myself and my students.       

* * *

How did you get started in music?

    I grew up in western Pennsylvania and was part of a comprehensive music program with competitive marching band, jazz band, and concert band – the whole spectrum. There were several times in middle school where I contemplated quitting band, but the director saw potential in me and kept providing encouragement. My high school band director was a trumpet player and gave me my first saxophone lessons. I eventually started taking private lessons, which led to playing in honor bands.
    Once I started thinking about the future, music felt like a calling. Initially, I just wanted to play the saxophone. My high school saxophone teacher told me to look at music education because he thought it might be useful to have a backup plan if saxophone performance didn’t work out. I am thankful for that advice. Music education was a better route because everything I learned in pursuing my degree still pays fruit today.
    It is a question that every undergraduate faces. If you feel destined for a strong career in performance, that you are at the top five to ten percent of players your age, performance could be the avenue. As an undergraduate music education student, I pushed myself just as hard on performance, giving recitals and practicing nonstop. Nothing keeps you from practicing just as hard and pushing yourself as a performer while also pursuing music education. We have all seen music education majors who start the degree and decide after two semesters that it isn’t for them. Just like anything else, you have to be passionate about music education. Students in the public schools deserve passionate dedicated music educators. If a college student doesn’t feel that bug is biting them, perhaps performance is the better track, but if you go into performance, you have to make sure that you are really at the top of your game.
    I went to Duquesne University for my undergraduate degree. As I approached graduation, Bob Cameron, the director of bands, asked me if I was interested in conducting a piece of music. I conducted a simple piece. As I was finishing the concert performance, the orchestral conductor at Duquesne, Kevin Noe, who now teaches at Michigan State, told me that I needed to be a conductor. That’s when the conducting bug bit me. I decided to teach in a public school in Pennsylvania, then after three years I went back and earned a master’s degree. I was going to go straight into a doctorate, but an adjunct position opened up at Duquesne. It was a wonderful position that was a little bit of everything. I taught conducting and assisted with both bands and the orchestra. It was almost like a second master’s degree, and I stayed as an adjunct for three years. From there, doors continued to open. I studied with Michael Haithcock at Michigan, and as I was finishing my degree at Michigan, a job opened up at Interlochen Arts Academy. Eventually, I ended up in my current position at the University of Colorado. It has been a great path.
    When I was starting my undergraduate degree, Duquesne always had a summer conducting workshop, and one of the first conductors I ever played for was Allan McMurray. I vividly recall playing for him as an incoming freshman. He was the summer clinician along with Craig Kirchhoff. I remember Allan from that workshop, and I never imagined that one day I would be sitting in his office at the University of Colorado and taking over the program that he helped to build and develop.

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    Occasionally concerned clients ask me if their instrument could be making them sick. Inevitably it follows a news story that has made the rounds on social media regarding conditions with catchy names like trombone lung, saxophone lung, or the most recent, bagpipe lung, which resulted in a confirmed fatality. These are all cases where lack of instrument cleaning created a favorable environment for various strains of fungi to flourish. The spores are then transferred to the respiratory system of the player, causing illness and occasionally permanent damage. The risk of mildew is less with flutes than some other instruments, but it still occurs enough that flutists should take precautions.

A Fungus Among Us
    Mildew and mold fungi are constantly all around us. While beneficial and necessary for many natural processes, in high concentrations spores can be harmful. Many types of fungi require certain conditions of temperature, light and humidity to thrive. The inside of a wind instrument can provide ideal conditions for explosive growth.
    Compared to other wind instruments, flutes have a much smaller degree of moisture flowing through the instrument. While the concentration of moisture is lower, it can still be enough for mildew to get a start. Dissolved sugars and minerals transported by the breath – the same compounds that can create sticky pads – are valuable nutrients for fungi. Additionally, the porous surfaces that are common in instruments and cases provide wonderful habitats for fungus.

A Bit about Biology
    Mildew and mold have two components: a vegetative part and spores. The vegetative part is the organism that actively grows and can easily be taken care of by common cleaning solutions your technician uses. The spores are the reproductive part that are designed to spread on air currents and are revealed by a telltale old instrument smell. Every time you catch a whiff of that mustiness, you are inhaling many thousands of microscopic spores. Daily exposure to spores from a wind instrument is exponentially higher than from the normal environment. This can be a serious health hazard.
    Fungal spores are one of the most perfect reproductive systems nature has devised. The spores have an outer casing that is incredibly tough. This shell can withstand extreme heat and cold, blasts of radiation, every over-the-counter cleaning product, and even the most blistering insults. Then after lying in wait for years or decades, when the right conditions exist, the spore can germinate. There are chemicals that can break down the outer shell but are so caustic or toxic they cannot be used safely on musical instruments. The only recourse with musical instruments is to remove all of the harmful spores from the equation.

Maintenance Concerns
   In order to prevent fungus from getting a foothold, good maintenance practices such as making sure your mouth is clean before playing and swabbing out the instrument afterwards are crucial. Every wind instrument in regular use should be professionally cleaned at least every 12-18 months. There are things the player cannot and should not clean on their own. If an instrument is to be stored for a period of time, try to keep it in a place where the relative humidity is below 50%.
    If the instrument or case gets wet, do not close it up or store it in a locker. This will guarantee a mildew problem. Instead find a safe place to set the instrument or case and arrange the wet pieces so that air can circulate around them. A low power fan will help. Refrain from using a hair dryer or other more aggressive applications of heat to the instrument. It is also a good idea to consult a technician right away to make sure there are no lingering issues.

The Smell Test
    The easiest way to detect a possible mildew problem is the smell test. Musical instruments should not smell like anything. Different strains of mildew will carry different scents. Some take on a fruity or sweet aroma, while others are odorless. Most often, however, they will have a musty basement smell. An instrument does not have to be old to harbor a colony of fungus. Just a few instances of not swabbing adequately can provide the right conditions for a problem to develop. If your instrument or case has any lingering scent, consult a professional.
    Allergies to mildew and mold are quite common. Be aware of physical reactions that accompany being in proximity of an instrument suspected of having a mildew problem. Symptoms can include a tickly throat, congestion, and headaches. Combine mildew allergies with asthma and the situation becomes dangerous. Even if you are not sensitive to the mold, it could cause serious issues for others who sit near you in rehearsal.

The Road to Recovery
   A mildew infestation can be abated, but is very difficult. The microscopic spores grab on to soft surfaces quite easily, and removing them from materials such as felt, cork, or case lining fabric is extremely difficult. All of the soft materials must be removed from the equation. This usually means the remedy is an overhaul plus a new case. (Cases sometimes can be cleaned, but it is often cost prohibitive.) The porous materials need to be replaced and every square millimeter of the instrument’s surface needs to be scrubbed to make sure there are no spores left to continue their biological mission. In the instance of some student model instruments, it is possible for the mildew abatement to exceed the value of the instrument.
    I sometimes hear people say, “it doesn’t smell too bad,” or “it’s always smelled like that.” Mildew is a biohazard and should not be accepted as normal. When your health or the health of a family member is at risk, having a job done right is very important. Find a technician who appreciates the seriousness of mildew. Vacuuming out the case, applying baking soda, or letting it sit in the sun are common quick fixes, but will not solve a persistent problem.    

Mildew Tip No. 1
Do not use Febreze, Lysol, or other products to treat mildew yourself. It will not succeed, will allow spores to spread, and could damage your instrument.

Mildew Tip No. 2
Replace or launder your swab regularly. It could be the source of a mildew problem.

Mildew Tip No. 3
Be aware of messages from your body. Some mildew spores do not have a smell trigger but can still cause a reaction.

Mildew Tip No. 4
With a severe mildew problem, the case must be replaced at the same time the instrument is cleaned or the spores will persist.

Preventing Mildew
Swab after every use.  Even if it is just playing for a few minutes during lessons, swab it out. It does not take much moisture to cause a problem.
Play with a clean mouth. No food or drink other than water while playing and at least rinse well beforehand. Dissolved sugars feed fungus.
Wet cases are serious. If your instrument or case gets wet, never close it up and trust it will be fine drying on its own.
Avoid cross-contamination. Do not transport a mildewed instrument in a clean case or vice versa, even just to the shop. Neither are clean after this happens.
Trust your nose (or a friend’s nose). Do not ignore an aroma in your case. It is easy to become desensitized so get a second opinion, or alert a colleague who may have mildew. Get it remedied before it becomes more serious.  “Doesn’t bother me” is ignoring a biohazard.

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