Jeffery Soper teaches band at a middle school in upstate New York on the Canadian border. He attended the Crane School of Music and is a trumpet player.

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    Mentors are an integral part of a music teacher’s journey. Mentors can take many forms – a colleague teaching in the room next to you, a music teacher across the district, an old college professor, colleagues in county or state organizations, or advice from a stranger writing in a magazine. I still reach out to my professors from college and high school, as well as current colleagues whom I know and trust. I seek out mentors to bounce ideas off of, to get feedback, or to provide reassurance.
    Because every program is different, you may work in a district with ten music teachers or be the only music teacher for 100 miles. I asked a group of experienced music teachers and administrators to help answer some of questions on the minds of new and future teachers. These contributors have come from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives.

How should future directors make connections early on college and maintaining them after graduation?
    K.S.: Attend conferences and recitals, offer help as best you can, and reach out for help whenever it could benefit you. Call people.
    J.P.: Joining professional organizations, both during college and after, is essential. I believe that colleges should be doing more to develop partnerships with exemplary programs. 

How can new teachers stay confident while hunting for a job in a competitive market?
    J.P.: I wish I could be more optimistic here, especially in finding ideal positions. I recommend starting in urban schools where there is more opportunity for employment. I believe this is where I developed my skills in student motivation.
    M.C.: Do not lose faith. Sometimes you have to accept a position that isn’t your dream job first to find the position you really want later. Get involved in local organizations, make connections, and build your resume.

This is my first year and I feel exhausted. Is there anything I can do to keep my energy up?
    J.S.: Take time during the school day for just you. Be polite with students, but let them know that you are not available every minute of the day. Even 20 minutes alone can be refreshing.
    N.B.: The first couple of years in teaching are the most difficult. As you build upon your teaching pedagogy you will feel more balance in your life. It is important to be involved in your school community, but always remember that your health and well-being are vitally important. Do not feel guilty for taking care of yourself. Involve yourself in an activity that leaves you feeling invigorated and refreshed and make time for it.
    D.B.: Find time for you. This is exhausting and like nothing you have ever experienced. If you are not losing energy, you aren’t doing it right. That said, you still should want it to be Monday and feel excited to start the week. You cannot expect to be great at this the first time. You just got done student teaching, but it was probably in a well-established program. This job probably is more challenging. Expect to hit roadblocks. Ask for help. Going to your instructional leader and asking them come in and see if they can help you over a rough spot isn’t a cry for help. It shows you want to succeed.
    J.P.: Be sure to balance your personal and professional lives. This career can be all encompassing if we let it be. I cannot stress enough the importance of making fitness a priority. It will enrich every other aspect of your life. I wish I believed this when I was in my 20s and 30s.
    M.C.: As a new teacher I wanted to change the world. I ended up finding good colleagues to bounce ideas off of who talked me off the ledge more than once. They encouraged me, just like the other suggestions above, to take time for myself. For me, it was making time to go to the gym, and setting a time that I would leave school even if everything wasn’t done.

If there is a piece of advice that you wish someone gave you when you started teaching, what would it be?
    J.S.: Have clear expectations and communicate them to your students. Keep your expectations high.
    M.C.: Do not try to change everything at once. Programs are built over time, not overnight. It took me 13 years to get to the point where I was beginning to be happy with the way our beginning band curriculum was set up. It took trial and error with many failures as we tried to find the best approach for our situation. We still have not perfected it and probably never will. Allowing yourself to fail helps. Figuring out why you failed gives you the knowledge to build an even better program.

How do you develop a curriculum?
    J.S.: A good curriculum combines lesson book materials, scales, and technique drills that best suit my students. I am constantly trying new things to create the best combination. As far as literature goes, I program at least one march, contemporary piece, transcription, classic, and ballad for concerts.
    A.H.: Go to conferences, talk to people, and ask questions. Surround yourself with people who are better and more experienced, and glean what you can. Do not underestimate your ability to present a clinic on a topic you know well. Contributing to the field can help build connections in a big way.
    N.B.: Determine what already exists. Consider any district and music department initiatives. With your colleagues, identify the appropriate exit outcomes for each grade level from commencement to pre-k. Set high expectations and know that a curriculum is a living document that changes over time.
    D.B.: Read and research. Today is a wonderful day for curriculum. Google can help you find excelsior curricula. Ask for help from successful colleagues. Too many music teachers think they are fine without a curriculum. We need it as a roadmap for success. Then, spend a good amount of time writing lesson plans that work with the curriculum.    

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    I had the distinct pleasure to hear the Chicago Symphony Orchestra premiere the new Low Brass Concerto written by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon. I have admired the sound, precision, and artistry of the CSO and in particular their brass section for over 30 years. When I learned that the low brass section would be performing a new work commissioned especially for them, I made it a point to attend. The composition was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and co-commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony. The media build-up prior to the performance weekend was remarkable in and of itself. Chicago television stations broadcast feature stories about the performance, and local print media carried stories. Social media proclaimed the merits of the CSO low brass section, hailed by many brass aficionados as one of the finest in the world. As a fellow low brass player (tuba), I was pleased to see so much attention lavished on the three trombonists and the tuba player of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Then again, Jay Friedman and Michael Mulcahy (trombone), Charles Vernon (bass trombone) and Gene Pokorny (tuba) are some of the best players in the world. 

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Misconception 1:
Tip-to-Tip Tonguing
    Saxophonists are often taught to tongue by touching the tip of the reed with the tip of the tongue, but this is awkward, as it requires the performer to pull the entire tongue back in their mouth to be in a position to strike the tip of the reed. In a masterclass I attended during my time as a doctoral student at the University of North Texas, I recall Eugene Rousseau saying that in his many years of teaching he has only met a handful of performers that could tip-to-tip tongue. This means that instructors have been encouraging their students to accomplish a task that is only realistically achievable by a small number of people.
    In his video Sinta on Sax, Donald Sinta demonstrates his technique for discovering the portion of the tongue he uses to strike the reed. To accomplish this, he marks the reed with a black pen then articulates multiple times. He removes the mouthpiece and reed from his mouth and shows his tongue to reveal a black mark midway up his tongue, not at the tip of his tongue. This further demonstrates the faulty notion of tip-to-tip tonguing.
     A better solution is to touch the blade, or tip, of the reed with a portion of the tongue that is slightly back from the tip. Each student should find the comfortable point on their tongue that is closest to the tip to strike the reed. This point will most likely be slightly back from the tip of the tongue. One can use Sinta’s method to discover the portion of the tongue being used. Use a non-toxic marker to mark a quarter-inch-long line on the tip of the reed. Tongue the reed multiple times and examine the placement of the mark on the tongue. To shift the point of contact between the reed and the tongue, students should attempt to touch the reed with either tah or loo syllables. 

Misconception 2:
Tonguing Harder or Softer
    A note begins by releasing the tongue from the reed. There is no gradation of removing the tongue; one either releases it or not. This eliminates the possibility of articulating harder or softer. A student whose tonguing would best be described as too hard should work to develop a consistent airstream void of any burst of air at the beginning of the note. Often, it is the attack being too loud that earns a student the label of “hard tonguer.” A consistent, controlled airstream is especially important if the student is performing a soft passage. 
    Alternatively, one who tongues too softly should strike the reed with a portion of the tongue closer to the tip. What sounds like soft tonguing is most likely to be an inaccurate attack caused by tonguing too far back. By touching the reed with a portion closer to the tip, the attack will be more precise and audible.

Misconception 3:
Staccato Does Not Equal Short
    Staccato means disconnected or detached, but many students incorrectly see staccato marks and think “as short as possible.” In many contexts a short note is the appropriate method to produce the staccato style that the composer desires, but this is not always the case. The length of the staccato note is dependent on the tempo of the piece and the duration of the note under the staccato. If the tempo is slow and the note in question is a quarter note, then the note will have some depth. If the tempo of the piece is fast and the staccato note is a sixteenth note, then the notes will be quite short. A good rule of thumb is to teach students that a staccato note should be played as if the note was half the value. For example, if the staccato note is a quarter note, then the performed value will be one half of a beat. 

Misconception 4:
I Cannot Tongue Any Faster
    Students often encounter passages in the music that are beyond their current tonguing capability. However, the tongue is a muscle and, like any other muscle, it can be trained. To develop the ability to tongue faster, first examine the technique for striking the reed. The fastest method for articulating the saxophone is to strike the reed with as little tongue as possible. Students using a large area of the tongue to stop the reed between notes will struggle to articulate quickly. Once the articulation technique is correct, move to tonguing exercises. Below is an exercise to help build articulation speed. 

    The student should begin this exercise by performing the rhythm on the first note of any scale with a metronome set to an achievable tempo. Once successful, move the metronome up by steady increments until the maximum speed at which the student can tongue accurately is found. This exercise should be repeated daily. After daily work on this exercise, the student should notice an increase in tonguing speed.
    Once articulation speed on a single pitch is attained, students should progress to finger and tongue coordination exercises. The following examples depict a routine to develop accuracy in tonguing passages with moving melodies. Each of these exercises should be transposed into all keys and span the entire range of the saxophone.

    Occasionally, a passage may appear that is beyond one’s single-tonguing speed. At this point, the student must decide whether to develop an even faster single-tonguing speed or to develop double-tonguing speed. The above exercises also work for boosting double-tonguing speed. By alternating the syllables ta-ka or di-gi students can work to strengthen their double-tonguing skills.

Conclusion
    Tonguing can be a mysterious aspect of anyone’s performance because it happens behind the closed embouchure, and most of the above errors originate from misinformation taught to students, who then pass it on to their students. Work to correct the above misconceptions, and saxophone section articulations will be vastly improved.   

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Keeping the Slide in Good Repair
    Learning how to clean and lubricate the trombone slide properly is important, but if the slide is in poor repair even the best efforts at maintenance will be ineffective. Sadly, there is little a teacher can do in the band room to repair a slide once it has become dented or misaligned, so frequently remind students of the importance of proper care. This includes taking care to avoid dropping the outer slide and resisting the urge to engage in trombone swordfights. The tolerance for error in a trombone slide is measured in thousandths of an inch, so even the smallest dents, dings, and bends must be avoided. 
    One way of avoiding dented and bent slides is using instruments made of plastic and fiberglass with beginning students. Such products are now being marketed under several brand names. These instruments are impossible to dent and difficult to damage but also do not yield the same quality of sound as their brass counterparts. Their use is not recommended beyond the first year. A better solution for avoiding slide dents is to cover the outer slide tubes with plastic sleeves, which can be purchased from music retailers or perhaps made from materials found at home improvement stores. More advanced students might not want to deal with the weight added by these sleeves, but they can save younger students many trips to the repair shop.
    While advanced students are usually in less danger of accidentally damaging their slides while holding or playing their instruments, how they place their instruments on the floor or elsewhere during breaks can cause problems. Perhaps the most egregious of these is placing the instrument on a chair, with the bell in the seat of the chair and the end of the slide on the floor. Not only does this leave the instrument poorly balanced and in danger of falling (either on its own or when bumped by another student), but the slide is bearing some of the instrument’s weight, which can lead to small bends in the tubes. 
    It is preferable to place the instrument on the floor or on a table, but there is a correct and an incorrect way of doing this, as well. Rather than resting the instrument entirely on the handslide, the correct way is to place the instrument on the floor or table in such a way that it is resting on the mouthpiece receiver, bell, and tuning slide.

Incorrect: Trombone is resting on slide.

Correct: Trombone is resting on bell, tuning slide, and leadpipe.

    The handslide is thus off of the ground and not bearing any weight. Remove the mouthpiece so it does not get dirty. The most ideal solutions are purchasing a trombone stand or placing the instrument in its case when not in use.
    As with most brass repairs, the ability of directors to repair dented slides in the band room is limited with the tools usually on hand. Those with training and experience in dent removal and the proper tools might be able to remove minor outer slide dents, but inner slide dents should be examined by a professional repair technician. In many cases removing inner slide dents can create elevated spots that worsen slide function. Ad­ditionally, correctly aligning trombone slides requires several specialized tools beyond those used for mere dent removal. In short, if you want to avoid a trip to the repair shop, avoid damaging the slide.

Trombone Slide Cleaning
    Even a slide that is in perfect condition will require cleaning much more often than the moving parts of most other instruments. This is true because of the length of the slide and close tolerances mentioned earlier, but also because of the types of lubricants most trombonists use. Unlike the petroleum-based oils or synthetic equivalents used on both piston and rotary valves, the cream-based lubricants normally used on trombone slides do not evaporate or trickle down until emptied along with the condensation that collects in the instrument. Instead, these creams tend to build up around the slide stockings over time and create a residue that ultimately impedes slide action and, if left long enough, hardens to the point that a professional chemical or ultrasonic cleaning is needed to remove it. It is thus important that the trombone slide receive at least a cursory cleaning every time new lubricant is applied, both to remove the residue of old lubricant and to remove food particles or other debris that might collect in the slide.
    For these regular cleanings, the following materials are needed:

    •  Trombone cleaning rod with cheesecloth, strips of cotton (cut from old t-shirts), or toweling sheaths that can be purchased from music stores
    •  Bassoon swab (optional)
    •  Paper towels (preferably shop towels)
    •  Spray bottle filled with clean water

    Begin the cleaning process by disassembling the slide, making sure to place the inner slide on a table or someplace where it will not be damaged. Cover the cleaning rod with a toweling sheath or wrap it in cotton or cheesecloth, and then swab out each of the outer slide tubes. This helps to remove lubricant residue and other materials that might adhere to the insides of the outer tubes. As you work the cleaning rod in and out, hold the tube that you are cleaning to avoid pushing the tubes out of alignment. After completing this step, place the outer slide on the table and pick up the inner slide.
    An optional step at this point is to clean the insides of the inner tubes using a bassoon swab. Drop the weighted rope or chain through the top of each tube and pull the swab through the opposite end. This helps to prevent even more gunk from collecting in the slide tubes and crook. While all slides will benefit from this step, it is especially helpful when working with slides with particularly close tolerances.
    Finally, spray each of the inner tubes liberally with water, and use a paper towel to wipe old lubricant off of the tubes. Grip the tubes firmly when doing this, but take care not to bend the tubes out of alignment.
    Completing these steps each time the instrument is re-lubricated (usually one to three times per week, depending on how often the instrument is played) will keep it quite clean, make the more thorough process described below a relatively rare necessity, and greatly reduce the need for professional cleanings, which can require harsh chemicals and the expense of a trip to the repair shop.

Deep Cleaning
    This more thorough process, which should only be necessary one to three times per year, requires the following materials.

    •  Warm water, preferably running water. If you have a sink or tub to which you can attach a hose, that would be best. Avoid letting the water get too hot, as hot water can sometimes damage or remove lacquer finishes
    •  Trombone cleaning snake (vinyl or rubber-coated)
    •  Dishwashing detergent
    •  Trombone cleaning rod with cheesecloth, strips of cotton, or toweling sheaths
    •  Baking soda (optional)
    •  Water-based brass polish (optional)
    •  Paper towels

    First, take the assembled slide, place a small amount of dishwashing detergent in each tube, fill with water, and then run the cleaning snake through each tube and into the crook. Then, pour out the soap and water (and materials loosened by the snake), and flush the slide with water until all of the soapy residue is removed. It is important that the snake be run through the inner tubes while the slide is assembled. Pushing a cleaning snake through the inner tubes of a disassembled slide will almost certainly push those tubes out of alignment. Next, remove the outer slide, place the inner slide on a table or in another safe location, and repeat the above process with the outer slide only.
    Take a small amount of dishwashing detergent in one hand, and, holding the inner slide under running water with the other hand, wipe each inner tube with the detergent to loosen any residue on the inner slide tubes, then continue to rinse until the detergent is all removed.
    Some players like to add extra steps to the above process. One method involves completing the first two steps with baking soda instead of detergent to provide a bit of extra cleaning power. Alternatively, a cleaning rod could be wrapped with a moist cloth with some baking soda sprinkled on it. In either case, the slide should be thoroughly flushed out afterward.
    Another optional step that can be taken at the beginning of the process is to place a small amount of a water-based brass polish on the end of the cloth with which the cleaning rod is wrapped, and then to actually polish the insides of the outer slide tubes. If you choose to do this make sure that you use a water-based polish rather than an oil-based one. The former can be cleaned out of the tubes when the remainder of the cleaning process is completed; the latter will be notoriously difficult to remove.
    After cleaning everything, you might want to dry the inner and outer tubes with a paper towel. This is not a required step.

Trombone Slide Lubrication
    There are a number of fine trombone lubricants on the market, but the ones that seem to best combine ease of application – even for the youngest players – and effective lubrication are those that contain some combination of liquid cream and silicone (or similar formulations) in a single bottle. Assuming that the slide has been cleaned, to apply these products place a four- to six-inch line of lubricant on the top of each inner slide tube, assemble each pair of tubes individually and work the slide up and down to distribute the product, assemble the slide, and spray with water if desired. Sometimes the lubricant will work fine with little or no water. 
    Some trombonists prefer the older slide creams that are applied manually; these also are very effective but are a bit more difficult to apply. To apply these creams take a small amount of product in the hand and spread it on each inner slide tube.  Next, work each pair of tubes individually, then together. At this point, I have always found it best to wipe off each inner tube lightly with a paper towel, as the amount of lubricant needed for these products to work best is extremely small. Optionally, one might want to add a bit of a silicone additive to each tube. Finally, spray with a fairly generous amount of water; the water will bead up and provide the actual lubricating function.
    Any of the above options is a better choice than the petroleum-based slide oils often included with student-line instruments. While similar oils work just fine on valve instruments, these oils provide uneven coverage and evaporate too quickly to make effective trombone slide lubricants.

Conclusion
    Keeping the trombone slide in good repair, along with proper cleaning and lubrication, is vital to keeping trombone slides moving quickly and thus enabling students to play their very best. While the maintenance steps described here might seem time-consuming, they eliminate many problems that can lead to damage, expense, and lost playing time down the road. Most importantly, when the slide is clean, properly lubricated, and in good repair, playing the trombone is much more fun.

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Visualization
    One technique that works well is to refer to tempo as a football. The bright side of the beat is the part of the ball that would reach you first if it were thrown to you, and the dark side of the beat, is the opposite end. If a band is rushing, I make this analogy and the ask students to try and play on the dark side of the beat. Sometimes just a simple visualization of light versus dark or in the center works well. 
    Another option is to use color. This seems to resonate better with some students. If flutes are rushing, I might stop and say, “Flutes, you were playing this like the color yellow. Can you change it to a darker orange?” This seems to work because people equate a darker tempo or darker color with more weight. I use colors more frequently to talk about style, but tempo can be described as a color spectrum as well. 
    Sometimes the solution is as simple as asking students to do the opposite of what they are doing, but without pushing my tempo. It is counterintuitive, but it seems to work sometimes. If the band is rushing something, I ask students to play on the darker side of the beat. They will pull the tempo back themselves. 

Using Sound
    Adding more weight to the sound will slow down rushing players. Although many directors use a snare drummer for rehearsing tempos, when an ensemble rushes, the bass drum is the better choice. Have someone play quarter or even half notes on a concert bass drum. Typically that lower tessitura will produce a slower sounding wave through the band, and students prone to rushing will be more likely to match. Even though the tempo is the same, the bass drum is so big that often the band will slow down from sticking with that instrument. Save the snare drum for when students are dragging. Its brighter sound works well for getting students to pick up speed.
    Rather than having one percussionist help keep tempo, get many students involved. If the woodwinds are rushing, I may use the brass and percussion students to act as a vocal metronome. Having a large number of students say one and two and three and four and will be almost as effective as the bass drummer; an increasing number of voices adds more weight to the pulse. For dragging players, have students say ti on both beats and offbeats. The crispness of ti, especially when compared to one and two and, is akin to playing staccato on the snare drum. The value in having students use these syllables is that they learn to internalize the beat. The pressure of keeping a consistent pulse for their colleagues makes them realize how much tempo matters.
    Another way to get multiple students involved in helping the tempo is with hand clapping and thigh patting. If a section is dragging, I have the students around them clap, which is a crisp sound similar to a snare drum. For rushing players, have nearby students tap their thighs. This works to curtail rushing in part because the distance students raise their hands to tap their thighs is often greater than the distance move their hands when clapping. In addition, the clothes students wear work to dampen the sound, forcing players to listen a bit closer, which leads to pulling the tempo back naturally.
    Consider purchasing a metronome with multiple voice options. I have a Dr. Beat with four different options. I rarely use the first one, but the second and third voices are quite crisp and work well if the ensemble is dragging. The fourth option is a human voice. It has an odd electronic sound to it, and younger students laugh the first time they hear it, but it works as well for bands that rush as having students say one and two and does.
    Alternating between using percussion, having students count, and using a metronome will help keep students on tempo and develop a strong internal pulse. A band with a strong internal pulse and the ability to subdivide will rush or drag less often than a band without these traits. The way to get to the heart of the problem is to build a culture in which students have a metronome in their heads at all times but are still able to be as flexible with tempos as the conductor would like.

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What did you learn from your years teaching as a small-town band director?
    My first job as a band director was at my small-town high school. I graduated in 1966, and my band director moved to another job in 1967. Unfortunately, there are directors who can destroy a program in a year, and that happened at my school. Just before my third year of college, the superintendent contacted me to say that he could arrange for me to come back part time as the band director. I was thrilled, and the university worked with me on it. So, I was the band director in my hometown during my junior and senior year of college. I directed a beginning band and a high school band, the latter of which had players in grades 7-12, plus some sixth graders. I was in the high school band when I was in fifth grade, so that tells you the size of the town. The running joke was that in good years the population would break 1,000; it typically hovered around 997. 
    When you have such a wide range of ages and experience levels, it is sometimes difficult to pick music, adapt it for younger players, and still challenge advanced students. Finding the middle ground takes a great deal of creative effort and adaptation of the literature. I think this is where I learned how to write for younger players, using the skills developed under the guidance of my college band director, Don Gant, and music theory teacher, Charles Tracey. I wrote most of our fundamental exercises, and I also wrote my first composition during my first year as a teacher. It has never been published and probably never will be, but it was basically an imitation of Francis McBeth. It was successful enough that when I moved into my second position, I actually used the piece with my junior high band, and it worked quite well. We earned a I at district contests with that little piece.

What advice would you give a director taking a job in a small town?
    One must be resourceful, often with little or no assistance, so the first step is to seek as much help as can be found. I always advised my students when I was teaching in music education to seek out the people who are successful as mentors. That’s probably the first thing for young directors. Most directors who have been around for a while are eager to share information and help newcomers.
    The second piece of advice would be to stick around. Giving some time to a location is important to the success of the program and the success of the director. Make a commitment for some longevity, not just a year or two. A band program is only as good as its director, but the longer you can stay and build a program, the better the program will be. One of the things I found most tragic about both new and seasoned directors was that they tend to move from small district to small district, and there is no stability. There are circumstances that require people to move on, but sometimes young people are too eager to move and don’t allow themselves to mature, musically and otherwise.
    Have a plan and be organized. Go into the classroom with a strategy for daily improvement. No music program will develop through a scattershot approach to building musical literacy. I have instruments in a music garden outside, and an acquaintance from back in high school recently donated a flute for it. When we picked it up, she said, “I’ve never told anyone this, but I never actually learned to read music or even play the fight song.” How tragic that someone who was in band her entire school career never learned to read music. That goes back to my generation, but there are still both instrumental and choral teachers who teach primarily by rote. I think we fail the students if we don’t teach them to be musically literate. 
    The key to this is sequential learning. I encourage directors to find materials that will help them build sequentially in their teaching and help their students learn sequentially, so they can build music literacy skills. The turning point in my music career as a performer happened when I was auditioning for a district band as a ninth grader. My director said, “If you want to do really well on this audition, learn all of your major and minor scales and be ready to play any scale.” I did as he told me and played well on the audition. That was the point where I understood that there are some fundamental things that you have to know. Obviously, scales are one of them. Start with Bb major and work out from there sequentially in both directions. I just finished writing a piece for young band that starts in F, but modulates to C, Db, and Ab just to help the teachers get outside the boundaries of Bb, Eb, and F.
    Rhythm is another fundamental area of music literacy. I use what I call the constant eighths in teaching rhythmic literacy. This means that the eighth note is constant in 99% of our literature. 
    I think pushing the students toward more literacy in the keys and then, of course, teaching fundamental rhythmic understanding is important. If you inherit a program with students who cannot play scales and cannot read rhythms, meet them where they are, but do not keep them there. Start with these basics, but do not neglect the nuances of dynamics and phrasing. There are many well-organized method and technique books on the market, and I have written a sightreading series designed to help students improve their technical and music literacy skills. Young directors should take advantage of the tools that have been developed to make music teaching – and music learning – more efficient and effective.
    Do not forget to have fun and help your students have fun while they are learning and making music. This does not mean that chaos should reign; the fun comes from making good music. I also think it is important a director understands that instrumental music is a social experience for many students. In some cases it is the most important social experience they have. When I conduct an honor band, the first thing I tell students is, “I want this to be a good musical experience, I want you to have fun, and I want to have fun.” Those are the three criteria that I set out for groups I work with.
    I do not think a person has to give up discipline or classroom management to make music. You can make music and keep students occupied if you plan appropriately. Inexperienced teachers have discipline problems when their focus is on two or three people rather than the whole ensemble. Kids get bored. The director has to have a plan to work with the individuals or sections who need help, but it is also important to keep all students engaged in rehearsal. 
    Finally, and most importantly, do not forget your family. I have seen too much burnout, which is often caused by directors failing to recognize the most important things in life, like faith and family.

What inspired you to begin composing?
    I have had an innate desire to create music since I was young – first on the guitar, then the piano – and after starting on cornet in the fourth grade, I fell in love with band and band music. I knew by the time I was in junior high that I wanted to pursue music as a career. I started writing for my bands out of necessity and found it inspiring to hear the notes that came from my head produced on instruments. It’s still a thrill for me every time I hear one of my compositions or arrangements performed, whether it’s live or an audio or video recording. My passion is to write music that will help players succeed as they learn to play and enjoy music. 

How did you get your first few works published?
    I owe a lot to Andy Clark, who is now CEO of the C. L. Barnhouse Company. In the early 1980s he owned the Norman Lee Publishing Company, a small firm in Wichita, Kansas that specialized in marching band music for small schools. Andy and I became acquainted while I was band director at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. As a graduate, Andy returned for homecoming events and one day I casually mentioned that, if at some point his company began publishing concert music, I would like to submit some pieces for consideration. Ultimately, my first published work, Antecedium, was one of Norman Lee Publishing’s best sellers in 1986. 

What advice do you have for band directors interested in composing?
    The most important thing I have found is that you just have to start. I wasn’t born a composer. Just like learning an instrument, the best way to perfect your skills is to practice. I don’t have a set method I use or a set approach. Sometimes I start harmonically, sometimes I start melodically, sometimes I start with a concept, a non-musical idea. You just have to start. It’s not always a flash in the night. It’s a matter of sitting down and doing the work.
    Take advantage of every opportunity to write or arrange for your group or for someone else’s ensemble. Be sure to have an avenue for performance, or you will get frustrated writing something that nobody ever hears. If you think you have written something that should be available to others, submit it to a publisher for consideration. Just going through the process can be rewarding, even if not accepted for publication. I was in my mid-30s when I got my first piece published.

How can young composers make connections with publishers and promote their music?
    Seek out publishers that match your areas of interest and expertise. It is important that a new composer is able to write for young ensembles as well as more advanced groups. Publishers must reach a large market to be successful, and a majority of the market is music designed for young ensembles. Based on my experience, it is much easier for someone to get the attention of a publisher if they have good original material, rather than only arrangements. Also, it is important to have a clean and accurate score, as well as a good recording – even if synthesized – for submission. Some young composers try to self-publish, but it is challenging to reach a broad market in this way.

How did you get your first job in administration?
    I was fortunate enough to secure my first university job as a band director at Northwestern Oklahoma State University when I was twenty-seven. I worked hard to prove myself that first year in higher education and was named the music department chair in my second year. That was my first taste of administrative duties, and I found that it was a natural fit. Over the next decade I completed my doctorate and was able to step into several academic administrative roles, including Graduate Dean, while still maintaining my composing and involvement in the world of band music. For the most part, I was an administrator by day and a composer at night, weekends, and holidays. Even when I was hired as the university president at Southwestern Christian University in 2009, the Board of Regents understood that composing band music and traveling to support my music was an important part of my professional career and personal life. 

How can band directors build better working relationships with their administration?
    Like many young band directors, I confess to occasionally having tunnel vision in my early days. One of the most difficult but important things to learn is that the school’s calendar and ultimate existence does not revolve around the band program. Be considerate of other teachers and your students’ time. This is where rehearsal efficiency and effective use of time is important. Try to understand the global perspective of the administration. Superintendents and principals inherently do a lot of juggling as they attempt to do what is right for students, teachers, staff, board members, community, and constituents. There will be times when you may ask and not receive. If that happens, stay positive and move on. 

What has changed in our profession since you began teaching?
    The most dramatic changes have been cultural shifts in family dynamics, which can make it difficult for teachers to place educational and disciplinary demands on students and receive parental support. This makes the role of the music teacher even more important because of the special and sacred bond that exists between music teacher and students. Many music teachers become surrogate parents and thus have a significant and lasting impact on their students’ lives. I still maintain contact with my high school band directors to this day and many of my former students stay in contact with me. 

What are the keys to gaining your students’ trust?
    Honesty and transparency are important to young people. Do not try to fool them into thinking that you know more than you know. That is especially important for young teachers. I always told my music education majors that they would learn more in the first six weeks teaching than they would in four years in a university setting. The degree is important, but there is so much more to learn once you have the degree in hand and begin applying the principles that you learned. There is so much that can be conveyed to students, but sometimes people will try to fake their way through. A much better approach is to say, “There are some things I do not know that we are going to learn together” or “If I don’t know something, I will find out from someone.” Kids are pretty smart, and they can figure out if you’re trying to twist their arm on something. Be up front. Be transparent.
    Perhaps the most important thing is to be a good person students can emulate and see as a role model. It is tragic when we see teachers abusing children or getting themselves into trouble in whatever setting they might be. Teachers need to be role models and ought to maintain higher standards than someone who might not have a young person looking up to them. These are important criteria for teachers going into the profession. 

Where do you predict music education is heading over the next decade?
    Each year brings new technological advancements, and each is an opportunity to use new tools in classroom instruction. These advancements aside, I am concerned about the place of music education within our schools. There is plenty of research to support the importance and need for music education, but education as a whole is often overly focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) to the point that the arts are not a priority. As music educators, we must maintain a constant vigil to assure that the students of the future have the opportunities we had to express ourselves through music. 
    Music advocacy has always been difficult, and it continues to be difficult. I encourage people to get involved – know their legislators and know their administrators. Understand that the administrator has to have a global perspective, but at the same time, the school districts that place a great deal of emphasis on the arts do so because the music teachers do a good job with their programs and have emphasized to the administration, parents, and community how important music is by create a good product.
    In many small schools the arts get pushed aside, but even in small schools, directors who work hard at selling the arts to the community receive a great deal of support. Schools are driven by the community. If the community members can relate to what is happening in the arts programs, then they will support the arts and communicate that support to the board members who oversee the school. Advocacy is a matter of conveying the importance of the program to the community and administration and having a good product. I see arts programs being lost where the arts people do not develop good products. If they do not teach music literacy and if they waste time and resources, then they have nothing to sell. Get students engaged in the love of the arts. It continues to be a challenge, but keep conveying the arts’ importance to the people who need to hear it. This is a difficult job. 

What have been the most memorable moments of your teaching career? 
    There have been so many great moments: receiving marching, concert, and jazz band trophies and seeing the faces of the young people who were involved; getting a team-signed game ball after my university marching band performed at a Kansas City Chiefs game on national television; having the opportunity to conduct the U. S. Navy Band as they played my music; guest conducting internationally; experiencing the publication of my first band composition and more than 200 more since that time. I am always excited when I hear great recordings of my works and see the beautiful finished products that come from the Washington Winds and my publisher, the C. L. Barnhouse Company. Band music is my passion, and I hope to be able to write inspiring educational music for many years to come.

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