Grade One
    Attack of the Garden Gnomes by Timothy Loest (FJH). Marching feet, screams, and vibraslap effects give this piece its distinctive character.
    Christmas in the Kitchen by Michael Story (Alfred). Get fellow faculty members to play solo water glasses, pots and pans, and they can help you spoof Jingle Bells and Up on the Housetop.
    Cluster, Fluster, Bluster March by David Holsinger (Wingert-Jones). This dissonant golden oldie has trombone smears and many percussion effects.
    Concerto Extremely Grosso by David Marshall (Hal Leonard) is a twisted medley with snatches of tunes like Three Blind Mice, Beethoven’s Fifth, Turkey in the Straw, and the Song of the Volga Boatmen to name a few.
    Concerto for Triangle by Mike Hannickel (Curnow). Feature a staff member to play on this classical sounding piece where the bumbling soloist drops music, sneezes, and answers a cell phone call before ultimately performing his solo.
    Revenge of the Dust Bunnies by Dan Adams (LudwigMasters). Eerie music, screaming, and a vacuum cleaner solo separate this piece from almost all others.

Grade Two
    Bumble Bones by Mike Hannickel (Curnow) is a trombone feature with mouthpiece buzzing, smears, slide whistle, and snippets of Home Sweet Home and Flight of the Bumblebee.
    Faculty Versus Band (The Final Conflict) by Del Elliott, arranged by James D. Ployhar (Wynn). Draft four or more faculty members to solo in front of the band on Pomp and Circumstance, La Cumparsita, High School Cadets, and 1812 Overture.
    The Monster Under the Bed by Robert Sheldon (Alfred). Add sound tubes to this entertaining and jaunty piece for an eerie effect.
    Mouthpiece Mania by Ware S. Mahorn (Alfred). This hilarious trumpet mouthpiece-buzzing feature is based on the likes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Blue Danube Waltz, and more.
    Zooveniers by Randall Standridge (Grand Mesa). A great selection for recruiting concerts, this piece presents an excellent opportunity for audience participation by having prospective students guess what animals the music is describing.

Grade Three
    At a Dixieland Jazz Funeral by Jared Spears (Barnhouse) features a Dixieland combo along with the full band on Just A Closer Walk With Thee followed by a rousing version of When The Saints Go Marchin’ In, on which the band sings.
    General Radetsky Goes Cuckoo by Edward Michaelson (G&M) is an entertaining march with interesting sound effects including, of course, a cuckoo.
    March of the Cute Little Wood Sprites by PDQ Bach/Peter Schickele (Presser). All the craziness you would expect from Schickele. You will need to have clarinetists who can play terribly in the upper register.
    The Roosters Lay Eggs in Kansas by Mayhew Lake, edited by Robert Foster (Carl Fischer). This was Sousa’s favorite encore and would work as a closer or encore for any band today.
    Salute to Spike Jones arranged by Calvin Custer (Hal Leonard). This arrangement will take the audience way back with Spike Jones’s Chloe, Cocktails for Two, and The Poet and Peasant Overture.

Grade Four
    Cheerio by Edwin Franko Goldman, arranged by Johnnie Vinson (G. Schirmer). Singing and whistling on a catchy tune make this march stand out.
    Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion by PDQ Bach/Peter Schickele (Presser). If there is any novelty work that is a staple of the repertoire, this is it.
    On the Mall by Edwin Franko Goldman, edited by Lisk. With one of the catchiest march trios ever, this section gets the band and audience involved by singing the melody on la and then is whistled when it returns.
    The Typewriter by Leroy Anderson, arranged by Floyd Werle (Alfred). This piece is not too difficult, but some good woodwind players are needed to play the piece up to the marked tempo.
    Waltzing Cat by Leroy Anderson, transcribed by Philip J. Lang (Alfred) is a pleasant piece with sounds of another era. It requires someone to make realistic meowing sounds on cue.
    Variations on a Kitchen Sink by Don Gillis (Wingert-Jones). Include as many as eight guest soloists on this piece using many utensils from a common kitchen. The score notes give some creative suggestions on how to stage the piece.

Grade Five
    The Travelin’ Hat Rag by David Bobrowitz, arranged by Kenneth Soper (Grand Mesa). This infectious piece for advanced groups works well as a concert closer or encore piece.

The post Novel Ideas appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Hello
By Adele Adkins and Greg Kurstin, arranged by Michael Brown, percussion arranging by Nick Angelis. ($50, Hal Leonard, 2:25)

I’ll Be Home for Christmas
Arranged by Dallas Burke ($65, Matrix)

The Jedi Steps/Finale
By John Williams, arranged by Matt Conaway, percussion arranging by Jack Holt. ($60, Hal Leonard 2:00)

Looking Grimm
By Jason K. Nitsch. ($1,000, Grand Mesa, 6:30)

The March of the Resistance
By John Williams, arranged by Matt Conaway, percussion arranging by Jack Holt. ($60, Hal Leonard 1:55)

Metal Mania!
Stand Blasters for Developing Bands. Arranged by Dallas Burke. ($65, Jalen)

Pulse: The Art of Motion
By Randall D. Standridge. ($1,000, Grand Mesa, 7:30)

Pyramids
By Jeremy Doss. ($1,000, Grand Mesa, 7:00)

Star Wars (Main Theme)/Rey’s Theme
By John Williams, arranged by Matt Conaway, percussion arranging by Jack Holt. ($60, Hal Leonard 2:15)

Uma Thurman
By Fall Out Boy, arranged by Michael Oare, percussion arranging by K.J. Stafford. ($50, Hal Leonard, 2:00)

Under Construction
By Randall D. Standridge. ($1,000, Grand Mesa, 7:30)

The Warriors
By Randall D. Standridge. ($1,000, Grand Mesa, 5:30-7:30)

Grade 3
Bucket of Grooves
Cadence Pack. By Carl Major. ($50, Jalen)

Buckjump (Trombone Shorty)
By Mike Ballard and Troy Andrews, arranged by Paul Murtha, percussion arranging by Will Rapp. ($55, Hal Leonard, 2:20)

Championship Drum Line Warm Ups – 2016
By Carl Major. ($50, Jalen)

Chill
Street Cadence. By Amy Savage. ($25, Matrix)

College Football Favorite Time Outs #3
Arranged by Dave Henning. ($60, Jalen)

Cruisin’
Street Cadence. By Alan Keown. ($25, Matrix)

Dashing Down Main Street
Arranged by Allen Gray. ($60, Jalen)

DeComposers
By Randall D. Standridge. ($1,000, Grand Mesa, 8:00)

Don’t Stop Me Now
By Freddie Mercury, arranged by Matt Conaway, percussion arranging by Jack Holt. ($55, Hal Leonard, 2:00)

Drag Me Down
By One Direction, arranged by Matt Conaway, percussion arranging by Jack Holt. ($55, Hal Leonard, 2:00)

Emblems of America
Arranged by Tim Galyen. ($60, Jalen)

Fantastic Friday Night Drum Jamz
By Carl Major. ($50, Jalen)

Fat Bottomed Girls
By Brian May, arranged by Matt Conaway, percussion arranging by Jack Holt. ($55, Hal Leonard, 2:00)

Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)
Arranged by Allen Gray. ($65, Matrix)

Focus
By Ariana Grande, arranged by Ishbah Cox. ($55, Hal Leonard, 2:00)

Games
By Randall D. Standridge. ($1,000, Grand Mesa, 7:30)

Good Vibrations
By Brian Wilson and Mike Love, arranged by Michael Brown, percussion arranging by Oman Carmenates. ($55, Hal Leonard, 2:05)

Hard Rockin’ Holiday Parade
Arranged by Tim Galyen. ($60, Jalen)

Heroes
By Jason K. Nitsch. ($1,000, Grand Mesa, 7:00)

Hip Hop Stand Blasters V (American Beats)
Arranged by Dallas Burke. ($60, Jalen)

I Get Around
By Brian Wilson and Mike Love, arranged by Michael Brown, percussion arranging by Nick Angelis. ($55, Hal Leonard, 1:40)

I Saw Her Standing There
Arranged by Dave Henning. ($65, Matrix)

I Wanna Be Sedated
Arranged by Dave Henning. ($65, Matrix)

Jungle Love
By Steve Miller Band, arranged by Ishbah Cox. ($55, Hal Leonard, 1:50)

Macarena
Arranged by Dallas Burke. ($65, Matrix)

Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
Arranged by Dallas Burke. ($65, Matrix)

Pep Grooves 2016
Drumline. By Alan Keown. ($50, Matrix)

RE:Demption
By Jason K. Nitsch. ($1,000, Grand Mesa, 6:30)

Reinvention
By Dustin Hoke. ($1,000, Grand Mesa, 7:30)

Rocket
Street Cadence. By Alan Keown. ($25, Matrix)

Shut Up and Dance
By Walk the Moon, arranged by Matt Conaway, percussion arranging by Jack Holt. ($55, Hal Leonard, 2:05)

Slammin’ Jam
Street Cadence. By Matt Savage. ($25, Matrix)

Smoke on the Water
By Deep Purple, arranged by Paul Murtha, percussion arranging by Will Rapp. ($55, Hal Leonard, 1:55)

Sorry
By Justin Bieber, arranged by Ishbah Cox. ($55, Hal Leonard, 2:00)

Theme from Ant-Man
By Christophe Beck, arranged by Matt Conaway, percussion arranging by Jack Holt. ($55, Hal Leonard, 2:05)

Turn the Beat Around
Arranged by Dave Henning. ($65, Matrix)

Under Pressure
By Queen with David Bowie, arranged by Matt Conaway, percussion arranging by Jack Holt. ($55, Hal Leonard, 2:10)

Use Me
By Bill Withers, arranged by Paul Murtha, percussion arranging by Will Rapp. ($55, Hal Leonard, 2:05)

Victorious
By Panic! at the Disco, arranged by Matt Conaway, percussion arranging by Jack Holt. ($55, Hal Leonard, 1:35)

War Pigs
Arr. by Dave Henning. ($65, Matrix)

Watch Me (Whip Nae Nae)
Arranged by Allen Gray. ($65, Matrix)

A Whiter Shade of Pale
Arranged by Dave Henning. ($65, Matrix)

You Can Leave Your Hat On
Arranged by David Samuel, percussion arranging by Carl Major. ($65, Matrix)

Grade 4
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Part 1: Main Title, “Rey’s Theme” (2:30). Part 2: “March of the Resistance” (1:55). Part 3: “The Jedi Steps,” Finale (2:40). By John Williams, arranged by Matt Conaway, percussion arranging by Jack Holt. ($75 each, Hal Leonard)

Street Jamz
Cadence Pack. By Carl Major. ($50, Jalen)

Marching Music Sources
Alfred Publishing

Grand Mesa Music

Hal Leonard

Jalen Publishing/Matrix Music

The post Marching Music appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    If I were putting a concert band trumpet section together, and I had three trumpet parts and nine players, I would take the three best players and put one on first, one on second, and one on third. The next three players would be second chair for each part, the bottom three would also be split that way.

    If all the best players are on the first part, the only thing the last-chair third trumpet will hear is someone marginally better. There will never be anyone to suggest pushing the third valve slide out when playing a low D or Db. It might be a few chairs up before someone knows to do that. Seating students with the three best players split gives each part a section leader and makes mentors available to every student. I wish I had a good player sitting next to me when I played third trumpet as a freshman in high school. I sat next to students who never practiced, and it did not inspire me to play more.
    If players have a great upperclassman sitting next to them, they will be motivated to show up with their music learned. It benefits everyone in many different ways. It inspires people to practice more, be more serious in rehearsal, and talk less. People sit up straighter and kick up their intensity with a strong player next to them.
    It may be that the third-best player will be unhappy about playing third trumpet, but if he hears how much of a difference it makes, it becomes clearer why a strong third player is needed. Bugler’s Holiday is a perfect example of why a strong player on a third part is so important. Double tonguing, tight ensemble work, and intonation are all key for making sure it does not become Bugler’s Disaster. Give a strong player on third trumpet the responsibility to make sure that the thirds are all together.

Each Part’s Role
    My teacher from Oberlin talked about how great George Szell made the Cleveland Orchestra. Szell made the orchestra play as if it were a string quartet, meaning the orchestra members were playing and listening together. When considering a quartet, everything is clear and precise, and everyone has a specific role and knows it well. The Cleveland Orchestra captured that well. There were 20 first violins and 20 second violins, but players knew their roles and who and what to listen to at all times. The same should be true within a section or small ensemble. There are specific roles that each section member plays to help create the section.

First Trumpet
   First trumpet in an orchestra or concert band is usually considered the head of the brass section, and this is generally how most composers and arrangers write. The first trumpet player’s primary responsibility is consistency. Students usually think range and volume matter most for first trumpet, but a player with a beautiful, consistent sound is the ideal choice for section leader.
   In addition to being consistent, the first trumpet player must play musically and communicate effectively with the section. The section leader must be able to listen to what everyone in the section is doing and communicate how to play parts, both by example and vocally. The first player sets the style, volume, and articulations that shape the music. The first trumpet player also has a larger responsibility to watch the conductor for cues, which dictate what is allowed stylistically. Section leaders should also make notes of any conductor feedback on volume, style, and articulation.
   The first trumpet in a big band has similar responsibilities. The styles will be different, the range will be a fourth or fifth higher, and the sound concept is brighter, but the need for consistency and clear directions is the same. The lead trumpet player listens to everything, but especially the bass, which gives the harmonic time, and the drums, which gives style, time, and feel. The lead trumpet also listens to first trombone and lead alto. The first players in each section should work on playing together, and then each section fans out from its lead player. While someone has to hit the high notes, the player with the largest range is not always the best lead trumpet.

Second Trumpet
   Second trumpet in an orchestra and concert band is the most difficult chair to play. The second part requires excellent ears – sometimes even better than it takes to be a first trumpet player. Everyone can sing an easy melody, but if you ask people to sing an inner harmony for a tune, most will be lost. A harmony part will not necessarily sound melodic, and it is a difficult to take a non-melodic line and play it melodically.
   The second player is an inner voice whose focus should be supporting the first player, with solid intonation and appropriate volume; the second part should not overshadow what the first player plays. Playing inner voices means adjusting from note to note and listening carefully for changes in the harmony and musical texture. You could be playing the same note, but if the harmonies change, the intonation of that note will have to be adjusted.

   In a jazz band, second trumpet is generally the solo chair. This comes with different responsibilities than the first part, primarily improvisation. I think it is great to make everyone play solos.  Allowing all of the players opportunities to take solos will help with playing more confidently, and will help developing players gain confidence and experience for the future.

Third Trumpet
    Third trumpet parts in concert band or orchestra often consist of further harmonies within the trumpet section or with the trombones or horns. Third players should usually be coached to listen to and support the second trumpets, but occasionally, the thirds will double the first part an octave lower.
    In a big band, the third voice can be the most awkward to play. The third part might cover harmonies that do not come to the ears naturally. Playing third trumpet for Benny Goodman or Count Basie charts is difficult reading because the notes sound strange on their own and are so far away from the melody that it can be difficult for students to take them seriously. I suggest to third part players that they consider their line as part of the whole. Third trumpet makes sense in the context of the second part and then the first. It is like a puzzle; you see where your piece fits. It fills up the section and adds fullness to the chords.

Fourth Trumpet
    Fourth trumpet parts are rare in a concert band but common in a big band. The fourth trumpet in a big band supports the third, playing the parts of chords that are left, and will likely also double another part. I have played a number of big band charts in which the fourth trumpet plays even when the other trumpets do not, because the part is added to the trombone section or placed with the tenor saxophones.

Intonation Is Key
    Lin Biviano, who played lead trumpet with Buddy Rich and Count Basie, taught me that even the best first trumpet player would sound bad if the supporting players were out of tune or out of sync. In the professional world, a second or third trumpet player can easily get a first trumpet player fired simply by pushing in his tuning slide a quarter inch. That is how important the lower parts are. Poor intonation lower in the section can really mess with the first part. If one part of a chord is off, the whole thing will sound wrong, and the first player will chip every note because the harmonies stacked up below are in the wrong spot. You cannot shut off what you hear. This is especially true on a brass instrument, where you have to hear the note in your head before you play it. It does not matter how good a player is; few things will wear out a lead trumpet player as quickly as an out-of-tune section. Conversely, an average lead trumpet player in a section where everyone plays together and supports each other will sound amazing. When students understand that their playing affects the entire section, everyone takes their music and their intonation more seriously.

Octaves
    When a composer writes an octave, it is there for a reason and should sound correct. When an octave is top heavy, it is less impressive than when it is balanced, but to balance octaves, the bottom voice should be twice as loud. The bottom on an octave is the foundation which provides a cushion for the top octave to sit. The upper octave should feel like it is being carried by the bottom one.
    The lower one plays, the more likely it is that the instrument is longer than the player up an octave (compare fingerings for written D4 and D5). The greater length of tubing often places lower voices behind the time, as the response is not as immediate when dealing with the lower voices. So the lower voices must pay extra attention to stay perfectly in time.
    Intonation is particularly noticeable in octaves. If the bottom octave is sharp, it will push the top octave up. If the bottom is flat, it will drag the top part down. They are linked. A sharp third trumpet player will ruin the first player’s chops as he tries to lip up to be in tune with the lower octave.

Vibrato
    When playing in a section, vibrato can destabilize everything, so inner voices should use less or none at all. This is especially true in orchestral playing. Few players think to address whether and how much vibrato to use within the section. It is a small detail, but it makes a big difference. You cannot have half the section using vibrato. It is appropriate in certain settings, such as jazz from the 1920s and 30s.

Section Unity
    Breathing together as a section is important. Players who breathe together come in together. This is a good section exercise for breathing and coming in together:

This helps teach students to listen across for the breath and articulations. It also bridges the gap between playing with time and playing in time. A student can play with time and be consistent but still sound separate from everyone else. However, playing in time means that everyone is together and beat one lands in the same spot for everybody. If the breath is the same for everyone, then the note will be the same for everyone.
    Another excellent section-building exercise is learning the other parts. Few people take the time to look at the parts of the people sitting next to them. After students have learned their parts, spend a rehearsal rotating the chairs. Play through a section of the music, then have everyone switch seats, so the firsts are now sitting where the thirds were and reading the third part. Seconds move to first, and thirds move to second. Play through the section, then rotate seats again. Give everyone the opportunity to play all three (or four parts) so everyone discovers what is happening in the section. It is better to move chairs than swap parts because then the parts are heard from the usual place. Directors might shy away from this if they have students who can barely play their own parts, but if it is a week before the concert and the ensemble is polishing things, try it for a day, and then end rehearsal with a run-through where everyone plays their original part.
    When people understand what others are playing and what their part supports, then the section comes alive. Switching parts shows younger students what to listen for. It may be that some students cannot handle some aspect of a first part, but give it to them anyway. Let them try. It gives students a taste of what the first part is going to be like and can be a motivator to work harder.
    I had the opportunity to sit in on a number of Cleveland Orchestra rehearsals while studying at Oberlin. I remember seeing principal trumpet Michael Sachs reading the score to the symphony during rehearsal. When not playing, he was looking at the other parts, trying to understand them better. It was part of what made him such a great player – he played every part in his mind.   

The post Building a Strong Trumpet Section appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    In modern marching band shows, tempos are getting faster every year, and the variations (ritardando, accelerando, sudden changes) are also increasing. These make foot technique and foot timing more difficult, but the best technique in the world does not matter if it is not perfectly together. It is essential to be specific with students about how their marching technique looks and exacting about when and how they land their foot on the ground.

Start at the Beginning
    On day one we first work to get students’ feet in time, moving across the field with a metronome giving a steady beat. To keep things interesting, we occasionally move to music instead. The aim of this – and we do a lot of it – is to get the legs and feet moving in time. We prefer a macro-to-micro approach in marching instruction. At times people go from micro to macro and give too much attention to the tiniest details without making sure students can actually move their feet in time.

Define and Demonstrate
    The next step, which also happens the first day, is to talk about the kind of motion we want students to use. We  use straight-leg technique and define the leg movement for both forward and backward marching as a pendulum motion that initiates from the hip, which is common in this marching style. We do not talk about their legs staying stiff or straight; we emphasize moving from the hip. Once we get everyone moving in time, we talk about how that motion moves and where it moves from. We use the words “pendulum motion” quite a bit. This is when knowing how to demonstrate the technique is important. Once you know technique and can properly demonstrate it, you can relate to the students what it feels like and looks like to be correct.. I know exactly how it feels to move from my hip.
    I firmly believe that, as with any physical skill, marching technique should be properly demonstrated; the instructors practice it until it looks right. We have some younger staff members who are fantastic marchers, and one of my best teaching tools is for the students to see instructors move across the field. Musicians pick up jazz style from listening, and they will learn marching technique through watching people do it well.

Correct Steps
   Once we get students moving in time and from the hip rather than the knee, we invest a great deal of time on the relationship of the foot to the ground, because that can affect whether the legs move correctly. When moving the leg from the hip during a forward march, the back edge of the heel hits the ground on the beat.
   In dance this is referred to as a flexed position, meaning the foot and leg make an L shape, as opposed to a pointed position, where they are a straight line. In bent-leg technique, the foot would go into point position before it hit the ground, but straight-leg technique keeps the foot almost exclusively in a flex position, so we talk about that frequently.
    As the front foot hits the ground, the back leg should be stretched and extended, creating an equal weight distribution between both feet. If the students fall all the way forward on the front foot, the back leg will bend and release incorrectly, so it is necessary to talk about stretching the back leg as the front foot lands.
   Students should release the back foot immediately after the front foot lands, quickly pulling the back heel as close to the ground as they can. As we hone in on cleaning the show, students work on releasing the entire platform of the foot (the tip of the toes to the top of the arch) at once. They like to roll the back foot up to the big toe before releasing it from the ground, but this causes the timing to be a little slow. It also creates a big bend in the back knee, knocking the back leg out of the correct shape.
    When the back leg pulls even with the front leg, the heel and toe should be equidistant from the ground. As students swing through, the motion stays the same, and they land with the edge of the right heel, again making sure that when the front heel lands, the back leg stays long and extended.

Marching Backward
    When marching backward, some people have students stay up on their toes, but we land the platform of the foot. I do not want heels to touch the ground, but enough of the foot should land on the ground for students to keep balance while the motion and shape of the leg look correct.

Solving Problems
    When people teach straight-leg technique, they often focus on getting the legs as straight as possible, but this causes students to be rigid and bounce up and down. This has an adverse effect on their playing. It is better to focus on the relationship of the foot to the ground. There is no need to emphasize a straight leg; the leg will swing from the hip naturally as long as the heel is down as the foot passes through. To combat stiff legs, I have students take a step forward, keeping the heel low to the ground. This forces them to use motion from the hip without stiffening the leg. It is impossible to make the heel go forward without motion from the hip. People talk about keeping the leg straight when moving from the hip, but if they will just focus on keeping the heel as low as possible, a relaxed hip motion and straight leg occur naturally without hyperextending the knee. We never want students to pull the knee back or lock their legs, because that can create a new set of problems.
    Students often want to initiate their motion from the knee. This is easy to spot; when it happens the heel pulls up before the leg moves forward. We emphasize keeping the heel low and gliding forward rather than coming up and pushing forward.
    If it becomes absolutely necessary to discuss the leg, the term is always “relaxed, straight leg.” The term for our marching style is straight-leg technique, but given the difficulties that arise when students focus on the leg, I avoid calling it that in front of them. One of the most difficult things about teaching straight-leg technique is its name.

    For marching technique to be great, it has to happen in time, it has to be well-defined enough that it can be unified from player to player, and the technique choice cannot have an adverse effect on the music. It is easy to lose focus on any one of these in favor of the other two, but the progression from macro (get the feet in time with a metronome while going across the field) into micro (learning how the heel relates to the ground as the legs pass) usually has worked well. The staff and student leaders work to give simple and quick information, and even more importantly, provide correct examples of what we want to see. This, plus ample repetition, will get students moving at exactly the same time.   

The post Perfect Steps appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    As music educators who conduct bands or orchestras, the majority of instructional time we have with our students is spent in a large group rehearsal setting. During that time, we must accomplish an incredible array of tasks, and we want our students to leave rehearsal feeling that they have learned something, felt something, and grown through music. Creating rewarding musical experiences for students should be the principal purpose of every rehearsal, through the refinement of the highest-quality and most appropriate repertoire. While we try to accomplish a multitude of goals in rehearsals, most of them can be placed into four primary categories:
    To refine the music technically and expressively. We want to make sure students play their parts correctly, and contribute to the overall musical meaning. In rehearsal, we transform what the conductor Sergiu Celibidache referred to as multiplicities (many people doing different things, independent of purpose) into unicity (everyone doing the same thing, for the same purpose). Getting the right notes and right rhythms is a first step, but we must work to get beyond that by unifying balance, dynamic contrast, articulation, and phrasing. We should find ways to rehearse the objective elements (notes, rhythms, intonation, and balance) and the subjective (phrasing, emphasis, and emotional content) in every rehearsal. People occasionally talk about how little rehearsal time is left after working on technical aspects of the music. If it is impossible to work at even a basic level of music making in the first rehearsal on a piece, the music might be too difficult.
    To develop the listening, thinking, and observational skills of the players. The world’s finest orchestras perform like huge chamber ensembles. If you have ever watched the Berlin Philharmonic perform, live or on video, you see that every member is completely engaged with listening, watching, moving, and matching all aspects of their playing. In rehearsal, we cultivate this ability in students by asking questions that encourage them to focus on the players around them and allow them to contribute their own ideas. I often ask students to visualize a transparent bubble surrounding them and isolating them as they play. They can then be asked to include the person on their right or left in the bubble, then the person in front or behind them, then eventually include more and more people until the entire group is encapsulated in the same environment. The idea is to be aware of everyone around them while remaining mindful of what they are doing individually.
    To introduce and review concepts that can be transferred to other contexts. In his article Some Things I Believe, one of my mentors, H. Robert Reynolds, wrote, “The good teacher helps a student to become independent, to play well without having to rely on the conductor for every bit of information or direction. To achieve this goal, we must use every opportunity to transfer concepts.” If we fail to help students recognize the common threads that connect the elements of what they are doing, the process grinds to a halt, and students rely upon us for all the information. Guiding students to greater understanding of technical and musical principles so they can apply their knowledge with fluency reflects a truly trained level of musicianship.
    To create a responsive aesthetic environment. The rehearsal room should be filled with focused energy that flows between conductor and ensemble. Making music is a continuous process of listening, adjusting, and responding that engages everyone. It should not be driven solely by the conductor from the podium. If the ensemble only receives information from the conductor and waits to contribute until they receive direction from the podium, members’ individual voices are diminished. Rather than constantly playing to the conductor, we should encourage the members of our ensembles to connect with each other, allowing us to promote communication rather than control their actions.

Guiding Principles
    Everything comes form score study. All rehearsal successes develop from an understanding of the score. The score study process usually takes place in several stages. H. Robert Reynolds compares the initial phase to “looking at a magazine in the waiting room of the dentist’s office.” While we wait, we try to get a general idea of the magazine’s contents. Getting familiar with a score is similar. Look first for big elements such as the character, obvious formal sections, tempo relationships, and key areas for investigation, and then make a list of them. As the list grows, dig deeper into the music. After developing a sense of the big picture, start analyzing the harmony, because it affects form, phrasing, and points of emphasis and reveals answers to many interpretive questions. This process is about discovering why the composer made certain choices, so we can make decisions about what we want to hear. Only when we know what the composer wrote and why can we consider how to shape the sounds.
    Plan for the short and long term. Effective rehearsal planning lets us envision a path to big-picture goals and to promote short-term success. In planning rehearsals, we need to know how many rehearsals we have before a given performance, as well as how much time we plan to spend rehearsing each piece. Without this information, we can easily run out of time. I sketch out about two weeks of rehearsals at a time, knowing that the specifics of the plan can be adjusted on a weekly basis. Players prepare better if they know what to expect in every rehearsal. This is true for young students, university students, or even professionals. If a schedule is posted stating that on Tuesday we will rehearse in detail from [D] to [M] in a certain piece, players quickly learn that the schedule is like a homework assignment. Advance planning trains the students to be prepared.
    Within each rehearsal, we should balance detail work with big-picture work. Too much detail work bogs down the process. Too much big-picture work, and students are not learning how to create a refined performance by solving small-scale problems. Consider the full rehearsal cycle as a continuum, beginning with the first rehearsal and ending with the concert. We should begin by emphasizing the subjective and expressive elements, gradually focus on technical refinement over time, and then pull back to the big picture again. Within every rehearsal, the students should feel that they have achieved something musical and expressive and that they have also elevated their level of technical execution.
    Manage the time effectively. In every rehearsal there should be as much playing as possible. The key element is knowing exactly what we will do before we stop, so some players can be playing again within 10 seconds or less. This ensures a fast-paced rehearsal that maintains the attention of every player. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then we should consider how best to communicate our musical ideas by singing or in gesture, not by talking too much.
    Balance the amount of verbal and non-verbal instruction. We should teach students the non-verbal language of conducting. This non-verbal language is incredibly nuanced if we go beyond the printed page and reflect what our ear desires to hear. If our gestures focus only on the objective information in the score (meter, dynamic, and tempo), we are not conveying the subjective essence of the music (shape, emphasis, and timbre.) We end up talking too much in rehearsal when our gestures are misinterpreted or contradict what we intend. How many times have we stopped in rehearsal to say, “Please play that quieter” when the problem was caused by gestures that were too big?
    Sometimes it may be necessary to teach our students to understand our gestures. The best way is to accompany verbal instructions with corresponding conducting gestures. For example, if we ask for something to be played shorter, our hands should simultaneously make gestures signifying staccato sounds. If we want something to be more legato, try making smooth, flowing, horizontal motions with the instruction. By teaching students to connect the intention with the gesture, they respond instinctively when they see the conductor moving.
    Create a dialogue rather than a monologue. Rehearsals should not be a monologue, in which the conductor controls everything. During rehearsal, the conductor makes a request and the players receive it and respond. The conductor receives the response and adjusts. This shifts rehearsal focus to what the ears hear, not on what the eyes see on the printed page. A passage marked staccato tells us what sound we should strive for, but we have a responsibility to consider the specific meaning of the marking in context. An open dialogue between players and conductor is powerful and inspiring. It requires trusting players to keep a steady pulse or be prepared with notes and rhythms, and allows conductors to address other musical issues spontaneously in rehearsal.
    Make specific comments. When we stop, avoid saying, “Let’s do that again,” without explaining exactly what should change the next time. If in measure 23 the trombones are having trouble playing a slurred 16th note passage on beats three and four, they need to know what the problem is. Offering a solution: “Trombones, at measure 23, please move your slides faster to avoid glissing through those slurred 16th notes, and maybe try an alternate position for the D.” This specifically addresses the problem and solves it in a positive way.
    Break down the texture to rehearse specifically. We should note the amount of tutti playing in rehearsal. If everyone is always playing, our work will be more general. Quick refinement can be accomplished by isolating players with the same music and providing specific feedback. If the violins, flutes, clarinets, and xylophone perform the same difficult line, taking the time to work on their part alone will be worthwhile. If they receive clear guidance and listen to each other, they will quickly improve. As the various layers are reassembled, we can stress the importance of listening, clarity of the texture, and the hierarchy of balance between parts.
    Engage all the players, especially those at the backs of the sections. Conductors sometimes devote too much attention on people sitting at the front of their respective sections. Their musical role is more obvious, and we count on them as leaders. In an ensemble, every player is important, and we need to find ways to acknowledge and value the contributions of each person.
    When asking questions in rehearsal, I call on people seated further back in a section so their ideas can be heard. Other strategies for engaging every player include shuffling the seating in the ensemble by allowing them to sit wherever they want or having everyone sit in a large circle. When using either of these ideas, walk around the rehearsal room instead of conducting from the podium. This brings the conductor into closer to different groups of students and encourages the students to interact and hear the music from a new vantage point as equal participants. With orchestras, it helps to rehearse the strings without the front stands, allowing the section leaders to turn around and watch their sections. This encourages everyone to contribute more fully and allows leaders to learn more of what is happening behind them.
    Refine intonation by guiding listening. Ensemble intonation depends on good listening skills and each player’s ability to control timbre and pitch on their instrument. If they struggle to produce a high-quality tone, it will be impossible to get the ensemble in tune. If they make good tones, but are not yet able to play in tune with themselves intervallically, tuning between parts will be impossible. These fundamentals require attention in every developing ensemble. Once there is a solid foundation of tone quality and instrument control in place, tuning refinement can begin.
    Students are frequently encouraged to listen to fix intonation. While this is a generally good suggestion, it would be more helpful to define what they should be listening to and how it should affect their playing. Do they know which voice they are depending upon to play better in tune, and can they hear it? What modification does that relationship cause? Remind students that they need to lower the third of a major chord and raise the fifth and listen for when it is in tune. When working on intonation, go slowly to give students time to listen and experiment with pitch adjustments. Saying, “Let’s play measures 24-26 like there is a fermata on each note,” or “Let’s play the introduction to the march as if it were a chorale,” allows time to refine the tuning.
    It also helps to isolate the melodic line – or the highest line of the texture – with the bass line. If the vertical relationships between these two parts are in tune, the middle voices will play in tune much more easily.
    Monitor compliments and criticisms. Everything we say in rehearsal matters, as does the tone of our comments. To maintain good morale in the ensemble, it is best to be positive as much as possible, even making corrections. Conductor Cliff Colnot refers to this as “contingent-positive” feedback, in which there is no negative judgment and the constructive feedback is presented with a positive suggestion for improvement. Instead of saying, “Saxophones, it’s too loud” we can say, “Next time, could that be quieter so we can hear the flute solo?” The psychological response to that small difference is significant.
    Rewards are meaningful only if truly earned. When we stop the ensemble to rehearse something, we should avoid saying “Good” when it would be more honest to say, “Thank you” or “It is really improving!” Then when say something is good they know we mean it. Simultaneously, we can sustain enthusiasm by praising individuals or sections as they demonstrate high achievement. Saying, “Basses, I loved the way you breathed before playing that pizzicato together,” both rewards the basses and shows everyone the level of achievement they can reach.

Reminders for Refined Music Making
    A set of fundamental musical principles should be discussed and reviewed at various levels in every rehearsal. The following ideas form the foundation of my approach. Improving effectiveness in rehearsal is a constant goal, and my mentors have influenced that process for me. Remembering these few basic concepts and emphasizing them frequently will lead each student to a greater understanding of ensemble playing.
    Attend to the entire note. Every note has three parts: beginning, middle, and end (articulation, sustain, and release). Students tend to focus too much on the articulation, or attack, producing inconsistency between players. Emphasizing the shape of the middle of the note, and the release or connection to the next note, leads to greater uniformity and better sonority. Singers give much of their attention to the quality of their vowel sounds. Imagine if all they focused on was the initial consonant of each word.
    Listen to and align rhythms with the fastest moving notes. For an ensemble to play together, players must always listen for the parts moving at the fastest rhythmic rate. All other rhythms are then obligated to relate to that subdivision: eighth notes must listen to and align with 16th notes, and half notes must align with quarter notes. When an ensemble understands these relationships and listens this way, the level of subdivision and precision increases. Try rehearsing with temporary dynamics, asking those with faster rhythms to play louder and those with slower rhythms to play quieter. This fosters a better awareness of each part’s role within the texture.
     Rhythm has a natural hierarchy within a measure, but bar lines should not be heard. Within each measure, the downbeat typically receives the most emphasis, the second beat is usually the least emphasized, and the final beat is preparatory for the next downbeat. A problem can result when this hierarchy is limited to the measure-to-measure level of playing often heard from younger performers. Students need to be reminded that the bar lines are only there as a convenience for organizing the parts. Composers usually do not think in terms of two-, three-, or four-beat groups. They write in longer lines and gestures, which we shape within the ensemble. We should search for the most important arrival point within a entire phrase or formal section and shape everything to coordinate with this emphasis.
    Dynamics are relative. My colleague John Locke says, “Good players don’t need dynamics, and not-so-good players ignore them.” Individuals who know the role of their part in the texture understand how loudly they should play. They understand if they have melody or accompaniment, an important supporting line or sustained harmonic support, or when their part becomes momentarily important before subsiding back into the texture. If the Chicago Symphony received a set of parts to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 with no printed dynamics, they would still play the piece with clarity of texture because they listen and they understand how the whole context fits together.
    Students should strive for a similar level of understanding. Often every part is marked with the same dynamic, which does not account for the wide variety of requirements of each individual. For example, if everyone’s part is marked ff, the flutes in the upper register might need to play mf, the tubas might need to play f, and the supporting brass chords might need to play mp to allow the melody in the horns and clarinets to be heard. Without these adjustments, there is no hierarchy within the texture, and the audience does not know what to listen for.
    Balance textures and chords regardless of the orchestration. Part of the conductor’s responsibility is to manipulate the dynamic markings create the best sonority of the ensemble. Taking that point further, we should observe how the score is orchestrated in terms of the number of players playing melody or accompaniment, or the root of a chord vs. the third or fifth and then make adjustments accordingly. In balancing chords, we always need to hear more root and fifth than third or seventh, regardless of how many people are playing each note. Students should be taught to listen in specific ways to make these subtle changes.
    In octave doublings, lower voices must play louder. Because higher tessitura notes project more easily, it is always necessary for lower voices to play louder. This is especially true in octave doublings; the lower octaves should often play twice as loud as they hear the upper voice playing. If there is a doubling at the octave between first and second violins, or flutes and second clarinets, and everyone is marked mf, people playing the lower octave should actually play f. This will result in a warmer, richer timbre throughout the ensemble, in which everyone is always learning to listen to the lowest sounds they can hear. Players need listen to how their parts relate to those around them and work toward optimal balance.
    Create consistent melodic contour. As melodic lines move, they are subject to the acoustic phenomenon that makes pitches sound louder as they ascend or quieter as they descend. Players need to know these tendencies and counteract them by adjusting the dynamic shape for smoother, more consistent volume within the melody. Otherwise higher notes tend to pop out unnaturally, and lower notes disappear into the texture.
    Emphasize non-chord tones. Points of harmonic dissonance need to be brought out of the texture expressively. This must not be done in an abrupt way but instead should be shaped with preparation and resolution. A heightened sense of meaning and expression can be created by a slight crescendo preceding the dissonance, to draw attention to it, followed by a diminuendo as the harmonic tension dissipates. Students tend to hide non-harmonic notes in the texture or play them too abruptly.
    Make repetition engaging. Encourage players to do something interesting when their parts repeat. This is an opportunity to solicit their ideas about the possible range of shape they can create. Can they hear and follow the harmony with their repeated rhythm? Should the intensity level increase toward an arrival point? Are they shaping each repetition with an awareness of the overall context of the phrase? It’s tempting to do the same thing over and over again, but repetition can also be interesting and expressive.
    When change happens, change the energy level. Along with the temptation for static repetition, students also tend to contribute a constant level of energy regardless of the musical circumstances. Reminders are needed to draw attention to how much energy is needed to communicate meaning to the audience. Are they adding energy when the style changes from cantabile to marcato, or when their role in the texture changes from accompaniment to melody (or the reverse), or even when they make an entrance after resting? Ignoring the intention behind those changes usually results in everything blending in together, making the meaning blurry for the audience. Fueling change with different energy usually results in a clearer presentation of the music.
    Where there is contrast, maximize it. Human nature leads us to be conservative with contrasts. We don’t want to go too far and risk standing out, so everything gravitates to the middle. In music making, contrast is essential. Sudden dynamic contrasts, or contrasts of expression, always need to be exaggerated. Cliff Colnot encourages players to be courageous with contrasts. That suggestion encourages the players take a chance, which nearly always results in more fulfilling expression.

Conclusion
    Rehearsals draw upon all of a conductor’s resources, experiences, and knowledge. We must know the scores deeply, understand the pedagogical concepts necessary for helping our students and encourage them to develop a core set of fundamental ensemble playing skills. When all these aspects flow in rehearsal, our ensembles learn faster, perform better, and develop greater individual musical understanding and independence.   

The post The Elements of an Effective Rehearsal appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    Great advanced bands are formed by what happens in beginning band. One of the most important parts of a beginning band curriculum should be generating excitement and passion in students for playing their instruments. In addition, if there are specific problems in advanced bands, these can be addressed in the beginning band curriculum. Here is how we set a strong foundation in the first six weeks of beginning band.

Day One
    This is spent on classroom rules and regulations. Children have enough to worry about on the first day of middle school without managing an instrument on top of it. Students already know what instrument they are going play; we screen them months in advance. We send email with required supplies before the summer and places to rent or purchase instruments and supplies.

Day Two
    Students bring all their equipment except their home wire music stand. This includes not just instrument, mouthpiece, and reed, but cleaning and maintenance supplies as well as their metronome and tuner. Although our classes are divided by instrument for the rest of the year, I teach every beginning class all day on days two and three of the first week to show all the students exactly how I want them to sit, and how to do a posture chant, which is “Flat feet, back straight, hiney on the hump, ugh!” When they do the chant, they must shout it and perform the movements together. (The hump refers to the edge of the chair, which has a bump.)
    I also teach students to tap their foot with the metronome set at 70 beats per minute. Students tap saying mom-ma-dad-dy as sixteenth notes. Saying momma when the foot is down keeps their foot in contact with the ground longer and prevents them from bouncing the foot up. We later move to down-up, down-up as eighth notes or down-down-up-up as sixteenths. Before we add numbers, students just need to know whether they play when their foot is down or up. We add more traditional counting after the first month.
    While I am teaching, our assistant directors check students for the correct instruments and supplies. We have a spreadsheet with all the items on it, and we verify that they have the correct brands, mouthpieces, and all the accessories. If you do not have an assistant, have the students leave their supplies in the band hall overnight and you can check them later.
    Students have a fun homework assignment for day two. They must listen to 30 minutes of music and tap their foot to the beat. I give students a paper to prove this is an actual assignment; otherwise parents would never believe it.

Day Three
    This is the last day this week with combined classes; students are separated by instrument after this. After reviewing the seating, posture, and foot tap, we discuss breathing. We use four concepts with breathing exercises:
• Always breathe through the mouth and not the nose. (Although we do let players breathe through the nose the first week or so while they are setting the embouchure, we never allow nose breathing after the first two weeks.)
• Do not hold air in; after inhaling, immediately exhale.
• Do not lift your shoulders when breathing.
• Do not make any noise when breathing.

    In addition, when exhaling, the air should flow out like water in a river – constant, smooth, and steady – and extend far away from the student. A strange but effective analogy I use for airflow is to try to blow a small folded paper sailboat across a pool in just one breath. Because it is paper, there is little time to get the boat across before it takes on water and sinks. Puffing out all the air in a ball will make the sailboat topple over and sink, and if the air is not blown outward to a distant point, the sailboat only goes a few feet before it gets waterlogged and sinks. Only when you visualize the sailboat going all the way across the pool with the air reaching out all the way does it make it. We also talk about faster air (especially for higher notes), not just a larger amount of air.
    The third day is also when we introduce the Master of the Alphabet. This exercise is a vital part of our beginning band program and consists of saying the musical alphabet forward and backward starting on every letter, such as:

A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-G-F-E-D-C-B-A
B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B-A-G-F-E-D-C-B
C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-B-A-G-F-E-D-C

    Students must say each letter fortissimo while clapping hard on their thighs on the beat. When clapping on the thighs, the arms should be locked straight down with only the forearms moving up and down at the elbow. This teaches students to keep the upper body still, which is essential when playing. Over the next week to ten days they will pass off each line of the alphabet. They do not pass if they say the wrong letter, pause or hesitate, have a soft, timid voice, or say the words out of sync with the metronome or their leg slap. They get to keep trying to pass off the lines until they get it. It teaches them not to give up and that we are patient with them. It also shows that we will never give up on them.
    There are several additional benefits of this exercise. It teaches students to be confident and unafraid of emoting in front of others, it teaches them the coordination of the hands, mouth, and metronome required to play a wind instrument, and it gets them intellectually to be able to conceptualize the ascending and descending notes, which will later help them perform scales.
    After all the students master the alphabet, I review it every Monday the rest of the semester so they do not lose the skill. We begin major scales after Thanksgiving, and learning them is a lot easier after weeks of the Master of the Alphabet.
    I talk at the end of class about how we should play with a natural face that is relaxed like watching television. Students are required that night to watch 30 minutes of network programming with commercials (no Netflix or premium movie channels). As soon as a commercial comes on students are to think about what their face is doing. Eyes are relaxed, teeth are slightly apart (no one watches television with their teeth clenched or agape), jaw is relaxed and easily moves side to side, and the neck and soft tissue between the fingers are free from tension. This sets them up for the next day when we talk about the embouchure. I also give them a paper to confirm this assignment because parents never believe students are required to watch television for school.

Days Four and Five
    Students are now separated by instrument. We have three full-time band directors as well as a percussion teacher on campus every day and are able to divide instruments into homogenous classes. Teachers review everything, including posture, breathing, foot tap, and Master of the Alphabet. We review these relentlessly every day. The focus for these days is caring for the instruments, identifying the parts of the instrument, and opening the cases correctly (on the floor). For most instruments, students all sit on the floor the second week until they can assemble and disassemble their instruments correctly.
    We do not start music theory for a week or so because students want to start playing. I know they joined band to play, not work on fundamentals, but it is essential to be strict on learning the fundamental concepts sequentially: sitting, breathing, holding, fingering, then embouchure. We try to make class fun even though we are not yet playing, and we discuss delayed gratification.
Although we play a great deal in class the next few weeks, students are not allowed to bring their instruments home on the weekends for the first three weeks, and then they may only take parts or their mouthpiece, never the whole thing, to avoid bad habits.

Week Two
    I learned from Eddie Green that it is best to teach the concepts of learning the instrument separately before putting them together. A favorite quotes is when a band director said to him, “I have asked my kids to sit up in their chair 1,000 times, what should I do?” to which Mr. Green responded, “Have you tried 1,001?” Practice many small skills repeatedly for a duration that matches students’ attention span. We do nothing for longer than six to eight minutes at a time before moving on to another concept.
This is the breakdown of a typical rehearsal in beginning band class (46 minutes) the first six weeks:
• Enter the room, open band lockers, get instrument cases and binders (2 minutes).
• Master of the Alphabet. This will eventually be student led (one minute).
• Foot tap to the metronome (2 minutes).
• Breathing exercises (eventually student led) (2 minutes).
• Assemble the instrument and name the parts of the instrument worksheet (2-3 minutes)
• Practice pressing the buttons/keys in time with the metronome without playing while checking and rechecking posture and hand position. (3-4 minutes)
• Embouchure formation with small locker mirrors (stressing natural face) (8-10 minutes)
• Breathing and exhaling to play (keep face still) Put your finger 1 centimeter away from your lips and blow. You should be able to hear the air on your finger and determine if the air low is constant, smooth, and steady. (5 minutes)
Eventually we work on articulation (separate from playing) for five to six minutes, rhythm counting and playing on a unison pitch, and music reading speed drills.
Toward the end of the second week, students make their first sounds on parts of their instruments, with the goal of producing specific pitches.
• Flute: A on the headjoint.
• Oboe: Reed crow on a B or C.
• Bassoon: Reed crow on a G or A
• Clarinet: Concert F# on the mouthpiece and barrel.
• Alto Sax: A steady concert G# on the mouthpiece and neck.
• Trumpet: The first sound is with mouthpiece in and the main tuning slide removed. We call this playing their vuvuzela. Using the vuvuzela, they get the feeling of blowing through the instrument rather than blowing into it. They should match a concert Eb or E.
• Horn: Remove the first slide coming from the lead pipe, buzz a concert F (the horn’s written C4). The horn players should be able to feel the steady, fast rush of air that come back and brushes their necks from removing the slide.
• Trombone: Trombones should buzz a Db without the main slide. As with trumpets, we refer to this as vuvuzela.
• Euphonium and Tuba: Although we aim for an F on the mouthpiece, I am not looking for a certain pitch on the mouthpiece as much as I want a relaxed, airy buzz that begins without the lips touching in the center. Tubists play euphoniums until November. Starting on euphoniums instead of tubas gives the tuba players have an easier time starting and getting air through an instrument. They also move a lot faster at the beginning if they are not on the tubas.
    All brass instruments will use a B.E.R.P., which attaches to the leadpipe. The mouthpiece goes into the B.E.R.P., permitting students to buzz while demonstrating proper posture and instrument angle. You can also adjust the resistance on the B.E.R.P. to simulate the instrument’s air resistance. We use the B.E.R.P. daily before playing a book line on the instruments.
    By the end of the second week the students may take their instrument home without their mouthpieces. They are required to teach parents everything they have the first two weeks: Posture (including the chant), Master of the Alphabet, breathing exercises, and how to assemble and hold the instrument. Doing this strengthens understanding of what we are teaching, and lets the parents know how much we have done. The parents are amazed, and students enjoy watching their parents struggle to say the alphabet backward.

Week Three
    By week three we begin transferring concepts to the instrument and putting all the fundamentals together. Students must tap their foot whenever they do anything that requires counting.
We begin to incorporate theory into lessons (clef, staff, and note names) but only spend five to six minutes each day on it. I dislike mnemonics like “every good boy does fine.” This teaches students to learn the upper notes of the staff only by counting from the bottom of the staff every time. It is better to teach the location of the notes independently. For bass clef:

G is the ground floor of the elevator
B, the second line of the staff, recalls Shakespeare: “Two B or not Two B, that is the question.”
D is dead center of the staff.
F is for the F clef line; the music gives you the answer.
A is the attic of the staff.

    In addition, we never permit students to write note names or fingerings in the method book or on music, not even in these first few weeks of school.
    Although we are separated by instrument every day, we come together for the first 10-13 minutes of the class period on Tuesdays and Thursdays to work on a group theory and pulse computer program called Rhythm Bee. It teaches the foot tap and pulse visually as it moves through different rhythmic patters, including whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes and rests. Students can see and copy the foot movement graphics, and the tempo on these short lessons is adjustable. By the end of the second six weeks we even have students go back to the first few lessons and actually play along with the Rhythm Bee exercises on their instruments on a concert F. This activity does take class time away from other things, but it is only twice a week for ten minutes, and students love being together each week for a brief time. We see marked improvement in student ability to keep a pulse, plus we do not have to do as much teaching on rhythm the rest of the week.
    I am not a big fan of clapping rhythms during the first year of band. Without a way to simulate duration, a single clap represents a whole note, half note, quarter note, or eighth note and does not help students separate these concepts. Also, the silence between the notes tends to make the students jump forward in the pulse to fill up the silence. When students clap, the hands should stick together but still pulse up and down for notes longer than an eighth note. I do have students clap but prefer playing rhythms on one note before playing a piece. Some teachers like to have their students hiss rhythms between their teeth before they play, but this teaches students to bring their teeth close together, and in some cases tongue on the tip of the teeth. It is better to blow air on the finger for expressing rhythms away from the instrument.
    Keeping a steady sound with a still face is essential, and we spend a majority of time this week and next week practicing this on both mouthpieces/ reeds and the instrument. Students partner up to graph each other’s sounds on the mouthpiece and then again on the instrument (credit to Duncanville ISD). Students play five times on their mouthpiece and then five times on their instrument while the partner draws the sound they hear. The partner documents every bump and wiggle in the sound for ten seconds. Students have to fill out this form with a friend, parent, or sibling at the beginning of the week and then again on the weekend to graph the progress made from the first time.
    During the first week of playing on the instrument it is essential that students feel successful. If I want a student to play an F on euphonium, but he hits low Bb, great. That student is now our low note specialist and ahead of the class in that. After praise, I will have him zip-lock the corners of the mouth from the outside-in, speed up the air, and attempt a higher note. I always compliment the students on something.
    All students should know that they succeed at playing an instrument. This is especially difficult for both the lower-performing academic students, who will struggle with multitasking, as well as the high-achieving left-brain children who are used to instant success at everything they do.
    We do not have chair tests or placements in beginning band as there will be plenty of time in the years ahead for that. No beginner should be designated last chair and feel like a failure while still young and impressionable.  

    David Dunham can be reached at DunhamD@friscoisd.org.

Breathing Exercises
    While standing, bring the hand slowly to the face when breathing in, and then slowly move it away on the exhalation. Make smooth, flowing hand movements and do not hold air inside. We start with four counts in, then four out and move on to two in and six out, followed by one count breathing in and eight counts breathing out.
    In addition, we also use a few of the Breathing Gym exercises by Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan (Focus on Music Publishing).
    Three Sips: Students take as big a breath as they possibly can, hold it, and then pack in three additional sips of air before exhaling. This does require holding air, but this is acceptable when specifically working on expanding air capacity.
    Suction Cup: In the middle of inhaling, the back of the hand blocks the mouth, like putting a vacuum nozzle on your arm. When the hand is pulled away, additional air should rush in, then blow out.
    Throwing Darts: Inhale and blow, articulating too while pretending to throw a dart.
    Paper Airplane: This is almost identical to the dart, but the air continues while the hand stays out after throwing an imaginary paper airplane.
    We practice these breathing exercises a few times a week in each class, from beginners all the way up to the top seventh and eighth grade band. I believe they are especially important to revisit daily in the weeks before concerts and contests.

History of the Instrument
    Students are required to research the history of their instrument for a major test grade. They can use the internet, documenting the websites, and present their information in a poster (preferred) or as a typed paper. Their project can be as creative as they wish, and the posters must be three-dimensional. Some students will make crude sculpture replicas of their instrument using such materials as PVC pipe, hoses, aluminum foil, and shirt buttons. Every project poster must include the following:

• Where their instrument was developed.
• When it was invented or developed. This should include reference to the historical period.
• Which person or people invented or developed it.
• How it changed over time (added keys, changed size, made from different materials, etc.).
• Famous people, events, and locations associated with the instrument. This can include famous music associated with the instrument.

    Parents and classroom teachers are especially appreciative of this project because it gives an initial foray into academic research. Administrators love this project because we support school-wide curriculum. The best posters are hung in the hallways until after the first beginner concert in November.

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