photo credit: photo by Jim Hunt / Music for All Summer Symposium

Soft Playing
    The aperture in soft playing is so small that the student’s lips will almost completely touch. Because of this, the student needs to move fast air, which will keep their aperture open just enough to achieve the desired dynamic level while also keeping the lips in a state of gentle vibration. Soft playing is one of the most ignored aspects of brass playing, but it must be practiced often.
    When playing softly, students should remember to keep mouthpiece pressure to a minimum. With so little air to begin with, too much mouthpiece pressure can stop the lips from vibrating. Try to maintain a constant airstream moving forward and outward from the instrument to avoid any shakiness or wobbling in the sound. Although the sound is quiet, it should always retain a warm core.

Loud Playing
    When playing in louder dynamics, the student’s aperture will be open, and a large volume of air will pass through the lips into the instrument. The airstream will also be faster than for soft playing. Students should relax the center of the embouchure as much as possible; the more freely it vibrates, the greater their endurance and resonance will be. As with soft playing, students ought to keep mouthpiece pressure to a minimum to allow the lips to resonate freely; this will also increase endurance. Practicing extreme dynamics will improve sensitivity, confidence, and control while performing.    

An early photo of the band

Describe a typical season for the band.
    A typical season is nine Thursday night concerts that are preceded with Wednesday night rehearsals. The band also marches or plays on a flatbed for the Wheaton Independence Day parade. At the end of the season, we have an additional Saturday concert in Edman Chapel at Wheaton College, and there is also a jazz concert that usually happens the second Thursday in August. This started as a Glen Miller-type show and has expanded to become a regular part of the schedule.
    The band rarely plays anywhere other than Wheaton. We have considered trading concerts with nearby community bands, but the town prefers that we stay. We were invited to perform at Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival in 1998, and that same summer we performed at the American School Band Directors Association convention.
    Although the band is not a full-year group, it performed at the Midwest Clinic in 2012 and 2017. There are a number of band directors in the group, and they encouraged me to apply. However, the summer-only nature of the band means we cannot provide recordings taken from the time frame that Midwest requires. Furthermore, the recording we submitted would have to come from one of our concerts. Ray Cramer, who has conducted the band several times, encouraged me to submit the tape, explain our situation, and let the chips fall where they may.

Describe your usual audience.
    We typically have a couple thousand people attend each concert. For our patriotic concert, which is the Thurs­day closest to July 4, it could be 3,000. Weather affects the crowd, but we play in everything except thunder and lightning. There are always children running around, and a large portion of the audience is senior citizens. We also have a mix of people in the middle. It is not unusual for someone to come up and say, “My grandmother used to bring me as a child to these concerts, and now I’m bringing my little ones.” We have three or four generations of people at concerts.
    There is concern about whether younger generations, who are much closer to their cell phones, are going to attend concerts when they grow up. We also discuss how we can bring in people in their 30s and 40s. One thing that helped was changing our concert time. For years, concerts started at 8:00, but two summers ago, we changed the start time to 7:30, because parents with young children were leaving at intermission.

The audience

What types of repertoire do you program?
    Typically it includes a standard overture or something similarly challenging, a few marches, a lyrical tune, a medley from a musical, a soloist from within the band, a rousing closer, often a novelty piece, and something for children. We program the pieces that are most likely to engage young people on the first half of the concert, because of the parents taking their children home at intermission. If we don’t give audience members something to come back for, they won’t come back, and as William Revelli said, “You cannot educate an empty seat.”
    In addition to having something for everyone, we try to stretch players and listeners. The players want to perform challenging repertoire that they have to sightread quickly, but they also understand how excited the audience is to hear them, so they don’t mind lightening up to play an occasional novelty tune. It comes down to knowing what the audience wants, and the audience especially loves marches. They almost never let us finish without an encore march. Every now and then we will try to stretch the audience’s ears with a piece that is noteworthy because of the work’s nature or who the composer is. Most summers we have a side-by-side half of a concert with middle school players. It is a big hit with both students and parents.

What does your announcer contribute to your performances?
    Our announcer, Pete Friedmann, who has been the announcer for the Northwestern University marching band since 1981, knows how to read and work the audience, and his delivery is always on point. He has a voice that makes people want to listen, and over the years he has learned exactly how to engage the audience. He will discover trivia about our pieces that even the band members don’t know and surprise us with it during the concert while still keeping his introductions between 45 and 75 seconds.
    His ability to read an audience is a gift. There are nights where he’ll come over and say, “You’re losing them, Bruce. Can you throw in a march now?” He also makes things simple for guest conductors and will guide them with comments like, “Get ready. We’re going to go. It’s time for the Star Spangled Banner,” or “I’m going to talk now, but I’d like you to talk after this tune.”

Bruce Moss conducts the National Anthem

What are the challenges to performing a concert on one rehearsal?
    The first challenge is to figure out what can and cannot be accomplished once we get going. Rehearsals are two and a half hours, and there is the most intensity during the first hour. As the evening progresses, everyone gets tired, so after something simple to warm up on, we start rehearsal with the most difficult works and save the easier pieces until last. The band reads well, and if we get bogged down in rehearsal, we can go without rehearsing a piece like Blue Tango. I’d rather devote the time and brainpower to working on La Forza del Destino.
    I map out blocks of time down to the minute so I don’t spend too much time on one piece. On more difficult works, I hit certain sections I think are most likely to be problematic and then read through large sections with the problematic areas chunked in. If we struggle to perfect a piece, there are also difficult decisions to make. Do we accept that it is not going to be perfect tomorrow night, or do we pull it from the concert and move on to something else?

How are band members selected?
    The players are selected through blind auditions. A team of educators comes in to judge. Three people listen to the woodwinds, and three people listen to the brass. The judges’ scores are averaged, and a rank order is derived from that. The audition is based predominantly on sightreading.  Musicians who make the band and do not miss more than two concerts are automatically in the band the following year, but they still have to audition for chair placement.
    It rarely happens, but sometimes the system leaves us with a first-chair player who has never performed this type of music in quick order or who has never been a section leader. It may be that the most experienced player had a bad audition day – it happens. In such cases, I can discuss it with the board and the players involved and make switches if necessary. We only do this if the person on the principal spot just isn’t the right one for it, and it has happened no more than five times in the last 20 years. It is also worth noting that we do have a few high school players make the band each year.

What factors have contributed to the band’s success over the years?
    The city’s support is a big factor. The mayors take great pride in the band. When people move into this city someone tells them, “In the summer, you have to hear the band.” The audience is another factor. The audience and the band feed off of each other. The band members might not want to play Sleigh Ride on a hot summer day, but they know the audience will love it.
    The band members are wonderful to work with, and that is important, too. To do something for this long, you have to find it enjoyable. The board of directors and our fundraising group, the Friends of the Wheaton Municipal Band, work hard, and we have a mayor-appointed band commission of four citizens from the community. They fight for the budget.
    The seed money is from the city, and the Friends of the Wheaton Municipal Band was formed to raise additional funds for us. They sell things at concerts and raffle prizes. That is the money that allows us to bring in outside soloists and guest conductors, commission works, or make special purchases of things we might need for a children’s concert.
    With the help of the City and the Friends of the Wheaton Band, we have been able to showcase artists such as William Warfield, Allen Vizzutti, Lou Marini of the Blues Brothers band, and John Philip Sousa IV. We also frequently have members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Military band members who once played in the Wheaton Band are especially popular, as are the military conductors and singers.

As the band has evolved through the years have there been any significant growing pains?
    Civic groups can never rest on their laurels when it comes to funding. The City of Wheaton has had some down times over the years, and that extended to the band. As someone once said to me, if the city is having financial problems, and it comes to the police and firefighters or the band, the band is going to be in trouble. 
    There were also challenges when I started, because almost everybody in the group was older than me. When difficult decisions, such as changing who sat first chair, had to be made, the typical criticism would begin. When it happened I said, “I have ideas for this and if you can just stick with me, I promise I will make it better than it has ever been.” I was fortunate to have the backing of the commission at the time.
    In 1991, eleven years after I had asked people to stick with me, a film crew from Boston came to shoot for the “If You Knew Sousa” episode of American Experience. The invitation came out of nowhere. The filmers had seen the park and heard about the band, and they thought it would be good for the episode. It was a big production. William Revelli was there. I remember thinking at that time and I often refer back to it, “We’ve arrived. We’re here. It’s going places now.”   

Around the World in 80 Minutes
Basically British
Celtic Classics (the band was joined by a local Irish dance school)
Centennial Tributes and Cele­brations (people, places, and things that are 100 years old)
The Hula Hoop Turns 50
Kids, Movies, and Surprises
Night and Day
One-Word Wonders
Salute to the Heroes
Short Answer Quiz (an audience participation concert)
The Players’ Mix (program selected from band member wish lists)
You and the Night and the Music (audience members vote online for the program and were invited to bring their instruments for a special play-along number)

Left-Hand Position
    Check the student’s wrist angle to make sure it is not poking out or collapsing inward. Fingers should stay close to the fingerboard, and often the first finger can stay placed on the string while the second and third fingers climb up the scale. Finger pads should meet the strings at consistent angles, and the thumb should rest across the string from the index finger. Students should avoid flying fingers or an index finger that points out while other fingers are in use. This picture shows a good hand position with the first finger down.

    Students often want to grip the neck of the violin or rest it between the thumb and first finger. This will prevent them from shifting easily as they become more advanced. In addition to first ensuring that they know how to securely hold the instrument on the shoulder, a wine cork can be a useful teaching aid. Place a wine cork between the thumb and index finger to set up an open, flexible left hand. Remind them not to squeeze the cork but to keep their hand loose and relaxed. 

    Some students benefit from watching their hand in a mirror to identify and reproduce healthy left-hand technique. Another tip for students who grip the fingerboard too tightly is to ask them to gently tap the thumb against the violin neck during long note values.

Intonation Practice Tips
    Even beginners can learn practice techniques that refine intonation and set up productive lifelong habits. Students can check the intonation of many notes against the open strings. For example, the third finger D on the A string can be played at the same time as the open D string to create an octave double stop. 
    To isolate first finger intonation have students form perfect fourths with open strings. The first finger E on the D string can be tuned to the open A string and the first finger B on the A string can be tuned with the open E string. Players hear these perfect intervals lock into place when the fingers are placed correctly. (Teachers should first demonstrate the correct sound so students understand what they are listening for.) This tuning exercise also develops the proper tunneled hand position that is necessary for successful fourth finger placement and double stops. When students do not make a tunnel with their fingers, the hand collapses on the strings. This prevents them from moving freely, and the fingers touch the string in incorrect places or lean on other strings. 
    Place and Play is a practice technique that develops a mental map of the fingerboard and teaches players to hold themselves to high standards of accuracy. Have a student place a finger on the string, commit to its placement, and then play it with the bow. The finger is either in the right place or it is not. They will likely want to wiggle the finger to adjust the pitch. Instead have them take the hand away, regroup, sing the pitch, and start over.

Low Second Finger
    Once students are confident with pitches in the one-octave D major scale, low second finger is introduced to produce Cn on the A string and Gn on the E string. Inexperienced players may struggle to play the new notes in tune or clearly distinguish between the high and low second finger pitches. Often, both high and low second finger notes end up somewhere in the middle. Practicing the new hand patterns in a variety of speeds develops fluency and differentiation.
    Otakar Ševčík included a three-speed practice pattern in his School of Violin Technique, Op. 1, Part 1. This exercise presents an acceleration pattern in which players tune carefully in quarter notes, develop flow of motion in eighth notes, and work on facility and fluency in sixteenth notes. Often violinists will play the quarter-note and eighth-note patterns accurately, but the half steps in the sixteenth-note pattern disintegrate into an interval somewhat larger than a half step and smaller than a whole step. A variation of this practice pattern is shown in the following example. Notice where the pitches alternate between a high second finger and a low second finger.
    While working on these three-speed patterns, pay attention to bow technique as well. Students should keep the bow moving and watch how the bow is being divided. They should be exactly in the middle of the bow at the third beat of each measure. Place a sticky note or ribbon at the middle of the bow to easily identify bow distribution inconsistencies. 
    Some students may find it easier to practice the exercise without the bow at first to focus only on placing the fingers. Avoid excessive finger clicking and emphasize soft fingertip landings. Use the metronome to keep the patterns and pulse organized. Remind students to tap their thumbs or practice with the wine cork between the thumb and index to maintain a loose hand.

Show Design, Music Selection, and Arranging Basics
    The design of a field show for smaller marching ensembles should include similar characteristics of larger groups, such as impact points, general effect, and emotional contour. However, the length of the show and the number of pieces performed must also be considered: shows built around arrangements longer than two minutes are often difficult for smaller bands to sustain, so a faster-paced show of multiple short arrangements is recommended. This gives small bands an advantage, as great marching band repertoire will include diverse changes within the style, tempo, key, and dynamics of the music.
    Good ideas for music choices include repertoire written for a smaller group, such as a chamber ensemble or a Broadway musical pit orchestra. Large symphonic works should be avoided. In addition, arrangements for smaller ensembles should avoid long wind-section sustains that could be assigned to the electronic or percussion sections. Wind instruments are best staged together for section features, and electronic instruments could expand the ensemble’s overall sound. 

Instrumentation
    Balanced SATB instrumentation among the woodwind, brass, percussion, and electronic sections is key to small marching band success. If this balance cannot be achieved with current personnel, try to switch instruments, players, or personnel and work for ensemble balance. This will produce a variety of color in orchestration, even with a reduced number of parts and players. 

photo credit: Photo by Vsevolod33/Shutterstock

Woodwinds
    In a small marching ensemble, the woodwinds can often carry melody without the same fatigue with which brass players struggle. In this case, the woodwinds should be audible within proper orchestration and musical balance. Stage them toward the front of the form and score the brass and percussion more lightly and at a softer dynamic. Arrange for a complement of flute, clarinet, and alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones.
    Directors often switch all flute players to piccolo, thinking this will ensure the piccolo part’s audibility. This, however, can make the band’s soprano voice too prominent for good balance, and trying to tune multiple piccolos is problematic.
    Avoid clarinet throat-tones (G4 through Bb4), as they are notorious for their stuffy sounds, sharp intonation, and lack of overall projection. 
    Alto and tenor saxophones best support woodwind textures. If the arrangement has a woodwind feature, these saxophones should play in unison, similar to jazz band voicing, and the baritone saxophone should play an octave lower.
    A baritone saxophone can fill out the bass voice if low brass is absent from the ensemble. Conversely, a single bass clarinet player will not be heard in the scope of a full marching band. Bass clarinetists should be switched to another instrument such as a baritone saxophone or soprano clarinet for stronger musical effect in the section. 

Brass
    The brass section is the melodic power within a small marching ensemble, and because of low numbers within a small band the brass players are often soloists. The arranger must keep endurance, fatigue, confidence, and projection in mind when arranging for brass and should take special 
care not to overextend the trumpets and mellophones in the higher registers too frequently and for too long.
    When recruiting for a small marching band’s brass section, aim for a full complement of trumpet, mellophone, tenor brass (trombone and baritone), and tuba. If one of each instrument is not possible, consider switching players to ensure proper balance. If possible, consider using all trombones or all baritones for better blend of sound.
    In brass parts, use closed voicings for the upper brass and open voicings for low brass to achieve a rich, sonorous sound. In addition, chord roots and fifths are more safely doubled than thirds and sevenths.

Battery Percussion
    The battery distinguishes a marching band from a concert marching band by adding excitement with rhythmic complexity. Aim for a pyramid balance of snare drums, tenors and bass drums in a small band. If the band has only a few percussionists, the battery could combine the front ensemble with grounded or concert percussion, and the multi-tenor drums can be omitted.

Front Ensemble
    Too often the front ensemble is a last-minute addition to a small band, but arrangers can take advantage of this section to introduce new sounds and make arrangements more original. Like woodwinds, a small band’s front ensemble can accent the winds, add texture with a variety of pitched and non-pitched percussion, carry the melody, and offer a rest for the smaller wind section. Consider having keyboard percussion players use four mallets to add depth and projection to the sound.

Electronics and Amplification
    Electronics can give a small band a fuller, richer, more sonorous sound. Electronic instruments could include synthesizers, electric and bass guitars, electronic drum sets, samplers, and sampler trigger pads. Creative arrangement of these timbres can change, and even enrich, the sound of a small ensemble. Even a simple synthesizer part of a few sustained note chords can fill out the empty sound often associated with very small bands. 
    Amplification of mallet instruments and winds can also augment the overall ensemble sound in a more natural way than electronic sounds can do. Amplify as many instruments as the band budget allows. The most commonly amplified ones are mallet instruments and wind soloists. In addition, sideline microphones can amplify the entire ensemble. If this is done, be sure not to stage the battery in front of the microphones.

Which Parts to Write
    The smallest marching bands can sound powerful and present a variety of color when scored properly. A common arrangement pitfall is to write too many parts (two or three clarinet and trumpet parts, multiple low brass parts, divisi parts). A small marching band can generate a powerful effect through velocity, creative programming and ideas, and general excellence in musicianship. To present a full, rich, dynamic sound with limited players, a reduced number of parts is recommended. For small bands with more than 30 players, consider scoring parts for piccolo/flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, first and second trumpets, mellophones, tenor brass, tuba, synthesizer, electric bass, bells, vibraphone, xylophone, marimba, accessory percussion (including crash cymbals), snares, tenors, and bass drums.
    For a band this size, have clarinets double either the flute or first trumpet. Alto saxophones can double flute and clarinet or mellophone, and tenor saxophones can double the same parts as the altos or the tenor brass. If a band has enough trumpets for two parts, have mellophones double second trumpet. Otherwise they can double alto saxophones. There should only be one part for tenor brass, although this part can have some divisi sections. In addition, tenor brass can double the tuba part as needed. Baritone saxophone should also double tuba.
    The standard block scoring system is a useful tool for starters. In this, write the melody in trumpet 1, with flute and clarinet doubling the trumpet an octave higher (or in unison, if there are enough clarinets for a second part). Have second trumpets, horns, and alto and tenor saxes play harmony, while all other wind instruments play the bass part.

For Fewer than Thirty Players
    If a band has fewer than thirty members, use a reduced score with one part each for piccolo/flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, mellophone, tenor brass/woodwinds, tuba/baritone sax, synthesizer, electric bass, metal pitched percussion, wooden pitch percussion, accessories, snares, tenors, and bass drums. In this situation, the doublings mentioned above are still the best guideline. Notable differences include keeping the tenor saxophone with the tenor brass, having bells and vibes (metals) on one part and xylophone and marimba (woods) on one part.

Projection and Resonance
    Keep the arrangement and orchestration simple. Performance excellence will often occur with clear, uncomplicated rhythmic parts and orchestration. For ideal projection and power, fewer lines are better for a smaller ensemble. Scores for small bands should not have more than three total lines: melody, harmony/counter line, and bass. If the flutes, clarinets and first trumpet carry the melody, the harmonization could be in the second trumpet, saxophones and mellophones, with the low reeds and low brass providing the bass line. A full sound can also be produced if the alto voice has a countermelody that fills in missing chord members. An arranger might be tempted to include moving woodwind lines, but if a small band has few woodwind players, careful attention to balance is important. A doubling of the brass for power and volume may be a better choice. If the band is on the field and lines cannot be heard, consider why. Balance, scoring, and player ability might all be factors. Rewrites should be minimized, but implemented if necessary.
    Understanding the power ranges – the most resonant and projectable ranges of each instrument – will help produce optimal sound projection for a small marching band. The ranges noted below

should be used as a guideline and can change depending on the musical context and the abilities of the ensemble. In general, however, writing outside of these ranges could jeopardize tone quality and projection, although an exception can be made for more delicate textures, which are best produced by staying in low to middle registers and using diminished instrumentation.
    Key selection should allow all instruments in a small band to project and resonate despite the band’s parameters. The best small marching band keys are F, Bb, Eb, Ab, and C major, and their relative minor keys. All of these keys resonate well on brass and woodwind instruments, while a key with more flats will produce a darker sound. The proper timbre, the positioning of melodic lines, and the tonal requirements of key technical passages should influence the arranger’s key selection. It is worth noting that when the brass instruments play a note fingered with second and third valves, intonation and technical problems might occur, weakening a small marching band’s tonal power.
    Unisons and octaves will project more than multiple chord tones and divisi parts. Dividing an instrument into two or more parts takes focus away from the top line and thins the sound. Consider using woodwinds and melodic percussion to imply harmony. Triadic harmony works best with a smaller ensemble. Sevenths, ninths, and elevenths are best suited for larger ensembles because there are enough members to play each chord tone. If a small band arranger uses triadic harmony and must omit a chord tone, omitting the fifth is best. Avoid doubling the third. 
    To voice the winds for power, use closed scoring in high voices and open scoring in low voices, following the overtone series, which should be used as a reference to ensure the arrangement is not missing an important chord tone order. Bear in mind, louder dynamics often have the winds scored higher in the staff and softer dynamics lower in the staff. 

Scoring Tips
    Even in a small band, the winds need not play the entire time. Giving sections resting moments is physically necessary for the brass. Percussion and electronics can carry the melodic content and effect during these rest periods. Similarly, it is best to create a separate mallet part or have the mallets rest so the woodwinds can be clearly heard.
    A smaller band’s woodwind section might have only a few players per part and need more doubling than SATB voicing can provide. This approach to the woodwind choir can be appropriate in a woodwind feature and in some full-ensemble moments. Smaller woodwind sections can create harmony when isolated, so the SATB pyramid can be clearly heard.
    Use dynamics, especially pianissimo. Remem­ber, softer dynamics make louder dynamics sound more powerful by contrast. The arranger should create musical lines and include phrase markings.

Staging
    Although drill and staging are a visual element, a small marching band must be properly staged to sound its best. In general, it is best to keep the band between the 30-yard lines and before the front hash, with the melody near the front of the field so it can be clearly seen and heard. If the band has a moving battery, keep it in the pulse area for support and rhythmic clarity. Do not stage percussion in front of the melody, and do not allow percussion parts to overplay the ensemble.
    If balance and blend are a struggle, consider placing the front ensemble, percussion and electronics behind the band to support the wind sound from the back. You might also stage trumpets towards the back of the form so they play through the bass voices and blend. 

Final Thoughts
    Theoretical voicing, orchestration, and planning work well on paper, but practical experimentation, knowledge, and implementation based upon the sounds you hear from your band and the competency level of your students ultimately determines the scoring and arranging. Every band is different; arrange to your band’s strengths, while aiming for a musical and visual focus. Do not try to overplay or overblow the band’s sound. Strive for a sonorous, rich sense of tone, and balance your ensemble sound among all sections. Regardless of the band’s size, creativity and excellence will always be rewarded.    

How do you use algebra to teach dotted notes?
    I used to teach dotted notes the same way everyone else does – by teaching students what a dot meant and then going through them. In my seventh or eighth year of teaching I accidentally discovered that using the note as a mathematical concept is what confuses students. Even if they understand how rhythm works, they have a hard time grasping the note having a mathematical value. 
    I gave the usual explanation of how a dot adds half the value to a note, but rather than talk about a dotted half or quarter note, I asked students, “What if we had a note called a dotted four?” I drew a 4 with a dot after it. Underneath it I started a mathematical equation: 4 + _ = _. I asked students what half of four was, and they would tell me two. I ask them to add four and two, which is easy math for sixth graders. We determine that a dotted four gets six beats, which is twelve pulses. We try it with other fictional notes, such as a dotted 8, 80, or 1260. I purposely include at least one ridiculous number, because the sillier and the more ridiculous it gets the easier it is for students to remember. They get a kick out of trying to do this math in their heads.
    The last fictional note I use is a dotted 2. Half of two is so easy that even the students who are apprehensive about figuring a dotted 1260 in their heads are quick to volunteer that half of two is one and two plus one is three, meaning that a dotted 2 gets three beats or six pulses. Then I ask, “What if we replace the 2 with a half note?” It clicks for everybody, and now they understand the math behind dotted half notes. Then later, when we introduce dotted quarter notes, they remember that a dot adds half the value of the note rather than a beat. Five minutes of basic math problems has rid my program of students who think a dot adds an extra beat to a note, regardless of which note is dotted.

What are the keys to recruiting beginners?
    I know I have the luxury of teaching at a big school. That said, it has been a long time since I have tried to convince any and all students that they should join band. I used to do that when I first started teaching. I would make sure every kid thought that band was going to be the most fun thing they did in their entire life but said little about what band actually was. The result was that numerous students signed up for band, but we would discover together that they were not interested in the reality of band. Band takes work. It takes a lot of work. If you cast a wide net, you end up with students who are not interested in practicing every night or the detail work that it takes to succeed. So, we were getting all these kids and they were flooding our classes. Some of these students discovered quickly that band wasn’t their cup of tea. Others did not drop the class in time and developed a poor attitude toward a class they did not want to take but could not get out of. When you have one student who is a stick in the mud, it affects the others.
    I started recruiting extremely honestly. I take the Honors Band to elementary schools in December, and although we play some Christmas songs, we also played Amparito Roca, because I want students to be just as excited about a piece like that as they would be about Sleigh Ride. It is obvious that the Honors Band students are having a good time, but it is also a serious demonstration of serious music.
    In February parents come to the school to hear the spiel of why they should sign up for the electives we offer. Our elective teachers talk about how fun it is and how there is no homework or cost to take the class. I always make sure I am last in line to talk. After parents have heard everyone else, I say, “Not only does my class cost money, but we are going to work your kids to the bone, and they are going to be frustrated. However, by the end of the year, they are going to love every single minute of it, because there is nothing more fulfilling than knowing that you got good at something that is difficult.” I talk about the worth of band and the extra and wonderful life skills, such as confidence and teamwork that come from the class, but I tell parents that at its core, we are going to teach their children how to play an instrument, which is an awesome skill. We want students to have fun and know about the great perks that come with the class of the band, but band is also an awesome class on its own, and the hard work is part of what makes it awesome.

Why do you split beginner classes by ability?
    Our beginner classes are initially separated by instrument when possible, although some classes, such as low brass, are mixed instrumentation. We eventually also split some beginning classes by ability. This is controversial for some, but it helps us meet students where they are. Some students pick things up quickly and can handle a faster pace, while others need to move a little slower to be successful. Students do not want to feel like they are at the bottom of the class. When students are split by ability, some students who would have been in the bottom half of the full class are now in the top half of their class, and they gain confidence and independence from this. These are students who might otherwise have dropped band at the end of the semester because they are struggling to keep up. Instead, we have a place for them to succeed. Being successful is fun on whatever level it is.
    We do not set a date for splitting a beginner class, and we do not split every class every year. Usually flutes, clarinets, and low brass split because these are the largest classes. We have never split horns. We split classes when it becomes obvious that the students are no longer all on the same level and this is inhibiting some students, whether it is keeping some from moving as fast as they are able or keeping students so lost that we are on the verge of losing them. Sometimes a split happens in mid-October, other times it occurs as late as the middle of the second semester.
    I end up having to spend a decent amount of time creating ways for the top players in a class to show off while still being able to teach that class so everyone can succeed. One game students love is called Mess Up, Drop Out. I have students play a song at q = 72 and then I ask everyone who played it perfectly to raise a hand. We raise the tempo by ten clicks, and the students who played it perfectly get to try it at the faster tempo, and we keep going until everyone is out or until I decide we have spent enough time on it. I also sometimes ask for volunteers to come up and perform in front of the class and let top students show off that way. It has been a great alternative to trying to push more material on a class in which not everyone is ready for it.

As you move students into seventh and eighth grade, how do you choose who plays piccolo, bass clarinet, and tenor and baritone saxophones?
    I believe that some people have the right lips for piccolo and some do not. My sister is the perfect example. She was a good flute player but amazing on piccolo. She had the ear and the ability to get a warm, beautiful sound on piccolo and made All-State as a piccoloist. It is such a present instrument that I don’t try students out on piccolo unless they want to. It takes high confidence to be that prominent, and if you do not want to be heard, piccolo is the wrong instrument for you. I will lend a piccolo to a student to practice at home for a couple days and then have them play the same audition etude the played last spring. I had my two eighth graders interested in piccolo this year, but one did not enjoy it at all. The other works hard to be accurate and play with a clear sound.
    Bass clarinet is a difficult instrument to place someone on. Usually I offer it to a student who has the right brain for Honors Band but struggles with some aspect of playing the Bb clarinet. These students are smart, driven, and might have lungs of steel. Sometimes a switch to bass clarinet works perfectly and what would be a perpetual third clarinetist becomes an awesome bass player, but sometimes the switch does not. I am unsure why.
    For the large saxophones, our lesson teacher gives every student, even the ones who do not take lessons, an opportunity to try tenor and baritone saxophone. What I have learned from our saxophone teacher is that success on one size of saxophone does not guarantee success on a different size. The saxophone teacher gives me recommendations for each student, and we offer some of them the opportunity to switch. In some cases, I will use the prospect of moving to a more advanced band as a reason to switch: “If you will play tenor, I can have a spot for you in Honors Band, but if you want to stay on alto, you are likely to be placed in the Symphonic Band.” Sometimes the student switches; other times they prefer to stay on alto.

How have you reduced the number of unhappy students and parents after ensemble placement auditions?
    We send home a course expectation guide that describes each band and clearly defines the expectations of all three of our seventh/eighth grade bands. It covers everything down from sectional attendance and extra rehearsals to whether students are required to try out for district band. We describe it to the kids as:

You have your students fill out practice sheets, but you tried something new with that this year. What did you do?
    Seventh and eighth graders in the Honors, Symphonic, and Concert Bands have typically been given assignments and tracked how many minutes they spent practicing them. However, earlier this year I realized my students were not spending their practice time as productively as they could when my trumpet players told me one day in a sectional that they had put in great deal of work on the etude they could already play and little to none on the one they were struggling with because the latter was less fun to play.
    I redesigned the Honors Band practice sheet to look more like a page from a music journal. To start, students are responsible for setting a daily goal, such as preparing an etude at quarter note = 60. This can be anything, but they have to notate it on the sheet. Students then have to list what fundamentals they worked on each day and how long they spent on each, because while their goal is the main focus of their practice, it is not the only thing they should do. On the back of the practice sheets every instrument has a set of fundamentals that I would want them to work on, along with suggested tempos. Options for clarinetists might include long tones at quarter note = 70 and register drills at quarter note = 92. The final section of the sheet is where they note what music they worked on. This can be band music, audition music, or something from private lessons, but students have to tell me why they chose to work on it and how much time they spent on it.
    After two weeks of using the new sheets, I asked the Honors Band students how many of them found that the new sheet had changed how they practiced. Almost every hand went up. The first thing students noticed was that before the new sheets they rarely spent more than three minutes on fundamentals, and there were some fundamentals they never practiced before. In addition to increasing how much time they spent on the basics, having to explain why they chose the music they did to practice led them to make wiser choices.
    I am unsure whether I will keep the forms all year or let students revert to the old practice logs. This is a college-level assignment, and I do not know if having students notate this level of detail daily is sustainable. I might revamp it or only use it during region band tryouts. It is probably not the right choice for my Symphonic and Concert Bands, though.

What advice would you give a new teacher? 
    Until students know that you want what’s best for them and want them to do well, it will not matter how high your expectations are. Those expectations aren’t going to be met until students know you care about them. At both of the places I taught at before coming to Stiles, the students were still loyal to the previous directors. You have to tread lightly that first year rather than immediately reshape every aspect of the program, but stick with it, and work to win students over. When they know that you care, you can be extremely demanding. 
    Set clear expectations. Your students want to please you, and if they know what you expect from them, most of the time they will do it. Beginners especially want you to love them, and when you show them exactly what to do, beginners will try their best to do that. Some students will struggle, but their struggles might have nothing to do with band. Keeping that in mind helps you shape how you teach.