One of the more difficult assignments for a percussionist to face is a musical passage calling for an immediate drop from a dynamic level of fortissimo to one marked pianissimo. Whether performing on snare drum, xylophone, or timpani, or any instrument of the percussion family struck with a mallet, one basic premise has to be understood: all dynamics on these instruments need to be controlled by stick or mallet height. So many drummers, when approached with this problem, head for the rim when playing snare, or move their mallets to the nodal point on a xylophone or marimba bar. This solution does indeed lower the dynamic level, but it also diminishes the quality and timbre of sound. Learning to control the mallet during a sudden drop from loud to soft is a process that needs to be practiced.
    Suppose a snare drummer is faced with one of the following passages:

    Both examples illustrate an immediate change from ff to pp, with no decrescendo or diminuendo indicated by the composer. In judging of various contests on the high school and symphonic levels, I have witnessed players attempting the change in dynamics by using a quick diminuendo or crescendo to reach the new level – but not accomplishing this until after the fact. To make sure, in example 1, that the last 16th note in the first measure is   and beat one in the second measure is pp, I suggest the following sticking:

    In other words, use a paradiddle RLRR for the fourth beat, with the RR giving the player ample time to quickly position the left stick a half-inch off of the rim, ready and waiting to begin measure two at pp. With practice, this concept works very well and enables the player to keep the flow of the rhythm intact. The problem of alternating dynamic levels frequently can be solved this way:
   

    Here, with both sticks striking the same spot on the head, the player’s right hand represents “loud” and is positioned accordingly above the drum, while his left hand represents “soft” and stays about one inch off the head through the passage. Again, control of the weaker hand and thus the dynamic level can be achieved through practice. It is ideal to practice in front of a mirror.
    For the mallet instruments, especially the xylophone, immediate dynamic control happens through much the same technique. Where, because of the contour of a particular phrase, a double-sticking is inappropriate, the player should practice “digging in” with the last two strokes and leave his mallets a half-inch off the bar in preparation for the ensuing pp section:

    Where appropriate, single sticking of a particularly soft passage with the mallet no more than an inch above the bar is most effective at achieving the desired drop from fortissimo to pianissimo, following a loud alternated pattern:

    Going from ff to pp on the timpani can usually be achieved through lowered mallet height, but with timpani, muffling of the loud passage is necessary and presents problems:

    Here, the player treats the quarter-note on beat three as an eighth note, followed by a quick muffle on the second half of three with the left hand, effectively killing the sound before the ensuing piano level in the second measure. Another, but less recommended method would have the muffling occur in place of beat one in the second measure, and then playing beat two softly:

Whether on snare drum, xylophone, or timpani, playing dynamic drops from loud to soft is possible through many of the techniques described above. For today’s percussionist, the aim is to play the dynamic change as musically as possible.       

The post Fortissimo to Piano – The Percussionist’s Dilemma appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    A bassoonist is playing flat. This is good news; a bassoon student playing flat has the right embouchure and mouth shape but is not using enough air. Extremely flat students may need a different bocal. The higher the number, the longer the bocal; if a student is flat on a 3, switch him to a 2. It is also possible the student is using a reed that is too old.

    A bassoonist is playing sharp. This is a more serious problem. Sharpness is frequently caused by squeezing or pinching the reed with the mouth or lips. A good bassoon embouchure is best described as making a gentle cushion with the lips – with no teeth, pressure, or squeezing. Another possibility is that students have too much reed in the mouth. A student should be able to fit the tip of his little finger between their top lip and the first wire on the reed. Also, switching to a higher-numbered bocal may help as well; a 0 or a 1 bocal is typically too short for most bassoonists.

    A student is having difficulty playing low notes. Similar to sharpness, this can be caused by squeezing the reed. Students may not have all the tone holes covered. Check fingerings and have students work their way down to the note, one finger at a time. Have the bassoon checked for leaks, especially in the boot joint. To check the boot joint, place the large end on your cheek, cover the open tone holes and close all the pads, and suck the air out of the smaller end. If it holds a seal, it’s not leaking. The boot joint on old bassoons is most likely to sprout leaks – the largest pads of the instrument are there and they can easily become loose. The boot joint on wooden instruments is also the perfect location for dry rot or cracks. In addition, there is a small U-shaped tube in the bottom that is sealed with cork but can spring a leak.

    A student is having difficulty playing high notes. The student may not be releasing the whisper key or using the correct half hole. Check the fingering to see if the whisper key, or a half hole is used. It is also possible a student is simply not moving air fast enough. Have students think of the syllable ee while they tongue.

    No sound is coming out at all. First check the reed. It should be throughly soaked, but not water-logged. Check to make sure that there is an opening between the two reed blades. A very old or cracked reed may be so damaged that it will not vibrate. There may also be something stuck in the bocal. Clean the bocal with very hot water, a drop of dish soap, and a long pipe cleaner or bocal brush and watch what comes out. There may be something stuck in the bassoon, in which case the instrument may need to be taken in for repairs.

    The instrument squeaks when played. This may also be the fault of the reed; check for the same things you would if there was no sound coming out at all. The student may not be covering the holes entirely, which can cause the air to break in an odd place. This frequently happens to very young students. The student may also be accidentally hitting a flick key (above the whisper key). Check the fingering and hand position.

    Articulations are unclear. The part of the tongue immediately behind the tip (“to, to” or “do, do”) must contact both blades of the reed for a clear articulation. Students may be trying to tongue around the reed rather than on it – or might not be tonguing at all.

The post Bassoon Troubleshooting appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    For consistent intonation, a clarinet should be adjusted in three places: at the barrel, between the upper and lower joint, and the bell. It is a common mistake to assume that pulling out at the barrel will fix sharpness throughout the instrument. Pulling out at the barrel only affects the notes fingered in the top portion of the upper joint.
    To tune thoroughly, clarinetists should use three different notes. Start by tuning the top of the instrument with open G, pushing the barrel in or out to adjust the pitch. The bottom of the barrel should never be up to the cork. If this happens, there is a problem with the embou­chure or equipment. Students should not use resonance fingerings when tuning open G. These fingerings work to bring the pitch down on individual notes but will interfere with tuning the instrument as a whole.
    There are two options for tuning the middle portion of the instrument. Intermediate and advanced students should use G, and beginners should play C4, which has the same fingering as G5 but without the register key. Pull out between the upper and lower joints of the instrument if the pitch is sharp. As most instruments are sharp in this range, most students will end up pulling out. Make sure students know that the instrument will fall apart if the joint is pulled too far, and that the bridge keys should remain aligned.
    Students who can play over the break should also tune the bottom portion of the instrument. Young students typically play flat in the low register so their bells should be all the way in. Play C5, and pull out at the bell if the sound is sharp. 

The post Clarinet Tone appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Contact with Students
     Many districts have stringent guidelines about touching students or being alone with them. Although such things should be a matter of common sense, we still end up with a surprising number of court cases. I tell teachers to treat their students the way they would want their children treated. It can be difficult for music teachers to show a student how to sit properly or a proper embouchure with such restrictions, so they have to make sure that it’s always in a situation where someone else can back up what they’re saying, such as in an open room with other students around. If you touch a student in your office with no witnesses, then it becomes a matter of your word against their word should an accusation arise.
     The best protection from a false claim is never to be alone with a student. When I evaluate a case, this is something I look for. If someone was in the middle of a room full of people and no one else saw the inappropriate contact, then an allegation of inappropriate contact is not a case I’d go forward with. However, if I have what we refer to in law as a he said/she said, then I have enough to go forward with a case, and it becomes something for the jury to decide. Being alone with a student is the most difficult situation to defend.

Recording Rehearsals and Lessons
     Check the laws of your state concerning audio taping and the consent needed to make such recordings. In Georgia, only one party to a conversation must consent to have a recording made, so the teacher can always be the consenting party. No notice to the other party is required to make such a recording. This would apply to videos as well. There is no better evidence to share after an allegation of improper conduct than an audio or video tape demonstrating that the alleged conduct did not happen.
      If both parties’ consent is required for recording, a student’s age determines whether you must get consent from student or parents, although it is ideal to get both. In Georgia a minor is defined three different ways. For purposes of court proceedings, 17 is the age of adulthood. An 18-year-old is an adult who can be emancipated from his parents, and 21 is considered adulthood concerning alcohol. Any 18-year-olds in a music program can legally sign and enter into a contract, but it is still best to have both student and parents consent. For students under the age of majority teachers only need a parent’s consent. The best way to word a form is “For everyone’s protection, I would request that you allow permission for me to audio or video tape our lessons or classes.”

Assault and Battery
     Assault in Georgia is attempting to commit a violent injury or placing another in reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury. Battery is intentionally causing physical harm or making physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature. Think of assault as “I’m going to do something to you or make you think I’m going to do it.” Battery is where you actually do it. In Georgia, it is a misdemeanor offense to have “contact of an insulting or provoking nature.” A misdemeanor offense carries a possible jail sentence of one year in prison and a one thousand dollar fine. Think of the possible definitions for “insulting or provoking contact”; it could be almost anything.
     People sometimes try to defend against battery charges by claiming self-defense or defense of others. To qualify for self-defense or defense of others, it is imperative that the amount of force used in defense is equal to the force or the perceived force being used by the offending party. For example, if you, as a teacher, see a student being struck by another person, you would have the right to use equal force to defend that victim. You would not be allowed to use a gun to shoot that offender to stop the attack. It is important to an adequate defense of any charges when a teacher must use force against a student to defend themselves or others that they take note of all who witness the event, so that independent witnesses who are available can substantiate their version of the events.
Theft
     Prosecutors go after thieves every day; typically, they will throw the book at teachers who pilfer on the job. The best course of conduct when dealing with money is to turn that responsibility over to someone else while you supervise it very closely.
     To prevent theft of school property by others, make sure you have a good inventory checkout system. If students use school-owned instruments, there should be a record of what they received. Be vigilant in keeping track of such things. When my older son was in high school, one of the other students in the trombone section had the school bass trombone stolen out of his parents’ car. This student was responsible because the checkout form he signed indicated he was responsible for any loss, theft, or damage.

Mandatory Reporting
     Teachers should know about mandatory reporter laws. In most states it is a crime for a teacher to ignore a mandatory report law. Most are generally misdemeanor offenses, but given our economic situation and how competitive the teaching jobs are now, a misdemeanor conviction can be enough to keep someone from getting a new job.
     My county school board just developed a policy for any child involved in any extracurricular activity. Anything even mentioned to a teacher is to be reported. It’s an extremely strict policy. If a parent casually remarks that he saw a soccer player two weeks ago at the bookstore and thought this student had had something to drink, that teacher is obligated to report that to the administration. If he doesn’t, and the administration finds out about it, then he could eventually lose his teaching certificate. It would have to be pretty egregious for a school board to take such steps, but that’s the big stick they hold over all of these teachers.
     In the state of Georgia school bus drivers are mandatory reporters of people who pass a school bus with its stop sign out. If they don’t report these incidents, then they can be charged with a crime. Bus drivers are supposed to make every reasonable effort to get a tag number or a description of a car. Imagine the difficulty of trying to get all this information down with 45 children screaming on a school bus, but that’s the law. They’re mandatory reporters and try to do it the best that they can. We’ve now started installing cameras on our busses to take some burden off of the drivers.
 
Civil Liability
     The United States has a dual legal system. Confusion exists because one can be charged with the same thing, for the same conduct, with different consequences under both systems. Each result is independent of the other, with the O.J. Simpson trial being a classic example of the differing results of each.
     Typically when a teacher is sued civilly for conduct toward a student, punitive damages are awarded in an effort to punish the teacher for the misdeed, and also to serve as a deterrent for others who might behave similarly. Civil actions can deal with negligent acts, contract disputes, slander, and libel actions and just about any creative cause of action a hungry lawyer can devise.
     One misunderstood civil case is the McDonald’s coffee lawsuit. Although it seems crazy at first glance, the evidence introduced at trial showed that McDonald’s intentionally heated its coffee hotter than other places under the theory that it tasted better that way. Evidence was also entered that there were several other lawsuits from people who had been burnt, so McDonald’s was on notice that its coffee was injuring other people.
Another odd case is a man who sued Home Depot, alleging that someone had placed superglue on the toilet seat right before he sat on it. He claimed Home Depot was negligent, and they should have checked. A witness came forward indicating the man had made a similar complaint at a different location one year earlier. Lawyers should always exercise due diligence of a claim before filing a lawsuit. The lawyer in this case said the claims of a prior incident were false and offered his client’s participation in a polygraph. After two years of litigation the case was dismissed. The judge indicated that Home Depot was not on notice that the glue was placed on the seat. Lawyers and litigants may be held liable for filing frivolous claims, and lawyers should always investigate a claim.
     If a civil case is proven by a preponderance of the evidence, the judge can award both actual and punitive monetary damages against the teacher. Punitive damages vary depending on the conduct. Years ago, teachers were simply permitted to resign and move on to other school systems. If there is a pattern of the same act conduct, and people have let it go on, that’s what punitive damages address. These can be assigned to both the guilty person and the original school system that let an offender move on. I think that’s why school systems take offenses much more seriously now. If somebody has been accused of inappropriate behavior with a student, he is terminated and the district takes action against teaching certificates.
     My grandfather always said that a good name is worth more than all the gold around, and only you can destroy your good name. Because the standard of proof in a civil action, a preponderance of the evidence, is less than in a criminal case, beyond a reasonable doubt, many civil disputes turn on the credibility of the person. If you become a witness in your own defense, you want the jury to believe every word you say.

Vicarious Liability
     Vicarious liability means that you can be held liable for the actions of others if you have some special relationship to the other person or conspire with others directly to commit an act. This is most common for a music teacher who hires a person to assist with the program. It is important to make sure the employee has no criminal record or history of inappropriate conduct. It is also important to supervise the employee at all times. Many teachers have been held civilly and administratively liable for the conduct of staff members they have hired.
     For example, if a director discovers that a staff member has a quick temper but does nothing to address the problem, if this staff member later assaults a student, parent, or other staff member, the director, as the boss, may be held liable for those actions because the event was foreseeable but no action was taken to stop the problem. When faced with having to correct or investigate the actions of a staff member or parent, all allegations must be taken seriously. Thoroughly investigate the allegations, put all steps taken in writing, and share those writings with an administrator immediately.
 
Hazing
     If students engage in physical acts of hazing, they can be held accountable and punished for those acts. However, if the director condones the behavior openly or covertly with a wink and a nod, then the director can and should be held criminally liable for those acts. Both students and directors may also be held civilly liable for psychological acts of hazing under a theory of negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress. Clearly, the safest path for a director to follow is to have a written no hazing policy that is clear and specific and to follow it up with clear verbal instructions that such acts will not be tolerated. Have an administrator approve these directives so that when a problem arises you have the full backing of your administration.

Libel and Slander
     Libel is a written statement that places someone or something in a bad light. Slander is the verbal equivalent to libel. When a parent asks about a certain instrument you feel less comfortable with, direct the conversation to the positive aspects of the brands you trust without making negative comments about other brands. Remember, you can be sued for anything, and it is difficult to say exactly when something becomes slander or libel. What I tell people is to talk about the brands they like, ignore brands they don’t like, and follow whatever guidelines the school system suggests. In Cobb County, directors aren’t allowed to recommend a specific music store or a certain brand. There is a list of brands that have passed muster, and directors can point people in these directions but cannot recommend one brand over the other.
     If it is necessary to talk about brands a teacher wants to avoid, he should speak in the most general
terms possible and avoid mentioning a specific instrument or company. A good idea is to discuss how instruments that you find at yard sales, pawn shops, or online auction sites may be less expensive, but in general, it’s going to be more difficult to work on those instruments and find people who will repair them. Especially with something bought on an auction site, it may also help to point out that you never know what you’re getting because you can’t handle an instrument before buying. If an instrument needs frequent repairs, it may not be the good deal it seemed to be.

Social Networking Dangers
     Directors should not be friends with their current students on social networking sites. The danger with social networking sites is that if a student posts something about a weekend beer party, any teacher connected with that student can be held liable. Even if the teacher never saw that message, he might be held liable that he at least had constructive knowledge that there was going to be a beer party and failed to take any steps to stop it. You own everything that’s on everyone else’s page, if you are connected with them. If you are not friends, and your students can’t get to your page, they’re not going to see what’s on your page, and you’re not going to see what’s on theirs.
     I know of an English teacher two or three years out of college, with a great record of bringing up students’ test scores. Someone posted a picture of her drinking a glass of wine while on a European trip, and then a second picture with her holding a stein of beer and a caption about going to play beer pong. She didn’t even post those pictures; someone else put those up on the web site and then tagged her. Someone in the community saw it and complained to the principal, who bullied her into a resignation. Her case has since been reopened because they didn’t follow any termination procedures, but those are the dangers of social networking sites.   l

The post Music Teachers and the Law appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

The Arms
    When watching video of yourself, it is also important to study the plane of conducting. A conductor should engage players with the arms, not the body. It can be easy to get into the habit of keeping the hands too high or too low. To find the right arm position, raise the right arm in a relaxed way and move the hand in front of the body. The wrist should point down, the hand in front of the ribcage, and the arm extended slightly with the elbow away from the body. Many of my students find the right position when they relax and have good posture but raise the arm too high and extend it too far if they are tense.
    Similarly, the size of someone’s gestures may not be appropriate to the music. Tall conductors should be careful that the horizontal strokes do not become needlessly large. Shorter people have shorter arms, so they have more freedom of movement than a taller person. A shorter armspan makes conducting look more natural even at larger sizes because the arms don’t cover as much space. Someone who is 5′ tall can conduct as powerfully as someone who is 6’5".
    I can always tell which of my conducting students were drum majors in high school, because these students often mirror everything, using huge gestures and stiff movement. A marching band needs a conductor who is precise and clear, but this style is generally too emphatic for a wind ensemble. It becomes like white noise, causing the band to stop responding and leaving no room to increase the size to show a crescendo. These students should relax the wrist, eliminate the left hand, and imagine conducting inside of a small box to limit the size.
    The wrist should be flexible but firm. This does not mean loose, which implies limpness rather than flexibility. A stiff wrist is equally harmful, and it should never lock. To find the correct firmness use the rubber band exercise: imagine pulling on a taut rubber band that is fastened to the floor, feeling the resistance while pulling up. Release the band but do not allow your wrist to flop down. Instead, let it bounce a bit. Next, with that firmness in the wrist, imagine bouncing a basketball. That bounce is the ictus, and the wrist should still not flop down because of the imagined weight of the ball. The bounce of the ball or ictus also generates a clear rebound. The force of gravity will cause the hand to slow slightly as it ascends and accelerate slightly as it descends, giving the ensemble a clear and predictable ictus.



Making a Face
    Conductors often struggle with finding effective facial expressions. Another exercise I have my conducting students do early each semester is designed to help overcome this. I call it the Silly Circle. Students stand in a circle almost shoulder to shoulder. One student makes an expressive or odd face and looks at the student to his left, who replicates the face and turns to the person to his left to make a different face. This continues around the circle as quickly as possible. Inevitably students begin to giggle, and some freeze because they are not sure what face to make.
    The Silly Circle is probably the most nerve-wracking thing students do in class other than actual conducting. When students are on the podium, the face they are making does not always look the way they think it does, and this exercise helps them to become aware of how different facial expressions feel. Frank Wickes once said that my facial expression looks like I’m sucking on lemons. It didn’t feel that way while on the podium, but when I watched the tape, he was exactly right.
    Students usually become em­barrassed during these exercises because it may be the first time they have performed this way in front of others. Looking silly and ridiculous is part of conducting at times, especially with younger bands. Stoicism does not work well with a class of sixth graders.
    Eye contact is essential. Some conductors are good at this, but others spend too much time looking at the music. I have also seen conductors who just look down without even looking at the music or who look above the entire group.

When to Beat
    It is easy for conductors to be­come too attached to beat patterns, but the conductor’s primary job is not to keep time, it is to express how the music should sound to an ensemble. If the primary focus of conducting study is technique, then every conductor will look the same – a rigid, emotionless timekeeper.
    Expressive conducting requires the freedom to move within patterns and change, subdivide, or combine measures when necessary. Sometimes it helps to stop conducting altogether. At the end of the second section of William Schuman’s George Washington Bridge, for example, the ensemble plays staccato eighth notes with a timpani solo underneath. I often stop conducting here because the momentum of the music is so strong there is no need for a conductor. It also helps to float between meters when the pulse shifts, such as from 4/4 to cut time.
    Some music suggests conducting across the bar lines. In H. Owen Reed’s La Fiesta Mexicana, the end of the 3/8 section is not really in 3/8, but consists of groupings of fours, threes, and twos. The music is clearer when the conductor beats those groupings instead of the written meter. The caveat is that these shifts should be logical enough for the ensemble to follow. Students may watch too closely and shift into half time when the conductor’s pattern changes from four to two, but they will come to understand these shifts and know that the tempo will never change suddenly unless the music says so.
    I do not even introduce patterns until two or three weeks into conducting class, after students feel comfortable with their body, posture, arms, and wrists. That way the pattern stems from familiar motions. The main purpose of patterns is to provide clarity to an ensemble, so one of the most important qualities in any pattern is predictability. Players must be able not only to follow but to anticipate where the beat will land; otherwise following the conductor becomes a guessing game. This allows them to concentrate on being relaxed and allowing gravity to guide the rebound, as in the basketball exercise. Tension can detract from a pattern’s clarity.
I believe that 3/4 is the easiest pattern to conduct. Even though people think of 4/4 as common time, having those three beats – down, out, up – feels natural. Also, because almost every pattern uses something similar to the last two beats of 3/4, it’s the most useful: down and then the last two beats.
    The second beat of 4/4 going in isn’t quite as natural as going down, out, up. Conducting should always feel natural, and I find that 3/4 is the most natural pattern.

Score Study
    Score study is to conducting what practicing is to an instrument. Decisions about how to conduct on the podium come from the score. Sometimes my conducting students are unsure of how they want a passage to sound. When this happens, I encourage them to talk through the music, saying anything they can about it. This generally leads to a solution.

Communication
    Conductors have to have a dozen ways of saying everything. I was rehearsing articulation in a piece called Cathedrals, which has a 26-measure section with constant eighth notes. I tried one set of syllables and one set of imagery, and when that didn’t work I tried a different one. I tried different images, sang for them, and told them to pretend they were playing straight eighth notes in the place of rests. There comes a point of diminishing returns at which a piece is best put aside for another day.
    What helps this is to know your students and be able to meet them at their level. I teach in south Texas but am originally from northern Illinois. I have plenty of stories about snow and cold weather, but they are useless in this part of Texas where neither occurs with any regularity.
    Input from the ensemble is desirable when interpreting the music, but how much to expect depends on the level of the group. The older the students get, the more I want their musical ideas through their instruments. If I disagree with something, I will help students find my interpretation. I ask a lot of questions in rehearsal. I say, “Where’s the peak of this phrase?” or “How should we accent this note?” If I disagree with an answer, I explain why I want it a different way. I always tell my band students to try things. My favorite players are the ones to whom I have to say, “That’s an interesting idea, but don’t do it again.” In the end, it is my interpretation, my view of the direction we’re going to go but I try to get them to understand and shape them to that direction as opposed to imposing it on them. Imposition is neither musical nor creative.
    A conductor’s job is for students to leave rehearsal understanding the shape, direction, and character of the music. For students to be able to play something, they have to be able to understand the music.
Even experienced educators should check themselves periodically by returning to basic exercises and recording their conducting. The exercises I do with my students are silly, but they help them to relax and open up. Conducting is about expressing something and drawing that sound from the players, and stiff or exaggerated bodily motion will prevent that. Seeing just 30 seconds of your conducting should be enough. It can be uncomfortable to watch, but it is necessary.   

The post Matching Gestures with the Sound appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Who in your past inspired you to become a music teacher?
    If it hadn’t been for my middle school band director, Ram Chavez, I don’t know what I would be doing today. He took me under his wing at a young age. My parents had just split up, and I was feeling a bit lost. He told me, “you have a future in music if you want it,” and he showed me the way. He taught me so much about life and music. I realized that someday I wanted to have that same influence on others.
    As a young student I was rough around the edges and had to have my attitude adjusted pretty often. I was a hot shot beginner and moved up quickly from beginning band. I quickly earned all-city honors in Corpus Christi and by the second year of playing I thought I had everything figured out. Then, I showed up at a solo contest that Mr. Chavez was hosting and did not play as well as I had hoped. We talked afterwards about my lack of preparation. From that day forward, I never wanted to step on a stage again and not be prepared.
    That attitude continues in my approach as a director. When a performance does not go as expected, I have to look in the mirror and realize that the preparation often was lacking. The key is to give students the correct information on their instruments and prepare them for the type of performance they are facing. Good preparation involves teaching not just notes and rhythms but the mental approach needed, whether the performance is pep band at a game or a solo and ensemble contest.
    We have to give students the best chance to succeed but also prepare them to learn from failures. An important emphasis in our program is responsibility. Whether we are in marching season or concert season, we bring students in individually to play their music for us and demonstrate the drill. We stress that you have to keep trying until everything is right, whether it is in music or other school subjects. We tell them that when you write a paper, you need a few drafts; the same is true in band.

What musical goals have helped your program reach such success?
    Resonant tone quality is the number one goal. We spend considerable time on tonal fundamentals. With the top group, we can spend anywhere from 40%-60% of rehearsal on fundamentals, and that continues most of the year. There’s never a day when we just play a tuning note and then launch into the music. We follow this approach with every group in the program, including marching band. If you went into our fourth band and asked what the most important thing for them to do would be, they would say play with a characteristic sound. This drives everything we do, including marching band.

What types of exercises do you use to work on fundamentals?
    There are several excellent books out there designed specifically for this purpose but we do not use just one. I call our exercises daily drill rather than warming up. Our daily drill includes matching tonal energy, air flow studies, articulation exercises, and careful listening. We do play some Remington exercise with the whole band. With the more advanced groups there is a greater focus on locking in chords and intervals. Throughout my career the exercises I have used have come from the inspiration of many great directors who taught me including Tom Bennett, Eddie Green, Philip Geiger, Rodney Klett, Joe Dixon, and Rick Lambrecht.

What approaches do you use to help students learn to play with a characteristic sound?
    The best compliment I can give our students is to praise their openness to constructive criticism from the staff and their peers. I ask frequent questions from the podium about the sound and how it could be improved. The critiques are different depending on the playing level of the group, but even in the fourth band, I encourage students to give critiques of other players. With the young students it is really cool to watch their eyes light up as they develop the skills to hear playing weaknesses and make improvements.
    I make it clear from the beginning that all critiques must be done in a constructive way without belittling anyone. The rehearsal room has to be a safe, comfortable environment at all times. I will ask leading questions about missed notes or whatever to steer the discussion. It works well to have one student play and then ask for comments from the rest of the band, but the director has to make sure that there is no personal vendetta or hurtful criticism of players. As we work on music and make suggestions for improvement, there is always a bit of the coach in me. If you make a suggestion about someone else’s playing, I might put you on the spot and see how you would play the same passage. In a friendly environment, this approach works well.

What role do chamber ensembles play in your program?
    I love working on chamber groups; it is my favorite time of the year. We get to play music by composers not often associated with band literature. In any performance with more than one player, there is an amazing level of collaboration and non-verbal communication. If I want to play a duet with someone, I have to be aware of every aspect of their playing to make my part fit correctly. Chamber ensembles offer an opportunity to play music from periods and composers that are rarely encountered in typical band music. Students are forced to think carefully about the melody, secondary parts, and how these fit together. This type of awareness produces significant benefits when students then play in full band rehearsals. In large ensembles and small, the focus remains on producing the best possible tone.
    I wish we could have chamber ensembles all year but the reality is that the schedule is just too busy. Every year there are some ensembles that get started early in the winter. Christmas music in December often provides a jump start for chamber groups. We typically hold an ensemble festival in February. For many years our percussion group has continued playing into the spring and we usually have a separate concert with the percussion ensemble and jazz band.

The Spring Percussion Ensemble under former percussion coordinator Rick Rodriguez performed at the Midwest Clinic in 2009. Rodriguez, after 17 years at Spring, now teaches at Cedar Ridge High School in Round Rock, Texas.

How do the skills learned in music help your students in the rest of their coursework?
    When students always strive for their best effort, it can become a way of life. In Texas we have No Pass, No Play rules that make some students ineligible to participate in sports or music if their grades are not high enough. We have some very bright students in our programs, but also some who struggle a bit in school. Once they begin to thrive in music they think, “Okay, I’m this kind of student in band, I have to do the same in math or English.”
    Setting high goals is an important part of the program. I remind students weekly that I don’t care about winning trophies. I care about developing students who are good human beings with a sense of pride for their work. I remind them that when the Houston Symphony performs, there is no trophy waiting at the end of the concert. Reaching a high level of excellence in the music is more fulfilling than any trophy.
    We have an active group of student leaders in our program who provide invaluable assistance both in rehearsals and in planning social events. At the start of the year I will have these leaders write down three goals for themselves and the group. It’s quite revealing to see the different goals ranging from wanting to make all-state band to helping the band improve. These goals make students feel connected to the success of the program.
    Often, student leaders take responsibility for teaching fundamentals to the younger players. Sometimes, we will say to them “section leaders you have five minutes to make your sections play this better.” I remind students that the directors aren’t going to mark to your spot on the field and play the music for you.

How many of your students take private lessons?
    Every player in our top group takes private lessons, and all students participate in masterclasses with our excellent staff of private teachers. Because of our proximity to Houston, we have many private teachers who regularly substitute with the top orchestras in Houston. I realize it is not the norm in some places, but our students do not have to go far to hear characteristic tone. Our masterclasses occur during the school day about 20 times a year.

How difficult is it to get students to appreciate band music that they may not like at first?
    Our older students in the program have been exposed to a wide variety of music. That is the key. Sometimes with unfamiliar music, you have to warn students to give the music a chance. Music for Prague is a great example of a piece that took some time to appreciate. At first students were a bit baffled by the music but now I still have students come up to me to say how much they loved the experience. I was particularly surprised to hear from parents who said that Prague was their favorite piece from the last five years. Part of that appreciation comes from taking the time to educate the students and audience about the music and the events surrounding its creation.

As a director who is also a composer, how do you approach musical interpretation?
With every piece of music you start with the somewhat ambiguous goal of producing a performance that matches the composer’s intent. This means that you shape the ensemble sound in dramatically different ways depending on the music. Our recent performance of Copland’s Appalachian Spring had a very transparent texture compared with Frank Ticheli’s Blue Shades. This year my top band is a true wind ensemble anchored by the first chair tubist in the state of Texas. I never have to worry about him holding up the band. I have programmed in a way that best flatters this small group, but there are some pieces that really work best with a larger band.
    Over the years, my groups have tended toward the smaller side although I do have experience with larger groups. When I studied for my master’s degree with Jim Sudduth at Texas Tech University, he directed a true symphonic band with about 65 members. I learned a lot from him about how to conduct that type of group well.

How did you get started in composing?
    I started composing because my junior high director was an arranger, and I thought it was cool. I grew up at the time the Maynard Ferguson version of the Rocky theme was all over the radio, and one week Mr. Chavez came into school after staying up all night writing an arrangement of the music for the band. At first I just dabbled as a composer. By the time I made it to high school and joined the show choir, I started writing horn charts to accompany the group. I also had a small jazz combo, and we even played a wedding when I was in high school. Then, I went to Del Mar College and took some composition classes.
     I have been lucky in my composing. After publishing my first work in 1990, I didn’t publish another work until 2001 called McKamy Variations. That piece received a reviewer’s choice rating from The Instrumentalist and I was really excited about that. Since then I’ve written for all different types of ensembles ­– strings, clarinet choir, concert band, and percussion ensemble. I try to take a different approach with every piece. My use of harmony may be the same in some pieces, but I don’t want to write the same piece 25 times.

How does your booster organization contribute to the program?
    One of the beautiful things about Spring High School is the high amount of parental involvement, even from parents who haven’t had children in the program for over ten years. Our boosters take great pride in helping us with so many things. We have a band mom, Reni Stowell, who handles our band uniforms and she and her crew do such a good job that I know not one thing about their procedures. They hand out the uniforms, take care of cleaning and repairs, and sew up the hems as necessary. We have a long cultivated tradition of volunteerism with the band program that developed under the great directors who came before me. The voice of the Spring band, Fred Dickinson, announces all of our events and his last child graduated in 2001. To get parents to stay that long, I try to thank them at every turn.               

The post An Interview with Gabe Musella appeared first on The Instrumentalist.