It is one of the ironies of band life that I have to remind students repeatedly that a concert is coming up. I cannot really relate. I wasn’t a perfect child, but I was so excited about my performances that there was no chance I would forget one; that was why we practiced every day. Unfortunately and mysteriously, that connection is not there for all of our students.
    My all-time favorite excuse for missing a concert really made me feel like band could not possibly be a lower priority in a student’s life. I had a high school trombone player fail to show up for a concert. The next day I called him into my office and asked him where he was. He said his grandfather asked him to clean out the horses’ stalls in their barn. I asked if his grandfather knew he had a concert and the student said no, which I figured because his grandfather was supportive of band and would have made sure he was there. This student preferred shoveling manure to playing at our concert.
    Sometimes a child’s excuse can actually work in your favor. I had a saxophone player a few years ago who was the worst marcher I had ever had. He came up to me and said he was going to have to miss after-school marching practice once a week to practice with the cheerleaders since he was the new pirate mascot. Apparently walking around and waving a sword and growling r-r-r-r is more difficult than it looks. I told him if he did that he would have to be an alternate. That was fine with him – and me.
    Dealing with a myriad of excuses is as much art as science, with personal philosophy, psychology, mercy, and tough love all jumbled up together. Here are some excuses and my suggestions for dealing with them. Most of the excuses I have heard myself, but I have gleaned others from talking to colleagues and reading Facebook laments.

I forgot.
    While some students are repentant as that they admit their forgetfulness, I love it when others shrug and say “I forgot” while acting like it is not a big deal, but just a simple fact of life. I dissuade them of that notion rather quickly. Either way, I will work with them on some strategies to prevent this from happening again and make a call to their parents. I tell beginners that as long as they are in my band program, forgetting will never be an acceptable excuse. Future forgetfulness will result in them being dropped from the group. If a student and the parents really care, it will not happen again.

I didn’t know about it.
    I hand out printed concert announcements to our seventh- and eighth-grade students that they are required to return with a parent’s signature. Any students who fail to return the concert announcement sheets and do not show up for the concert get a zero regardless of the reason, because the real reason the student did not show up was that the parent didn’t know about it. If a student turns the sheet in, but fails to show up for the concert, then we will call the parent to confirm the reason for the absence. We reason that any student who turned in the sheet probably did not just skip out and was originally planning on being there.

I can’t be at the concert because it’s my (or a relative’s) birthday.
    My spiel usually goes something like this: “I understand how important birthdays can be, but I think you can understand that since every person in this band has a birthday, and every person in this band has family members that all have birthdays, that there is no way we can let everyone off for that, as much as we would like to. However, I can let you come a little late or leave right after we play if you have to keep the party on that day.”

I have to work.
    I never excuse performances for this but will excuse one missed rehearsal if it is a new job, although this student has to make up the time. Sometimes managers will schedule a student to work that first time without remembering to consider a school schedule.

I can’t be there because it is the first day of hunting season.
    This is a tricky one. Some kids have been hunting with their family since they were young. Hand out schedules early. If you have not given plenty of notice on a particular event, you may have to relent, but tell this student that they will not be able to miss a band event for a hunting trip again. As a compromise for deer season, I have allowed students to leave after halftime during football season.

My music was stolen.
    I usually remark something to the effect of “there is definitely some type of black market in the school underworld where shady flunkies smoke cigarettes and pass around stolen tenor sax parts to Pirates of the Caribbean. I’m really sure it had to be stolen.” I usually have the student share with another player for a day or two, because often the music often reappears. If not, I make sure to have plenty of extra copies available. If charging a small amount per copy makes you feel better, do that.

My grandfather died.
    There is little you can do about this one. I know of some directors who require a program from the funeral home, but that seems a little insensitive to me, even though some students will shamelessly lie about something like this. A colleague’s student once had several grandfathers die in one year.

I was sick.
    We require a parent note and a make-up assignment, usually a two-page typed report (four hand-written) on one of several topics we provide for them. It is due within two weeks of the missed event. I emphasize that the report is not given as a punishment, but is simply a make-up grade for the missed event. Ironically, many of them do not turn in the report and therefore receive a grade of zero, which is sometimes what I wanted to give them in the first place but didn’t have enough evidence to do it.

I have to miss practice to work on the homecoming float.
    I am always amazed that students will believe they are indispensable to the construction of a float, door decoration, or backdrop but not for band. I do not let students miss for homecoming stuff. If you normally practice every day after school, you may want give students one day for other homecoming activities. They will love you for it.

I have a game.
    If a game or performance conflicts with a rehearsal or practice, advantage goes to the game or performance. If a game is against a performance, things get a little tricky. Is the student more vital to the athletic team or the band? If they ride the bench for the sports team they should be at band. If they play a part I can get covered with someone else, they can go to the athletic event. Communication with parents and coaches is essential to get this worked out.

It was raining, so I thought it was canceled.
     I love it when students use this one. This is somewhat understandable when it’s a marching event, but I have never understood the problem when it is an indoor concert. As for marching events, I make it very clear to students that they should show up at the band room, because we are going to make every effort to play at the game. Their parents should be near a phone or wait in the car until we decide. The only exception to this is if we send a mass text canceling the event beforehand.

My gerbil died.
     It is important on this one to hold a straight face and show some sensitivity while asking questions. “Oh, no. What happened? Did you have a visitation or a funeral?” (The answer will almost certainly be no.) “Did your parents know about the concert?” (The answer to this one is typically no.) My comment to this student is “As much as I love pets of all types, I can only excuse students for their death or that of human family members. Because there was no visitation or funeral conflict I think you could have worked the concert you missed into your schedule, and if your parents had known about the concert, I think they would have had you here.”

I had to clean my pig and trim my steer’s hooves.
    FFA (Future Farmers of America) is big at some schools, so while these excuses may sound funny, county and state fairs are a big deal to these students, and they can win a lot of money if their animal ends up winning and they sell it. You may have to give more than you take on this one. They are almost always some of my better students, so I know that they are not trying to get out of band practice or a performance just for the fun or it. Planning ahead and working closely with the agri sponsor, student, and parents is important on this one.

My probation officer would not let me come.
    As weird as it sounds, you may need to talk to the probation officer if you really want the student there.

I was with my boyfriend/girlfriend.
    Call me unromantic, but this has to be one of the more annoying reasons I deal with. I have had great band kids whose productivity plummeted dramatically as soon as they fell in love with their flavor of the month. I talk to these students about responsibility and make the point that if they are with someone who doesn’t care about their responsibility to band and other things, maybe they are with the wrong person. Other than brief statements like that, I stay out of relationships.

My parents say I can’t go and there’s nothing I can do about it.
    Some parents have the mistaken impression that if it is their decision, then you can’t penalize their child. Parents have to understand that band is a group effort, and that their child can and will be penalized even if it is the parent’s fault. It is difficult to know if the kid is using this as a smokescreen or if it is really the truth; a talk with the parents will help you get to the bottom of the matter.

    Although I have given some solutions and rationales for specific excuses, there will be many others just different enough that nothing I have suggested applies. However, there are some overall considerations that can help you make a decision on individual cases as they arise.

School Policies
    Make sure the penalties you decide to exact align with the school handbook and have the support of your principal and guidance counselor. It is embarrassing to have a principal overrule you on discipline. You need to know the school policy on drops during the semester. Some schools do not allow drops during the semester, meaning students cannot quit and you cannot kick them out, but other schools allow it. I prefer a policy that will not allow students to drop during a semester because those situations often can be worked out. When a student can quit at anytime, you are really subject to their daily whims.

Think Long Term
    Leniency might be called for in some cases because of various circumstances in a child’s life. Beginners are the hardest to judge because gauge their dependability level is unknown. Leniency in beginning band or maybe the first year of marching band may give the student time to catch on and blossom into a great band member. I am less lenient with students who have been in the program long enough to know what is expected. I will drop a senior for undependability much quicker than I will a freshman.
    As for sports, you might ponder whether making a student miss his baseball game for a junior high band concert will embitter him so much that he will quit band entirely, and you lose him for good as opposed to just one concert.

Consistency
    I judge every absence on an individual basis. That being said, you need to determine which policies of your program are non-negotiable and be extremely consistent on those. I would  recommend against too many of those, or you will find yourself in corners you won’t like.

Attitude
    It is often tricky to decipher what a child’s attitude is. I had a student a few years ago who was having a hard time adjusting to me as a new director. I could have kicked him out any number of times his freshman year for poor behavior and disrespect, but I figured because he hadn’t quit yet (and he could have) there must be something about band that he liked or needed. In other words, his attitude about band was actually better than I thought, but his behavior was clouding my perspective. By his sophomore year he was one of my favorite students.

Conclusion
   Your ultimate aim, and this may take a while if you are a first-year director or a director in a new position, is to get students and parents to care so much about practices and performances that they take care of all of these matters themselves without bothering you. As unbelievable as it may seem, this type of culture can be established in any band program. Nevertheless, situations will still arise where sound judgment will he required. You never know when the next gerbil will drop.

The post My Gerbil Died appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    The single most important influence in choosing a college is who the private teacher is and whether they have a proven success rate out of their studio. Some college studio teachers have developed a reputation over the years for being excellent teachers. This can also be proven by the sheer number of former students who now sit in professional orchestras and lead prospering band and orchestra programs.
    Encourage your students to schedule a lesson with the teacher at their preferred college during their junior year of high school. This is an opportunity for students to audition the teachers and find out if they could work well together. Because that college teacher was probably instrumental in choosing the college audition repertoire, find out what is on the list, and help your students prepare that music for their trial lesson. Students should also provide the prospective teacher with a repertoire list of pieces they have studied (etudes, solos, and concertos). Make sure that their contact material is on the list so it can be easily filed with their audition papers.
    When students visit the campus for the lesson, suggest that they attend some classes and talk with current students who play the same instrument. Find out how many are double majors and what that other major is. They could also attend concerts while on campus and compare the college ensembles with their high school ensembles. If the college ensembles fall short of their high school’s groups, they may be applying to the wrong school.
    When students are preparing to audition at several schools, encourage them to set up a database with the audition requirements for each school. Then choose audition music that will cover the requirements of the most schools. For example, College A may require contrasting pieces from the Classical and Contemporary era, an etude, orchestral excerpt, and scales. College B might be more specific. In such a case, choose music from the list for College B that satisfies requirements for College A.
    Last but not least, encourage students to consider a music major carefully. There are far fewer jobs available each year than there are players to fill them. An incredible amount of work, focus, and dedication is required to succeed in the musical field, and if they have any doubts about their abilities and commitment, perhaps they should combine their love of music with a double major in a related field so they will have a means of support in the future. This is a double-edged sword; the thinking is that you must commit 200% to the music career in order to succeed, but a double major divides the time available, making it impossible to devote all of your time to one field of study. Students should be encouraged to think honestly and realistically about their chosen field and answer the question, “Do I really have the talent to be successful?”

The post Guiding the Decision appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Dust off the Recorder
    As students begin to progress on the music, use recording assignments to benchmark their progress, establishing in advance on which dates each segment of the music will be recorded. The first assignment should be a recording of the entire etude, so students can go back to this recording three months later and see how far they have come. Be sure to specify tempo and musical goals as appropriate, and consider using achievement levels (such as gold, silver, and bronze) to recognize superior accomplishment. Grade students on both preparation and improvement.

Partner Up
    A major audition can be a good opportunity to create a practice buddy system, which will continue to benefit students throughout the rest of the year. When making practice buddy assignments, match students who are playing at a similar level and whose personalities are a good fit. Encourage practice buddies to meet after school, either in a practice room or in one of their homes. Check in with students periodically to make sure they are meeting with their buddy and keeping each other on course.

Simple Tools, Great Results
    For students who are unable to purchase a tuner or metronome, create a sign-out list to use the band equipment (on school premises). Similarly, ask students if they have a quiet place to practice at home, and provide opportunities for students who lack this resource to sign out practice rooms or the band hall. When possible, use after-school time to listen to students practicing and offer suggestions as appropriate.

Sharpen Those Pencils
    Teach students to mark their music as needed, writing reminders in problem spots that are just big enough that they catch their eye when they play. Too many students like to keep their music in mint condition, but this is a mistake. Show them the markings your make on your music to reinforce that good musicians mark their music freely to avoid repeating mistakes.

Everybody Is Invited
    To encourage students who otherwise might not audition, it is helpful to make portions of the music mandatory for chair placement auditions or challenges. Besides providing a mock audition experience for students who are taking the audition, it engages students who would otherwise avoid this challenging music and ensures that they will receive some of the same benefits of preparing it.

Playing in Rehearsal
    In-class playoffs provide an even more intense attention-getter; nothing puts the students more on the edge of their seats than thinking they will be playing for their peers that day. Give students a few days notice so they have time to practice. Then, each day, draw a name randomly out of a hat, and ask that student to perform. Students work hard to not make fools of themselves, they get practice channeling their nerves, and you get a classroom of well-prepared students.

Masterclasses
    Once students have begun to make headway on the excerpts, invite a professional to perform the music and give a masterclass for the students who play that instrument. Also ask them to prepare some comments for the band or orchestra as a whole about audition preparation strategies and tips for performing under pressure. Even if students have already heard the same thing a hundred times from you and their private teacher, students will take it seriously from someone they perceive as an expert. Prepare a handout for students on audition preparation and provide this to your private teachers so they can reinforce these lessons.

Recognition
    Once the audition has passed, give some significant recognition in front of the full band or orchestra to the students who auditioned. Let students know in advance that the winners are the ones who went for it, not just the ones who made it. These students deserve recognition from the teacher and their peers for their hard work and audacity. Seeing this year’s students rewarded with praise will motivate other students for future years. 

The post All-State Preparation Tactics appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Guidelines for Selecting Music
    Select music that is interesting and imaginative in the development of some or all of its musical elements. The music should provide opportunities for the teaching of musical concepts such as form/construction or style.
    As much as possible, pieces should have interesting individual parts. Students like to play pieces that allow them to be part of the action. Tubists like to play melodies as well as bass lines, and horn players like to play more than offbeats. Choose music that will help each student grow musically and technically.
    Select music that fits the instrumentation of the ensemble. However, if a teacher wants to perform an excellent work but the ensemble is missing a couple essential instruments, as long as a reasonable substitution is available the work should still be considered.
    Select pieces in which the elements of music are integrated and developed creatively and have the potential for evoking feelings and conveying expressive meaning to the students.
    Avoid selecting pieces in which the technical demands are excessive. This creates a need to drill the notes and leaves little time for collaborative music-making. Expressiveness should peak during the concert.
    Select pieces that encompass a variety of styles – contemporary, avant-garde, Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic, jazz, and popular. Variety makes the teaching of history and musical styles possible.
    Select pieces that have a variety of textures ranging from thinly scored passages (solo and small group instrumentation) to those scored for the full ensemble.

Appropriate Decisions
    Although selecting high-quality music is of utmost concern, it is also important that the pieces be appropriate for the skill level of the students and for the environments in which they are to be performed. I consider Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Toccata Marziale to be of greater artistic merit than Take Me Out to the Ball Game. However, the latter is a much better choice to perform at a baseball game. The performance of a piece, even an excellent one, in an inappropriate environment will not increase a player’s or listener’s appreciation of the music.
    Among the pieces selected, some should be familiar and comfortable and others should be new works that challenge students. Almost all pieces provide opportunities for students to develop technical skills and musical knowledge. However, only the study and performance of excellent quality music can provide opportunities for students to discover and feel the expressive power of music.
    Below is a selective list of high-quality works for high school band. The study and performance of any of them will help students develop and expand their technical and expressive music-making skills as well as increase their knowledge, understanding and appreciation of music.

Grade 4
An American Elegy by Frank Ticheli (Manhattan Beach)
Chorale and Alleluia by Howard Hanson (Carl Fischer)
Chorale and Shaker Dance by John Zdechlick (Kjos)
Elegy for a Young American by Ron LoPresti (Theodore Presser)
Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral by Richard Wagner, arranged by Lucien Cailliet (Alfred)
English Folk Song Suite by Ralph Vaughan Williams (Boosey & Hawkes)
Fantasia in G Major by J.S. Bach, arranged by Richard Franko Goldman and Robert L. Liest (Theodore Presser)
First Suite in Eb by Gustav Holst (Boosey & Hawkes)
Irish Tune from County Derry by Percy Grainger (Carl Fischer)
Komm, Süsser Tod by J.S. Bach, arranged by Alfred Reed (Barnhouse)
A Movement for Rosa by Mark Camphouse (TRN)
O Magnum Mysterium by Morten Lauridsen, arranged by H. Robert Reynolds (Peer)
Old Home Days by Charles Ives, arranged by Jonathan Elkus (Peer)
Pageant by Vincent Persichetti (Carl Fischer)
Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo by Malcolm Aronld, arranged by John Paynter (Carl Fischer)
Rest by Frank Ticheli (Manhattan Beach)
Second Suite in F by Gustav Holst (Boosey & Hawkes)
Sheltering Sky by John Mackey (Osti Music)
Shepherd’s Hey by Percy Grainger (Carl Fischer)
Sleep by Eric Whitacre (Walton Music)
Trauermusik by Richard Wagner, arranged by Michael Votta (Ludwig)
Variations on a Korean Folk Song by John Barnes Chance (Boosey & Hawkes)
William Byrd Suite by Gordon Jacob (Boosey & Hawkes)
Ye Banks and Braes O’ Bonnie Doon by Percy Grainger (Hal Leonard)

Grade 5
Armenian Dances by Alfred Reed (Alfred)
Ballad for Band by Morton Gould (Chappell)
Blue Shades by Frank Ticheli (Manhattan Beach)
Canzona by Peter Mennin (Carl Fischer)
Colonial Song by Percy Grainger (Carl Fischer)
Divertimento for Band by Vincent Persichetti (Theodore Presser)
Ecstatic Waters by Steven Bryant (Steven Bryant)
Fanfare and Allegro by Clifton Williams (Alfred)
Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn by  Norman Dello Joio (Marks)
Fiesta del Pacifico by Roger Nixon (Boosey & Hawkes)
Four Scottish Dances by Malcolm Arnold (Carl Fischer)
George Washington Bridge by William Schuman (G. Schirmer)
La Fiesta Mexicana by H. Owen Reed (Belwin)
Music from the Royal Fireworks by G.F. Handel, arranged by Charles MacKerras
New England Tryptich by William Schuman (Theodore Presser)
Overture for Band by Felix Meldelssohn, arranged by John Boyd (Ludwig)
Overture to “Candide” by Leonard Bernstein, arranged by Clare Grundman (Boosey & Hawkes)
Postcard by Frank Ticheli (Manhattan Beach)
Red Line Tango by John Mackey (Osti Music)
Sketches on a Tudor Psalm by Fisher Tull (Boosey & Hawkes)
A Solemn Music by Virgil Thomson (G. Schirmer)
Suite Francaise by Darius Milhaud (MCA)
Suite of Old American Dances by Robert Russell Bennett (Chappell)
Symphony No. 6 for Band by Vincent Persichetti (Elkan-Vogel)
Toccata Marziale by Ralph Vaughan Williams (Boosey & Hawkes)
Variants on a Medieval Tune by  Norman Dello Joio (Marks)
Variations on “America” by Charles Ives, orchestrated by William Schuman, arranged by William E. Rhoads (Merion/Theodore Presser)

Grade 6
…and the mountains rising nowhere by Joseph Schwantner (European-American)
The Apotheosis of this Earth by Karel Husa (G. Schirmer)
Concerto for Wind Ensemble by Karel Husa (G. Schirmer)
Dionysiaques, Op. 62 by Florent Schmitt (Editions Robert Martin)
Emblems by Aaron Copland (Boosey & Hawkes)
Festive Overture by Dmitri Shostakovich, arranged by Donald Hunsberger (G. Schirmer)
Hammersmith by Gustav Holst (Boosey & Hawkes)
The Leaves are Falling by Warren Benson (Hal Leonard)
Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger (Ludwig)
Music for Prague, 1968 by Karel Husa (Associated Music Publishers)
The Passing Bell by Warren Benson (Hal Leonard)
Sinfonietta by Ingolf Dahl (Tetra/ Continuo Music Corp.)
Symphony in Bb by Paul Hindemith (Associated Music Publishers)
Symphony No. 3 by Vittorio Giannini (Belwin Classic Band)
Symphony No. 4 by David Maslanka (Carl Fischer)
Symphony No. 4 “West Point” by Morton Gould (G. Schirmer)
Theme and Variations, Op. 43a by Arnold Schoenberg (G. Schirmer)
Three City Blocks by John Harbison (G. Schirmer)
Vientos y Tangos by Michael Gan-dolfini (Boosey & Hawkes)
Winds of Nagual by Michael Colgrass (Carl Fischer)

    The works band directors select and purchase affect which works are published. If band directors purchase high-quality pieces, publishers will publish high-quality pieces. If they purchase junk-food-quality music, this is what publishers will offer. Publishers are business people; they publish what sells. Publishing music that fails to sell is bad business.
    In a world of popular entertainment, computers, and electronic devices, young people can gradually lose touch with feelings and the emotional reserves they will need in life. The performance, study, and consuming of music of artistic merit can help ensure that young people do not lose touch with their human feelings.
    Playing in a band should be enjoyable and fun experience for students.  However it remains only enjoyable and fun unless they perform something worth performing. The study and performance of music of excellent quality can and will stimulate a student’s emotional and cognitive growth and appreciation and love of music.    

The post Selecting Music for High School Bands appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    To develop a comprehensive percussion program and not just a great drumline, it is essential to work smarter during marching season. When we put the drums up in November, I want my percussionists to pick up xylophone mallets and take off running. The quad drums and the marimba should not be opposing forces. The response and in intensity are different, but the concept of precision and tone quality are still applicable.

Organization
    It is beneficial for me to take a step back every year and reevaluate the entire percussion program. If you are graduating six seniors and you have 12 incoming freshmen it can change the entire dynamic of a group. I like to organize my thoughts and then brainstorm on short- and long-term goals. I wrote out five for this year.
    Understand natural musical phrases and cadences. Although this is important for a drumline, it also has a great transfer of value over to the percussion ensemble music we play in spring.
    Execute a relaxed natural stroke. I want students to get excellent sound production on all instruments without unnecessary tension.
    Become a more cohesive percussion section. Last year the front ensemble and battery had separate warmups, and it was rare for the entire percussion section to get together. There were few opportunities to work as a full unit and talk about big-picture phrasing.
    Focus on low-end dynamics. The aim is to have a good sound, lower at mezzo piano or softer. This takes precise rhythmic execution at lower stick heights.
    Improve ensemble listening skills. This includes full-section work with a metronome both inside and out.
    After discussing these with the staff and even some of the student leaders, I center everything I do around these goals. This includes the repertoire I choose and how I write the percussion book. It also factors into staff decisions. If I hire more staff, it is essential to consider whether I should look for people who work well with inexperienced players or people who have experience working at a high level of execution.

Optimization
    Every time we rehearse, every rep we execute and every warmup we play should relate as much as possible to everything else we do. I have not played the traditional eight on a hand in at least ten or fifteen years; it is a stale exercise that generates no mental stimulus from the students. Many students can carry on a full conversation while playing eight on a hand because the phrasing is so easy.
    A good alternative is to mix up the integers. Something like 8-8-7-9-8-7-9-8 still ends evenly but forces students to keep track every measure. It warms up both the body and the mind.
    I work with all age groups, so I have developed tiers of warmups, which I label from A-F. An A-tier warmup, geared toward sixth graders, might simply be an eighth-note exercise they can work toward playing at a high level at varying tempos. Up a step, B-tier exercises, might incorporate bass drum splits (a separate part for each bass players) or tenor rounds (playing in a pattern around the tenors). C-tier starts introduce counterpoints and accent variation. A good example might be to have students add accents on the first and fifth eighth notes of every measure, which forces them to think harder about any sevens or nines I throw into eight-on-a-hand variations.
    D-tier consists not only of single-hand work but also hand-to-hand exercises, such as sixteenth notes and triplets. To further increase difficulty, warmups could include rim shots and stick clicks. Depending on the group’s ability we can further extend the mental intensity of any warmup, or, if the group is inexperienced, we can limit things to A- and B-tier exercises.
    Tiers can be combined. Right now, I have a killer bass line, but my snare drums are young and my quads are mid level. Thus, my quads are playing tier B, my bass drums are playing tier C, and my snares are playing tier A. This is good guidance for writing parts for warmups. It all works out musically and gives each section appropriate challenges.
    One of the places I teach is Baylor University. At the college level, there is limited time for section warmups when the band has to learn a show in two days. To make the most of the limited time I have, I write a warmup sequence that runs 21⁄2-3 minutes and covers as much as possible. It starts with unison eighth notes, then goes into a double beat pattern for practicing diddles.

    This is followed by accent tap variations and rolls. By the end, students have physically and mentally warmed up everything they can without using much time.
    I like running everything together because the average repetition of an exercise lasts roughly 12 seconds, but I have never played a movement of a marching show that was this short. During a marching show, everyone plays for anywhere from two to eight minutes without stopping, meaning students have to stay engaged for that long. If this is the length of a performance, then we do students no favors by playing for 12 seconds followed by a break. Part of matching warmups with performance is building mental endurance. If a show tune runs two minutes, there is no reason a warmup cannot last that long.

Planning the Week
    Optimization also includes planning the entire high school percussion program, not just the drumline. Marching band music and concert band music should be viewed as tools to help one another. What happens in fall should support what happens in spring, and vice versa.
    I see percussionists daily, and to avoid burnout I diversify my weekly daily schedule to give students some opportunities to step back let yesterday’s material soak in a little deeper while still keeping them engaged and learning. We still working on musical phrases and low-end dynamics, but we do so on something other than marching drums.
    My week at my high school starts with what I call Masterclass Monday. There is no marching band work on Monday. We cover one concert band percussion instrument at a time in depth and apply it to other instruments when possible. For timpani, I point out the use of posture and horizontal and vertical movement and how that can be used with the quads.
    Technique Tuesday can be anything from having students grab practice pads and work on double beats to learning to play congas and djembes to four-mallet grips. There is a marching rehearsal Tuesday morning, and the point we are at in the season does dictate our instrument choice sometimes.
    Wednesday morning there is another marching rehearsal, and during class students break into sectionals. If one part fo the drumline has learned all of the music and cadences, they can get down to the nitty gritty of cleaning and working out details. A struggling section can practice things slowly. With six or seven divisions I rely a lot on outside staff or student leadership. This is an important culture to establish in any program.
    Thursday is for full ensemble work. It is no coincidence that this comes after a day of technique and a day of sectionals. Thursday we put the big picture together.
    The last school day of the week is called Finalize Friday. We iron out details, talk through the details and logistics of any weekend activities. Ideally we are prepared to the point that Friday can be slightly more relaxed.

Avoiding Burnout
    I have a background in hand drums and drum circles. If my drumline students are not listening well to each other or the metronome, instead of just beating things into the ground with battery instruments, I take a day to have students pick up djembes, congas, and doumbeks and talk about rhythm. Students think it is fresh and that they are really learning about the djembe, but really we are focusing on listening skills. We play games that promote focused listening to individuals and listening skills across the ensemble. It is fun, it is fresh, and everything we do with the hand drums covers listening skills.
    One game I like most is called Conversation. Everybody gets in a circle. I start out as leader so I can facilitate the game. I make eye contact with an individual and play a pattern. The student I look at has to play the same pattern. I move to the next student and play a different pattern. The catch to the game is that three flams in a row is the magic word. If I play three flams, everyone must respond, which means students have to stay engaged. A student who fails to respond is eliminated. The objective of the leader is to eliminate everyone. It becomes quite competitive. To add a dimension to the game, students can be given the freedom to respond however they like. This means that students can also invoke the magic word, forcing everyone to respond. The last student standing becomes the new leader. They enjoy getting each other out.

Unity
    Unity refers to musical style. If warmups come from one person, the cadence a second, and the show music a third, it can cause difficulty for students. All the writers and arrangers may be outstanding percussionists, but differences in writing style or notation – even something like one person writing stickings in upper case and another in lower case – can slow students down. Diversity is good, but committing to one style during marching season makes rehearsals more efficient. The quads don’t need half their music written on the lines and half on the spaces. Unity of style alleviates questions.

Excellence in Everything
    The culture I work to build with my percussionists is that we do not look down upon any particular thing we do as a drumline. We play in the stands at football games, have pep rallies at least once a week, and rehearse for 15 hours a week. I make a bigger than normal deal about achieving excellence in every component of what we do, because little things will add up to be big things. If we treat a pep rally as unimportant and play poorly, we are practicing bad habits. Eventually these things build up and trickle into marching and concert band performances. Even if the activity of the day is a sendoff for a state-bound team, it is important to use good technique, tone, and musicality to promote good habits and muscle memory.    

The post Percussion Clinic: Optimizing Percussion appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    As musicians, we know that practice is critical to excellent performance. A good musician would never go into a performance without thoroughly preparing by studying and practicing. This concept holds true for most things in life, including teaching. The more we practice anything, the better we get at it.
    Teacher preparation programs across the country include three basic elements – coursework, pre-intern observation, and an internship, also known as student teaching. There is considerable focus on coursework and the internship, but often the pre-intern observation receives less emphasis than it deserves. Pre-intern experiences can be the practice that makes all the difference. There is often too little teaching practice prior to a student’s internship and first job.
    For a long time, the standard approach has been to require forty hours of observation in a classroom prior student teaching. However, there has often been little guidance about how to use this time. The experience can range from no instruction other than “find a school and observe” to a specific assignment at a school to observe a particular teacher, including instructions for what and how to observe. Depending on the teacher, the student might not get an opportunity to try teaching in this setting before student teaching.
    Approximately 25 years ago, Richard O’Hearn, a former Director of the School of Music and Professor of Music Education at Western Michigan University, worked with the College of Education to implement a new approach to the pre-intern experience for music education students. As a result, our music school faculty oversees the 40 hours of observation for all music education students. This means that all of our students do their observation in music classrooms with our guidance.
    O’Hearn reworked the curriculum so all music education methods classes meet from 8-10:50am on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This allowed these classes to cover academic work and travel to local schools for observation and initial teaching experiences. In all of our methods classes, students practice teaching with real students and get feedback to help them improve and nearly all of this happens during class time. O’Hearn recognized that feedback from a seasoned teacher required that students be observed and video-recorded while they taught.
    He also implemented a wonderful activity to help prepare students for what they will face in the classroom. We lovingly call it Skunk Band. At the beginning of the fall semester, before taking students out into the local schools, we collect data from students in our Instrumental Methods I class (fall semester of the junior year), asking what instrument pedagogy classes they have taken and what teaching experiences they have had. Some have taught private lessons or band camps.
    Then we assign each of them an instrument on which they have little or no experience (either flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, trombone, or percussion), give them a method book, and form a beginning band. Each student is assigned a line in the method book and takes a turn teaching the group in a three- to five-minute period. They are responsible for making sure that students improve in their ability to play the line, but also perform the basics (posture, breath support, embouchure, and fingering) correctly.
    In addition, to prepare them for classroom management, we distribute two to four notecards to students playing in the group that instruct them to act inappropriately in a specific way (e.g. asking a lot of questions or arguing with a neighbor) until they are appropriately corrected. Each student teaches the Skunk Band three times and after each time we discuss what happened as a class, they get individual feedback from a professor or a graduate assistant, and they watch and critique the video of their teaching. The students come away from this exercise with improved analytical skill, seeing both what went well and what they need to improve. By their third time up, the students are beginning to get comfortable with the dynamics of a real classroom.
    To prepare for Skunk Band, we review basic instrument pedagogy and work on how to prepare for teaching a lesson. The preparation for teaching is really important. We begin with an exercise that asks students to write down a recipe for making the first sound on their instrument. They must give the recipe and their instrument to someone who does not play an instrument and ask them to try it with no feedback or reaction, only the paper. If it doesn’t work, then they must revise it and test it with new people until it does.
    This reminds students how much we teach by example or demonstration while also helping them to sequence instruction appropriately. With these experiences, students improve their lesson planning as they move into the pre-intern phase. They have three semesters of practicum during Methods classes where they work with students, and we never allow students to teach unless they have a viable lesson plan that demonstrates an understanding of the situation, have an appropriate objective, and have put together logical steps to achieve and test that objective.
    We work to balance preparation and practice so students are comfortable being in front of a group and teaching before they reach their student teaching. The internship should be similar to a masterclass in which a seasoned teacher assists and coaches a performer or teacher who is ready to perform on their own but can benefit from some time to hone their skills.
    Over the years, I have sought out considerable feedback about our process from our graduates. One of the most common things that I hear was recently reiterated by David Hepinstall (2010 WMU Grad) who teaches at Plainwell High School in Plainwell, Michigan, “Skunk Band is real.” He also indicated that the situations were more concentrated in the Skunk Band experience than what he experienced in actual teaching. In the Skunk Band experience, there may be three or four classroom management issues in a five-minute lesson while Hepinstall may have only had one in a day.
    On the other hand, Mark Stice (1998 WMU Grad) who teaches at Okemos High School in Michigan recalls thinking that “‘none of this will happen in a real teaching situation.’ I learned quickly that many incidents from during Skunk Band not only happened, but were tame compared to what I really encountered while teaching.” When asked what were the most important things that he learned from the Skunk Band experience, Stice said, “Expect the unexpected. Don’t overreact. Understand the point of view of the student [and] maintain control of yourself before managing the classroom.”
    Jim VanEizenga (2011 WMU Grad), Director of Orchestras at Novi High School in Michigan stated, “Probably the single most important thing I learned in Skunk Band was simple classroom management – more playing, less talking. If the students are playing, they have less chance of doing things they shouldn’t be. I also learned how valuable proximity can be in effective classroom management and that sometimes it is more effective not to be on the podium. During Skunk Band I also learned to phrase instructions as clearly and concisely as possible, again so that I am talking less and the students are playing more.” In addition, VanEizenga noted, “My strongest memories of Practicum/Pre-internship Fieldwork stem from the experiences I had teaching elementary music and middle school band. Both of these experiences took me outside of my comfort zone of strings and into an area I was not good at (general music) and an area where as an instrumentalist I was comfortable, but unfamiliar. Both of these experiences really helped me to think through my lessons.”
    It is interesting and rewarding that our current students see a connection between their Skunk Band experience and their pre-intern work even though they don’t have the benefit of career experience. Christopher Fosnot (currently a WMU senior) commented that “in the two semesters of pre-intern teaching I participated in during the Methods program, I witnessed a number of events similar to Skunk Band. From playing the clarinet while chewing gum to putting together a horn the wrong way, I noticed quite a few things that we had gone over in Skunk Band.” Stephanie Wilcox (currently a WMU senior) commented, “As a pre-intern I discovered Skunk band is real. Skunk band equipped me to be acutely aware of my students and to analyze how the students are responding. Because of this awareness I could respond quickly to situation practiced in the Skunk Band setting, in the real life classroom.” She also noted that “Skunk Band taught me to predict behaviors before they happen, and come up with a plan to handle them before they even happen. This made me confident as a teacher.”
    When asked to describe the connection between Skunk Band and Practicum, Nick Voyt (currently a WMU senior) noted, “I think that Practicum was the most helpful out of the two [Skunk Band and Practicum], only because it gave me the chance to get in front of real kids and see how they reacted to me and my teaching. It was really good to get that constant feedback from them.” Wilcox added, “My strongest memory of practicum was being able to reflect on my teaching with my mentor teachers and professors, as well as reflecting on my videos. I was able to excel so much as a teacher with the instruction and constructive criticism I received.”
    Joanna (Bozin) VanEizenga (2011 WMU Grad), who teaches K-5 Strings at Detroit Country Day School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan indicated that “learning to write and implement lesson plans is one of the most essential skills learned in Practicum. When I taught at an elementary school in Kalamazoo, we had to submit all lesson plans for the week before school started each Monday. More importantly, the bulk of teaching is deciding what to teach and how to teach it every day. In Practicum, we were required not only to write out our lesson plans and multiple contingency plans for when things didn’t go as planned, but to have the sequence of each lesson internalized and memorized before interacting with students. While I do not write detailed lesson plans very often now, I do write short outlines and think through how I will teach each lesson and how I can respond flexibly to what might actually happen in my classroom.”
    Bryan VanToll (2009 WMU Grad), Band Director at Three Rivers Middle School and High School in Three Rivers, Michigan said, “I learned that teachers are not as observant as we give ourselves credit for. While participating in Skunk Band, we were encouraged to misbehave. I learned quickly just how easily teachers can get wrapped up in our objective and our goal, and miss the big picture of what’s happening in your room. As a more experienced teacher, I now think of this as ‘taking the temperature of the room,’ where I will frequently stop my train of thought and simply observe the mood and feeling of the classroom. This really helps me to be more observant, as well as more relevant to where students are by connecting with how they’re feeling.”
    Jim VanEizenga summed up the thoughts of numerous others by saying, “I think teaching, like most things in music, is best learned through doing. Being able to have even the shortest amount of time in front of students (or colleagues acting like students) was the most helpful. Being able to try different teaching techniques and figuring out what worked and what didn’t in a safe environment was so beneficial. When I got my teaching position, I already had a few skills that I knew would work while I was getting acclimated to new students.”
    These are just a few of the reflections of students and grads that indicate the value of solid academic study coupled with real teaching experiences in preparation for teaching music. Our College of Education and Human Development at WMU often talks about “preparing reflective practitioners,” a concept I like. It requires us to consider what we are doing and not fall into a pattern of day-to-day teaching that is not examined with a critical eye for best practice and optimal outcomes. Preparation and assessment are as important as teaching. We must always work hard to build our skill and knowledge and then seek out as many experiences as we can to employ that knowledge and practice those skills, both as a student and as a professional life-long learner. That preparation and those opportunities can be found in any situation. Sometimes it is provided. Sometimes we make it happen for ourselves. As good musicians, we know what to do and the benefits of doing it. We simply need to transfer the process from musician to music teacher and the same amazing outcomes will occur. 

The post Lessons from Skunk Band, Improving Preparation for Student Teaching appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    Rhythm is one of the most frequently missed elements during sightreading, so finding a way to improve understanding is paramount. There are numerous methods for teaching rhythm, but finding a method that teaches students how to count rhythms independently and can be quickly incorporated into warmups has been more difficult. In 2005 I worked with Chicago-area middle school students to measure the effectiveness a visual system had in aiding rhythm reading and improving sightreading. The effectiveness of this system, known as the Dot System, showed heightened results when used versus other students who did not employ this method.

Understanding the Dot System
    The Dot System uses the smallest subdivision necessary for most rhythmic patterns – the sixteenth note. The system pairs with any rhythm-syllable method and provides students the opportunity to analyze rhythm patterns independently by assigning dots to each note in a given rhythm. After assigning the dots, students can then transfer the correct syllables that relate to the pattern. The system also helps students by displaying each note’s duration compared to other notes. While the understanding of proportions through the assigning of dots is not completely necessary, having this information may assist the students who best understand abstract concepts through visual aids.

Using the System in Rehearsal
    To begin, I always ask students, “How many sixteenth notes does this note receive?” From their answer I will then assign the appropriate number of dots (sixteenth notes) to each note. Sixteenth notes get one dot, eighth notes get two, quarter notes four, half notes eight and whole notes 16.
    After students answer, I will then assign the correct number of dots above the rhythmic figure. To assist students with accounting for the correct number of sixteenth notes, I will often limit the number of dots each note receives to four per line (which may assist with further defining the quarter note pulse). For example, a half-note would receive eight dots, representing eight sixteenth notes. If notated without a break, it might clutter the remaining rhythm analysis and make it difficult for students to know whether they counted the note value accurately. Instead, limiting the number of dots to four makes it more readable and allows for the student to confirm accuracy:

    The following example shows how to employ the Dot System in everyday warmup and rehearsal.

    The first step is to ask the students, “How many sixteenth notes does each note receive?” After each note, the director would notate the rhythm as:

    To check answers, use simple multiplication of the two numbers in the time signature to confirm the correct number of dots in each measure. Four times four is sixteen (students should be the ones to answer this), so in 4/4 time, there should be 16 dots, one for each sixteenth note. A 3/4 measure will have 12 dots. Confirming the number of sixteenth notes using this method works only with time signatures where the quarter note is the pulse. It is recommended that the director use rhythms in these time signatures first before exploring time signatures in which the pulse is something other than the quarter note.
    A student who has difficulty understanding rhythm as an abstract concept may find the visualization that the first note (the half note) receives twice as many dots as the next note (the quarter note) and the last two notes receive half as many dots as the quarter note.
    Once dots are assigned, the director should circle the first dot in each set.

From this the ensemble can move to the counting system they already use. Circling the first dot in each set shows which syllables to articulate. The example below shows every syllable with the omitted syllables for analysis faded and in smaller font.

This can be a helpful transitional step for students to see if needed, but I usually just write the syllables that are to be articulated on the board.

It is ideal for students to know where in the rhythm the pulse occurs. If a pulse is part of a held note, I include it in parentheses and underlined, indicating that it is not to be rearticulated. If there are rests in a measure, I notate them in parentheses but without the value underlined.

    Having the analysis and visualization of rhythmic proportions represented by the dots might assist students in becoming stronger rhythm readers. The ability to write down the rhythmic analysis will not increase proficiency at performing a rhythm, but it does give students a second tool to add to a familiar counting syllable system.

Application
    There are several practical uses for the Dot System in rehearsal. As students enter the rehearsal hall have them take out a notebook, copy a rhythm from the board, and analyze it. I start the year with simple rhythms and work toward more difficult ones as the year progresses. The rhythm presented can be from the literature being rehearsed or one constructed by the director. Before taking the podium, I ask for a student volunteer to announce the analysis both above (dots) and below (syllables) the given rhythm. If correct, I then have the ensemble perform a scale with the rhythm of the day played in its entirety on each pitch ascending and descending.
    On the day of a football game, I often limited playing time during the school day so students’ chops were functional that evening. One activity we did those days was to play stump the band director. Students selected a classmate to construct a rhythm. My responsibility was not only to analyze the given rhythm, but also to perform the rhythm in a key of the student’s choosing on my trombone. The only rule that I implemented was that the rhythm I was given had to fit the time signature correctly. Students would receive a prize if I was unable to analyze the rhythm accurately within 30 seconds, I could not perform the rhythm correctly after have one minute to practice, or the student who provided the rhythm could accurately perform it in a key of my choosing. While the prizes ranged from receiving a small trinket to being able to select a stand tune to conduct later that evening at the game, the joy for most of the students was to stump the band director. Needless to say some of the rhythms became very demanding and quite creative:

    As the ensemble director, it was encouraging that my students were able to develop their skills to analyze rhythms of this magnitude. In all honesty, it challenged me as their director and as a musician to perform such rhythms.

Ties and Dotted Rhythms
    Ties and dotted rhythms are treated the same as notes that are longer than a quarter note. In the following rhythm, the analysis would be given as:

Of particular interest is the dotted quarter note in the above example. Similar to the rationale of splitting the dots of note values greater than a quarter note, accounting for a dotted rhythm by having the dots above the primary note helps students realize that they have accounted for the note and its dot. The same can be done with a dotted eighth note:

Triple Meter
    Rhythms in triple meter can be analyzed similarly to those in duple meter. What might be different is the director’s choice of syllables. The following rhythm in 9/8 time shows one possibility when using the syllables 1 ta la ta li ta. (six sixteenth notes per dotted-quarter note pulse):

    The ability to read, understand, and perform rhythm is extremely important. As students begin to grasp the concept of using the Dot System, they will be capable of analyzing more difficult rhythms. Although this acquired skill will be helpful, the ability to play more difficult rhythms only becomes obtainable with practice.   

The post The Dot System, A Visual Rhythm Reading Aid appeared first on The Instrumentalist.