Comet – it tastes like gasoline.
    Comet – it makes your mouth turn
    green.
    Comet – it makes you vomit,
    So buy some Comet, and vomit,
    today!

    Of course, I first started performing marches when I joined beginning band and then continued playing them for concerts throughout my formative years. It’s hard to believe that marches were once popular enough to play at football games, but I know the practice was fading fast in the late-1970s when I was in high school. As a director in 1993, I tried playing Sousa’s Liberty Bell March at a football game once, but I could imagine Sousa raising his eyebrows at the less than enthusiastic response from the student body. Playing it during the same quarter as The Locomotion was like mixing oil and water. I decided to leave march-playing at football games to schools like Texas A&M. After the Liberty Bell experiment, I didn’t hear a march at a football game until I attended an Aggie home game three years ago. Their performance of Strategic Air Command by Clifton Williams threw me into such a state of delightful disorientation that I choked on my popcorn.
    As you might imagine, selecting a march or two each year has been somewhat traumatic for me, particularly because I don’t like repeating tunes. Selecting marches for younger bands is even more difficult. With easy and medium-easy level marches for young bands, I have two overriding principles – the music must sound more difficult than it is, and it absolutely cannot be clunky or cheesy. Here are my all-time favorites in order of preference. Recordings and copies of these marches are readily available except where noted.
    Command March by John Edmondson. I love the trilling and thrilling obbligato flute part in this one.
    His Honor by Henry Fillmore, arr. by Andrew Balent. The middle-school level flourishing of the flutes and first clarinets makes this a winner in my book.
    Americans We by Henry Fillmore, arr. by Andrew Balent. This is another faithful adaptation for young bands. Good solid attacks and open, clear tones on repeated eighth notes are a must on this one, particularly in the low brass.
    Noble Heritage by David Shaffer. This is an oldie, but goodie. I don’t think this one has made the rounds as much as it deserves. It is now published as an Archive Edition. That makes me feel old as I directed the piece when it was first published.
    On the Mall by Edwin Goldman, arr. by Andrew Balent. Unfortunately, this one is out-of-print but is worth seeking out online.
    Winchester March by John Edmondson. Musically pleasing like Edmondson’s Command March, it has a nice flute and clarinet countermelody and a grandioso section for contrast.
    Newcastle March by Johnnie Vinson. This classic march is great from beginning to end. Vinson includes a very nice section contrasting the woodwinds and brass.
    Colonel Bogey March by Kenneth Alford, arr. Mark Williams is a great arrangement of this classic. (Don’t teach the kids the words to the Comet jingle. You’re bound to regret it.)
    Military Escort by Harold Bennett (Henry Fillmore), arr. by Andrew Balent. I told you I liked Henry Fillmore. This one is a little trickier than the previous two Fillmore marches that I recommended, this music needs solid trumpet players for the introduction and tonally-strong trombones and baritones for an extended melody.
    A Galop to End All Galops by Warren Barker is another oldie but goodie. You can find a recording of this one on YouTube.
    Lassus Trombone, by Henry Fillmore, arr. by Larry Clark provides a medium-easy, catchy version of this classic.
    Infernal Galop by Jacques Offenbach, arr. by Evan VanDoren. This light classic, also known as Can Can from the dance associated with it, is slightly cheesy in my book (mainly due to mental images of high-kicking dancers) but not enough to keep it off my list. This is an imaginative arrangement that requires a proficient keyboard player.
   Grand Galop by Johnnie Vinson. There is nothing like a good galop to close a concert.
   Mad Dash by Timothy Loest. A catchy circus galop in the style of Karl King.
   New Forest March by Johnnie Vinson offers a British-style march with similarities to Vinson’s Newcastle March.
    Zia! Zia! by Claude T. Smith. Even though this is not typical of Smith’s output (no 7/8 measures), this is a great way to introduce your students to the works of a composer who was very popular earlier in my career. A Spanish march, Zia! Zia! has the colors and percussion you expect in this genre with just a sprinkle of Smith-like harmonization.
    Courage March by Harold Bennett (Henry Fillmore), arr. by Nick Contorno. Good trombones and euphoniums are needed for the important counter melodies throughout the piece.

The post Marches and Me appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

(Rebecca was so recharged after camp that she agreed to conduct our lead interview for this issue. You can see the result starting on page 8.)

An Open Letter to My Director
    First, let me express my gratitude for all the great years I have enjoyed playing music with you. We have played some great concerts together, and audiences loved the music we presented. Maybe a few times I saw tears shed when we were lucky to reach them on an emotional level.
    It is these musical selections I wish to discuss with you today. We used to play such inspired music. We played pieces by the masters of classical music, Mozart, Rossini, Von Suppe and Beethoven. We played marches by the likes of Henry Fillmore, Karl King, Ken C. Wood and John Philip Sousa. Music that was without a question inspired by a Divine source. Music that  there was no question that we had encountered something special, something that spoke to our very being. I sincerely miss that music.
    Lately, we have abandoned those time-honored favorites to make way for the new music from new composers. Do not get me wrong. I am not totally against the new stuff, but, why do we have to abandon the old classics, the music that I and so many like me love. This older music is like an old friend that I long to see just one more time. This is the music that changed my life and elevated me to a much better place.
    Why must I think every time I listen to one of my great friends, “there is a piece of music I will never play again”. It started off that I would say that just as a joke, but there is an awful lot of truth to these words.
    I write this letter not for myself, but for future generations. I was having a conversation with a young friend who is a music student. While we were listening to a great masterpiece by Carl Friedemann, I was lamenting the fact that these pieces are no longer played. His words to me were that what was happening was wrong, that he had never heard of this piece of music, and he liked it. I realized that I have a responsibility to introduce anybody that will listen to my friends.
    A good friend once said to me, “There are only two kinds of music, music that was truly inspired and will touch your very soul and that will span the test of time and music that was scribbled down to pay the rent or to get a grade on a test.” Going forward we must find the [new] inspired music yes, but let’s not abandon old friends that mean so much to us.
– An inspired band member longing for inspired music

Note: letters may be slightly edited for length.

The post From Our Readers appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    My first experience with implicit biases was at six years old. A white friend of mine sat across from me on the bus and said, “I’m not supposed to like black people, but it’s OK… my mom said that you’re not like black. You’re just Jerry.” At the tender age of six I was left trying to figure out what that meant.
    The first movie I remember on network TV with a black person was about a teenage high school basketball phenom who made his way through school without ever learning how to read. His hand was forced when chemicals fell into his little brother’s eyes, and he was unable to help because he couldn’t read the label on the bottle. I was already aware and confused by the constant portrayal of black men as athletes, entertainers, criminals, or slaves; examples like Roots, Basketball Jones, The Toy, Mississippi Burning, or especially the evening news. Through conversations with my parents about the challenges of being black in America, and countless other modes of conditioning, my self image was already affected by the biases I observed. I concluded early on that I was going to have a helluva time in this world unless I learned how to play basketball like Michael Jordan, break dance, sing, rap, or fix computers like my dad. I loved playing on computers, but hated fixing them, so I made beats and played a lot of basketball.
    In school it was no different. There was a constant onslaught of demoralizing microaggressions and countless misconceptions. As the only black student in many classes, I often heard comments like, “No way – I don’t believe you. You’re black, and black people don’t like that!” I hated the look of surprise from teachers when I got answers correct in class. I went to the library and found no relief there. My only choices for examples of black excellence were Rosa Parks, Dr. King, and Chicago sports heroes.
    I joined band in fifth grade as a saxophonist but was already well on my way musically because of my background in gospel music and early work as a songwriter. For the next eight years I was always one of two or three students with black or brown skin. I can recall vividly the feeling of needing to be accepted into something that wasn’t necessarily meant for me. I was aware of needing some sort of approval or admission into a culture that wasn’t built with people like me in mind. Most importantly, I never felt like I was reflected in the music we studied – or in my learning experience as a whole.
    Only when I got to high school did I have someone help me find my own voice. Kevin Miller was the first person who made me feel like I had a place in his program and in the school – not as Jerry Lowrey the exception to the rule or spokesperson for every black person who ever lived – but as a young African American boy growing up in this crazy place called America.
    He expected more of me while many expected less. He told me to audition to be a drum major, join his jazz band, and often showed me his classes were better for everyone because I was a part of them. He asked me to bring in records so he could check them out, and he’d talk us through music that brought about clear images of the black experience in America. Most importantly, as his student I knew he wasn’t color blind, and he didn’t allow the implicit biases that we all have to shape his decisions about my experience with him.
    Now I am an educator working to have the same influence. When thinking of equity, start by taking inventory of position and perspective. The time is now and the stakes are at their highest. You are the trusted adult, shaping the future through your students. A teacher’s influence can last a lifetime – and this is even more so in a music classroom. You will teach them for anywhere from 2 to 12 years. Within that time, they will always learn more from what you do than what you say.
    Just as performing can induce anxiety and uncertainty, conversations about race, racism, and implicit bias, are also uncomfortable for everyone. The discomfort never goes away, but you need to learn to sit with that discomfort. That skill is vital because there is no growth without discomfort. So reflect on the following:

    •    Follow the four agreements.
    •    Stay engaged.
    •    Be present.
    •    If you can’t be present, ask yourself why.
    •    Experience discomfort.
    •    Identify your own implicit bias even though it is difficult. The only one holding you responsible is you.
    •    Expect and accept a lack of closure.
    •    This goes for anything and everything. The work never ends.
    •    Speak your truth.
    •    Keep it personal, local, immediate. Think in terms of I statements.

    When preparing a presentation on this vital topic at the 2022 Illinois Music Education Conference, Meredith McGuire and I decided to focus on two types of implicit biases, introduce them, and provide ideas on how to disallow their influence on teaching. The two types are racial appearance bias and seeing (and teaching) through a narrow lens.
    I learned how to play and create music before I learned it as a discipline or a study. So let’s approach implicit biases the same way. Walk into a classroom – any classroom, but preferably a class of students that you don’t know very well. You can even Google a classroom portrait. Pretend this is your class, reflect on what you see, and then ask yourself the questions below. Don’t answer anything vocally, just appreciate that an answer came to mind. Simply listen, think, and reflect.

    •    You have never worked with these students before and you are being observed. You want to ask a question about key signatures. Which student can you count on to get the answer right?
    •    Which one looks like a nice kid?
    •    Who plays the flute?
    •    Which student would you feel most uncomfortable confronting about misbehavior?
    •    Who has the most attitude?
    •    Which student is going to make it to All State?
    •    Which student do you have the least in common with?
    •    Which student do you have the most in common with?

    When finished, take a moment to reflect and embrace it. You have racial and appearance implicit bias – we all do. It is a subconscious process created by our need to label and generalize the human experiences. Identifying and appreciating it is the first step. Next is progression and forward momentum. Being somewhere is fine and acceptable, staying there is another story.
    There are two sides to equity in education. As a process, equity is allowing students to have a voice – specifically those who have been impacted by the inequity within the education system. As an outcome, equity is when everyone has what they need to thrive. Through the lens of our students, equity is achieved when all students have a say and are heard and reflected. It is achieved when educators acknowledge and account for past and current inequities. Simply, we own it, we take responsibility for it, and we have the willingness to move forward to make a change.
    Go back to the classroom observation exercise discussed earlier. The following are some practical ways to counteract implicit racial bias based on appearance.
    Create opportunities that provide students chances to express their individual backgrounds and cultures in a meaningful way. If you can’t or won’t, then ask yourself why. Your program should always be built with the needs of the students above the needs of the program. Make room and don’t look back.
    In 2020 at the height of the pandemic, our students embarked on a unit about individuality and humanity. This was tied to a project in which students submitted works of art and expression that celebrated their individuality. Students provided dance routines, poetry, vocal and instrumental solos, and artwork. The slideshows and videos became a part of our concert experience. Students expressed huge amounts of gratitude for the opportunity. More importantly, we all learned much about each other. This resulted in a deeper level of understanding and empathy. This is just one of many ideas.
    Walk into your classroom every day with awareness. Awareness isn’t the first step, it’s every step. If you are constantly aware of your implicit biases, your actions will benefit students in positive ways. Next, take it a step further. When choosing musical examples to share with students, be consciously aware of the impact it may have on their implicit biases.
    Seeing and teaching through a narrow lens is the second bias to discuss. To appreciate it, chat with a colleague or reflect on the music you have performed with your students in the last couple of years. Think of as many songs as you can, the composers and arrangers, the reasoning for selecting them. What you will find is unmistakable. When providing music listening examples or choosing music to perform, we prioritize that which we are comfortable with, familiar with, or enjoy. The result is an experience that becomes music through the teachers’ lens, and not a true reflection of the students.
    A memorable example of this happened when I was in college. During class, my college professor told us that the most influential moment in American music history was when Bob Dylan switched to electric guitar. A remarkable moment indeed, but clearly you can see that this is a statement skewed by personal bias. More importantly, he was not aware of the impact his words might have had on our implicit biases.
    There are countless voices that have contributed mightily to the music that we hear and conduct every day. A narrow lens prevents us from integrating different voices and faces into our instruction and class environment. Reflection on these next questions will help counteract this particular bias.
    •    Which of your students did that repertoire serve and how do you know?
    •    Is your primary objective to serve your curriculum or your students?
    •    How often do you allow student voice when selecting repertoire?

    As you move forward as an educator, and embrace your importance in every student’s life and growth. Teach with intention and with these thoughts in mind:
 
Vulnerability is not an emotion, it is a conduit.
    We ask students to be vulnerable every day. We ask them to take the risks, to speak up for themselves, to put things aside for the sake of the group. We demand that they continue to grow through practice, self-evaluation and responsiveness. Are you doing the same in every aspect of teaching?

Live in the discomfort.
    Teaching is a linear and repetitive profession. The discomfort comes as you tweak your approaches and take a break from the safe and familiar. We must do this for our students and continually adapt our approach to meet all of their ever-changing needs. For just like the repetition of the drum circles of my African ancestors, the beauty in that repetition is that something is slightly different every time around.

Choose composers, compositions, and concert themes with intention.
    Use listening journals and be thoughtful in your score selection, musical examples, and classroom activities. Talk to students and seek deeper levels of understanding. Go beyond questions about sports or other activities. Learn from them. If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, call their parents. Building empathy and understanding begins with the courage to reach out.

Lastly, reflect early and often, be consistent with your intention, and create a safe space for all students.
    We must continue to grow and challenge ourselves.

    In closing, this mission is a reflection of my upbringing, and my perspective as a father of two beautiful bi-racial boys who are now experiencing the same biases I did. I am aware that the stakes are higher than ever. This is the reasoning for the work Meredith McGuire and I are doing. Reflect on our current climate. I see a nation on the brink – a country teetering and struggling between what it wants to be and what it actually is. I see disconnect more than ever. We have forgotten how to have real dialogue, brutally honest dialogue without ego or fear of being wrong, targeted dialogue without judgment, or dialogue that embraces issues and follows them with actionable, measurable steps.
    We as music educators must have these conversations. Remember, before we demand justice in this world, we must discipline ourselves in the reshaping of our own minds. Recognizing and unraveling implicit biases in the classroom is the first step to creating a music education that reflects and benefits all students.     

The post Hearing Every Voice appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Headjoint Only
    The goal is to teach students how to make a beautiful sound, how to tongue and how to vibrate. Use the headjoint only for this class. When playing on the headjoint, have students hold the headjoint with the thumbs and index fingers at the crown end and tenon end. Be sure that the left-hand fingers do not block the air stream coming from the embouchure hole.

Shopping List
    You will need soda straws, twist and tie plastic storage bags, a pinwheel, a cleaning rod with a cork placement marker on one end, a tuner, and a cork insertion tool. This tool can be purchased from J.L. Smith in Charlotte, North Carolina or you can make one by drilling a small hole in the center of a round 1/2"x12" dowel rod.

Checking The Cork
    For the best intonation, each student’s headjoint cork should be checked for proper placement. To save time in the masterclass, you should check each flutist’s headjoint before the class begins. If you do not feel comfortable adjusting the crown assembly, take a lesson from a flute technician to learn how to do this safely or follow the directions in the box on the next page. The line on the cleaning rod should be positioned in the center of the embouchure hole.



    If the cork is too loose in the headjoint and will not stay in place when adjusted, remove the cork and place a strip of pipe tape or cellophane tape around the base of the cork and insert it in the headjoint. This quick fix will last until the student can take the headjoint to a technician. Since students will be playing on the headjoint for the entire class, having all the cork assemblies adjusted properly is the first step to good intonation.

Sweet Spot And The Straw
Goal: Find the sweet spot on the headjoint.
    Each headjoint has a “sweet spot” or a place where when blown the sound rings. This varies from one headjoint to the next because each manufacturer has a slightly design and the execution of this design depends on each headjoint cutter. Use a soda straw to find the sweet spot.

    Hold the straw as if you were holding a pencil. Place the bottom edge of the straw on the back edge of the embouchure hole. While moving the straw to the left and right along the back side of the embouchure hole, blow into the straw slowly raising and lowering the angle while listening for any tone changes. When you find the best tone, keep the straw at that angle and then slowly angle the air to the left and right. When you discover where these two places intersect, this is the sweet spot. When playing without the straw, direct the air stream to this place.

Anatomy And Blowing
Goal: Align the head, separate the vocal folds, playing with the embouchure hole level, and releasing the air from the body.
    The flute is played with the head positioned at the bottom of a very small nod. Have stuents nod up and down several times to explore how the head balances on the spine. To separate the vocal folds, ask them to pant several times. Notice that the vocal folds are separated both on the inhale and the exhale. This is what is called an open throat.
    When playing the headjoint (and flute), the embouchure hole should be level and pointed towards the ceiling. The embouchure hole should not be turned back toward the flutist. If it is turned back, then the intonation of the flute will be off. The back edge of the embouchure hole is placed where the skin changes from chin skin to lip skin.
    Ask students to blow several notes. With your hand, feel where each flutist’s air stream is coming out. Place a pinwheel at that spot and instruct the flutist to blow to make the pinwheel spin. This exercise teaches that the air stream has to be strong enough to spin the pinwheel and that the air stream is always moving through the lips. Obviously, if the air stream is not moving, then the pinwheel stops. This exercise helps students learn how to play with fast air, which is the key to a full tone.

Embouchure Development
Goal: Play a smooth octave slur.
    Hold the headjoint with the thumbs and index fingers at the crown end and tenon end. It is possible to play a low A and an octave higher A. Because of the parabolic shape of the headjoint, these two notes will not be in tune. Slur from the low A to the upper A, making the interval as clean and smooth as possible. The orbicularis oris or lip muscle is a broad elliptical muscle that wraps around the opening of the mouth. Use the full muscle to make the aperture (opening in lips) smaller on the ascent and larger on the descent. Some teachers refer to the orbicularis oris as clown lips. Clown lips should be used rather than lipstick lips to achieve a beautiful, clean, simple slur.
    Have students slur several times, low to high, in half notes, mf. Alternate ping pong style with the teacher or one of the students playing a slur followed by the class playing the slur. If the class is small, have students play the slur individually. If someone has difficulty making the slur, have the entire class play the low note while seated and then rise to a standing position for the upper note. The energy that is used to stand is what was missing in the previous attempts. By having the entire class do this exercise, you are sparing the one student of the embarrassment of not achieving the goal. We want to encourage students to be successful.
    Next, close the headjoint end by positioning the right-hand palm over the tenon end opening. Now three pitches are possible, a low, a middle, and a very high one. Explore finding these notes by tonguing and then by slurring.
    Joseph Mariano (legendary flute professor at the Eastman School of Music) taught flutists to increase the air speed just before the skip in order to make the skip sound easy. William Kincaid (the father of American flute playing and professor emeritus of The Curtis Institute) taught to slightly lengthen the note before a slur if the interval was a fourth or more. Generally, when playing slurs on the flute, we play large intervals small and small intervals large.
    Each student should be encouraged to play with a natural face. I prefer to let embouchures evolve rather than giving explicit instructions about what the embouchure should look like to young students. Use this octave work and eventually harmonic work to help a student’s embouchure evolve naturally.
    Generally, for most flutists, the aperture is in the center of the lips. However, those with a tear drop should place the aperture to the left of center. (Remember when looking at a student’s embouchure, the correct placement is on your right.) Placing the aperture on the flutist’s left allows better placement of the right shoulder, so placing the aperture on the flutist’s right should be avoided.

Articulation
Goal: A perfect attack.
    Have students go outside and spit a handful of rice, one piece at a time. This exercise teaches the movement of the tongue which is more horizontal than vertical. This may be different than what you were taught in a methods class as for many years it was thought that tonguing on the roof of the mouth was preferable to tonguing in the aperture or on the top lip. However, the best flutists from around the world have continued the French tradition of tonguing in the aperture or on the top lip; so most American flutists have now made the change. Sometimes this type of tonguing is called forward or French tonguing.
    The French flutist Jean Pierre Rampal taught students this method of tonguing by having them start with motion with the tongue extended outside the mouth. Once the movement was understood, the tongue is pulled inside the mouth and simply touches on the top lip or in the aperture.
    Say the word thicka for double tonguing several times quickly to achieve the snake-like motion of the tongue. Remember the jaw is dropped with the teeth separated in the front and at the molars. The tongue is placed forward through the teeth.
    Since muscles learn most quickly by chunking (playing a short bit of something followed by a rest), have the students play: T, T, T, rest several times with the tip touching the top lip.
    It is good to remind students that the attack or beginning of the note should not chip but should be clean. Use a tuner, not so much to chart pitch, but to train students to begin the note with an attack that does not go sharp and then falls to the pitch. Playing breath attacks and then adding the tongue is a good way to achieve excellent intonation.
    Most students do not practice tonguing in itself enough. The Minuet of Tonguing exercise is a good way to develop clean articulation. Have students tongue 8 beats of four sixteenth-notes followed by a half-note rest. Repeat this 8 or more times so that the total time tongued exceeds one minute.

Musicianship
Goal: Strength of the beat concept.
    Each masterclass should teach the fundamentals of basic musicianship. Even beginners can begin learning basic musicianship techniques. An idea that you can teach with tonguing is the “strength of the beat” concept. Since you will be practicing tonguing in this class, use the chart below and also teach the strength of the beats. Play quarter notes for simple time and dotted quarter notes for compound meter. For example, in simple meter, play quarters strong, weak, strong weak. Another way of explaining this to students is that the first note is louder than the second note.

Simple Meter (beat divisible by 2)
2/4: strong, weak
3/4: strong, weak, weaker
4/4: strong, weak, less strong, weaker

Compound Meter (beat divisible by 3)
6/8: strong, weak
9/8: strong, weak, weaker
12/8: strong, weak, less strong, weaker

    With each repeat of the exercise, remind students to position their heads at the bottom of a small nod, that the embouchure hole is level, to look/listen for the sweet spot, have the vocal folds separated, and finally to blow always keeping the air moving.

Skills
Goal: Explore the tongue and vocal folds to develop control and tonal resonance.
    There are five skills that we can practice on the flute: thi or single tongue, key or the backstroke of double tonguing, HAH or breath attack, tk or tkt, and vibrato. Practice each of these strokes except vibrato on the headjoint on the following rhythms. (thi, thi, thi, rest; key, key, key, rest; hah, hah, hah, rest, t k t rest, tkt t rest) The key syllable should be forward and as high in the mouth as possible.

Vibrato
Goal: Basic vibrato cycle.
    The vibrato cycle is produced by moving air through the vocal folds or larynx. The space between the vocal folds is called the glottis. For instruction purposes, the vibrato cycle looks like a sine wave. The upper part is the sharper side of the vibrato and the lower part, the flatter part. By opening and closing the vocal folds, the pitch of the vibrato cycle goes from sharp to flat many times.
    To open the vocal folds, say HAH. This places the vocal folds at their widest separation. If you say HAH, HAH, HAH, followed by a rest out loud, then at the place where the comma is in the sentence, the vocal folds will slightly close. This produces the flatter side of the vibrato. This HAH, HAH, HAH stroke was named throat staccato by Georges Barrere early in the 20th century. Brass players often refer to this as a breath attack. There should be no movement of the jaw, chest, or abdomen. If there is movement, then reduce the dynamic to pp.
    In 2/4 time have students play eight notes on the headjoint with HAH, HAH, HAH, rest. This will teach them where the vocal folds are and how to engage the vocal folds to produce a vibrato. Once the HAH’s are a controlled staccato, then alternate playing one group staccato HAH’s and the next group slurred. Repeat this exercise many times until it becomes natural.

Visual Aid
    Place a twist and tie plastic bag on the headjoints securing it with a rubber band. Have students blow into the embouchure hole to fill the bag with air. Then, have them practice the HAH, HAH, HAH, rest exercise both staccato and slurred on the headjoint. If the exercise is done correctly, the bag will bob up and down in time. If students can get a good even bob, then they are on the way to a good vibrato.

Temptation – Long Note Playing Games
    There is not one band director in the world who wants the band to breathe on every bar line. However, beginning flutists will do so. Musical and artistic breathing involves learning to control the air stream in order to play long phrases. The size of a student’s lungs impacts what is possible and what is not. Small students will not be able to take in the three to five liters of air that many professionals do. So, expecting small students to take in more air that what their lungs will hold is not anatomically possible. Holding notes and phrases of longer values will be a challenge to young players so teachers should mark where extra musical breaths may be taken.
    Each instrument in the band requires a different flow of air. The flute and the tuba are the highest flow instruments while the oboe, with its super small bore, takes the least air flow. If a band director decides to challenge a classroom full of young players to a long note playing competition, the playing field is not level because of the different air flow requirements.
    Flutists who are placed in this situation will do almost anything to win the contest, but this type of exercise teaches the wrong lessons. To achieve the goal, flute students will tense up, close the vocal folds (throat) and squeeze the air out. They have learned to play with tension and a poor sound quality. So, avoid long note playing games and opt for the exercise below instead. Not only will it teach students to play naturally on a longer air stream but it will sharpen counting and concentration skills.

A Solution
    The following breathing exercise will help students learn to play long notes in a natural, relaxed fashion. It can be used with the entire band on a concert F. Not only does this exercise teach excellent breath control, but it will reinforce individual counting and concentration. With a metronome set on quarter note = 60, have players extend their legs straight out in front of them and begin tapping both feet in the air to the tick of the metronome. This engages students’ large muscles.
    Starting with a dynamic level of mf, have students begin by playing an F quarter note followed by a quarter rest. On each repetition lengthen the quarter note by one beat still followed by a quarter rest. Very quickly young players will be able to play a long note for eight or more counts. Playing with the legs extended also teaches how much tension should be in the abdomen when playing. This tension is what some call support although support is actually keeping the air flowing consistently while playing.

Headjoint Only – Why?
    Because students come to band with different backgrounds and experience, and may not have had private lessons, they often benefit from starting with work on the headjoing alone. By using the headjoint only at the masterclass, especially with younger students, you can avoid talking about balancing the flute, positioning the hands, standing/
sitting position and fingering. Instead the focus can be on making sure that each student understands how the headjoint works, where to blow, how to tongue and the basics of vibrato before assembling the flute.
    In teaching young musicians, go slowly and go well. Take the time to be sure each student understands the goal and has the tools to be successful. Sloppy playing takes years for a dedicated teacher to fix.      

Adjusting the Cork Assembly

What to do if the line is too close to the crown end of the embouchure hole:
    •    Unscrew the crown a turn or two.
    •    Place the crown end on a padded surface and gently push the crown in. Be careful to keep your hands away from the embouchure plate.
    •    Continue pushing, checking frequently until the line on the cleaning rod is in the center of the embouchure hole. Gently tighten the crown.

What to do if the line is closer to the tenon end:
    •    Simply turn the crown clockwise until the line on the cleaning rod is in the center of the embouchure hole.

The post A Flute Masterclass for All Ages appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

The post In Memoriam, Ramsey Lewis (1935-2022) appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

What was it like when you first came to O’Fallon fifteen years ago?
    I remember it like it was yesterday. I took a few days to get the lay of the land and then gathered student leaders together first and told them I was going to do whatever it took to make their experience great. For the seniors, I was their third director. Despite all of the turnover, it was still a good program. As I look back, that senior class was just gold. They were very motivated and wanted to be great but needed someone who cared about them, someone to go the extra mile.
    I worked well with the parents because they quickly realized that I was on top of things and staying the course. Because of the lack of leadership for the program, parents had taken over a lot of the decision making. They were used to running things when I arrived. Because I am a strong leader, we had to compromise. I showed them respect and understanding for choices they had made, even as I tried to instill a new mindset that centered on the kids.
    Because a large number of students participated in marching band, I got to know many of them in a more personal way. They quickly learned about my energy and enthusiasm. When it came to concert band, I knew it was not considered as important to the program and they hadn’t experienced concert band in the way they should have. They had missed out on opportunities to participate in district festivals and solo/ensemble contests. Students also needed to start playing the correct music, the types of great composers and works that all bands should play.
    We had open discussions in rehearsal about the new direction for the program. I was straight up with students and explained why I made certain decisions to move the program forward. That honesty was essential during an interesting transition year.
    It is important for students to know when they are great, and when they are not, they need to know what to do differently. It was a year when they bought into me, and I bought into them. It began the journey to where we are now.

How many students were taking private lessons when you first came to the school?
    It was just a smattering of people, and there were no lessons taught here. I knew how important one-on-one instruction would be for students, so I homed in on certain kids and encouraged them to take private lessons. As they succeeded, more players also started taking lessons. Then, I made taking lessons a requirement for the top band. If a student could not afford lessons, I would teach them myself or make some kind of financial arrangement. Today, even our second concert band has about 80% of the players in private lessons. We are fortunate to have dedicated local teachers, who teach lessons at the school, their studio, or by Zoom.
    We don’t give lessons during the school day, but I have a lesson coordinator who arranges lessons in the practice rooms. I pass along to her, or the teachers, my suggestions about what individual students should be working on in lessons. This set-up is an integral part of our success. The younger students can see the older kids, who are magnificent in their lessons, and want to emulate them. We make sure that our student leaders, who are usually excellent players in the two groups, serve not only as character leaders but also as musical leaders. In the marching band, we have players of different abilities mixed together, so our student leaders serve as music teachers for the less experienced players.

photos by Booster President Vickie Aiello

Marching band was a big part of the school’s program since before you came to O’Fallon. Some directors around the country do not consider marching to be a valid musical activity. How do you view the benefits of a strong marching program?
   Sometimes, I also have questions about marching. I am an oboe player and didn’t really participate in marching until I became a director. Marching band is the one opportunity for our amazing older students to work with brand new members one-on-one for hours. Whether hanging out socially or giving a quick individual lesson on playing or marching, older students act as role models and set a standard for younger players. For me, that is exciting.
    I remind the older students that the kids standing next to them are the future of our program. These band leaders look after the new members both as people and musicians. We talk often about how band members should be treated, and our leaders know exactly what I expect from them. They have known me a long time so I can be completely blunt and honest with them.

What is the retention rate for students who march compared with those that do not?
    Students who participate in marching have a greater chance of staying in the program than those who do not. However, because we are a big school with a lot of opportunities, many students are involved with other teams and clubs. About 30% of concert band only students trickle away to other activities by the time they are seniors. I have to be cognizant that some have other interests that are more of a priority than band. I try to appreciate that they were in band this long, although I do try to keep every kid. I will call the parents and talk to the students and just do everything I can.

I understand that your husband is also a member of the staff your staff?
    He is, and it is fun to work with him. He writes drill and is a marching band adjudicator now, after 10 years as a very good band director. He reached the point where he was writing his show and also writing shows for other people and decided to do that full-time. He has allowed me to be who I am today. He is flexible and supportive of my involvement in the program. He is really passionate about helping programs and spends many weekends traveling across the country. This year he wrote 16 shows, and when he is working, I try to give him his space because the work can be stressful. He is a percussionist and helps with our percussion during the summer. We are very much a band family. That’s our world.

During the pandemic, many school music programs came up with inventive ways to teach, and some of these ideas continue now. Is this true for your program?
    One idea that has continued is focusing on whether everyone has a good mindset. Even with a large program, we work hard to make sure everybody is healthy and happy within the program and has what they need. When a kid asks me for something, I try to take care of it within 24 hours, which is not always easy because there are many students and they have lots of needs. During COVID, we were particularly attentive to student well-being because we were either in full remote or hybrid school for most of the year.
    We have also tried to communicate with parents and students using a variety of short video push outs. I’ve done a couple of these at the start of the school year because I thought no one would read a newsletter, which is not that exciting. I made two videos, one discussing the syllabus and another talking about how students move through the program. Normally I record these videos in interesting places like the football field or a press box. Instead of just sending out a regular newsletter, I often make a little podcast that describes what is going on with the program and upcoming events.
    Another idea that I would love to continue is porch performances. They were just gold. Every student would submit 30 seconds of whatever music we were working on. At Halloween, students made videos wearing costumes, and when students were preparing for state contest, their porch performances provided a preview of their audition. Even the color guard members were included. We used iMovie to combine all of these snippets and sent out a performance of the finished videos every Friday night, so everyone would have something to watch over the weekend.
     One project that might not get revived is a documentary that included performances by bands from all of the local schools. We weren’t able to have live audiences at that time, so the movie, put together by a Bluecoats staff member, was shown on two nights at the local drive-in. We featured 12 local bands and even had sponsors for the movie. The event was well-received by the community, but took a great deal of work to complete.

What advice would you give to young directors about the importance of good communication?
    I believe communication is the second most important task for a director behind careful planning. When one family doesn’t know what is going on it trickles down to create other problems. I have developed a number of creative ways to communicate with everyone. One cool program called Band Together is coordinated with the boosters and has really helped to provide answers to basic questions that come up. Each instrument section has a parent leader. When the member of the flute section has a question about what to wear for a performance on Friday, the parent leader can answer it directly. Those parent leaders also have a leader, who handles my newsletter. I also communicate multiple times every day with my booster president, who is one of the most fabulous humans I have ever met. Without a carefully structured organization, the other directors and I could spend every minute on communication and never teach a note.
    Even with all of the help, you are never really off duty as a director. My former color guard director inspired me with his view of our duty to students in the program. He said, “we owe it to the kids to make it great.” It’s all about the musical experience that will make students better in life. I want to make sure that anything I do to better myself also benefits students. Any ensemble in front of me, whether it is a weekend honor band or my students in O’Fallon, I owe them the best I possibly can give. The world is what it is today because someone has taught everyone how to be. Through the arts, we have the honor of teaching students through multiple years and getting to know them more personally than their other teachers.

    The band program in O’Fallon has an 80-year history, and when many people think of band programs, they think of marching first. The mayor and his wife marched drum corps, and the previous mayor was supportive of all things band. Although sometimes I wish concert band had more of a public presence, the band program is really embedded in the community, Anywhere I go in town, people know who I am. I am always aware that I am a representative of the school, the kids, the program, and the legacy. I remind students that anywhere I go, I am still their band director, which I find to be a gift and an honor but also a responsibility. I am not sure we talk about this responsibility to our communities enough with students and young directors.
    I do have a hard time saying no. Anytime we can do something for the community, we try to do it even if it is small. After finishing camp in August, we participated in several local events before the start of school including opening the local Macy’s and playing at a St. Louis Cardinals game. During the fall, as we prepare for The Midwest Clinic, I want to bring in some different audiences to hear our concert bands besides the parents. For older residents, attending an inside concert, which hasn’t been feasible during the pandemic, is actually easier than coming to a football game in the elements. I am always trying to connect with the community to show all the great things we are doing within our music program at O’Fallon Township High School.

The post An Interview with Melissa Gustafson-Hinds appeared first on The Instrumentalist.