4/22/11 - Reflections

The readings and discussions for this week were based on classroom management, and how to implement the national standards into instrumental music education. I appreciated the time we spent in class going over the readings and having a power point presentation on a subject like classroom management. I liked how Dr. Bauer divided classroom management into two parts: 1. Curricular elements and 2. Procedural elements. This helped me to concentrate on which each part meant. There is so much to being an instrumental music teacher, that sometimes it scares me thinking about everything I'll have to do! Just being around Dr. Ciepluch for the past two years, and helping him with his Case ensembles and his Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony groups has made aware of all the "behind-the-scenes" work you have to do to in order to have a successful program. Here at Case, I've learned the most about the different facets of curricular classroom management from my classes, particularly from instrumental methods and from Dr. Ciepluch's seminars on conducting and repertoire. I think I've learned the most about procedural classroom management from my graduate hours. They say that nothing can compensate for experience, and this is why I've benefited so much from working in addition to taking classes. After awhile, setting up for an 80 piece band doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore. Neither does all the paperwork that comes with running an ensemble. I know I have a lot to learn from my time in the schools, but I think Case has given me a great head start.

It has been a lot of fun talking about ways that instrumental music instructors can apply the 9 national standards into the classroom. At the end of the day, I have discovered that it isn't all that hard! Of course, my ideas are all simply hypothetical now, I'm sure as a real band director it won't be as easy as I think it will be. But having said this, there really are so many easy opportunities to introduce all nine standards into instrumental music education. While this is true, I really like one of the things that Dr. Bauer said. To paraphrase him, he said that we shouldn't try to "force" a standard onto a certain exercise or activity if it really doesn't fit. This was music to my ears! Sometimes as students and teachers, it can seem like we are trying to put square pegs into round holes, and this really doesn't do any good for anyone. Sometimes I have felt the requirement in certain assignments to get as many standards as I possibly could into a lesson plan or curricular unit. I'm so glad to learn that the world doesn't work this way, and neither should I. As music educators, we need to develop and design lesson plans and curricular units that focus specifically on one or two standards. There may be elements of others that are included in our activities, but it should remain our focus to concentrate on one or two at a time. Otherwise it would be like trying to teach algebra, calculus, geometry, trigonometry, and statistics in the same lesson! No one learns anything!

It has been fun to blog about the readings and class discussions this semester. This is a nice place for me to safely express my honest feelings, ideas, concerns, and opinions. It also gives me another opportunity to learn to write about music education. I also think it is beneficial for you to read them. I'm happy that you care enough about what I think to take the time to go through my blogs every week and come up with thoughtful and educational responses. Thank You. Please know that I value your feedback, and look forward to being the best educator I can be!

4/15/11 - Reflections

I thought that Tammy did a wonderful job this week explaining the readings and leading our class in group discussions about building intonation, rehearsal strategies, and the purposes of auditions and ranking systems. While the chapters addressed all these major issues that instrumental music educators have to deal with, I really enjoy having the forum of the class environment to be able to bounce back ideas off each other, and really talk in-depth about potential problems we might face in the profession. One of these key problems is intonation. What approach should we take to developing our students' ears? Should we make it a visual process as well as an aural process? Or is the visual element damaging in the long-term scheme of things? Are young children too immature and underdeveloped to cognitively understand the differences in sharp vs. flat? These are all wonderful questions for which I don't think there is a definitive answer. There are many opinions on the subject, but I think children should be introduced to intonation at an early age regardless of their ability to hear "in tune" or not. Like other subjects in school, the kids might not grasp everything right away, but exposing them to a complicated concept early on in their careers might spark learning and a long-term interest later on in life.

On Wednesday, we spent a great deal talking about the chapters on auditions and the process of ranking students. I mentioned in class that it is a "hot topic" in many circles right now to totally abolish auditions at even the high school level in favor of a "rotation" system. Now, I love the rotation system, and I think that no matter the skill level, each instrumentalist should have the opportunity to play the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd part in their respective sections. This works particularly well with the Horns and Trumpets, especially if you want you students to get through a concert! But I am NOT a strong advocate of simply doing away with the audition system altogether. I think there are many musical and non-musical benefits for students to experience the rigorous process of the audition. Musically, they are given an opportunity to play music only once for others that will be judging them. Extra-musically speaking, they will learn discipline and the consequences of hard work. Or conversely, they may learn the consequences of not working at all! Either way, this experience can be a positive platform for learning and growth, and we should consider all the benefits of such a process before deciding to throw it out once and for all.

Just a personal note: I was a little surprised that we spent so much time on transposition on Wednesday. Nothing personal, it's just that I've learned this concept over and over and over and over again in middle school, high school, college, theory, conducting, music history, pedagogy, brass methods, woodwind methods, etc... It seems like no teacher wants to be the one to say that they never taught me how to do this. But I will say that it is sad that so many people don't understand something that WE as music educators make so much more difficult than it needs to be. Honestly, transposition made sense to me when I was taught about the concept for the first time in 7th grade. Of course since then I've learned more about it. I'm faster at transposition, I've learned about additional instruments that transpose, and as a conductor, you need to know how to do this automatically. I just don't see why so many people think transposition is so difficult. Calculus is difficult. Quantum physics is difficult. Transposition is tantamount to addition and subtraction.

4/8/11 - Reflections

Assessment is always an interesting subject, especially when one is working in a field that is somewhat subjective. Sure, there are many ways to objectively assess a student's progress: Is he/she practicing? Is the student articulating properly? Is the student playing with a well-supported, mature sound? But there are other areas in instrumental music education that aren't so easy to assess. For example, how would we go about assessing a student on composition or improvisation? Certainly there are standards and benchmarks to observe, but it would be difficult to implement a "grading" system. Now I know that not all assessment is grading. These terms are different, and mean different things. But so much of what comes out of the middle or high school instrumental setting has to do with some sort of formal, summative evaluation. I like the strategies mentioned both by Dr. Bauer on Monday, and in the readings. The readings presented many tools for assessment, as well as reasons for why one might want to use a particular instrument for assessment. I think the only way I will be able to know for sure what really seems to work in my particular situation is to give it time once I have a job teaching in the public schools. There I plan on assessing by trial and error. I will also heavily rely on student feedback. If a particular type of assessment seems to be helping kids, and they also agree that it is helpful, I will probably use it and continue to improve it throughout my career.

I think the more subjective the field, the more need we have to present students with rubrics. I like rubrics. I think they offer much more information to both teacher and student than just a checklist, or rating scale. In saying this, I'm not saying that checklists and rating scales don't have their place in the world - they do. But I am advocating for the use of more highly-detailed rubrics that can provide everyone with the maximum amount of information. Most importantly, this is probably one of the best tools to give students proper feedback. As a student, I always want to know why I got the rating or grade that I did. Younger students are the same way. If they received a lesser grade than they thought that they deserved, it is very helpful to have the reasons written down so the students can pay close attention to the areas on which they need to improve. Checklists and rating scales give far less information, and can cause confusion and even bitterness in some students. Some teachers give grades, but in doing so, fail to actually assess!!! This is when there is the greatest disconnect between the teacher and the student. The student is in the dark, and chances are that the teacher will forget why he or she gave the student the grade or rating they did, especially if they have many students with which to deal. I will try to always be up front with my students so that this type of situation never or rarely occurs. And I will try to use as many rubrics as possible. They are not hard to create, and they serve as an excellent instrument in authentic assessment.

4/1/11 - Reflections

I probably learned the most this week from the readings and from class participation. Tammy gave an EXCELLENT presentation on Monday about an area that I'm kind of clueless about - Communication within the Band Department and throughout the administration. There is so much a band director has to do behind the scenes. If I think about it long and hard enough, it is scary. I think to myself, "I know how to teach music, but I have absolutely no experience in dealing with the day-to-day aspect of being an instrumental music educator." I'm confident that I will be able to do a good job, but I'm always worried that there is something I might forget. I know there is a good chance my first job won't be the head band director of a program, but I still worry that there is a chance that I'll be put into a situation where I'll be a little clueless. First of all, there is so much to think about and do, especially the first year you inherit a program. Is there time to do everything? Probably not. I'm a very detail-oriented person who likes things in a certain order and projects to be handled a certain way. I will have to learn fast how to delegate responsibilities to others, and learn to be happy with the results (knowing that I can come back and change it later if I want). But sometimes the "organizational" and "communication" part of being a band director scares me. Where do I even begin? And how do I do it? These are questions that sometimes keep me up at night!

Chapters 17 and 19 in the book discussed communication and preparing for and executing a concert. Tammy's in-class presentation also hit on these topics, and they brought up a lot of questions. Especially with the economy being what it is right now, I feel like I will be put into a position where I will want to work 80+ hours a week just to ensure that things are running at least on par. I have a certain integrity to want to do things right, and get them done the best way the first time. But will this be possible, especially in my first couple of years? I have a wife, and she is the most important thing to me in my life. Even though my career is my living, my wife is my life. I will want to balance my job so I get to spend quality time with her. This may mean sacrificing some things that I would really like to do, such as organizing every little thing in my office and band room. I think the best thing I can do is learn from those who have gone before me. I need to ask them for advice, and learn certain tricks of the trade to accomplish things that I would otherwise have no idea how to do. At least I have many friends who are band directors. I have to thank Dr. Ciepluch for this, as The Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony has been a terrific environment for me to meet others in the profession. I'm now friends with directors and former directors from all over northeast Ohio. I will look to many of them as leaders when I take my first job.

3/25/11 - Reflections

I was glad that this week's readings focused on score study, one of my very favorite topics in instrumental music education. This topic carries over naturally from lasts week's readings on the importance of selecting good repertoire. Selecting repertoire is very important, but once the pieces are selected, you have to know how to bring the music to life. I am reminded of a quote from the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where Indiana Jones is teaching archeology in a college-type setting. He teaches the students that, "90% of all archeology is done in the library: research and reading." This is true of conducting as well. 90% of all conducting really revolves around score study - knowing your score and how to bring the music to life. If you don't know the score inside and out, you really have no purpose being up on the podium. It would be like a math teacher trying to teach her students about a complicated calculus problem without first reading over the material and creating a lesson plan. Music educators need to be proactive about score study. Even though I do not currently teach, I always have somewhere around ten scores open at once. I read scores like I read books; for me it is fun!

Writing or marking on the scores is one of the most important things we can do as conductors. In this chapter, there was a school of thought presented that it was a bad idea to mark anything in the score - ever! I couldn't disagree more. In fact, I vehemently disagree! The book states that writing in the score might cause us to be slaves to the page instead of directing our attention to the musicians in front of us. This is ludicrous. Marking in the score is a technique to help us during the preparation process so when the time comes to step onto the podium, we can be better prepared. I think the conductor who neglected to do his homework would have his eye in the score even more! Look at the scores of all the best conductors who have ever lived. Their scores are so heavily marked, you can hardly read the manuscript!

This chapter also discussed detailed harmonic analysis as a necessary part of score study. I agree to a point. Yes, we need to be aware of the general harmonic map of the piece of music we are conducting. But do we need to have every measure analyzed down to the very last detail? To me, this seems superfluous and an unnecessary waste of time. How much is it really going to help you on the podium if you know that in measure 173, the flutes, 2nd clarinets, tenor saxes, and euphoniums have a French Augmented 6th Chord in second inversion that doesn't seem to resolve into anything, all while the oboes, horns, and vibes are playing chordal clusters, and the tympani is rolling on the supertonic in the parallel mixolydian mode? While fascinating, this is the type of information that doesn't have to be written down on the page. It is cumbersome and useless. A good conductor's ear will hear all these things happening simultaneously anyway, and they can know how to balance this sort of musical texture by analyzing the score. While it may be worthwhile to do a dissertation on the detailed harmonic analysis of Music For Prague, it is not practical for podium use.

3/18/11 - Reflections

The readings for this week focused on one of my favorite parts of a music educator's life: Repertoire! I always wanted to get into this profession because of the richness, quantity, and quality of music that exists in the world. Especially in the wind ensemble medium, there is so much variety of music to choose from that the possibilities are almost endless. There is always the "March" music from composers like Sousa, King, and Fillmore. Then you have the vast array of orchestral transcriptions which have always played an important role in the concert hall. Always important are those "staples" for band that have stood the test of time. I think of pieces like "The Holst Suites in Eb and F" as a prime example of this. Most band directors want to keep their audiences entertained by presenting them with some "lighter" selections, which might include works from popular and jazz styles. And last of all and probably my favorite, the vast exploration of all the new music that exists! If the 19th and 20th Century primarily belonged to the orchestra, then the 21st Century will be built upon creations for the band.

There is nothing greater than getting to conduct a band today, because the possibilities are so endless. By the same token, there has never been a greater time to be a composer for the wind ensemble medium. By and large, the wind ensembles are commissioning, playing, and paying more than any orchestra. There is a reason for this. In the United States of America for the last seventy years or so, there has been a great tradition in the public schools for band programs. Despite the economic conditions that we live in today, and all the money being stripped from the arts, there still is a strong tradition for schools to teach instrumental music, and the strongest instrumental music programs in this country are without a doubt the bands. People might not have to like this fact, but it is true. Sort of like the orchestral and choral traditions coming out of Europe, the Americas have one of their strongest musical foundations in the military band. Now, this is not to say that there are no schools with great orchestral or choral programs, but they are fewer compared to bands, and there are additional reasons for this along with military and tradition. Bands and Sports go together like peanut butter and jelly. And because marching and pep bands are so important to the athletic organizations, bands naturally have a solid place in this country and abroad.

I look forward to the opportunity for the first time I get to program music for my first band concert. I look forward to playing music from different styles, time periods, difficulty levels, and from all parts of the world. One of the questions that is often asked is, "Who do you program for?" The Audience? The Students? The Conductor? The School? The Community? I know sometimes band directors have to wear many hats and please a lot of people. Hopefully they will choose music that will challenge the students, and please the audience. But sometimes the best music pleases the students and challenges the audience! Whatever the case may be, it is important to have a variety. It is also important not to over-program. Why would a band director put Lincolnshire Posey and Music for Prague on the same concert? That would be like an orchestra programming two Mahler symphonies for the same night. The reverse is also true. As music educators, we must challenge our students to play more music than we think they can. The idea is to get a balance, where most students will be able to experience the "flow" sensation.

3/4/11 - Reflections

There were no assigned readings for this week, just lots of opportunities to experience the different joys that come from teaching! First, we had an experience in class to teach our "first lesson" on an instrument of our own choosing. I chose the clarinet because I am also in the Clarinet Methods class this semester, and I wanted an opportunity to teach someone a formal lesson on it. This experience had some positive moments, and some unexpected ones. I succeeded in that I was able to get through the lesson with my student knowing how to assemble the clarinet, put the reed on the mouthpiece correctly with the ligature, and get a fundamental tone. If I had a chance to go back and do it again, I think I would teach the concept of embouchure better. I like the analogy that I used, but because I feared that time was running out I think I sped over this important facet of playing in order to get to playing. I'm not happy with this aspect of my teaching because embouchure formation is one of the most important things an instrumentalist can do, and it is important to get it right the first time. The psycho-motor skills develop quick connections in the brain, and a student will play like his teacher says.

A couple of days later we had the great opportunity to teach 5th grade students in instrumental music at a local grade school. This experience proved to be extremely positive and enjoyable. I was happy that I was able to memorize my lesson plan so I could be the most effective while teaching. Instead of focusing on each "step" I was able to envision the lesson as one complete whole. This helped me get from my teaching objectives to the teaching outcomes quite easily. I was able to walk around the room and informally assess the students as I gave directions. Most of the students were able to count and play with a basic level of proficiency. Of course there were some students who could play better than others, but this is to be expected at such an early level. Overall I thought the class did excellent in their preparation and performance. I expected to have a much harder time than I did. The students were respectful, and for that I was very grateful. I look forward to going back there in two weeks and teaching them again.

2/25/11 - Reflections

I found this week's readings to be fascinating on many levels. In the eCoursepack, there were articles discussing the importance of functioning as a band director not only for the duration of the school year, but also during the summer months. I know that this is true. Just being here at Case Western Reserve University, I have learned that there is plenty to do in any band program, regardless what time of the year it is. Just this week, I took one of my days off and visited a local high school band with Dr. Ciepluch. I observed him working with four different bands, all at various skill levels. What I loved most about this trip was the opportunity to discuss one-on-one educational matters with the teachers. They were nice enough to talk about the realities of their band program during their planning periods. After reading the articles for this week, I was interested how the band directors keep the "flow" going since the actual time they get to meet with their students is limited. Because of time restraints and special school scheduling, these directors only really are able to meet with there students for about a half hour every day. This is surprising to me! Sometimes it takes 20 minutes just to get the band warmed-up and sounding good. What I learned most from the experience is that because of the limited time, you are forced to "pick your battles" and try to focus on one thing at a time. If you don't do this, you realize very quickly that there is no time left and little has been accomplished.

Regarding summer work, I know that a teacher's job is never finished. An instrumental music teacher's job goes on for the entire year. There is always repertoire to be planned. Once the music is planned, you have to get it out of the library, make copies, and store the music for the year. Conversely, this may be a good time to reorganize oneself, and put away all the music from the previous year. Band directors need to do all this while preparing for the upcoming season, especially if they are preparing for marching band. There are drills to be written. There is music to be arranged. There are planning meetings with the school board. This is a time to plan for years in advance. When might the band be taking a trip? How will the band director allocate funds for next year? Are all the instruments in adequate condition? Of course not, so is the band director in contact with the local music stores? Recruitment is always an issue 12 months out of the year. Is the band director planning any special activities? Have they talked with their school administration about special ideas? There is so much to do at every point in the year, sometimes I wonder how it all gets done!

In reading Chapter 6 of Instrumental Music Education, I like the learning philosophies presented by the authors. The philosophy that seemed to resound the most with me was "Constructivism and Discovery Learning." In this philosophy, humans use their prior knowledge and experience to teach themselves, regardless of how they are taught, formulating questions and answering them via experimentation. This philosophy makes the most sense to me, probably because it best describes the way in which my brain works. For example, I have taken many classes on rhythm, music theory, saxophone, and ear-training. All of these classes have been taught differently by an extremely diverse group of educators. All of them had their own teaching philosophies, and they all introduced materials in their own way. My brain was like a sponge that soaked in the information. However, I learned at my own pace, and things tended to "click" for me at different times for no other apparent reason than maybe my brain was "ready" to understand the particular concept. This is why as a future music educator I know that I will be able to bring my strengths into the classroom and be able to help people. But I know I won't be able to reach everyone everyday at every time. So I will use the techniques I have learned in Instrumental Methods to guide my teaching, but I will be pretty moderate in how I present or teach certain ideas. For example, I'm not going to base my entire program on one element, like audiation. I will introduce this as a concept, but will let the students figure out if it works for them or not. Nor will I advocate one kind of counting over the other (unless of course I'm mandated to do so). I will be the wellspring of ideas, but the students will learn by themselves, as I learned and continue to learn by myself.

2/18/11 - Reflections

Reviewing instrumental method books was an exciting activity, and I particularly enjoyed reviewing the series, Do It! Teach In Band. I found this series to be highly unusual, but beneficial for the teacher who wants to teach music by ear. The possibilities for composition, improvisation, and learning about intonation and balance are endless. The resources that accompany this series are vast and user-friendly. I enjoyed the opportunity of sharing this series with the class. If I had to do it all over again though, I think I would have spent less time talking, and more time playing with the CD. Although I hope a lot of what I had to say was important and valid, I should have spent more time delving into the actual supplementary materials, which is really what makes this method book series shine. In hindsight, I also think that I was far too critical of this series' shortcomings. Rather than make a list of what I disliked most about the series, I should have spent my time promoting what the series does well. I also didn't manage my time very well; I had planned some group activities and I barely had enough time to show the class some audio examples.

I also enjoyed hearing my colleagues present their method book to the class. Although I can appreciate all of them for what they are trying to accomplish, I certainly have my favorites. The Jump Right In series is perhaps beneficial for an entire music program that advocates Gordon Learning Theory, but I would never use it by itself. It is too complicated, and young students need to play. I think students would easily become frustrated with this series and want to give up their instrument for all the wrong reasons. My personal favorite is Standard of Excellence, which developed out of the book I learned from, Best In Class. I think it has the perfect balance of various learning theories, and it presents it to the students in an attractive way. I remember highly valuing the book when I was learning how to play the saxophone. It seemed perfect; it taught rhythm well, and introduced concepts at a gradual pace. I neither felt frustrated or bored as I was learning the fundamentals and rudiments of music and the saxophone. If I find myself in front of a beginning orchestra one day, I think Artistry For Strings is an excellent book for my beginning string players. It has excellent visual diagrams and taught the students at a moderate pace.

Switching topics, I highly enjoyed participating in classroom observations this week. I don't think I was surprised in anything I saw, except for the genius of Mr. B. H. I wish I had him as a band director when I was in 5th grade! That school district doesn't know how lucky they are to have such an all-star at the helm. What impressed me more is that he had his own "method" developed for the percussion. When I went to do an observation last semester of his 7th and 8th grade bands, he had his own "method" developed for them as well! He really should publish some of his materials as they really seem to be effective. There were other teachers that I observed that seemed to be less successful at dealing with the temperament of 5th graders. I know that this is because of age and experience. This worries me a little bit, as I love teaching music, but I don't intend to be a "baby-sitter" to children that can't behave. But I also understand that this comes with teaching younger students because of their short attention span. I also understand that certain students will have special needs, and certain schools will have a large population of students with special needs. It is just disappointing when you have to spend more time disciplining children instead of teaching them music.

2/11/11 - Reflections

Like rhythm patterns, melodic patterns are a good way to introduce children to the rudiments and fundamentals needed to achieve success in instrumental music. They are an important aspect of music learning and cognition, and students will benefit from these types of exercises in all their musical experiences. I hope I don't start to sound like a broken record when I say that, again, these exercises are best carried out at the general music level. Sure, I can understand the theory behind wanting to include them in the instrumental music curriculum, but I'm not sure that this will ever practically become the norm. There is so little time for kids to come in, wet their reeds, blow some notes, and prepare to warm up for band. And with the budget cuts schools are enduring from the current economic situation, I don't think that the arts are going to get more time and consideration. I think trying to implement these sort of activities in the instrumental music classroom will have the opposite effect when time is already so precious a commodity.

Right now even in 5th grade band, students are being removed from their classroom at different times in the day to come to the band room. There, they have seconds to open their case, prepare their instrument, and begin to play. The teacher has an agenda that they must push in order for the students to get through all the material that is required of them to move on to the next lesson. They must be individually assessed, graded, and introduced to a new concept, sometimes all within a twenty-minute span. When is there time to practice audiation? I believe that students get to practice audiation and rhythm most successfully in the actual band setting, when they are rehearsing and performing repertoire. Sometimes we try to isolate musical elements too much, and it ends up taking away a greater part of the whole experience. I think that the students will learn all they need to learn about audiation and rhythm during their regular experiences in band. These will also be the most meaningful experiences for them, as they are playing real music with real emotion attached to it. They feel part of a greater whole, and I believe kids pick up melody, harmony, rhythm just as easily by osmosis. I know that I did.

I do love technology like Smartmusic that Dr. Bauer showed us in class this week. What a wonderful opportunity for teachers and students alike to have access to tools that will help them become better musicians. I love the fact that the students can practice with it at home for a small fee. They can access the pieces that they are working on for Solo & Ensemble, and play along with the computer. This is fantastic technology that has a great future, and we would not be doing ourselves or our students credit if we did not invest in this great technology. Ultimately, I believe programs like Smartmusic are best used at home or in the school's general music lab. This technology is wonderful, but most of it requires one on one use by the students. For this, you really need to invest in time outside of the instrumental music classroom.

2/4/11 - Reflections

In the readings this week, Feldman and Contzius discussed the importance of rhythm and movement. They mentioned Dalcroze as being a strong proponent of learning the fundamentals of ear training and rhythm before learning a musical instrument. While I agree with Dalcroze in that students need to learn the rudiments of ear training and rhythm before they play a musical instrument, I don't think that focusing extensively on ear training and rhythmic exercises in the instrumental music classroom is very time effective or productive. I believe that ear training and rhythm cognition begins at birth and keeps developing throughout the course of one's life span. It should be taught in general music from the moment a child enters into preschool. Hopefully, children will take many years of general music before they ever begin a musical instrument. But this is obviously not always the case. I think children are exposed to rhythm and melody enough in their everyday lives. I don't think that the instrumental music teacher should do much with it in the classroom. It takes valuable time away that is already compromised with other student activities. And I'm not sure that students are getting a lot out of the activities anyway.

A perfect example of this occurred during our class session when Dr. Bauer played You Can Call Me Al. Although this activity was fun and exciting, I'm not sure I understood what the ultimate goal of it was. We all took turns improvising rhythmic patterns using various parts of our body as percussion instruments, while the rest of the class tried to copy the rhythmic patterns in a call and response sort of "game." It was fun and I think a lot of people enjoyed the activity. But how is an activity like this going to fit into my curriculum for high school band? There is scarcely enough time in the day to focus on intonation and playing together as a group. There is even less time to get through as much repertoire as teachers would like to get through. Although the exercise with rhythm is interesting, I'm not even sure that there is enough time in the activity for it to give any sort of lasting effect. To me, it takes unnecessary time away from more important issues like can we get from letter "A" to letter "B" without completely falling apart? Time is money, and unfortunately when I get into a real teaching situation I have a feeling time will be even less than I think it will be now.

This is not to say that I don't see the educational implications in doing exercises like the ones we did in class. I think over a period of time, students could learn a lot from these types of activities, and have a greater sense of rhythm, pulse, and meter. But what I take issue with is the time and place. Like I said before, something like this is fantastic for general music. It is fun, it makes the students think for themselves, it introduces elements of improvisation, and it is a nice distraction from the rest of the day. Students will be able to learn a lot from this process, and I hope general music teachers across the world are putting it into their overall curriculum. I just don't think we have time to do it in band. Besides, the kids want to play music. They want to get their instrument out and play. Anything preventing this from happening will just make them more frustrated and anxious.

1/28/11 - Reflections

As I began reading Chapter 1 of Instrumental Music Education, I couldn't help but find it a bit ironic that the same names and ideas are consistently at play, no matter the topic of discussion. The authors referenced Daniel Levitin, Steven Pinker and the whole idea of whether or not music was a "spandrel" of other evolutionary forces, and if music was little else than "auditory cheesecake." Because Instrumental Music Education and This Is Your Brain on Music are such recent publications, I can only surmise that this is one of the "hot topics" debated around the musical world right now. I'm grateful that through technology and through the greatest minds of our time, we can always be up-to-date on the most important issues floating around in music education.

This chapter presents the music learning theories of Gordon, Kodaly, and Suzuki. I was really happy when I came to the section heading, "Eclecticism and Hybridization." This section seemed to say that whether an educator prefers the methods of Gordon, Kodaly, or Suzuki, they are probably going to end up with similar results. I like this thought. It tastes good to me. Because each one of these theories emphasizes the sound-to-symbol principle, they will all basically lead to the same conclusion. What's more is that the teacher who is familiar with all three of the theories will be able to use greater variety in the classroom. They will be able to offer their students a more eclectic music education. Again, I cannot say how much I like this concept. A former class I took introduced the philosophies of Gordon, Kodaly, Orff, Suzuki, Dalcroze, and others one at a time in such a way that the learning was not meant to be cumulative. It seemed as though we had to choose which learning style we liked the best, and then go from there. There was no talk of "Eclecticism and Hybridization." We even went to observe teachers that were specifically "Orff" or "Kodaly" educators. While I understand that this may be standard in certain areas of music, I want to be as eclectic as I can be. I think that this will ultimately give my students a better and more well-rounded education.

It is all too true that most instrumental music education curricula will not have a place for much sound-to-symbol teaching, but just the fact that this concept is introduced in the first chapter of this publication may offer some hope. The book lists many reasons why it is not practical, historical, or economical to teach sound-to-symbol principles in instrumental music education. I know it is not the purpose of this blog for me to enumerate these, but I have some suggestions on how sound-to-symbol teaching applications would highly benefit instrumental music education. This would be in the world of improvisation and composition. Why are we teaching children to compose and improvise in general music and then stopping this practice completely until we emphasize it again sometime later in high school jazz band? This doesn't make any sense. Teaching an instrument from scratch may be difficult, but there are ways to teach instrumental music with the sound-to-symbol idea in mind. For example, once students have mastered five notes, have them go home and use these notes to come up with a song. Maybe they can use these five notes as a foundation for beginning exercises in improvisation and composition. The ideas are endless, but it is the responsibility of all of us as educators to put these theories into practice. The beginning band teacher may spend his entire career trying to implement these teaching strategies into his curriculum, but what good does it do when he/she walks away and these concepts are never mentioned again. There needs to be a greater continuity from general music to beginning band to middle school band to high school band and beyond.

1/21/11 - Reflections

I really enjoyed the readings for this week, as well as our classroom conversations on Wednesday. Of particular interest was chapter 16 from Instrumental Music Education. To be honest, I have already skimmed through the whole book and read almost half of it. I love all the literature I can get my hands on when it comes to instrumental music education, and since this book is so new, it has been fascinating to thumb through and read. And of course, anything that has a forward written by the honorable Frank Battisti deserves all band directors' attention. I can already tell that the information in this book will be valuable to me throughout my career and beyond.

Getting back to chapter 16 from Instrumental Music Education, I have often wondered about the many facets involved with recruiting, organizing, and starting a band or an orchestra. I know it is not an easy endeavor. Just working with Dr. Ciepluch over the last two years has taught me an incredible amount about recruitment - both for Case Symphonic Winds and for the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony. I am impressed that Dr. Ciepluch goes out all over the greater Cleveland area and beyond to do on-site auditions and promote his program. I know of few other band directors that will put their time and energy into such a complicated and time consuming effort. He is also constantly sending (or having me send) unending emails and regular letters to band directors, parents, administrators, and students. I have learned that this is a long process. But I have also learned that it is a rewarding one. I know now from personal experience that 95% of what I will do as a music educator will be behind the scenes administrative work. I'm okay with that. I'm even comfortable with that. I know that the time I will spend off the podium is essential to maintaining a good band program, and imperative to keeping all the "wheels spinning."

Frequently talked about in our classroom discussion were the steps of the recruiting process. In the assigned reading, Feldman and Contzius list eight steps of the recruiting process. Some of these steps I think are more important than others. I'm interested to see how my view of these things will change after I have been out in the profession for 10 years, 20 years, etc... For now, I can just base my opinions on my own common sense, my admittedly limited experience, and the countless hours of moaning and complaining I have heard from other band directors already in the field. The first two steps listed by Feldman and Contzius are having exposure concerts and recruiting concerts. I completely agree with them. In fact, I can think of few things that are more important and more inspirational than the excitement concerts can provide. Think about it: humans are always motivated by a finished product. Because we have relatively short attention-spans, we are much more interested in the outcome of the project than we are in the millions of steps leading up to it. For this reason it is so important to show children, "Hey, this is what you can be a part of someday!" It is for this exact reason that Dr. Ciepluch always has the Case Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Winds play for the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony. This is also why in middle school the 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade band all played on the same concert. Well, one of the reasons. : ) Sitting in my chair as a young sixth-grader who had just completed my portion of the program, I was in awe at what the 7th and 8th graders were able to do. To me, they sounded like a million dollars! To me, they were as good as the Cleveland Orchestra! Oh how I couldn't wait to be in their shoes so I could sound as good.

Letters home to parents as well as parent informational meetings may be important for logistical reasons, but I don't think they are half as important as the initial exposure to instruments and the instrumental ensembles themselves. Similarly, I am not a big fan of aptitude testing, or any of Gordon's testing strategies for timbrel preference. Look, I chose to play the saxophone in 5th grade because Lisa Simpson played the saxophone. It looked fun to play with all those keys, and boy was it shiny. What did it sound like? Not only did I non know, I don't think I cared. I think classroom teacher interviews are important. In these formal or informal settings, important questions are answered and instrumental fitting can begin. If the teacher is intelligent and wise, they will also have an opportunity to encourage students with various personalities, work ethics, and physical make-ups to choose the instrument that is right for them. Finally, following-up with parents is extremely important. I would think that music educators want their students' parents to be as much a part of their lives as possible.

1/14/11 - 3 Questions

1. To be a good music teacher, I think it is important to have (a) good dispositional qualities, (b) a firm knowledge of music, and (c) a practical and effective way to communicate this knowledge to students. One might say that in essence, these three areas make up the so-called "Proactive Scholar-Practitioner" philosophy that is fundamental to past, current, and future Case Western Reserve University educators. To be of a good disposition means that one is willing, capable, and passionate about serving others and making sure that they are living an active life-style that is in harmony with good moral values and creating a nurturing learning environment. Honesty, integrity, self-control, optimism, and respect for others are a few of the virtues that are common among those with a good disposition. To have a firm knowledge of music means that one is familiar with music history and music theory. But this is not all if one wants to be an instrumental music teacher. They must also have the psycho-motor abilities to play the major instruments, and be able to teach them at an adequate level. To have a practical and effective way to communicate knowledge to others in any field is to understand and work from the best pedagogy available. The best teachers are masters of how to demonstrate what they know in a way that the students will learn the subject matter. Good practitioners have also figured out unique ways to work on and develop different levels of thinking.

2. As part of instrumental music instruction, students should learn important things from three categories or "outcomes" - the psycho-motor outcome, the cognitive outcome, and the affective outcome. Regarding the psycho-motor outcome, students need to learn the fundamentals and rudiments of the instrument they have selected to play in band or orchestra. If it is a wind instrument, this might include breathing, embouchure, playing position, articulation, tonguing, and correct fingering. They will need to learn to sight-read notes and rhythms. Even more basic than this, they should have a good understanding of what key signatures and time signatures are and what they mean. They should know basic musical terminology and be able to apply this to their performance. Regarding the cognitive outcome, students should learn how to think about music and recognize basic patterns in music, even when they do not have their instrument in front of them. Instrumental musicians should have a basic grasp of music theory. They should know their major scales, minor scales, arpeggios, chords, and their meanings. They should also have a fundamental understanding of form and analysis. They should have a basic understanding of what makes music work, and why it works. Additionally, students should always be familiar with as much music history, both past and current, as they are able. Last but certainly not least, students should walk away from instrumental music with a number of affective outcomes. Music is a gateway and a bridge to areas that are difficult, frightening, unrelenting, mysterious, and even painful. Music is also an outlet to explore things that are glorious, momentous, personal, or just a way to enlighten or entertain oneself. In any case, music can be directly associated with things that are emotional and spiritual. Students that participate in instrumental music are able to express themselves in ways that would otherwise be impossible. It also offers students an opportunity to learn to work together to accomplish something greater than they are. In music, everyone is important, and everyone matters. Everyone has a chance to say something and learn about a higher form of communication. Music is here to be our friend, and I want my students to know that music will always be there for them.

3. Music should be a part of school curricula for a plethora of musical and extra-musical reasons. As I mentioned before, music gives children a unique and rare opportunity to express themselves in ways that otherwise would be impossible. Music is very valuable as an elective because it offers children something exciting and worthwhile that can last throughout their lives. Music is also a way for children to create and use both sides of the brain. Playing a musical instrument is a great way for most children to feel accomplished and proud of their achievements. It gives students an alternative to sports or computer science. Musical experiences bring humans closer together, whether by singing in a choir, performing in an instrumental ensemble, or listening to the music in the audience. Music has also been around for centuries and is a huge part of most people's culture. Writing music, composing music, performing music, and learning about music are all ways to keep culture alive. Music is a "gateway" art that may inspire students to learn more about history, math, science, language, or even the environment. Socially speaking, music is a way for students to find and make life-long friends. A large reason why people were in my high school marching band was because it acted like a social fraternity/sorority. It was a way for them to experience life while working toward a singular goal. Music should always be a part of every school's curricula. Many schools will say, "we cannot afford to have a music department." I say to them, "for the aforementioned reasons, you cannot afford NOT to have a music department."