Practice

None of my band student currently study privately so I struggle with teaching them how to practice.  I want to try to avoid being their private teacher and keeping up with countless lesson plans.  I want to teach them how to do it.

Today we did this:

Practicing Practice:

Winds (55 minutes)

Warm-up: 25 minutes

1. Set up in a place with as minimal distractions as possible.  Put your phone on my desk or in your backpack.
2. Start with scale exercises. (5 minutes)
1. F major scale in groups of 3
2. F major scale in groups of 5
3. Bb major scale long tones.  20 seconds each with crescendo.  10 seconds rest.  Up and down. (8 minutes)
4. 5 minutes of F quarter notes.  50 seconds on, 10 seconds off.
5. 5 minutes of F major scale (2 octave practice)

Practice: 20 minutes

1. Groove Blues.  Practice articulations. (8 minutes)
2. IND Line.  Learn first three lines. (10 minutes)
3. Review Groove Blues (2 minutes)

Reading: 5 minutes

1. Read the first thing you find in forScore.  No skipping of parts. (5 minutes)

Cool-down: 5 minutes

1. Review F major scale exercises.

Percussion

Warm-up: (6 minutes)

1. Set up in a place with as minimal distractions as possible.  Put your phone on my desk or in your backpack.
2. 8’s with metronome. (2 minutes).
3. Single paradiddles with metronome (2 minutes)
4. 5 stroke rolls with metronome (2 minutes)

Exercises: (15 minutes)

1. Roll crescendos with metronome (10 seconds up, 10 seconds down, 5 seconds rest).  20x. (10 minutes)
2. Double and single paradiddles with metronome.  One measure ending with quarter note.  Beginner do eighth, advanced do 16th notes.  (5 minutes)

Instruments: (15 minutes)

1. Tambourine
2. Cymbals
3. Bass Drum

Reading:

1. Open forscore and read snare parts. (5 minutes)
2. Read mallet parts. (5 minutes)

Cool-down:

1. Repeat warm-up paradiddles.

2015 Choir Repertoire

I spent a fair amount of time last Spring working on choosing repertoire for this school year.

Some considerations:

• We got about 100% bigger this year (up to 64 signed up as of today).  There will be many new voices, but also many veterans.
• We can do some "big" choir pieces.
• I am mostly SSA (7 freshman boys).
• We are traveling this year without accompanist so we need to focus on acapella
• I am working hard to split main choir with the more elite/acapella group (Chorale).  All Chorale members are in the main choir.
• I have not chosen any of the pop/fun/new pieces.
• I want to make an effort to rotate parts.
• We will do a combined concert with our middle school.
• We also learn four Italian songs (SATB) for auditions, do lots of Broadway ...but no play this year :((  
• Chorale does mostly Pop acapella but I'm trying to add a few reach tunes this year.

Choir:

1. Wanting Memories (Barnwell):

I make an effort to feature women's groups and composers.  The group Sweet Honey in the Rock and the composer Ysaye Barnwell are certainly worthy of that effort.  The piece Wanting Memories features a fairly easy ostinato for our young tenors/basses and fairly easy harmony for upper voices.  I hope to use this song as a vehicle for vowel work. 

2. Shine on Me (Dillworth)

I have done this song before and it is an easy gospel SAB tune that introduces 9/8 time signature really well.  It does not get too high and might be a good song to do with the middle school.  Also great for vowel work (SH--AHHHH-E-N).



3. Alleluia (Thompson)

I did this in 2010 with a much smaller group.  They had great ears and we were pretty accurate, but this really requires a bigger group.  I hesitate to feature because it is for SATB (converted to SSAA) but I know Thompson did the arranging.  This song is ALL vowels (sense a trend).  I hope to use this to work on introducing chordal movements, cadences, and the like.  This will be our big piece for the year.



4. Tres Cantos Nativos

A favorite of the festival choir crowd I have never had a big enough group to do this.  It is harder than it looks and we are doing this for fun.  Requires some language work and a lot of CONSONANTS sounding together.



5. Elijah Rock (Hairston)

I have done this 3 times before.  Again, affords our young basses an ostinato part and is a great introduction to gospel tunes.  Very front of face consonants and vowels in addition to lots of rhythmic reading and dynamics.




6. Zion's Walls (Copland)

I'm doing SSA version.  Good opportunity to sing a song from American master and do a lot of historical work.  This song is hard and will require a lot of work.  Diction is a bear in this song.  T's and Z's.



Chorale:

1. Jack's Valentine  (Larsen)

Again, trying to feature women composers.  This song is "silly" but super hard and would be perfect for the smaller group if they are willing to take on the challenge.  Dynamics, and some really tough pitch clusters are involved.



2. Sisters (Walker)

One more woman as a composer (hopefully, you sense a trend).  We did this in choir last year and didn't quite have time to pull it off.  Lots of rhythm and movement and historical work.  Vowels are really big.



3. Silver Buckle on Mozart's Shoe (Boerger)

A new song by Kristina Boerger.  I anticipate playing trombone as the accompaniment which could be fun AND have a student conductor.  This song is longer than what we are used to and requires a touch and accuracy that is deceiving.



Anyway, those are the big tunes.  Many will be added!!

Final Project

As our final project in Band I assigned students the following:

Perform, record, edit, and publish a multi-part ensemble piece.  This piece must contain at least three parts (trio), and can have up to 5 parts (quintet).  You will perform all the parts on your band instrument.

• Choose song from ensemble books.  I recommend the quartet books we have been using.  Percussion: I would choose a percussion ensemble piece or drumline song.
• Practice.
• Record using Garageband.  I will help you get started.
• Edit recordings, adjust balance.
• Publish to youTube or Soundcloud.  If you publish to your account, send me the link.  

Students will be judged on your tone, intonation, rhythmic accuracy, style, articulations, and attention to detail.  You will also be judged on your ability to meet deadlines and work with the technology.

Here are some examples of student work:

Twelve Angry Juror Reflections

Responses from students for our play Twelve Angry Jurors which we performed on April 23 and 24, 2015.

12 Angry was a success

Yes	13	100%
No	0	0%

I learned a lot about myself and others by doing 12Angry

Yes	13	100%
No	0	0%

The best performance was

Wednesday dress	0	0%
Thursday	7	53.8%
Friday	6	46.2% I now understand what it takes to put on a HS play. Yes 13 100% No 0 0% I think SHS should do a drama/comedy every year. Yes 13 100% No 0 0% I learned a lot about drama during this play. I directed and acted in this play and it taught me a lot more about what it takes to put on a show. I learned that learning your lines is the absolute first step because everything after that becomes a lot easier. Once everyone is on the same page with lines, we can add more details and energy to our acting. It is also a lot harder to be a part of a play rather than a musical. A musical is difficult because there is singing, dancing, and acting involved, but performing in a play is a bit more challenging. In this play, we were on stage the entire time, so if someone made a mistake they couldn't just be offstage for the next scene and walk it off. Plays also require a lot more lines to be memorized and that is very hard to learn an hour and a half of lines. This play taught me that there is a lot more to drama than just acting; there is a lot of preparation behind the scenes that takes a lot of time and effort.  I learned that a drama, especially this one, has a far different dynamic from a musical. I learned that it takes every single person putting in that effort to practice at home, to be focused in practice, and be completely involved during the play. I learned that doing a play is definitely a lot harder than doing a musical because you have to memorize each and every line and even the lines before so you know when to come in. With musicals its mostly songs that are easy to learn. I learned it takes a lot of time and effort and you cant put only half of your effort into it. You need to completely immerse yourself into it. The practices were absolutely amazing. I loved seeing us figure out certain reactions and laugh and get along really well. I loved the fun parts and getting to know each other over time. During the performances i was definitely terrified because i had never done a play and i was so scared to have to know all my lines and i was afraid to mess up. I was really proud of everyone and how hard they worked on it. Im sad now that its over because i haven't had that much fun after school in a while but i hope to work with the same people again on other things. My emotions during the performance included pride for all of the work we had done to get to the point. It was the first drama of hopefully many more to come. I was nervous at first with the crowd being right there for the entire show, but that stopped once we started. At the end of it all I was so happy with the work we did and so glad to have been a part of the experience.  I experienced a lot of emotions during 12 Angry Jurors. I think there was a time when everyone thought this play would not work out. We went through a lot of obstacles and I admit that I was a little scared. But I am so proud of everyone for performing to our best ability and making 12 Angry a success. I was most nervous at the beginning of the Thursday show because of the audience. It was so different having the audience right there surrounding us because we didn't want to make a mistake. It look a little getting used to because I didn't know where to look or if they could tell they were making me nervous. Once I got completely into the scene, I forgot they were there; I think this happened to a lot of us. 12 Angry Jurors was a great experience for me. I had so much going to rehearsals and getting both work done, and having those awesome, random laughs with the rest of the cast. I am so proud of everyone for pulling it all together and putting on a great show!

Content

I have been debating with my class at University of Bridgeport about content.  Do music teachers teach historical content (Mozart, Louis Armstrong, etc...) or do we teach musical concepts (tone, intonation, etc...)?  If we need to teach Mozart WHEN and HOW do we do it?

The list can be infinite really quickly.  I have a hard time with "the student should study who they want".  We should teach something about Mozart in their twelve years in public schools.  The student should know at least this about Mozart:

• He was really, really good.
• He died young.
• He wrote a lot of Operas, Symphonies, and other stuff.
• They should have a pretty good idea its Mozart if we drop the needle.

But, how do we fit it in to our schedule?  Do we teach it through repertoire, worksheets, youTube videos?

Most of us would be aghast if we asked a student about Mozart and they said "who?".  

Concert

A great concert last night where we combined the MS Glee Club (6-8th grade) and the HS choirs.

MIOSM 2015 Concert

 SHS Chorale

1. Star Spangled Banner…………………………...….………………..arr. Deke Sharon
2. Sweet Dreams…………………………………………….………..……..arr. Deke Sharon

SHS Choir

   1.   Festival Sanctus………………….…………………..………………………….John Leavitt

   2. Seal Lullaby…………………………………………………………………..…..Eric Whitacre

   3.   Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie…………………...Leadbelly, arr. Moira Smiley

Stephanie Tabaka, solo

   4.   A Whole New World………………………………..……Alan Menken and Tim Rice

Matt Moran, Abigail Andrade, soloists

SMS Glee Club

   1.   Say Something………….…………………………….………………………...Alex Preston

   2.   Safer………………………………………………………….……………………………...First Aid

Peyton Iott, solo

   3.   Lay Me Down…………………………………………..…………………………...Sam Smith

Catherine Dolan, solo

   4.   Us …………………………………………………………..……………………..Regina Spektor

Rose Washbrook, Violin

Combined Choirs

1. Shenandoah……………………..………………………………...…...arr. Rollo Dillworth

Megan Meyer, Flute

2. Bonse Aba………………………………………………………………….arr Victor Johnson

     Sarah Masotta, Galianna Erazo, solos

Who Am I?

My first assignment in my Secondary Methods Class at University of Bridgeport is to read peter Boonshaft's Teaching Music with Purpose (he has three similar books).  Students then write a blog post answering what their core values are.  Here was my assignment two years ago.

I got an assignment from my Superintendent to spend professional development time today on a project of my choosing.  I choose to reflect on my post from two years ago and reread the Boonshaft.

My core value list from 2013:

• Be on time.  Be professional.
• Honor the music.  Respect the composer.  
• You must read the music.  It is the key to unlocking musical secrets.
• Each student has a musical voice.  Sometimes they need to discover it.

I do not think any of these have changed.  I do believe if you asked my students what my core values are they would be able to make the same list.

One thing I might add is that I love projects, whether it is pioneering Palm computers, iPads and the Symphony, or restarting a Drama program.  I feel students love the NEW.

While re-reading Boonshaft I was reminded of two aspects of teaching:

• You need access to high quality literature, instruments, and students.  I have some control of the first, little control over the second, and little control over the third.  
• You need to spend a crazy amount of time on conducting practice, score study, and rehearsal planning.  I teach Band AND choir, AND three sections of American Government.  I have 45 minutes per day to do budget, fix instruments, make copies, grade papers.  I need to find time to improve rehearsals by doing the proper amount of study.

So how am I working on this?

• Today, as an example, I am meeting with my Middle School colleague to review repertoire, develop strategies for sharing assessments and music, and review conducting basics.
• I need to find ways to "farm out" tasks.  My administrative load is insane.  Between the field trip forms, $$ deposits, CMEA paperwork, iPad updates, etc... The more I organize, the better.
• Teaching the class at UB forces me to reflect on my practice AND have students critique it.  
• I read a lot.  Not nearly as much as I did before my stroke (its hard...).
• I am pushing for grant funds to improve our instrument library.  We simply do not have enough instruments.  We are WAY ahead of where we were 5 years ago when I arrived, but we are a good $200,000 behind similar schools with quality programs.  We currently have no students in district playing oboe, bassoon, horn, tuba, or baritone sax.  
• I am beginning to organize our library.  This, I believe, would take me 150 hours of work.  But I have to do it.  See above for the 45 minutes per day I get...
• I conduct MUCH worse since my stroke.  I need to find someone to help me with this.

P-Bone Mini

P-Bone Mini:

I have a p-Bone mini which is an alto trombone. It works pretty well.

1. I'd like to use it to play along with the band. But I have to learn how to play it. The positions for an alto are different than a tenor, so its basically learning a new instrument. Should I learn the positions by reading Alto Sax parts? Obviously if I was going to play orchestral music I'd learn the traditional way (alto clef, etc..) but thats not at all how I will use it.

2. What is the theory of letting kids learn on the mini (1st grade or so) and then having them convert to tenor. Same issues (different positions, etc...).

Disco Lives

The band is progressing. Concert next week.