What’s old is new again

Been a minute! With a new year underway I decided to use some of my downtime to clean out and organize some old files at home. I came across my new teacher portfolio from the spring of 1999, which I used for interviews in search of my first job.

To think I had the energy to not only iron but starch a dress shirt!

I don’t tend to save a ton of stuff but I was glad to find this in the binder pages…an action shot of me making copies in the Midland High School band office (where I student taught). 

I supposed this photo was to demonstrate I had excellent command of the most relevant piece of technology I was regularly using at the time.

Something else thing I came across in my portfolio (and the real reason for this post) came when I found my philosophy of education statement. I was expecting to read it and find misguided earnestness and new teacher naiveté.

What I found made me smile. Turns out I still agree with what I wrote and it seems I had a good handle on my beliefs and priorities going into the classroom. I credit many mentors in music education in helping shape the words that made their way to this page. Here is what I wrote.

This was a helpful reminder on what I believed in 1999 and how much of that is still fundamental to how I hope my classroom feels each and every day. It’s funny and reassuring that I started on a path almost 25 years ago with these ideas in mind and they have continued to be north star principles.

I hope you have a wonderful second semester-let’s be great!

I’m rooting for you-Jon

Thoughts on leadership

It’s almost spring and that means it’s time to interview and select leaders for the marching band program. It also is a good time to reflect on my own leadership style, thoughts and priorities. This blog was all made possible because of an invitation to be interviewed by Dylan Maddix, co-host of The Band Room Podcast and current DMA at Arizona State University.

Dylan is working on his final research project focusing on servant-leadership characteristics in large ensemble conductors. What follows are my free flowing thoughts in preparing for the interview thanks to great guiding questions that Dylan provided.

Long read ahead…Enjoy!

CPR For Band

I recently read a social media post from a director asking for help on how to make score study more efficient and I have some thoughts on that (for another day.)

The point of me writing here, quick and dirty, is to share this idea that our knowledge of the score, even at its most thorough, can only take our students so far because we are the holders of all the information and they are relying on us to share what we know.

I understand and agree that projecting or making available copies of the score can be a powerful tool for the students but without guidance and follow through from us, it can still be a heavy lift to make efficient meaning out of a full score for a school group.

How about if there was a way to include the students in the process that was a bit more straight forward?

Regular readers here know I love a list.

A few years back I created an acronym using CPR but specific for band. We are not resuscitating someone who has stopped breathing but we are creating a helpful paradigm for including our students in the rehearsal and preparation process.

What is it?

CPR in band stands for Concentration-Preparation-Repetition. 

Concentration = things we can improve right away by thinking about them better

Preparation = items that need to be practiced on your own or in sectionals

Repetition = parts that need to be rehearsed together during class

While this doesn’t directly correlate to a traditional manner of score study, what it does ask us as the director to do is to reflect on where we are at in the rehearsal process at a given moment and create a list of things to do using the CPR framework (hint: by opening the score!)

I’ve shared an example below:

cpr-wind-1Download

This is a document I created tonight to help one of my groups get ready for a performance we have in March. The ensemble has visibility to our targets for the next two weeks and it helps me stay focused in my rehearsal planning.

Later in the process I will give the students a blank template of this document and they fill in their own CPR sheets helping to give me a glimpse into what they need.

No hidden knowledge-everyone in the group has their eyes on a whole lot of information and can see what the priorities are for our upcoming rehearsals AND what they need to be working on in their own practice at home.

What do you think?

How To Get Your Band To Sound Like THAT!

I had the chance to present at the 2022 CMEA Bay Section Winter Conference on Friday January 7, 2022 and wanted to capture some highlights from the presentation for anyone who was unable to attend.

Question.

There is not a lot about teaching under quarantine that I love. Nothing can truly replace the very real value of human interaction, the a-ha moments, and the connections we make through shared space and time. But there has been something that has been an unexpected joy in this process

This year, while we were still doing in-person instruction, I started including daily conversation starters on the agenda. It became an easy way to build an additional sense of community between the students and created a good energy at the start of each class.

When we moved to online teaching in March (has it really been 7 weeks…ACK!) I knew I wanted to maintain as much routine as I could manage and decided to keep the daily prompt, now reframed as the Question of the Day (QOTD) and posted on Google Classroom.

Each morning I post a new question for all of my classes. It is given as an assignment and is worth 5 points (serving as their daily participation grade). Their answers are visible to one another in the feed for that specific prompt and they can comment on other responses. This has created an additional benefit of everyone participating in a class “discussion” if they want.

For some students completing the QOTD is a box they check, get in-get out. For some students it is a place to connect. They read other answers and leave comments on those responses. I make a point to read all of the responses and leave comments where and when appropriate. It’s been a lot of fun to interact in this way.

I’ve heard directly from some of my kids that they look forward to the QOTD for a variety of reasons.

Here are a few, straight from my students:

• It feels like we are talking in the band room
• I like starting my day with the QOTD. It’s a nice routine
• The QOTD is something fun I look forward to; it makes it seem like you care about how we are doing not just pushing work at us
• Honestly I just like to know how other people are doing
• Thinking about something different, even for a couple of minutes, is a nice break from the thoughts in my head

The other benefit of this, which I alluded to at the top of the blog, has been the unexpected gift of getting to know my students on a deeper level.  Really.

Let me explain. My band classes are large. Between 52-90 people per class. We work hard to make connections with the kids in a variety of ways but there is not the time to meaningfully interact with 320 unique students daily. The QOTD has gifted me big and small moments with my students. From the serious to the silly, the heavy to the light, there is plenty of trivial nonsense (also a necessary part of connection!) but also real stuff happening, too.

Would I rather be seeing my classes in person every day?

YES 100% ABSOLUTELY.

But when we return to whatever in-person instruction looks like next year I know the QOTD will remain. It’s the kind of homework I like to grade!

Here is a chronological sample of QOTDs, starting with our first day of online learning. Some of these are original, many are from other sites and all try to meet the moment in gauging what the kids need in the way of conversation and support.

• 3.23
  • What do think will be some things you might like about online learning? Some things you might dislike?
• 3.24
  • How was your first day of online school? Share a high and a low with the class
• 3.27
  • Week 1 Survey (click here for sample but don’t, um, actually take the survey)
• 3.30
  • If you could earn the same pay no matter what job you did what would you choose and why?
• 3.31
  • If you were forced to give up one of the following which would you and why? Washing your hair | Brushing your teeth | Wearing deodorant
• 4.1
  • What music or musician (any type, style, genre) have you been listening to in order to get by? If school appropriate share a YouTube link and provide some new listening recs. Mine?  Have a listen here
• 4.14 (spring break happened…)
  • Week 3 check in…how are you holding up? Feel free to comment privately if you prefer
• 4.15
  • Would you rather have a fun teacher who is bad at teaching their subject or a mean teacher who is good at teaching their subject? Does your answer change depending on the subject? Explain your thinking.
• 4.17
  • Week 3 Survey (similar to Week 1 so no link)
• 4.20
  • Would you rather be able to talk to animals or speak every language? Why?
• 4.21
  • What is something and/or someone you are grateful for? Explain why.
• 4.22
  • Which is better…spending a night in a luxury hotel or camping surrounded by beautiful scenery?
• 4.27
  • Do you have pets? If so what are your pets names? If no pets, would you want one?
• 4.28
  • What do you hope you will be doing for a job in 10 years? Where do you hope you will be doing it?
• 4.29
  • Share your favorites with the class: movie | artist or song | tv show | video game
• 5.1
  • Who is your oldest friend and where did you meet them?
• 5.4
  • What is the most annoying habit someone can have? What do you do to deal with this person or the habit?
• 5.5
  • What is your favorite time of day? Why?
• 5.6
  • What smell brings back great memories?
• 5.11
  • This or that:
    • Woodwinds or brass?
    • Netflix or YouTube?
    • Percussion or guard?
    • TikTok or Snapchat?
    • Android or iOS?
    • Dog or cat?
    • In & Out or The Habit?
    • Stoneridge Mall or the outlets?
    • Friday or Saturday?
    • The Office or Friends?

(I legit hope you took the time to complete the last question)

To be clear, some of the responses to these questions have been perfunctory, kind of half-hearted and cursory. I’ve had a couple kids tell me the questions are annoying. I’m happy for that, too, because at least they are having a reaction to me as their teacher, even if virtually!

But many many more of them have answered with insight, humor, awareness and consideration. And while not every question lands with every kid in the same way, they are landing. And we are connecting.

The best part, though, is that I know the squirrels (who will be back in from of me soon enough) just a little bit better than before. But I still miss them like crazy.

Be safe.

Jon

How Did I Get Here?

I’m feeling strong today. Are you?

• Yes? Keep reading and we can commiserate.
• No? Need some encouragement? Keep reading and you can lean a little.

Student Leadership

Been quiet on here for awhile…I guess it’s just how these things go sometimes. I know you understand. Today my colleague and I had the chance to share with the VAPA department our thoughts on developing student leadership in the band program and it felt like a good thing to share here.

I am in the midst of wrapping up our competitive marching season with our state marching contest this weekend for our 340-member marching band. We are also in the last month of preparation for Wind Ensemble 1 to perform at The Midwest Clinic.

Suffice it to say we use student leadership for a tremendous amount of direction and help in the band. It has been a long term project creating a leadership training structure that is helpful in building the type of leaders we need in the program. I feel like we got the closest this year to hitting the mark.

Here are PDF’s we used for the 2-day training session.

OUTLINE: Leadership Training 2019

SLIDE DECK: MB Leadership Training

The training was broken in to 2 days, structured to parallel the 2 overarching responsibilities the leaders were tasked with:

1. Build relationships
2. Teach skills

We are always working to refine and revise so this isn’t a finished project but it’s a great next step. I’ve been tweaking this training for 18 years and am happy with how this version turned out. There are likely some things that might not make sense without better context but thought this was a good starting point for sharing what we do.

Additional resources that were central in creating this material and have been personally enlightening for me:

• The Four Tendencies Framework by Gretchen Rubin
• Dare To Lead by Brene Brown

Let me know if you have any questions and Happy Thanksgiving.

Jon

Getting Ready For Festival

Where I teach (in the San Francisco Bay Area) we are in the thick of CMEA festival season. I have fond memories of attending district and state festival as a band student in Michigan and appreciate the value of a non-competitive event to get feedback on where we are at as a program. Festival is not the end-all of our objectives for the year but is a useful metric we use to guide our instruction.

Every state runs festival differently. CMEA Bay Section doesn’t ask us to choose from a required repertoire list or to perform a march (though we do plenty.) But we must program art music and stay within 25 minutes of time. Also, there are different classes we can place our ensembles in (our 3 developing bands are Class 2, the 2 wind ensembles are Class 3). And we have a sight-reading component.

As both a judge and a participating band director in festivals I thought it might be helpful to share a few of my thoughts and observations on tips for a smooth and successful experience at festival.

REPERTOIRE

• Pick music that your group can achieve successfully in the allotted class time you have to get ready for festival. Think here of achievement as your ensemble playing at a high level of musicality and technical proficiency, not just “getting through the piece”. I’ve always prioritized process over product as I want my students to enjoy our time with the music we are preparing and our festival set is no different
• Make sure not to get sidetracked by difficulty or grade level as the most significant baseline for choosing rep for festival. If you feel like your group would benefit from a stretch piece save that for a concert
• Consider a balance of genres/styles/length/composers
• In each week of your rehearsal cycle plan for 1 day to be a program run. A few years ago I started doing Friday run-throughs early in our rehearsal process. This was hugely beneficial for me and the students even when those early run-throughs were pretty rough

Here is what we are programming for festival with the 5 bands at Amador Valley:

Wind Ensemble 1

• Through The Looking Glass (Jess Langston Turner)
• Of Our New Day Begun (Omar Thomas)
• The Purple Pageant (Karl L. King)

Wind Ensemble 2

• Early Light (Carolyn Bremer)
• Blessed Are They (Johannes Brahms, trans. Barbara Buehlman)
• Chester (William Schumann)

Wind Symphony Purple (non-auditioned 11-12th grade)

• The Young Lions (Jukka Vitasarri)
• Ancient Flower (Yukiko Nishimura)
• Within The Castle Walls (Brian Balmages)

Wind Symphony Gold (non-auditioned 10th grade)

• El Capitan (John Philip Sousa)
• The Sun Will Rise Again (Philip Sparke)
• Cajun Folk Songs (Frank Ticheli)

Symphonic Band (9th grade)

• Bugles & Drums (Edwin Franko Goldman)
• At Morning’s First Light (David Gillingham)
• Variations on A Korean Folksong (John Barnes Chance)

WARM-UP ROOM

Have a plan. Type it out, write it up, but have a plan. If you have 30 minutes know that 5 minutes of that time will be entering and exiting the room. Another 5 minutes will be transitions and getting settled so really you have 20 minutes for warm-up. Ideally you would practice your exact festival warm-up in the 1-2 rehearsals prior to festival so there is no surprise for the students. I like to do a short breathing sequence and then 2-3 of our warm-up activities followed by repertoire specific exercises they already have in rotation.

I suggest having 2-3 items to spot check in each piece but have them be areas that don’t need last minute rehearsing if you can avoid that (I’ve been there, too…) Spot check in reverse order so the last thing they play in warm-up is from the first piece they will play on stage. After the spot checking we tune.

Think of the warm-up room as the place where you connect to one another and the music you are about to make. I try to stay cool, calm and collected as I think that energy is a helpful transfer for students who may be nervous, distracted, excited or any variety of emotions. Oh, and did I mention: have a plan!

PERFORMANCE STAGE

• Make sure you know how students are expected to enter and exit the stage before you start your performance. Ideally you and your students would be able to see at least one band perform and you would know what this looks like
• Practice how you are going to enter and exit the stage (especially with your newest or youngest musicians)
• Let your students know that the first visual impression they make while they are on stage is a critical one. Details matter, including professional deportment. This is a necessary skill for any performance, not just festival
• I prefer to avoid playing on stage, including taking a tuning pitch (unless the stage is significantly colder than the warm-up room)
• Ensure your percussion have a clear plan for setting up and arranging equipment as needed so that everything feels as similar as possible to your rehearsal room
• Work with your timpanists ahead of time to have a plan to tune the timpani in a professional manner. Avoid having a student play a reference pitch and ensure your percussionists know how to tune timpani
• Practice how the transitions will work between each piece and/or movement so the students (and you!) know how long things should take. Don’t start a piece until everyone is ready…I’ve seen many times where a nervous director is missing several musicians at the start of a piece because they didn’t notice the students weren’t ready

SIGHT-READING

In an earlier blog I shared the curriculum I’ve built to create music literacy beyond a superior rating at festival. For the purposes of this post I will share some different strategies I use with my groups in the 5 minute prep time we are given in the actual sight-reading room.

In CMEA we are not allowed to make any sounds on our instruments but can practice fingerings. Teachers are not allowed to prompt students on how rhythms go, what fingerings to use or what terms mean but students can generate that information for one another. It is, by design, a very student centered process (which I love)

• Give the students 30-45 seconds of individual/partner preparation. The students know their strengths and weaknesses better than we do. Giving them time to work at their own pace for a short period of time will help them to have some ownership in the sight-reading room (and encourage your kids to NOT work chronologically…zoom in on the toughest looking thing on the page and start there)
• Sensitize the ensemble to the gestural vocabulary of the piece. Have the group watch you do some sample conducing and count quarter notes. Ask them to match their counting to your style, your conducting frame, your tempo. This will allow you to practice all meters, all styles, all tempos and even accelerandos and rallentandos. And bonus: they are watching you the whole time! This doesn’t need to take more than 30 seconds
• Work from the end of the piece first (often directors run out of time and the band never knows how the piece ends)
• Utilize sizzling, rhythm tapping, note name spelling, wind patterns. In our festivals we are allowed to have the students practice in any way we’d like except for making sounds on their instruments so we are able to take advantage of a variety of strategies
• End with the beginning of the piece (as it’s the first thing they play)

MISCELLANEOUS FESTIVAL LOGISTICS

• Make sure necessary paperwork for the festival is done ahead of time (repertoire sheets, seating charts)
• Prepare an equipment list for your percussion so the day of the festival your students have something to reference when you are packing for the event
• Create neat and organized judges binders with scores numbered (and free of rehearsal markings) and pages in the correct order
• Assign students to help with things like brass mutes and folders
• When planning your itinerary for the event provide some buffer time for things that might come up that are out of your control. I personally add 5 minutes to all of my intervals to account for travel time and other hiccups that always occur

Whether you are a new or veteran band director I hope these offer you some ideas, reminders or points of consideration to help your festival experience run smoothly!

Take care and good skill!

Lesson Planning

The quick and dirty? I love lesson planning. It brings some front loaded calm to the anticipated craziness of any given work week. And what teacher doesn’t appreciate some calm in whatever form they can get it?

Click on the links below for a look at the documents that guide our rehearsals at Amador Valley.

The Cultural Hygiene In Your Ensemble

I am unabashedly aware that I have a lot of steps in getting ready for my day. Specific shampoo for thicker hair, face scrub for shinier skin, shaving gel, toner, under eye cream, moisturizer…and we haven’t even gotten to styling products.

There is a routine we all follow, big or small, in maintaining a level of hygiene. It is the daily rhythm of how we stay clean and publicly presentable. Could there be a parallel to our ensembles?