Travis J. Weller

So thanks to Dr. Jay Dorfman’s (while he was still at Kent)class this past summer, I created an interdisciplinary unit on the Trail of Tears to enrich my ensemble’s studying of two pieces of music, “The Trail of Tears” by James Barnes and “Etowah” by Brian Balmages.  For those of you unfamiliar with the piece by Barnes, I highly recommend it.  It is not incredibly difficult music – but it is uplifting, dramatic, great music that has been crafted by one of the greatest band writers of the past 50 years.  Etowah is a new piece from FJH this year about the Hightower Trail that once connected Cherokee and Creek lands in the south.

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The toughest thing about being successful? That’s easy…you have to keep on being successful. There is no mystery as far as I am concerned. It really does not matter what your profession is, the statement is true. To be honest with you, I am anxious to complete this article and post it. Because if it is successful, how will I top it on my next post on-line? In music education success can be defined a number of different ways (please visit my article on www.mustech.net for one such definition).But no matter how it may be defined for your group or ensemble, know this (insert your own Yoda voice here): once you raise the bar forever will it dominate your destiny.

First of all, I am not saying don’t raise the bar. We must raise the level of expectations with your ensembles and individual students whenever possible. Often students look at expectations as a limitation, something that will be difficult to obtain. In my own work as a composer and arranger of band music, I find limits to be very necessary. Limits force me to be creative. Limits force me to be decisive. Limits force me to think and create a way to obtain my goal that at the onset of work I did not consider. We hear all the time about the untapped human potential people possess. Why does it remain untapped? My guess with some people is that upon hearing a comment that they have untapped potential, they do not seek any limits (expectations) to see if the statement is in error. It is much easier to say you have no limits in your abilities than to actually test them and find out.

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