Dear Emily,

Despite having not having the greatest high school band experience, during my senior year our choir director (who I was taking a music appreciation course from) shared this advice with me “work at something you love, because you will be working at it for a long time.” I became open to a lot more musically because it was and still is a love – I am 37 years old and still in love with sound. Not so much in love with pizza fundraisers and study hall duty – but sound? Now we are talking. It is something by which I am continually fascinated.

At the end of the day I owe my parents – for instilling in me faith and family that have become the core of my character which in positions of leadership is needed. My college band director – “Doc” Arnold – my second father who showed me how to be a professional. Lou Collela (who passed away last March – the first of all my teachers) who taught me to conduct and to seek out and challenge students with great music. Linda Walker – who during my studies at Kent State has challenged me view a much bigger picture, to consider all points of view, and live with grace every day. My wife – who is so wonderful about listening, reminding me to see other points, and making sure I stay in balance. My own children – who remind me all students are products of heredity and environment. I want the best for my own children, so that means doing the same for others. I don’t mean to disrespect other teachers with whom I studied, I just don’t want this letter to have to be hardbound at a printer!

I am a bit of a moderate in my views on music education. Ultimately the only thing I am philosophically opposed to is experiences that turn students from music. That being said part of the reward is watching personal connections begin to blossom in the lives of music students. I try to remain open in finding ways to connect students from “school/academic music” to music and musical opportunities engrained in our culture and society outside the school. Today was a victory of sorts. I have been pushing chamber music the last two years with my students as an avenue in which they can continue to play beyond graduation. When I spoke to them about a two performance opportunities in February and April, they immediately began rattling off pieces they would like to revisit and prepare. Molding life-long lovers of music is rewarding and at time easy – but we need more life-long performers or “musicers” as Elliot would say.

In my current position, I have the good fortune of working for a Superintendent who used to be an art educator. My former principal was the High School Band director for 15 years prior to my appointment (which made for some interesting discussions…), and one of our guidance councilors is a former Choir Director. We have new administrators this year at the High School/Middle School where I am working – it has been good transition. Much of it was done the past few years in the work the bands did to build bridges through our performances, and reputation. I am guilty of not interacting much with the rest of the staff – I teach lessons over lunch breaks, with family and graduate school commitments I cannot go to social gatherings. It does isolate me to a degree, but when I do interact I work to understand their schedule, academic demands, and identify how their personality might react to certain requests. The parents have been good over the years, but again much of that is part of my responsibility to establish open lines of communication, establish goals and visions for the program in line with my philosophy and their expectations, and to make one deal with parents: The deal is I will teach your child, share music with them, put them in the best possible position for success, and demonstrate a sincere passion for this art.

I have served in various functions with PMEA an officer which has been revealing to me in learning about programs across the state of Pennsylvania. I am headed towards my comprehensive exams at Kent State in October – absolutely mind boggling at times in reviewing everything I have covered. I find myself out of good answers frequently, but I have plenty of good questions. This results in a lot of reading – journals, research, and texts. On the flip side, I do a fair amount of reflection – some formal, others pure streams of consciousness. Finally, composition has been a great and wonderful step for me as a musician. I felt the musician in me withering because I never did anything for it – it was always teach, teach, teach. Composition has made me a better conductor, better educator, and a better person.

The first thing I would tell a young music educator is to listen to and for their “coaches”. I can hear Lou Collela and “Doc” when I am in rehearsal, I can hear Mike Formeck during a lesson. Many of the teachers we all have studied with did not arrive at their position by accident – their experience amongst other things got them there and they have important perspective to consider. Second, find opportunities to teach as often as you can with people who are in a position that a) you aspire to be like, or b) you would like to teach. The act of teaching is an art, and to be better at it, you need to spend time doing it. Third, don’t let classes get in the way of your education – this is sort of an extension of 2 but you must see the bigger picture. Ear training matters. Music History matters. Brass Methods matters. Seeing how all your course work connects into teaching is important. Four – We are all apprentices of observation – we have seen teaching our whole life. Some good, some…not so good. Some of it was the person teaching, some of it was the context, some of it was the materials or medium. As Yoda once said to Luke – “Mind what you have learned, save you it can.” Five – it is a very big world out there. Begin building a network of colleagues and friends. Part of our society does place a premium on “who you know” – good, bad, or indifferent. That does get you so far – but most of my dealings thus far has been “They know somebody, but can they use what they know?” I have had 9 different assistant band directors at Mercer during my career – all of them have started with me as either while in college as an undergraduate or graduate student. It is a small extra-curricular contract, but a big opportunity to teach, lead, and apply what they know. All of them are now music educators, many with their own bands. On Saturday of Labor Day Weekend I was especially proud of David as he directed the University of Hawaii Marching Band on ESPN2 in the Colorado game. Could David use what he knew? Absolutely, which is what catapulted him to the top for the search committee.

Finally, music teaching to me is about living a life-style. You will have a career in music yes, but look at the hours we keep. Look at the inordinate amount of time we spend getting an eleven minute field show in pristine condition. Look at the emotions that stir in us both on the podium and in the conference with the parent. We live a very rewarding life-style. It comes with free t-shirts, occasional pizza parties with adolescents, and long bus rides to obscure performance destinations. It involves rebarring Orff instruments for composition exercises, circle games and dancing, typing names into programs, all the while sucking down so much coffee Juan Valdez agrees to name his next donkey after you. Find a patient spouse who will accept your weird schedule and your quirky faults that are so endearing to your students. Oh – and as a father to 3 daughters and a son – start your 403b early – Have you seen how much it costs to pay for a wedding and college lately? ;^)

Good luck Emily!

Your friend in music and life,

Travis

“How come you never have a losing season?” he asked with a smile.

That is an excellent question, I thought. One of these days I might actually get it all figured out. Eternal optimist and music lover meets bureaucracy of public education – this should be an excellent read in about 15 years. In the meantime, these are 9 tenets around which I have built much of my teaching. They are not fix-all statements that will cure everything in year’s time. Much of this has been 16 years of my own teaching leading me to this point, my interactions with friends and colleagues, and the time I have spent in furthering my professional development as a band director. As you reflect upon the end of your year of teaching, I hope that 2 or 3 of these can provide further thought for you and your own ensembles.

1) Be positive. There is plenty to be down about right now in education. One area that we cannot be down on are the students who walk in our door. If we do not create an atmosphere of positive expectation and collaboration, I believe it will be very rare for them to take the initiative to do so. These are just kids – not professionals. Teach them. Lead them. Be positive.

2) You can love your band, but you don’t have to like them. This advice comes from Shawn Reynolds – and it is pretty accurate. In the teacher’s lounge, the copy room, the office, they are referred to us as “one of your band kids” – even though we know they have a school life in other parts of the building. But band is their family, and we, as directors, are surrogate parents and role-models. We must love them, but when they are doing things that we don’t like, or are detrimental to their success as people and musicians we must let them know about it.

3) It is their band. It isn’t my name on the middle-high school sign. This school and program belongs to them – I happen to facilitate sound decisions. I hope to continue to build a program that the students and the community are proud of. I hope the band program is responsive to the needs of the school and the community, and demonstrates to everyone we encounter how important music education is in the life of a child. I can’t do that if my name is the most important one on the concert program.

4) Listen to each other. The world is a better place when we learn to listen to each other. The ensemble is better when they learn to listen to everything around them. No one in this economy is too poor to pay attention during a rehearsal – especially when the benefit is making the ensemble play with greater awareness of expression and accuracy.

5) Have a band for all seasons. Not every student that enters my program wants to be in marching band. Some really don’t like concert band. Some enjoy small ensemble work more than large ensemble. We have maintained our success in part by providing avenues for performance and expression in ensembles of different types without departing and sacrificing the heritage of the American Wind and Concert Bands for which we are a part. Yes it means never having a non-busy season – but it also means less non-interested students.

6) Great moments are magical, take lots of work, and can happen all the time. Half-time shows. Adjudication/Contest. Festival auditions. Concerts. Sometimes it is hard to keep in perspective that those big moments are small snapshots of our ensembles’ and students’ growth and progress over the course of a year. If the process is good, the product will be. But in the moment when they happen and there is a perfect alignment of choice of music and talent of the group, the moments are magical. They are electrifying, uplifting, and inspiring. Celebrate that moment for what it is, when it is, with who happens to make it possible. The feeling created for the students is unquantifiable and worth every ounce of our focus, energy, and dedication as directors.

7) Put kids in the best possible position for success. Know your kids, know what they can do, and know what they don’t know. Know ways to help them know what they don’t know. Know why they should know it. It is not an art of mezzo-nothing teaching of mezzo-nothing literature. It requires thoughtful planning, evaluation, teaching, and modeling. If we are a family, then we should want what is best for each other, and we have their best interest as musicians and people in the forefront of our preparation.

No pressure, no diamonds. Sometimes at the start of the year our ensembles resemble lumps of coal – a little rough, a little dirty, and at face value not worth much. Given enough time, heat, and pressure (time, inspiration, and teaching) they are transformed into something that most people will agree is better to look at (listen to) and is more valuable. Truly, band directors work with clean coal technology every day. Those performances on our schedule give us a timetable to work towards that may increase or decrease the amount of pressure we apply to our “coal”.

9) Define your own success. Every band I have every year is different. While I say and teach the same principles and concepts each year, the change in personality and talent demands that I talk, instruct, and interact with groups a little different each year. That also means the goals I set every year are slightly different as well. Everything we approach and engage in is a learning experience – we learn about ourselves, we learn what we do well, we learn what we need to improve upon. We don’t chase trophies or plaques. We have standards in place that we hold ourselves accountable to, and we define our own success.

            The standardized state examinations represent a dangerous failure on many levels. It makes assumptions that all teachers are teaching all the same information in the same manner.  It makes assumptions that all students have equal access to education, and that all students have a similar support structure in their environment that will let them succeed. It assumes that there is one correct answer for a question and that there is only one way in which it can be made manifest.  It further promotes the message that the only valuable knowledge is that which can be written down, creativity and imagination are not of value to education, and that modern education is nothing more than a factory for producing a universal product – a group of students who all know the same thing and nothing outside the realm of what they have been tested. To further illustrate this point Steven Kelly’s text Teaching Music in American Society cites research by Spring (2006) that indicates there is little correlation data between high stakes testing and college or vocational success.  It goes on to indicate that these tests are often discriminatory based on race, gender, home environment, socioeconomic level, and even physical and intellectual abilities.

            My increasing cynical impression and lack of faith in national organizations has been on the increase over the past five years. With each passing day I am reminded how diverse and ever changing our society has become, and sadly, how little our policy makers are able to respond to enact any kind of meaningful change or avert any kind of crisis.  From national organizations that promote the well-being of music education to policy-makers and department of education officials who enact their efforts and policy from afar, we have become stagnated in our own mediocrity chasing after universal standards all so we can have some sort of tangible proof that our education system is the best, our students are better, and essentially we can say “We’re number one.” 

            Consider David Elliot (Professor of Music and Music Education at New York University), and his writings on the current state of music education.  In his view, summative assessment (like a PSSA exam) is not an ethical educational assessment citing its use to identifying failing students and schools (Taylor, 2006, p. 42).  Elliot continues to discuss that the narrowing of the curriculum and standardized testing is rooted in America’s fear of losing in international competition. I would point out that it’s not as bad as it seems, and it certainly isn’t the same everywhere.

            The current situation in Pennsylvania has been brewing for years thanks to a number of short-sighted decisions made by teachers, policy-makers, and the ex-governor.  One does not wake up one day and find themselves $4 billion dollars in debt – but Tom Corbett (much maligned by a number of groups) decided to do something about it.  This movie is going to play out much like a Shakespeare tragedy, with a lot of good people who do right by their students playing the part of…well…I don’t remember. I didn’t go to school during a time when there was serious high stakes testing, and I used Cliff Notes for most Shakespeare in High School. But trust me, everybody dies…usually…I think…but I digress.

            My issue with Governor Corbett is not with the cuts – though drastic, and tough. He is cleaning up a mess that was left for him, and angry or not, he made good on his campaign pledges (well at least one, and this one is painful). It is the cuts with no thought to the value of what is being cut. What if we didn’t have these tests? How could we show to our leaders that our own school is doing well? Could we let strokes of paint on a canvas, the poetry of students, the choreography of an auxiliary unit, the closing of Biebl’s Ave Maria, or Letter F of the Chaconne in First Suite demonstrate how we are being successful with students? Do we live in a society that understands the value of those things? And if you do not, why haven’t you been educating your community that they are by demonstrating it through the products and works of your students?

            The arts have incredible power to change people’s perceptions, to lift and transform them emotionally and ethically (get ready PMEA 2011), and to transform consciousness.  Elliot Eisner, make a number of great points about what education can learn from the arts, and I have summed these thoughts up here (Eisner, 2002).

• ·         Arts teach students that their personal signature is important – interpreting music, describe a sculpture, form of a dance – and that diversity and variability are made central to the experience.
• ·         As students learn in the arts, they realize that decisions may not always be reduced to a rule or simple formula, but depends upon sensitivity, engagement of body and mind to attend to subtle qualities, and attention to relationships among details and how they congregate to affect the perception of the whole. 
• ·         The arts also promote the development of intrinsic satisfaction and that there are experiences in life that must be lived and felt and cannot be articulated or expressed in literal language or discursive language. 
• ·         Two more important aspect the arts teach is the flexible purposing that enables one to capture emerging moments and opportunities, and that savoring the experience one seeks to fully let the enriching powers of the arts speak.

            Music educators today have to produce. Not trophies, 1^st place festival or contest results, or chairs in state ensembles though they are admirable pursuits in the right context with the right frame of mind of all involved. We have to produce meaningful musical experiences for our students. We must put them in the best possible position for success through our instruction, show them the best possible attitude because of our passion, and our heartfelt appreciation for allowing this experience to work on them as people as they work to prepare for the experience. We must produce musicians that can perform, others who create, others who listen and comment, and yet others who advocate. During this “dark time” – as my friend Bob called it a few weeks ago – we must continue to fight the good fight, to advocate for music instruction as an important part of 21^st century learning, and that students need these experiences above all else because music is a human experience.

            Now is our time to plant seeds for the future of music education.  Our planting season might be shortened, there might be less time, we might not have as good equipment. Having grown up the son of a great farmer, truck driver, and my first musical role model – David would tell me we would go to the fields and get our work done. It might be harder. The days might be longer. But people need the crops. Some of us may plant seeds that we will not see bear fruit. You know your fields, you know what your kids need. Water, soil, sunlight. Knowledge and skills, students in class and ensembles, our passion and perseverance. It’s time to go the fields. 

Eisner, E. W. (2002). The arts and the creation of mind. London: Yale University Press.

Kelly, S.N. (2009). Teaching music in American society: A social and cultural understanding of teaching music. New York: Routledge.

Taylor, P. (Ed.). (2006). Assessment in arts education. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Press.

I don’t really know any directors who in some part of their career have not uttered a phrase akin to “Percussion you are playing too loud”, or “Clarinets the eighth notes were not together”.  The director’s role on the podium can become as repetitive as the scale and rudiment exercises that we select for our students to study.  It is easy to lapse into being in “error-detection” mode to the point where our rehearsals become anti-music learning and we simply gather the output from the ensemble, offer our assessment and corrective measures, and then move on.  Given enough time, enough “No, that isn’t correct”, and desire to have a perfect product, important development and learning will get lost in the process.

I recently read several articles in nationally published journals that point out that a director should offer more detailed explanations as to why he or she has offered some corrective solution to an ensemble issue of musicality, precision, or balance.  Perhaps the percussion need it pointed out that their dynamic level drops over measures 36 to 38, or that the clarinets did not release as a section off the whole note tied over the bar and that is why they did not ascend the eighth notes together.  The point of this blog is not to disagree with those views at all, as there is certainly a time and place that we as a trained educator and musician must make a musical decision in the best interest of the ensemble and the music.  My concern is the neglect for making the students aware of these issues – are we conducting this music for ourselves, or do we want the ensembles to be more engaged and connected to the process of creating this experience?

Rehearsal time is precious. Sometimes when we break a rehearsal down to rehearse a small section of music with just one section of instruments it breaks the flow (or cools “white heat” as Robert Reynolds would say).  The attention span of other students is momentarily interrupted, and parts of the collective whole become disengaged from the common goal.  Perhaps we need to address multiple problems across the ensemble with three different groups.  The obvious solution here is to give each group a quick synopsis of what the problem was, where you want to start, and what you want them to do while you are working with other groups (i.e. review fingerings, write in rhythm syllables).  That still leaves other sections disengaged from the process of making music.

Here is where asking better questions of our ensemble and students may begin to pay dividends moving forward through our rehearsals:

Percussion Example

Question to the section: “Percussion, what is happening to your part from a standpoint of musical expression at measure 36 through the end of measure 38?”

Question to the ensemble: “Band, do you feel that the percussion is making that decrescendo happen beginning at measure 36?”

Comment to the ensemble: “Let’s try that section again. Percussion be aware of your decrescendo, band evaluate their expression at measure 36, and percussion when we stop again tell the band why that decrescendo is important.”

Clarinet Example

Question to the clarinets: “Clarinets, is the rhythm problem with where the eighth notes start, or before the eighth notes start?”

Question to the ensemble: “Band as the clarinets play this section, would you listen to and identify what beat the eighth note pattern gets out of sync?”

Question to the ensemble: “Look at your parts, and listen to this section as we play it without the clarinets. Which section of the band could the clarinets listen to assist them getting a clean release off the whole note into their ascending eighth note pattern?”

If we want our ensemble to be engaged and invested in the product of the music we have selected for study, then it is upon us to involve them in the process of listening, describing, and evaluating (someone should make that a national standard…).  One thing I frequently stress to my own ensembles and honor bands that I have guest conducted is that “We need to learn to listen to each other – the world is a better place when we learn to listen”.  It is one thing to tell our ensembles, but it is better to tell them and give them a reason as to why they should listen.  Have the ensemble compare articulation of unison rhythm passages between the brass and woodwinds – who is playing with a better staccato? Have students listen to the breathing and phrasing by a section playing a unison melody – who is breathing in the wrong place? Where is the right place to breathe? Ask your students what they think is the right answer – you may be very surprised.

For those who may be concerned about the debasement of authority in the rehearsal hall, I would urge you to place your fears aside.  My experience thus far with students and this concept has been very positive, and for the most part they are appreciative of the fact their opinions and ideas may be voiced, can be utilized to hear the musical result, and provides them with a sense of ownership in the ensemble and the music making process.  The idea here is to give them reasons to listen and evaluate their own ensemble, give them an opportunity to assist in the interpretation process, and to understand how subtle changes in the attention to details of a group of people can make a large difference in terms of the musicality of an ensemble.  Calling on students to answer or play by name is a powerful reward and indication of their worth to the group – involving them by name into interpretation strengthens your reputation as a leader, educator, and musician.

I have found asking better questions and involving more student input in the process of interpreting, shaping, and performing music has resulted in more engaged rehearsals and meaningful performances.  It becomes paramount that we equip those students with the necessary tools (conceptually, verbally) to speak about the music they hear being performed.  This process has forced me to be a better musician on the podium – in terms of knowledge of the score, knowledge of terms, and personal performance ability. Critical reflection and self-evaluation using objectives concepts to evaluate an aural art form – I bet the educational authorities and policy makers who are trying to fix education with standardized testing had no idea that our best answers are questions.  Happy new year – now get out there and ask some questions!

Some observations and thoughts about the unit from my perspective as teacher that was interesting to consider:

1) Leaders lead.  I was surprised and impressed by the leadership qualities and skills that were brought out of students in these settings.  During each rehearsal period, I tried to touch base and schedule “face-time” with as many groups as I could while giving them a good session full of feedback.  After providing critiques and visiting with the same group a few days later, many of the adjustments and suggestions were made.  Students took the lead to make adjustments and improve their group’s performance.  Some of the students would have stepped forward because of who they are – others stepped forward because they were given an opportunity.  Assessing all of this, there are plenty of students within the program who need more opportunities to lead.

2) Making musical decisions involves risk and courage.  As often as we may be right in our interpretation, we could be wrong – wrong for the style, wrong for the time, wrong for the setting, wrong for the composer’s intentions.  Artists face incredible risk in making musical decisions in this way, and without courage we end up being mezzo-nothing.  If a quintet of 7^th grade alto saxophones can make musical decisions regarding the articulation and dynamics for a transcription of Schumann’s Soldier’s March, do I have the courage to tap that resource during a rehearsal with the full ensemble? We often say that the performing arts is a venue for students to be creative and interpret music – but who really does the musical interpretation? While it is our responsibility as a trained musician, educator, and leader, perhaps we need the courage to give them opportunities to risk and hear the results.  Having gone through this process, they may better understand our vision for a piece for the ensemble, why we choose to interpret things a certain way, and what might be a better possible alternative to the interpretation in front of them.

3) Building relationships takes time and trust. Sitting down with groups of 4-7 students at a time allows for more individual attention and differentiated instruction, and afforded me the opportunity to build a student to teacher relationship that is based upon mutual respect, common goals (improve as a musician), and esprit de corp among the students.  The hardest thing about being successful? That’s easy – keep being successful.  The more success a program and their director experience, the harder it sometimes becomes to maintain a good, open relationship.  The bar is continually raised.  We have more demands on our time.  We have more pressure on the students, the ensemble, and on ourselves.  I have enjoyed these past weeks for the connections I was able to make with the students musically and socially.  I believe we are in a better place now in terms of our trust, communication, and vision for improvement.

4) Chamber music opens doors for musical opportunities.  The program of music was very diverse in terms of style and time period.  It was interesting to hear the transcriptions of Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical music played by a 20^th century group.  The classical tradition was kept alive through the study of this music – and at the end of the day, that is not a bad thing at all.  The beauty of this ensemble is that while it connects these kids to music of a time period from the past, it can also connect them to musical opportunities involving ANY musical time period.  The make-up of the ensembles didn’t necessarily matter – the connection to different music does. The next step in this evolution is for us to seek more music of different styles that students can make a connection with and present for public performance.  Maybe they cannot see themselves playing in a large ensemble past high school, but small ensembles are more realistic for students to envision how they might look as a future musician.

 More to come in the weeks ahead as the students complete the survey and I compile data.  My thanks to many of you who have sent Tweets, emails, and comments of support for this endeavor.

The most pervasive musical element in term of correct interpretation by both composers and conductors was in regard to tempo.  Other commonalities existed across both conductors and composers (notably by Barnes, & Camphouse) including utilization of recordings, becoming familiar with a score through a secondary instrument (piano or voice were mentioned frequently), and that over time our interpretation of a piece may change because of new perspectives or personal experiences.  It would seem to me that the process by which one learns a score varies widely across known experts in the band world, and is a highly personalized decision based upon your pedagogical training.  Choices of meter, key, and tonal and rhythmic patterns are sufficed to say objective, but in matters of overall general expressive musical elements, tempo seems to be a common focus because of the great variability for which it can possess.  It is interesting to note that a number of conductors and composers both concede that a performance tempo can differ from the ideal (marked tempo in the score), and that the adjusted tempo of the performance can still result in a quality or reputable performance.  In some cases it is a matter of ensemble technique that will prevent an ensemble from being able to achieve the demands printed in the score, but it is obvious in the writings that conductors and composers acknowledge this and are able to recognize when other elements are brought to the best possible quality which contribute to effect interpretation.

Another commonality that seems to exist across many of the composers and conductors is they concede that there is a limit to what musical notation can convey, and at times there are ambiguities that may not make sense during score study.  Hopefully these moments of questions and uncertainties can be answered by the director as he looks at the work he is studying, compares it with other known pieces by the same composer, and compares the current piece against stylistic practices of the time or pieces of similar musical structure.  I believe it is worth noting that here that this process the conductor is going through for just one piece of music is not so far removed from the idea of comprehensive musicianship whereby the musician immerses him/herself in studying music from multiple perspective, each perspective contributing to a greater understanding of a larger picture. Andrew Boysen Jr.’s (Camphouse, 2007, p. 11) comments perhaps summarize the idea best as he asserts that the notation in the score should support the conductor’s musical decisions.  It follows that the performance is the very best attempt by an ensemble and conductor to represent what they believe to be the composer’s intent.

Flexibility as it relates to letting the music “live in a certain place” as Giroux states (Camphouse, 2004, p. 80), gathering insight from the ensemble not previously considered as Kirchoff suggests (Williamson, 2008, p.53), and, as Hunsberger observes, understanding each ensemble has an “optimum tempo” (Williamson, 2008, p.37), also seems to an important aspect of interpretation.  The modern conductor must have in his arsenal of abilities an understanding to be flexible as his perspective may change while working on a piece with his own students, but find a new perspective when asked to conduct the group of a colleague or an honor ensemble.  Getting back to the idea of tempo, both the music and the ensemble must find the tempo at where they can ideally perform.  I believe this is the reason why at times pieces are adored by one ensemble, and despised by a group 12 miles away – optimum performance tempo of the music and the ensemble do not converge.  Part of this problem may be related to that, but it might also have to do with directors being afraid to vary from the printed score even when it might be more educationally sound to do so (emphasis added, duplicity implied).  A discussion for another day – but this isn’t math or science with one right answer – and some directors are chasing a trophy  on the wall and it is easier to play it safe.  While McBeth and Giroux go as far to say that composers are sometimes indicating the wrong metronome markings they include on a score, Camphouse and McBeth agree with Jack Stamp that composers are not always the best interpreter of their own work.  James Barnes recounts a story about Verdi and Toscanini that is a reminder that one’s inner musician is critical for a conductor’s interpretation that is truly “in the spirit” of the composer’s intent.  Jack Stamp (Miles, 1998) discovered during his college experience that although Stravinksy was held in high regard compositionally, others did not feel he was the best interpreter of his own work!

The final aspect of interpretation that seems to be a shared concern of importance between composer and conductor is that of feeling, emotion, and passion.  To a degree, many of the composers explicitly mention important aspects of feeling, expression, and emotion in the interpretation of their work.  No matter what reason a composer decides to put “pen to paper”, their works are a product of their experiences, beliefs, surroundings, and creative ideas – and those experiences are at times attached to significant feelings, emotions, or expressions.  As stated by my friend and colleague Dr. Joseph M. Pisano, a composition conveys a concrete thought such as the liberation one’s country, an emotional thought such as the liberation of one’s heart, or a spiritual thought such as the liberation of one’s soul.  The composer is literally molding a conceived idea or a feeling into a sonic musical existence.  The passion of music becomes interpreted correctly when the conductor understands and enjoys the music, and is able to get the students in the ensemble to “reproduce those feelings” as Hilliard states (Camphouse, 2007).  Sam Hazo’s experience with Paul Thornton’s band demonstrates the importance of connecting the music to the lives of the students.  Paula instructed her students to write a meaningful life experience to the sound of the music in the margins of their music – it created in every student a way to connect their life stories to the music in which they were engaged in performing.  I would be interested in knowing just how many of those little anecdotes written by her students were emotionally charged or connected.  Robert Sheldon states that in order to convey passion (emphasis mine), a conductor must possess technical means and the wherewithal and self-confidence to do and say whatever is necessary to get the ensemble to respond (Camphouse, 2002). Frank Ticheli shares that the conductor must find meaning in the work, and believe in it passionately (emphasis mine) (Camphouse, 2002).  When asked about it, Mark Camphouse’s opinion is that “Passion (emphasis mine) comes from believing in the music long before a conductor ever steps on the podium…If a conductor has passion for the art of music and for playing great literature, his performance will have passion…” (Brown, 2001, p. 13).

Many conductors have written about helping the ensemble recreate or realize the interpretation of the composer’s intent, and rarely do they discuss a performance that was devoid of feeling, emotion, or passion if it was achieved.  Can we forgive a less then perfect performance that lacks emotional expression? My feeling is that many would agree yes.  I am not saying technical accuracy and precision may be tossed out – they are part of our responsibilities as educators to ensure that students have mastered.  But we might also be aware that there is another side that is beneficial for the student to experience, and that through our own authentic interpretation we may be able to unlock the emotion, passion, and feeling in music for the benefit of our students (Help them find the love!).  As Craig Kirchoff (Williamson, 2008, p. 54) states so eloquently, “Without such passion, there is no communication…and not even any real music.”

Brown, J. S. (2001). Mark Camphouse creates music with the passion of a performer. The Instrumentalist, 56 (6), 12-15.

Camphouse, M. (Ed.). (2002). Composers on composing for band (Vol. 1).  Chicago: GIA Publications.

Camphouse, M. (Ed.). (2004). Composers on composing for band (Vol. 2).  Chicago: GIA Publications.

Camphouse, M. (Ed.). (2007). Composers on composing for band (Vol. 3).  Chicago: GIA Publications.

McBeth, F. W. (1992). Interpretation: Unlocking the drama in music. The Instrumentalist, 47 (5), 14-18.

Miles, R. (1998). Teaching music through performance in band (Vol. 2). Chicago: GIA Publications.

Williamson, J. E. (2008). Rehearsing the band. Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications

Where do the effective educators come from? When we think of effective music educators do we confine it to intuitive conductors whose work on a podium with ensembles gives inspiring performances? Is it a classroom of students engaged in “musicking”?  Is it a studio teacher or small ensemble “coach” who is able to extract high levels of musicianship from individuals? Is it simply an educator in music who brings their students to a higher degree of appreciation for this art, and allows them opportunities to make a connection with music on a personal level?  While the first three bring about wonderful opportunities for students, my hope is that our profession begins to recognize the fourth educator as the prototype for effective teachers.  It goes beyond, as the author shares, just technical competence (i.e. planning, creating lessons, solving problems, selecting appropriate music).  Personal technique is also part of the equation.   It is our duty to create a positive environment that develops a sense of synergy, a social atmosphere that supports developing the core of our student’s character alongside the musician waiting to be, and a musical experience that is guided by educators who practice and model their craft passionately to the benefit of their students.

Effective Music Educators are musical role models: Reviewing research by Abeles (2004) presented in the text, music educators should take the responsibility of being a musical role model to their students very seriously.  Taking into account the community and the context of where the learning is taking place, the music educator may be the only professional musical role model students will interact with in their educational careers.

Effective Music Educators reach all their students in meaningful ways: In consideration of educating all students equally, there has been significant research that would indicate racial and ethnic minority students are not encouraged to participate in primarily white schools.  Differences in cultural expectations, including musical values, are cited as a reason for lack of participation.  As every culture has music and uses it for specific purposes, it is incumbent upon music educators to recognize and understand ethnic groups that are represented within the community in which they teach.  By identifying those groups and researching the value placed and how music is traditionally practiced within that culture, they can seek to provide meaningful and authentic musical experiences that will make a connection for that student within the curriculum and extend beyond the classroom or rehearsal room walls.  Research by Ballantine (2001) indicates isolation, a feeling that no one cares, and low expectations as being primary reasons students drop out of school.  Teachers can help students in school by setting high expectations, connecting with students inside and outside of class, and learning to recognize early warning signs of potential dropouts.  Research by Shields (2001) demonstrated that the presence of at-risk students caused non-musical problems to dominate the tone group rehearsals and class sessions.  This is a concern for teachers when potential at-risk students are enrolled in their classroom.  Although there was a downside to the enrollment of these students, the musical and non-musical skills growth provided a sense of intrinsic reward for the teacher, and the teacher as a mentor to students was a positive experience.  This is a reminder of the socializing power of the ensemble in that it does more for the individual student than the student contributes to the ensemble.

Effective Music Educators are able to motivate their students: Bandura (1993) suggested that teachers have three goals in developing motivation in students: a) create a state of motivation, b) develop the trait of being motivated to learn so that it is present throughout their lives, and c) encourage students to be thoughtful about what they study or participate in.  Probably one of the best things teachers can do is to model life-long learning through their enrollment in graduate programs and further studies.  I have found some of my students to become very inquisitive about my studies at Kent over the past two year, and it has become easier to share interesting research and points relevant to them from our class discussions.  If groups truly take on a reflection of their leader, I have found my students to be more open to self-reflection in their musical experiences when asked to do so.  We must find ways to create musical experiences that fuel intrinsic motivation in our students.

Effective Music Educators open pathways to new music for their students: Preference is an immediate, short-term choice of specific objects or events that can change at any time.  Taste is a more long-term or permanent commitment to a broader group of objectives or events (Abeles, 1980; Radocy & Boyle, 2003).  Preference and taste can be altered – repetition and familiarity are two influential techniques to broaden student preferences.  Research has shown many different musical elements can influence student musical preference (Demorest & Schultz, 2004), as well as various student characteristics (Radocy & Boyle, 2003).  With the amount of high quality recordings available and the multitude of ways in which they can legally be shared with students (via websites), increased exposure, as suggested by the research above, should be effective with students. Additionally, by addressing National Standards 6,7, & 8, students should be able to develop skills that will allow them to think critically about music to which they are exposed, make informed analytical decisions, and evaluate music from multiple perspectives including aesthetic, authenticity, entertainment, imagination and quality.

Effective Music Educators plan for success and capture emerging teachable moments: Effective teachers focus the success of their students, and are able to change behaviors and strategies in mid-lesson or rehearsal to acclimate themselves to the classroom conditions.  The most successful music teachers are student-centered, maintain a well-organized and creative classrooms and rehearsal hall, encourage student creativity and musical independence, encourage intrinsic motivation, and carefully plan and organize each rehearsal based on constant evaluation of students’ abilities and progress (Madsen & Madsen, 1981).  Madsen showed that effective teachers demonstrate the ability to change their social behavior dramatically at precisely the right time to affect student behavior, motivation, and performance.  Research by Goolsby (1997), Kelly (1997a), and Hendel (1995) indicate effective ensemble teachers talk less in class because students are capable of understanding and responding to many basic nonverbal gestures.  At times, I think of a rehearsal like a basketball coach thinks of a game – and for that reason I place a premium on planning for known variables for which I can control.  As the rehearsal (game) unfolds, I must be aware of ebb and flow of communication (both verbal and non-verbal) along musical pathways and make good on capturing an emerging teachable moment that may fall outside my initial rehearsal plan.  “Time-outs” are occasionally burnt to prevent a moment from slipping away, and I must be aware that everyone understands their role and responsibility as members of our “team”.

Effective Music Educators persevere: Many pre-service teachers express aspirations to teach but do not necessarily understand the daily demands of the profession.  Research has shown beginning teachers are more concerned about management and discipline, motivating students, accommodating differences among students, evaluating and assessing student achievement and dealing with parents (Woolfork, 1998).  DeLorenzo (1992) reported many first year music teachers are overwhelmed with the barrage of responsibilities.  Kelly (2002a) reported the student teaching experience is frequently very different from the initial full-time in-service position.  New teachers who receive guidance from mentor teachers allows for them to cope with their new classroom reality, including class management, administrators, and other nonteaching duties (Conway, 2003).  I can remember talking with Patrick Jones at our Honors Band in December 2005.  At that time, he was not yet Dr. Jones, and I was only 4 months into my position at Mercer.  His advice to me at the time was to survive!  Much of what he shared with me over dinner in December of 1995 was borne out in the research above.  I inherited a program that lacked some focus and positive synergy.  Had it not been for my college director, my co-op (both of whom were 10 miles away), and the choir director at Mercer I am not sure what I would have done.  Now in year 15, I am able to recognize patterns of how my professional views have changed and in turn, have altered my classroom approach and allowed me to be more effective. Mike Krzyzewski (Duke University Basketball Coach) would call Madsen’s research (1989) as “Being the face your group needs to see”.

This list is by no means complete as our role in the music education of young people continues to evolve.  But we are the agents of change.  We can no longer wait for a national organization to tell us when will the time be to transform our profession and the musical lives of our students.  Our time is now.  Now is the day of the effective music educator.

Bibliography

Abeles, H. (1980). Responses to music. In D. Hodges, & D. Hodges (Ed.), Handbook of music psychology (pp. 105-140). Lawrence, KS: National Association for Music Therapy.

Abeles, H. (2004). The effect of three orchestra/school partnerships on student interest in instrumental music instruction. Journal of Research in Music Education , 53 (3), 248-263.

Ballantine, J. (2001). The sociology of education (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and functioning. Educational Psychologist (28), 117-148.

Conway, C. (2003). An examination of district-sponsored beginning music teacher mentor practices. Journal of Research in Music Education , 51 (1), 6-23.

DeLorenzo, L. (1992). The perceived problems of beginning music teachers. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education , 113, 9-26.

Demorest, S. &. (2004). Children’s preference for authentic versus arranged versions of world music recordings. Journal of Research in Music Education , 52 (4), 300-313.

Goolsby, T. (1996). Time use in instrumental rehearsals: A comparison of experienced, novice, and student teachers. Journal of Research in Music Education , 44, 286-303.

Goolsby, T. W. (1997). Verbal instruction in instrumental rehearsals: A comparison of three career levels and preservice teachers. Journal of Research in Music Education , 45 (1), 21-40.

Hendel, C. (1995). Behavioral characteristics and instructional patterns of selected music teachers. Journal of Research in Music Education , 43, 182-203.

Kelly, S. (2002). A sociological basis for music education. International Journal of Music Education , 37, 40-49.

Kelly, S. (1997a). Effects of conducting instruction on the musical performance of beginning band students. Journal of Research in Music Education , 45 (2), 295-307.

Madsen, C. &. (1981). Teaching/discipline: A positive approach for educational development (4th ed.). Raleigh, NC: Contemporary.

Radocy, R. &. (2003). Psychological foundations of musical behavior (4th ed.). Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas.

Shields, C. (2001). Music Education and Mentoring as Intervention for At-Risk Urban Adolescents:Their Self-Perceptions, Opinions, and Attitudes. Journal of Research in Music Education , 273-286.

Woolfork, A. (1998). Educational psychology (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Presented for your approval Governor are a series of thoughts about the arts in public education, and what they can bring to the lives and future careers of students.  I am certainly not telling you that it has to be all our way like the way you have run the state during your term – but this is more from an informative perspective that your agenda is hurting our ability to reach and provide skills to students that serve them far beyond their high school years. Okay, so maybe I am being a little hard on the Ed, but if you are going to be head chef you better be able to stand the heat in the kitchen.

The arts can be a powerful tool for students to develop competence in as they compete in a 21^st century job market.  When he was interviewed by Business Week former PNC CEO Paul Chellgren (1996) had this to say about the arts:

“Today’s students need arts education now more than ever.  Yes, they need the basics.  But today there are two sets of basics.  The first – reading, writing, math – is a prerequisite for a second, more complex, equally vital collection of higher level skills         required to function well in today’s world….The arts provide an unparalleled opportunity to teach these higher level basics that are increasingly critical, not only to tomorrow’s work force, but today’s.”

There is significant discussion in education today about “Transformative Assessment” and its use in the general classroom.  Elliot Eisner (2002), Stanford Art Professor, would argue 5 points that demonstrate this component is evident in everyday practice amongst visual and performing arts educators.  These artistically rooted qualitative forms of intelligence reveal themselves in transformative assessment as students 1) experience qualitative relationships and make judgments, 2) encounter “flexible purposing” (capitalizing on emerging features of a work), 3) understand not everything knowable can be articulated in a propositional form, 4) that form and content is most often inextricable, and 5) realize the aesthetic satisfaction that makes the work possible.

The fine, visual and performing arts open many career doors to students because of the transitive learning that is encountered and then applied to a new field.  But we must not forget that the arts are a unique way of demonstrating intelligence in knowing, creating, doing, and appreciating within that domain.  Education in the arts should help individual students achieve whatever potentials they possess to be intelligent within that domain.

I realize that the many school districts are under a tremendous burden to make AYP in their PSSA.  This added pressure of the PSSA’s might influence the resources and time allotted for non-tested subjects like the arts.  Recent research in this area conducted by Thorton (2007) demonstrates that many Pennsylvania students who voluntarily participate in music programs such as band, choir and orchestra perform significantly better on PSSA tests than students who choose not to participate is such activities. It is necessary to note that these results do not indicate that students achieved higher scores on their PSSA tests because they were in music. The purpose of this study was to examine whether music participation negatively impacts PSSA test scores, and the data demonstrated that music students’ scores are not lower than those of non-music students.

I must again defer to the wisdom of Bennett Reimer (2003).  As I referenced on a recent post, there are 5 dimensions that cannot be ignored that music educators impart to our students.  By doing so in the unique way that music can, these values – which so many of us can extol – make the musical experience a life changing one.  The values of trust (depending on others who are depending on us), competence (achieving it means there is work to be done), cooperation (with people, with the medium, and with the situation), respect (granting others a sense of worth in a shared enterprise which all of us contribute), and courage (are willingness to risk, be open to the unknown, and deal with challenges) can be instilled in the lives of students within the arts.  Those students become new members of society that move forward and contribute positively to careers, their families, and their communities – no matter what their profession.

Beyond that we teach unique subjects with unique ways of knowing.  We learn to appreciate the intrinsic value of what we experience through direct interaction and production of art celebrating noble expression of man’s ability to create.  We are moved to great extremes of emotional depth, and experience a fantastic set of skills which are required to produce them. The arts will never cure cancer, help the stock market rebound, or rebuild a town devastated by disaster.  The arts will make us better people who appreciate beauty.  They were meant to enlighten our thinking, and bring out the very best our minds can offer.  The arts belong in the public schools for all the right reasons.  They make a bold statement to all who experience it about real education progress.
Notes:

Eisner, Elliot W. (2002) “What can eduction learn from the arts about the practice of education?”, the encyclopedia of informal education,      www.infed.org/biblio/eisner_arts_and_the_practice_or_education.htm .

Reimer, B. (2003). A philosophy of music education: Advancing the vision (3^rd ed.). Upper Saddle River,  NJ: Prentice Hall.

Thornton, L. (2007). A Comparison of PSSA Scores between Music and Non-Music Students:Summary Report.  PMEA Research Committee and The Pennsylvania State University (available at http://pmea.net/researchadvocacy.html)

What good is arts education? Educating the workplace through the arts. (1996, October)   Business Week,12.

Pick your artist and they have skeletons in their closet – I am not sure there is a musician alive who can say they are completely clean, honest, and devoid of some sort of crutch – except maybe Brittney Spears…just checking to make sure you are still reading.  Thinking about Mozart, who definitely died too young – was his personal life a detriment to others? Perhaps to his family, but to others I would guess no.  What about Liszt? My recent work at Kent State (which has been burying me lately – sorry for the long stretches with no new blogging) has involved a lot of reading about Beethoven.  The one side of him that I never really connected with him is how he elevated the expectation levels for the performers, the music being created, and the audience.  He elevated his position to that of being the “superstar” of his day and probably had to endure some unkind public critiques at one point of his career.  We know he had a temper, but what was his conduct like when nobody was watching him?

But another side of Beethoven was the advancement that music can have strong ethical content.  Once that concept was accepted, then the world owed the composer a living.  The composer would create a serious and intellectually respected masterpiece that would outlive its day and the impetus which led to its creation (Longyear, 1988).  But did it mean it created more ethical musicians who created it?

One part of Reimer’s 3^rd Edition of his Philosophy of Music Education was his open questioning “should it be claimed that the point and purpose of music education is to create more ethical human beings?”.  He outlines 5 dimensions that are clearly part of our responsibility as music educators to impart to our students.  By doing so in the unique way that music can, these values – which so many of us can extol – make the musical experience a life changing one.

Read on in Chapter 4 and you won’t be sorry.  The value of trust, competence, cooperation, respect, and courage cannot be measured in our programs by trophies and plaques, but the people that move forward and contribute positively to society – no matter what their profession.  Another day we will discuss those five dimensions and the attitudes that can be cultivated from using the musical experience to not only make great musicians, but also make great people.

Longyear, R. M. (1988). Nineteenth Century Romanticism in Music (3^rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Reimer, B. (2003). A philosophy of music education: Advancing the vision (3^rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.<–>

One of my more critical beliefs about music education is its responsibility to be an integral force in shaping, educating, and influencing culture and society.  Similar to the thoughts of Reimer (2003), I believe that music education has a responsibility to make our students aware that music is a universal experience, the meanings drawn from music are contextual to the culture in which they occur, and that through exploration and study of other culture’s musical forms and practices students can come to a better appreciation, understanding, and value of the music indigenous to their own culture.   While I believe that some exploration and study of music of other cultures is a worthy endeavor, we are limited by our shared experience of that culture’s music, and we must be sensitive that our instruction through the represented medium in our culture may in fact not accurately represent the accepted practices of the culture from which the music originates (Jorgensen, 2003).  If we can recognize this limitation and seek means by which we are able to bring a better understanding to our students through authentic representation or performance, we demonstrate our commitment to the universal experience that music offers.  The respect and inclusion of music from other cultures is a valuable undertaking, but the profession of music education must also consider the many traditions and social values of our own culture in the music that is selected for study.  As a profession, our goal should be to provide an authentic musical learning experience for all involved and, in some cases, requires us to extend our research of appropriate music to many traditions, eras, styles, and genres as it might better reflect the desires of the community in which we teach (Rideout, 2005). 

            As part of our responsibility to educate and influence culture and society, we must develop and provide creative, responding, and listening opportunities “including but going beyond those that are readily available within the culture” (Reimer, 2003, p.160).  I will first address the opportunities within music that are engaged by the majority of the population, and later will discuss the importance of the opportunities found in the music which is engaged by a smaller portion of the populace.  I believe each side, for reasons of authenticity, aesthetic appeal, history, performance demands, and relation with aspects of the culture, is worthy of study for students at every grade level.  When music’s ability to contribute to moral conditions, regulate behavior or social norms, integrate society, enhance personal relationships, and promote social and political awareness are considered in addition to the reasons listed above (Alperson & Carroll, 2008), it becomes obvious how deeply music is integrated and functional within society and culture. My goal here is not to make qualitative judgments or imply preference, but rather to view music of our own culture from a broad perspective and illuminate reasons why there should be a diverse selection of music included for study.  The majority of my teaching experience in my career thus far has been as a high school band director and teacher of instrumental music.  The nature of this teaching position has required me to prepare soloists, chamber and small ensembles, and large ensembles of a traditional school setting for numerous public performances.  An additional part of my teaching duties includes instruction to students in a general music classroom, and although this portion of the student population does not have aspirations to enroll in one of the curricular ensembles, they are just as deserving as ensemble students to be engaged in musically meaningful ways (Reimer, 2003). 

            There is a healthy balance that needs to be achieved between the objectives of professional music educators and desires of students and community members on the music that is selected for study in education.  When the demands of the community are prevailing over the insight and experience of professionals education can be stagnant, and conversely when community values are ignored and the choices of the profession are substituted a definite rift develops between the two groups (Reimer, 2003).  In considering Reimer’s discussion on this very idea in his third edition, I believe that one of the more significant rifts that occurred between community expectations and professional aspirations has involved the exclusion of popular music from classrooms.  Reimer (2003) notes that “popular music” is engaged by the vast majority of the American populace, yet it has remained largely unused in the music classroom or rehearsal hall by the profession of music educators who seek to help their students make a meaningful connection with music.  British philosopher Kevin D. Skelton (2004) offers an interesting perspective on the idea of engaging students in studying music that I feel would be beneficial for the profession to consider.  He says,

            “Unlike most disciplines, students continuing to post-secondary education in music are likely to have undertaken private instruction in their principal             instrument, if not also in history and theory.  For this reason, it is my rather extreme opinion that pre-university music education would be served better by catering to the average students.  Such a focus would encourage more people to engage with music at a level of some personal importance throughout their lives. By this I do not mean a ‘dumbing-down’ of the curriculum, but rather a shift in focus that could benefit the musically proficient as well as the musically interested.”

While this statement is not meant to dismiss the value or heritage of existing performance ensembles within the school, educators must recognize that many students are already deeply immersed in some styles and types of popular music.  Providing opportunities to create, listen, and respond to music the student can identify with because of its familiarity creates a learning atmosphere that is energizing, refreshing, and responsive.  Skelton (2004) further advocates that our profession should seek to recognize the role music plays in each student’s life, and our classroom and curriculum should also seek to promote an increased and more diverse role outside the limits of school.  As Woodford (2005) suggests, students should be reminded of the significance of expanding their musical and social perspectives, while learning to live in a society where people’s values, morals, and beliefs differ from their own.  It is through the study of this music that we can challenge students to consider cultural, political, social and moral issues that have been central in many different styles of popular music, and come to a better understanding of the performance practices and traditions that have set it apart from other styles of music in our culture. 

            In my role as an instrumental music educator, I select music for educational study with opportunities for creating, listening, and responding going beyond what is provided by the culture utilizing music of various folk traditions, instrumental music of Western classical traditions, and Jazz music traditions.  From a historical and cultural perspective, this music has always been associated with the repertoire of music for school bands, and those ensembles retain unique characteristics that demonstrate its virtues.  The virtues of this ensemble are found as you examine its home within the school structure, the youthful spirit and energy of its members, the constant educational process eventually growing into a public product, and psychological/emotional needs of the participants as novices who are confronting complex musical challenges to their emerging self-image (Reimer, 2003, p.283). By examining the significant and meaningful music of previous generations of music educators and incorporating them into instruction, it instills a sense of the heritage that instrumental music has created among performers, conductors, and listeners.  As a profession, we should continue to preserve and present music that best represents this heritage in our instruction, and also seek new examples that extend the spirit and contribute to the advancement of our heritage.  In our search to present repertoire that answers this calling, we should also, as Reimer (2003) points out, not force our ensembles to study a “varied repertoire of music” at the expense of compromising our artistic integrity.  Over the past ten years, there has been significant collaboration among conductors, composers, and educators to identify individual pieces within the repertoire of Western bands that represent authentic, well-crafted, educational, and culturally and stylistically diverse literature that should be considered for study.  The efforts of projects like, but not limited to, the Teaching Music through Performance in Band series, Composers on Composing for Band, and Bandquest have yielded a considerable educational resource to those in our profession that are charged with educating, preserving, and advancing the heritage of instrumental music.  

            The short end is that this is not a process whereby we will see the results in one year.  I am distressed over the number of colleagues I have already known that have left the profession because it was a fight in which “they didn’t know where to start”.  We must find ways to retain members in the profession so that in time they see the fruit of their labor.  I am distressed when I learn of concerts and programs where musical expectations are far removed from the community in which it is situated.  We must find ways to preserve the heritage of instrumental music as it exists so that our audience is rewarded aesthetic, educational, and entertaining moments.  We cannot always fight the war of financial support for music education, though it is one which we should be aware.  We must be advocates that build knowledge, respect, and appreciation for our fine and performing arts programs within the schools.  We must take the responsibility to educate our communities on our value so that no school administrator or board of director for a community group will ever think “well, we have to have this music program”.  I want them to NEED this MUSIC program like a fish needs water.  This issue is bigger than me, and even bigger than the ME Blogger Movement.  But we need to be having this conversation with our colleagues about this responsibility. I’m in. How about you?

References

Alperson, P. & Carroll, N. (2008). Music, mind, and morality: Arousing the body politic.  Journal of Aesthetic Education, 42(1), 1-15.

Camphouse, M. (Ed.). (2007). Composers on composing for band.  Chicago: GIA.

Jorgensen, E. R. (2003) What philosophy can bring to music education: Musicianship as a case in point.  British Journal of Music Education, 20(2), 197-214.

Reimer, B. (2003). A philosophy of music education: Advancing the vision (3^rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Rideout, R. (2005). Whose music? Music education and cultural issues. Music Educators Journal, 91(4), 39-41.

Skelton, K. D. (2004). Should we study music and/or as culture? Music Education Research, 6(2), 171-177.

Woodford, P. G. (2005). Democracy and music education: Liberalism, ethics, and the politics of practice. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

It was nice this colleague took the time to email.  It was so dissapointing he was so flippant and sarcastic.  Before anyone puts fingers to keyboard, yes I am perfectly guilty of sarcasm from time to time.  But as the only response to a colleague in need of some input? As I approach the midpoint of my career I am becoming less and less tolerant of unprofessionals.  Those among us who do what we do, but see no greater good in sharing their thoughts and experiences.  Perhaps they feel that if they share, they will somehow elevate someone else’s program instead of their own.  Maybe they do not teach in a good situation, and don’t feel compelled to help anyone else succeed because it will only make them feel worse.  Whatever the case – it has to stop.

Competition is healthy. I will not disagree with that as it raises the quality of the musical product.  But when it comes to a point where competition is our motivation to tear someone else down professionally, something is definitely wrong and it isn’t the judges score on interpretation.  Are we still focused on building an empire? Is our strive to compete so strong that we do not feel we can share and communicate with each other? The one thing I have enjoyed over the past few years is the other directors in my county and our honest and sincerity.  When one of us has a great show on the night of the county band festival, he or she hears about it.  There is mutual respect and support.  I know that if I called any one of them right now with a question, I would get answers that could help.  We do have an official county association, but our membership supports each other because it is the right thing to do.

Since taking over as an executive officer for our four county music association, it has been very rewarding to begin connecting with music teachers in different situations, teaching levels, and ensembles.  I am thankful to guys like Corky, Sal, Jim, Tom, Jamie, Gary, Steve, and Chris who were good enought to take me under their wing at various times and teach me how to be a professional, and what it would take to be an effective leader.  They played by the rules.  They encouraged their students to work hard, and be the best.  They acted in the best interest of all students.  They showed respect to their colleagues. I am the leader I am partially because of the advice they gave me.  They never jerked a colleague around or didn’t play by the rules.  Fair was fair. Right was right. Wrong was wrong. 

Hanging on my wall is a picture of Nolan Ryan with a young Robin Ventura in a head lock delivering a healthy haymaker.  This is a daily reminder to always be mindful, always listen, and don’t fly off the handle with something to prove.  I will not forget watching that baseball game as a youth and seeing a young, hot-headed star dashing out to the mound to teach one of the greatest pitchers of all time a lesson about throwing inside.  What happened afterwards will always remind me to repsect my elders – they have been there, they have done that.  Ignore what they are trying to tell you, and you might get famous for being part of a famous “beat-down” of the musical kind. 

I am many things to many people this year.  The one thing that I am trying to maintain is pretty simple: I am a man of my word, not a man of many words.  That means being up front and being honest with all of my colleagues.  It means not short changing them because I don’t want them to succeed.  Or I don’t feel like getting my forms in on time.  Or returning their call.  Or responding to their email.  Like Tom and Jamie always told me, if they pick up the phone to call you and you don’t call back- you are the one with a problem.

Do we not have a responsibility to leave our ego out of professional matters?  Don’t we have a responsibility to each other on some level to provide input or advice? Don’t we have a responsibility to be…er…just be responsible? Be courteous? Be supportive?  I think we are in a day and age where we must start getting out of this “me-monkey” mindset, and get to a point where real communication and collaboration can start occuring.  A situation where real competition can make us all better educators, and our students aware of the true value of competition (hint: it isn’t trophies on the wall). My advice to anyone reading this post who has taught less than 14 years – if you want to go out and prove yourself, prove that you are a sincere, dedicated, respectful, and responsible educator.

But we are lining up a series of great posts for the November carnival.  I can almost smell the funnel cake from here…

There is plenty of room for new posts as well as bringing back some old ones that have received attention.  So far I have really enjoyed reading a number of older submissions and reflecting upon my current perspective compared to the one I had reading it the first time.  It really is amazing how this campaign has taken off, continued to evolve, and is bringing some refreshing conversation to the perspective.

If you have not submitted before, never fear as this is easier that cleaning your band office coffee pot after a two week coffee hiatus….not there was mold growing mind you, just a penicilin experiment gone awry. The process is actually very easy.  You can find the Music Education Submittal Page by clicking on the following link: http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_4443.html. 

I am looking forward to hosting, so come one and all and step right up to the greatest show on earth!  And if you are able, I am really jonesing for some funnel cake…

First of all, these athletes took the time necessary to focus on ONE thing and become great. There are wonderful students in our classrooms and ensembles who seek recognition in many areas – there always will be. They make positive contributions musically and socially to our organizations – they always will. But lest we forget, there is that small percentage who is on the cusp of doing something great. We need to focus the energies and talents of those students like a Coach does and help them understand their potential and the path to take to realize it. Every student is different, every situation is unique, and each coach has their own perspective. So where do we start?

I spoke with my marching band over the summer about five aspects of a musical experience needed to make it meaningful (These are taken from Reimer’s A Philosophy of Music Education: Advancing the Vision – thanks Dr. Dorfman!). They need to understand trust – each member of our group has to depend on someone else who is depending on them. They need competence – achieving it means that work needs to be done. They need cooperation – both between members of the group, but with the materials (the music, the instrument, the sonic image of the composer). They need respect – grant others a sense of worth as part of a shared enterprise). They need courage – the risk of being open to the unexpected, the not yet known, and willing to be wrong as much as they are right. I agree with Dr. Reimer that these make more ethical people from our teaching, but it also lends itself to making student musicians who make great musical and social decisions. Phelps trust in his relay teammates was rewarded – Men’s & women’s track and field relay teams fell apart. How hard Nastia and Shawn worked for those moments – and cooperation with their coach, the apparatus, and allowing their body to perform what was created in a visual image by the mind. All of those athletes had courage – even when that meant a slight bump on the hurdle cost Lolo Jones everything she still had the courage to speak about what happened. The “Redeem” Team has been a wonderful example of respect in their support of the other athletes – a lot of that comes from the top down, and I love Coach K. (I highly recommend his book, Leading with the Heart).

But that is not all. There is one component I would add that they NEED to see from us – and that is passion for what we do, the art we create, interpret, and teach. Do you really believe there was no passion in the overtime between the US and Brazil in Soccer? Or between Japan and USA in Women’s softball? Passion reigned supreme when those events ended. But passion should fill our hearts as educators and we should not be afraid to show it in a rehearsal or in a concert. How much better will students react when they see someone excited and energized about what they do? Never forget why you became a musician – it was a love affair with sound (this great advice was shared with me by Francis McBeth some years ago). They need it as much as the five qualities named by Dr. Reimer.

In some cases, these athletes have spent a lifetime training for 10 seconds of glory. One match. Just under 51 seconds of the most exciting swimming final ever. But they prepare with a mindset to give their personal best each time – the process of their preparation is to be the best in the world. Our students are a little different and sometimes are far from that standard, but it doesn’t mean we should give up because it is never going to be attainable. Their coaches have taken TIME to teach them – they set them on a path towards excellence, they inspired them to believe in themselves, they put them through a process so that no matter if there were three people who finished ahead of them they know that they have given their best.

Maybe a concert doesn’t need to be an hour long – maybe it only needs to be 40 minutes of greatness instead of 60 minutes of better than average. Time is the biggest pressure we have day to day within our teaching schedules – ask anybody they will agree, maybe not on a Presidential choice, but on instructional time? Pshh, that is a no-brainer. When is the last time you heard anyone say “I wish I didn’t have as much time to teach my students?” These athletes continue to prove that the quality of the experience is more important than the quantity of experiences. Perhaps our instruction should reflect more of that commitment to raising the quality, and doing it in what little quantity we sometimes have.

We (as educators) are not in the business of working with professional musicians – but that doesn’t mean we should be lacking a professional attitude. Some of them are amatures, some slightly better, some that are exceptional – but they are all still kids. Kids who need role models committed to trusting, competence, cooperation, respect, courage, and passion. Role models who teach them because they love what it is that they do for all the right reasons. And before some of you take fingers to keyboard and call me out, yes those paychecks do help don’t they? But explain to me why I feel like a million bucks at the end of the Pines of Rome – for me that is one of those right reasons.

We want our students to make the right decisions as people and musicians. Let us lead them as their coaches in making our choices ones that inspire, challenge, and mold them into student musicians who seek to continually improve themselves. My opening ceremony for the year is now concluded , the torch is lit, and it is officially time to teach!

When preparing for this (which is probably similar to Contest Festivals in other states), there is no cramming and last minute “throwing things together”.  The performance should reflect a significant amount of time studying the piece to deliver the composer’s intent for the music.  That being said, there is another side to the coin which I feel can be dangerous for student growth and appreciation of music.  While I understand that for some schools a good rating at a festival is of paramount importance (and sometimes is oddly tied to their continued support and funding…), I don’t believe necessarily in a ”drop everything else so we can get this rating” mentality.  There is a fine line of process and product to be walked in this kind of endeavor, and it is certainly worth the walk to elevate the expectations for your program.  I do my best to emphasize the importance of what we can learn by presenting a part of the product as part of the process.  I will gladly acknowledge that preparing and performing at a very high level for some of our students creates a meaningful connection with music that alters their life perspective (and maybe their career choice to become a music teacher or performer!).  They may experience the ultimate success at this level (or a similar situation).  They could also experience a degree of failure.  Be mindful of how they pick themselves up, and be active in helping them assimilate and analyze what happened.  You could be Bowling for Mozart and not even realize it.

Talking with a couple of friends who also had groups at the festival, I was in agreement that we definitely learned things about our groups on Tuesday.  More importantly, the students learned things about themselves and their ensemble as well.  When we return from our Easter break, there are a number of comments from the judges that I can share that will hopefully guide us on the next path of our journey.  Our students sometimes end up unconciously “tuning us out” (sorry, no pun, put away your Korg….) because they hear us day after day address things like:

• Key Signature
• Accidentals
• Rhythms 
• Tuning
• Intonation
• Phrasing
• Balance
• Expression
• Trombones, it’s A natural! Second position! (Ok, so perhaps I tipped my own frustrated baton on this one….)

But throw the comments of an outside observer at them, and suddenly their perspective is refreshed (Not to mention our own!).  Knowing the adjudicators we had on Tuesday, they have all been in the position during their career that the directors are currently working.  Their comments will be very useful, because they will reinforce to the students to commit to quality and strive to make your next performance better.  They will tell a group where the strength lies, but also where the weaknesses are as well.  Their comments will be practical for everyday use in rehearsal, and they will not be condescending to the point it would damage the group’s self-esteem or confidence.  As I have said before, the ears of an outside observer – whether a colleague, a student teacher, a friend – can lend a perspective that can be helpful in evaluating our instruction.

I was proud of all my students for accepting the challenge of the music we studied, and for giving the music their best possible effort.  I have a list of things that we will continue to build upon.  I also have a list of things I know that we will be able to incorporate, work on in our daily rehearsal, and thereby improve the quality of the ensemble as well.  This was part of the on-going process that by engaging our students and ourself we will ultimatley improve our product.  

I am really thankful for Joe who has inspired me to think globally about making a difference locally. We used Skype – another one of the great free programs that Mustech.net has featured – to bring Jason in. Jason was able to share some great perspective with my students about his personal experience in the music industry. He helped clarify a number of issues as it relates to the PAL Logo Program, Music Copyrights and Licensing, and the ever-present Music Downloading situation. It was so impressive seeing Jason, who is a fantastic guitarist and composer (having written music for a number of Fox shows at ESPN in addition to some great stuff with his group THAT ROCKS!) bring this perspective to the students at level and in a manner they to which they could relate. He may consider himself just one small piece of the puzzle out there, but he really helped put a lot of things in place for my students through our interview.

The great part about this project from inception, to planning and preparation, through the sesssion, to post-class analysis was recognizing the need for evolution in all of education. Our kids are so media friendly, we should not presume that maintaining older instructional techniques will still get the job done. As a band director, I have to evolve every year as my groups change and in turn so does the instrumentation. Our profession (music educator) lends itself well to a high degree of adaptability, evolution, and change. But in the case of a traditional classroom subject – even this General Music Class – the temptation of putting things on “cruise control” and teach the same way “because that’s the way I did it last year”. Nothing smells worse in the nose of students than the smell of stagnation and apathy.

We are better teachers when we are learning ourselves. We are better teachers when we have the opportunity to implement something new we have learned into our instruction. The message it sends to our students is we have their best interest as a student in mind, and are not afraid to try and improve ourselves as educators. Our commitment can improve their commitment, which hopefully improves their studies, which hopefully improves their retention and ultimately their achievement.

Reinventing yourself is not easy. Evolution is necessary. It won’t be easy as we take beginning steps all over again. But it will be worthwhile. I don’t fear making a mistake in learning something new or in my implementation of a program or concept. I fear the day when I let the profession pass me by, and can no longer grow to meet its demands. For that will be the day my students will stop learning and caring about music.

Thanks again to Joe, Jason, Tracy, and my school district for helping making this small drop in the pond happen. Hopefully, a few more of us will catch one of the ripples.

I must be careful in not only the musical preparation, but the mental preparation of each student. For all their daring wit they can show in our classroom, these are just kids and they don’t realize as Sting says “How fragile we are”. Nerves can kill you in an audition, and everything that has been built up in them for months can be taken away quickly. The students I am sending to audition are wonderful people. They are developing into wonderful musicians. The result of the audition is not going to demean either of those values in my eyes, and it is something I will share with each one of them prior to Tuesday. I hold these students in high regard for choosing to better themselves musically – because you know as well as I there are less tedious, time-consuming options out there that can occupy your free time (note the absence of a link here on the word Youtube). I will encourage them to play to the best of their ability, and to show the judges what they can do. We haven’t spent months on this solo to go into the audition and play poorly. We have spent this time making you into a better musician, so go and show it.

The one thing that I would encourage my peers to do as leaders and teachers of students is to be the face that your students need to see leading to auditions. Some of them need a joke to relax, some students need a clever word or two of encouragement, and yet others want nothing but facts. Whatever that student needs from you as coach/motivator – give it to them because it shows your sincerity and interest in their endeavors. Be confident in them, and show that in your demeanor and individual work. Be honest and confront them about where they are musically – as Coach K says “Confrontation is meeting the truth head-on”.

It is only one moment. It is a moment of truth. Not THE moment. I believe that these young ladies and gentlemen have prepared themselves in such a way that they have grown as musicians. They are each musical leaders within the ensembles in which I can place my trust. In each of them, my level of respect has grown tremendously and I appreciate them making music such a priority in their busy schedules. I know these students will make our band program proud. And that all fans of the bullfight should recognize as the moment of truth.