While it is our job to teach instrumental music, we as a profession must take time to consider these student musicians and ultimately where there career path might lead.  Not every student in our program may become a professional musician or a music educator, but we do want them to leave with a positive connection to music that they can tangibly see in their lives.  We must also choose music that allows us as directors to connect the academic music of the school ensemble with the outside world in which the student live, and that music must contribute to and enrich the community in which the school ensemble is situated.  While high school bands have enjoyed list upon list in book after article of best music for study and performance, I am somewhat disheartened by the lack of attention paid to Middle School and Junior High Ensembles.  It is though because this music is studied and performed by amateur musicians it is somehow not serious literature, and is of little importance or no consequence – I whole heartedly disagree with that line of thinking.  I have previously tried to get the FIRE started for discussion about Middle School Band Literature.  My goal here today is to discuss aspects for choosing literature for Middle School/High School, and then present a list for consideration.

There is a wealth of traditional literature that needs to be part of the “core” repertoire of young musicians as it allows them to develop certain techniques.  Ballads, which can be used to develop legato tonguing and musical expression, and marches, which can be used to develop marcato style, contrasting dynamics and articulation, and understanding of form, are two such types of traditional literature appropriate for study and performance.  There are also a number of writers expanding the sound canvas and providing excellent contemporary literature that present opportunities to explore musical concepts once reserved for more advanced pieces played by advanced groups.  Aleatoric episodes, vocalization, body percussion, different textures, elements of other music styles, and experimental timbres are such concepts that students may experience (Wilborn, 2001).

While contemporary literature offers one kind of experience into a different sound canvas for young musicians, another source to consider in selecting literature is multi-cultural pieces.  Many “multi-cultural” pieces performed by ensembles are arrangements or compositions by a Western-trained musician and are typically written for a standard Western instrumental ensemble.  Goetze’s view is that stylistic practices of some culture’s music cannot be adequately recreated using Western instruments or Western harmonic structure and that the experience gained by student is a Western art musical experience rather than a multi-cultural one (Goetze, 2000).  Goetze doesn’t suggest that this music should be avoided, and suggests through study of the culture, seeking out authentic performances (live ones work best), and providing insight into the music’s use within its native culture can inform our choices and our teaching.

Another aspect to consider in selecting literature with regard to developing student’s technical skills is having a long-term vision for what you hope the students can accomplish as musicians.  A number of articles and chapters in text (i.e. Miles, 1997) have been devoted to the high school ensemble curriculum devised so that students make progress over the course of several school years.  Middle school becomes a unique situation in that some directors see their students only 1 year, others 2 to 3 years, and others continue to see them as they are the only instrumental teacher in grades 7-12!  In the case of students that move on to another teacher, a open and professional line of communication should exist so the high school and middle school director(s) can frame their expectations for student development through the study of instrumental music.  In the case of being “master of your own destiny”, a director should be able to build a logical repertoire curriculum for his own students.

Because repertoire can serve as the source for a long-term plan, it is very important that teachers at all levels have a repertoire list he or she believes that all students should perform over a period of several years (Geraldi, 2008). Geraldi offers the following considerations for inclusion on “core repertoire list”:

• Work should have formal, rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic creativity.
• Work should convey the composer’s imagination.
• Work should be well-orchestrated.
• Balance between tutti sections and thinner texture sections.
• Work should convey emotional or expressive depth.

Speaking to that last point made by Geraldi, we should give our students the opportunity to hear the emotion in the music.  Through this process of recognizing and exploring emotional moments in music,  it causes students to become aware of their own emotions (Whitwell, 2009).  As long we choose music that is authentic, the students (and the eventual audience!) cannot fail to perceive the generalized form of the emotion.  So in our selection and programming of literature, we need to be sure that our students become aware of the emotional depth of the music, begin to explore and understand what that emotion conveys, how the composer expresses it in the music, and they must find a means of expressing their own personal emotions through performance, self-reflection, or discussion within the ensemble.

Composers, conductors, and educators alike all discuss the need for variety in programming and repertoire selection.  Selecting literature of diverse style and origin provides much needed variety for the director, students, and audience.  Even such simple concepts as balancing different textures, contrasting tempos, and balancing major, minor, and modal tonalities are ways in which variety in programming can be achieved.  Other considerations when programming literature include having the required instrumentation and equipment, instructional time to teach the work effectively and efficiently, and the enjoyment that can be gained from rehearsing and the performance of the piece for the director, students, and audience.

With all of this in mind, I offer some suggestions (from the past 15 years of teaching) for pieces for middle school/junior high band I believe a) are worthwhile for students to study, b) provide variety in style, c) have aesthetic/artistic appeal to all parties involved, and d) allow students to draw out their own meaning and emotions.  The list is where I am in 2010 as an educator, and is subject to revision as my perspective, experience, and knowledge grows.  I would be interested in hearing about a list for your ensemble.

1) Air for Band – Frank Erickson

2) Wagon Trail – Julie Giroux

3) Suspended Animation – Patrick J. Burns

4) Kentucky 1800 – Clare Grundman

5) A Childhood Hymn – David Holsinger

6) Grant County Celebration – Mark Williams

7) Unraveling – Andrew Boysen, Jr.

The Forge of Vulcan – Michael Sweeney

9) Bashana Haba’ Ah – Lloyd Conley

10) Basin Street Blues – Mark Higgins

11) Carpathian Sketches – Robert Jager

12) Marching Song – Holst/John Moss

13) Cloud Gate – Timothy Loest

14) Our Kingsland Spring – Sam Hazo

15) Canto – W. Francis McBeth

16) Kilaeua – Brian Balmages

17) Crusin’ – Willie Owens

18) Ghosts in the Graveyard – Scott Watson

19) Highlights from the Music Man – Johnnie Vinson

20) Appomattox – James Hosay

Enjoy the list, good luck with your spring concerts, and don’t forget to add to the conversation!

Geraldi, K. M. (2008). Planned programming pays dividends. Music Educators Journal 95 (2), 75-79.

Goetze, M. (2000). Challenges of performing diverse cultural music. Music Educators Journal, 87 (1), 23 -25, 48.

Miles, R. (1997). Teaching music through performance in band. Chicago: GIA Publications.

Whitwell, D. (2009). Music education of the future: Two paramount new purposes. NBA Journal, 50 (2), 43-60.

Wilborn, D. F. (2001). Spicing up band with contemporary literature. Teaching Music,8 (5), 36-40.

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

Dr. Stephen Gage is one of my favorite people on God’s green earth.  It usually takes about 5 minutes of talking with him to feel better about life, faith, and music.  His status on Facebook was the impetus and with his permission I will share it here:
“I am beginning to worry that in our quest to ‘get it right’ that we forget why we became musicians, that we lose sight of what is really important, and that we compromise what we know down deep in our musical souls. When all of these things are in an alignment, EVERYONE grows and everyone falls more in love with music!”

Love is a pretty important word in that last sentence.  But to get all Tina Turner on you for a second “What’s love got to do with it?”  Is love a second-hand emotion?  For the musician – absolutely not.  I am sure there are physicists that love calculus, but it is hard to see that.  Football players love to play football – thus the over-extended celebrations when they score a touchdown.  But a football player cannot play forever – and even from the booth or the sideline a retired player will never get that degree of love back again.  But musicians have the opportunity to extend their love over a lifetime, and whether it is conductor of community band, a local rock group, or a church organist they have the opportunity to keep making music.  Whether its covers of the Beatles, Corialan Overture by Beethoven, or hymns by Martin Luther, the love affair never has to stop and it is a relationship they never have to leave.

But we as educators, where is our love?  Where is our love for our students in which we profess to “have the best interests”?  Do they see our love and passion for this art that we teach? Do we model it? Do we help them build their own loving relationship with music? It saddens me when I meet a student teacher from another discipline in the building in which I teach, and they tell me “Oh, I used to be in music in high school…”.   I will ask them why they stopped, and usually the answer often turns into a rehearsal schedule and expectation level for competition that pursued a trophy on the wall instead of instilling a song in their heart.  Competition can be healthy – but if it is destroying student’s love of music, I am not sure that in the grand scheme of life it is appropriate or worth it.

How many of our students will play that final concert their senior year, and never consider how they can continue playing their instrument later in life? Too many.  How many of us as educators consider ways in which we can offer them avenues to pursue to keep playing? Too few.  Do we love teaching music? Do we share our love of music with students?  If the answer to those two questions is yes, why don’t we think about ways in which this future music-lover can engage with music? Unlike the song by Meatloaf folks, two out of three ain’t good enough.  I have already extolled on the possibilities of one avenue we can pursue, and I encourage you to read it about in my post entitled “Small Ensembles and the Chamber of Doom?”.

I would like to share a comment by Brian Balmages in response to Dr. Gage’s response that I think is particularly appropriate when we consider our role as an educator: “I think the biggest problem is not the music itself – it’s the passion for music. When everyone started playing an instrument, they did so because they were excited about it …just a pure love and excitement for music itself. We need to instill that same passion for music in our youth. I try to do that every time I guest conduct. Passing on our passion is a sure way to keep music alive. Many of our students will not go on to be music majors or educators – but some of them will be community leaders, politicians, school board superintendents, etc. They can make as much a difference from the outside as we can from the inside. I love that we all discuss the irrelevance of getting a “1″ at festival, but the problem is deeper than that – we need to instill passion. Absolute love for music. Things like that do not go away as you get older.”

Bravo, Brian! Another great quote about music, its importance, and the passion that it brings out was shared with me by Francis McBeth at Midwest my Senior year of College: “Don’t forget why you became a musician.  It was because of a love affair with sound.  It was not a love affair with organization, techniques, or competition, no matter how commendable these efforts may be.  A musical experience has no substitute; and when it is experienced by the band, the conductor and the audience, it is desired above all else.”

The benefits of instilling passion and love of music are now coming to the forefront as an important role for which the music education profession must take seriously.  It is a passion and love of music we must instill – not in the sense of puppy-dog utopia love – but a passion to engage with all kinds of music and let the music work on us and we work on the music to transport us to a different emotional and mental state. In an article about brain research as it relates to emotion, Bennett Reimer (2004) wrote that music can designate any easily identifiable emotions, and though drawn out through its context, can make something musical out of any and all various images, stories or events.  Where else would people choose of their own free will to engage with sad music not to feel sad, but to move beyond sadness to where the music takes them?  As the music unfolds, feelings and emotions unfold that powerfully and precisely reveal the conscious condition achieved by the human brain and body (Reimer, 2004).  Reimer calls upon music educators to be nurturers of consciousness.  Music has a boundless capacity to expand the intricacies, depths, breadths, and range of conscious awareness made available to our minds and bodies through a felt, sonic experience.  Our true self begins to form and take shape as our experiences with music accumulate.

I was surprised to find an article by David Elliot (2005) written about the same time that takes a similar stance to Reimer in relation to the emotional education of students.  It is Elliot’s view that “musical understanding” is often equated to reading music notation, knowing musical facts and concepts, and how to perform (I am sure he would they “music”…) by some parents, students, music teachers, and music education professors.   Elliot questions how often are teachers and students engaged in “expressional” musical meanings, and the role of such meanings in their enjoyment of music.

Elliot cites part of his own philosophy of music education when he states that musical expressions of emotion occur within specific musical-cultural contexts. For the listener to recognize a musical pattern as expressive of an emotion, that listener must understand the vocal customs or gesture customs that musical pattern seeks to resemble.  The implication for music educators then, according to Elliot, is to provide opportunities for students to listen, reflect and interpret works that are clear examples of emotion in music, and perform and create works that express emotion.  Furthermore, educators need to be musical role models by providing regular demonstrations of expressive music making, and use emotional language and emotional analogies so that students attend to the expressive features of a work.

Finally, the last piece of the puzzle for me came from an article that appeared in the NBA Journal by David Whitwell (2009). Whitwell discusses that language is an important form of communication, but anyone who has tried to write a love letter knows it is quite inferior in the realm of expressive emotions (Thank God for Hallmark!).  Language expresses ideas, while music expresses feelings, and expressing an emotion or feeling has something to do with becoming conscious of it.

Whitwell continues that music offers the listener the opportunity to discover his experiential right hemisphere of the brain, to discover individual emotional identity, and to contemplate his reaction to that discovery.  The student must be given opportunity to hear the emotion in the music, and through this process it causes him to become aware of his emotions.  As long as the music is authentic, the listener cannot fail to perceive the generalized form of the emotion.  So music education needs to be in the school where a child becomes aware of it, begins to explore and understand, and finds a means of expressing his own personal emotional being.

Any composer who wants his music to communicate joy can do exactly that – music in other words, is a form of communication that transmits emotion, and speaks about emotion in precise ways.  Musicians use this language in order to communicate emotions and qualities to others who recognize the language.  Whitwell contends that the great artist looks for the emotional content in music, and not the abstracted data elements, the “grammar” of music.

It is more than just love.  Music has a fundamental ability to communicate emotion.  We, as a profession of music educators, have an oath to present this dimension of music to our students as passionately as we contend that trombones should play B natural in 4^th position!  It is easy to get ground down by the bureaucracy of that is forced upon us by mindless state departments and politicians (see also Ed Rendell) who think that the only way to show a school is succeeding is to publish their standardized test scores in the local fish-wrap.  Despite their worst efforts, music and music educators continue to rise up and confront these problems.  We keep many different musical styles and traditions alive in the public schools because of knowledge and abilities as educators.  I contend that we make them attractive to students because of our passion for them.  Remember to take your scores, baton, metronome, and tuner to the podium at your next rehearsal – but don’t forget the love.  You and your students need it!

We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;—
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.

-          Arthur William Edgar O’Shaugnhessy, Ode from his book Music and Moonlight (1874)

Elliot, D. J. (2005). Musical understanding, musical works, and emotional expression: Implications for education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 37 (1), 93-103.

Reimer, B. (2004). New brain research on emotion and feeling: Dramatic implications for music education. Arts Education Policy Review, 106 (2), 21-27.

Whitwell, D. (2009). Music education of the future: Two paramount new purposes. NBA Journal, 50 (2), 43-60.

I definitely think the educational climate has changed, and the impact upon our scheduling and ability to retain students in our programs is a challenge – it is constant work with our administration and guidance councilors, a lot of advocacy to parents, and good, sensible PR with the students.  That being said, I think educators are starting to look at their large ensembles differently, with an eye and ear (appropriately) towards how they can continue to make their elective ensemble a viable and interesting offering among the school curriculum.

Over the past few years, SBO Magazine and MENC have featured a number of stories about educators who have developed successful and attractive non-traditional ensembles within the school day that are engaging to students (If you visit Owen Bradley and read through his blog archive, you get a great snapshot on how to do this!). My good friend and colleague, Joe Pisano at Mustech.net has reviewed and written about so many great, user-friendly ways to incorporate technology into existing classes, or how to structure a new offering.  I think these kinds of offerings have their place and if the schedule, facilities, and teacher load can handle it, should be offered to students alongside the traditional big three of (band, chorus, orchestra).  Having said all that, I do think we should be examining the structure of the big three so that we can make it more relevant in the lives of our students who enroll (VanZandt, 2001).

I think chamber music of varying styles and difficulty levels can provide one avenue for directors (educators) to break up the predictability of the everyday schedule, and to place more ownership for music making where it needs to be – on the minds and in the hands of the students.  We often talk about music as stimulating creativity – is it really?  How often do we as directors (educators) challenge our students to give us interpretation on shaping a melody, or discussing where the climax of a music phrase is?  I am as guilty as anyone in not engaging them enough to make musical decisions independent of me, and then asking them to analyze what they have done and why it did or did not work.  Putting students into chamber groups so they make musical decision and interpret the music makes for some good, revealing discussions.  Kevin Tutt wrote a great article that appeared in the MEJ a couple of years ago that points towards asking better questions of our ensembles, and certainly they are applicable to the small group setting as well (Tutt, 2007).

Obviously scheduling and facilities can impact a director’s (educator’s) ability to start working on chamber music.  In my wind ensemble, I have 30 winds and 5 percussionists.  We have 2 practice rooms that can accommodate 5 students, and one that can accommodate 7.  During a typical chamber music session during our regular scheduled rehearsal time, I will pre-assign times to meet with students in the rehearsal room and then assign time for the smaller groups to be in the practice rooms.  We are fortunate to have a large-group instruction room across the hall that is often not in use during our wind ensemble period, and at times have even used the stage (also across the hall from the band room).  As the percussionists need time to use the equipment in the rehearsal hall, I often will float between the practice rooms, rehearsal hall, and stage listening to the winds to let the percussion maximize their time working with the equipment.  During a 43 minute class period I can usually see 4 groups for eight minutes at a time.  A director (educator) must have established a level of trust and respect with their students for this to work effectively, and as my students do not know when exactly I may be standing outside a door listening they generally stay on task and work diligently.

During my time listening to a small section of their music, I often try to ask questions that encourage them to make decisions regarding musical expression or ask them to analyze why a section of the music was not rhythmically together.  In the large ensemble, there is always room to “hide” if a student is not completely secure on their part.  In the chamber ensemble, they must be able to hold their part and contribute for their group to succeed.  In essence, to revisit some great thoughts by Reimer, we create an atmosphere of trust (“depending on others who are depending on us”), competence (“to attain it there is work to be done”), cooperation (“working towards a mutual goal, person to person and even person to the medium to bring about its full musical potential”), respect (“a sense of one’s worth/esteem within their creative musical role”), and courage (“our ability to make a decision without guarantee of success and ability to grow into what we have not yet become”) (Reimer, 2003).  It is more pressure to develop executive skills, to help their musicianship to mature, and develop their ethics as a person and a person – but like I have told Tim Loest before “No pressure – no diamonds”.

The literature varies from year to year with the chamber ensemble work.  We have used arrangements and settings of folk music, jazz music, orchestral transcriptions, and percussion ensemble music.  We have played Sousa, Mancini, Bach, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky.  Nothing is out of bounds necessarily with this chamber music in terms of style and composer – I am looking at each piece to gauge whether or not it will provide a good musical experience for each student, whether it will stretch their musical skills to the edge of their ability, and whether it will engage their group in good musical discussions and development.   I would enjoy hearing from any of you who work on chamber ensemble pieces or put your ensemble into chamber groups throughout the year and how it has been of benefit to your program and changed your teaching.

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

Tutt, K. (2007). Using questions to teach the national standards in rehearsal. Music Educators Journal 93(5), 38-43.

VanZandt, K. (2001). Is it curtains for traditional ensembles? Teaching Music 8 (5), 24-29.

Similar to the first assignment, they were given very specific guidelines to govern the creative process.  As they are writing 2 parts for their instrument, there were a couple of minor changes that would hopefully assist them. For example, the assignment due during tomorrow’s rehearsal used the following guidelines:

1) B-flat concert and Common Time
2) 8 measures in length.
3) Assigned notes per measure (notes listed in concert pitch)

m.1                        m.2                        m.3                        m.4
(B^b, D, F)             (E^b, G, B^b)            (C, E^b, G)                  (F,A,C)

m.5                        m.6                        m.7                        m.8
(G,B^b,D)            (C, E^b, G)             (F,A,C)                   (B^b, D, F)

The one thing I discovered is that I had to remind them frequently that there note choices for the harmony line were the same as the melody line.  In a couple of instances, we had some definite tension in the sound between the lines, but nothing that Stravinsky would say “wouldn’t work”.  In addition to the notes listed above, they may choose to use one beat of non-assigned notes per measure (For example, in measure 1 they could utilize an E^b or G as long as it does not exceed one and a half beats within the measure).

4) The Winds may use any of the following note values so long as it equals four beats:

The percussion may use any of the following note values for the snare drum part as long as it equals four beats:

After the winds finished composing, they would sit down with a partner and perform the duet for a percussionist.  After hearing the composition a couple of time, the percussionist would begin constructing a percussion part consisting of two different instruments.  While most used snare and bass, a couple of students chose to use triangle, tambourine, and woodblock to accompany the winds to which they were assigned.

Again though it was optional, students were encouraged to begin including expressive elements within their melody including varying dynamic levels (piano through forte), accents, slurs, and also make use of crescendos and decrescendos.

My rule of “If you write it, you better be able to play it” definitely clicked with a couple of students.  After playing through their initial melody sketch two different students looked at me and said “That’s not what I wanted at all.”  A couple more didn’t realize the awkwardness of what they wrote until they tried performing it – one clarinet in particular has new appreciation for going over the break!

One of the big concerns is evaluating each composition.  My biggest concern is not to pass artistic judgment, but find a way to evaluate their music.  There are some objective items that can be assessed, but also a number of subject ideas that may not fit so neatly into the assessment process.  For that reason, I am using a rating scale to show the students where they are standing with the assignment.

Tuesday will be a mini-recital during band periods with the students.  I am in the process of developing a check list so they can do peer critique of the compositions they hear. Our next assignment on which we will embark will be asking the students to compose in 12 bar blues form.