An Open Letter to New Band Directors
Dear New Band Director,
Welcome to the profession! My hope is that each one of you enjoy a meaningful, productive, and worthwhile career that spans years in music education. There are times where it seems like it is mean, but it will always be meaningful to the students you teach. Sometimes the eventual product seems like it will never be achieved, but it can be productive as you positively shape attitudes, insights, and skills towards music. It will not always be easy, but it will always be worthwhile. What follows are some final reminders and words of encouragement as you receive your diploma, leave campus, go to interviews, and accept your first teaching position in band.
Your mentors are still there for you. While on campus it is easy to stop by the office to ask questions. In your first job, remember that just because your mentors are out of sight, you are not out of their mind. Mentors invest time in us, and want us to succeed. The sobering reality is that they cannot possibly prepare you for everything you will face in your first teaching position. They will unintentionally fail you. You don’t know have to know everything immediately in your first teaching position, but you should know where you can turn to for help and guidance. My band-dad still picks up the phone when I call, and this is year 29.
The first year will be the most exciting, yet most exhausting. New faces, new classes, new experiences. New opportunities, new challenges, new problems. At points the excitement of the experience that you will create for your students will be unmatched. But on the other side of that coin is the reality that it will be exhausting. Be selective about channeling your energy into the aspects of your teaching and position in which you can make a positive change. Be calm and level-headed about those things which you cannot. Seek perspective and wisdom to know the difference. The mentors I previously mentioned can help here, but so can the new allies that you form in your position. Some of them may bring a refreshing perspective outside of music and reveal insight that you might be missing. It might be different, but it does not necessarily mean that it is wrong.
Every name you learn validates another student being in your room. Every student matters in band. We – literally and figuratively – all have a part to play. Knowing their name, and how they would like to be addressed makes a big difference in the classroom environment for your band room. It is the first step to earning both trust and respect from the students in your band – and two aspects I would argue are absolutely vital for any band program at any level to achieve success. The band room should be the place in the school where – to borrow from the Charles’ Brothers and Glenn Burrows – everybody knows your name.
Meet the students where they are, not where you have come from. Many of you likely had amazing final concerts with your collegiate or university group over the past year. Keep in mind the chances of landing a position whereby you will be able to program repertoire with high artistic and pedagogical demands with a high school group are very slim. If I had one regret from my first two years of teaching it was the difficult repertoire I put in front of my students during the spring semester – essentially it was two good pieces that were frankly too hard. It may have been quality music, but the students did not have a quality experience. I understand the rationale for programming a single piece on a concert cycle that stretches the abilities of the group. When the group is white-knuckling through an entire program on a single concert, I become very concerned. Program music that is in their best interest to grow and develop as musicians, gives them diverse perspective and experiences with composers, styles, and forms, and, most importantly, puts them in the best possible position for success. It is their band, their school, their concert, and you are their teacher. Give them the opportunity to show what they can do, not what they have been unable to develop in terms of artistic or pedagogical skills.
Be thoughtful in your choices, because music can change the world. Our repertoire choices are so vital for our band students. As they learn and perform music, they are developing life-long attitudes, insights, and skills that will continue to build upon themselves. They understand the value of collaboration and communication with others while working towards a shared goal. Part of their emotional template is discovered and expressed through the art of making music. Music changes people. If music changes people, then music can change the world.
The prospect of your first job can seem like a tremendous undertaking. Know this beyond any doubt that comes forward in your mind and spirit: There are many great individuals in our profession who have been where you are. They too have advice, perspective, and experiences that can help you. No matter the context or situation, someone else has faced a first teaching position. Perseverance and perspective fuel faith that things in your current position will get better. Your first year will have obstacles for you and your band. Indifference cannot overcome caring. Inadequacy is pushed aside with knowledge. Opposition is dismantled with diplomacy. Slow progress brings about patience in everyone that is involved – and it is still progress.
Some fantastic band directors remain nameless, working what they believe to be in obscurity. Obscurity doesn’t mean insignificant. These directors are models and mentors in waiting who hold great wisdom, tempered passion, resolute diplomacy, and measured patience for their students and their band. Ask them how they get such a unified sound from their brass section. Ask them how they get their percussion to be organized. Ask them how they helps their students improve their individual tone and intonation. Each of those answers may help a specific situation you need to address. But the source of those answers – those mentors in waiting – are reminders to use what you are given (which includes a network of professional contacts) when you have the opportunity to bring about meaningful, productive, and worthwhile experiences in music for your band.
I wish you all the best as you begin your journey as a band director. I hope you make good use of the mentors and colleagues in your circle as you move forward in your position. Even though we may have not met personally, I am always open to listening, asking questions, and providing an outsider perspective should you want to call upon me. Whether you read this today, your first day on the job, in the hectic time of adjudication/contest season, or at the end of year one, the letter stands and is written for you. Life, love, music!
