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musicmusicteaching OCTOBER 2011 VOLUME 19, NUMBER 2

BATON POINTERS:Form BetterConductingHabits

Steering Clear of Performance INJURIES

New SOUND SYSTEMS for Schools

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Link Up: The Orchestra Moves (Grades 3–5)Students in music classrooms sing, play the recorder or violin, compose, and explore orchestral repertoire through a hands-on music curriculum.Visit carnegiehall.org/LinkUp or call 212-903-9628 for more information.Link Up is made possible through the generous support of The Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation, The Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, the Rose M. Badgeley Residuary Charitable Trust, and The Barker Welfare Foundation.

The Weill Music Institute’s programs are made available to a nationwide audience, in part, by the US Department of Education and by an endowment grant from the Citi Foundation.

Musical Exchange (Ages 13–19)On this global online music community, connect with teenage musicians from around the world, share your own performances, and participate in Carnegie Hall’s online projects with professional musicians.Visit carnegiehall.org/MusicalExchange or call 212-903-9723 for more information.Carnegie Hall Musical Exchange is supported, in part, by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State.

Online Resource CenterFind high-quality teaching and learning resources that cover a wide range of topics representing the breadth and diversity of Carnegie Hall’s work in music education.• Lesson plans and curricula for grades K–12• In-depth video of live performances and workshops• Master classes and artist interviews• Interactive games, listening guides, and more!The musical excellence of the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall is at your fingertips!carnegiehall.org/orcCarnegie Hall online resources are funded, in part, by the US Department of Education and by an endowment grant from the Citi Foundation.

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nafme.org 3

OCTOBER 2011 ■ VOLUME 19, NUMBER 2

Features28 A High-Tech Makeover for School Music Through the use of electronic instruments, music teachers can enhance and update the sound of their ensembles.

32 Up & Strumming The guitar is already one of the world’s most popular

instruments, and it’s making real gains in the music classroom. If you’re thinking about starting a guitar program, read this.

38 Music Shouldn’t Hurt Performance-related injuries can be a nemesis for music students and teachers alike. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Three experts share their insights on how to stay healthy.

44 Band Together! The students of St. James, Missouri, have been through some hard times in the last few years, but the local band director has helped them unite to better weather the storm.

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St. James High School’s Derek

Limback works for the good of the

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44

Departments 8 Letters10 Upbeat The Give A Note Foundation partners with Glee ... The World’s Largest Concert changes its name and duration ... Teaching Music goes online ... MENC is now NAfME ... The National Executive Board approves a fi ve- year strategic plan ... A drum major from Miami prepares to lead the 2012 U.S. Army All- American Marching Band.

14Past meets present for the USAAAMB.

For today’s students to succeed tomorrow, they need a comprehensive education that includes music taught by exemplary music educators.

18 At Large The Music Education Policy Roundtable is now in session.

20 Classrooms In Virginia, a teacher shuttles between jazz and general music.

22 Advocacy Music educators make an impact on Capitol Hill.

24 Research What do high school students really think about practicing?

2_Toc.indd 1 9/14/11 9:33:47 AM

SPOTLIGHT ON WHAT’S NEW AND TIMELY ON THE NAFME WEBSITEnafme.org

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FEATURESDownload music for the 2012 Concert for Music In Our Schools Month

Help your students apply for All- National Honor Ensembles

Register for the 2012 Music Educators National Confer-ence in St. Louis

BAND: Members share tips for getting past New Job Jitters.

ORCHESTRA: Spark creativity by Mentoring Young Composers.

JAZZ: Paying Attention to the Musical Conversation leads to high-quality performance.

CHORUS: To Accompany or Not to Accompany is the question.

GENERAL MUSIC: Four 21st-century skills—creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication—fi nd a counterpart in “The 4 Cs” and Composing.

FUTURE TEACHERS: Helpful suggestions on Taking Charge of your teaching career

HIGHER EDUCATION, ADMINISTRATION AND RESEARCH: News about College Board and Arts Standards Revisions

NEWS: Learn how Scotty McCreary’s Teacher Kept Classes Focused on Music in an Idol Year

PLUS >> A podcast featuring Michael A. Butera on NAfME’s name transition

26 Technology As the CD gives way to new media, the state of classroom audio isn’t what it used to be.

48 Workshop The many applications of clapping games … A streamlined system for maintaining mouthpiece hygiene ... Music theory and the guitar ... Making use of recordings in orchestra class … Jazz drumming pointers for non-drummers ... Keeping choir boys in harmony

57 Stages Elementary: Fun approaches to sight-reading instruction Secondary: Bad conducting habits and how to break them Collegiate: Why music teachers need to wear three hats

62 Resources New media and accessories for the music classroom

66 Going Places A West Virginia choir travels to the land of leprechauns.

...continued

Looking for a new classroom sound system? It’ll need to be versatile.

Conductors should stick with simple

movements.

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Clapping games are a great way to introduce music concepts.

58

26

Clapping games are a 48

Composition: the “fi fth C”

4 Teaching Music I October 2011

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Executive DirectorMichael A. Butera

Deputy Executive Director and COOMichael Blakeslee

EditorLinda C. Brown

Managing Editor of NewsRosalind C. Fehr

For a listing of the NAfME National Executive Board, please see our

website: nafme.org.

Teaching Music is created for NAfME by In Tune Partners, LLC

[email protected] Irwin Kornfeld

President Will EdwardsPublisher Angelo Biasi

Editorial Director Emile MenaschéEditor-in-Chief Mac Randall

Creative Director Jackie JordanAdvertising Manager Bill White

Production Manager Robin GarberBusiness Manager Barbara Boughton

Contributors: Debbie Galante Block, Chad Criswell, Cynthia Darling, Steve Fidyk, Patience Moore, Cathy Applefeld Olson, Adam Perlmutter, Susan Poliniak, Matt Robinson

The National Association for Music Educa-tion is a voluntary, nonprofit organization representing all phases of music education in schools, colleges, universities, and teacher-education institutions. Active NAfME membership is open to all people engaged in music teaching or other educa-tional work in music. Teaching Music (ISSN 1069-7446), an official magazine of the Na-tional Association for Music Education, is issued to members 6 times per year in Au-gust, October, November, January, Febru-ary, and April at an annual subscription price of $10. Office of publication: National Association for Music Education, 1806 Robert Fulton Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4348; 703-860-4000. Produced by In Tune Partners, LLC. Institutions may purchase one volume year of six print or electronic is-sues for $120. Single copies of issues are $20. A limited number of back issues are available for purchase. Permission requests to reproduce or otherwise use material pub-lished in this journal should be submitted to Caroline Arlington at [email protected]. Periodicals postage for Teaching Music is paid at Herndon, VA 20170, and at addition-al mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send ad-dress changes to Teaching Music, 1806 Robert Fulton Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4348, U.S.A. Copyright ©2011 National As-sociation for Music Education. Printed in the U.S.A. Teaching Music is available via electronic databases from most universities and libraries.

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issue about taking day trips and having professional orga-nizations plan them (“Think Global, Go Local”), I had to laugh. Every trip we took, whether for football games, music festivals, dedica-tion ceremonies, or parades, was a day trip. In that part of the country, you have to be prepared to travel long miles to get anyplace and each trip is an out-of-classroom experience; many over-nights are required. It is a part of the music director’s job to plan these trips, and it doesn’t take long to become an expert at it.—Mary Lu Brooks, retired New Mexico music director, now living in Arizona City, Arizona

True ColorsEvery time I receive Teaching Music in the mail, I learn at least one new prac-

tical idea. I experienced an “Aha!” moment as I read the

Workshop section in the August 2011 issue. I played clarinet in high school and college, now play oboe in a community orchestra, and I teach a recorder ensemble. The article in the Brass and Woodwinds category was “Color Coding for Clarinet Begin-ners,” based on an idea from David England. He gave the example of call-ing out “right-hand green” or “left-hand blue” to quickly fi nd the correct fi ngering. My reaction to his sugges-tion to color-code the pinky (especial-ly alternate) keys with electrical tape was: “Why didn’t I think of that? ” Such a simple idea, but this would re-ally save time and prevent frustration for both students and teachers. —Harwood El Koubi, Pickering Elemen-tary School, Leesville, Louisiana

Curricular “Classic”I want to congratulate Patience Moore on not only a well-written article, but also an accurately reported article (“For an Exemplary Curriculum Cre-ator, It’s All About Flow,” Elementary Stages, August 2011). With all of our dialogue, I had no idea what might have emerged, but what emerged was a classic, from my perspective ... espe-cially in one page! My only regret is that it is on the “Elementary” page. It should be on the middle school and high school pages as well, because if it does not fl ow—from the elementary school to the middle school to the high school—“it will not go!”

I hope music curriculum writers ev-erywhere read this article. —Kenneth Raessler, director emeritus, Texas Christian University School of Mu-sic, Fort Worth, Texas

Navajo MemoriesI appreciated your article about teach-ing on the reservation in Arizona (Classrooms, August 2011). I too trekked to the northwest part of New Mexico many years ago to start my band-directing career. The school was about a half-mile off of the reservation, but over 95% of our students were Na-vajo. I fell in love with the Navajo peo-ple almost immediately. They were gentle, kind, and polite. I had to learn about the shyness and lack of being prompt, but I set my standards and they gradually learned that “Navajo time” was not going to work when I set the time for a bus to leave or a performance to start. The key to success on the res-ervation is to understand the people and their way of life, and that most of your students live in a state of poverty.

When I read the article in the same

letters

Write to usSend email to [email protected] or fax a letter to 703-860-9027. Letters are edited for style and to fi t available space.

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News and notes for today’s music educator

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By Rosalind C. Fehr, [email protected]


In September, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (TCFHE) and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) launched “Glee Give a Note,” a campaign that will do-nate $1 million to school arts programs across the country. The money will come in part from sales of the Glee television show’s second season DVD.

Grants will be made by TCFHE in partnership with NAfME’s Give a Note Foundation, its fundraising entity. Give a Note Foundation’s mission is to expand and increase music education opportuni-ties for all children and help them develop skills needed for success in the 21st century. Visit http://giveanote.org for more information.

Eligible K-12 schools are submitting vid-eos about why their school deserves a grant at www.GleeGiveaNote.com, which explains the complete contest rules. The submission dead-line is 11:59:59 PM ET on October 11, 2011. After that deadline, public voting begins at 12:01 AM on Oc-tober 11, 2011 and ends at 11:59 PM on November 17, 2011.

A panel made up of NAfME members and TCFHE represen-tatives will select the 73 winning schools, which will be notifi ed in December. Three grand prizes of $50,000 each, 10 fi rst priz-es of $25,000 each, and 60 second prizes of $10,000 each will be awarded.

“This program comes at a crucial time as public funding for school music, theatre, dance, and art classes is being slashed,” said Ryan Murphy, executive producer and creator of Glee. “Statistics show that music and art education benefi t students

academically and personally; students who participate in music curriculum also excel in other areas such as math and science. This is why we’re so excited to be able to give deserving schools help to keep their arts programs alive.”

Michael A. Butera, executive director of the National Asso-ciation for Music Education, said, “Millions of kids are attending

schools where music programs have been cut. Each week, Glee is sticking up for school music, giving a

voice to students and teachers who understand that music is essential to a complete education.

“Our organization is fi ghting every day to keep music in our schools so that every kid has the chance to experience it. With Glee’s support of music education programs, millions of students won’t have to stop believing,” Butera added.

NAfME President Scott C. Shuler discussed what impact Glee may have on music programs.“NAfME applauds Glee and its creators for show-

ing millions of people each week how music benefi ts kids,” said Shuler. “Through the show’s portrayal of a high school show choir, Glee demonstrates how music education lifts and inspires students, in many cases providing the main reason they are excited about school.”

He added, “Music also provides these students with skills and knowledge they need to succeed in school and in life—learning to sing or play an instrument helps young people de-velop creativity, critical thinking, literacy, and teamwork skills.”

See the August 2011 issue of Teaching Music for a discussion of “the Glee effect” in school music classes.

$1 Million in Arts Grants Twentieth Century Fox Teams Up with NAfME to Award

“With Glee’s support

of music education programs,

millions of students won’t have to stop

believing.” —Michael A. Butera

The company that produces Glee is putting its money where its mouth is.

5_Newsjj.indd 1 9/13/11 12:29:50 PM

nafme.org 11

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The National Association for Music education (nafMe) has renamed the 27-year-old World’s largest concert®. beginning in 2012, this popu-lar highlight of March school music celebrations will be called the concert for Music in our schools Month.

March is the month nafMe sets aside annually to showcase school music pro-grams across the united states. With participation no longer limited to one day, the concert for Music in our schools Month provides a monthlong performance op-portunity for students and a chance for music teachers to shine the community spot-light on the importance of school music programs.

there are other significant changes to the concert as well. for example, the con-cert video will be available on the nafMe website during the month of March.

in response to a member survey, the concert reper-toire was chosen to challenge and appeal to elementary through middle and high

school students. the 2012 concert will include songs in a variety of languages and instrumentations, with one song including full choreog-raphy.

the song list, sheet mu-sic, and rehearsal tracks for the concert songs are avail-able free of charge to nafMe members at nafme.org. for questions or tips on how you can participate in the concert for Music in our schools Month, please contact susan lambert at susanl@nafme .org or at 800-336-3768, ext. 311.

the hal leonard corpora-tion generously supports the

2012 concert by providing the sheet music and audio files for this year’s program. teachers are permitted to reproduce sufficient copies of this music for use only in preparation for and perfor-mances of the concert for Music in our schools Month. When reproducing the music, the copyright notice must appear once on each piece. teachers must destroy cop-

Flip Through Teaching Music OnlineTeaching Music (TM) is now online for members only. Beginning with the August 2011 issue, NAfME members now have electronic access to Teach-ing Music as well as the print version. Log in to the digital TM to find articles of interest, follow Web links, or jump from the table of contents to an article.

The August 2011 issue features articles on “the Glee effect,” the transition from middle to high school, technology for special needs, group tours, and Mu-sic Education Week 2011.

For online access, mem-bers sign in with the email address NAfME has on file and their member ID num-ber. Call member services (800-828-0229) or email memberservices@nafme2 .org for assistance with a membership number.

NAfME Comments on Teacher Assessment Ramifications

Discussions of teacher evalua-tions, from test scores to stu-dent capabilities, usually draw strong opinions on all sides. The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) wants to ensure that the voic-

es of music educators are heard over the din.Michael Blakeslee, NAfME deputy executive

director and chief operating officer, says, “Much national dialog, as well as extensive leg-islative and administrative action at the state and local level, has centered on the develop-ment of new protocols for the evaluation of teachers in our nation’s schools. In many cases, these protocols seem to rely, to a significant extent, on measures of student achievement.”

NAfME understands that evaluating a teach-er on the basis of his or her students’ attain-ments in the school setting “is a politically necessary component of a system for educa-

tional accountability,” Blakeslee says. How-ever, he adds, “We urge all involved in the con-struction and implementation of these proto-cols and systems to consider carefully the im-portance of basing evaluation decisions on val-id information.”

NAfME’s developing position is that a system for teacher evaluation must include a balanced, comprehensive assay of the teacher’s contribu-tions to student learning through multiple mea-sures. A task force chaired by Johanna Siebert, director of fine arts for the Webster Central School District in upstate New York, is prepar-ing a strategy for this.

“Any and all measures that depend on struc-tured but subjective judgments on the part of an observer should be carried out by an ob-server with adequate expertise in music and music education,” says a draft position state-ment. “Unstructured subjective judgments should never form part of a system.”

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Big Changes Announced for March MIOSM® Concert

ies of this music at the end of March 2012.

for more information about music permissions, visit nafme.org.

n Discussin’ Percussion (arr. tom anderson)n Dona Nobis Pacem (cristi cary Miller)n El Vito (arr. emily holt crocker)n Everlasting Melody (rollo a. Dilworth)

The 2012 Concert songs are:n Feel the Beat (roger emerson and John Jacobson)n Rock Island Line (arr. Jan klevberg Day)n The Star-Spangled Banner (1st verse only, words by francis scott key, melody attributed to John stafford smith)

Music teacher Torris Bell of Baker Elementary School in Jackson, Mississippi, rehearses his students for a song in the 2011 World’s Largest Concert.

5_Newsjj.indd 2 9/13/11 12:30:09 PM


NAfME Lays Out Long-Term Strategic Plan

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In August the National ex-ecutive board of the National association for Music educa-tion (NafMe) approved a new five-year strategic plan. Guid-ed by extensive input from NafMe state Music education associations, societies, councils, the National as-sembly, general member-ship, and staff, the Neb tack-led the task of bringing the wealth of ideas into a com-prehensive strategic plan. The plan is designed to carry NafMe efforts forward through 2016.

The mission of NafMe is to advance music education by encouraging the study and making of music by all. and NafMe’s vision is that all stu-

dents receive a comprehen-sive, sequential music educa-tion that prepares them for lifelong involvement in music.

“Music is a universal ex-pression of the human spirit, a basic human need,” the Preamble states. “It allows us to communicate our deep-est ideas and feelings, to ex-plore and preserve our cul-tural heritages, and to cel-ebrate the realms of emotion, imagination, and creativity that result in new knowledge, skills, and understanding. every individual should be guaranteed the opportunity to learn music and to share in musical experiences.”

There are four overarch-ing strategic directions:

1. advocacy2. serving the profession and the music educator3. research4. Organizational vitality

In the advocacy area, NafMe will inform and activate the public, policymakers, and ed-ucational leaders to support music as core in the complete education that must be avail-able to all students so that they can succeed tomorrow.

In order to serve the pro-fession and music educators, NafMe will engage music educators in association pro-grams, projects, events, and professional development opportunities that serve their needs and those of their stu-dents and profession as well.

research will ensure that sound data and research in-form all activities of the as-sociation.

In order to achieve “orga-nizational vitality,” NafMe will “serve the needs of con-stituencies through sound fiscal practices and aligned implementation of our cul-ture, systems, structures, and resources,” the Plan states.

“Now it is our collective responsibility to bring the plan to life,” said executive Director butera. “We all know of well-intended plans that sit on shelves. We cannot let that happen if we intend to bring the study and making of music to all.”

The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) encour-ages members to learn how to advocate for their music pro-gram, whether visiting a state senator or checking in with school board members.

After many of NAfME’s state leaders visited Capitol Hill dur-ing Music Education Week, they shared their experiences. See the Advocacy column in this issue to read some tips on organiz-ing such a visit. Leaders also posted accounts of their June 2011 Capitol Hill visits on the NAfME Groundswell website.

With over 1,000 members, Groundswell is an online commu-

nity of NAfME members from across the United States who par-ticipate in advocacy initiatives, engage in discussions about ad-vocacy, and share advocacy news, photos, and videos.

For accounts from state delegations, including a video of Washington state leaders, visit http://advocacy.nafme.org/ video/washington-state-mea-visits.

State Leaders Find Advocacy Opportunities on Capitol Hill

The National Association for Music Education’s National

Assembly discussed the new strategic plan during Music

Education Week in June.

5_Newsjj.indd 3 9/13/11 12:30:34 PM

nafme.org 13

NAfME Seeks to Lead Music Educators into the Future

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Your national association has entered a new chapter in its 104-year history —the chapter in which it officially transitions to the name National Association for Music Education (NAfME). The Association’s new website address is nafme.org and the new email suffix for NAfME staff is now @nafme.org.

The move to NAfME also represents a change in atti-tude and direction. “When representatives of our asso-ciation communicate with po-tential partners and funders, it is essential that we be able to focus on our core message,” NAfME President Scott C. Shuler explained. “Since 1998, when our name was changed to MENC: The National Asso-ciation for Music Education, we have had to spend too much precious time explaining

why our initials did not match our name. This long-overdue step to align our name and logo will enable us to avoid such history lessons, so we can focus on making the case for music education.”

The Association’s original name, Music Supervisors Na-tional Conference, later be-came Music Educators Na-tional Conference, with the familiar acronym “MENC.”

Michael Butera, NAfME executive director, said, “Na-tional Association for Music Education says exactly what the Association stands for—an organization for music educa-tion for everyone, an associa-tion that supports music teachers and the profession of music education, a group that isn’t inward-looking and static but outward-reaching and for-ward-thinking.”

A number of organizations use the acronym “NAME,” so the decision was made to in-clude the lowercase “f” as part of the new Association acronym. The use of the sym-bol for forte in the logo em-phasizes that NAfME is “FOR” music education and speaks with a loud, strong voice.

For more information on the NAfME transition, visit nafme.org/news.

Activate Tri-M® Chapters by October 31 and Avoid a Late Charge!Tri-M® chapters must be activated annually by sending in an activation form and fee. Chapters activating after October 31 will pay a $20 late fee.

Chapters must be active for advisors to order recognition items for their students later in the school year.

Advisors who have never had a chapter of the Tri-M® Music Honor Society at their school can activate a new chapter at any time.

Call Victoria Chamberlin at 800-336-3768 or visit www.nafme.org/Tri-M for more infor-mation. Don’t forget to Like us on Facebook! Facebook.com/TriMHQ

Tri-M® Chapters work throughout the school year on service projects. Pictured here are members of the Savannah (Georgia) Arts Academy who raised money for Haitian earthquake relief in 2010.

Wanted: Teen Reporter to Cover a Major Music EventIn Tune Monthly and the Na-tional Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) are sponsoring the 2012 School-Jam USA Teen Field Report-er Contest to find an out-standing student journalist. The contest winner will cov-er the Winter NAMM show for In Tune Monthly. The show is January 19-22, 2012, in Anaheim, California.

The winner will receive one round-trip plane ticket, a stay at the Disney Paradise Pier Hotel, and an attendee’s badge for the NAMM show. He or she will cover the show with an In Tune editor, write about the gear on display, attend the SchoolJam USA finals on January 21, and interview some of the musi-cians participating. The win-ner’s work and byline will appear in In Tune Monthly and on InTuneMonthly.com.

SchoolJamUSA, a sepa-rate contest, is a musical competition open to high school groups who play orig-inal music. The SchoolJam contest awards more than $50,000 in prizes. For dead-line and other information on SchoolJam, visit namm.org.

Contestants for Teen Field Reporter must be be-tween the ages of 13 and 19 on January 1, 2012. The deadline is Nov. 1. For more details, visit intunemonthly .com or schooljamusa.com.

5_Newsjj.indd 4 9/13/11 12:31:11 PM


In August the U.S. Army, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and All-American Games announced that Michael Thompson from Miami Sunset Senior High School in Miami, Florida, will be the 2012 U.S. Army All-American Marching Band Drum Major. Timothy Yao, the 2011 Drum Major, passed the ceremonial shako to Thomp-son during the Drum Corps International World Champi-onships at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

NAfME partners with title sponsor the U.S. Army, along with Drum Corps Interna-tional and All-American Games, in presenting the USAAAMB. Thompson will lead the USAAAMB during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on January 7, 2012. He is a student of NAfME member Tyrone O’Neal. In addition to his conducting skills, the Miami senior is an accomplished trumpeter, earning superior ratings for solos and for work with his brass quintet.

The U.S. Army All-American Band features 125 top high school marching musicians and color guard members from across the United States. Seniors selected for the USAAAMB exhibit excep-tional musicianship, marching achievement, character, and leadership. Thompson was the first 2012 band member to be announced; each member will have a media event at his or her school this fall. The selection tour is under way and will continue until December.

Music teachers can submit the names of their exceptional high school junior marching musi-cians for nomination to the 2013 USAAAMB. The All-American Nominee form is at nafme.org/v/band/u-s-army-all-american-marching-band. Nominated students of NAfME members that com-plete the application and audition process will receive an official certificate. NAfME will accept 2013 nominations until January 31, 2012.

A nomination does not guarantee acceptance into the USAAAMB. To formally apply for the 2013 band, students must submit an application outlining accomplishments and specific audition videos for All-American Selection Committee review. Applications for the 2013 band will be ac-cepted beginning in the spring of 2012.

New Guide for Band DirectorsExperienced and new band directors alike will find the book Quick Reference for Band Directors (NAfME/Row-man & Littlefield Education) a go-to guide, with tips on everything from recruiting members to preparing les-son plans to effective class-room management.

Author Ron Kearns, a retired band director, per-forming artist, and record producer, also discusses booster groups, budgeting, and technology. He focuses on high school band pro-grams but offers advice for elementary and middle school directors as well.

Of the book, Robert White, instructional facilita-tor of music, Howard County (Maryland) Public Schools, said, “Ron Kearns has cre-ated a thorough, detailed,

and practical approach to developing a successful band program based on the experiences and knowledge he acquired as a band direc-tor for 30 years.”

NAfME members receive a 25% discount off the list price of $75 for the hard-back and $36.95 for paper and electronic versions. For ordering and other informa-tion, visit rowmaneducation .com or call 800-462-6420. For more on NAfME books, visit nafme.org/resources/view/nafme-books.

With the school year just under way, NAfME members may find expert advice helpful, and so it’s worth noting that NAfME offers a free online professional development service for members.

A different group of advisors will offer advice each month in the band, orchestra, chorus, jazz, future teachers, and general music forums. Guitar and mariachi questions are directed to the orchestra forum.

Those interested in becoming a mentor or

making suggestions for the men-toring website can contact Susan Lambert at [email protected].

This benefit is only available to NAfME members. To post ques-

tions, a NAfME member number and forum registration are required. Visit

nafme.org/forums/register.php to register for the online forums.

Visit nafme.org/resources/view/mentors/ for more information on the mentors program and to read mentors’ biographies.

Mentors Are Ready to Field Member Questions

Miami Drum Major Will Lead 2012 USAAAMB

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5_Newsjj.indd 5 9/14/11 12:06:23 PM

As a Performing Rights Organization, we see the impact music educators have on the songwriters and musicians we represent. That’s why we’re proud to provide teachers everywhere

with free classroom-ready educational materials on the music business. Visit sesac.com/eduto receive these incredible tools. It’s our way of saying thanks for all you do.

You know your music. We know the business.

You have a hard job.You deserve free stuff.

SESAC_TeachMusic8.187x10.875_Layout 1 8/12/11 10:58 AM Page 1

_TM_AD_Temp.indd 1 9/6/11 2:39:09 PM

Lessons in American Music, Volume TwoLessons in American Music, Volume Two, the second book in the Lessons in American Music series, is an exciting new general music resource for those teaching in grades 4-7. Discover new ways to engage your students in learning about John Philip Sousa and the U. S. Constitution. Play and sing songs of the Underground Railroad, perform a salute to the U.S. armed forces, and more. This book includes detailed lessons, ready-to-use activities, assessments, vocal and recorder arrangements, and a newly composed song. All of the lessons are tied to the National Standards for Music Education. Containing entirely new material, the second book is as valuable as the first. This is an important resource for any general music classroom!

Debra Kay Robinson Lindsay, a National Board Certified teacher in early and middle childhood music, teaches general music at Crestwood Elementary School in Springfield, Virginia. She is the past president of the Virginia Elementary Music Educators Association and was named the Virginia Outstanding Music Educator in 2003. Ms. Lindsay’s elementary performing groups have appeared at the International Children’s Festival at Wolf Trap Farm Park in Virginia and at The White House. She is a composer and arranger and author of numerous articles and publications by MusicWorks, the Core Knowledge Foundation, and NAfME.

ISBN: 1-61048-099-6 232 pagesPaperback: $39.95/$29.96 NAfME members

Learning from Young Children: Research in Early Childhood MusicIn early childhood, the most important period of learning and human development, young children often achieve developmental milestones in a short time. Learning from Young Children: Research in Early Childhood Music presents research on the importance of fostering musical growth during this period. These studies discuss • applying brain research to young children’s musical growth • music in the home and child-care contexts • musical characteristics of the young child • language acquisition as a lens on music learning • music as a foundation for communication • parental conceptions of the role of music in early childhood • music as a pathway for building community • using music to elicit vocalizations in children with special needsWith research designs ranging from statistical, mixed methods, survey, content analysis, and case study to philosophical inquiry, this book offers a wide range of information for scholars and researchers studying early childhood music learning and development.

Editors: Suzanne L. Burton is associate professor of music education and director of graduate studies at the University of Delaware. Cynthia Crump Taggart is professor and chair of music education at Michigan State University, where she also directs the Early Childhood Music Program.


ISBN: 1-60709-322-7 300 pagesCloth: $80.00/$60.00 NAfME members

ISBN: 1-60709-324-3 300 pagesElectronic: $37.95/$28.46 NAfME members

Play It from the Heart: What You Learn From Music About Success in Life Former students often thank their music teachers for what they were taught about music and about life. Play it from the Heart uses stories and concepts from music education as models for success. Making music together requires exceptional cooperation, and ensembles are the ultimate cooperative organizations. J. Steven Moore relates what he and his students have learned about excellence, leadership, responsibility, cooperation, and passion from being in the band. Calling on personal experience, student feedback, and resources ranging from Tim Lautzenheiser to Mahatma Gandhi, Moore shares the lessons of playing from the heart.

J. Steven Moore is chair of the Department of Music at the University of Central Missouri and has served as a music conductor at Colorado State University, University of Kentucky, Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras, and Lafayette High School in Lexington, Kentucky.



Reaching and Teaching All Instrumental Music Students, Second EditionReaching and Teaching All Instrumental Music Students draws from credible research and established approaches to offer practical applications for the variety of music classrooms teachers face today. Kevin Mixon shares successful techniques for recruiting and retention, garnering program support, teaching for diverse learning styles and excep-tional students, classroom management, and teaching notation, composition, and improvisation. This expanded second edition adds practical advice on reading rhythm notation, teacher feedback, home visits, community building, and establishing positive relationships—with even the most challenging students. Mixon demonstrates that fostering respect and going the extra mile are rewarding for students, parents, and teachers alike.

Kevin Mixon has taught in varied urban, rural, and suburban environments. His ensembles consistently receive the highest ratings at festivals and are widely recognized for achievement. He publishes and presents regularly on several topics related to music education, and his growing list of published compositions for band and orchestra reflect and respect student diversity.



Quick Reference for Band DirectorsQuick Reference for Band Directors is a go-to guide for new and experienced band directors. With tips on recruiting and retaining members, preparing lesson plans and program objectives, developing a booster group, budgeting, classroom management, using technology, and making emergency repairs, this book will soon number among your closest advisors. Learn how to build, maintain, and improve your program. Get tips on how to structure concert band, symphonic band, wind ensemble, marching band, small ensembles, jazz band, and pep band while developing musicianship. The book focuses on high school band programs but offers advice for elementary and middle school directors as well. Read it sequentially or select the chapters most pertinent to you. You’ll come back again and again to benefit from the author’s thirty years of teaching.

Ron Kearns is a retired band director, performing artist and record producer. He adjudicates festivals and conducts clinics throughout the United States and Canada.



With research designs ranging from statistical, mixed methods, survey, content analysis, and case study

Place your order, read complete descriptions and reviews, and view tables of contents at www.rowmaneducation.com or call 800-462-6420. E-catalog link: http://www.nxtbook.com/ygsreprints/ygs/g16220_rlpg_MENC2010

Co-published by NAfME and RLE. NAfME members receive a 25% discount off the list price—use promotion code NAfME25.

Lessons in American Music, Volume TwoLessons in American Music, Volume Twonew general music resource for those teaching in grades 4-7. Discover new ways to engage your students in learning about John Philip Sousa and the U. S. Constitution. Play and sing songs of the Underground Railroad, perform a salute to the U.S. armed forces, and more. This book includes detailed lessons, ready-to-use activities, assessments, vocal and recorder arrangements, and a newly composed song. All of the lessons are tied to the National Standards for Music Education. Containing entirely new material, the second book is as valuable as the first. This is an important resource for any general music classroom!

Debra Kay Robinson Lindsay, teaches general music at Crestwood Elementary School in Springfield, Virginia. She is the past president of the Virginia Elementary Music Educators Association and was named the Virginia Outstanding Music

ISBN: 1-60709-908-X 100 pagesElectronic: $19.95/$14.96 NAfME members

NAfME/RLE

Publications




_TM_AD_Temp.indd 1 9/6/11 2:20:31 PM
























NAfME/RLE

PublicationsReaching and TeachingReaching and Teaching All Instrumental Music Students offer practical applications for the variety of music classrooms teachers face today. Kevin Mixon shares successful techniques for recruiting and retention, garnering program support, teaching for diverse learning styles and exceptional students, classroom management, and teaching notation, composition, and improvisation. This expanded second edition adds practical advice on reading rhythm notation, teacher feedback, home visits, community building, and establishing positive relationships—with even the most challenging students. Mixon demonstrates that fostering respect and going the extra mile are rewarding for students, parents, and teachers alike.

Kevin Mixonreceive the highest ratings at festivals and are widely recognized for achievement. He publishes and presents regularly on several topics related to music education, and his growing list of published compositions for band and orchestra reflect and respect student diversity.



























NAfME/RLE

Publications




_TM_AD_Temp.indd 2 9/6/11 2:20:52 PM


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FSadly, some within the teaching profession no lon-

ger feel valued. As shrinking financial resources threat-en school music programs across the country, an even more dangerous problem confronts the music educa-tion of students: the narrowing of the school curricu-lum. The problem is real, and the stakes are high.

In an era when teachers, administrators, and entire schools face judgment based on standardized test scores in ba-sic skills, many districts have reduced time for music and the other arts, social studies, for-eign languages, physical educa-tion, and more. The pressure to make the grade on tests has led to cases of district-wide cheating and to states lowering their passing scores in an at-tempt to increase the number of students perceived as proficient. What lessons do these Machiavellian tactics teach our children?

As music teachers, we must advocate to ensure that the school curriculum includes choirs, bands, and or-chestras along with the other arts, or this narrowing will affect our children and our nation for generations to come. The challenges we all face make it essential that we work together. To that end, the American String Teachers Association has joined forces with the National Association for Music Education to create and foster an aggressive and collaborative advocacy initia-

tive called the Music Education Policy Roundtable. Over the next few years, our respective organizations will spearhead this effort, and we will be asking every music association and every music educator to contribute resources. We want the Roundtable to be a policy and advocacy group that helps to ensure that every student has access to a well-rounded music educa-tion in our schools. In order for the Roundtable to one day become a pow-erful policy force both in Washington and in our local communities, each of us must champion the role of ambas-

sador for this cause. Commitment and passion alone will not suffice; we need financial support, we need numbers, we need you!

Communication will play a critical role. Orchestra, band, and choir teachers must work side by side. For too long, many of us have worked against each other rather than as partners. Teachers must also join with

parents, Congressional lead-ers, funders, grandparents, school board members, and community leaders to pro-mote equitable access to music education. We have all heard the phrase “you are preaching to the choir.” Today, we must send our message far and wide to those who may not recog-nize the power of music to

spark creativity, serve as an emotional outlet, or sim-ply bring a smile to the face of a child.

The current curricular climate, coupled with the economic recession of the last few years, demands a fresh approach. Professional associations must speak with one collective voice, and we must speak loudly so that decision makers hear our unified message. The Music Education Policy Roundtable provides us with the conduit to work together: Join us!

Adapted from the respective columns of Donna Sizemore Hale and Kirk D. Moss for the August 2011 American String Teacher.

at large

The Music education Policy roundtable:New Strength and HopeBy DONNA SIZEMORE HALE, Executive Director, and KIRK D. MOSS, President, American String Teachers Association

Few experiences compare to the celebratory excitement and anticipation surrounding the start of a new school year. For some teachers, however, this year’s back-to-school planning chimed a more somber tone. Uncer-tainty surrounding shrinking state and local education budgets has led to an alarming number of teacher retire-ments, RIF’d teachers, duty reassignments, and a work-place refrain heard ad nauseam: “Do more with less.”

6_AtLarge.indd 1 9/15/11 9:20:59 AM

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AD.indd 1 9/13/11 3:05:27 PM


AAs a music teacher at the Willard Elementary School in Norfolk, Virginia, Steve Daley teaches children in grades K-5: mostly general music, plus a fifth-grade choir and string ensemble. This would be more than enough for most teachers, but for the past decade Da-ley has also been director of the Norfolk Public Schools All-City Jazz Ensemble, a half-credit graded class that rehearses once a week, per-forms regularly, and cur-rently includes 14 high school students.

This extracurricular work was far from an ex-pected obligation. Daley, who’d previously been a singer and guitarist in the United States Navy East Coast Showband and other military groups, took on the All-City job volun-tarily and was a key figure in the ensem-ble’s formative years, starting in the mid-’90s. “At first I worked with [en-semble founder and Norview High

School music teacher] Frank Garcia and the high school students as a rhythm sec-tion coach,” he recalls. “After two years, I started to share conducting duties, and I took over all the conducting in 2001.”

Shuttling between students whose age and ability levels are so different can be a challenge, and Daley admits that his life gets “a little hectic” at times. The real difficulties are administrative. “There’s a lot of paperwork involved,” he explains, including the organizing of rehearsal and travel schedules, fund-raising and accounting, and keeping track of and purchasing supplies.

Fortunately, Daley isn’t alone. “I have two assistants that work with me,” he says, noting that they only meet for two hours each week after classes have been dismissed. “It really eases the bur-den, as the group has become more popular and requires more perfor-mances with less time to get ready.”

Because Willard doesn’t have a band of its own, Daley’s regular students don’t get to play jazz in school them-selves. But he’s learned to always in-clude jazz examples when he teaches his general music classes about instrument families, and most of the kids respond with enthusiasm. Sometimes this lays the groundwork for future reunions.

“I’ve had a few students that I taught in elementary school end up in the All-City band when they reach high school,” Daley says. “About 10 years ago I had a very quiet and shy girl in fourth grade. Five years later, she auditioned for the group. I asked her what made her choose to play tenor sax, and she said it was because I showed a video in music class on the woodwinds. She ended up playing in the group for four years and was the lead tenor by her junior year. You just never know what’s going to trigger a student’s interest.”

classrooms

facts & figuresWillard Elementary SchoolNorfolk, VirginiaGrades K-5

STUDENTS: 530

PERCENTAGE OF LOW-INCOME STUDENTS: 58%

ETHNICITY OF STUDENT BODY: 53% African American, 36% White, 11% other

MUSIC TEACHERS: 1

ENSEMBLES/CLASSES: General music (K-4), strings (5th grade), chorus (5th grade)

Performing a Musical Balancing Act A busy Virginia teacher stays general with elementary students and gets jazzy with high schoolers n By MAtt RoBinson

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7_Classrooms.indd 1 9/14/11 3:32:55 PM

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OOkay, you have a great music program. Your students and parents know it, and (hopefully) your principal knows it. In order to keep it great, though, others need to know it, too: those who con-trol the purse strings. This is where ad-vocacy plays an important role, whether on Capitol Hill or at the local school board meeting. And it’s not as diffi cult as it might seem.

Three members of the Florida Music Edu-cators Associat ion (FMEA) —president Sheila King, president-elect Beth Cummings, and executive director Kathy Sanz—visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill at the conclusion of Music Education Week in June 2011. “I had no idea how to go about this,” King says. “My day job is teaching 750 elementary students the joys of making music.”

However, King quickly fi gured out how to organize the trip effectively. “I scheduled all of our meetings ahead of time,” she reports, “starting at 10 a.m. and fi nishing at 3:30 p.m. There was lots of emailing with each offi ce to get it coordinated. Once the schedule was set, we all did some ‘homework,’ visit-ing [Congressional] websites, learning backgrounds and committee assign-ments. We visited six members of Con-gress and both Florida U.S. senators.”

King says that information supplied by advocacy staff members at the Na-tional Association for Music Education helped her delegation prepare. The re-sources ranged from information on setting up visits to guidance on deliver-

arts in our public schools.”Other state leaders who headed to

the Hill in June similarly reported that many offi cials and staff members dis-cussed their own connections to school music programs.

Getting started may seem daunt-ing, but a connection made with elect-

ed offi cials at any level is important. Sheila King notes that “the whole ex-perience was uplifting, and yes, we did feel like we made an impact. It was much easier than ex-pected ... and the added bonus is we had a chance to talk about a subject we are all so passionate about.”

She said she is sharing a simple message with FMEA members: “You can do this.”

advocacy

Strategic Tips for Taking Capitol Hill by StormMusic educators’ recent Washington experience proves that advance preparations go a long way ■ BY ROSALIND C . FEHR

ing a cohesive mes-sage to lawmakers and their staffs.

Capitol Hill meet-ings also went well for Maine’s MEA leaders. President-elect Nancy Penna Curran says that she and immediate past president Silvia (Sam) Moore-Young fi rst met with U.S. Senator Susan Coll ins, “who asked pertinent and clarifying questions. Our last visit was with the offi ce of Senator Olympia Snowe. For the fi rst 15 minutes we met with her new staffer, who was very interested in our cause and related her own experience with music education. Senator Snowe came in, and we thanked her for her support of edu-cation and requested that she continue to support the

“We did feel like we made an impact, and we had a chance to talk about a subject we are all so passionate about.”

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Olympia Snowe (right) with Nancy Curran on Capitol Hill. Below: Susan Collins (left) with Sam Moore-Young.

8_Advocacy.indd 1 9/15/11 10:36:49 AM

Weill Music Institute

Carnegie Hall Choral Institute and Young People’s Chorus of New York City™Francisco J. Núñez, Artistic Director and Founder present

Transient Glory® Symposium February 15–18, 2012

Application Deadline: November 15, 2011carnegiehall.org/ChoralInstitute | ypc.org | 212-903-9625

Study with the best.Meet the composers.Be part of the future of choral music.

Step

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Interact with composers of new works for young voices and explore singing and rehearsal techniques that help bring new compositions to life. Participating choral directors will emerge as leaders in commissioning and performing groundbreaking music of the 21st century.

Composers in Residence: Derek Bermel | John Corigliano | Douglas J. Cuomo | David Del TrediciPaquito D’Rivera | Michael Gordon | Bright Sheng | Joan Tower

Guest Faculty: Philip Brunelle | Janet Galván | Grant Gershon

In association with

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differences in attitude toward practice among students across the four grade lev-els, it did show a more signifi cant dichot-omy between the genders (see accompanying chart). Girls appear to be-lieve slightly more than boys that prac-tice is important. The fi gures also suggest that they may have slightly lower confi -dence in their innate musical abilities, but Schatt disputes this interpretation.

“I would not say that girls are not as confi dent in their abilities as boys re-garding musical practice,” he says. “Rather, this study appears to indicate that female students place a greater em-phasis on the belief that the quality of their musical practice is a direct result of their ability to expend suffi cient ef-fort to make a positive change in their performance. Male participants in this study appear to attribute their success more to innate ability or being moti-vated to practice by external means.”

In other fi ndings:■ The amount of time spent playing an instrument did not appear to have any bearing on attitudes toward practicing.■ External attributes related to luck

had the lowest mean score among the

students sur-veyed, indi-cating that s t u d e n t s

perceive a re-lationship between practicing their in-strument and musical growth.■ Results indicate that private lessons encourage students to practice to in-spire their own future musical growth, and not for any external reasons. This shows that intrinsic motivation can be stimulated outside the classroom.

research

Practice Makes Perfect, Not Innate AbilityA recent study probes high schoolers’ attitudes toward practicing and suggests motivation methods ■ BY CATHY APPLEFELD OLSON

May 2011 issue of NAfME’s UPDATE: Ap-plications of Research in Music Education.

“Generally, students appear to rec-ognize the importance of instrumental music practice and its correlation with increased performance, yet they often view it as a chore,” Schatt says. “Partici-pants appear to be motivated by their belief that if they are able to expend sufficient effort, they will achieve greater performance ability.”

To help quell the negative associa-tion, “educators could extend students’ positive comments to align with the student belief that if they work harder,

they can achieve greater positive re-sults,” Schatt says. He adds that

the use of more goal- or task-centered practice charts could help strengthen this belief.

I practice my instrument because I want my teacher to think that I am a good musician.

I practice my instrument because the skills that I develop are really interesting to me.

The effectiveness of my practice is because of my own natural music ability.

Practicing well is a result of my own personal hard work.

Whether or not I practice well has more to do with luck than anything else.

The best musicians in my band practice more than I do.

If I want to improve on my instrument, I could practice my instrument more.

Practicing my instrument is the best way for me to improve my musical skills.

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3.69 4.05

Male Female

THE GENDER GAP IN PRACTICEThe following are the mean scores of 218 high school students’ responses to a Practice Attribution Survey, divided by gender. A score of 1 indicates strong disagreement with the statement; a score of 5 indicates strong agreement.


Music teachers can motivate students to practice by encouraging them to view their capability in terms of internal at-tributes, and discouraging the belief that the success of musically superior peers is based on innate ability. So says Matthew Schatt, author of recent re-search probing high school students’ be-liefs and habits about practicing.

Schatt, who is working toward his music education Ph.D. at Case Western Reserve University, penned “High School Instrumental Music Students’ Attitudes and Beliefs Regarding Practice: An Ap-plication of Attribution Theory” after surveying music students in grades 9-12 in three midwestern h igh schools. His results were printed in the

9_Research.indd 1 9/13/11 11:01:33 AM

Korre D. Foster, the new director of choral activities, earned degrees from Millikin, University of Arizona and in 2009 received his doctorate degree from the University of Miami. While living in Paris, Foster conducted the choirs of LePalais Royal and L’Academie de Musique. He also sang with the VOICES Choeur International. In Florida, Foster performed with the Masterchorale of South Florida and the Chapel Choir. Foster recently presented a research project at the 14th Biennial International Conference on Baroque Music in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Foster can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected].

D e p a r t m e n t o f M u s i c

The department of music at Austin Peay State University, an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music, provides musical training under the guidance of a distinguished artist-teaching faculty. A variety of courses and programs of study are designed to prepare majors for diversified musical careers. The department of music is augmented by the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, which was established as part of Tennessee’s designated liberal arts university.

For more information concerning the music program at APSU, contactDr. Douglas R. Rose, chairAustin Peay State UniversityDepartment of MusicBox 4625Clarksville, TN 37044(931)221-7808 or [email protected]

Austin Peay State University

Austin Peay State University, a Tennessee Board of Regents institution, is an equal opportunity employer committed to the education of a non-racially identifiable student body.

www.apsu.edu/music

John P. Schnettler, the new director of the Governors Own March Band, received his Master of Music in conducting and Master of Arts in music education from the University of South Florida. He is currently pursuing a D.M.A. in music education with a minor in conducting from the University of Georgia. He has been involved with the Drum and Bugle Corps and remains an active performer, adjudicator, guest conductor and band clinician. Schnettler was the founder, director and lead trumpet for the Tampa Bay Lightning’s “Frozen Funk,” the first professional pep band for the NHL. Schnettler can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected].

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TThe sound systems used in most music rooms have changed greatly over the years. The cassettes of the ’80s gave way to CD players, which in turn are being re-placed by MP3 players and computer-based applications. The next 10 years will be even more digital as we con-tinue the trend toward media like SD cards, hard drives, and on-line cloud storage services. Making informed purchas-ing decisions can ensure that whatever system you invest in today will still work well with the technol-ogy of tomorrow. Consider these suggestions when planning any new classroom audio purchase.

Bad IdeasBuying a system based solely on a person’s current needs or on convenience is often

a recipe for buyer’s remorse down the road. An unfortunate recent trend in schools is the purchasing of home theater systems or other bookshelf-style all-in-one audio systems. The assumption made by many buyers is that these systems, of-

ten with five or more speakers, will of-fer better sound coverage in the

classroom. But home theater systems are in-tended for playing back

the sur round sound informa-

tion contained on most movie sound-

tracks, and multi-channel sound is almost never used in professionally produced classroom refer-ence materials. Because of this, the rear channel speakers can actually become a li-ability rather than a benefit.

Another problem with these systems

is that they are usually intended for use in smaller rooms, with people sitting close to the speakers. Cranking up the volume to a level where it can be heard over other instruments or voices often results in dis-tortion or speaker damage. Moreover, these hardwired systems offer very little in terms of flexibility.

Forward CompatibilityCompact discs are now making way for other forms of solid-state storage. The use of CDs will continue, but over the long term they seem destined to be used as an archival medium to safeguard our music collections and other files from a cata-strophic loss. Because of this, a primary consideration when buying any classroom sound system should be that it will allow you to use not only current input devices but also any new devices that might come along in the future. Using a mixer or one

music technology A rough guide to audio options for the classroom n By Chad Criswell

New Dimensions in Sound

Portable audio systems like the Yamaha StagePAS

500 offer control over multiple sound sources.

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nafme.org 27

of the other products discussed below can be a fairly cheap and versatile way to future-proof any new equipment pur-chase by separating the mixer and input devices from the speakers and amplifier. However, you’ll need to determine whether you want your system perma-nently installed in one room or free to be moved around. Here are options in both cases, along with some important ques-tions to ask.

Permanently Mounted Audio SystemsPrimarily found in larger rehearsal and performance spaces, these often consist of wall-mounted rack systems with a lockable door. They are essentially pro-fessional versions of traditional compo-nent audio systems, with individual slots in the rack for the amplifier, mixer, CD player, and any other gear that the room requires. Sound is sent out to mounted speakers spread around the room, and the system cannot be easily moved.QueStionS to ASk:n Does the system have enough record-ing inputs, and are they easy to get to if you need to make wiring changes? n How easy is it to plug in a different sound source like an MP3 player, a computer, or a portable audio recording device? n How easy is it to get audio out of the rack and into a piece of editing software?n Does the system also need to include capabilities for sending video out to a projector? If so, does it have additional video inputs in a variety of formats?Recommendation: Contact your local mu-sic or pro audio retailers to get quotes on what you need for a specific room.

Portable Audio and Public Address Systems The term “portable audio system” refers to all-in-one amplification systems that usually come in the form of one large speaker mounted into a case, which can be rolled around like a piece of luggage. Included with the speaker are an am-plifier and mixer with one or more inputs for microphones or other au-

dio sources. These types of systems are ideal for smaller rehearsal spaces or portable use in multiple practice areas. They can also be used outside or in gymnasiums without built-in PAs. Higher-end systems may include options like built-in CD players or wireless microphones. Dual (stereo) speaker systems and those with separate mixers are also available.QueStionS to ASk:n Many of these systems can power addi-tional speakers to extend their output ca-pabilities and range. Will a single-speaker system be adequate for your needs?n What built-in options do you need to have on hand? A CD player? Wireless mics and receivers?n What external inputs does the unit have? Do they match any portable audio equipment that you might need to use with the unit?n Some portable units can be purchased with folding stands that allow you to bring the speaker up to ear level instead of sitting on the ground. Could these be helpful? Recommendation: Look for units such as the Peavey Escort or Yamaha StagePAS.

Studio Monitor Audio SystemsAlthough traditional “boom boxes” are still a decent option for smaller music classrooms and practice rooms, their lim-ited input and output capabilities do not offer much flexibility for adding micro-phones or an MP3 player, let alone hook-ing up a computer or an external device like the portable CD re-corders recently intro-duced by Tascam and

Samson StudioDock 4i with iPod dock

Roland. An affordable and high-quality solution to this problem is the use of pow-ered studio monitor speakers, together with a small tabletop mixer.

Studio monitors are designed to pro-duce exact representations of recorded sounds without any acoustic changes such as reverb or added bass. They can be ac-tive or passive; active monitors have a built-in amplifier, while passive monitors get power from an external amplifier. Regardless of the type of speakers you buy, you will almost always need to plug your devices into a small mixer. The sound they produce is then routed through the mixer to the speakers, al-lowing you to adjust each device’s levels independently via the mixer’s controls.QueStionS to ASk:n Which is better for your purposes, ac-tive or passive? Most buyers will find it easier not to have a separate amplifier. However, if the speakers are going on a wall, passive speakers and an external amplifier may be a better choice.n If you’re purchasing a small mixer to go along with the monitors, will you need phantom power for external condenser microphones? Many mixers come with

onboard phantom power, but not all do. n How many inputs do you need? Some studio monitors come with built-in inputs for MP3 players and other external sound sources. If you have only one or two devices to plug in, you may be able to go with a

unit such as the Samson StudioDock and skip the mixer altogether.Recommendation: Look around for paired speakers such as the Samson

StudioDock 4i with iPod Dock or the M-Audio Studiophile AV40.

Peavey Escort3000

10_Tech.indd 2 9/13/11 11:03:51 AM

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One fine autumn day, I found myself with-in earshot of a high school marching band that was rehearsing a field show outdoors. As I listened, I noticed that although the players executed their music well, their overall sound was dated. I asked myself, “Given that people today are bombarded daily with electronically generated music through radio, television, movies, com-puters, the Internet, video games, CDs, MP3 players, and other media, what do bands like this one, solely comprising acoustic instruments, sound like to them? Do they sound nostalgic? Old-fashioned? Archaic?” Watch a movie from the 1930s, and you’ll see what I mean. The film, the music, and the special effects—though executed well—are very different from what we anticipate and experience in cur-rent movies. Today’s filmmakers embrace technological advances as they become available and take full advantage of them

Bring your ensembles into the modern age with music technology By Dav id R . Marowi t z

to innovate filmmaking.Similarly, composers and musicians

have always adopted and employed the new sounds and capabilities that novel in-novations and technologies have made possible. When the pianoforte was invent-ed in the early 18th century, it not only introduced a new timbre but also had the capability of producing a range of dynam-ics that previous keyboard instruments couldn’t. Composers and performers used these advances to better express the artistic temperament of their time. The 20th century saw the advent of electronic instruments that produced myriad new tone colors and effects and gave rise to a new genre of music.

So how does all of this translate into the world of school music ensembles? Be-cause people today are accustomed to lis-tening to electronic instruments, school music ensembles need to rise to the chal-

lenge of reflecting present-day culture by doing a contemporary makeover. This is all-important if we want our ensembles to command student respect and attract new members. With a creative mindset and openness to innovation, we can include electronic musical instruments (e.g., elec-tronic keyboard, electric guitar, electric bass, electronic drums, wind controllers, effects devices, and others) to both en-hance and update the sound of our en-sembles and infuse contemporary sounds and electronically produced timbres into the fabric of our ensemble sound. Yes—it’s time to contemporize today’s school music ensembles.

The techniques and concepts I present can be used to create a richer, more col-orful, more contemporary sound in in-strumental and vocal ensembles of all styles, ages, and ability levels by taking advantage of modern-day innovations in

28 teaching Music I october 2011

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music technology. These techniques are not meant to be comprehensive, but rather a springboard from which we can begin a jour-ney of discovering and im-plementing creative ways to update the sound of our ensembles.

Music RecordingsPerhaps the most con-structive way to apply modern music technology to beginning instrumen-talists is to use background music recordings. School vocal groups have been us-ing them to accompany their perfor-mances for some time now. In like manner, beginning instrumentalists can play melodies in unison with a prere-

corded accompaniment. The use of high-quality, contemporary-sounding background recordings can greatly enhance the overall sound, mood, and effectiveness of perfor-mances as well as student confidence and esteem. Their use in practice and rehearsals can develop student time-keeping, listening, and ensemble skills. You can either pur-chase background re-cordings or create them with a software sequenc-er (freeware programs

are listed on Wikipedia) or with hardware sequencers, which can be found built into synthesizers and music workstations. Sec-ondary school vocal ensembles that al-

ready use background recordings might consider taking it to the next level by performing with a live rhythm section in lieu of the recordings. Try enlisting a popular local rock band whose members attend your school, or consider forming one. In either case, there are likely to be students available who are at the fore-front in the use of electronic musical in-struments. This approach can really inspire students to perform their best. It can also do wonders for their self-esteem and image among peers and audiences.

Electronic InstrumentsThe sound of today’s elementary school bands and orchestras can be greatly en-hanced by applying tools that the world of music technology offers. Music arrange-ments written for this age-group are typi-cally confined to a somewhat narrow range of pitches due to the technical limi-

nafme.org 29

The use of high-quality, contemporary-sounding background recordings can greatly enhance the overall sound, mood, and effectiveness of performances.

11_Lectern.indd 2 9/13/11 11:06:37 AM


tations of young musicians. Though play-able, these limited arrangements can often make for a dull sound. You can expand the range of an ensemble by assigning parts in the more extreme registers to electronic musical instruments. This can give the en-semble a sound that is richer, brighter, and larger. For example, in any given mu-sic selection, a melody played by flutes can be doubled an octave higher on an electronic keyboard or wind controller with a tastefully chosen patch (timbre). This will expand the ensemble pitch range upward, add color, and strengthen the presence of the melody. The range of an ensemble can also be expanded down-ward with a keyboard bass or electric bass guitar, which can reinforce written bass parts and/or play them an oc-tave lower. This strong bass founda-tion can transform the overall sound of a band or orchestra. Further color can be added to music selections with electronic percussion sounds, which can be used to double existing per-cussion parts. Student percussionists can easily be taught to play percussion parts on a keyboard or on electronic drums.

Electronic musical instruments can help instrumental ensembles that suffer from unbalanced instrumentation, filling gaps created by the absence of an instru-ment. For example, to remedy a lack or insufficient number of bass players in an orchestra, the bass part can be played on an electronic keyboard set to an authen-tic-sounding bass patch. For best results, players should strive to blend with the

other instrumentalists in the same way that they would if they were playing the original instrument.

Blending An effective technique for contemporiz-ing the sound of your instrumental ensem-ble—whether it be an orchestra, a concert band, a marching band, a jazz ensemble, or another group—is to blend contempo-rary-sounding, electronically produced timbres together with those of traditional acoustic instruments. Electronic instru-ments can play melody lines together with

traditional instruments, substitute for them, or both. This technique can also be applied to counterpoint and background parts. Bass lines can be doubled with a contemporary-sounding bass patch to cre-ate a captivating sound. Experiment to find patches that will be most effective and suit your musical taste. As a general rule of thumb, they should be compatible with the style of the music. You may want to in-clude students when you “audition” patch-es to use. Consider adding improvised solos performed on electronic instruments to rock, pop, and jazz selections.

Since young people tend to identify with the music and culture of their day, school ensembles that don’t include contemporary sounds in some measure run the risk of sounding outdated.

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For a great effect, try adding percus-sion sounds produced by electronic drums or an electronic keyboard. You can add them to scores by doubling existing per-cussion parts and/or creating new elec-tronically generated percussion parts to complement the existing ones. This elec-tro-acoustic blend can enrich the overall sound of the percussion section and help contemporize the overall ensemble sound. Marching band directors may want to consider adding electronic percussion to their pit (stationary) percussion section.

Sound and Visual EffectsThere are a multitude of sound effects available via electronic instruments, in-strument processors, and vocal effects processors. Effects range from the more practical—like the cannon in Tchaik-ovsky’s 1812 Overture—to sounds that add interest, create more impact, or form aural soundscapes. Judicious and imagi-native use of effects and even visuals—creative PowerPoint slides and lighting effects that coordinate with concert mu-sic—can add a contemporary touch to any performance.

In instrumental ensembles, try using multiple electronic musical instruments simultaneously, with each one handling a different function. Students who play pi-ano, guitar, and bass guitar will likely be found in most any school and could as-sume the role of electronic musician in instrumental and vocal ensembles. This creates opportunities for more students to find a place in their school music pro-gram.

People today are accustomed to listen-ing to electronic musical instruments. Since young people tend to identify with the music and culture of their day, school ensembles that don’t include contempo-rary sounds in some measure run the risk of sounding outdated. This can result in embarrassed student musicians, bored au-diences, and a diminishing ensemble en-rollment. If we can improve and contemporize the overall sound of our music ensembles by using electronically produced sounds, then let’s incorporate them musically, tastefully, and appropri-ately. The possibilities are without limit. The tools to put our ensembles on the cutting edge are at our disposal. We just need to take hold and use them.

David R. Marowitz is an instrumental music teacher for the Toms River Regional Schools in Toms River, New Jersey.

nafme.org 31

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Online Professional Development!Got music education questions? Want some expert advice?

NAfME offers this exciting free benefit to members throughout the school year. NAfME members visiting the band, orchestra, chorus, and general music networks can get expert advice in answer to their questions. Our mentors rotate on a monthly

basis and respond to your questions every few days.If you would like to be a mentor or

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Visit www.nafme.org/mentors

11_Lectern.indd 4 9/15/11 9:43:21 AM


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WHY GUITAR IS INCREASINGLY FINDING A PLACE IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM—AND HOW YOU CAN BUILD YOUR OWN PROGRAMBY ADAM PERLMUTTER

STRUMMING12_Guitars.indd 1 9/13/11 11:10:31 AM

menc.org 37

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t this point, it’s pretty much indisputable: The guitar is a cool instrument. For many

years, it’s appealed to students because of its prominence in popular music. Lightweight, portable, and inexpensive, it makes a more immediate impact than most other instruments—players can begin to make satisfying music on guitar with just a few easy chord grips.

The guitar is also terrifi cally versa-tile. It works equally well for harmonic and melodic approaches, and in solo or ensemble contexts; it pairs nicely with singing and with instruments of all vari-eties. And it’s an excellent instrument for demonstrating music concepts, rang-ing from theory to composition to im-provisation and beyond. For all these and many other reasons, the guitar is steadily gaining acceptance in schools alongside band, chorus, and orchestra, thanks in part to the efforts of such or-ganizations as the Guitar and Accesso-ries Marketing Association (GAMA)and Guitars in the Classroom.

Whether you’re a general music teacher looking to add guitar to your school’s music curriculum or a dedicat-ed guitarist wanting to initiate a full-blown program, here are some ways in which the guitar’s benefi ts can be ex-ploited in a classroom setting.

Logistics and EquipmentBefore introducing guitar instruction to a school, a teacher must fi rst consider some logistical issues. How will it fi t into the schedule? Will it be a short seg-

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ment in a general class, a unit lasting a few weeks, or a yearlong offering? Can it be accommodated in an after-school program? Luckily, guitars don’t come with any special requirements in terms of facilities. “Any classroom can function as a guitar room, as long as it’s got straight armless chairs,” says Suzanne Shull, a former chair of Teaching Guitar Workshops (TGW), a group long connected with NAfME.

Whether it’s a module or a standalone experience, a guitar class requires a minimum investment in terms of equipment. For lower grade levels, good-quality nylon-string acoustic guitars with easily fi ngered low-tension necks can be purchased either by the school or by students for $100 or less. These instru-ments are commonly avail-able in three-quarter size for the youngest hands. Upper grade levels might involve a mixture of nylon- and steel-string acoustic and sometimes even electric guitars, although the latter do pose potential problems. “It can be tricky to work with both acoustic and electric guitars in the same class,” says Glen McCarthy, a guitar professor at George Mason University as well as chair of NAfME’s new Council for Guitar Education, which will help educators inte-grate the guitar into their music programs. “You really need to monitor electric players so that they don’t overpower each other with their amplifi ers.”

Other useful equipment typically includes footstools—for raising guitars to proper playing position—and straps, which help to foster proper posture. While there are footstools that

are specifi cally designed for guitar play-ing, these accessories can also be impro-vised from items like inexpensive plastic storage containers or scrap blocks of lum-ber. Spare strings, which can be had for less than fi ve dollars a set, are critical in the event of breakage. Digital tuners, now as inexpensive as 10 dollars, are also handy in the classroom. Shull recommends tun-

ers that clip on to a guitar’s head-stock. “The best thing since sliced bread, they feel only the vibration of the instrument so that kids can keep their guitars in tune regard-less of what else is going on in the room,” she says.

There are more ways that mod-ern technology can aid in guitar instruction. A program like iTunes makes it a breeze for teach-

ers to instantly buy single songs and com-pile them for students—a process that used to require buying full albums in physical form. Software like the Amazing Slow Downer (available at ronimusic.com) can be used to play a prerecorded song at any pitch level and at variable speed, mak-ing it easier for students to play along with a song in any key and comprehend what’s going on in complicated passages. For electric players, the possibilities are abun-dant. “These days, kids can plug into their smartphones to get great sounds that em-ulate big amplifi ers and effects pedals,” says Will Schmid, a longtime classroom guitar teacher and past president of MENC. “There are even some inexpen-sive apps that will allow students to record themselves in layers for a fun composi-tional exercise.”

Classroom BasicsA music instructor needn’t necessarily be a virtuoso in order to teach classroom guitar. In fact, for the lowest grade levels, all that’s really needed is to pick up a few basics, either on your own or through private lessons. For the more ambitious leader, a summer workshop like TGW’s offers comprehensive training for getting a guitar program off the ground. In any case, Shull suggests that armed with the basics, it should not be diffi cult to learn while teaching, always staying a lesson or two ahead of the students. And in some instances, the students themselves can be enlisted to help teach the class. “You might have some Jimi Hen-drix who can shred,” McCarthy notes. “Use that kid as a resource: Put him in the spotlight and let him or her teach both you and the class a new skill—a win-win situation.”

As is the case when teaching any instrument, it’s important to strike a good balance between fun and discipline, comfort and challenge. To that end, a typical structure in the guitar classroom might involve fi rst tuning the instruments, then play-ing through a few familiar pieces before tackling a new concept.

“I call it the ‘Big Mac’ lesson plan. I start

with a bun—fun, familiar materials—and

then add the meat—a challenging new skill or concept.”

—Will Schmid

12_Guitars.indd 3 9/13/11 11:11:23 AM

nafme.org 35

After that, the students can practice individually or in small en-sembles before the class ends with a well-established large-group activity. “I call it the ‘Big Mac’ lesson plan,” says Schmid. “I start with a bun—fun, familiar materials—and then add the meat—a challenging new skill or concept. In the last few min-utes, I like to slap on the other bun, so that students leave the class feeling good and excited about the next lesson.”

During a lesson, teachers will obviously want to assess their students’ progress, both individually and collectively. In a gui-tar class, students will often have varying skill levels on the in-strument; some, for instance, may have had previous private lessons or self-study. However, this is generally not a

problem in the same way it might be in band or orchestra, be-cause on the guitar there are easier and harder ways to play the same things. In other words, a class’s strengths and weaknesses can be combined to make satisfying music. Schmid explains, “While beginners play open chords, more advanced guitarists can play the same thing higher up the neck using barre chords. This also applies to melodies, which can be played simultane-ously in lower and higher positions.”

Stylistic and Technical IdeasSince the guitar is at home in a broad range of musical styles, a variety of approaches and techniques should be taught in the

classroom. At the most basic level, these include fingerstyle (most commonly associated with classical and folk guitar),

in which right-hand fingers pick the notes and chords, and flatpicking, in which a plectrum is used to

sound the strings for styles like rock and blue-grass. “I’m a firm believer in giving students

the opportunity to try out all of the dif-ferent styles when they are starting

“You might have some Jimi Hendrix who can shred.

Use that kid as a resource. Put him in the spotlight.”—Glen McCarthyph

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36 teaching Music I october 2011

out,” McCarthy says. “It’s our job to lay down a foundation for whatever they might decide to concentrate on.”

Alternate tunings are used extensively in styles from country blues to indie rock. But some teachers find that these tunings—in which the open strings of the guitar are pitched to notes that are often tones of a chord—make learning overly facile, and so they recommend sticking mostly to standard. Schmid says, “I don’t favor the notion of teaching with open-chord tunings, which al-low students to make music by moving one finger up and down the neck—it sounds fast but doesn’t really go anywhere. That said, I sometimes teach in a tuning like drop D [in which the sixth string is tuned down a whole step, to D from E], a slight alteration that makes for a really big sound on an open-D chord.”

There are more instructional books and videos than ever for teaching any approach imaginable to the guitar. A robust selection of methods in all styles from the most basic strumming to the most complex jazz chord melodies is available from any of the major music publishers: Alfred, Hal Leonard, Mel Bay, and others. Many of these books are accom-panied by CDs on which the musical examples are played. It’s a good idea for a classroom teacher to build a library of different books according to the needs of the students. “Go to your local music store and comb the shelves to find out which methods will work for you and your students,” McCarthy suggests.

A Gateway to Improvisation and CompositionIn the classroom, it’s easy to capture students’ attention by also presenting them with materials not yet published in instruction-al books: the latest pop and rock songs. To help you teach these tunes, transcriptions can be found in guitar magazines and on scores of websites. As the saying goes, though, if you want some-thing done right, it may be preferable to do it yourself and avoid

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presenting students with erroneous interpretations. Most songs can be easily tied into lessons about musical concepts. “We can talk about the chord progression—like I–IV–V, etc.—or the scales that appear in a current song,” says Shull.

Fresh songs can help teach a critical area of music—ear training—that tends not to receive its full due in the classroom and can be worked on at any grade level. “When I first learned how to play music on the trumpet in band class, the teacher al-ways slapped written music in front of me, and I didn’t neces-

sarily ‘hear’ what I was playing,” McCarthy says. “Early on, we’ve got to get kids using their ears as opposed to just reading. Ear training can start very simply—for instance, I might play a popu-lar song and say, ‘Okay, raise your hand when you hear a chord change.’”

It can be good fun for students to extract an idea from a song and use it as the basis for impro-visation. The guitar and the mi-

nor pentatonic scale—a five-note collection at the heart of so much blues, rock, and popular music—are the perfect pair for teaching this discipline. With that scale, even a beginner can express himself or herself spontaneously and without fear of embarrassment. “I think of the pentatonic scale as a ‘no-fault’ structure since students use so few notes,” explains Schmid. “And played over a simple progression, it serves as a doorway to composition since it shows students how melodies and chords interact.”

A similar no-fault methodology can be used to approach composing on the guitar. With standard manuscript paper at hand, students might be assigned to create music using a se-lect group of notes or a simple structure like the 12-bar blues. These restrictions will make it easy for them to write music that immediately sounds good and sets them on the path to achieving the ultimate goal. “This sort of thing leads kids to become not just lifelong guitarists but complete mu-sicians,” says Schmid.

FURTHER RESOURCESThe following NAfME resources can help both veteran and novice

guitar instructors improve their programs.

BOOKS (available at rowmaneducation.com at a 25% discount for NAfME members) n Teaching Classroom Guitar by Steve Eckels

nafme.org/resources/view/teaching-classroom

-guitarn Strategies for Teaching

Middle-Level and High School

Guitar, compiled and edited by William E. Purse, James L. Jordan, and Nancy Marstersn “Guitar Class and the Popular Music Ensemble” by Joseph Abramo, in Alternative Approaches in Music Education: Case Studies from the Field, edited by Ann C. Clements

WEB ARTICLESn “Guitar Class Makes a Georgia School’s Music Program ‘the Envy of the District’” nafme.org/documents/journals/tm/feb_2011_tm_guitar_class .pdf

n“Reel Students in with Guitar” nafme.org/v/general_music/reel-students-in-with-guitarn “Engage Students with Guitar” (2 parts) nafme.org/v/general_ music/engage-students-with- guitar-part-1

OTHER ONLINE RESOURCESn Guitar Mentor on the NAfME General Music Forum nafme.org/resources/view/mentors n Teaching Guitar Workshopsguitaredunet.orgn Lesson plans in My Music Class (search “guitar”) nafme.org/lessons

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Live From Lincoln Center Educational Outreach continues to recognize and promotestudent orchestra and chamber ensemble performances by accepting DVD videos ofelementary, middle school, high school, and college and conservatory orchestras.Selected videos will be placed on the Live From Lincoln Center websitewww.livefromlincolncenter.org.

Live from Lincoln Center will send a Letter of Commendation to the directors ofselected videos and a framed Certificate of Outstanding Achievement to their orchestras.

Become a fan of Live From Lincoln Center Student Stars on Facebook.http://www.facebook.com/LFLCstudentstars

Sign up for the My Lincoln Center Email Club to receive press releases related to upcomingLive From Lincoln Center telecasts. https://www.lincolncenter.org/crm_create_account.asp

Watch our upcoming Live From Lincoln Center telecasts: October 13, 2011: Wynton Marsalis at 50: Wynton Marsalis celebrates his 50th birthdaywith the Jazz at Lincoln Center OrchestraDecember 31, 2011: Jean-Yves Thibaudet joins the New York Philharmonic on NewYear’s Eve for a program of Gershwin and Bernstein

Check pbs.org for local listings.

Outstanding Student Performances

Live From Lincoln Center is made possible by a major grant from

In addition to underwriting from MetLife, the series is also made possible with generous support from Thomas H. Leeand Ann Tenenbaum, the Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust, The Robert and Renée Belfer FamilyFoundation, Inc and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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erformance-related injuries are a potential problem for musicians of any age and skill level. As a music educa-tor, you should take what-ever steps you can to ensure

that your students aren’t injured in rehearsal or performance, but part of your job is also serving as an example for them to follow. How can teachers avoid injury to themselves and their students, and set their instrumental-ists and singers on the healthy road to greater levels of musicianship?

Warming UpFirst, a no-brainer: To prevent injury, an ap-propriate warm-up routine is key. Why? “There needs to be a way of improving circu-lation and raising inner muscle temperature before someone begins to approach his or her instrument or voice,” says Judy Palac, associ-ate professor of music education at the Michi-gan State University College of Music and director of the MSU Musicians’ Wellness Team. In other words, when you warm up, you are literally warming up.

“It’s a fact of performing life—a fact of prac-ticing life, for that matter—that there should be some type of warm-up at the beginning,” says William Dawson, associate professor emer-itus in orthopedic surgery at Northwestern University, former president of the Performing Arts Medicine Association, and author of Fit as a Fiddle: The Musician’s Guide to Playing Healthy—as

well as a symphonic bassoonist for over 55 years and a private music teacher for the past 14 years. “Some require more warming up than others. We don’t know the reasons for this. It’s just the way a person is built, and people fi nd their own patterns.”

These individualized routines should vary depending on the activity that will fol-low, particularly for singers. “People in a chorus, for instance, need different warm-ups than the soloist,” notes Stephen Mitch-ell, otolaryngologist and former president of the Performing Arts Medicine Associa-tion. “A warm-up for a studio with miking is different from a warm-up for an open-air performance without miking.”

One common practice for both musi-cians and athletes is muscle stretching, but Palac notes that this can actually backfi re: “Stretching is not a good way to warm up. When you take muscles that are cold and stretch them, you’re much more likely to get injured than if you hadn’t warmed up at all. The cool-down is when you should do stretches. Fatigued muscles tend to con-tract, and stretching will help prevent sore-ness the next day.”

Injuries in InstrumentalistsPerformance-related injuries generally arise as a result of overuse, misuse, or a combina-tion of the two. Most involve the musculo-skeletal system, particularly the hands and PH

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Making music is a healthy activity, but it can also cause serious damage if you’re not doing it right. Here’s how not to get injured. BY SUSAN POLINIAK

HURTMUSIC

SHOULDN’T

nafme.org 39

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upper extremities. The location of the in-jury is often specifi c to the instrument:■ Percussionists, conductors, low strings: Shoulders■ Pianists: Right hand■ High strings: Left hand■ Clarinetists, oboists, occasionally fl autists: Right thumb ■ Bassoonists: Left thumb

In general, brass players have the fewest problems, followed by woodwinds; string players sustain the most injuries. Palac notes that some issues arise slowly, especially those with a neu-rological component: carpal tunnel syndrome or focal dystonia (loss of motor control in one or more fi n-gers), for example. “Most playing-related pain syndromes are cumulative,” she says. “Focal dysto-nia doesn’t become apparent until mid-career, but you can lay the foundations for it when you’re young. It has a relationship to over-use.”

Social and performance anxiety can also set up fertile environments for injury. “The more anxious you are, the more muscle tension you have, so you’re primed,” Palac says. “Hormonal cascades and the fi ght-or-fl ight syndrome really do make it harder to play. Breathing and im-agery techniques can help kids to avoid distress. Balancing competi-tion with a safe environment, so they can make mistakes and not get all wigged out, and an attitude that there’s nothing life or death about any performance—that there is no ‘fi nal’ performance—can help a lot.”

How can teachers tell if trouble is brewing? “Look at the general level of technique—how much it’s used and how

tensing up. Going away and coming back is one of the most important pieces of ad-vice a music teacher can give a pupil.”

Injuries in Singers“The biggest problem in virtually all of the singing arts—opera, country, rap—has to do with singers taking their craft seriously enough to take care of them-selves,” Mitchell says. “This is a problem particularly with students. They don’t re-

alize that their cords don’t have ‘U.S. Steel’ stamped on them. The most common sources of injury come from singing when you shouldn’t—if you have a cold that day, the pollen count is high, or you strain your back helping a friend move and you still have to be up there performing. You push yourself to sing instead of sit-ting at home drinking herbal tea. This is a real problem, because if you sing when your vocal cords are in-fl amed, it can lead to granulomas and nodules.” As with instrumental-ists, pay attention to the general physical behavior of your singers, and determine for yourself whether they ought to be rehearsing that day.

Mitchell stresses the importance of suffi cient hydration. “One of the big problems is that the vocal cords need to be lubricated exactly right,” he says. “The majority of medica-tions mention ‘dry mouth’ as a side

effect. More singers have asthma and asthma inhalers, and when you take the inhaler makes a huge difference. If you have to do a lot of mouth breathing, by-passing the nose, this will affect the qual-ity of lubrication.” Think about what the air is like in the spaces where your chorus members rehearse and perform, or in the buses and planes in which they may be

it’s used,” Dawson advises. “Monitoring students’ behavior in rehearsal is impor-tant. Look for students who do things to indicate that they’re uncomfortable: dropping a hand from an instrument and then shaking that hand, cracking their neck, trying to stretch tissues that are tight, fi dgeting in one’s chair.”

One good rehearsal rule is to follow a pattern of fi ve minutes “off ” (break) for every 25 minutes “on” (playing). Accord-

ing to Dawson, this break should be not just physical, but also mental. “Get away from the source of stress. Change your focus. For instance, brass players shouldn’t spend the fi rst 10 minutes on lip trills alone; they should also do long tones and arpeggios. If you’re working on a piece of music, don’t persist too long on one passage, especially if you feel yourself

NAfME recognizes that music educators can do much to help their students avoid performance-related injuries. To that end, it has devised a set of guidelines in its position statement, “Health in Music Education,” found at nafme.org/about/view/health -in-music-education-position -statement. In a nutshell, music educators should■ Help students to avoid

noise-induced hearing loss through addressing the issue in class and rehearsals, and by ensuring that students aren’t exposed to conditions conducive to such loss while in the educators’ charge.■ Instruct students in healthy rehearsal techniques, including appropriate warm-ups, the judicious use of rest periods, and the proper physical postures for

playing and singing.■ Help students to manage performance-related stress through an emphasis on proper musical preparation and healthy attitudes toward music performance.■ Monitor students for potential problems that could cause or contribute to injury, and instruct them in healthier practices.■ Continue to educate

themselves on health-related aspects of music performance.■ Serve as a source of information on the health-related aspects of music performance to school nurses, personnel at student health centers, mental health counselors, and so forth. ■ Use high-quality teaching materials that take into account the latest relevant medical scholarship.

NAfME Health Guidelines for Music Teachers

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Public Policy and Music Education•Contemporary Popular Music for 21st Century Middle and High School Students•Instrumental Music Education: Conducting, Rehearsing, and Inspiring with Passion•Jazz in the Classroom•Marching Music •Minds on High School Composition•Musical Theater for Middle and Junior High School Aged Students•Making Eclectic Performance Styles and Technology Work in Your Orchestra Classroom•Students with Special Needs—All Ages, All Abilities are Welcome in Music•Others to be Announced•

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traveling on tour. You may need to make sure that they drink more wa-ter than usual in certain situations.

This brings us to an important point: Teachers who work with sing-ers should understand the physiology of singing. “Most singers are using muscles, tissues, and cartilage to their ultimate extent,” Mitchell says. “The muscles around the vocal cords are fl imsy things, so you need the bigger muscles in the lower back and abdo-men to take over breath support in-stead. Those muscles have to be fi t.”

One further rule from Mitchell can be helpful to both high school students and teachers: “Do not under any circumstances practice your pieces in the car. I can’t imagine any worse situation than being scrunched down, arms forward, and singing over the sound of the car while trying not to get into an accident.”

Preventing Hearing LossYou may not be able to stop your stu-dents from turning their iPods up to 11, but you can at least protect their hearing in the classroom and give them guidelines to follow elsewhere. Palac advises telling students to vary their dynamic levels while practicing: “If you play at different levels, you prevent getting too much of a sound dose in one day. Encourage them to use sound shields when someone be-hind them is playing loudly. And in any drill situation such as a drum and bugle corps, the students should be provided with earplugs.”

Earplugs can help to keep high volume levels from damaging young ears, but the ubiquitous foam type, Palac says, are “the worst because they attenuate sounds musicians need to hear. Those who are exposed to high sound levels all the time should have custom ear-plugs that are molded to their ears. These are especially good for brass players and those playing in front of the brass.”

Teachers themselves should also be taking steps to prevent hearing loss. “When someone teaches four

to five classes a day with loud sound—especially when a jazz band is involved—that teacher is at risk of developing noise-induced hear-ing loss,” notes Dawson. “And this problem cannot be treated, only prevented.”

Educating the Educators For music educators who want to prevent performance-related injury in both their students and themselves, knowledge of the body and its work-ings is indispensable. “Teachers should learn something about general body use—Feldenkrais, the Alexander Technique, body mapping—so prob-lems are easier to spot in kids,” Palac says. “Often, they’re not technique problems—they’re body problems.”

Mitchell expresses concern that many teachers who work with singers don’t have a solid grasp of anatomy.One valuable source of information he recommends is the Performing Arts Medicine Association ( artsmed.org): “The mission of PAMA is to educate teachers so they can perform at peak effi ciency and maintain their livelihoods without injuring anyone.”

Specific texts recommended by our three experts include Playing (Less) Hurt: An Injury Prevention Guide for Musicians by Janet Horvath; The Bi-ology of Musical Performance and Perfor-

mance-Related Injury by Alan H.D. Wat-son; Textbook of Per-forming Arts Medicine by Robert Thayer Sataloff, Alice G. Brandfonbrener, and Richard J. Leder-man; Keep Your Voice Healthy by Friedrich S. Brodnitz; and The Structure of Singing: System and Art of Vocal

Technique by Richard Miller. Other NAfME-published resources on this subject include Music Educators Jour-nal’s Special Focus Issue: Musicians’ Health and Wellness (January 2008) and “Injury Prevention: What Music Teachers Can Do” (June 2010).

Remember: You can make an enormous difference in preventing performance injuries. As Dawson says, “The music teacher is our fi rst line of defense.”

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AA Derek Limback (above left) has successfully guided St. James High School’s bands through two emotionally diffi cult years.

BAND

After nearly a decade as band director at St. James High School in St. James, Missouri, Derek Limback knows that the key to building a successful program is putting the pro-gram itself above everything else.

“I live my life knowing I’m going to make my parents mad at some point, but you have to protect the program,” he says. “I’m a huge advocate for student rights, but the good of the ensemble takes precedent. I’m not going to have [people saying,] ‘I’m going to Florida and not showing up to practice but still want to be in the performance.’ I have to make the hard decisions and stick to my guns.”

Those decisions have led to a fl ourishing of band pro-grams at St. James since Limback arrived to teach in both the high school and middle school. (He previously taught in the Warsaw, Missouri, school system and served as director of jazz studies at Missouri University of Science and Tech-

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nafme.org 37menc.org 37

BAND Through triumph and tragedy, a Missouri

band director keeps working to bring his

students—and his community—together

BY CATHY APPLEFELD OLSON

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nology after earning his B.S. in music education and master’s in music com-

petition from Missouri State.) At St. James, he has a marching band, drum line, color guard, jazz band, jazz theory program, and soul ensemble under his purview—and the department continues to snowball.

Limback credits the sup-port of the St. James school system, both in terms of fi-nancial support and schedul-ing. “Our middle school has made music a priority. Every sixth grader is in a music class for the year,” he says. “And the counselors are great at working with our music department in avoid-ing scheduling conflicts and adjusting testing schedules.”

Building on this policy, Limback and past band booster president Steve Hel-terbrand started a program through which any sixth-grade student who wants to be in beginning band can have access to an instrument for one year. Thanks to generous donations from the community

despite the tough economic times, the band currently has about 40 instruments that are solely for the use of beginners.

“The effect on enrollment has been huge,” Limback says. “Nine years ago, I was only starting 35 to 40 beginners. As this program has developed and the

school has worked with me on schedul-ing, we’ve been starting 80 to 90 stu-dents.” Although only five to 10 of the students in the program continue with band into the second year on average,

Q What do you know now to be true

about music education that you didn’t know when you started?first, i never would have realized in a million years how big a difference i could make in people’s lives. second, teaching music is so much more than teaching music. When i was a new teacher, i wanted so badly to teach students how to excel at playing music. While that is still the ultimate goal, i have realized that in order for students to perform well, they have to have team-building and problem-solving skills, dedication, motivation, leadership, honor, loyalty, commitment, and buy-in. in my 12

years of teaching, i’ve become more focused on using music as the tool to achieve these social goals. Now that my program is growing in these areas, i’m seeing the performance aspects increase as well. it’s a process that takes some time, but the product it yields is amazing.

Q If you weren’t a music teacher,

what profession would you pursue?i would love to do film scores or any other jobs in music composition, but i’ll stretch it to a job outside of music: i love radio-controlled hobbies and especially electric off-road racing. i could immerse myself in that

industry and be very content.

Q What advice would you give someone

just coming into the profession? create a network of friends and colleagues that can support you, help you, and give you advice. along with this, find models of programs that you want to emulate. Talk to the directors of those programs and ask them what has and hasn’t worked for them. My most important word of advice would be to expect to make mistakes and learn from them. something too many music directors learn the hard way is not to change the entire program in your first

year. Get into the job and feel it out. continue the traditions set in place for a while and begin to make goals for change. Make them slowly and methodically and continually reflect on your decisions to evaluate the outcomes.

Q Music education would be better

if…i think we can change the way we educate educators, and not just in music. it blows my mind that students in education aren’t required to be in some sort of classroom from their first semester through graduation. i would love to see more of an apprentice type of system that gives students hands-

on experiences throughout their college experience. you cannot learn to teach sitting in a classroom. far too many students get to their student teaching experience or even into their first couple years of teaching without the skills required to handle it or without knowing if they even like teaching.

Q&A with Derek Limback

“that’s five to 10 more than I used to get, and overall enrollment has increased 100%,” he adds. “At worst, a student gets an additional year of music educa-tion. At best, I get a student hooked on music for life.”

Students who get hooked will find an enthusiastic advocate in Limback. “Our principal says I’m the perfect combination of court jester and business-man,” he says. “I think my students know I mean busi-ness, and when it comes down to it we’re going to do our job. But they also know I’m a goof. The kids that stick with me are like my children, and I’m like a dad to them. What I love about them is they help me be a better per-son and teacher, too.”

In turn, Limback strives to augment not only his stu-

dents’ musical prowess, but also their leadership skills. Key to his philosophy is instilling a strong spirit of inclusion. If a student expresses interest in being in the music program, and is willing to put

St. James High’s drum major helps a band mate prepare for a festival performance.

14_Success.indd 3 9/15/11 3:13:47 PM

47

The outpouring of local support is particularly notable given the economic hardships St. James has endured in recent times. “St. James is strapped from a so-cioeconomic standpoint. There’s not much money in town and people are re-ally working hard to make a living,” Limback says. “But our administration has funded us fairly well. With the band boosters’ help, we haven’t had to go with-out, even in hard times. I feel very lucky. I could not have the band program I have without the help of my school.”

As if he weren’t busy enough with his students at St. James, Limback is also an active composer who segued from per-forming to writing in recent years. “I used to do as much playing as possible,” he says, “but now with two kids and the bands, I can’t be traveling, so that’s not so much a reality for me anymore. But I can write music and get it performed.”

Does his own playing and writing make Limback a better teacher? “Ab-solutely,” he says. “It helps you un-derstand music a lot better. And I get to bring music into the classroom that no one else has ever played. The kids see that this is your music and they think that’s cool, so they just eat it up. Not too many people can say that.”

in the time, he or she is always welcome.

“It can be a little stressful. We have one kid with Asperger’s [at band camp] and he’s so-cially awkward, but he’s here,” Limback says. “He wants to be here and he needs a place.”

In keeping with the concept of teamwork, “I recently asked the kids, ‘Who has the power in the band?’ They kept say-ing the drum major, or one of the leaders. But the only person who has power is the person who doesn’t buy into what we are doing, because he or she has the power to de-stroy,” Limback says. “We are all there to help each other.”

At no time has the power of the group been put to the test more than during the last couple of years. Two years ago, St. James lost one of its band leaders in an automobile acci-dent. Then last year, the marching band’s bus crashed on a trip to perform at Six Flags, and a 15-year-old member of the color guard, Jessica Brinker, was killed.

“It was like band just kind of stopped last year,” relates a clearly still shaken Limback. “It’s been hard dealing with the impact of the accident on peer relations and the different speeds at which kids heal and don’t heal.”

Noting that some of the band students are still in therapy, he says about 90% of them seem to be coping well. “It’s com-ing back. Our leaders are doing a good job; they are focused on the right thing, and there’s been a lot of honesty. We also have a lot of freshmen coming up now who are super-energetic, and that will be good for the group.”

Limback and his students have raised an impressive amount of money—some $16,000 from other bands across the country and $12,000 from a dinner/fundraiser—to build a new music lab in memory of Brinker. Called the Neon Dreams Recording Studio and Computer Lab, the studio is painted in black except for bright neon highlighted colors and in-cludes a 27-inch iMac Quad Core com-puter with extra RAM.

At the September

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workshop


General Music

The Sound of Many Hands Clapping

Outside of school, children of all cultures have long enjoyed regional and neighbor-hood versions of clapping games, in which they coordinate bodily movement to catchy songs and chants. Pamela Stover, assistant professor of music education at the University of Toledo, Ohio, reports that these games also work well in a gen-eral music class. “Children learn through play, which makes clapping games perfect for music education,” she says.

These games make a good fit for the music classroom for a number of reasons. Not only do they bring great joy to learn-

ing music, but they also instill a steady sense of rhythm in students while intro-ducing them to common meters like 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4, and even poly-rhythms. They help acquaint students with musical form. And taken together with singing, clapping games offer great mental exercise. “Coordination is so im-portant to the games; to be able to sing and clap at once is complicated and gives the brain a good workout,” Stover says.

In the manner of an anthropologist, Stover has gathered clapping games from all around the world, from those per-formed by African-American students in Illinois to those practiced by youths in Central America and throughout Eu-rope. Some student favorites include “When Billy Was One,” “Down Down Baby,” and “Slide.” While collecting the games, Stover might write down the words and use a bare-bones notation to indicate where the beat falls. But mostly she captures games using her own video

camera, and she also collects ones that have been uploaded by others to YouTube. Videos allow Stover to teach the games more easily than notation. “If a pic-ture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a thousand pic-tures,” she says.

One disadvantage of using YouTube to teach clapping games is that it is disabled in many classrooms. Also, links regularly expire. So, for the purposes of teaching, Stover recommends using a website like keepvid.com to save the videos, then burning them onto a DVD to show the students. “It’s so valuable to have every-thing all in one place,” she says.

As she coaches students

through the clapping games she has as-sembled, Stover has all the members of the class face her directly and acts as their partner, so that they will know ex-actly what they need to do when paired off in duos and other configurations to perform the games themselves. “I usually find that the students perform the games best after they’ve gotten some kinesthet-ic practice with me,” she says.

For a particularly complicated game, Stover will have the students practice the clapping and singing elements sepa-rately before combining them into what is a musically and physically rewarding experience for all. “It’s always so awe-some to see the joy on the children’s faces after they’ve put together a tricky sequence,” she says. –Adam Perlmutter

Brass and WoodWinds

Tips for Maintaining Good Mouthpiece HygieneDespite the best intentions of many band directors, the practice of sharing mouth-pieces on school-owned brass or wood-wind instruments continues in many schools. As we move into yet another flu season, it is wise to take a moment to consider the health-related consequences of sharing mouthpieces among stu-dents—and what we can all do to stop the spread of illness throughout our en-sembles.

Various studies over the last 50 years have shown that a wind instrument’s mouthpiece can harbor germs for 48 hours or more after the instrument has been put back in its case. This can lead P

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nafme.org 49

not only to cross-contamination, passing germs on to the next user of the instru-ment, but also potential reinfection of the original user, sometimes days after the initial illness. Ashley Glenn, a band director at Jefferson Middle School in Jefferson City, Tennessee, knows about this firsthand. He observed that a tuba student who had been repeatedly absent because of illness stopped getting sick af-ter changes were made to his mouth-piece-cleaning routine. This, combined with the rather eye-opening results of Petri dish samples taken from instru-ments as part of another student’s sci-ence project, prompted Glenn to make serious changes to the daily routine to help combat infection caused by germs on mouthpieces.

Glenn realizes just how much time and effort keeping instruments truly clean can require. “You have to do what’s practical for your situation,” he says. “Otherwise, the process can take up too much class time.” With this in mind, he came up with a streamlined solution to the problem. First, whenever possible, brass and woodwind players are expect-ed to have their own mouthpieces; in cases where bari sax or bass clarinet mouthpieces must be shared, the reeds never are. The daily routine for Glenn’s band begins with a stop at the water fountain, where all students must take a drink to rinse their mouths out. Later, at the beginning of the rehearsal, a bottle of disinfecting spray is passed down each row and all students (even those who do not share instruments) are required to

spray their mouthpieces. This spraying process is repeated again at the end of the re-hearsal before the instru-ments are returned to their cases.

Although daily disinfec-tion of student mouthpieces can be easily done, a greater challenge is how to maintain that same degree of cleanli-ness when trying out dozens or even hundreds of new po-tential band students all at the same time. One sugges-tion that may prevent the spread of disease in this man-ner is to not only clean the mouthpieces after each stu-dent, but also to consider having students rinse their mouths out with a disinfect-

ing mouthwash such as Listerine and putting on hand sanitizer prior to touch-ing the tryout instruments.

For more information on this topic, including links to the studies referenced above, please visit http://goo.gl/502HF. —Chad Criswell

guitar and keyboard

A Great Instrument in TheoryAs detailed in this issue’s cover story on page 32, the guitar is an instrument that offers a great number of benefits in the music classroom. One of those benefits is that it can serve as an excellent tool for introducing music theory. Steve Eckels, music teacher at Flathead High School in Kalispell, Montana, and author of Teach-ing Classroom Guitar (MENC/Rowman & Littlefield Education), has some further ideas on the subject.

When explaining theory on guitar, Eckels usually begins by teaching stu-dents a rule he calls B-C/E-F. “I remind students that there is a whole step be-

tween every pair of natural notes except for the pairs B–C and E–F, which are each a half step apart,” he explains.

Once that rule has been established, Eckels walks his students through dif-ferent scales in one octave on a single string. This helps them easily visualize their intervallic construction. (See Fig-ures 1A and 1B.) “When I teach the chromatic scale, for instance, it is obvi-ous that the notes are identically spaced a half step—one fret—apart,” he says.

Eckels uses the same approach to demonstrate the major and minor scales—with the respective construc-tions of W W H W W W H and W H W W H W W, a whole step (W) equaling the distance of two frets and a half step (H) equaling one fret—and to intro-duce the concept of modes. “Reminding students of the B-C/E-F rule, I’ll have them play all the natural notes up to the 12th fret, first on the E string to form

the Phrygian mode, then on the A string for Aeolian, on the D for Dorian, on the G for Mixolydian, and on the B for Locrian,” he says.

For intervals, Eckels usually has stu-dents learn the notes as they appear on adjacent strings. That way, they can learn the intervals both melodically and harmonically. This is where a bit of ear training comes in. Eckels says, “I like to do a quiz in the key of C where I play the

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Figures 1A–1B. Playing scales like E chromatic and modes like E Phrygian all on the same string (in this case, the first) helps players visualize their intervallic construction.

1A 1B


workshop... continued


intervals on the guitar, then have stu-dents play them back while saying their names.”

Eckels uses a variety of strategies to teach chordal harmony. While he might fi rst demonstrate triads in a convention-al way—fi rst by explaining their con-struction, then by showing where they fall on three adjacent strings in root po-sition and inversions—he also uses some less common approaches. “To really nail the concept of triad construction and diatonic chord families, I sometimes di-vide the class into three groups, with each starting on a different note of a C chord and then playing the next highest natural note for the chords D minor, E minor, and so on,” he says.

Using Eckels’ approach, students not only get a fi rm grasp of theory, but they also become intimately acquainted with the guitar’s fretboard, allowing for greater f luency when it comes to all things musical. —Adam Perlmutter

STRINGSThe Importance of Listening in Orchestra Class

Katherine Sinsabaugh, an orchestra teacher in the Mamaroneck Union Free School District of Mamaroneck, New York, has been pushing boundaries both inside and outside the classroom. During the past school year, her technique of playing recorded music in her fourth- and fi fth-grade orchestra class blossomed into a schoolwide initiative that involved her playing classical music during morn-ing announcements on a weekly basis.

Sinsabaugh’s classroom procedure is simple: “I use an MP3 player to listen to music for fi ve minutes once a month in class.” Afterward, students discuss the music. “I also have students fi ll out a lis-tening sheet. It’s not only technical but also historically based. I ask what they think of the music and why.”

Because Sinsabaugh’s students are not simply passively absorbing the music, they feel that their opinions matter. “My

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students love the opportunity to hear music,” she reports. “They seem to value that they can discuss and write about what they hear. I get to know and under-stand their musical preferences, which helps me select music to play.”

Sinsabaugh, who is also an adjunct faculty member at Columbia Universi-ty’s Teachers College, states that stu-dents’ development of listening skills is crucial to their ability to play: “Think about language acquisition. We learn to communicate from the time we are spo-ken to as babies. Listening to music is exactly the same. In addition, as a stu-dent works on interpretation, it’s im-portant to listen to any available recording so that he or she makes his or her own choices. Too often, more ad-vanced students mimic one player.”

Over the years, Sinsabaugh has amassed quite a repertoire of pieces for modeling specific string techniques and skills. For teaching double stops, she plays Bach’s “Chaconne” and the Allegro moderato movement of Tchaikovsky’s Vio-lin Concerto. Trills are demonstrated us-ing Tartini’s “Devil’s Trill” Sonata and The Art of Bowing. Legato is taught with Albinioni’s Adagio in G Minor and Mass-enet’s “Meditation” from Thaïs. For stopped bow strokes, Sinsabaugh uses the orchestral opening of Vivaldi’s “Winter” and the last movement of Mozart’s Violin

Concerto No. 4. There are a plethora of pieces for demonstrating pizzicato, but two that Sinsabaugh recommends are the second movement of Bruckner’s Sym-phony No. 9 and the Andante cantabile of Haydn’s String Quartet in F. The Prelu-dium to J.S. Bach’s Partita No. 3 is useful for string crossings, as is the Prelude to Bach’s Suite No. 1 in G Major for string crossings with slurs. And, of course, this list is always growing and changing, ac-cording to feedback she receives from her students.

Sinsabaugh notes that her technique

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use to guide the student?Most middle and high school percus-

sionists that you come into contact with will be “hardened” readers, meaning that they read exactly what’s written on their scores. This is the result of years of following a conductor in band and/or orchestra. But when playing in a jazz en-semble, a drummer is the conductor; he or she takes the lead for the band to fol-low while interpreting rhythms, dynam-ics, phrasing, and articulation markings. In order for a student to make this tran-sition smoothly, immersion through lis-tening to jazz recordings is essential. As an educator, understanding what your students are already listening to can help you determine which musical direction they need to move in.

“Encourage your students to keep a listening journal,” suggests Michael Yon-chak, director of athletic bands and as-sistant professor of instrumental music education at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. “Consider open dis-cussions on why a band has a certain sound, or perhaps why some drummers use a more aggressive or passive approach than others. This is by no means a short-term solution, but rather a long-term ap-proach to developing informed listeners throughout the course of an academic year.”

Some big-band recordings that should be on every jazz percussion student’s playlist include Count Basie’s Live at the Sands with drummer Sonny Payne, Woody Herman’s Woody Herman-1963 with drummer Jake Hanna, and Swingin’ New Big Band by the incomparable Buddy Rich. Should you choose to explore these recordings in class, some areas of focus can include the ensemble’s time feel and groove, which are sparked by the drum-mer and his/her relationship to the rest of the rhythm section. Also point out how “in sync” the drummer and lead trumpet player are, and how both musi-cians articulate ensemble fi gures togeth-er as they lead the band’s phrasing and dynamics.

To accelerate the jazz maturity pro-cess, insist that your students practice not only to recordings, but also with a metronome. This experience will allow them to be a more confi dent reference point for the ensemble. “Jazz drumming fl ips the emphasis of the pulse almost ex-clusively to two and four, as well as changing the textural color of the time

of bringing listening and commentary into the classroom is particularly mean-ingful in today’s culture: “In the past, classical music was a part of the home environment. Nowadays, many students and their parents have sadly often not been exposed to an instrumental music experience. So this work provides an op-portunity to share the joy of music with parents, too.” —Cynthia Darling

PERCUSSIONJazz Drumming Instruction for the Non-Percussionist

This month’s column is for educators who direct a school jazz ensemble but do not play the drum set. How can you ef-fectively get your points across to a young drummer, and what language should you

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by focusing on the drive of the ride cym-bal and the clean ‘chick’ of the hi-hat,” Yonchak says. “The core concept is blending—there can still be a sense of driving, but the drummer subtly impos-es his/her will upon the ensemble as op-posed to an all-out assault in terms of volume in order to be heard.”

If you feel too overwhelmed to pro-vide such specialized instruction, try consulting drummers in your area who have jazz performance and teaching ex-perience. Doing so can have a lasting im-pact on your budding jazz drummers. —Steve Fidyk

chorus and vocal

Harmony Trouble with Young Male SingersIt’s not uncommon for boys to have a more difficult time than girls at holding their own on a harmony line. But how can choral directors help tenors and bass-es to latch onto their lines and sing them successfully in a mixed group?

First, let’s look at one reason why this problem exists. “What I have experi-enced is that you get more time with the girls,” says Stacie Blackmore, director of choirs at the Cozad Community Schools in Cozad, Nebraska, as well as a member of the Nebraska Choral Directors Asso-ciation and editor of their publication Short Notes. “Statistically in my own classes, the girls start in choir sooner. Another issue I can see in my own pro-gram is training. I teach in a small school setting. We have around 320 high school students. What I have is a beginning girls’ group and an auditioned mixed

group. What this really amounts to is a fairly experienced group of girls in the auditioned group and every boy I can get in the auditioned group. So the girls typ-ically have one to two years of training in bel canto, and the boys join as fresh-men or later in high school, with a huge gap in training.”

There are a number of ways to bridge this gap and improve boys’ pitch-match-ing skills in general. Moving the boys closer to the piano is a good start. “With the boys at the piano, the girls can’t re-ally hear what’s going on, especially if

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workshop... continued


they are humming or ‘oo’-ing. Then you can work with the boys together,” Black-more says. If you have at least one boy who is successfully singing his harmony line, you can use that to your advantage as well: “Ask that boy to sing alone, add-ing voices sequentially. Then when you have a boy who is struggling, try to get him between two good ears. It won’t be an immediate fix, but it will be good training.”

Another angle that may work with your group is to change the seating ar-

rangement, even if only temporarily. “I got a great suggestion a couple of years ago that worked wonderfully in my high school group,” Blackmore says. “The suggestion was to separate your boys. We rehearsed TSAB, tenors and basses on the outside and ladies on the inside. With the men separated, they aren’t ‘pulled’ to another part.”

One-on-one or small-group rehears-als can help as well. “Working with your boys in small groups is so beneficial,” Blackmore says. “If you can do this with-out girls in the room, you will get a lot more accomplished. I have the luxury of being able to have an entire section come on the opposite day of choir to rehearse parts. Sometimes 10 minutes is enough to clarify a challenging section. I have found that if I am willing to let kids out for band sectionals, I get kids back for choir sectionals.”—Susan Poliniak P

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nafme.org 57

KKids love to play. Kids learn through play. A savvy teacher will harness this energy to reach all of his or her curriculum’s goals—and that includes sight-reading. Ron Korbitz, a general music teacher starting his 13th year at Brookdale Elementary School in Naperville, Illinois, playfully employs the sound-to-sight philoso-phy for his sight-reading lessons.

“We start with a familiar song like ‘Wee Wil-ly Winkie,” says Korbitz, who begins sight-read-ing with first graders. “We would have performed the song early in the year without doing any read-ing, using instrumental accompaniments, etc. I then have the notation written on the board for them but no text. I guide the students through the solfège and see if they recognize the song. I love it when they suddenly realize what they’re singing. They get so excited it’s like watching them unwrap a present! We could then add the text so that students begin to understand the idea of meaning behind both music and text.”

Once the music begins to jump off the page,

more sight-reading games can come into play. “Base-ball” is a favorite.

“The class is divided into two ‘teams,’” Korbitz ex-plains. “The ‘pitcher’ [team] has one secret note pat-tern to play and the ‘catcher’ [team] has four cards with different patterns to choose from. The pitcher plays the pattern and the catcher guesses. If the catcher is correct on guess one, the team gets three points. If the catcher is incorrect on guess one, that’s a ‘strike’—the incorrect card is turned over and the same pattern is played again. If the second guess is correct, the team gets two points. If not, the second card is turned over for a third and final try. If correct on guess three, the team gets one point. If not, it’s a strikeout and the game moves on to the next players.”

For students in fourth or fifth grades, when pieces include syncopation, Korbitz—who also uses Myles Feltenberger’s book Mr. Everybody’s Musical Apartment beginning in second grade—adds a “syncopation hunt” to his bag of games. The students hunt through the music in their folders and identify the syncopated rhythm patterns.

Keeping the goal of sight-reading in mind and stay-ing several steps ahead of the students, Korbitz favors what he dubs “sneaky repetition” to allow for repeated exposure to sight-reading while avoiding student boredom and resistance. “Sneaky repeti-tion usually occurs over multiple lessons,” he says. “I will find sev-eral songs with similar melodic and/or rhythmic patterns, use

them over the course of a month or so, and wait for the ‘a-ha’ when someone finally says, ‘Hey, this section of the melody is just like the one from last week!’ Then I know they have it.”

In all cases, Korbitz makes sure to engage the ear first and the eye second. “‘Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge’ and ‘F-A-C-E’ are completely meaningless unless one has a sonic context for those things,” he says. “I also think that we some-times try to do too much too fast. If one gives students multiple opportunities in a variety of settings to learn something, they will be more successful and comprehend things better. I love Anthony Robbins’ philosophy: ‘Repetition is the mother of skill.’”

Ron Korbitz works on sight-reading a round

with his students.

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Getting Beyond “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge”Sight-reading instruction for younger children can be both informative and fun n By PatiEncE MoorE

“I love it when they suddenly realize what

they’re singing. They get so

excited it’s like watching them

unwrap a present!”

stageselementaryelementary

16_StagesEle.indd 1 9/13/11 9:53:49 AM


YYes, even directors of musical ensembles have bad habits. But it’s not too late to break them, according to John Ginocchio, associ-ate professor of music and director of bands at Southwest Min-nesota State University. “I first got thinking about this topic when I was working on my doctorate,” he recalls. “My conducting teachers were pointing things out that, at one time, I’m sure I made a conscious decision to do but then found out were wrong.”

Ginocchio has since put together a presentation based on many of those observations, as well as his own findings from five years of teaching college and visiting bands (and band direc-tors) in other areas. One particularly common problem he’s seen has to do with indicating rhythmic subdivisions: “It’s when conductors get this jerky motion and they’re showing not only the downbeats but the upbeats as well. That’s something that I still catch myself doing after 10 years, and I have to remind my-self not to do it. Originally, I thought that if I showed all these subdivisions, I would help my students realize where the subdi-visions are. Then they would feel more comfortable and be able to play them better. It doesn’t work.”

The reason? Lack of clarity. “If you add all that extra move-ment,” Ginocchio explains, “it becomes harder to read the pat-tern and understand what the conductor is doing. It also makes it impossible for the conductor to keep a steady tempo. And, from the education point of view, when we try to give too much, our students become dependent on that subdivid-ing motion. Then we’re taking away the opportunity for them to learn how to subdivide for themselves.”

When Ginocchio works with di-rectors who are trying to break the subdivision habit, he suggests “treat-ing the beat like it’s a hot stove, pull-ing away and letting the hand just rise and fall. That usually takes some practice.” He also recommends the exercises in Elizabeth Green’s book The Modern Conductor.

Ginocchio emphasizes that a director’s job is to help students develop as musicians. “Why do we conduct rhythms?” he asks. “Is it because we’re concerned that our students won’t play them properly? If it’s necessary to constantly tell our ensemble ex-

actly what they have to do, we’re probably not doing a very good job to begin with. One of the things I tell my students is, ‘If I do my job right as a conductor, you shouldn’t need me.’”

To that effect, he urges conductors to get off the podium af-ter students have played a piece for a week or two and see if the students can work without direction. “Often they can,” he says, “and it’s a humbling moment when we realize that. Then we can move to the next level, to figure out what they really need.”

Movement is an essential part of conducting—but

not too much movement.

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stagessecondarysecondary

Ensemble Directors’ Worst Habits Can Be BrokenImproving your conducting practices will go a long way toward fostering student development n By DEBBiE GalantE BloCk

“One of the things I tell my students is, ‘If I do my job right as a conductor,

you shouldn’t need me.’”

17_StagesSec.indd 1 9/13/11 9:56:52 AM

Nominate Your Students for the 2012 NAfME All-National Honor Ensembles

Featured Conductors: All-National Honor Band: Daniel Bukvich• , M.M. Lionel Hampton School of Music, University of IdahoAll-National Honor Orchestra: David Becker• , Director of Orchestral Studies and Conductor of the Symphony and Opera Orchestras at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in WisconsinAll-National Honor Mixed Choir: Sandra Snow• , Michigan State University College of Music, Conductor of the Michigan State University Women’s Chamber EnsembleAll-National Honor Jazz Ensemble: Terrell Stafford• , Professor of Jazz, Director of Jazz Studies, and Chair of Instrumental Studies at Temple University

Nominations accepted through October 14, 2011. For more information, visit www.nafme.org.

Outstanding student musicians from throughout the country will be featured in Band, Mixed Choir, Orchestra, and Jazz Ensemble with a final performance at the

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The conference has a special focus on research in music education and on music teacher education. It is aimed at music education researchers, music teacher educators, college students, and PreK–12 teachers interested in the cutting edge research and pedagogical innovations that will shape the future of the profession.

www.nafme.org

March 28-31, 2012 St. Louis, Missouri

_TM_AD_Temp.indd 1 9/6/11 3:01:08 PM


Ifor instance, to break down administration into four basic cat-egories: 1) equipment, 2) personnel, 3) fi nances, 4) planning. How many of these things actually require a degree in music? Chances are someone else—perhaps a parent—can help with these tasks, but you may not realize that until you’ve broken it down in this way. You have to organize before you can dele-

gate. And even if delegation is impos-sible, just listing all the duties can be a big help.”

Although Robblee and Taylor’s pre-sentation was designed for preservice music teachers, many experienced ed-ucators have seen it too. “The biggest surprise,” Robblee comments, “is that

their responses are so often the same as the students’ responses. I’ve even had one or two 25-year vets say, ‘Nobody ever told me this before!’ Looking back at my own training and the path I took to become a middle school band director, I get frustrated at how fragmented the job can get. It’s work to reconnect the practical, the artistic, and the organizational. Anything that can help bring them back together is useful.” P

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The Threefold Path of Music EducationPreservice teachers must learn to balance the roles of educator, artist, and administrator ■ BY MAC RANDALL

stagescollegiatecollegiate

It’s a vexing trend in the music educa-tion world: Young, idealistic teachers enter the profession hoping to make a difference, but within a few years they’re gone. What happens? Timothy Robblee, associate director of bands at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, believes that a big part of the problem is lack of balance. “Music edu-cators need to perform well in three main roles—the artist, the teacher, and the administrator—if they’re go-ing to be successful,” he says. “Many do well in one or two of these roles, but balance is critical. Someone who’s a success as an artist but a failure as an administrator is defi nitely in danger of leaving the profession. On the other hand, those who invest excess time in administration risk losing connection with what inspired them to get into music in the fi rst place.”

With this in mind, Robblee and colleague Robert Taylor, di-rector of bands at the University of British Columbia in Vancou-ver, developed a college course that eventually turned into a presentation called “The Three Hats of the Music Educator.” Robblee and Taylor have spoken at various music education con-ferences across North America, with more scheduled in the coming year. Their presentation begins by taking a “skill inventory.” A handout sheet lists skills in various categories, from fi ngering to fundraising, and asks participants to rank their strength in each one. The fi nal numbers are then av-eraged out for the room as a whole.

“Each item on the sheet is connected to one of the ‘hats’ of the music educator,” Robblee says. “At this point, we highlight areas to consider. It’s important to start where people are strongest and use those strengths to build up weaknesses.”

Not surprisingly, the administrative role tends to be more overwhelming for students: “A common problem is thinking of the job in terms of 574 duties rather than just a few. So try,

“A common problem is thinking of the job in

terms of 574 duties rather than just a few.”

18_StagesCol.indd 1 9/15/11 10:22:56 AM

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resources


ScorchBy Avid (2011, $4.99). This app transforms your iPad into an interactive music stand, score library, and sheet music store. Its notation engine can take original compositions or purchased scores and adapt them to other instruments through transposition, while its “Music Stand” mode makes reading those scores easy in rehearsal or perfor-mance. Avid, sibelius.com.

iRig MicBy IK Multimedia ($59.99). Designed for iPhone,

iPod Touch, and iPad, this handheld condenser vocal microphone (with accompanying app) allows profession-al audio recordings to be made anywhere. Ideal for singers and songwriters on the move, it can also be used for recording speeches or other sound sources. The mic works in either close or long-distance condi-tions and mounts on any stand; the app works with many other audio processing applications for the iOS platform. IK Multimedia, ikmultimedia.com.

Accessories

Chordelia: Seventh Heaven By Easy Ear Training (2011, $5.99). Quick, what’s the difference between C7, Cmaj7, Cm7, and Cdim7? This app for the iPhone and iPod Touch teaches users to identify all types of seventh chords by ear, whether they’re played one note at a time or all together, and no matter which inversion of the given chord is used. It starts with the basics, explaining how sevenths are constructed and how they differ from triads. Ten lessons demonstrate the seven core types of seventh chord, fi rst comparing them with triads and then comparing them with each other, making for a helpful primer on chord structure. Easy Ear Training, easyeartraining.com.

Apps

Send all media for consideration with photos to “Resources,” 582 N. Broadway, White Plains, NY 10603.

My Name Is HandelBy the London Philharmonic Orchestra (6 tracks, 49 min., $16.98). In 1717, George Frideric Handel composed Water Music, hired a boat, put 50 musicians on it, and headed down the River Thames to surprise King George I. On this CD, a mix of music and narration helps convey the classic tale behind one of Handel’s best-known pieces. A 24-page activity book is also included. Maestro Classics, maestroclassics.com.

CDs

19_Resources.indd 1 9/15/11 11:01:30 AM

books, continued ...

Quaver’s Wonderful World of MusicBy Quaver Music (15-disc boxed set with lesson plans and special website access, $995; discs are also available in four separate sets ranging from $129.95-$535.95). The purpose of this classroom DVD series is to supplement an elementary music curriculum. The full boxed set features 30 half-hour epi-sodes that employ a combi-nation of animation and live action. Each episode covers an essential musical element, following the National Stan-dards. A full-color teacher guide accompanies each episode. Teach-ers also receive access to Quaver’s online class-rooms, which offer several music creation tools. Quaver Music, quavermusic.com.

DVDsBooks

For the Love of Music: The Remarkable Story of Maria Anna MozartBy Elizabeth Rusch, Steve Johnson, and Lou Fancher (2011, hardcover, 32 pp., $16.99). Like her youngerbrother Wolfgang, Maria Anna Mozart—nicknamed “Nannerl”—was a musical prodigy. By age 12, she was considered one of the fi nest pianists in Europe. As children, brother and sister traveled around the continent, playing before royalty. But as they grew older, Wolfgang was encouraged to pursue his musical ambitions, while Maria was told to stop performing and marry. This skillfully illustrated book tells her story, for ages 5 to 8. Tricycle Press, random house.com/crown/tricycle.

Musical Children: Engaging Children in Musical Experiences

By Carolynn A. Lindeman (2011, paperback, 264 pp., $48.20). This book focuses on the role music plays in preschoolers’ and kindergarteners’ lives. Lindeman, a professor of music at San Francisco State University and past president of NAfME, pres-ents 25 strategies for engag-ing young students. In-cludes reproducible activity charts, 40 notated melodies, a chant collection, and resource materials for new teachers to reference. Pren-tice Hall, prenhall.com.

Your Sound Onstage By Emile Menasché (2011, paperback with CD-ROM, 256 pp., $29.99). Aimed at young musicians and their teachers, this book discusses sound rein-forcement approaches for singer/songwriters, vocal ensembles, small and large bands, marching musicians, and orchestras. Chapters cover essential gear, stage plot drawing, live recording, and work-ing with professional sound people. The accompanying CD-ROM includes behind-the-scenes videos of a live soundcheck and software demos. In Tune Partners, intunemonthly.com.

Beethoven for KidsBy Helen Bauer (2011, paperback, 144 pp., $16.95). In this book, the life and work of Beethoven is made relevant to students age nine and up. Musical concepts like counterpoint and improvisation are also explained. Twenty-one activities run the gamut from building a thumb piano to cooking Austrian-style apple pancakes. Chicago Review Press, chicagoreviewpress.com.

nafme.org 63

Emile D. MenaschéEmile D. Menasché

Your Sound onStage

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Cover design: Jackie JordanCover photo: Digital Vision/ThinkstockBackground: Hemera/ThinkstockAuthor photo: Monica Zane

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resourcesTargeting: Improvisation with Purpose By Jason Klobnak (2011, paperback, 58 pp., $16.50). When musicians improvise, it helps to have some idea of where they’re going, and one method of doing this is by establishing “target” notes or phrases. The goal of this book is to show the many ways players can engage in creative target-ing. Each chapter looks at common musical devic-es—particularly scalar and digital pat-terns—that can help create a more effective improvisation. Jason Klobnak, jasonklobnak .digitalcontentcenter.com.

The Music Performance Library By Russ Girsberger and Laurie Lake (2011, paperback, 208 pp., $29.95). If you lead an ensem-ble, you either have a music library already or you need one. This book examines a music librarian’s responsibili-ties and offers tips on how to locate and choose editions, purchase and rent music, catalog new works, store and

preserve music, prepare music for performance, mark bowings, correct errata, distribute and collect parts, and communi-cate effi ciently. It’s a valuable resource for

directors and performers alike. Meredith Music, meredithmusic.com.


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EEd Harkless, choir director for Cabell Midland High School in Ona, West Vir-ginia, celebrated his 25th wedding an-niversary in 2005 by taking his wife to Ireland. “I realized it was the perfect venue for a choir trip,” he says now. “English-speaking, beautiful country, castles everywhere. My ensemble is a costumed madrigal-style group—we present our Christmas Madrigal Dinner each December to the community—and this was our opportunity to visit medieval castles and cathedrals so my students could experience the kind of venues that our music was originally written for.”

And so, in 2006, the Emerald Isle be-came the destination for the Cabell Mid-land choir’s annual spring trip. It was the fi rst time that the group had traveled outside the United States, and it was

tured performances at Dublin’s Christchurch Cathedral, St. Mary’s Ca-thedral in Killarney, and a medieval feast in Bunratty Castle. Sightseeing took up the rest of the time, and what sights they were—highlights included Blarney Cas-tle, the Rock of Cashel, the Ring of Ker-ry, the Cliffs of Moher, and the picturesque town of Waterville in Coun-ty Kerry, best known as Charlie Chap-lin’s favorite vacation spot. Along the way, the 39-member group made an amusing discovery: One of the families on the tour is related to the Irish family that built Ross Castle in Killarney.

Harkless calls this latest sojourn “a horizon-broadening experience. And performing in venues that are hundreds and thousands of years old is simply awe-some! Many of my travelers want to re-turn as soon as possible.”—Mac Randall

going places

Emerald Isle MadrigalsWest Virginia choir discovers living history in Ireland

such a success that Harkless decided to take his students again in 2011. Working with US Tours in Parkerburg, West Vir-ginia, and CIE Tours in Ireland, he came up with an itinerary that included two nights in Dublin, two nights in Killar-ney, and one night in Bunratty.

Fundraising for the journey was ex-tensive and involved fruit sales, pancake breakfasts, and website donations. “We used our site [cmhscollegiummusicum .org] and PayPal to generate funds from donors as well as give travelers more op-tions for payment of the trip,” Harkless explains. “I set it up so that relatives and friends could donate and either specify a particular traveler or the group as a whole. We had wonderful support from individuals and businesses in our com-munity and across the country.”

Lasting from April 9-15, the trip fea-

going places

Emerald Isle Madrigals

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The Cabell Midland High School choir poses with the statue of Charlie Chaplin

in Waterville and (inset) performs in costume at Bunratty Castle.

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