Surprise interview! Here we go

So unfortunately, due to a family emergency I was not able to attend my final exam in which we were conducting oral interviews. Some of the questions included...

How will you incorporate technology into your classroom?

The way I look at it is this. If in this day and age we are not including at least some for of technology into our classrooms, we are doing our children a disservice. Depending on the class, I would use different tools. For a general music class, I would love to be able to implement the use of iPads to create different songs either individually if the availability of iPads is there or in collaborative groups where each person is able to contribute to the final product. Through the use of apps such as Garage Band, the students can have little to no musical experience with instruments or voice and produce multi-faceted pieces of music. I remember the first time that I was able to use the software, I wasn't sure at first how to use it. After playing around with it for a few minutes and realizing what tools did what, I was able to work with my group and create a song with a rhythm section, a harmony voice, a bass voice, as well as incorporate a recorded vocal track.

A tool like this can be a wonderful way to expand each student's understanding of musical genres in a general music classroom. By defining certain criteria, we as educators are able to first explain what a style of music is (like bossa nova, swing, romantic period classical, etc.) and then give our students the opportunity to learn in groups by creating their own piece of music in the style of the teacher's choice.

With a concert band, it can be a little more interesting in implementing technology. Sure there is the use of youtube and recordings that the band can listen to, but how can we get them more involved with other technology? A few ways are that they can use the program called Smart Music to assist them in their practice routines. By using this, they are able to track their progress as well as work at their own pace and see in realtime the accuracy of their playing. Other technology uses can come from collaborative groups. For example, a teacher can assign groups to create their own piece of music. By providing the students with a few boundaries, (like the style, meter, and THEME) the groups are able to compose their own music. Part of the project can be that implementation of music writing software like Sibelius, Finale, or the new iPad app called NotateMe. In this way, the students are gaining real life composing experience, collaborating, evaluating, producing, and performing.

What is your favorite concept to teach?

I think that my favorite concept to teach is the use of balance and blend to create different "personalities" throughout the ensemble.

Just by adjusting the volumes of different instruments in a certain chord, a piece of music can take on a whole new character. I think it is important for my students to understand this concept because with the right blend, a piece can bring a individual to tears because of the emotion that it brings out. On the other hand, with the wrong balance, the listener could be confused as to what is happening. Take Adagio for Strings, for example, if the piece is played with a "heavy bass voice" balance where the deep, dark, resonant tones are brought out, the piece can take on a much fuller and richer character that is somber yet full of depth. On the other hand, you can offset that same balance by bringing out the higher voices and creating a much brighter texture.

By understanding the way that different voices sound in a certain context, the students are able to make much more thoughtful and intelligent musical choices that will make them much more mature musicians in the long run.

Please feel free to comment on what you think of this.
I apologize that I could not make it to class today.

We worked so hard...but no one comes to appreciate our hard work!

Somehow, this always seems to be a struggle for music directors. We put in hours upon hours of work, only to see a dismal showing of an audience for the concert. How can we fix this?

Here's my take on a few different ways.

The first thing to look at is are you advertising the concert?

Yes: That's a good start, but maybe you can do more. Try involving the art department to make posters, involve some of your students that have an art background to make posters, have small choirs sing invitations at lunch time, have small jazz trios or quartets play at lunch and make announcements, invite either the middle school or elementary school to come check it out free of charge (what a great way to recruit too!). The list goes on and on but these are some of the ideas I have.
No: Start advertising now! ...and see the above ideas...

Do you have a bunch of small chamber concerts or a few big ones?

This is one that you can experiment with. If you have a bunch of small group, short concerts with either just choir or just band, maybe you can combine them so you have the friends and families of each of the ensembles. This could in theory, if the ensembles are the same size, double your audience. On the other side of it, if you do just large concerts, maybe you could try doing smaller showcases. It would allow each group to play more pieces and at the same time, it may draw more people because its music they want to listen to instead of music they have to listen to.

Invite guest artists or soloists

I've seen a few schools invite in guest groups to play a concert with jazz ensembles. The high school ensemble would go on stage first and play their set list. Then, a jazz group like Tower of Power would come out in the second half and play a concert. After all of that, the high school ensemble was able to get on stage and perform with Tower of Power. What a great experience for not only your students for the chance to play with such an iconic group, but also a way to draw more people from the area who may not have attended otherwise. It's also a great way to expose a group other than a marching band to the town so they can appreciate all the hard work that you put in as an ensemble.

Do a combination art show and chamber concert.

Team up with the art department at your school and plan an event. If you use a multitude of rooms in the school, you can have different "galleries" open at different times of the night. In each gallery, have a different small ensemble or choir performing. This could be barbershop groups, jazz choirs, a cappella choir, jazz trios, brass quintets, woodwind quintets, etc. By staggering the times that galleries are open, it will ensure that individuals pay closer attention to not only the artwork in each gallery, but the group that is performing as well.

These are just some of my thoughts as to how we can improve our audiences and provide our children with a better experience. Please feel free to let me know if you have tried anything like this and what was the end result.

Man, I love music...and performing. But how can I create that same love with my kids?

That can either be the easiest thing or the hardest thing in a music classroom. Everyone has a reason that they are in band. It is up to us to figure out why that is and find a way to love it.

Take the documentary "Chops" for example. This is a documentary that follows 3 schools around in their quest to reach the Essentially Ellington finals in New York at Jazz at Lincoln Center. After watching the film, I realized that these kids have such a true passion for the music they play and you can see that every note they play means something to them. We as directors need to find ways that we can get our students to feel the same way.

One way of doing this may be through jazz. Improvisation is all about what you feel when you are playing. You are telling your story to the world. There is no right and there is no wrong.

I think the best way to create a love for music and performing with our students is through exposure to different types of music. This can be done in a number of ways both in and out of the classroom. In the classroom, we can watch videos of various artists, listen to recordings, or better yet, have guest artists like the Funky Dawgz Brass band or Tower of Power come to the school and perform for the school as a whole.

Outside the school, there are countless opportunities for your groups to find what "makes them tick." As mentioned before, there is the Essentially Ellington jazz competition for traditional style jazz bands. Otherwise, each state has music festivals each spring for concert band, jazz band, and choirs. Outside of that, there are festivals held at larger venues like Six Flags, Washington D.C., or even Disney! These festivals give our students a chance to not only perform in front of audiences that are larger than they are used to, but they are also able to listen and appreciate the music that individuals their age from around the country are producing.

Let's say you already do festivals like this. What else can you do? What about tickets to see an opera at the Met, or take your students to go see a matinee showing of STOMP, Blue Man Group, Jazz at Lincoln Center, or the New York Phil. Day trips like these can be a great way to open your students' eyes and ears to different styles of music and possibly, like in the case of STOMP or Blue Man Group, encourage more students to try percussion instruments and create a percussion ensemble.

So, once again, how can I help to create the same love for music in my students that I have? Exposure.

Tempo in 10 minutes...GO!

It wasn't terrible, but I think it could have gone better.

What went well:

Overall, I feel like I more or less got my point across. My goal was to show my students that there is more than one way that we can identify the tempo of a piece of music. In addition to that, I wanted to begin to show my students the "tip of the iceberg" so to speak about the words used to describe tempo.

What I could improve on:

While they were scratching the surface of an understanding of tempo, I think I could have done more with it. At first, I wanted to lay a groundwork so my students had a comfortable knowledge of tempo before getting into any activities. Now, I see that I could have set up various stations with pieces of music and hands on activities. If I started like that and circulated to the small groups, I would be able to explain the tempo of that station, as well as provide a translation and further reinforce examples of that tempo. By doing instead of sitting and listening, my students will have a much stronger understanding of different tempos in the long run.

Mom? Can you send me more money? I ran out...

While I may not call my mom, I may want to.

The question of the century when a director asks for money to purchase new instruments..."Can you do a fundraiser for it?"

While no one likes to hear it, the question still remains. Should we rely on parents and fundraising to keep our music programs going?

Although I feel that part of the money can come from fundraising, I do not feel that all of it should. Yes I understand that parents are roped in there too, but think about it, they have already invested time and money into your son/daughter's musical experience. Whether it is buying music, instruments, lessons, paying for gas to get them to and from rehearsals, taking time off of work to chaperone a trip...you get where I'm going.

Back to the fundraising half...if you are running a music program in your school, I feel that funding for the essentials should come from your district. Although it may be tricky, you should not be relying on fundraising for everything. What it boils down to is the fact that there are some things that are necessary for a music program to not only survive, but provide our students with a good education. Let's look at a choir for example. If you were to go into a program as the new choir director and walked into an empty room, what is one of the first things you would think is missing? A PIANO!!! In this case, I do not think that the choir should be required to raise the money for the piano. This is a piece of equipment that is necessary for the group to learn and grow as musicians. I'm not saying that you need to go out and buy a Steinway Model D. I'm saying that you need something that is fully functional, that will last a long time, and is of high quality. If you are in a district that is tighter on money, look at some of the Yamaha electronic pianos. They are much less money, but at the same time, provide q quality sound with the feel of a true grand piano. If your district is willing to spend the extra money, invest in a baby grand that will last longer. Just remember that it is much more expensive.

How about band?

I personally would walk into that same empty room and say," where are the stands?" No, you don't need the best of the best, but you at least need something that the students can put their music on.

What should fundraising money go to?

I think one of the biggest, if the school doesn't want to pay for it, is marching band uniforms. These can get quite expensive because of the numbers that you need to order. If you consult with FJM or DeMoulin, you will realize that you could be spending upwards of $30,000! That's quite a big number to swallow. What you can do is talk with the district and ask if they will contribute a small amount and you will raise the rest. Even if it takes a few years to raise the money, the students will appreciate what they have done and feel a sense of ownership when they wear the uniforms.

Field trips.

While it would be ideal for a school to fly the whole band to Disney every other year, it's not realistic...it's the same thing as with uniforms. If you can get the district to fund a little bit of it because you are representing the town and what a great school system it is, GREAT. If not, well you need to raise the money. Once again, it gives the students a feeling of pride and ownership that they were able to raise the money so they can have the best experiences of their high school career. I can remember back to my senior year and even my sophomore year where we went on big trips. They were some of the best times of my high school career and all I can do is look back and see how hard we worked as a group to make it happen.

So what's my point?

My point is that I don't think that a music program should be surviving just off of fundraising and least of all parents (they're better for man power!). I believe that it is up to the district to provide the essentials to keep the program running. If there are other things that are desired, it is up to the director and the students to come up with a way to raise the money for them.

Does your music classroom have a flux capacitor? Mine does!

Well...not exactly...but that may be the route that we are taking.

We as music educators and musicians are fortunate to be in a time full of opportunities and an ever increasing advancement in technology. Back in the day (1919), Jazz de Luxe was the first musical performance to be recorded. Nowadays, we look at that and say, "man records are old fashioned." Back then, it was a whole different story. It was cutting edge!

Now it's time to jump in that Delorean, speed down the road until we hit 88 MPH and bam!

We have just arrived in 1964. You are outside a music store that is releasing a new song. It's called I Want to Hold Your Hand. But it's not on a record, it's on this new thing called an 8-track. Although people still collect and listen to records, the 8-track is all the rage. 

Too bad we don't have time to take the Delorean to one of those Beatles concerts right now. Oh well. Onward!

Bam! We pass by the cassette tapes in the 70's and 80's, cruise by the CD's in the 90's, and end up in 2014. Now we don't use CD's too much. Although they are still very common, it is much easier to pull up an MP3 or a file on the internet. 

But how does all of this change the way we look at music education?

Well for starters, we have the world of music literally at our fingers. Let's say you wanted to teach a unit on different music cultures because it's cultural awareness month at school. Before the internet, you would be limited to whatever you (or your colleagues) have for music. Now if I wanted to, I could show my students some African drumming music, a little Gospel, maybe a bit of traditional Japanese folk music. But it doesn't end there! I can even throw in some Latin/Cuban, a little steel drum from Trinidad and Tobago, the use of the frame drum in Arabic culture, or the current pop music. Whatever you feel "Happy" with. 

The craziest part about this is that it is only the tip of the iceberg. Along with the infamous Youtube, there are a variety of music notation softwares out there. There is Sibelius, Finale, Pro Tools in conjunction with the previous two, and a really cool new app. called Notate Me. Notate Me can be used on the iPhone, iPad, or android platforms. It is an interactive writing software that transcribes your handwritten notes into legible printed notes. I personally have used this quite a bit recently arranging things on my phone when I forgot my laptop. I think the best part of it is that I can write in what I was and then EXPORT IT to my laptop and further edit it in Sibelius. 

With the advancements in technology that are out there today (like the availability of iPads in the classroom), we have the ability to put apps like Notate Me to good use. We have the ability to provide our students with technology that they can write out their answers like they would on paper, but be able to play back and hear what they have written. After they are relatively satisfied, they can export it to Sibelius or Finale for teacher review and further editing. By sending it to Sibelius or Finale, there is no mistaking what note is what if a student has sloppy writing (like me!).

Although we aren't at the world of flux capacitors and time travel yet, the advancements in technology have put our students and ourselves at a serious advantage to becoming well rounded musicians with an understanding of a wide range of cultures. 

If you had to pick only 3 important traits/skills that a music teacher would possess, what would they be?

Man that sounds like such an easy question until you really dig into it. The first time that anyone asked me that, I felt like I knew it cold. If you were to ask me 5 years ago, I would say that they need to be a talented musician, have a passion for music, and be in charge of a large ensemble that plays really tricky music.

Now, after years of working with very talented teachers, and reading a few different books, I have changed my opinion. After reading Frank Battisti's book On Becoming a Conductor, and Peter Boonshaft's book Teaching Music with Purpose, I realized that it's not all about being a super talented musician yourself, or standing up in front of a huge ensemble.

Would those things be nice? Yeah, I guess they would be. But, only if they were getting the most out of their time with me and learning about the inner working of music as well as having fun. 

OK, enough dreaming. Battisti writes in numerous places (and I couldn't agree more) that one of the most important traits of a great music teacher is that they have a true passion for music.

Without a true passion for music, how are you going to be able to motivate your students to look at it the same way that you do. There needs to be an underlying drive that keeps not only you going on those long days, but also the kids. They need to understand why you think what you are going over is so important and realize that it is even more important for them.

Boonshaft talks about presuming excellence from our students. Awesome! But....there is something that is even more important that he covers. No matter what, we need to be able to see greatness in each and every one of our students. I'm not talking about saying great job to them when they play that really hard lick perfectly for the first, second, and third time in a row. I'm talking about seeing the greatness in their abilities in and out of band, but more importantly, in them as a person. If you can show your students that you truly care about them, it will be a much more enjoyable experience. 

The final trait I feel is important in any music educator works is kind of a morph of two. The ideal music teacher will have passion and the ability to see greatness, but where to go from there. There needs to be a vision and a commitment to reach that vision. By having a true passion for music and seeing the greatness in each and every one of their students, a great music educator will be able to see where they want not only their program to go, but what they want their students to achieve by the time that they leave them. While it sounds great, that same ideal educator needs to have the commitment to challenge their kids to reach the greatness he/she sees in them. 

So you ask me...what are the 3 important traits/skills that a music teacher needs to possess?

• A true passion for music and a need to share that passion with others
• The ability to see greatness in each and every one of their students. At all times.
• The vision/commitment (visimmitment) to see the greatness that their students can achieve and encourage them to want to reach it.