Final Lesson Reflection

For the second "at bat" I modified the lesson in a few ways.

I still wanted listening and diversity to be the central focus of the lesson.  This time, however, I made the diversity piece more subtle (but with equal impact).  In the 1st lesson I played recording of an pianist and then had the students guess their race/gender and then sketch what they think the musician looked like.  In the new lesson, I gave each student a packet containing pictures/profiles of a diverse group of pianists, then I randomly played a recording of each musician represented in the packet.  I asked the students to match the artist with the recording and hold up their choice for me to see.  I then revealed who the artist was and asked the students to answer the pre-written questions on that artist's page.

Overall, I felt that this lesson was more successful than the first.

1.  Student engagement seemed to be the biggest improvement.  When the packets were passed out everyone seemed to look through them with interest and curiosity.   As each recording was played, students were actively listening and formulating their responses.

2.  Elimination of the computer/smart board helped me narrow the classroom area down and keep the students more focused on the material and me.

3.  The lesson packet provided a tangible method for student response and improved assessment.  It also served as a jumping off point for future lessons on specific pianists.

4.  My goal was to make the students hungry for more info about the piano.  I think, if this class had been 9th grade general music, that would been an achievable goal.

With a few more tweaks this lesson could go in the tool bag.

"The Audience"

Why do we have performing ensembles? The answer is in the title.

The audience is the only true assessor of our work.  Not the principal, not the superintendent; it’s the audience.

There’s nothing I hate more than to go to a public concert and hear an experiment rather than a show, especially if it funded by my tax dollars.  If I want to hear that I’ll go to a college recital (and in my opinion that’s really not the best venue for it either).  

But we have student bands, so we’re allowed to experiment right?  We’re exempt from having to be entertaining right?  I mean, we have to buy every crappy new arrangement on JW Pepper so that we can mix it up and always have something fresh, right?  And we absolutely must play, at least once, Techeli’s 10 minute long “Blue Shades”.  Everyone knows that one, it’s an absolute crowd pleaser…right?  

My cynicism is routed in love.  I love the opportunity that our students have to perform for the public. They are the shiny beacon of music education advocacy.  But if we are not audience centric, we lose the audience.  Without the audience, we lose our advocates.

So, how do we build and keep an audience?

Here are some strategies that are used by U.S. military bands when programing for audiences around the world.

1. The audience comes first.  They’re the taxpayers and the voters.  Our yearning to play longer, faster, louder, darker, more complex, cutting edge, etc. is secondary to pleasing the audience.

2.  Look at every gig as a “commercial” gig:  You’re hired to play want the audience wants (popular/standards/nostalgic) and needs (national holiday or remembrance).

3.  When performing in the U.S., always start with the U.S. National Anthem (or play it after your intro song).  Not only is it the right thing to do;  the vast majority of regular concert goers, are patriotic citizens who appreciate a little “Americana” sprinkled in.

4.  No matter what ensemble is performing, It’s ALWAYS show business.  Whether it’s your flute duet, jazz band, or wind ensemble; you gotta sell it.

6.  Have a variety of music ready in case you miscalculated the demographic.  This may be hard to do with rehearsal time constraints.  This is were #9 comes in.

7.  If some songs aren’t presented…. you may be dead to the audience.  i.e. you’re doing a traditional big band concert at the Elks Club and you don’t play “In the Mood”.

8.  No concert, jazz, or rock band should be without a vocalist or two. Lack of vocals was one of the number one complaints during feedback surveys that I conducted.

9.  Brass Bands and rock/show bands can enhance (and maybe even save) your concert band/wind ensemble show.

10.  “Create-a-gig-at-school” audiences are usually small and primarily made up of insiders.  If you want to reach general audiences as well, try to perform at established concert venues during regularly scheduled events.  Why can’t school bands open for a local community band/symphony/jazz band or play on the town green during the art festival?  Some organizations may even want to make your band the main attraction at their event.  It’s a win-win.

No matter how you slice it, the audience is the key.  Make them clap, make them tap, make them happy!

Here are some good examples of audience centric programing:

U.S. Navy Band - Jersey Boys:

https://youtu.be/lXlHv1-YPxM

U.S. Navy Band - Thriller:

https://youtu.be/UQ_rY04d6uY

U.S. Navy Commodores - Grinch:

https://youtu.be/SYNGK8VVpDY

U.S. Navy Band - 12 Days of Christmas:

https://youtu.be/QOjrI8icSWg

U.S. Air Force Band - Smithsonian Flash Mob

https://youtu.be/-cKE8pyfcZc

U.S. Navy Cruisers - Wade on the Water

https://youtu.be/2sFjZrsgft8

U.S. Navy Band and Cruisers - I Feel Good:

https://youtu.be/pFMm00U_Olw

Navy Band Northeast Brass Band:

We used the brass band to attract the walk by traffic to Bryant Park for our wind ensemble concert.  It worked - we filled up the green with over 10,000 people (for an unadvertised show).

https://youtu.be/5zs6SOt2LKM

Navy Band Northeast’s top 40 band “Rhode Island Sound” - Shake It Off

https://youtu.be/LkiJNScBYVA

U.S. Naval Forces Europe Band - Edinburgh Military Tattoo (at 21:55)

We were asked to program theme songs to popular superhero and cartoon shows for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

https://youtu.be/bsbu4_A5BuU

Can I interest you in a box of apples?

Should modern school music programs have to rely on the financial support of parents and fundraisers? -a question likely asked every day, somewhere in the US.

My short answer is yes……But rather than feeling like they HAVE to, they should WANT to. Before everyone starts throwing knives; give me a few lines.

There is no doubt that states/districts/schools should fund music programs, at least as much as they fund sports programs, if not more.  I’ll defend that point until I’m dead.  If you are reading this, you don’t need me to convince you as to why.  I also don’t need to tell you how important it is for band directors to maintain control of the direction that their bands are headed.  They need to be behind the wheel, not the school.  But…..he/she who owns the car...drives the car, right?  So the district can steer the car (or at least feel like they do) for the regular classroom curriculum, etc., because they pay for that.  But when it’s time to take the car on a joy ride and do really cool things...they may put on the breaks.  This is where private funding comes in handy.

We’ve all been there, with our hats out or selling our wares.  It’s a headache to raise money, but the benefits far outway the costs.   We are not only earning money for our program; we are earning some independence from the purse of our programs true owner.  

The bottom line is: If we pay for a little maintainence and put some gas in the car once in awhile, we have some leverage on when, where, and how we drive it.

Technology in the Classroom

As Howard Hughes was portrayed to say:   https://youtu.be/aT_j36TYOX0

I am admittedly a tech geek and have been since the first Franklin computer came out in 1983:

I had one like this, connected to a mono-color monitor…..And I felt sooo innovative.  I would sit up late at night and type out poems and stories (yes at seven, I was weird).  A bit later I added a dot matrix printer and wow….I could print my masterpieces and show them to people!

Fast forward ten years:  I now had a commodore 64 that was way cooler with its 800k floppy drive…...which led to an amazing discovery. A floppy disc with some printable music on it!!

So I found a cool duet written in treble clef. I printed it out and then transposed it, by hand, into bass clef.  I took my new “composition” to school and to show it off.  I played the duet with a few fellow trombonists and started getting some great praise…..until a good friend and now Trumpet Professor, Travis Heath, pulled me aside and said, “You’re not a composer just because you transposed Bach’s Invention No. 8 from treble to bass clef.” - Oops.  This was the first time that I loved and hated technology, at the same time.

After plagiarizing Bach, I continued to mix technology and music.  From cool computer generated sounds and video game music soundtracks to live recording and composition programs, there was always something cool going on.  But I did this all from home.  There was no connection between my music/technology dabbling and my traditional music class.  There wasn’t really much relevance back then.  But now….the sky’s the limit.  The technology available to music educators today seems limitless, yet many school music departments remain as the last bastions of technology free zones. Why is that?  Is there no way to enhance rehearsals and performances with the use us technology? How about the tons of paper that we go through every year?  Or the forever lost originals? Can technology save a tree or two?

As schools (like mine) move to a 1:1 model with each student getting a chromebook or similar device, the possibilities become endless.  Students can use their devices as music readers,  tuners, metronomes, or even video record themselves practice or perform.  This is already the norm for many students outside of the classroom.  Inside the classroom, however, device integration is only trickling in.  Check out this article titled “The Paperless Music Classroom”:

The Paperless Music Classroom: EBSCOhost  

It gives some insight into hardware, software, costs, management, funding and the pros/cons of going almost completely paperless in the music classroom.

Although this may seem like a pipe dream in some school districts, you never know when money will be dropped in your lap.  Many schools are budgeting for 1:1 technology right now for the near future. It’s not too early to develop a technology implementation plan and have it at the ready.

Just be sure none of your students steal from Bach…...at least, not too much.

Piano Lesson Reflection

https://youtu.be/mVgshZ_x4IA

Blog Prompt #4

A rubric is like a recipe: a way to control and determine quality based on the author’s criteria.  

I love recipes!  The thought of making the perfect sauce; a near guarantee of accolades from my family and friends; the safety and comfort of following instructions……..low stress, high praise!  Right?  Isn’t that what life’s all about?

One could ask:

Is the sauce perfect or is it perfectly copied?  

Is it a masterpiece or simply another master’s piece?  

Are they proud of me……. or the recipe?

(put a little beat behind this, lol)

Maybe:

-I’ll focus less on the recipe and more on curiosity

   -less on the ink and more on my instinct

-Don’t limit my capacity with boxed-up words and scholastic-ese

-Trust me, I’ll comply…….just give me room to fly

I just had too:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xhpewgzbwptesem/Chris%20Rap.mov?dl=0

Hopefully this sums up my feelings on rubrics.  If not, well I guess I didn’t follow the rubric well enough…...

Should music educators be experts in jazz or American folk music?

Experts…..may be a stretch, but music educators should at least be competent in the subjects of jazz and American folk music.  They should definitely recognize the importance of these subjects and insure that students understand their significance in music history and their impact on the music of today.  

For aspiring performers, this exposure is critical.  There is more and more demand for the “commercial” player who can move through various styles with ease.  Someone who can play Souza in the morning, Coldplay in the afternoon, and Ellington in the evening.  I may be a bit bias about this but I think it’s for good reason.  I auditioned hundreds of musicians for the Navy Music Program and although many of them passed the audition, not all of those who passed were suitable for the rigors of professional music.  As Navy Band’s shrunk in size over the years, due to budget cuts, musical versatility became more important than ever.  A trumpet player couldn’t just be a good “legit” player; he/she had to jump from the wind ensemble or ceremonial band into the jazz or top 40 groups, and play just as well.  For me, as a trombonist, this was a daily reality:

0800 - Wind Ensemble rehearsal

0930 - Ceremonial Band gig

1230 - Jazz Band Rehearsal

1430 - Top 40 Band Rehearsal

1800 - Jazz Combo gig

This is the reality of more and more professional musicians: Cruise ships, “pops” ensembles, recording studios, community bands, etc, are all in need of versatile players.  Exposure to and performance of Jazz and American folk music at the grade school levels arms students with the tools needed in the competitive world of professional music.

This list from the "Get America Singing, Again" Campaign contains many songs that students should learn.  

Volume I 1. Amazing Grace 2. America (My Country, ‘Tis of Thee) 3. America the Beautiful 4. Battle Hymn of the Republic 5. Blue Skies 6. Danny Boy (Londonderry Air) 7. De colores 8. Do-Re-Mi 9. Down by the Riverside 10. Frere Jaques 11. Give my Regards to Broadway 12. God Bless America 13. God Bless the U.S.A. 14. Green, Green Grass of Home 15. Havah Nagilah 16. He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands 17. Home on the Range 18. I’ve Been Working on the Railroad 19. If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song) 20. Let There Be Peace on Earth 21. Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing 22. Michael (Row the Boat Ashore) 23. Dona Nobis Pachem 24. Music Alone Shall Live 25. My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean 26. Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ 27. Oh! Susanna 28. Over My Head 29. Puff the Magic Dragon 30. Rock-A-My Soul 31. Sakura 32. Shalom Chaverim 33. She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain 34. Shenandoah 35. Simple Gifts 36. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child 37. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot 38. This Land is Your Land 39. The Star Spangled Banner 40. Take Me Out to the Ball Game 41. This Little Light of Mine 42. Yesterday 43. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah

Volume II 1. All Through the Night (traditional) 2. Auld Lang Syne (traditional) 3. Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell) 4. Camptown Races (Stephen Foster) 5. Clementine (traditional) 6. Down In the Valley (traditional) 7. Edelweiss (Rodgers and Hammerstein) 8. Erie Canal (traditional) 9. Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit (traditional) 10. Five Hundred Miles (Hedy West) 11. Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd (traditional) 12. Getting to Know You (Rodgers and Hammerstein) 13. Guantanamera (Pete Seeger & Jose Marti) 14. I Love the Mountains (traditional) 15. I’ve Got Rhythm (George Gershwin) 16. Irene Goodnight (Huddie Ledbetter) 17. It’s a Small World (Shermans) 18. Jamaica Farewell (Irving Burgie) 19. Kum Ba Yah (traditional) 20. Let It Be (Lennon & McCartney) 21. Let Me Call You Sweetheart (traditional) 22. Make New Friends (traditional) 23. Midnight Special (Huddie Ledbetter) 24. My Favorite Things (Rodgers and Hammerstein) 25. Old MacDonald Had a Farm (traditional) 26. Over the Rainbow (Harold Arlen) 27. Peace Like a River (traditional) 28. Precious Lord (Thomas Dorsey) 29. Red River Valley (traditional) 30. Rock Around the Clock (Max Freedman & Jimmy DeKnight) 31. Side By Side (Harry Woods) 32. Take Me Home, Country Roads (John Denver/Bill Danoff/Taffy Danoff) 33. To Every Season (Turn! Turn! Turn!) (Pete Seeger) 34. Try to Remember (Harvey Schmidt & Tom Jones) 35. The Water Is Wide (traditional) 36. We Shall Overcome (Horton, Seeger, Carawan) 37. What a Wonderful World (Theile Weiss) 38. When Johnny Comes Marching Home (Patrick Gilmore) 39. When the Saints Go Marching In (traditional) 40. Where Have All the Flowers Gone (Pete Seeger) 41. Yankee Doodle (traditional) 42. You Are My Sunshine (Davis/Mitchell) 43. You Are the Sunshine of My Life (Stevie Wonder) 44. You’re a Grand Old Flag (George M. Cohan) 45. You’ve Got a Friend (Carole King)