Let the Children

Play!Session 4

Drip, Drip, Drip

Short Term Goals:

Week to Week

Long Term Goals:

Seasonal

Short Term:•Private/Small Group Session

Short Term: •Sample Practice Chart

Short Term: •Practice Journal

•Ensemble Experience

Short Term:

Long Term:•MAP Progress

Report

Long Term:•Solo Work/Recital

Long Term:•Scholarship/Award

Magnets• Success• Standards• Friendship•Consistency

Why teach beginner brass, drums, piano, and guitar?

Why teach beginner brass, drums, piano, and guitar?

12 Suggestions for Giving a

Beginner Brass Lesson Buzzing (a tune or a rhythm pattern)

• Establishes embouchure• Improves endurance• “Wakes up” the ear, the air, and the brain

Suggested sequence for beginning a new song/exercise – have students:

• Clap or count rhythm

12 Suggestions for Giving a

Beginner Brass Lesson

• Speak note names in rhythm• Sing note names in rhythm• Sing note names in rhythm while performing

fingerings on the instrument • Occasionally students may have a

demonstration from the teacher• Play through with teacher• Play through without teacher

12 Suggestions for Giving a

Beginner Brass Lesson

Play in intervals (alternate playing with rhythm exercises or singing)

• Rhythm• Clapping, stomping, mouthpiece buzzing, rhythm

sticks, etc.• Counting• Identifying demonstrated rhythms

• Sing through an exercise (on solfege or note names

12 Suggestions for Giving a

Beginner Brass Lesson

• Teacher demonstration with student evaluation – examples:• “Were my half notes longer or shorter than my quarter

notes?”• “How many slurs did I play?”• “In which measure did I play staccato?”

Don’t be afraid to spend a good amount of time on one exercise• Reinforcement is important

12 Suggestions for Giving a

Beginner Brass Lesson

• The more time a student spends on an exercise, the more comfortable he or she will be with it; it gives the student a chance to improve.

Don’t be afraid to move on … you can always go back later.• Keep things fresh and interesting• Challenges the student

12 Suggestions for Giving a

Beginner Brass Lesson Have your instrument handy!

• Balance of telling and showing (most students can imitate a sound or technique better than they can produce it from verbal instruction alone)

Teach students how to practice … imitate this in the lesson.• Identify tough spots in the music.

12 Suggestions for Giving a

Beginner Brass Lesson

• Ask the student what the objective is of each exercise and work to achieve that.

Patience / Consistency• If a student is having a problem with something,

don’t give up on it quickly or find another way to teach it right away … give the student time first.

12 Suggestions for Giving a

Beginner Brass Lesson

Attitude / Correct “Address”• Many people closely associate themselves with

their art (most times unknowingly), so give sensitive instruction and verbal evaluation, as if students are the music they are playing.

• Be aware of the lasting effects of words, facial expressions, tones of voice

• Give praise only where it is due, but always, always encourage

12 Suggestions for Giving a

Beginner Brass Lesson

Ask questions• The more involved a student is, the more he/she

will remember from the last lesson Be on time! (Better yet, be early)

• If you care about the lesson, so will they. End the lesson with something students can

play well so that they walk away feeling good!

Thanks to Ronda Jackson for these suggestions!

Steps to Building Your Corps Music

Program1. Recruit and assess students2. Ready equipment and music

Steps to Building Your Corps Music

Program1. Recruit and assess students2. Ready equipment and music3. Scheduling

Sample Rotation Scheme

Steps to Building Your Corps Music

Program1. Recruit and assess students2. Ready equipment and music3. Scheduling4. Locate instructors5. Student expectations

Sample Contract

Steps to Building a Brass Program

1. Recruit and assess students2. Ready equipment and music3. Scheduling4. Locate instructors5. Student expectations6. Teacher expectations

Ephesians 3:20“Now glory be to God, who by His mighty power at work within us, is able to do far more than we

would ever dare to ask or even dream of infinitely beyond our highest prayers, our

highest desires, our highest thoughts, or our highest hopes.”