nafme summer music music magaz… · 1069-7446), an ofﬁ cial magazine of the national association...

musicteaching JANUARY 2012 VOLUME 19, NUMBER 4music How

Ensemble Directors

KEEP THEIR STUDENTS

10 TIPS for Saving Your Voice

Video Recording

DOs AND DON’Ts

The National Anthem as

Teaching Tool

music NAfME Summer

Learning Academies at

MUSIC EDUCATION WEEK 2012 p. 23

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nafme.org 3

JANUARY 2012 ■ VOLUME 19, NUMBER 4

Features28 Voice Savers for Music Teachers Music education ranks high among the professions most commonly affected by voice problems, but it doesn’t have to be that way. A voice pathologist offers 10 tips for vocal health.

32 When They’re Very Young Kindergarten and the early grades establish a structure for music learning, but the foundation of that structure is laid well beforehand. We talked to several early childhood experts about what to emphasize during the preschool years. 40 Secrets of Retention So you’ve recruited enough students to make a great ensemble. Now how do you hold on to them and keep them interested in music through the many changes of middle and high school?

46 To Catch a Spark Jamestown, Rhode Island’s Teacher of the Year has been a dedicated music educator for nearly three decades, and she still thrives on the electric charge that learning carries in the air.

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An academically rigorous program

can help keep ensembles healthy.

An academically 40

Departments 8 Letters10 Upbeat The Concert for Music In Our Schools Month® is a school-wide experience in Elizabethtown, Kentucky ... Application and audition deadlines near for 2012 NAfME All-National Honor Ensembles ... The USAAAMB prepares for showtime ... Honoring NAfME’s 50-year members … A new online forum takes on teacher evaluation

10Debby Duda is getting everyone involved in the Concert for Music In Our Schools Month.

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

17 At Large A revised set of national arts standards is in the works.

18 Classrooms In rural Washington State, a music teacher alerts the media.

22 Advocacy Music advocates should talk more about process, a Carnegie Mellon professor argues.

24 Research Encouraging critical thinking in music class may be a boon.

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

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FEATURESFind resources for urban and rural music teachers

Download music for the 2012 Concert for Music In Our Schools Month®

Register for Music Education Week 2012 in Baltimore

BAND: Motivate Your Band to the Max and go from good to great.

CHORUS: Dispelling Middle School Myths sheds new light on this age-group.

FUTURE TEACHERS: Teaching is no easy business. Read the Confessions of a Failed Teacher.

GENERAL MUSIC: Tap into the Magic of Drumming includes a ready-to-use lesson plan.

HIGHER EDUCATION, ADMINISTRATION, AND RESEARCH: We Can Begin Again points out that teachers can start fresh every year.

JAZZ: Creating the Environment Every Day shows the benefi ts of empowering students to make decisions.

ORCHESTRA: Get some tips on Choosing Literature.

NEWS: Texas Couple Supports NAfME to increase music education opportunities for all children.

PLUS >> Check out videos from the Glee Give a Note Contest winners

26 Technology Video recording can do much to improve the focus of both music students and teachers.

50 Workshop Thoughts on teaching hip-hop appropriately ... Keeping students’ fl ute tone steady ... Time-effi cient ways of keeping a guitar class in tune ... Strategies for improving string players’ pitch … A primer on cymbals and gongs ... Methods of vocal testing for chorus members

57 Stages Elementary: Teaching with “The Star-Spangled Banner” Secondary: When everyone in the band wants to play drums Collegiate: Advanced degrees— what should they be in?

62 Resources New media and accessories for the music classroom

66 Going Places A trip to the Sugar Bowl is extra sweet for an Iowa band.

...continued

Videos of student performances are often useful tools for evaluation.

Singing our national anthem is both patriotic and educational.

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String players can use fi ngered notes to trigger ringing tones.

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The Magic of Drumming




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As a Performing Rights Organization, we understand the impact music educators have on the careers of young musicians. That’s why we’re proud to provide teachers everywhere with free classroom-ready educational materials that will prepare their students for a future in the music business. You’ve taught them how to create music, now teach them how to succeed in their music career! Visit sesac.com/edu

to receive these invaluable tools. It’s our way of saying thanks for all you do.

You know your music. We know the business.

Prepare them for launch

SESAC-21 TeachMusic_8.187x10.875_SESAC-21 TeachMusic_8.187x10.875 11/21/11 3:35 PM Page 1

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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, SteveFidyk, Patience Moore, Cathy Applefeld Olson, Adam Perlmutter, Susan Poliniak, Keith Powers, Matt Robinson

The National Association for Music Educa-tion is a voluntary, nonprofi t 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 offi cial magazine of the National Association for Music Education, is issued to members 6 times per year in August, October, November, January, Feb-ruary, and April at an annual subscription price of $10. Offi ce 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 issues 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 published 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 additional mailing offi ces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Teaching Music, 1806 Robert Fulton Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4348, U.S.A. Copyright ©2012 by the National Association for Music Education. Printed in the U.S.A. Teaching Music is available via electronic databases from most universities and libraries.

March 28-31, 2012, St. Louis, Missouri

2012 Biennial Music Educators

National Conference

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

Visit www.nafme.org to view sessions, clinicians, and speakers and for registration and housing information.

3_masthead.indd 1 12/12/11 1:47:40 PM

www.colbertcreative.com(604) 681-5386

Concert Band & Orchestra Folder is extra-wide for storing and displaying scores. With name card and dual pencil holders. Optional imprinting for logo, instrument or name.

12.5 oz. of confidence.

That’s what you get when you pick up our Choralex™ Compact. Solid support in a design so light, you might forget it’s there. Our folder options include removable rings, extra retaining cords, personalized imprinting – even our new Band & Orchestra folder (left) for conductors and instrumentalists. See them and all our singing essentials online. Or callus at one of these numbers. Dealer inquiries also welcome.

Small World MUSICFOLDER.com Inc. Toll-free (Canada and USA): 1-877-246-7253 • Telephone and Fax: +1 604.733.3995

XtraFlex Duet 2 Handy Gig BagCollapsible Smart Easel Name or logo imprintFolding Jazz Standwww.colbertcreative.com(604) 681-5386

Concert Band & Orchestra Folder is extra-wide for storing and displaying scores. With name card and dual pencil holders. Optional imprinting for logo, instrument or name.

12.5 oz. of confidence.

That’s what you get when you pick up our Choralex™ Compact. Solid support in a design so light, you might forget it’s there. Our folder options include removable rings, extra retaining cords, personalized imprinting – even our new Band & Orchestra folder (left) for conductors and instrumentalists. See them and all our singing essentials online. Or callus at one of these numbers. Dealer inquiries also welcome.

Small World MUSICFOLDER.com Inc. Toll-free (Canada and USA): 1-877-246-7253 • Telephone and Fax: +1 604.733.3995

XtraFlex Duet 2 Handy Gig BagCollapsible Smart Easel Name or logo imprintFolding Jazz Stand

_TM_AD_Temp.indd 1 12/9/11 10:11:21 AM


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for the classroom, I have successfully incorporated Mae-

stro Rudolf’s diagrams into the exercis-es of Donald Hunsberger, Don Moses, Nicolai Malko, and Elizabeth A. H. Green—the last of whom is commend-ably cited by Dr. Ginocchio. —Earl H. Bruning, retired school and university (Eastern Illinois University) music educator, Arkadelphia, Arkansas

Assessment CorrectionI was glad to be included in the recent dialogue about assessment (“The For-mative Years,” November 2011), but I have a concern in that you paraphrased a comment I made. You printed on page 40 that 40% of all music teachers in Virginia are being evaluated with math and reading measures, which is not correct. What I said was that the new Virginia Guidelines for Uniform Per-formance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers, which will be implemented in 2012, suggest that 40% of every teacher’s summative evaluation may be made up of student academic progress scores. We are working hard with ad-ministrators, supervisors, and teachers to navigate what the measurement of

students’ progress in music, and the overall evaluation of music teachers, will look like across the state.

Thank you again for bringing the issue of assessment to your readers at such an important time.—Kelly A. Parkes, assistant professor of music education, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Conducting GrammarMost of us agree heartily with John Ginocchio’s statements concerning the pitfalls of over-con-ducting (“Ensemble Di-rectors’ Worst Habits Can Be Broken,” Second-ary Stages, October 2011). Unfortunately, many of the problems he cites can also be attribut-ed to lack of consistent expressive clar-ity in basic baton technique.

I have not yet seen an approach to clear and expressive technique that ex-ceeds mounting and tracing, with the tip of the baton, the diagrams which are found in the now classic textbook, The Grammar of Conducting, by Max Rudolf. Conductors who have mastered Ru-dolf’s approach are immediately recog-nizable on the podium. Rhythmic subdivision need not be jerky or un-steady for the conductor who is com-fortable with these diagrams; it can rather be part of an e� ortless � ow with the wrist.

In an advanced conducting class, it is frustrating to devote precious time to remediating students who appear to be swatting � ies with the baton. A conduc-tor does well to consider the approach of the scuba instructor, for whom clear communication with the hands alone is a matter of life or death. It enables me personally to talk less and make more music with band, orchestra, ballet, or choir—with or without a baton. Of the several excellent conducting handbooks

letters

Write to usSend your thoughts to [email protected] or fax a letter to 703-860-9027. We appre-ciate hearing from you and sharing your thoughts with your fellow NAfME members. Letters are edited for style and to fi t available space. Please include your full name, job title, and the name of the school, city, and state where you teach.

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP,MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION

(Act of August 12, 1970: Section 3685 Title 39, United States Code.)Title of publication: Teaching Music.Publication Number: 1069-7446Date of fi ling: October 1, 2011.Frequency of issue: 6 times annually—January, February, October, November, April, and August. Subscription price: $10.00 with membership.Complete mailing address of known offi ce of publication: 1806 Robert Fulton Drive, Reston, VA 20191–4348.Complete mailing address of headquarters of general business offi ces of the publishers: 1806 Robert Fulton Drive, Reston, VA 20191–4348.Full names and complete addresses of publisher, editor, and managing editor: Publisher—Linda Brown (Editor): National Association for Music Education, 1806 Robert Fulton Drive, Reston, VA 20191–4348; Mac Randall (Editor in Chief): InTune Partners (Teaching Music), 582 N. Broadway, White Plains, NY 10603 Owner: National Association for Music Education.Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding one percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: none.Nonprofi t organization authorized to mail at special rates: The purpose, function, and nonprofi t status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes have not changed during the preceding twelve months.Extent and nature of circulation:A. Total number of copies printed (net press run). Average number of copies each issue during preceding twelve months: 62,034 actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 62,205. B. Paid circulation. (1) Mailed subscriptions (outside-county). Average number of copies of each issue during preceding twelve months: 61,095; actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 61,353. (2) Mailed subscriptions (in-county). Average number of copies of each issue during preceding twelve months: 0; actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 0. (3) Paid distribution outside the mail including sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales, and other paid distribution outside the USPS. Average number of copies of each issue during preceding twelve months: 154; actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 139. (4) Paid distribution by other classes mail through the USPS: Average number of copies of each issue during preceding twelve months: 0; actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 0.C. Total paid distribution. Average number of copies of each issue during preceding twelve months: 61,249; actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 61,492.D. Free distribution (by mail and outside the mail). (1) Outside-county: Average number of copies of each issue during preceding twelve months: 0; actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 0. (2) In-county: Average number of copies of each issue during preceding twelve months: 0; actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 0. (3) Other classes mailed through USPS: Average number of copies of each issue during the preceding twelve months: 130; actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 130. (4) Distribution outside the mail: Average number of copies of each issue during the preceding twelve months: 83; actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 0.E. Total free distribution. Average number of copies of each issue during preceding twelve months: 213; actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 130.F. Total distribution. Average number of copies of each issue during preceding twelve months: 61,462; actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 61,622.G. Copies not distributed (offi ce use, left over, spoiled after printing, and others). Average number of copies of each issue during preceding twelve months: 572; actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 583.H. Total. Average number of distributed copies and undistributed issues for each issue during preceding twelve months: 62,034; actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 62,205.Percent Paid. (1) Average percentage of copies of each issue during preceding twelve months: 98.70%. (2) Actual percentage of copies of single issue published nearest to fi ling date: 98.85%.I certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete.—Adriane Darvishian, Director, NAfME Publications

4_letters.indd 1 12/9/11 5:05:00 PM

SCHOOL of MUSICBachelor of Arts: Major in Music

Bachelor of Music: Majors in Church Music, Commercial Music, Composition, Music Education, Music with an Outside Minor, Music Theory, Musical Theatre, Performance and Piano Pedagogy

Master of Music: Majors in Church Music, Composition, Music Education, Pedagogy and Performance

DEPARTMENT of ARTBachelor of Arts: Major in Art or Art History

Bachelor of Fine Arts: Majors in Art Education, Design Communications and Studio Art

DEPARTMENT of THEATRE & DANCEBachelor of Arts: Major in Theatre

Bachelor of Fine Arts: Majors in Theatre with an emphasis in Performance, Directing, Production Design or Theatre Education

Minor in Dance

For more information, contact the CVPA Office at 615.460.6408 or www.belmont.edu/cvpa.

Join the Vibrant Arts Community at Belmont University!

JOIN THE VIBRANT ARTS COMMUNITY AT BELMONT UNIVERSITY!

JOIN THE VIBRANT ARTS COMMUNITY AT BELMONT UNIVERSITY!

_TM_AD_Temp.indd 1 12/13/11 3:31:45 PM

News and notes for today’s music educator

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By Rosalind C. Fehr, [email protected]

10 teaching Music I January 2012

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At the end of the 2011–2012 school year, music teacher Debby Duda will retire after teaching her entire 29-year career at G.C. burkhead Elementary school in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

in the mid-1980s, as a beginning teacher, she learned about a new MENC sing-along event that she thought her stu-dents would like. it was the World’s Largest Concert® (WLC®), and Duda taught the children songs so they could participate in the very first WLC in March 1985.

she and her students enjoyed the event so much that they have continued the tradition every year since then. there are a few changes this year, though. MENC is now the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and the concert has a new name, “the Concert for Music in our schools Month®.”

A highlight of Music in our schools Month®, the WLC concert linked students around the world through music and reached an estimated six million students, teachers, and music supporters over the years. the new title “the Concert for Music in our schools Month” reflects the Concert’s place in NAfME’s annual month-long celebration of school music.

Although the “official date” of the Concert for Music in our schools Month is thursday, March 8, at 1 p.m., all teachers are encouraged to get creative and sing any number of the

Kentucky Music Teacher Makes Concert a School-Wide Experience

Concert songs with their students at any time during March 2012 —whenever it fits into school and community schedules.

something else will be new this year: Duda’s students are recording a segment for the concert video for the first time.

“We were singing the songs last year,” Duda recalled re-cently, “and a few of the students said, ‘how do we get to sing in the video like those other kids?’” she looked up information on the NAfME website about submitting a video proposal, sent

one, and was selected: “it was a bit of work but so worth it. Everyone is so excited. the entire school of about

800 kids and all of the teachers are participating. i thought it would be more fun if everyone was a part of it.” the school will perform the song “Discussin’ Percussion.”

in March, Duda will have her students gather to watch the Concert video. “i know you can perform

the Concert anytime during the month, but i like the tradition of that specific day, the second thursday in

March,” she said.For more information about the Concert for Music in our

schools Month, visit nafme.org/events/view/the-concert-for -music-in-our-schools-month. you can also visit nafme.org/news for more information about how Duda coordinated the performance of such a large group and to see additional pho-tos from the video recording session.

Debby Duda (far left) prepares students for The Concert for Music in Our Schools Month.

It was a bit of

work but so worth it.

Everyone is so excited.

Watch this space

in February to learn

the winners of the

Glee Give A Note

contest!

5_news.indd 1 12/12/11 3:52:32 PM

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nafme.org 11

NAfME Election Season Opens in January In 2012, members of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) have some national decisions to make—selecting the 2012–2014 president-elect and voting on changes to the Association’s Articles of Incorporation, Constitution, and Bylaws. Online voting begins January 4 and con-cludes on March 4, 2012.

In addition, members in NAfME’s North Central, Western, and Southern Divisions will choose a 2012–2014 president-elect.

The candidates for NAfME national president-elect are■ Glenn E. Nierman (Nebraska)■ David Weatherred(Washington)

Find candidate biogra-phies and other election information at http://www.nafme.org/gp/2012-nafme

Glenn E. Nierman

David Weatherred

-national-and-division-elections.

The term for national president-elect and each divi-sion president-elect begins on July 1, 2012, and these individuals will succeed to the presidency on July 1, 2014.

In the past year NAfME has moved to be more effec-tive in addressing the chal-

lenges of music education. The Association’s National

Executive Board voted■ To complete the name transition to “National Asso-ciation for Music Education,” abbreviated NAfME. ■ To simplify the structure by which we work with the Societies and Councils that act as focal points for select

issues and groups within our Association.

To fully implement these decisions, the Association’s National Executive Board is calling for a membership vote on changes to the NAfME Articles of Incorporation, Constitution, and Bylaws. Eligible voters will vote electronically on these editorial changes be-tween January 4 and March 4, 2012. Full copies of the relevant documents will be posted on the nafme.org for the review of all members.

To vote electronically, make sure NAfME has your most current email address.

Use the “Sign In” prompt at the top left of the website home page, or call Member Services at 800-336-3768.

For election questions, contact Marlynn Likens at [email protected].

Online Audition Window Closes January 20 for 2012 NAfME All-National Honor EnsemblesOutstanding student musicians from throughout the United States will rehearse and perform with re-nowned conductors in the 2012 NAfME All-National Honor Ensembles. The Concert Band, Orchestra, Mixed Choir, and Jazz Band will perform on Sunday, June 24, 2012, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

Online applications and auditions are open, and the auditions close on January 20, 2012, at 11:59:59 PM ET. Selected students and their teachers will be notifi ed in late February 2012.

The 2012 conductors are listed below.Concert Band: Daniel Bukvich is professor of percussion and theory and director of jazz choir at the Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho in Moscow.Orchestra: David Becker is director of or-chestral studies and conductor of the Sym-phony and Opera Orchestras at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin.Choir: Sandra Snow is associate professor of music education and choral conducting at Michigan State University in East Lansing.Jazz Band: Terrell Stafford is professor of music and director of jazz studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In addition to rehearsals and the Kennedy Center perfor-

mances, ensemble members will tour Washington, DC, and attend a concert performed by “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band.

Chris Woodside, NAfME assistant executive director for advocacy and public affairs, also will conduct a special ad-vocacy training session for the student musicians.

Visit nafme.org/events/view/2012-all-national-honor -ensembles for applications and audition materials. Applica-tions and auditions can be submitted at opusevent.com.

5_news.indd 2 12/12/11 4:02:08 PM


Members of the 2012 USAAAMB Ready to Take the Field in San Antonio

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T. André Feagin, who will serve as director of the 2012 U.S. Army All-American Marching Band (USAAAMB), is planning a lively, focused halftime show on January 7 in San Antonio, Texas.

“Programming for this event was indeed a challenge, as you want to present the students with a program that is going to be entertaining as well as educational,” Feagin says. “This year the program is titled ‘Rhapsody in RED, WHITE, and BLUE,’ and will feature ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ as well as ‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.’ It was my objective to bring a new style to the group that would serve our purpose of entertainment for the halftime show at the Army All-American Bowl Game. Jazz is the focal point for this program, as it is an American tradition.”

Feagin has worked on the USAAAMB instructional staff for the past three years. He says that getting 125 students who have never seen each other before to march as a unifi ed group is not as diffi cult as one might think.

“With the talent of the students that we get, it is never really a concern that they haven’t marched together before, because the concepts are so clear to each and every member,” says Feagin, who will also lead the USAAAMB in 2013. “They are quickly able to adapt and become a unifi ed unit.”

Feagin is assistant professor of music, as-sociate director of bands, and director of ath-letic bands at the University of Texas at El Paso. His duties include the artistic and musi-

cal guidance of the Symphony Band, conducting the Chamber Players, and directing the Sound of the Southwest Marching Miner Regiment and Miner basketball pep bands. In addition, he teaches courses in wind literature and mentors graduate conducting students.

He says of the USAAAMB, “This event is very fast-paced, and the students are amazing. They really are the best in the country, allowing us to move very quickly through rehearsals. As with all things, there is a lot of outside preparation in order for the group to be a success. Past directors were very good

at time management, en-abling the group to get the goals accomplished in a time-ly fashion. I most certainly want to continue that philoso-phy so that our fi nal product, like in years past, can be the best that it can possibly be.”

Feagin is accustomed to working with young marching

groups. He is an active program coordinator, adjudicator, cli-nician, and music arranger for many high school, drum corps, and university band programs. He has been active with a num-ber of Drum Corps International groups, and is currently the brass caption head of the Academy Drum and Bugle Corps from Tempe, Arizona.

The USAAAMB, which includes 125 senior marching musi-cians, will perform at the Alamodome in San Antonio during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, the premier high school football game in the nation. The game will start at noon (CT) and will be broadcast on NBC. To view the All-American Bowl halftime show, visit allamericangames.tv during the game.

The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) is the offi cial selection partner of the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band and works with title sponsor the U.S. Army, along with Drum Corps Inter-national and All-Ameri-can Games, to organize the annual event.

“This event is very fast-paced, and the students are amazing. They really are the best in the country.”

Feagin has worked with USAAAMB students for three years, including the 2010 band.

T. André Feagin

5_news.indd 3 12/12/11 9:42:03 AM

nafme.org 13

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NOMINATIONS FOR 2013 USAAAMBNomination Deadline: January 31, 2012

The deadline to nominate outstanding high school marching musicians for the 2013 U.S. Army All-American Marching Band is January 31, 2012. Visit nafme.org/zforms/aamb/2013audition AAN.html for the nomination form. Only nominees of NAfME members that complete the ap-plication process will receive a certifi cate, which is a change from previous years.

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is the premier high school football game in the nation. Produced by All-American Games, the Bowl showcases the nation’s top high school senior football players and marching musicians.

The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) is the offi cial selection partner of the USAAAMB and partners with title sponsor the U.S. Army, along with Drum Corps International and All-American Games, for the annual event.

Students selected as one of the 125 All-American Marching Band members will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to San Antonio, Texas, to march in the halftime performance of the All-American Bowl at the Alamodome in January 2013.

NAFME SEEKS COMPOSERS FOR “AUDIO LOGO” Submission Deadline: February 1, 2012

The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) is holding a “talent search” among its members. Retired, active, or Collegiate members may compose a musical motif in different arrangements that will be used in a variety of applications for the Association. The composer of the winning “logo” will win $500.

The Association is looking for a simple, short audio motif, appearing in three arrangements that can be used to identify and promote NAfME.

Submissions, which will be accepted between January 1 and February 1, 2012, should be professional-quality recordings. Visit nafme.org for additional information.

2012 NAFME STUDENT COMPOSERS CONTESTSubmission deadline: February 15, 2012

A new collaboration between NAfME and the European American Music Alliance (EAMA) presents several unique opportunities for student composers, including a cash prize provided by EAMA.

The winning composition in each category —elementary/middle school, high school, and collegiate—will be performed in a Millennium Stage Concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, during Music Education Week.

Philip Lasser, president of the EAMA and composition faculty member at the Juilliard School, will conduct a mini-seminar for select students.

For more information on the contest, visit nafme.org/gp/student-composers-competition.

NOMINATE A LOWELL MASON FELLOWNomination Deadline: February 28, 2012

In June 2012 the next Lowell Mason Fellows will be honored during Music Education Week in Baltimore, Maryland. The deadline to nominate a 2011 Lowell Mason Fellow is February 28, 2012.

Lowell Mason Fellow designations support the efforts of NAfME through a donation in the Fellow’s name. The $1,000 contribution that accompanies each nomination goes to support future generations of music educators.

Find a nomination form at nafme.org/about/view/lowell-mason-fellows.

Make a Note of These Upcoming NAfME Deadlines

NAfME Helps Music Teachers “Get the Message”The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) is offering new “Get the Message!” fl iers for music teachers who want to learn advocacy skills.

Part of NAfME’s “Grab and Go” series of advocacy fl iers, “Get the Message!” aims to help educators be-come more effective advo-cates for school music. It is one of several advocacy aids that NAfME has devel-oped, all of which are de-signed to be shared with colleagues.

The four fl iers offer tips and strategies for working with parents, principals (secondary and elemen-tary), and school boards. “Get the Message!” fl iers are available for printing from the NAfME website, as is an updated version of the “Grab and Go” Crisis Man-agement/Proactive Strat-egy fl ier. Visit advocacy .nafme.org/page/how-to -advocacy-guides to down-load and print.

In addition, visit NAfME’s new Advocacy Central Web page: advocacy.nafme.org/page/advocacy-central. In the coming months, NAfME advocacy staff will produce further resources and fl iers with specifi c messaging and topics.

JAN 31

FEB 1

FEB 15

FEB 28

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Kansas MEA LeadersDiscuss Cuts with BoardIn November, leaders of the Kansas Music Educa-tors Association (KMEA) presented an overview of the state of music educa-tion to the Kansas Board of Education. An analysis showed that more than 48% of all school districts in the state reported a loss of funding in the 2009-2010 school year.

KMEA President Craig Manteuffel, Past Presi-dent Mike Quilling, Presi-dent-Elect Avian Bear, and KMEA Executive Director John Taylor attended the board meeting. The data was prepared by Frederick Burrack, director of the offi ce of assessment and associate professor of music education at Kansas State University in Manhattan.

The leaders also in-vited board members to attend their In-Service Workshop (ISW) in Febru-ary 2012. Scott Shuler, president of the National Association for Music Edu-cation (NAfME) and an expert on 21st-century skills, will present the keynote address and clin-ics on the subject.

Shuler congratulated the KMEA leaders on their efforts: “We should also make sure that this kind of state-level advocacy work is held up as a model for other states.”

To follow NAfME public policy issues, visit http://advocacy.nafme.org.

The National Association for Music Education acknowledges that its members have shaped the growth and development of music edu-cation through the years. The organization pays tribute to its 50-year members, listed below, for their dedication to the profession.

Among the members honored here is David E. Circle of Stillwell, Kansas, who was president of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) from 2004–2006. Prior to retirement, he was performing arts coordinating teacher for the Blue Valley (Kan-sas) School District. In addition to his administrative experience, Circle taught at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels, and was conductor of the Kansas City Youth Symphony. He is a past president of the Southwestern Division of the National Association for Music Education and the Kansas Music Educators Association (KMEA), where he was inducted into the KMEA Hall of Fame.

✜ Claude P. Albanese, Cambria, California✜ Paul Aliapoulios, Freeport, Maine✜ Lawrence E. Anderson, Danville, California✜ John M. Austin, Porterville, California✜ Robert Ray Bailey, Albuquerque, New Mexico✜ Duane Best, Eden, North Carolina✜ Betty Russell Blasch, Virginia Beach, Virginia✜ Patricia H. Bohrs, Cranbury, New Jersey✜ David E. Circle, Stillwell, Kansas✜ William A. Coby, St. Louis, Missouri✜ Verne E. Collins, Winchester, Virginia✜ Ned W. Corman, Rochester, New York✜ Barbara Cory Black, Newport Beach, California✜ Rebekah C. Covell, Clearwater, Florida✜ Lyle V. Dejong, Thousand Oaks, California✜ Warren H. Dennis, Tempe, Arizona✜ Leo T. Destefano, Carrollton, Ohio✜ Robert S. Dransite, Old Bethpage, New York✜ Verne Munro Eke, Seattle, Washington✜ Alfred M. Fabrizio, Fairport, New York✜ John C. Faris, Glendale, Arizona✜ Dominick J. Ferrara, Bloomfi eld, New Jersey✜ Jere W. Fridy, West Grove, Pennsylvania✜ Floyd M. Frisbie, East Stroudsburg,

Pennsylvania✜ Lois J. Garrett, Mesa, Arizona✜ Joseph Giardino, Morristown, New Jersey✜ Owen L. Goldsmith, Mountain Ranch, California✜ Camilla A. Graeber, Lenoir, North Carolina✜ Paul W. Hass, Albuquerque, New Mexico✜ Kenneth C. Hays, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania✜ Mitchel W. Henson, Jasper, Georgia✜ John Robert Hinton, Northport, Alabama✜ Winston Hughes, Kendall Park, New Jersey✜ William Barrett Iveson, Tucson, Arizona✜ Gilbert O. Jackson, Pontiac, Michigan✜ Phyllis R. Kaplan, Montgomery Village,

Maryland✜ Elizabeth M. Kerswill, Polson, Montana✜ Larry Kramer, Sarasota, Florida✜ Margaretta R. Lamb, Ocean City, New Jersey✜ E. J. Lapeyrouse, Natchitoches, Louisiana

✜ Ronald C. Lipka, Albuquerque, New Mexico✜ Frank J. Marrapodi, Watchung, New Jersey✜ R. Clair Miller, Dayton, Ohio✜ Curtis T. Mohr, Pasco, Washington✜ Rolf T. Mohwinkel, Buffalo, Minnesota✜ Kenneth A. Molzer, Papillion, Nebraska✜ Denis C. Moreen, Palm Springs, California✜ Kenneth L. Neidig, Las Cruces, New Mexico✜ Eva Mary Nevel, Buffalo, New York✜ James D. Newton, Livingston Manor, New York✜ Frances E. Nowell, Wilson, North Carolina✜ Donald Nyquist, Crossville, Tennessee✜ Ray Okimoto, Kailua, Hawaii✜ Dorian L. Parreott, Freehold, New Jersey✜ Joseph M. Petrullo, Deerfi eld Beach, Florida✜ Claude E. Piper, Hanford, California✜ Ralston O. Pitts, Mesa, Arizona✜ Kerry Price, Royal Oak, Michigan✜ Barbara F. Quinn, Clover, South Carolina✜ Smith Reeves, Las Vegas, Nevada✜ Samuel D. Reynolds, Mason, Ohio✜ William T. Robinson III, Huntsville, Alabama✜ Leonhard S. Rose, Milwaukee, Wisconsin✜ Ervin Rotenberry, Bloomington, Minnesota✜ Milton M. Schimke, Eau Claire, Wisconsin✜ Arlie E. Schulz, Anaconda, Montana✜ Winoma Spurgeon, Vienna, West Virginia✜ Bette L. Tompkins, Topeka, Kansas✜ Adair M. Turcotte, Manchester, New Hampshire✜ Robert Vehar, Buffalo, New York✜ Richard E. Watt, Mesa, Arizona✜ J. Ted Wenger, Canton, Ohio✜ James Jerome Williams, Valdese,

North Carolina✜ R. James Wolf, Huber Heights, Ohio✜ Charles E. Wunderlich, Mansfi eld, Pennsylvania✜ Robert J. Zale, Spencerport, New York✜ Mary Ann Zook, Miffl intown, Pennsylvania

A list of members celebrating 25th NAfMEanniversaries will be posted at nafme.org/news in January.

NAfME Honors the Dedication of Its 50-Year Members

David E. Circle

5_news.indd 5 12/12/11 9:42:34 AM

nafme.org 15

Music Education Week Academies Feature Stellar Clinicians

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Rodney Eichenberger, Florida State University professor emeritus, and Martin Norgaard, assistant professor of music education at Georgia State University, are two of the highly qualifi ed educators who will bring their exper-tise to the academies at NAfME’s 2012 Music Education Week in Baltimore, Maryland.

Eichenberger, who has directed cho-ral groups all over the world—including 80 U.S. All-State choirs—will lead the Choral Academy on Friday, June 22, and Saturday, June 23. He will present choral music educators with more effective conducting gestures for rehearsals and concerts and a unique approach to involving singers in movement.

Teachers also will acquire non-verbal vo-cabulary that increases effi ciency in choral rehearsal and gives their singers some own-ership in the rehearsal process as they inter-nalize musical concepts kinetically, aurally, and visually.

Norgaard, the author of 10 jazz string method books and a frequent clinician at state, national, and international conventions, will lead the Orchestra Academy on Sunday, June 24, and Monday, June 25. He will show participants how to introduce authentic eclec-tic styles in the classroom and recreate stylis-tically appropriate learning environments.

Topics will include how to teach fi ddling,

create fi ddle tune variations, improvise jazz solos, and use amplifi cation to create an authentic rock performance.

The professional development academies at Music Education Week (June 22-25, 2012) give attendees the opportunity to explore a particular discipline in depth as they interact one-on-one with clinicians and network with their peers.

Visit nafme.org/events/view/2012-music -education-week-registration to register. Mail, fax, and phone registration are also available. To see the full Music Education Week event schedule, go to nafme.org/events/view/music-education-week.

A new forum on the hotly debated issue of teacher evaluations is now available in the Higher Education/Administration/Research (HEAR) area of the NAfME website at nafme.org/s/higher _education_admin/. Within the forum, anyone can read contributions that have been submitted by NAfME mem-bers. However, anyone who posts to the forum must be a NAfME member.

“National and state teach-er evaluation policies present complex challenges for state leaders in music education, state supervisors of music, and higher education faculty,”

says Janet R. Barrett, associ-ate professor of music educa-tion at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern Uni-versity and chair of the Soci-ety for Music Teacher Educa-tion’s Executive Committee. “Staying abreast of rapidly evolving developments is a daunting task. In order to de-velop fair, fi tting, and fl exible systems of teach-er evaluation, music edu-cators need access to helpful principles, mod-els, and analyses of policy that can be adapted to state and local contexts.”

Barrett adds that the new Teacher Evaluation

forum will “help disseminate useful information about teacher evaluation as readily as possible to any NAfME member, state leader, admin-istrator, or policy maker. It will also give participants a way to communicate with one another on this pressing na-tional issue.”

The HEAR area of NAfME’s website offers resources and news for anyone who teaches at the college level, serves as an administrator, or is inter-ested in research. To read NAfME’s offi cial position statement on teacher evalua-tion, go to nafme.org/about/view/teacher-evaluation.

New Evaluation Forum Makes Sharing Information Easier

Music Education Week will also include these offerings: COMPOSITION ACADEMY: Composition for All!CONTEMPORARY POPULAR MUSIC IN-OVATIONS ACAD-EMY: Contemporary Popular Music for 21st-Century Middle and High School StudentsINSTRUMENTAL ACADEMY: Conducting, Rehearsing, and Inspiring with PassionMUSIC PROGRAM LEADERS ACADEMY: Leadership for Music Education 2.0MUSIC THEORY ACADEMY: Integrating Theory and Performance for Middle and High School Music Students MUSICAL THEATER IN-OVATIONS ACADEMY: Musical Theater for Middle and Junior High School StudentsSPECIAL LEARNERS ACADEMY: All Ages, All Abilities Are Welcome in Music

Academy Offerings

RodneyEichenberger

Martin Norgaard

5_news.indd 6 12/12/11 9:42:52 AM

Please Consider Starting the New Year with a Donation to Give a Note Foundation!

Studies show that music education is an essential building block for America’s children. Learning music fosters creativity, teaches collaboration, and instills discipline. Give a Note Foundation seeks to increase access to high-quality music experiences for children in underserved areas to improve their chances for success in school and in life. The Foundation conducts research, provides grants, and develops and disseminates advocacy resources for all audiences.

Please help Give a Note Foundation make a positive impact on America’s music education programs by making a donation today. You can scan the QR code below with your smartphone, or go to our website: giveanote.org. You can also follow us on Twitter @giveanote and “like” us on Facebook Give a Note.

www.giveanote.org

Questions? Contact Susan Lambert at [email protected]

or 800-336-3768 ext. 311

The World’s Largest Concert is now...The World’s Largest Concert is now...The World’s Largest Concert is now...The World’s Largest Concert is now...The World’s Largest Concert is now...The World’s Largest Concert is now...The World’s Largest Concert is now...

The World’s Largest Concert

is now…

Visit nafme.org/concertfor details.

_TM_AD_Temp.indd 1 12/13/11 9:42:43 AM

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PThe initiative has been in the works for two years.

Conceived as the brainchild of directors of arts at state departments of education (SEADAE), a coalition was quickly realized to include content thought-partners such as the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the National Dance Education Organiza-tion (NDEO), the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), the American Alliance for Theatre and Edu-cation (AATE), and the National Art Education Asso-ciation (NAEA). Lastly, heavy hitters such as The College Board and the Arts Education Partnership (AEP) joined the ranks to provide a � rm foundation of research and cultural context for the work.

Sometimes it is better not to be � rst. In the current climate of Common Core State Standards and with re-lease of the science standards looming on the horizon, the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) is committed to a process that will establish these voluntary learning targets as uniquely di� erent. Through the use of technology and social media, the Coalition has sought to

make the development process e� cient and transparent. The standards themselves are intended to exist in a virtual format, mak-ing future revisions timely and continuous. The inclusion of media as a possible � fth arts discipline is currently on the table for consideration. Frameworks, format, and cognitive levels of learning are among the key discussions that will be addressed by the

writing teams, under the leadership of former Kentucky arts supervisor Phillip Shepherd. The � rst draft of stan-dards is scheduled for early summer of 2012, with the re-lease of the � rst “evergreen” version to be in fall 2012.

Curriculum developers understand the importance of elegant and crisp statements of learning. This e� ort to organize huge bodies of knowledge will be designed to ebb and � ow with future educational landscapes and will inform policy and decisions from the classroom to the national level.

Looking more like Amtrak’s high-speed Acela than a locomotive, this e� ort will reconceptualize learning in the arts that has been static for the last 18 years. The cars are ready on the track. The tickets have been se-cured and the travelers are � nding their places. This train is leaving the station—don’t � nd yourself or your students left on the platform!

For updates, College Board research studies, and opportunities to contribute to this e� ort, please visit http://nccas.wikispaces.com.

at large

New Arts Standards Are on the TrackBY DEBORAH HANSEN, Immediate Past President, State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE)

Perhaps you have seen a brief quip on the Internet, or have heard a passing comment during a conference, but no matter where you picked up the information, it is true. There is, indeed, a movement to recreate the National Standards for the Arts, including music.

A meeting of the NCCAS (L to R): Jim Palmarini, EdTA; Lynne Kingsley, AATE;

Deborah Reeve, NAEA; NAfME President Scott Shuler

nafme.org 17

6_AtLarge.indd 1 12/9/11 5:05:59 PM


RRunning a music program in a small town with a low tax base can be a daunting task. Such is the situation in Sequim, Washington, also known as the “Laven-der Capital of America.” Although the lavender produced there is highly regarded, this “little city” doesn’t have many other signi� cant sources of rev-enue. As a result, school arts programs are always looking for support.

Fortunately, the music students of Sequim have had educator Vern Fosket on their side for 13 years. Through a series of strategic alliances, Fosket has been able to bring more attention and resources to the 1,000 students under his supervision.

“I wanted to build the program and needed instruments and supplies to do it,” Fosket says. “The district has al-

ways been supportive, but the resourc-es were limited when I arrived. So I decided to look to the community for help.”

Building visibility was essential, so Fosket decided that a good � rst step would be to approach the local newspa-per, the Sequim Gazette. “Actually, they approached me � rst,” he explains, not-ing that the paper has regularly written about new teachers and other school-related subjects. Once the initial con-tact had been made, Fosket followed up with a targeted pitch; he requested that the Gazette print an article “asking if people in our community had instru-ments they would be willing to donate to the school district.”

It was an inspired idea. Many of Se-quim’s residents are retired, most read the paper cover to cover, and it turned out that a large number of them had in-struments to give. “The response was amazing,” Fosket recalls. “We were able to use most of the instruments that were donated.”

Since that � rst story, Fosket and his

partners at the Gazette have remained in close contact. “They cover all our events,” he proudly reports. (It surely doesn’t hurt that he had one of the edi-tor’s children as a student for a time.) In addition to the “instrument drive,” Fos-ket and his editorial associates helped organize visits to Sequim from mem-bers of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Or-chestra and the Macy’s All-American Marching Band. “They helped in the fundraising for these students, as well as many other band activities within the community,” Fosket says.

Following his lead, Fosket’s col-leagues in the band booster program also communicate constantly with the paper. “They are always in touch about events and fundraisers,” he says.

As a result, Fosket has little trouble getting the word out about his needs and the ways in which he plans to ful� ll them. “It’s amazing how many people I meet in the community who know what we are doing and want to help support the band,” he says. “It’s a small town and we like to help each other.”

classrooms

FACTS & FIGURESSequim High SchoolSequim, WashingtonGrades 9-12

ENROLLMENT: 518 boys, 458 girls

PERCENTAGE OF LOW-INCOME STUDENTS: 42%

ETHNICITY OF STUDENT BODY: 73% White, 12.5% Hispanic, 9% Multiracial, 2.1% Native American, 1.9% Asian, 0.8% Black, 0.1% Hawaiian/Pacifi c Islander

MUSIC TEACHERS: 2

ENSEMBLES/CLASSES: Concert band, wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, percussion ensemble, AP music theory, concert choir, select choir

Sweet Smell of Success in the “Lavender Capital”A Washington State music teacher’s community outreach strategy is yielding major dividends ■ BY MATT ROBINSON

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CONGRATULATIONSU.S. ARMY

ALL-AMERICANClass of 2012

The students on the following pages were brought together from across the nation to perform at halftime of the 2012 U.S. Army All-American Bowl on January 7th in San Antonio, Texas.

2013 auditions accepted thru May 1!Current juniors may audition for the 2013 Band beginning February 1. Application and audition information can be seen online at:

NAfME.org/s/band or by calling NAfME at 800-336-3768. The U.S. Army All-American Bowl takes place January 5, 2013. Final selections are announced in July, 2012.

Successful applicants receive:★ A Selection Tour stop at their school

recognizing them as U.S. Army All-American Marching Band members. (Fall 2012)

★ An all-expense paid trip to San Antonio, TX from December, 31 2012 to January 6, 2013 featuring a performance by the selected band members during halftime at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Saturday, January 5.

★ Uniforms and all instruments are provided for use by Jupiter Band Instruments and DeMoulin Brothers Uniforms.

★ Instruction from nationally acclaimed HS and collegiate band directors.

★ Master Classes with musicians from the U.S. Army Field Band.

For audition information visit NAfME.org/s/band

For information about the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band visit usarmyallamericanbowl.com

For information about opportunities in the U.S. Army visit goarmy.com

MichaelThompson

Miami Sunset HS, FL

Teacher:TyroneO’Neal

HaileyBuster

La Cueva HS, NM

Teacher:John

Converse

KayleeDeVrou

Jenison HS, MI

Teacher:Dave

Zamborsky

FrankGarciaFlagler-PalmCoast HS, FL

Teacher:JohnSeth

ShawnKelly

Wellington HS, FL

Teacher:MaryOser

RachelMadden

Brunswick HS, GA

Teacher:JohnBirge

AlainaSeidle

E. Lincoln HS, NC

Teacher:BrentHarris

BriceBouffardWinder-Barrow

HS, GA

Teacher:KerryBryant

ElizabethEpsteinJeffersontown

HS, KY

Teacher:CharlesStewart

NiobiGottliebDel Valle HS, TX

Teacher:ManuelGamez

GinaHansen

Thomas Jefferson HS, VA

Teacher:Adam

Foreman

KarlaHerrera

Garden City Senior HS, KS

Teacher:RyanElliott

HollyKinsey

Northwest Whitfi eld County HS, GA

Teacher:GeorgeBarnett

DerrickKolpanen

Antioch Community HS, IL

Teacher:MichaelRiggs

DanielMorrowBruton HS, VA

Teacher:Cara

Townsend

AaronNexsen

Hedgesville HS, WV

Teacher:Corey

Hamrick

HelenPlevka

Morton HS, IL

Teacher:Jeff

Neavor

MeganSmallwood

Bassett HS, VA

Teacher:Trey

Harris

VictoriaWillingham

A C Reynolds HS, NC

Teacher:Dr. William

Bryant

JamesonBerry

Mountain Ridge HS, AZ

Teacher:George

Hattendorf

C. HunterBockes

C. D. Hylton HS, VA

Teacher:Chris

Anderson

BuckHinmanA C Reynolds

HS, NC

Teacher:Dr. William

Bryant

CesarManjarrez

Rio Rico HS, AZ

Teacher:AllisonCoyle

RoseWilmot

Fayette County HS, GA

Teacher:Dr. MyraRhoden

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AlexBrantonTarpon Springs

HS, FL

Teacher:KevinFord

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KevinGoddu

Somerset-Berkley Regional HS, MA

Teacher:David

Marshall

DanielLuo

Thousand Oaks HS, CA

Teacher:Marty

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WilliamMorgan-Palmer

Chantilly HS, VA

Teacher:DrewRoss

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East Lincoln HS, NC

Teacher:BrentHarris

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Winder-Barrow HS, GA

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Offi cial Selection Partners

JacobCullison

Jonesboro HS, AR

Teacher:Steve

Warner

JosiahDuncan

Newton HS, OH

Teacher:Jason

Graham

NicholasEcker

Biglerville HS, PA

Teacher:JamieCope

AllisonGordner

Berwick Area HS, PA

Teacher:RonaldWasser

JacobHawkins

Eastern View HS, VA

Teacher:AdamRoach

NicholasKeller

Howard HS, MD

Teacher:Chris

Campbell

GarrettKenyonLiberty HS, CO

Teacher:GeniceMatzke

TrevorLundquist

Miami Palmetto Senior HS, FL

Teacher:Paul

Smith

MaryMorrow

John Overton HS, TN

Teacher:DebbieBurton

StephenPerkins

Jamestown HS, VA

Teacher:SteveTurner

Wyatt Smith

Garden City HS, KS

Teacher:RyanElliott

MatthewSoderberg

Salem HS, VA

Teacher:Jim

Paxton

AshleyStewart

Irmo HS, SC

Teacher:Roger

Simpson

TylerWalthersHamburg Area

HS, PA

Teacher:Eric

Francis

MatthewAbrahamMill Creek HS, GA

Teacher:Erik

Mason

GinaBartholomew

Oswego HS, NY

Teacher:ScottCiesla

AndyLuettgen

Milton HS, GA

Teacher:Ryan

Borger

JosephMeinweiser

Munford HS, TN

Teacher:Barry

Trobaugh

GraceMyrick

North Lamar HS, TX

Teacher:RandyJones

WilliamAshcraftHendersonville

HS, NC

Teacher:Fran

Shelton

BobbyFisco

Bay HS, OH

Teacher:DarrenAllen

EricGomez

Palmview HS, TX

Teacher:JacobBanda

ForrestGoyer

Olathe North Senior HS, KS

Teacher:JustinLove

ZacharyHelm

West Bloomfi eld HS, MI

Teacher:ArthurEbert

ReggieHerrera

Smithfi eld-Selma HS, NC

Teacher:BrianJones

RichardJett

Romeoville HS, IL

Teacher:Clark

Anderson

BrettStormsBrother Martin

HS, LA

Teacher:DominickCaronna

Ian ToyAmador Valley

HS, CA

Teacher:JonathanGrantham

DaniellaBanhamWhitney HS, CA

Teacher:Kris

Harper

LukeBaranczyk

Pulaski HS, WI

Teacher:Tom

Busch

JoshuaDamore

Romeoville HS, IL

Teacher:Clark

Anderson

CodyHutchisonJonesboro HS, AR

Teacher:Steve

Warner

JasonJakary

Plymouth Canton Educational Park, MI

Teacher:David

Armbruster

EdwardKirk

Rockville HS, MD

Teacher:Phil

Barnes

PearceNitta

Centennial HS, NV

Teacher:MitchGabel

CesarBernal

Athens Drive HS, NC

Teacher:Dr. JerryMarkoch

BruceBurton,JrHermitage HS, VA

Teacher:John

Sarvay

Christo-pher

HarmsLa Cueva HS, NM

Teacher:John

Converse

JacobLutz

Nation Ford HS, SC

Teacher:MartinDickey

JeffMcCleve

Desert Vista HS, AZ

Teacher:JoshThye

RichardMounts

South Hagerstown Senior HS, MD

Teacher:Scott

Benford

DillonPeterson

West Genesee HS, NY

Teacher:AndrewPerry

TimSale

Swain County HS, NC

Teacher:Karen

Williams

CullenMcBrideTupelo HS, MS

Teacher:Jeremy

Greenwood

MichealBarnes

Macarthur HS, OK

Teacher:LarryHatch

JonathanChen

Hebron HS, TX

Teacher:AndySealy

TRU

MPE

TTR

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PET

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BA

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ON

E

TRO

MB

ON

E

TRU

MPE

TTR

UM

PET

MEL

LOPH

ON

E

JustinBronsteinWest Bloomfi eld

HS, MI

Teacher:ArthurEbert

MEL

LOPH

ON

E

BrianMillan

Palm HarborUniversity HS, FL

Teacher:JamesDykes

TRU

MPE

T

KelseyFerneau

Urbandale HS, IA

Teacher:Myron

Peterson

MEL

LOPH

ON

E

TRU

MPE

TTR

UM

PET

TRU

MPE

T

TRO

MB

ON

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SOUS

APHO

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SOUS

APHO

NE

AnthonyDeMartinis

Woodstock North HS, IL

Teacher:Bill

Simpson

DavidHandy

Noble HS, OK

Teacher:Jon

Stefanick

JamesLong

Vandebilt Catholic HS, LA

Teacher:Brad

Adams

AnthonyYoung

Forsyth Central HS, GA

Teacher:John

Mashburn

MichaelAbel

Walled Lake Central HS, MI

Teacher:David

Rogers

AubreyCrawley

Hancock HS, MS

Teacher:Benji

Mclain

ConorDavenportSouthridge HS, OR

Teacher:JeremyZander

NigelFernandezLake Howell HS, FL

Teacher:Trey

Harris

JeremiahWest

GoodpastureChristian School, TN

Teacher:AdamLaman

AndrewBrogan

Blue Springs HS, MO

Teacher:Dr. Tim

Allshouse

AndreRacanelli

Stone Bridge HS, VA

Teacher:DavidKeller

MarcRivet


Teacher:Brad

Adams

AlexRichey

Russellville HS, AL

Teacher:JeremyWillis

KoltonHelbertBassett HS, VA

Teacher:Trey

Harris

ZackWaltrip

Jamestown HS, VA

Teacher:SteveTurner

NathanHyndman

Liberty HS, CO


AndrewFazenbaker

Central Dauphin HS, PA

Teacher:MatthewCeresini

FabianGomez

Brackenridge HS, TX

Teacher:Alfonso

Alvarado

ErikNordlund

Southridge HS, OR


DermottEvans

Joplin HS, MO

Teacher:Rick

Castor

JeffreyMurray

Oswego HS, NY

Teacher:ScottCiesla

TEN

OR

DR

UM

BA

SS D

RU

MB

ASS

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ASS

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ITA

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OR

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OR

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SNA

RE

DR

UM

SNA

RE

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UM

SNA

RE

DR

UM

SNA

RE

DR

UM

CameronPerkins

Rampart HS, CO

Teacher:Gary

Arrasmith

ElainaDruid

Reading Memorial HS, MA

Teacher:David

Bunten

AshleyRash

Blue Springs South HS, MO

Teacher:Melissia

Goff

NicholasAllegro


Teacher:Adam

Foreman

SydneyJones

Clayton HS, NC

Teacher:John

Pearson

SaraShores

Avon Grove HS, PA

Teacher:John

Moczydlowski

ErinBaker

Orchard Park HS, NY

Teacher:ChrisRevett

AlexandriaLinn

Hempstead HS, IA

Teacher:Gregory

Dowe

JoyceSu


Teacher:Adam

Foreman

LaurenBlakey

Bishop Dwenger HS, IN

Teacher:Ryan

VanAntwerp

ElizabethMorrisseyCherokee HS, NJ

Teacher:DavidLynch

KalenWeigel

Tigard HS, OR

Teacher:JamesIrving

AlexandraBrooks


Teacher:George

Hattendorf

JordanMower

Eastern Randolph HS, NC

Teacher:Josh

Cvijanovic

LindseyWomac


Teacher:John

Mashburn

TaraZerfas


Teacher:David

Bunten

BrittanyBryant

Dr. Phillips HS, FL

Teacher:CharlesWatford

NicoleNyergesTarpon Springs

HS, FL

Teacher:KevinFord

EdwardCamarena

Rio Rico HS, AZ


HannahO’Flynn

Lincoln-Way Central HS, IL

Teacher:Eric

Wellman

Rachel-FaithClark

John Overton HS, TN


BrittneyParker

Eagleville School, TN

Teacher:Kelly

Medford

KimshaiPierce


Teacher:BrianJones

MaliaCorbin

Fayette Co. HS, GA


FideliaRadziwon

Orchard Park HS, NY

Teacher:ChrisRevett

PIA

NO

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_TM_AD_Temp.indd 2 12/12/11 2:01:49 PM

Offi cial Selection Partners

JacobCullison

Jonesboro HS, AR

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Warner

JosiahDuncan

Newton HS, OH

Teacher:Jason

Graham

NicholasEcker

Biglerville HS, PA

Teacher:JamieCope

AllisonGordner

Berwick Area HS, PA

Teacher:RonaldWasser

JacobHawkins

Eastern View HS, VA

Teacher:AdamRoach

NicholasKeller

Howard HS, MD

Teacher:Chris

Campbell

GarrettKenyonLiberty HS, CO


TrevorLundquist

Miami Palmetto Senior HS, FL

Teacher:Paul

Smith

MaryMorrow

John Overton HS, TN


StephenPerkins

Jamestown HS, VA

Teacher:SteveTurner

Wyatt Smith

Garden City HS, KS

Teacher:RyanElliott

MatthewSoderberg

Salem HS, VA

Teacher:Jim

Paxton

AshleyStewart

Irmo HS, SC

Teacher:Roger

Simpson

TylerWalthersHamburg Area

HS, PA

Teacher:Eric

Francis

MatthewAbrahamMill Creek HS, GA

Teacher:Erik

Mason

GinaBartholomew

Oswego HS, NY

Teacher:ScottCiesla

AndyLuettgen

Milton HS, GA

Teacher:Ryan

Borger

JosephMeinweiser

Munford HS, TN

Teacher:Barry

Trobaugh

GraceMyrick

North Lamar HS, TX

Teacher:RandyJones

WilliamAshcraftHendersonville

HS, NC

Teacher:Fran

Shelton

BobbyFisco

Bay HS, OH

Teacher:DarrenAllen

EricGomez

Palmview HS, TX

Teacher:JacobBanda

ForrestGoyer

Olathe North Senior HS, KS

Teacher:JustinLove

ZacharyHelm

West Bloomfi eld HS, MI

Teacher:ArthurEbert

ReggieHerrera


Teacher:BrianJones

RichardJett

Romeoville HS, IL

Teacher:Clark

Anderson

BrettStormsBrother Martin

HS, LA

Teacher:DominickCaronna

Ian ToyAmador Valley

HS, CA

Teacher:JonathanGrantham

DaniellaBanhamWhitney HS, CA

Teacher:Kris

Harper

LukeBaranczyk

Pulaski HS, WI

Teacher:Tom

Busch

JoshuaDamore

Romeoville HS, IL

Teacher:Clark

Anderson

CodyHutchisonJonesboro HS, AR

Teacher:Steve

Warner

JasonJakary

Plymouth Canton Educational Park, MI

Teacher:David

Armbruster

EdwardKirk

Rockville HS, MD

Teacher:Phil

Barnes

PearceNitta

Centennial HS, NV

Teacher:MitchGabel

CesarBernal

Athens Drive HS, NC

Teacher:Dr. JerryMarkoch

BruceBurton,JrHermitage HS, VA

Teacher:John

Sarvay

Christo-pher

HarmsLa Cueva HS, NM

Teacher:John

Converse

JacobLutz

Nation Ford HS, SC

Teacher:MartinDickey

JeffMcCleve

Desert Vista HS, AZ

Teacher:JoshThye

RichardMounts

South Hagerstown Senior HS, MD

Teacher:Scott

Benford

DillonPeterson

West Genesee HS, NY

Teacher:AndrewPerry

TimSale

Swain County HS, NC

Teacher:Karen

Williams

CullenMcBrideTupelo HS, MS

Teacher:Jeremy

Greenwood

MichealBarnes

Macarthur HS, OK

Teacher:LarryHatch

JonathanChen

Hebron HS, TX

Teacher:AndySealy

TRU

MPE

TTR

UM

PET

TRU

MPE

TM

ELLO

PHO

NE

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LOPH

ON

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PET

BA

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ON

E

TRO

MB

ON

E

TRU

MPE

TTR

UM

PET

MEL

LOPH

ON

E

JustinBronsteinWest Bloomfi eld

HS, MI

Teacher:ArthurEbert

MEL

LOPH

ON

E

BrianMillan

Palm HarborUniversity HS, FL

Teacher:JamesDykes

TRU

MPE

T

KelseyFerneau

Urbandale HS, IA

Teacher:Myron

Peterson

MEL

LOPH

ON

E

TRU

MPE

TTR

UM

PET

TRU

MPE

T

TRO

MB

ON

E

SOUS

APHO

NE

SOUS

APHO

NE

AnthonyDeMartinis

Woodstock North HS, IL

Teacher:Bill

Simpson

DavidHandy

Noble HS, OK

Teacher:Jon

Stefanick

JamesLong


Teacher:Brad

Adams

AnthonyYoung


Teacher:John

Mashburn

MichaelAbel

Walled Lake Central HS, MI

Teacher:David

Rogers

AubreyCrawley

Hancock HS, MS

Teacher:Benji

McLain

ConorDavenportSouthridge HS, OR


NigelFernandezLake Howell HS, FL

Teacher:Trey

Harris

JeremiahWest

GoodpastureChristian School, TN

Teacher:AdamLaman

AndrewBrogan

Blue Springs HS, MO

Teacher:Dr. Tim

Allshouse

AndreRacanelli

Stone Bridge HS, VA

Teacher:DavidKeller

MarcRivet


Teacher:Brad

Adams

AlexRichey

Russellville HS, AL

Teacher:JeremyWillis

KoltonHelbertBassett HS, VA

Teacher:Trey

Harris

ZackWaltrip

Jamestown HS, VA

Teacher:SteveTurner

NathanHyndman

Liberty HS, CO


AndrewFazenbaker

Central Dauphin HS, PA

Teacher:MatthewCeresini

FabianGomez

Brackenridge HS, TX

Teacher:Alfonso

Alvarado

ErikNordlund

Southridge HS, OR


DermottEvans

Joplin HS, MO

Teacher:Rick

Castor

JeffreyMurray

Oswego HS, NY

Teacher:ScottCiesla

TEN

OR

DR

UM

BA

SS D

RU

MB

ASS

DR

UM

GU

ITA

RB

ASS

GU

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CameronPerkins

Rampart HS, CO

Teacher:Gary

Arrasmith

ElainaDruid


Teacher:David

Bunten

AshleyRash

Blue Springs South HS, MO

Teacher:Melissia

Goff

NicholasAllegro


Teacher:Adam

Foreman

SydneyJones

Clayton HS, NC

Teacher:John

Pearson

SaraShores

Avon Grove HS, PA

Teacher:John

Moczydlowski

ErinBaker

Orchard Park HS, NY

Teacher:ChrisRevett

AlexandriaLinn

Hempstead HS, IA

Teacher:Gregory

Dowe

JoyceSu


Teacher:Adam

Foreman

LaurenBlakey

Bishop Dwenger HS, IN

Teacher:Ryan

VanAntwerp

ElizabethMorrisseyCherokee HS, NJ

Teacher:DavidLynch

KalenWeigel

Tigard HS, OR

Teacher:JamesIrving

AlexandraBrooks


Teacher:George

Hattendorf

JordanMower

Eastern Randolph HS, NC

Teacher:Josh

Cvijanovic

LindseyWomac


Teacher:John

Mashburn

TaraZerfas


Teacher:David

Bunten

BrittanyBryant

Dr. Phillips HS, FL

Teacher:CharlesWatford

NicoleNyergesTarpon Springs

HS, FL

Teacher:KevinFord

EdwardCamarena

Rio Rico HS, AZ


HannahO’Flynn

Lincoln-Way Central HS, IL

Teacher:Eric

Wellman

Rachel-FaithClark

John Overton HS, TN


BrittneyParker

Eagleville HS, TNHS, TN

Teacher:Kelly

Medford

KimshaiPierce


Teacher:BrianJones

MaliaCorbin

Fayette Co. HS, GA


FideliaRadziwon

Orchard Park HS, NY

Teacher:ChrisRevett

PIA

NO

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HS, TN

_TM_AD_Temp.indd 3 12/13/11 4:23:24 PM


MMany arts advocacy messages are diffi-cult for some people to swallow. Fore-most among them is the claim that studying music fosters the types of imaginative and creative skills that can be exploited in math and science. True though it may be, it’s not always enough to sway decision-makers when budget-cutting time comes around. “If you don’t have effective pedagogy in the other classes, the first place adminis-tration wants to cut is in the arts,” says Lewis H. Strouse, chair of the Music Education Division of the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “As music teachers, we need to document what we do and talk about the importance of process in a convincing way.”

Strouse points out that when profes-sionals in any other field speak about their “product,” the discussion of im-portant details relating to how that product is “produced” helps to convince observers of the product’s quality. By contrast, music educators rarely talk about the creative process. He empha-sizes that “being clear about the processes of instructional practice would greatly en-hance education in general and arts education in particular.”

According to Strouse, teachers need to convey that while science, technology, en-gineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses develop critical think-ing skills, other courses can do so as well. A student who might feel intimi-dated by STEM courses may enjoy arts courses that promote the executive-function skills of higher-order think-ing. “It is the process of creativity, developed in arts courses, that transfers

because the different disciplines rein-force each other. “We have theme in music, we have theme in English,” Strouse comments. “Students learn to make cross-disciplinary connections automatically. Authentic learning draws together a number of different subjects, and it is a revelation when

kids figure that out.”Music teachers should be

encouraged to explicitly iden-tify pedagogical approaches throughout their teaching and especially in the assessments they use in class, Strouse says. “We have identified higher-order thinking skills at the

lesson level, but you need documenta-tion, just like a doctor needs documen-tation. When people hear us, it’s just a bunch of words, and unless we docu-ment at the lesson plan level—which takes less than a minute—administra-tors and parents won’t understand why music is important.”

advocacy

Turning a Spotlight on the Creative ProcessAnyone can say that music makes kids smarter, but the challenge is to show administrators how it does so n By DeBBie GalanTe BloCk

across to STEM and all other courses,” Strouse says.

For this reason, Strouse advocates combining STEM and arts classes to educate and develop the whole child. “School is heavily left-brained,” he notes. “Schools that have suddenly been arts-infused show improvements in at-

tendance, and test scores get better. Why? It’s the mixture of left- and right-brain thinking going on.”

When all classes are combined in a comprehensive liberal arts curricu-lum, with effective pedagogy across all subjects, overall student achieve-ment increases exponentially, in part

“Unless we document at the lesson plan level—which takes less than

a minute—administrators and parents won’t understand why

music is important.”

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Lewis Strouse (center) advocates

combining STEM and arts classes.

8_advocacy.indd 1 12/9/11 5:08:02 PM

Other Professional Development Academies include:• Choral Academy: ComeHoneYourChoralTeachingandConductingSkillsforImprovedChoirsandanExcitingYear• Composition Academy: CompositionforAll!• Contemporary Popular Music IN-ovations Academy:ContemporaryPopularMusicfor21stCenturyMiddleandHigh SchoolStudents• Instrumental Academy: Conducting,Rehearsing,andInspiringwithPassion• Music Program Leaders Academy: LeadershipforMusicEducation2.0• Musical Theater IN-ovations Academy:MusicalTheaterforMiddleandHighSchoolStudents• Orchestra Academy:AddingEclecticStylestoYourOrchestra• Special Learners Academy:StudentswithSpecialNeeds–AllAges,AllAbilitiesareWelcomeinMusic

Don’tmisstheNAfMEAll-NationalHonorEnsembleswhowillperformatTheJohnF.KennedyCenterforthePerformingArtsonSunday,June24that4:00p.m.Studentscanapplyonlineatwww.opusevent.combyJanuary20,2012.

Visit www.nafme.org for more information.

Attend

Music Theory Academy: IntegratingTheoryandPerformanceforMiddleandHighSchoolMusicStudentsPresented by The College Board©

Exercisesfordevelopingstudents’understandingoffoundationsofmusictheory—aural,sight-singing,analytical,compositional,andnotationalskills—willbedemonstratedbyTerryEder.ParticipantswilllearnhowtointegratetheseexercisesderivedfromtheAdvancedPlacement©MusicTheoryCourseintotheirmusiccurriculumtoenhancestudentengagementinandsuccesswiththeirmusicalexperiencesasawhole,fromEder.Participantswilldiscusswithhimhowverticalteamsofmiddleandhighschoolmusicteacherscancollaboratetosupportacurriculumwithcommongoalsandobjectivestomaximizestudentlearning.Avarietyofprintandonlineresourceswillbeincluded.

Make a New Year’s Resolution…

Professional Development Learning Academies atMusicEducationWeek2012featuring

Terry Eder

Other Professional Development Academies include:• Choral Academy: ComeHoneYourChoralTeachingandConductingSkillsforImprovedChoirsandanExcitingYear• Composition Academy: CompositionforAll!• Contemporary Popular Music IN-ovations Academy:ContemporaryPopularMusicfor21stCenturyMiddleandHigh SchoolStudents• Instrumental Academy: Conducting,Rehearsing,andInspiringwithPassion• Music Program Leaders Academy: LeadershipforMusicEducation2.0• Musical Theater IN-ovations Academy:MusicalTheaterforMiddleandHighSchoolStudents• Orchestra Academy:AddingEclecticStylestoYourOrchestra• Special Learners Academy:StudentswithSpecialNeeds–AllAges,AllAbilitiesareWelcomeinMusic

Don’tmisstheNAfMEAll-NationalHonorEnsembleswhowillperformatTheJohnF.KennedyCenterforthePerformingArtsonSunday,June24that4:00p.m.Studentscanapplyonlineatwww.opusevent.combyJanuary20,2012.

Visit www.nafme.org for more information.

Attend

Music Theory Academy: IntegratingTheoryandPerformanceforMiddleandHighSchoolMusicStudentsPresented by The College Board©

Exercisesfordevelopingstudents’understandingoffoundationsofmusictheory—aural,sight-singing,analytical,compositional,andnotationalskills—willbedemonstratedbyTerryEder.ParticipantswilllearnhowtointegratetheseexercisesderivedfromtheAdvancedPlacement©MusicTheoryCourseintotheirmusiccurriculumtoenhancestudentengagementinandsuccesswiththeirmusicalexperiencesasawhole,fromEder.Participantswilldiscusswithhimhowverticalteamsofmiddleandhighschoolmusicteacherscancollaboratetosupportacurriculumwithcommongoalsandobjectivestomaximizestudentlearning.Avarietyofprintandonlineresourceswillbeincluded.

AttendMake a New Year’s Resolution…

Professional Development Learning Academies atMusicEducationWeek2012featuring

Terry Eder

_TM_AD_Temp.indd 1 12/9/11 9:52:10 AM


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AAn educational concept that’s rapidly growing in popularity is that of escalat-ing students’ critical thinking skills across disciplines. Daniel Johnson, as-sociate professor of music at the Uni-versity of North Carolina, Wilmington, tested out this notion in the music realm and found that fifth graders who had opportunities for analyti-cal thinking during a music lesson scored better on a unit test than students studying the same material who received only activity-based instruction (ABI).

“If you look at the [Part-nership for] 21st Century Skills, there are the four Cs: critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration,” Johnson says. “It seems like a natural fit for music educa-tion. As a researcher, I’m inter-ested in facilitating the use of these skills across the curricu-lum so they can better fit into the whole school approach.”

For Johnson’s study, published in the October 2011 Journal of Research in Music Education, the same teacher used two instruc-tion approaches over a series of 16 lessons. At the end of the unit, the critical thinking instruction (CTI) participants—who got to ask and answer more open-ended questions than the others—scored higher on the posttest compared with the pretest, while the ABI participants’ scores dem-onstrated no significant change.

Although Johnson had hy-pothesized that the CTI music students would perform similarly

‘Paint me a picture’ or ‘Tell me a sto-ry,’” he says.

While Johnson doesn’t advocate a teacher relinquishing his or her author-ity over the class, he says that educators can structure their classes in ways that invite more collaboration and imagina-tion. “It can be a little dangerous and scary for teachers to say they don’t know the answer to something, and teachers—especially beginning teach-ers—get concerned about that,” he says. “But there’s a magic when the teacher says, ‘I’ve never tried it that way.’ That kind of openness gives the teachers and the students possibilities.

“We are hearing so much in educa-tional circles about looking for critical thinkers,” Johnson adds. “The more music can be included in that mindset, the more we will be accepted in school systems today.”

research

Music Students Who Think Critically May Learn More Analysis and reflection can yield greater benefits than activity-based instruction alone, study suggests n By CaThy appLefeLd OLSOn

to those in critical-thinking research on students in other subjects, he was surprised that the ABI lessons had no positive effect on those students at all. “I speculate that the activity-based in-struction was not engaging enough for

the students,” he says.Johnson plans to publish

the lesson plans used in his research so that interested teachers can adopt them. But he also believes there are ample ways teachers can introduce critical and creative thinking into their existing lessons.

“Especially at the K-12 level, sometimes we in the

music teaching field are very focused on getting kids to learn the terms, and there’s a lot of drill-and-skill and fol-lowing the conductor, as opposed to

“I speculate that the activ-ity-based in-struction was not engaging enough for the students.”

CTI (41 students)

Musical Term 16.63 7.08 26.45 12.71 +9.82Affective 2.62 2.69 4.57 4.94 +1.95Associative 3.75 2.47 6.72 6.43 +2.97Total 23.00 9.17 37.74 21.23 +14.74

ABI (40 students)

Musical Term 16.03 5.96 14.34 6.49 −1.69Affective 1.73 1.70 2.60 2.83 +0.87Associative 2.78 1.92 2.26 2.18 −0.52Total 20.54 7.38 19.20 8.73 −1.34

M MSD SDTest group and component

Change from pre- to posttest

Pretest Posttest

cTi = criTical THinkinG insTrUcTion; aBi = acTiViTy-Based insTrUcTion; m= Mean; sd = sTandard deViaTion

HOW THEY SCORED Before and after the CTI/ABI unit, students were asked to listen to music and verbally describe three of its aspects.

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VVideo cameras today are nearly as ubiqui-tous as pen and paper. Most schools now own handheld cameras for official use, and one or more additional cameras can usually be found in a teacher’s pocket or embedded inside a phone, media player, or other digital device. Few teachers actu-ally use these devices in their classrooms, but for some music educators, the video camera is a tool that provides many bene-fits. One of the most obvious: Making re-cordings of classes and performances can help teachers meet the National Standards for Music Education by giving students the opportunity to view and evaluate their own musical performances.

Karin Nolan, adjunct professor of mu-sic education at the University of Arizona and band/orchestra teacher for the Tuc-son, Arizona, Unified School District, records both her ensembles’ rehearsals and performances with a video camera.

She later uses those recordings for class evaluation. “Video provides the opportu-nity to focus on different areas with each viewing,” she says. “Many times, we are ‘in the moment’ and cannot process ev-erything that is happening all at once. By viewing the video, teachers and students can objectively watch and evaluate the events in a more focused and deliberate manner.”

Although the most common purpose of a camera in a rehearsal setting is to record performances for later review, it can also be used to pro-vide immediate rein-forcement. Steve Holley, coordinator of the commercial music

program at Kent Denver School in Den-ver, Colorado, will often connect a cam-era to a video projector to show live images of his ensemble projected onto a screen in front of the rehearsal room. This instantly shows the students how various aspects of their performance (spatial ar-

rangement, posture, stage presence, etc.) look to the audience, turning the en-tire rehearsal into one large teachable moment. “I can tell a kid a thousand times they need to perform as well as play,” Holley says, “but until they see it for themselves, it doesn’t always sink in.” He uses video recordings as a tool for self-evaluation as well: “The videos allow me to pay attention to my ac-

music technology How video recording can add focus in the music classroom n By Chad Criswell

Capturing Performance in Sight and Sound

Although today’s digital devices offer

many audiovisual options, traditional video cameras may

still be the way to go if you wish to zoom in on

individual players.

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nafme.org 27

tions in the rehearsals—am I giving clear directions? Am I running efficient re-hearsals? Am I giving the kids the tools they need to be successful?”

Other Applications and Legal ConcernsVideo cameras don’t have to be used sole-ly for recording and evaluating perfor-mances. Other useful, and underused, options include making video recordings part of a student’s portfolio and evalua-tion records. When properly supervised, students can also employ cameras to pre-pare class presentations or video podcasts. However, the most popular and poten-tially powerful way to use a recording is to share it with others in the school and community via the Internet. Karin Nolan and Steve Holley are both avid users of sharing sites such as YouTube and Face-book that allow students and parents to view recordings at home. Nolan creates private YouTube channels that restrict vid-eo access to classroom participants only; Holley uses YouTube as well as the popu-lar Dropbox utility to share individual re-cordings with his students, and he has plans to begin streaming his concerts live via the Internet in the coming months.

The private or public sharing of per-formance videos is a wonderful way to let the world experience your pro-gram, but if done improperly, it can present various legal hazards. In some districts, student privacy concerns are addressed with the help of established school poli-cies. At Holley’s school, all families sign a waiver that al-lows the school to use student’s like-nesses in audiovisual materials. In Nolan’s classes, each participant must have a signed permission slip that pro-vides the same protections. It is im-perative that some form of written permission be received from par-ents before posting any recording. When in doubt, ask your principal.

Another serious issue is the question of licensing recordings of pre-existing copyrighted works for public display. Re-cording your group and using those re-cordings for classroom purposes such as critiquing is allowed under fair use guide-P

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camera with many special fea-tures that are not available on other devices, including a 20x op-tical zoom lens, wireless remote control, dual SD card slots, and a large LCD screen.

Buying a new camera may be out of many educators’ price range, but it’s also possible to get

high-quality recordings out of your existing portable devices. The latest gen-eration of smartphones contains high-definition video cameras and editing options, although audiophiles may cringe at the quality of their microphones. For Apple fans, the excellent built-in video cameras on the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad can be used together with accessory mics such as Blue Microphones’ Mikey Digital and Fostex’s AR-4i.

lines, but once that recording is made available outside the classroom, it falls into an ex-ceedingly gray area. Any time a recording stops being an educa-tional tool and becomes publicly distributed, the law says that it should be licensed. If you have questions about licensing stu-dent recordings for use in this manner, you can find authoritative an-swers in the NAfME Copyright Center (nafme.org/resources/view/copyright -center) and The Teacher’s Guide to Music, Media, and Copyright Law by NAfME mem-ber James Frankel.

Getting the GearOne of the many beauties of modern technology is that it’s now fairly easy and inexpensive to use video in the class-room. Unfortunately, in most cases one still has to make the choice be-tween high-quality video and high-quality audio. For exam-ple, the popular Flip line of portable cameras is extremely low-cost and handles video well, but its built-in micro-phone picks up lots of ambient noise and its sound reproduction is mediocre. Because of problems

like this, it’s a good idea for music educators to focus

primarily on the audio portion of a device. One product recommended by many teachers is the Zoom Q3HD, which marries versatile, high-quality au-

dio recording with high-def-inition video. On the downside, its lack of an optical zoom lens can be a problem when attempting to focus

on individual performers.If optical zoom lenses are a neces-

sity, then more traditional video cameras may be more appropriate.

Look for models with directional micro-phones that resist sounds coming from the sides and behind the camera, or input jacks that let you add external micro-phones. Some models made by JVC, such as the Everio HD, are fine choices. Sell-ing at prices comparable to the Zoom Q3HD, the Everio is a solid handheld

The Mikey Digital is a plug-in micro-phone that captures professional-quality stereo recordings at the highest resolu-tions possible on a given device. It even has a microphone pass-through slot for including other sound sources, like ex-ternal mics or electronic instruments. The main selling point of the AR-4i is that it features a modular holster and knurled handle that allows the iPhone 4 to be used as a handheld video camera in both landscape and portrait modes; the holster also enables you to mount your iPhone to a standard tripod.

With products like these, recording class performances on video—and mak-ing use of those recordings as an educa-tional aid—is a more appealing prospect than ever before. Whether the camera you use is borrowed or bought, the tech-niques you can apply with it will almost certainly result in a more enlightened classroom and a more introspective mu-sic educator.

Blue Microphones Mikey Digital

10_techdept.indd 2 12/9/11 5:11:17 PM


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Music teachers are in a class all their own when it comes to voice use. These elite vo-cal athletes require stamina, strength, and flexibility from their voices day in, day out for hours at a time. Voice rehabilitation clinics and research show that music edu-cation ranks high among the professions most commonly affected by voice prob-lems, which is probably no surprise to anyone reading this. Hoarseness (particu-larly by the end of the week), throat dis-comfort, and vocal fatigue are the usual symptoms. The causes? Vocal misuse and overuse, most likely dehydration, and lack of rest. Music teachers are prone to swell-ing, polyps, and nodules on their vocal cords as well as hyperfunction of the mus-cles in and around the voice box.

Unfortunately, music teachers don’t typically learn about speaking-voice opti-mization and care during their college years, which places them at a huge occu-pational risk because they regularly en-dure back-to-back hours of demanding vocal rigor, often over background noise

and typically to groups of more than 30 children. I’ve sat across the therapy table from many music teachers afflicted with career-altering voice problems who cope with constant throat pain and hoarseness that interfere with the job they dearly love. I wish these professional superhe-roes had had information early on in their careers to help prevent vocal problems.

Along those lines, here are 10 tips to improve your vocal health in the class-room and to reduce my caseload.

1Use a personal amplifier at all times when teaching in your classroom, as well as when running rehearsals in

the auditorium, gym, or cafeteria. If you’re involved in recess, bus, or lunch duty, by all means use it then too. I usually recommend the Chattervox by Siemens or the SoniVox by Griffin Technologies. These amplifiers are battery-operated and fully transportable. The only cord runs from the headset microphone down to the speaker, which is held in a fanny pack-

style holder (not the pinnacle of fashion, true, and it does hearken back to ’90s-era tourists, but it’s worth it). Keeping the microphone close to your mouth is key. This is the single most important and ef-fective thing you can do to save your voice. A voice amplifier can reduce fa-tigue, pain, and hoarseness. Begin using one before you develop problems, to elongate the life of your voice and possi-bly free your voice up for those singing jobs you’ve been avoiding because you’re just too tired.

2Use recorded music or videos to break up sections of oral teaching longer than two hours and give

yourself a much-needed voice nap.

3Draw on music students with strong voices as singing models for the rest of the section. This will not only re-

duce your vocal load, but it will also pro-vide a daily opportunity for your section leaders to perform.

lectern

for Music Teachers

VoiceSaversA voice pathologist offers 10 tips to prevent hoarseness, throat pain, and vocal fatigue By Starr Cookman

11_lectern.indd 1 12/12/11 9:08:24 AM

nafme.org 29

4Avoid additional singing commit-ments outside work until you’re able to get to Friday afternoon

without vocal hoarseness, laryngeal pain, or vocal fatigue.

5Don’t push through laryngitis or teach while you’re sick to avoid us-ing a substitute. Vocal cords are at

even greater risk for permanent damage if

you use them while they’re swollen. It’s much better to miss one or two days to rest your cords when you’re ill than to face the ramifications of disability due to permanent damage to your voice. Harsh, I know. But I’ve seen too many music teachers face a premature end to their ca-reers due to voice problems, and it’s heartbreaking. Most are able to rehabili-tate, but it’s a long road.

6Use nonvocal means for classroom management. Establish simple tunes to signify transition points in

your class. Use lights, bells, whistles, hand signals, feedback from your voice amplifi-cation system . . . whatever works.

7Warm up your body, breath, and voice on the morning of each teach-ing day. Stress held unconsciously

in your body often negatively affects vocal function. Stretching and releasing the muscles of your neck, jaw, and shoulders can help counteract this.

8Be aware of your posture while you teach. A common mistake teachers unconsciously make is to

reach forward with their faces to con-nect with their students. Another is to use a “perma-grin” to convey an open and supportive personality. Unfortu-nately, both of these postures introduce problems for the voice. Both the chin jutting forward and the smile may en-courage your larynx to ride high in the neck. Correct your chin-jut throughout the day by positioning your ears over your shoulders, and smile more with your eyes than with your lips.

9Keep your system hydrated. Find ways to get to the bathroom so you can drink enough water through-

out the day to make your urine pale yel-low. Avoiding diuretics (caffeine) can be helpful in managing your bladder. Sipping water, rather than gulping all at once, and gradually increasing your water intake over a week or so can also help reduce the need to frequent the bathroom at incon-venient times.

10Check in with a singing teach-er or singing voice specialist to be sure you’re using good

technique when singing for students. Even the most accomplished singers need a teacher to provide feedback on habitu-ated tension in their technique. When singing for students, teachers often ma-nipulate their voices to sound more like the children. To provide a good vocal model, a pure, nonvibrato sound may be used. In and of itself, this isn’t necessarily harmful. It’s of great importance, how-ever, that you consult with a singing teacher and demonstrate how you’re singing in the classroom. You may be able to make some simple adjustments that will save your voice.

Don’t...Reach forward with your face or wear a big grin

Do...Keep your chin back and smile with your eyes

11_lectern.indd 2 12/12/11 9:08:42 AM


What to AvoidIrritants in the environment can a� ect the tissue of the vocal folds. Everything we breathe passes through them. Cigarette or cigar smoke, stage smoke, and arti� cial fog can irritate the vocal cords or worse. Likewise, chemical fumes from cleaning supplies, nail polish remover, paint, and paint thinner; dust; mold; and other air-borne allergens can have a negative e� ect. Super-dry environments, such as air-planes or rooms with forced-air heating, take their toll as well. As the dry or smoky air passes over the moist vocal folds, it robs them of their moisture, making vibration more di� cult.

Anything that contributes to dehydration in your body can also contribute to vocal fold dry-ness. Alcohol, ca� eine, and some medications are common con-tributors to dehydration. If you consume alcohol and ca� eine, try to do so in moderation and increase the amount of water you drink to keep your body hy-drated; for example, drink an extra glass of water for every glass of wine. To check the dry-ing e� ects of your medications, the National Center for Voice & Speech maintains a list of medications and how they a� ect your voice (ncvs.org/rx.html).

Our own bodies create too much mucus and/or acid near our vocal folds,

which can cause problems with vocal clarity and comfort. A surprisingly com-mon vocal fold irritant, acid re� ux—or more particularly laryngopharyngeal re-� ux (LPR), which occurs primarily at the level of the throat—can cause red-ness, irritation, and swelling of the vocal folds. Sometimes LPR can affect us

without obvious re� ux symp-toms, displaying only as hoarseness or excessive phlegm. With postnasal drip, secretions often land on or near the vocal folds, causing irritation and frequent cough-ing, which can lead to vocal injury. A doctor can help with both LPR and postnasal drip.

Don’t take your voice for granted. With a few precau-tions and an awareness of your vocal health, you can keep voice problems at bay while pursuing a rewarding music teaching career.

Starr Cookman is a voice/speech pathologist and assistant profes-sor at the University of Connect-icut Health Center, coauthor of The Voice Book: Caring For, Protecting and Improving

Your Voice (Chicago Review Press, 2009), and cocreator of the Laryngeal Teaching Series DVDs (loveyourvoice.com). She also teaches music part-time at a small Montes-sori school in Connecticut.

Irritants like smoke, mold, and alcohol are some of the things to avoid.

Do....Use a personal amplifi er when teaching

FURTHER READINGThe following articles from NAfME publications offer additional information about keeping your voice healthy.■ “Should I Use a Class-room Microphone? Pros, Cons, and Other Consider-ations for the Preservation of Vocal Health in Music Teachers,” Music Educators Journal, December 2010.■ “The Relationship be-tween the Physical Aspects of Voice Production and Optimal Vocal Health,” Music Educators Journal, January 2008.■ “Music Shouldn’t Hurt,” Teaching Music, October 2011.

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The January NAfME member monthly special features the 2012 Music In Our Schools Month® (MIOSM®) Lapel Stickers. Your students will love using these 1-1/2" square colorful stickers. Whether on clothes, books, or bags, they will raise awareness of music in your school!

In January only, NAfME members can purchase the MIOSM lapel stickers (500 per pack) for only $7.50 – half off the regular price!

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Lapel Stickers: #6502. $7.50

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Kodály once trenchantly noted that “music education begins nine months before the birth of the mother.” Edwin Gordon believes music training must begin by age five. Parents may hear these things and think it’s just another missed deadline on the path to raising the perfect child. For music educators, it’s a re-minder that by the time kids get to kindergarten, the best chances for music training may have already passed. Both par-ents and educators may be partly right, but there are reasons to relax the anxiety a bit.

It’s clear that, properly nurtured, preschoolers have an amaz-ing ability to learn the fundamentals of singing on pitch and basic rhythm. It’s also clear that by kindergarten that receptivity

In kindergarten and beyond, students gradually develop their musical skills. But music aptitude develops much earlier—and teachers can begin to foster it in preschool.By KeIth Powers

12_Preschool.indd 1 12/12/11 9:16:03 AM

nafme.org 33

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is already activated—or it’s greatly diminished. But what public school educators do, faced with the assortment of skill levels they see when children reach kindergarten, is of crucial impor-tance not only to the child, but to their brothers and sisters back home and in preschool as well.

THE BASICSA few things remain constant in raising a musical child. In a nut-shell: If you don’t do it, they probably won’t either. And “doing it” is not that complicated. Sing to your child, dance a little too when they’re older, fabricate musi-cal instruments, count out rhythms—in short, make music part of your life. If you want your child to take music lessons, take them yourself. Lead by example, and participate.

“If you value it, the children value it too,” says Susan Kenney, professor of music education at Brigham Young University. “We’ve established that those early years have critical opportuni-ties, and the big thing is to put those opportunities into action.

“Singing is the first thing. Sing, sing, sing, sing, sing,” she says (in case you missed the point). “Sing with them, sing to them. Music is a social and emotional phenomenon, and for the child and the parents, it’s bonding time. Making music with a child is not just putting on a CD and letting them alone. It’s about singing, and when they’re older, making musical instru-

ments out of pots and pans and wooden spoons.”

“There are reasons to think that pregnant women should be singing and reading to their fe-tuses,” says Suzanne L. Burton, associate professor of music edu-

“Making music with a child is not just putting on a CD and letting them alone. It’s about singing.”—Susan Kenney


nafme.org 35

cation at the University of Delaware and editor of the recent Learning from Young Children: Research in Early Childhood Music. “In Italy, the Gordon Institute there does teach classes for pregnant women. But in essence, when children hear a lot of language, the vocabulary they possess is richer. In language they imitate a sound that they hear, and then someone picks up on those imita-tions and engages in dialogue, and that partnership scaffolds into conversation.

“We are wired for music,” Burton adds. “Providing young children with active listening, and imitating, tonally and rhyth-mically, in a creative way, can bring out a child’s innate musi-cianship. Children need experiences of listening to music, interacting in music from a human, so that they are submerged in a variety of meters.”

Jennifer S. McDonel, executive director of the Gordon In-stitute for Music Learning, says that “while we know that a child’s learning begins at birth, there really is no hard evidence

about before birth. There’s lots of research now, but assuming that we start learning from birth, that’s when our aptitude is the highest. Based on the experience we either have or don’t have, we are able to make sense of our environment, musically speaking.

“In all development there are early windows of opportunity,” she says. “The brain has more neural buds than we need, and there is a surge in the shaping of the neural networks. But the brain prunes itself, so whatever kinds of experience you give your children shapes them. In my mind, I would want to give lots of experiences. Music is one way of knowing, and it compliments other ways of knowing. Everything informs everything else.”

WHAT TEACHERS CAN DO“I don’t think the techniques have changed—young kids need to be directly interacting,” says Wendy Sims, professor and director of music education at the University of Missouri Columbia and

ResouRces FoR

The eaRly yeaRsIf you’re searching for more ideas and approaches relating to music education in early childhood, NAfME has many resources available.

BooksAll the titles below are published by NAfME/Rowman & Littlefield Education. For further information on them, go to nxtbook.com/ygsreprints/ygs/p22280_2011nafmecat/index.php.n Learning from Young Children: Research in Early Childhood Music, edited by Suzanne L. Burton and Cynthis Crump Taggart, 2011n Singin’, Sweatin’, and Storytime: Literature-Based Movement and Music for the Young Child, by Rebecca E. Hamik and Catherine M. Wilson, 2010n Music and the Young Mind: Enhancing Brain Development and Engaging Learning, by Maureen Harris, 2009n SoundPlay: Understanding Music through Creative Movement, by Leon H. Burton and Takeo Kudo, 2006n Spotlight on Early Childhood Music Education: Selected Articles from State MEA Journals, 2000n Strategies for Teaching Prekindergarten Music, compiled and edited by Wendy L. Sims, 1995n Music in Prekindergarten: Planning & Teaching, edited by Mary Palmer and Wendy L. Sims, 1993n TIPS: Music Activities in Early Childhood, compiled by John M. Feierabend, 1990

Website articlesThe following two articles are both parts of larger series; links to the other respective parts are also available on these pages.n Early Childhood: nafme.org/v/general_music/music -aptitude-use-it-or-lose-it n Early Childhood Activities: nafme.org/v/general_music/early-childhood-singing-activities-part-1

Periodicals The January 2011 issue of General Music Today had a special focus on early childhood; go to nafme.org/resources/view/general-music-today for more details.



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editor of Music in Prekindergarten: Planning and Teaching. “I actually think it’s down to the teacher, that the teacher is the key. You need someone who understands young children. It’s more about emphasizing fun over specific objectives, drawing ideas from the kids. You have to have good experiences, take a playful role, and catch the teachable moment. The kids are not good at following direction.”

“The transition from imitation to improvisation can occur at any time,” Suzanne Burton notes, “so it’s hard to say that there is a right time to engage. We can get caught up in stage theory. But I use the model that a young child needs to hear music in tonalities and different meters, and eventually the child will lead the person into the right time for improvisation. Fol-low the lead of the child; those are the foundations.

“Gordon’s work on music aptitude has determined that from birth to age nine there is a window of musical develop-ment, that children are born with a certain aptitude, and that the nurture part helps support that aptitude. Any neglect during that period means we’re talk-ing about not taking advantage of that ability—but not about achievement. That depends on the child and then on the adult.

People accomplish more than what their aptitude indicates, if they work hard on it. What we’re talking about in a child is raw potential.”

“Make space to respond,” Jennifer McDonel advises. “Inter-pret sounds in a musical context, starting them toward pitch accuracy. But give the children some space to see what they do. If there is space to respond, eventually babies will start paying attention to the sounds around them and make purposeful re-sponses. Most parents interpret children’s vocalizations as lin-guistics, so whenever they say something that is like something else, we praise them. That’s what musical play theories try to do. When the teacher returns what the child does, the child

will think, ‘Wow, you under-stand what I’m doing.’

“When they can physical-ly keep a beat, then they’re ready to chant a pattern in meters, then perform them in a consistent tempo, and that leads us to reading and writing music.”

Decisions about what pedagogy to buy into—Suzuki lessons, the Kodály approach, Gordon Music Learning Theory, Orff, O’Connor, Dalcroze, or any of the almost bewildering variety of training methods—need not be something that parents of a

“Most kindergartners come to music class with impoverished musical backgrounds. The majority have not developed a listening vocabulary.”—Suzanne Burton


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very young child need to worry about … just yet.“Every child is di� erent,” Kenney says, “but I would caution

parents not to get children into structured learning too early on. My own thinking: Wait for lessons until a child can read. You can do group things, you can interact in various ways, but the formal training can wait until then.

“There are no hard and fast rules,” she emphasizes. “If there were, I would say them over and over. Look at the children, see what they are interested in.”

THE TECHNOLOGY QUESTIONFor music educators in the later grades, technology has improved in so many ways: programs that aid composition instruction, or that provide instant feedback for performance and evaluation. And with the overwhelming reliance on gadgets in general, it might be easy to think that there’s a device to plug in that will help young children as well. Not so fast.

“Young kids need to be directly interacting,” says Sims, “not engaging in technology. Listening devices are the only things

that have gotten better. Young kids � nd it meaningful not just to listen to music, but to control that listening. If it’s easy for a child to listen to something over and over, or to change what they’re listening to, that’s very helpful. In their own selec-tive periods, when they control the expe-rience, that technology can be useful.”

“Technology is great in the sense that the early music educators can send out a blast and there is an immediate connec-tion between peers,” McDonel says. “But it’s hard to imagine getting a toddler to use a computer. We’re trying to help build the whole child, and music is one way to connect socially. It’s not just mu-sic for its own sake, it’s a way to connect with people.”

KINDERGARTEN: NOW WHAT?“Most kindergartners come to music class with impoverished musical backgrounds,” Burton says. “The majority of kindergar-ten students have not developed a listen-ing vocabulary, or the musical readiness to engage in musical dialogue.” With that in mind, a public school educator needs to assess the student’s abilities, keeping in mind two goals—bringing every child to at least roughly the same level, and not

“Seat strong singers or audiators around the more tentative ones. Students learn best by model-ing their peers.”—Jennifer McDonel

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nafme.org 39

squandering whatever previous musical engagement that partic-ular children have already had.

“They need to hear music sung and chanted by musician-teachers,” Burton adds, “to engage in movement, and have op-portunities to sing and chant alone so that teachers can assess their rhythmic, tonal, and singing voice development.”

“We see such a wide range of student achievement when they come to school,” McDonel says. “They may still be in musical babble, and it’s our job to guide them out of musical babble, and objectify the way they understand music, to guide them tonally and rhythmically. Teachers who use music aptitude testing have a more objective reference when it comes to children’s poten-tial. We can’t ‘see’ everything just in a student’s achievement. A

thing that counts the most.” “I’m encouraged by Title I preschools that are being housed

in school districts,” Sims says, “but the preschool standards are different. One of the main issues is preparing elementary teach-ers to work with preschoolers. They need to be much more flexible, they need to be into participation and more playful.

“I teach in a preschool, and if the [regular classroom] teach-ers stay, instead of taking off for another meeting or something, they are learning throughout. Being with a specialist helps them develop. It’s about their confidence—and the kids love it when their teacher is with them, and they plan that as part of their day. One time a week with a specialist doesn’t do anything for anybody.”

kindergarten child may have had a lot of music exposure in early childhood, and may already be using a singing voice, but may still have low, average, or high music aptitude. Knowledge of music aptitude can assist the teacher in best guiding each student’s ongoing learning.

“Seat strong singers or audiators around the more tentative ones,” Mc- Donel suggests, “so those students are surrounded by a model of peers. Students learn best by modeling their peers. Keep in mind the needs of the high-aptitude students as well. Find ways to engage those children that encourage their musi-cal growth. Often we lose the students with high aptitude to boredom, and those with lower aptitude to frustration. Dif-ferentiating instruction is important.”

“They need to be exposed to a diverse background of music though active listen-ing,” Sims says. “Kindergartners need playful exposure to musical elements and activities without being encumbered with correctness and accuracy. I do not see kindergarten as a time to ‘get them up to speed.’ Each child is developing within his or her own musical timeframe and will generally be tuneful and beat-con-scious by the end of the year, given the appropriate guidance.

“Parent education is of great impor-tance. I suggest that music teachers send research home about the importance of music in their children’s lives, as well as reports on what children are doing in the music classroom. I also am a big believer in inviting parents into the classroom to experience what their children experi-ence.”

And if there is a chance for kindergar-ten music teachers to reach the preschool educator, some simple things can be help-ful as well. “As it stands now,” McDonel says, “most preschools have generalists, so the best option is to teach them. It seems that for a generalist, singing ability is the

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retained. b. The condition of being

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taining.taining.3. An ability to recall or rec-3. An ability to recall or rec-

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re·ten·tion (r-tnshn)re·ten·tion (r-tnshn)

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learned or experienced;

How do ensemble directors keep their students coming back for more? The options are many.By Susan Poliniak

ecruiting students is one thing, but keeping them in a chorus, orchestra, or band is another. Although a music director has no control over some vari-ables, there is much that can be done to help your

students to stay. We’ve spoken with several experts for their advice on retention.

The Big Problem: Schedule Confl ictsUnfortunately, you probably know � rsthand about having a student leave your group. Some of the reasons are understand-

able, although that doesn’t make them any less frustrating. Scheduling con� icts can pose big problems. “AP and honors classes a� ect music classes in most schools because music classes draw the top students in the school,” says Ron Kearns, a retired band and orchestra director in Maryland with over 30 years of experience in music education (and also the author of Quick Ref-erence for Band Directors, published by NAfME/Rowman & Little-� eld Education). “The other issue is that students complete elective requirements early, so they opt not to take band.”

Enlisting allies in your school—namely, guidance counsel-ors—can help with scheduling concerns, but some educators are � ghting other issues. Susan Bechler, a retired public school


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music teacher with over 35 years of expe-rience who currently maintains a private studio in violin, viola, and fiddle, and is an adjunct staff member at Ashokan Fid-dle and Dance in upstate New York, says that “the music class can be one of the first suggested to go by counselors strug-gling to help kids pass their core academ-ics. This is something to resist, even if it means stepping up to supervise your stu-dent’s math homework after school.”

What’s a music educator to do? Plenty. Either find a way to make the existing system work for your musicians, or change the system. Sandra Crandall, di-rector of orchestras at Bexley City Schools in Bexley, Ohio, cites an example of the latter. “Here in Ohio,” she says, “there’s a new state law that allows you to test out of something if you prove you can do it. We have some kids writing up their health plans—they’re doing it for their sports anyway. They get PE credit for that, and it eliminates the conflict.”

For Gary Gribble, director of bands at Alan C. Pope High School in Marietta, Georgia, there’s an-other option: “We have convinced our administration to of-fer a ‘zero period’ class that meets prior to the regular school day. Courses offered during this period in-clude health/physical education (required to graduate) and weight training.”

Granted, not ev-eryone has these op-tions at their disposal, but you can still help your students with scheduling. Gribble keeps copies of sched-ules created by his top music students to use as a reference, and works with parents to encourage careful se-lection of electives.

However, in many cases, conflicts with sports and other activities are practically inevitable. Justin Love, director of bands and performing arts department chair at Olathe North High School in Olathe, Kansas, advocates being proactive: “An-ticipating schedule issues and working directly with the people who can fix problems can alleviate many issues. Being flexible with students involved in multi-ple activities can pay off. Yes, you may not have every kid at every performance, but they also stick with your program as opposed to dropping out altogether.”

Why Else Do Students Quit?“The main reason kids leave is because their friends quit,” Crandall says. “Kids quit in groups.” Still, if your better stu-dents stay, they may influence others to stick with it. “When there are very tal-ented or dedicated players in an ensemble who also are well-liked or well-known for this or other achievements, their presence may be encouraging to some,” Bechler

says, adding that you should try not to be put off in such cases if you notice some of your less successful musicians falling by the wayside: “If there is a strong core of students who achieve and work diligently in an ensem-ble, the less able and less dedicated do seem to drop off.” Bechler has also noticed that students may quit be-cause their social life (and social media) takes precedence, no matter how wonderful the music program may be, while Love has observed that after-school jobs can create difficulties.

However, some stu-dents lose interest due

to problems brought on by poor class-room management. “Students don’t

like to have their time wasted,” Kearns notes. “Loose classroom rules and no clear expectations create discipline prob-lems. Discipline problems can kill a pro-gram quickly. Lesson plans for music classes and objectives placed on the black-board help students to see that the class has a clear goal. It also shows the teach-er’s expectations. When students see that their time is respected, they return re-spect to the program.”

Keeping Kids Who Are “On the Fence”Picture this scenario: One of your stu-dents comes to you and says that he no longer wishes to continue—or, worse, you hear about it secondhand. What can you say to get him to reconsider? “You’re going to have peaks and valleys of interest and ability—times when you slog away, and times when you learn easily,” Crandall says. “Maybe he’s in a valley, and he needs to think about toughing that out and all of those great times he’s had.”

Bear in mind that by the time you re-alize your student is on the way out, it may be too late for a pep talk, or you may inadvertently be coaxing back a potential problem. “The kids who want to quit are going to quit regardless,” says Ryan Smith, band director of the Perry Local School District in Massillon, Ohio. “If you do convince them, nine times out of ten they become a problem.”

Assuming that you’re dealing with a student who doesn’t fit that description, you can enlist allies in your retention ef-forts. Parents, for one, can help encour-age their children to stick with it and should be consulted, but you should strive to have a positive rapport with them be-fore any issues arise. “Regular communi-cation with parents about the group, its goals, and the many good reasons for pur-suing music to a high skill level is surely helpful,” Bechler says. “Notes or phone calls encourage parents to advocate for continued participation. These should be separate from report cards, and can de-scribe how their child is doing musically, or something you noticed, even a teen who is polite to others or helps with the chairs.”

The parents of Gribble’s students are equally important to the success of his band. “We have parents create newslet-ters that are distributed to the program,” he says. “They also create promotional

“Step into the Student’S ShoeS and examine the program. Would you enjoy being a member?”—gary gribble


nafme.org 43

videos that we post on Facebook, You-Tube, and on our website. We have sev-eral parents speak at our band meetings to share their positive experiences with band. We also have a contact list so that experienced parents communicate di-rectly with new families (or future fami-lies from our feeder schools) via telephone and email.”

Students’ more stalwart peers can also prove helpful in your retention efforts. “If there are students on the fence about joining or staying in band, I will often speak with their section leader or other band students that they are friends with to see if they can help encourage them to play,” Love notes. Gribble also advocates student involvement in retention efforts: “We frequently have our more experi-enced students speak to the parent boost-er group or to the other students about their experiences in band. We also have them write articles for our newsletter and blog entries for our website. The stu-dents can speak to their academic work-load, scheduling experiences, and rationale for continuing in band. Coming from them, it adds credibility. When all of the information comes from the direc-

tors, it can seem a bit biased. We also keep emails and letters from graduates who tell us that their college experience was made easier because of things that they learned as a part of their high school music experience. We share these fre-quently with both students and parents.”

On a related note, Gribble’s program makes good use of a special piece of doc-umentation: a band yearbook. “This is in addition to the regular school yearbook, and highlights all of our annual band ac-tivities. It has many candid photos of each band student as well as a senior feature. It is a great keepsake as well as a wonderful recruiting tool.”

Being Proactive to Avoid ProblemsOf course, attrition-proofing your group is wise, and there are various strategies that may work for your program. In gen-eral, students are less likely to leave when they feel that they’re not just another face behind a music stand. “The most impor-tant thing I used was personal contact,” Kearns says. “I wasn’t talking to the third chair player; I was talking to Ron, who played third chair parts. I made an effort

to know each student’s name. I had a seat-ing chart for each class so that I could call students by name from the podium. When I talked to them, they knew they were im-portant to me.”

Love also believes strongly in the value of personal connections: “Take the time to say hello to as many students as possi-ble as they come in or out of your room each day. Talk to your students outside of class—in the halls during passing time, at lunch, before or after a concert. As music educators, we are often in a unique position compared to our fellow teach-ers. Depending on the school setting, we may have a student in class for four years or more. If you take the time to get to know your students—more than just their name, instrument, and grade—they will feel that their music program is a place where they belong.”

Bechler says that letting students know they’re liked and respected is vital. “Teachers shouldn’t be their students’ friends, but should treat them kindly. Teachers should bring sympathy and em-pathy, coupled with compromise, but hold a bottom line about responsibility, respect and completion of work. Too

Whether rehearsing indoors or performing

outdoors (opposite page), Ryan Smith’s

students stay focused on the academic.



much pushing, or phrasing comments so that students feel at fault for something out of their hands, discourages kids. I think teachers with a heavy-handed or critical attitude lose students quickly.”

Showing kids that their accomplish-ments have been noticed can also go a long way toward creating a cohesive group. “Section rewards like pizza parties for the section that achieves specified goals in a week; recognition of ‘unsung heroes’ or MVPs; recognition of ‘high

“ I OFTEN QUARREL WITH THOSE STRIVING TO MAKE THEIR PROGRAMS ‘FUN.’ MUSIC IS FUN WHEN YOU’RE GOOD.”—RYAN SMITH

achievers’ or most improved players; rec-ognition for students who are not late, are well prepared for class, contribute to the group in non-musical ways; and gen-eral acknowledgement of each student’s e� orts” are just a few things that Kearns recommends. “Most students who leave don’t realize how valuable their contribu-tions to the group are. The better players generally stay; the lesser players need to know that you and the group respect their contributions.”

Speaking of contributions, giving your students a voice beyond just the musical can help. “We also wrote a mission state-ment as a group so that everyone felt ownership of the program,” Kearns notes. “Sections would meet to rehearse and discuss band business and suggestions for how to improve things. My top students were always asked to peer-mentor other students. This team-building helped keep all students engaged.” Smith also employs team-building strategies: “Each year, we take our ‘student leadership team’ on a one-day retreat to team-build, talk about goals for the upcoming year, etc. We also take a major trip every four years. While trips aren’t the focus of our program, it also encourages kids from the early grades

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to know they are going to a major desti-nation when they are in high school.”

It practically goes without saying that you need to have a strong program, aca-demically and artistically, to recruit and retain the best (and most). “I believe that groups with high rates of retention are fun, challenging, and rigorous,” Gribble says. “They achieve a healthy balance be-tween all aspects of the program and of-fer something for every student regardless of ability level. The philosophy of the group is centered on the process of achievement rather than on the winning of awards.” Smith cautions music educa-tors to keep things consistent, well orga-nized, and centered on the academic: “I often quarrel with those striving to make their programs ‘fun.’ Music is fun when you’re good.”

Your own attitude and classroom strategies may be two of the most impor-tant inf luences on your students. As Bechler remarks, “Visibly and audibly showing you love what you do encourages kids to want to be in your classes.”

Parting ThoughtsWhen you lose a student, it can be hard not to take it personally. “I beat myself up. Every one you lose is like a dagger to the heart,” Crandall laments. “You spend so many years to get them to play, and you think of the kid as a member of the group. Maybe they had a bad solo and ensemble experience that year. You can’t always do something about it.” That said, take the time to assess the loss objectively, and see if changes are possible and necessary. “I think good teachers soul-search over ev-ery student who quits, hoping to find ways to ‘save’ the next one,” Bechler says.

In the end, it’s up to you to create a cohesive group where every student is valued, an encouraging atmosphere, and an academically rigorous program—all of which can go a long way towards keep-ing students engaged and enthusiastic. The key word is balance. “If we are too strict, too inflexible, or too distant, then students might not develop a true con-nection to our programs,” Gribble says. “If we are extremely loose, unfocused, and shallow, then the students will see little value in spending time in our class. We must find the balance between all as-pects of our activities and create an atmo-sphere that is welcoming, challenging, and caring. Step into the student’s shoes and examine the program. Would you en-joy being a member?”

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WWhen music lessons really jell for Marilyn Hostetler’s students, there’s an unmistak-able energy that literally sizzles in the air. “It’s like something happens, an electrici-ty,” she says. “Whether you’re in the class-room, or even working with adults at a conference or workshop, when real learn-ing happens, it becomes addictive.”

It was that addiction that � rst pro-pelled Hostetler down the path of music education. But she soon learned that the key to success in the music classroom, as with so much in life, is � exibility. “When something’s not working, you just need to keep shifting and shifting until it does,” she says.

That succinct yet sage advice has helped Hostetler soar through nearly 30 years of teaching music, 22 of them in Jamestown, Rhode Island, where she currently teaches general music in grades K-8 at Lawn Avenue and Melrose Avenue Schools (she also teaches keyboard to se-lect middle schoolers). She recently re-ceived Jamestown’s � rst-ever Teacher of the Year award—a designation that auto-matically makes her a candidate for the

WAn award-winning Rhode Island

music teacher is tapping into

learning’s main current

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state’s top teacher—and was appointed as professional development facilitator for the entire Jamestown school district. The latter role finds her involved in policy-making to help teachers advance through the certification progress, become adept with new technologies, and navigate vari-ous other issues.

Although her selection for the admin-istrative role—one not commonly asso-ciated with music teachers—“came as a bit of a surprise,” Hostetler has been a significant part of school policy commit-tees through the years as the district’s program has grown. And no matter whether she’s wearing her educator or her administrator hat, the same thing lies at the core of her work: the drive to make learning tangible in the classroom.

children—and Hostetler has be-come synonymous with Jame-stown’s music education program.

“A lot of people underestimate what we do in the music classroom,” she says. “We don’t get the kids every day and we have to help them retain the information. You have to get to the punch line—get to the kids right away or lose them.”

Getting to kids right away, par-ticularly kids in the early grades, can be a challenge. In connection with this, Hostetler has found that all work and no play does, indeed, make for a dull lesson. Her anti-

dote? Games-based learning. “When I was teaching the younger

kids, seven- and eight-year-olds, I was re-ally questioning how much they were re-taining,” she says. “I didn’t feel like they were getting it by the old methods.”

Recollecting that “everything I re-membered from being a kid had to do with games,” Hostetler decided to take a new tack. “If I only have them for 40 minutes one day a week and I expect them to know what a quarter note is sev-en days later, it’s not going to happen with only a pencil and paper,” she says. “I tried games, and the difference was amaz-ing.”

Creating learning-based games be-came a specialty, and Hostetler honed her own skills developing game-based lessons that allow not only for kids to learn bet-ter but also for the teacher to better eval-uate the students’ skill level. “The key is having games where I can get an assess-ment during the lesson or at the end,” she says. “I’ve spent a lot of time talking with coworkers and other teachers about it.

Hostetler credits her parents for in-stilling in her a regard for the importance of continuing her education after she fin-ished high school in Middletown, R.I., where she sang and played piano. Al-though she majored in music education at Rhode Island College, she initially was drawn to choral directing and less en-tranced with the idea of teaching. The idea of being in a room with students all day just didn’t excite her. However, when a tight job market led her to take her first teaching job in a town in Maine, every-thing changed.

“I got hooked the moment I crossed the desk,” she recalls. “There was this amazing sense of not knowing exactly what was going to come next, and this in-credible energy. I thought, ‘If I can be successful teaching kids, that’s what I want to do.’”

Fast-forward a few decades—plus a few years teaching in New Hampshire and other parts of Rhode Island, with a little time off from the classroom to earn her master’s degree and raise her young

Q What is something you know to be

true about teach-ing music that you didn’t know when you started?how essential a good music program at the elementary level is to the development of the child, the secondary performing groups, and to the school community as a whole.

Q If you weren’t a music teacher,

you’d be ... Involved in brain research, as it impacts education and learning.

Q The music educa-tion profession

would be better if …All children could participate in musical performances regularly on a stage with their peers to demonstrate academic and social growth, without worry of being judged

or criticized. they would experience the comradely exuberance of performing for a culture that values them and applauds their efforts. these performances would be deemed as a mandated, essential part of their education by the community.

Q What’s the most important lesson

you hope to instill in your students?

that the vibration of music lies within each person and is unique unto the individual; they just need to experience it and

believe in it because music touches beyond our senses. Music written by Bob Dylan or Cole porter has touched spirits as deeply as the music of John Williams or Aaron Copland. It is because of that intangible gift of comfort that a piece of music gives to the essence of each person that humanity survives to meet the next challenge.

Q&A with Marilyn Hostetler

“A lot of people underestimate what we do in the music classroom. You have to get to the punch line—get to the kids right away or lose them.”

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When you have a problem you want to teach in the classroom, � rst write that problem down and ask, ‘What game can I format around it so I can get a real-time assessment?’ ”

Administrators, too, have sought out Hostetler’s collaboration, and she has written K-8 music curricula for two oth-er districts. When the principal of the elementary school in Jamestown ap-proached her several years ago looking for a way to provide additional arts in-struction for the younger grades, Hostetler helped develop an integrated arts and literacy program based on Moth-er Goose rhymes. The class started in kindergarten and has grown to include � rst grade, too.

“Kids have gotten away from the old-school type of learning. They’re losing

poetry, jokes, and things like that. And kids get a kick out of rhyming,” Hostetler says. “So we created the program based on Mother Goose and it’s been very suc-cessful. Now the students get general music one day a week and music/literacy a second day.”

Herself the mother of three grown children, Hostetler says that parenting has helped shape her role as a teacher. In particular, she thanks her middle daugh-ter, who was born profoundly deaf, for helping her think outside the box. “She certainly has helped cement for me that music is multidimensional. You have to see it, feel it, touch it, and do it,” Hostetler says.

Besides her highly interactive class-room lessons, Hostetler’s curriculum also includes a healthy measure of perfor-mance for students at every level, begin-ning in kindergarten. She does this as much to help the kids hone the life skill of public speaking as to show o� their musi-cal prowess. “I want them to be comfort-able in front of people and to know that the stage is not something to be afraid of,” she says.

For more information on Adelphi’s music program, visit pfa.adelphi.edu.

Department of Music

B.S. in Music Education B.S. in Music

Adelphi offers its students:• Commitment to excellence in

teaching and musicianship

• Integrated learning through common music literacy skills

• Interactions with expert public school music teachers

• Concentrations in performance, composition and jazz

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workshop


General Music

Getting a Good Rap in the Music ClassroomHip-hop—a spoken musical idiom origi-nating in the Bronx, New York, in the 1970s—is highly expressive and full of rhythmic invention. Unfortunately, it of-ten contains violent imagery and misogy-nistic lyrics, and therefore a great deal of it is unsuitable for consideration in the classroom. However, select hip-hop re-cordings are free of such problems and can be explored as part of a dynamic mu-sic class. Taylor Carroll of the Notting-ham School in Nottingham, New Hampshire, is one of a number of music teachers who finds creative ways to use clean hip-hop in the classroom.

In Carroll’s experience, hip-hop—whose tremendous cultural inf luence can be seen in the fashion, graffiti, and language that so many young people are drawn to—is a great way to reach out to kids who might otherwise have limited interest in music. “Students are always engaged when I teach about hip-hop,” she says. “They feel respected because I’m teaching their kind of music, but there is still stuff that they can learn from me.”

As for classroom-appropri-ate hip-hop recordings, Carroll finds that some of the earliest examples of the genre work well. “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang and “The Breaks” by Kurtis Blow are two

excellent examples that are inoffensive while featuring the style’s characteristic clever wordplay and exciting rhythms; the same goes for LL Cool J’s “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” and much of A Tribe Called Quest’s catalog. More mod-ern fare by the likes of Eminem can sometimes be used as well. “I’ve discov-ered that many songs have edited or amended versions that are suitable for the classroom,” Carroll says, adding that if a song is mostly clean, a teacher can easily bleep out expletives simply by at-tenuating the sound of a recording at the appropriate intervals.

Not only does Carroll teach about the history of hip-hop and its various musi-cal elements—including DJing, the de-velopment of the turntable as an instrument, beatboxing (mouth percus-sion), and rapping—but she also uses the idiom as a springboard for a larger dis-cussion on art. With her eighth-grade classes, she adds a unit on graffiti; with her second- and fourth-graders, she in-troduces breakdancing: “I explain what rap is, as many second graders don’t lis-

ten to it at home, and give them a few listening examples. Then I bring out large pieces of cardboard and give them turns trying out some b-boy moves.”

Through engaging activities like these, Carroll connects with students in a meaningful way while doing her part to legitimize a music that has often been marginalized in education circles. “I think that teaching hip-hop in the class-room gives validity to the genre,” she says. —Adam Perlmutter

Brass and WoodWinds

A Whole Tone on the Whole FluteMany beginning flutists are able to get a good, solid tone on the head joint within a short time—only to lose that tone when playing on the fully assembled flute. The frustration that accompanies this very common problem makes the already challenging task of learning the initial fingerings even more difficult, as students often cannot tell whether it’s their lips or their fingers that are causing the trouble. We spoke to Emily Osby, a music teacher in the Stevens Point (Wisconsin) Area Public School District, to learn some straightforward ways of helping young flutists with this tone-quality issue.

The first step in helping students achieve a good tone on the flute is to en-courage them to use the proper embou-chure alignment. Osby has her students say “emm” and then, with their lips closed, begin to blow a stream of air into the flute. The air stream should part the lips, creating a small opening. As the P

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student blows, watch the lip plate for signs of condensation to show exactly where he or she is blowing and work to focus the stream into the center of the tone hole. Using a mirror to assist with this is highly recommended, as is allow-ing students to compare the appearance of their embouchure with those of other players, either through photographs or by working in pairs.

If the student is able to produce a con-sistent tone on the head joint but then loses that tone when playing on the as-sembled flute, it usually has to do with unintentional changes caused by the stu-dent stretching to hold the instrument. “When young students first begin to stretch their arms and fingers to accom-modate the flute, the good alignment that they had on the short head joint gets

messed up,” Osby says. “Extending the arms off to the side and concentrating on hand position can cause the student to lose the centered embouchure and fo-cused air stream they achieved on the head joint alone.” To fix this, Osby fo-cuses on posture and hand position, once again using a mirror to provide a visual reference for the student.

Something else that frequently con-tributes to substandard tone quality on the flute is poor finger control and hand placement. Any time a student has prob-lems getting a note to “speak,” double-check to make sure that the fingers are completely pressing down the keys. Even the slightest gap between the key and the body of the flute may cause the note to wash out, creating a sound that suggests an embouchure problem but is really the product of a fingering problem. Other common mistakes like leaving a finger leaning on the trill keys can also mas-querade as embouchure issues; so can

improperly aligned pads. When in doubt, clean off the head joint and try playing the instrument yourself to check.

Flute tone problems can be among the most difficult issues that beginning musicians have to face, but with a little patient observance and lots of guided practice, they can be solved. —Chad Criswell

guitar and keyboard

Thoughts on Guitar Group Tuning TroubleAlthough a skilled guitarist needs only a few seconds to tune his or her instru-ment, it can easily take 15 minutes for a classroom teacher to help 30 young mu-sicians get their guitars tuned up, eating into valuable time that could otherwise be spent learning techniques and songs. Obviously, a more efficient group tun-ing approach is preferable, and Eileen Dimminger, who teaches guitar at Woodside Priory School in Portola Val-ley, California, has some useful thoughts on this subject.

Look at any concert video of a pro-fessional guitarist and you’ll most likely find him or her constantly tinker-ing with the tuning knobs. Dimminger, however, feels that in a classroom context, not every string need be tuned every day. She explains, “If the gui-tars are stored properly—we keep them in my orchestra room where the temperature is consistent, not like in a car trunk where it’s hot—the bass strings in particular retain their pitch very well.”

An easy solution to min-imizing tuning time would be to use the electronic tuners that are so widely available today. But Dim-minger finds that these de-vices can be deleterious to musical development: “I don’t like the store-bought tuners, as the students will

use their eyes to tune and not their ears. That will not help develop aural percep-tion.”

Instead, Dimminger suggests that students simply strum an open E chord and listen closely to the sound of the in-dividual strings. She also finds it benefi-cial to use the guitar’s natural harmonics, as shown in the figure below. When an open string is out of tune with the natu-ral harmonic, students will notice a pul-sating effect that disappears when the strings are in tune—something that’s easier for some students to recognize than specific pitches.

Another strategy that Dimminger employs in the interest of time-efficien-cy is that of just getting on with the class. Without checking anyone’s tuning beforehand, she’ll set students to work on finger warm-ups or scales. As they play, she tells them to listen closely and ascertain whether their guitars are in tune—a practice that promotes ear training. “Eventually, even the students with poor aural perception will catch on; I have them raise their hands if they need tuning.”

Some students will readily hear out-of-tune notes, while others will struggle to identify them. Dimminger helps the students who are struggling individually while the class is busy practicing note-reading and other exercises. “I take them

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to a practice room and show them how to match pitch by humming,” she ex-plains. “They need to hum the correct pitch—I use a piano in the room—and then try to hum the pitch of the guitar string. Usually after a few tries, they can tell if their voices are going up or down. Just remember that, like anything else, developing aural perception takes time, practice, and patience—unless you have perfect pitch!” —Adam Perlmutter

stringsImproved Intonation Has the Ring of Truth

Helping string students to achieve good intonation while also getting them to know when they are not in tune often comes only as the result of a concerted effort on the part of ensemble leaders or private teachers. Matthew Rotjan, a cel-list and string teacher in the South Or-angetown, New York, schools, has many ideas about improving students’ intona-tion, and offers some suggestions.

A great way to begin teaching students about intonation is by fostering an aware-ness of how to listen. “If you can’t identi-fy the problem, then you can’t diagnose and correct,” Rotjan points out. “You can’t just say it sounds bad.” Conversely, when students can name the problem, they go a long way toward fixing it. To this end, Rotjan has begun to record his students’ playing. Teacher and students will then listen to the recordings togeth-er to analyze various aspects of the per-formance, which helps everyone to reflect more on pitch. Rotjan pays special atten-tion to developing the ears of his bass players: “The whole orchestra tunes to them, and with a wider space on the fin-gerboard, there is larger room for error.”

With more advanced students, Rot-jan works on intonation by using sympa-thetic vibrations or what many call “ringing tones.” He explains to students that if, for example, they “play a [fin-gered] D and it is played well in tune, then it will get the open D string to ring well along with it.” This method is par-ticularly useful for students because it creates a “visual indicator” when they see the open string vibrating. Having something so concrete to focus on helps students grasp a concept that would oth-erwise be hard to pinpoint; Rotjan says that this is “one of the great qualities that distinguishes the stringed instru-ments from brass or woodwinds.”

Next, Rotjan builds upon his students’ understanding of ringing tones by having them lis-ten for resonance in an ensemble setting. He tells his groups that he loves it when a note—D, for ex-ample—continues to resonate at the end of a song, then challenges them by asking, “Who can get that note to ring the longest?” This en-courages them to strive to make their fingered notes more resonant and on pitch.

Working with stu-dents on tone can also help improve their pitch. According to Rotjan, “Tone is very closely re-lated to pitch. If we pro-duce a poor quality of sound, then we can’t produce a good pitch be-

... continuedworkshop cause it’s also related to resonance. If we

play with a scratchy sound, for example, then we can’t hear the pitch accurately.”

In Rotjan’s undergraduate years, he had a scales class two to three times per week, and he remains highly invested in scale practice. He teaches that every two notes played against each other have a particular relationship, and he asks stu-dents to come up with words that de-sc r ibe re l at ion sh ips bet ween notes—E-flat and D, for instance, or F-sharp and D. Of course, he also values the standard visual indicator that best as-sists with intonation: finger pat-terns. Teaching students about half steps, whole steps, and fingers that “hug” helps to drill intonation skills early on, pro-gramming the hand and the ear to learn the relationships between pitches.

Perhaps the best advice Rotjan can of-fer is to simply get a conversation going between students and teachers about what constitutes good pitch. With fur-ther talk comes further awareness, and from that will come better intonation. —Cynthia Darling

PercussionHeavy Metal: Straight Talk on Cymbals and Gongs

The distinctive crash of a cymbal or gong can add exciting dimensions to the sound of an ensemble. But what characteristics should band and orchestra directors be looking for in these instruments? With so many types and models to choose from, making an informed decision on what to use for your program can be difficult. In addition to hand cymbals for concert band, orchestra, and marching band, modern cymbal manufacturers like Zild-jian, Sabian, and Paiste make a variety of “effect” cymbals to add color to any ar-rangement. Some examples include splash (6-10" in diameter), swish (18-22" in diameter), and ozone cymbals (10-18" in diameter).

A good rule of thumb is that the thin-ner and lighter in weight a cymbal is, the lower its pitch fundamental will be. The determining factor in purchasing a heavi-er cymbal versus a thinner one is obvi-ously its musical application. For jazz ensembles, you may need a heavier ride

“Tone is very closely related to pitch. If we produce a poor quality of sound, then we can’t produce a good pitch because it’s also related to resonance.”

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cymbal (which traditionally provides pulse and swing feel) or a crash cymbal with a higher pitch to project through the sound of the brass and electronic instru-ments like electric guitar, keyboard, and bass. “If you are in a rural area without access to a large music store, talk to other directors and find out what they are us-ing,” suggests Shawn Hoffman, director of bands at Ridgeway Area High School in Ridgeway, Pennsylvania. “My col-leagues have always been a great source of information on any percussion equip-ment I’ve been in the market for, cymbals included.”

Gongs can range in size from the 28"-diameter symphonic gong to the 40"-di-ameter Chinese gong, and are struck with a mallet. They are suspended verti-cally on a stand by a cord that passes through holes near the top of the instru-ment. Before striking, it’s imperative to “warm up” the gong so that each rhyth-mic entrance can be clearly heard with-out delay. Simply take your gong mallet and lightly tap around the outside edge of the gong to get the metal vibrating. De-pending on the tempo of the piece of mu-sic, you will usually warm up the gong about four measures before an entrance. It’s also advisable to warm up hand cym-bals in similar situations, especially ones in which the sound of the cymbal is ex-posed. Tap the edge of both cymbals on a rug-covered table top or your knees, so each plate is already vibrating before be-ing struck.P

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“As far as using cymbals in our ensem-bles,” Hoffman says, “I often add cymbal parts to highlight and enhance what’s go-ing on in the wind section. The instru-ments are so versatile and can add such a large range of color that their addition can help fill out the sound of an ensem-ble, particularly if you have a small en-semble. The key to unlocking their potential is to step away from the most common techniques used and explore other less commonly written techniques. Playing on the dome, in the middle, or on the edge of the cymbal will yield a dif-ferent type of sound.”

In rehearsal, ask your students to ex-periment with different cymbal weights and sizes, and see if they can hear subtle differences between each. These tests can help promote independence and curi-osity, which are attributes found in all great percussionists. —Steve Fidyk

chorus and vocal

Putting Singers to the TestVocal testing can be an extremely helpful method for determining the part to which each of your choral students should be assigned. It’s also a good way to gauge the technical level and progress of each singer. However, many directors are confused about how best to go about the process and what they should be lis-tening for. “There are teachers who don’t test because no one taught them how, or they’ve never seen it before, but I think there’s no wrong way to do it,” says Mi-chelle Levine, K–12 music director of the Sutherland (Nebraska) Public Schools.

First off, how often should you test your students? Certainly, you should do so at the beginning of the school year or if a new singer joins the group. However, Levine also recommends testing students at regular intervals—for instance, at the beginning of each semester. “It’s a good way to judge the progress of your stu-dents and determine if a switch to a dif-ferent part or a technical course

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Study• the ways that music education develops creativity, instills disciplined work habits, and statistically correlates with gains in standardized test scores.Speak• with your local school board. Be in touch• with local music teachers on a regular basis. Offer to help out.Take part• in your school’s music booster organization.

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correction is in order.”The testing process itself should be

neither complicated nor stressful. Stu-dents can be eased into it in ways that will help you get an accurate picture of their abilities. “I spend a couple of days getting the kids comfortable doing warm-ups,” Levine explains. “I’ll teach them a round. My goal is for them to sing it without assistance—without the piano and with just a starting pitch. That shows me musical ability level in a short amount of time. I’m looking for relax-ation (no tension), matching pitch, and getting away from that breathy, young voice that most kids use. Also, being able to support and hold longer notes and not having to take as many breaths. I take kids separately and we do some kind of warm-up just to see their range. I give them a couple of pitches to match, usu-ally a series of three or four. I ask them to sing the round. I try first with a start-ing pitch and see if they can do it, but if they can’t, I have them sing it with me. If that doesn’t work, we do it with the pia-no. And I always do this during rehearsal time, although I’ll ask them to come in after school if they want to.”

Testing singers in the class-room may seem fraught for both student and teacher, but it doesn’t have to be. There are steps you can take to en-sure that your kids don’t feel self-conscious or overly ner-vous in the presence of their classmates. In addition to as-signing theory worksheets to the singers not currently being tested, Levine has strategies for minimizing agi-ta: “My students know that negativity is just not allowed—it’s not going to be tolerated. It’s my job to make correc-tions, and the students are there to sup-port each other. Usually, if I test in the same room, I tell the students that as long as they’re whispering, it’s okay for them to talk to their neighbors. The kids don’t even pay attention to the one being tested because I’ve given them permis-sion to talk, and they don’t get that often! If a student gets nervous, I say, ‘Did you remember the person before you? No? Well, they’re not going to notice you, either!’” —Susan Poliniak

“My students know that negativity is just not allowed—it’s not going to be tolerated. It’s my job to make corrections, and the students are there to support each other.”

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OOh, say, can you see? A class of young students can learn music and much more by studying America’s national anthem!

“The Star-Spangled Banner” (SSB), which couples lyrics written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 with the tune of an old English drinking song, pro-vides a powerful springboard for lessons, ac-cording to Erica Batten, a general music teacher at the Ross School in Ross, Califor-nia. Because it is our national anthem, most students have heard it many times in many ways—familar, yes, but not simplistic.

Batten’s lesson relating to the anthem uses some of the many recorded versions available online to stimulate lively conversations about culture, performance, and history. “How does frequent orna-mentation a� ect the overall performance of the song?” she asks. “Does the performance feel di� erent to you if it is sung by a soloist vs. played by a marching band vs. played by an orchestra?” Batten always includes Jimi Hendrix’s electric guitar solo version from the 1969 Wood-stock Festival to get the discussion going: “We talk about the song as a national sym-bol, and whether his performance was dis-respectful or an appropriate expression of his feelings, and what the national response was at that time. Should an artist be able to take creative license with a song written by someone else? How does this relate to sam-pling or covers of pop/rock music? Where should we draw the line?”

For Batten’s older students, musical con-cepts like intonation, accuracy of melody and lyrics, performance decisions, and timbre are also covered. For classes including for-eign students, the lesson allows for listening to excerpts of other countries’ national an-thems with similar concepts in mind.

Mary Abt of Truro Central School in Tru-ro, Massachusetts, can’t get enough of the SSB, revisiting it many times throughout the school year. She says she began using the an-them “from the moment I became a teacher” 25 years ago. Most of her SSB lesson plans

emphasize its rich history and wide-ranging melody, but she also discusses the fact that the song makes use of an older tune. “Borrowing melodies is a time-tested method of writing

songs,” she says. “I change lyrics to tunes con-tinually in class, and I have students do the same. It’s a great way to teach students what makes a good and singable melody.”

This year, Abt tried something new with the SSB: She broke out the bottles. No, this had nothing to do with the anthem’s drink-ing-song origins—she simply had her stu-dents play it on glass bottles filled with di� erent amounts of water. Some blew into the bottles; others used mallets. “Finding the

right bottles and the proper amount of water was a challenge,” she reports, “but the discussion of scales, half steps, and whole steps was great. And the use of tuned bottles led to an inter-esting science discussion.” Another crystal-clear demonstra-tion of how much the SSB has to o� er.

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A Lesson in Patriotism—and MelodyEducators find that “The Star-Spangled Banner” offers plenty of insight into music ■ BY PATIENCE MOORE

“Should an artist be able to

take creative license with a

song written by someone else?”

stageselementaryelementary

Mary Abt of Truro Central School in Tru-Mary Abt of Truro Central School in Tru-

16_Stagesele.indd 1 12/9/11 5:13:59 PM


IIt’s a well-known fact that kids love play-ing drums—so much so, in fact, that school ensemble directors often face the challenge of having to limit the number of percussionists in their groups. “Stu-dents like to play what they see,” says John Rivers, band director at Faircrest Memorial Middle School in Canton, Ohio. “What’s the first present you give to a kid under the Christmas tree? A drum to bang on. Drums aren’t the sim-plest thing to learn, but they may seem that way because they’re familiar to young people.”

Not only are drums familiar, but drummers also seem to get instant grati-fication compared to, say, a wind player. “It takes wind players a very long time to master rhythmically what percussion players can master in the first couple of weeks,” says Matthew Saunders, whose teaching experience ranges from middle school to college and who is currently director of bands at Okla-homa Panhandle State University. “Wind players have more to think about, especially when they are first learning.”

So what are band directors to do when they need to create a concert band rather than a marching drumline? The easiest an-swer: Don’t allow students to play drums right away. “The first thing we do with my fifth graders at our school is demonstrate all the other instru-ments,” Rivers says. “Of course, we show the instruments we want our kids to gravitate toward, like the clar-inet. We don’t show a drum.” Bells are the first type of percussion instru-ment he introduces to his students: “By playing bells, students learn how to read rhythms as well as how to read and play notes. Then, around January, I introduce the pad and snare drum.”

Jason High, band director at Merry Acres Middle School in Albany, Georgia, says that his young musicians “must put in a year on a wind instrument first. Then I’ll pick who can switch

to percussion the next year. I assure the kids that learning to read music will make them better drummers in the future.” Al-though the band may lose some members because of this, those who are really interested stay on. Rivers takes things one step further before handing the drums over to students: He gives

them a coordination test to make sure they have rhythm, can count, and can keep a steady tempo.

Back in his secondary teaching days, Saunders’ policy was always to make membership in the percussion section something that a student earns. “For the first year or so,” he says, “the music doesn’t require per-cussion. It’s when musicians get to

high school and you have marching band that you need a whole drum line of 20 percussionists. You don’t need that for a con-cert band.”

Will the allure of the drums ever fade? Not likely, but stu-dents can be taught to love other instruments, and perhaps even become masters of more than one.” P

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pitched percussion

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Everyone Wants to Play Drums, But There Are LimitsThough students may be game for playing many instruments, the lure of percussion can pose a problem for directors n By DEBBiE GALAnTE BLock

stagescollegiatesecondary

“Drums aren’t the simplest thing to learn, but

they may seem that way because they’re familiar to

young people.”

17_Stagessec.indd 1 12/12/11 12:16:13 PM

Music In Our Schools Month

Call 1-800-828-0229 or visit www.nafme.org for full descriptions and to place an order.

®

T-shirts – (Short Sleeve), #6507B-I (Adult M–3XL, Youth S–L)Adult $15.00/$11.25 NAfME membersYouth $13.00/$9.75 NAfME members

Poster – Two 11" x 17" full color posters for teachers and administrators to hang in classroom or meeting areas. #6504. $2.00/$1.50 NAfME members

Lapel Stickers – 1-1/2" square colorful stickers with logo for clothes, books, and bags. (500 per pack: 20 sheets of 25 stickers)#6502. $15.00/$11.25 NAfME members

Egg Shaker – 2-1/2" x 1-5/8" white egg shaker with MIOSM logo in black.#6501. $2.00/$1.50 NAfME members

Ruler – 6" translucent ruler in assorted colors with MIOSM logo in white.#6505. $1.20/$.90 NAfME members

Bic® Sticky-notes – Two 3" x 3" lined green pads. #6506. $3.00/$2.25 NAfME members

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

Pencils – Set of 12 round,#2 green and yellow pencils (6 of each) with MIOSM logo in green and gold.#6503. $6.00/$4.50 NAfME members Buttons – 1-3/8" round orange and green

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Order by February 1, 2012 to guarantee availability.

T-shirts – (Long Sleeve),

#6508B-F (Adult M–3XL)

Adult $16.00/$12.00 NAfME

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In March 2012, music education becomes the focus of schools across the nation! Take advantage of this opportunity to share your musical ideas and accomplishments with families, friends and communities. For celebration ideas, advocacy materials, and information on the 2012 Concert for Music In Our Schools Month (formerly the World’s Largest Concert), visit www.nafme.org.

_TM_AD_Temp.indd 1 12/9/11 10:04:09 AM

TThere comes a point in the career of every young educator (or future edu-cator) when one’s thoughts turn to-ward an advanced degree. However, music educators in particular must face an extra question: Should the de-gree be in music education or some other subject? The answer may seem obvious. If you plan to remain a music teacher, why not stick with your spe-cialty? But given the current state of employment in America, it may be worth weighing other options.

“Some teachers may feel that a de-gree that’s not in a specialized � eld like music may give them more of a safety net if their jobs are cut,” says Christine Nowmos, K-4 general mu-sic teacher in the Woodstown-Pile-grove, New Jersey, Regional School District. “They may be able to get employment teaching another sub-ject, or keep full-time status by teaching classes other than music.”

On the other hand, if you know for sure that you want to teach music, working toward a master’s in another subject may not be wise. As Nowmos points out, “Many states may give hir-ing preference to teachers who are highly quali� ed in a particular subject. So, depending on the state or district, a more general master’s degree without specialized coursework might not nec-essarily qualify one for a job in another teaching � eld.”

Robert Beaulieu, who teaches music in the Groton, Con-necticut, Public Schools, could have gotten his master’s in mu-sic education, but instead he opted for a secondary mathematics degree. “The way school funding has been going, it never hurts to be dual-certi� ed,” he says, “and to me, math looked like it would be applicable. So many of us in the music world have other talents, and math and music are so related. The mistakes my students make are often not music mistakes, they’re math mistakes—like assigning the wrong value to a note.”

Beaulieu has no regrets about his decision. “Getting the math degree actually helped me decide that I wanted to keep teaching music. I love my job, and I don’t think being without a music-ed degree is a handicap. I’m teaching middle school. If

I were teaching in college, I’d need a Ph.D. and I might want to specialize. But is being in a narrower frame re-ally going to make your teaching any better?”

Nowmos, in contrast, got her mas-ter’s in music education (specializing

in Kodály) over six years. The experience “gave a direction to my teaching that I did not have before, and this helped me to begin to develop a sequenced music-literacy-based curriculum for my school.” But no matter what course you may choose to pursue, she recommends not rushing into anything: “When I � nished my bachelor’s degree, I thought I wanted to be a band director. If I’d gone directly into a master’s program with a fo-cus on instrumental studies or conducting, much of my course-work might not be applicable to the situation I’m in today.” B

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A Question of Degree Has More than One AnswerMaster’s candidates may wish to specialize, stay general, or even choose a different course of study ■ BY MAC RANDALL

stagescollegiatecollegiate

“The way school funding has been going, it never

hurts to be dual-certifi ed.”

The State Universityhas conferred upon

Paul Anthony Greenfieldthe degree of

Master of EducationPresident of Regents

Secretary of Regents

President of the University

Provost of the University

Adam Taylor

Jennifer L Wyndam

Susan Green

Max B. Sutton

MusicEEEXXX

CCCEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEENNNCCC

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18_Stagescol.indd 1 12/9/11 5:16:59 PM

2012LE

ADLeadership experience and deveLopment (Lead) conferences

LEAD Conferences are for Honor Society and student council students and advisers in middle level and high schools. The 3-day conferences offer leadership training for students and professional development for advisers. LEAD Conference attendees return to school with renewed energy, excitement, and enthusiasm, and bring new skills and ideas back to share with their fellow students and staff members.

Conference registration and information at www.LEADConferences.org

Online Registration Available!Early bird registration: Tri-M Member $175 per person; Nonmember Schools $285 per personRegular registration: Tri-M Member $195 per person; Nonmember Schools $305 per person

ChiCAgO, iLFebruary 17–19, 2012

The Westin Lombard Yorktown Center

WAshingtOn, DCFebruary 3–5, 2012

Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel

Special thanks to our LEAD Conference sponsor. NHS, NJHS, and NASC are programs of NASSP.LEAD Conferences are programs of NASSP.

Energize Your Leadership!

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Chicago, IL • Stamford, CT

NHS, NJHS, and NASC are programs of NASSP. STAR Leaders Conference is a program of NASSP. Special thanks to our Star Leaders Conference Corporate Sponsors.

2011


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2011

Energize Your Leadership!

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resources


Remembering the SongsBy Fernando Cellicion and Company (2011, one CD and one DVD, $30 for educators). Playing and making fl utes has long been a cultural hallmark of Native American peoples, but it’s also becoming an endangered art. This package, produced by the Center for American Indian Policy and Applied Research (CAIPAR) at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Montana, explores the musical traditions of the Salish, Diné, and Zuni nations. The CD presents fl ute-based music of all three peoples, while the DVD tells the stories of fl ute makers and players, including Zuni fl utist Fernando Cellicion and Diné master builder Paul Thompson. HeartLines, caipar.org.

A Place in the ChoirBy John Jacobson (2011, paperback, 184 pp., $16.99). Choral teacher, author, and motivational speaker John Jacobson likes to take lessons learned from his work as a music educator and apply them to life in general. That’s the princi-pal angle of this collection of essays, songs, and random observations. Among the subjects covered are the importance of collaboration, encourag-ing a sense of gratitude, and dealing with “Sunday night syndrome.” One particularly amusing section is titled “Things that Can’t Be Taught in Music Class”—at the end of it, Jacobson still hasn’t found a single item to put on his list of unteachables. Hal Leonard, halleonard.com.

Leader of the BandBy Scott Lang (2011, paperback, 280 pp., $21.95). It’s always a good idea to take a look at what others in your fi eld are doing and how they’re doing it, as a source of both ideas and inspiration. In this book, music educator and clinician Scott Lang talks to nine exceptional music teachers, recounts their personal and professional histories, and examines how they built their programs, how they encourage their students, and how they deal with failure, among many other topics. Their observations convey useful insights about what distinguishes a successful music class and what it takes to create one. GIA Publications, giamusic.com.

The Latin Real Easy BookBy Sher Music Co. (2011, paper-back, 275 pp., $32). Presented in “Real Easy” format, with notation on one page and educational material on the facing page, this book offers a mix of Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and Latin jazz pieces—many never before seen in print—by artists ranging from Cal Tjader to Eddie Palmieri to Antonio Carlos Jobim. The book’s fi rst half is for middle and high school ensem-bles, while the second is geared more toward college groups. An appendix provides an over-view of major Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythmic styles, with sample parts for each player. Sher Music Co., shermusic.com.

Books

Audio CDs

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

19_Resources.indd 1 12/12/11 9:37:29 AM

continued ...

Musical Minds: An Integrated Approach to Music Learning for the Young Student By Alison Maerker Garner (2011, paperback with CD and teacher’s manual, 124 pp., $29.95). Geared for the late fi rst- and second-year student, this book teaches elements of music by integrating art, dance, movement, and language lessons through a combination of Orff, Kodály, Suzuki, and Dalcroze philosophies. It introduces the concepts of musical form, rhythm, pitch, dynamics, and tempo, with watercolor illustrations by Margaret Scanlan. The CD includes selections from folk traditions, while the teacher’s manual provides detailed lesson plans. Merry Pace Press, garnerstudio2.com.

Learn to Read Rhythms ... Better!By Pat Petrillo (2011, two discs plus e-book, $29.95). Designed for all levels, this set employs a “sound picture” method (incorporating a digital pointer) to help students connect how a given rhythm sounds with how it looks in notation. Topics include quarter-, eighth-, and 16th-note combinations; dotted rhythms and rests; “straight” and “swing” interpretations of syncopated patterns; and triplet rhythm combinations. The e-book features MP3 clips of each example. Alfred Publishing, alfred.com.

DVDs

Using Technology to Unlock Musical CreativityBy Scott Watson (2011, paperback, 352 pp., $35). A 25-year K-12 music teaching veteran in the Allentown, Pennsylvania, public schools, Scott Watson is also a music technology expert. At the start of this book, he establishes eight principles for drawing out musical creativity; he then illustrates how they can be applied through technology-based activities. There are detailed plans for dozens of potential projects, each linked to the National Standards, and a resource section with techni-cal tips and a glos-sary. A companion website (oup.com/us/musicalcreativity) features audio and video examples, down-loadable worksheets, rubrics, and activity fi les. Oxford University Press, oup.com.

MINDSan integrated approach to music

learning for the young student

Alison Maerker Garner

Illustrations by Margaret Scanlan

MINDSMUSICAL

ZillaDog Created by parents for kids, this website offers a secure environment for listening to music, play-ing games, and various other activities. What makes it interesting for teachers is that it also serves as a portal for a school or classroom email service. Teachers can set up and administer special student accounts that are open only to class participants, elimi-nating spam and the risk of web predators. These accounts are free, but an application is required. For more details, go to zilladog.com.

nafme.org 63

Websites

A Cool Approach to Jazz TheoryBy Erica von Kleist (2011, paperback, 172 pp, $29.95). Students often feel intimidated by jazz improvisation,

but those fears can be combated by developing a strong understanding of harmony. In this book jazz saxophonist Erica von Kleist provides a step-by-step guide to playing chords on any instrument, deciphering their symbols, understanding progressions, and creating improvised melodies that fi t a song’s harmony. To get the most out of what’s here, students should already be able to read music; have an aware-ness of jazz and intermediate ability on an instrument; and know a few scales, including the chromatic scale. Cartoon-ish illustrations by Emily Leibin contribute to the book’s overall sense of whimsy. Jazz Theory Is Cool, jazztheoryiscool.com.

A Cool Approach to

Jazz TheoryA step-by-step guide to improvising with scales, chords

and progressions

by Erica von KleistIllustrated by Emily Leibin


resourcesWallwisherThis web-based program is essentially an online bulletin board creator. Users type in messages of 160 characters or less and post them on a virtual “wall,” located at a specifi c web page. The board’s administra-tor invites others to view the wall and can approve every message before it gets posted. Although Wallwisher can be used for any purpose, the possible applications for classroom assignments, homework, and assessments are many, and registration is free. Visit wallwisher.com for more information.

Ableton Live 8By Ableton ($549 box, $449 download; educational discounts available). The latest version of this popular music creation program gives users the ability to easily record, edit, and manipulate audio. New features include a “groove engine” that can add swing to rhythmic patterns and extract grooves from other audio or MIDI sources; a “complex warp mode” that lets you shorten or lengthen audio fi les; and a sound-on-sound looper effect. Ableton, ableton.com.


SoftwareClass Guitar ResourcesSpecialists in Class Guitar Materials for Music Educators

Visit our website at www.classguitar.com or call 1-800-440-1914.

Class Guitar Method Books I & II

■■ 180-day comprehensive curriculum for Middle or High School and College

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Explore It! Guitar & Style

■■ 90-day exploratory curriculum Teacher Manual for Middle and upper Elementary

■■ Teacher Manual

Guitar Ensembles

■■ Guitar Ensembles created for the classroom teacher

■■ Designed for all levels from beginning to advanced guitarists

Shades of Light by Leo Welch

Vivaldi’s Concerto in G Major for

Guitar Ensemble

Haydn’s String Quartet in A Major for

Guitar Ensemble

Guitar Explore It! Class Guitar

NEW FROM CLASS GUITARAVAILABLE ONLINE!

CREATE AND FOSTER AN ENVIRONMENT OF SUPPORT:Study• the ways that music education develops creativity, enhances cooperative learning, instills disciplined work habits, and correlates with gains in standardized test scores.Provide• adequate funding for instruments and music education materials.

COMMUNICATE CONSTRUCTIVELYEncourage• music teachers to support their cause by writing articles in local newspa-pers, professional journals, or by blogging online about the value of music education.Share• your students’ successes with district colleagues.

Visit www.nafme.org and search “Power of Music” for more Principal Resources.

The Many Benefits of Music Education—Tips to Share with Your Principal

Here are some simple ways principals can assist their school’s music educators:


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•The2012ConcertOnline •SongsforMiddleandHighSchoolstudents •Songswithchoreography,percussion,andOrffinstruments

More exciting additions and changes to the 2012 Concert include:

Take advantage of this great free resource provided to you by NAfME and Hal Leonard Corporation! Checkoutthefreesheetmusicandaudiorehearsaltracksatwww.nafme.org/concert!

Questions?ContactSusanLambertatSusanL@nafme.orgor800-336-3768ext.311

The World’s Largest Concert is now...

More exciting additions and changes to the 2012 Concert include:More exciting additions and changes to the 2012 Concert include:

Official concert date is March 8, 2012 at 1 PM EST, but get READY to sing anytime throughout March, Music In Our Schools Month® 2012!

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22_Classified.indd 1 12/12/11 3:57:05 PM


AAt one time in its long history, the march-ing band of Western Dubuque High School in Epworth, Iowa, used to play regularly at national events, including bowl games and presidential inaugura-tions. But somewhere along the way, they stopped doing such things. A couple of years ago, band director Michael Omarzu decided that it was about time to restart the tradition. And so he pro-posed that the ensemble’s next big jour-ney (they schedule a group trip every other year) should be to New Orleans, Louisiana, to perform at the Sugar Bowl.

“This was my � rst time at a bowl game, other than performing in a cou-ple in my college band,” Omarzu says. “The preparation really did take a lot of work. We increased the number of fundraisers we usually do to give the

time show and a separate � eld show competition. (“We also could have played in Jackson Square,” Omarzu re-calls, “but I didn’t schedule it. I would in the future.”) During the rest of their stay, they visited the National World War II Museum, went sightseeing in Jackson Square and the French Quarter, and performed a service project, work-ing with the Homecoming Center of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church to help rebuild an area damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

“The trip was a great success,” Omarzu says. “The students really en-joyed it. Three things stick out for me: how much they enjoyed the World War II Museum, the pride they took in the service project, and the excitement I saw in their eyes when they took the � eld at the Sugar Bowl.” —Mac Randall

going places

March to the Sugar BowlAn Iowa high school band renews grand tradition in Louisiana

students more opportunities to raise money. We also asked for help from businesses to sponsor us. And we had to arrange times and places to practice our marching band show. This was a challenge because marching season usually ends around mid-October in Iowa. We not only needed to keep our show fresh, but we had to � nd places where there wasn’t snow.” Luckily, ar-ranging the trip itself was easy. Omar-zu’s longtime travel provider, Good News Tour & Travel of St. Paul, Min-nesota, took care of the details.

On New Year’s Eve 2010, a group including 75 Western Dubuque march-ing band members traveled by charter buses to New Orleans; they stayed there until January 5, 2011. The band per-formed in both the Sugar Bowl’s half-

going places

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Western Dubuque students perform

during halftime at the Sugar Bowl in New

Orleans’ Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

20_Goingplaces.indd 1 12/9/11 5:19:32 PM

INSTITUTE

Welcome to the SoundTree Institute!

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_TM_AD_Temp.indd 1 12/13/11 9:39:53 AM

Mus114

223

PearsonSchool.com800-848-9500Copyright Pearson Education, Inc., or its affi liates. All rights reserved.

Let Yourself Grow!

Maribeth Yoder-WhiteAppalachian State University

Boone, North Carolina

Sanna LongdenClinician/Consultant

Evanston, Illinois

Sally AlbrechtAlfred Music PublishingRaleigh, North Carolina

Conference & Camp Services Contact: Andrea Mitchell

Phone: 828-262-2921 E-mail: [email protected]

Institute Curriculum Contact: Lisa Runner


Appalachian State UniversityBoone, North Carolina • June 18-22, 2012

2012 Summer Music Institute

INSTITUTE CLINICIANS

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Mus114

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Let Yourself Grow!




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_TM_AD_Temp.indd 1 12/9/11 11:58:45 AM

nafme summer music music magaz… · 1069-7446), an ofﬁ cial magazine of the national association...

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