The Audience

Most middle and high schools don't seem to need to worry about building an audience. Most concerts are filled to the brim with supportive parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. Should we worry about building an audience?

The most important reason for having a concert is for the students. Concerts give the students the opportunity to share the music that they have worked on with the community. This can help to motivate students to work to their full potential. Concerts should also serve to give the students encouragement. I know from years of experience exactly how intimidating it can be to perform in front of an audience. I want my students to know the incredible sense of accomplishment that comes from overcoming that hurdle when you give a beautiful concert, it can be incredible uplifting. It is also rewarding when you share music you love and it has an impact on the audience.

That being said, if the auditoriums are full and the focus is on the students, why should we bother worrying about getting a larger audience? Music should not be a solitary art form, it is meant to be shared. It can unite communities, inspire others to take up music, and expose people to different styles of music as well as cultures.

I've heard of high school directors who fill the concerts with "popular music" to fill the seats and keep the audience interested. While I think there is a time and a place for that kind of music, it should not be selected with only the audience in mind or to make the concert "fun". This choice contradicts the number one reason for having concerts. Repertoire should be selected to interest the students and audience, as well as developing their skills and teaching a variety of musical genres.

Here are some ideas for expanding an audience:

• Find new venues to perform at. For example, it may be possible to bring your ensemble to the local elementary schools or nursing homes. 
• Think about when the concerts are happening? What else is going on at that time? If the performances occur at a time when most people are working, or are unwilling to go out, your audience will be limited.
• Advertise to the community. People who don't have a child in that program typically don't know when performances are, so they do not attend.
• If you can, post videos of your ensemble performing. Give people an idea of what your ensemble offers so they are interested.
• Think about who would be interested in the program you offer. Not everyone will want to attend your concert, so know who your audience base is and make sure they know about it.

Broadway or Bust

The students featured in PBS's documentary "Broadway or Bust" have clearly found a love of singing and performing. The documentary follows a group of high school students who have advanced the the final round of the National High School Musical Theater Awards.  The Jimmy's celebrate some of the finest High School Musical Theater actors and actresses from across the country. 

The Jimmy's are powerful for the students who advance to this round, as well as many other aspiring musicians across the country. For the students who have not made it yet, it gives them a goal to work towards. Not only that, but they see ordinary students their own age giving truly incredible performances and opportunities, and that goal seems attainable. They can be inspired by these truly extraordinary performances and challenge themselves to find the same connections, musicality, and presence.

How can we bring this enthusiasm and excitement to our own schools without having a huge program and Broadway stage? I believe the key is celebration. Music is meant to be shared and enjoyed. Students must be given opportunities to find music that they love and that expresses themselves. They must also have opportunities to share their music. The students that were most successful in the competition, whether that means they advanced further or simply had an amazing time, sang songs that meant something to them. They connected to the songs and were able to share a pure, honest moment with the audience. A moment like that feels exactly the same no matter what stage you are standing on.

One of the casting directors at the end of the film says that it is important that the kids don't see not winning as "rejection." Music can sometimes feel like rejection, especially when it seems like students are auditioning for everything, and feel like they're not finding any success. This feeling of rejection is the biggest enemy of fostering this passion. As educators, we must help students to see their accomplishments every step of the way and celebrate those accomplishments. We must help students understand not to take it personally and to continue making music because they enjoy it.

Woody Guthrie

The other day I had the opportunity to teach a mock lesson on Woody Guthrie to my graduate class. My classmates pretended to be eighth graders for this lesson. They make excellent eighth graders.

Honestly, I had not heard of Woody Guthrie until I received my assignment for this lesson. However, as I began researching Woody and his songs I realized that I had grown up singing many of his songs in school, including "This Land is Your Land." While reading about his life I discovered that the strongest influence on his music was his life and travels. This influence was very clear in "This Land is Your Land," so I chose to use this song as an example of his style and background. Once students understood Guthrie's background and how it influenced his compositions I introduced the students to a project we would be working on in school . I had the students brainstorm aspects of their lives that they could write a song about (this would have continued the next time we had class, if I were teaching a real class). The students came up with very creative ideas.

For the most part, I was pleased with the way the lesson went overall. I started the class with the students standing up and singing. This got the students engaged and gave them the opportunity to be actively involved in Guthrie's music. I felt the students needed to be told information about Guthrie to understand how his background influenced his music, however, I kept the information about Guthrie limited to only what they need to know for this lesson. By doing this, I was able to spend most of the lesson doing activities such as singing, writing, and listening instead of lecturing.  To keep the students engaged in the "lecture" portion of the lesson I asked them questions throughout. Most of the questions I asked them were very basic, I learned that I can ask students more thought provoking questions. I had also intended to have some of Guthrie's music playing in the background, but I forgot to turn it on.

I could have planned an activity that would have been able to fit entirely in the 10 minute lesson. For example, instead of having the students write their own songs I could have had them write another verse to the song. This would reinforce Guthrie's particular style as well as the form of the song. This could also lead to students writing their own songs later in class.

Parents, Money, and Music

When I was in High School the parents of the "music kids" were incredibly involved in helping us put together our performances. There were parent organizations such as "Choral Parents" that ran fundraising and organized buying the choir gowns and tuxedoes. They were in charge of selling roses and refreshments at concerts. For marching band, parents were in charge of handing out uniforms, helping to organize events, and moved equipment to the different competitions. Parents ran the fundraising programs that helped to pay for competitions, music, instruments, and scholarships. We were incredibly fortunate to have so many parents who valued our work enough to dedicate their time to helping us. Their help and dedication gave our directors time to focus on helping us improve our music, instead of focusing on the many logistics that go into operating a thriving music program.

Unfortunately, this is not a reality for many schools. The question that we face is, should we have to rely on parents and fundraising to run a modern BOJC program?

If a teacher is fortunate enough that they have parents that want to be involved they should utilize that incredible resource. It is important for students to see that their parents support what they're doing. One of the amazing things about music is that it has the ability to bring people together, to form communities. Parents were always an important part of my high school music community. By making parents a part of your musical community, students feel supported. They know that their music is important because their parents show that they believe it is important also. It's easy for a student to believe music is not serious if that's the message they receive at home. 
However, although parent support is wonderful, a program must be able to survive without it. It is not always feasible for parents to be as involved. If a program does not have parent support it is up to the teacher to make up the difference. I believe that fundraising is important because music is expensive. Fundraising takes some of the financial burden off the students and their parents. Parents should be encouraged to help, but teachers should be prepared to create a successful program without them. 

Technology in the Music Classroom

The first time I substitute taught in an elementary school after I was dumbfounded by the amount of technology these students have access. It had only been about three years since I had been in an elementary school, but  technology in the school had completely changed. Every classroom had a Smartboard and many students had Ipod touches and Ipads. I was able to see how teachers utilize this technology to enhance their teaching and engage their students. How has this technology changed in the Music classrooms?

Students now expect technology to be a part of their education. And why not? Technology provides so many resources that can be utilized in the classroom. Students may no longer be interested in or be engaged by writing on paper or the chalkboard, or even listening to you talk.

Youtube is an excellent resource for any music classroom. There are so many ways you can utilize it in your classroom. People often post videos of their performances on Youtube. Before starting a new piece with your ensemble you can find an example of an ensemble who did an EXCELLENT performance of that piece to inspire your group.With parent permission you may even be able to share videos of your ensembles performances. Students get very excited when they are able to share their work with the world.

Youtube is also a wonderful source for video tutorials. If you have a class of beginning trumpeters, you can find a tutorial on Youtube to recommend to them for practice at home with. This means that they don't need to waste time at home practicing incorrectly or getting discouraged because they can't remember what was done in class. You could even make a Youtube video yourself!

Musictheory.net is one of my favorite resources for practicing musical skills. The website provides practice for concepts as basic as staffs and note reading, to advanced analysis. This is an excellent source for students to practice concepts learned in the classroom. They can even make a game out of it! The website also has lessons for students to review the concepts. 

Teachers also use the internet to post their own lesson ideas. Through technology we can build an even larger community of music educators. In his blog post, What Does it Take, Chris Johnson writes that music educators must be thieves. We make music education better by learning from other teachers, and in turn we can share our own ideas. A music teacher in Plattsburgh, NY created a website with links to different music lessons that utilize the Smartboard. By using the Smartboard for these lessons students can visualize and engage in music in a new way.

Choral Warm-up

In addition to the clarinet lesson, I had to lead my class in a choral warm-up yesterday. This experience was very intimidating, but also a lot of fun. There were three main lessons that I learned from this exercise:

I consider myself to be a very positive person, so it seemed natural for me to say "good" or "excellent" at the end of a particular warm-up. It turns out too much positive reinforcement is a bad thing. Particularly when the students didn't do anything to reinforce, or you're really just reinforcing bad happens. It would have been much more effective for me to be specific, to really listen to who's doing something right and draw their attention to that. This reinforces the good work, and provides a positive teachable for the other students who may not be doing it right. This gives them information about how to correct themselves without you saying "Johnny don't sing like that!"

I also definitely should have listened more. Instead of listening I sang with the students. It hadn't really occurred to me that this could be a bad idea. I sang with them out of habit, but also because of my lack of piano ability. I felt that if I couldn't play the warm-up with them I should sing it with them to keep them on track. This was not necessary the students knew what they were doing. Also, by singing with them I wasn't able to really hear the students well enough to make corrections. If corrections and reinforcements are not given during warm-ups it tells the students its ok to be lazy at warm-ups and creates bad habits for future warm-ups and repertoire.

Warm-ups are about more than simply warming up the individual voices. Warm-ups should also prepare the choir for the rehearsal. Warm-ups using harmonies help get readjusted to the sound of the choir. It helps them focus on tuning and blending with the other choir members.

Clarinet "Lesson"

Yesterday I had the exciting task of teaching my very first clarinet lesson. My job was to pretend my professor was a fifth grader who was there for his first clarinet lesson (we were both new to the instrument). The lesson was to be taught in front of the other students in my secondary methods class.

My goal for this first lesson was to teach the student proper posture and breathing techniques. I believed by doing this we would create a solid foundation that could be built upon. I think a lot of what I had to say may have gone over the student's head. In my own musical training I have learned to breathe using very technical terms. I knew these would be too complicated for the student, especially in 5 minutes, so I tried to explain it in ways he would understand. I don't think he needed to understand it as fully as I wanted to teach him. The foundation could have been simpler.

If I were to do it again, I would teach him posture and begin to get him thinking about breath. It is unreasonable for me to expect him to find the low connection to breath (which took me years to learn) in five minutes. This goal overwhelmed both of us and the lesson was not as productive as it could have been. I would then begin to teach the student some basics of the actual instrument. In real life, the student would have been very bored and frustrated by this lesson and likely would not have returned for a second one.

Beyond Rubrics- Inspiring a more complete musician

In his article, The Trouble with Rubrics, Alfie Kohn looks at the merits and deficiencies of using rubrics as a standard for assessing students'  work. When students are given a rubric for an assignment Kohn states:

Studies have shown that too much attention to the quality of one’s performance is associated with more superficial thinking, less interest in whatever one is doing, less perseverance in the face of failure, and a tendency to attribute the outcome to innate ability and other factors thought to be beyond one’s control.

I agree with this statement. Students who are most interested in receiving the highest grade possible may be so focused on giving the teacher what they think the teacher wants that they may not explore their own opinions and ideas for the project. If a student is not told exactly what to do for an assignment, or exactly what information to put in an assignment, the student will be forced to rely on their own creativity and knowledge to fulfill the assignment. This would lead to more genuine and complete work.

I recently attended a masterclass taught by the countertenor, Philippe Jaroussky. Mr. Jaroussky achieved international fame through his hard work. When his teachers told him he could not be a countertenor, he did not allow their words to limit his musical pursuit. Teachers sometimes have a rubric in their mind that tells them what they believe makes an excellent countertenor, soprano, violist, pianist, etc. However, a musician is more than check marks on a list of standards. Mr. Jaroussky ignored these standards and pushed himself beyond them. He found success because he was intrinsically motivated to be the best musician that he could, not because he followed everyone's standards. When he performs, this passion and unique ability is part of what makes him so enjoyable to watch. Mr. Jaroussky knew that many of us in the audience aspire to be great musicians and continue to pursue this goal. He advised us not to try to give judges and directors what you think they want when auditioning, instead show them the best version of yourself and your music. Like all art, music is about interpretation and not everyone will agree. You must be able to form your own opinions and always seek to grow to be a musician.

Furthermore, rubrics can help to limit students by giving them the opportunity to decide how much work they would like to put in to a project, and how much they would like to leave out. It allows them to weigh the loss of credit to the amount of effort that they put in.

Each year I adjudicate a music competition for high schoolers. Adjudicators score students based on a rubric provided by the organization. The students who score highest in each section; vocal, band,  orchestra, or jazz are selected to join the ensemble. This rubric is necessary because hundreds of students audition in front of different adjudicators and the organization needs a way to select students fairly. Although this rubric covers many criteria that make up a good musician, it is impossible to cover all. The rubric also gives students and their teachers the opportunity to strategize in a way that is not a fair representation of them as musicians, and denies the student an opportunity to assess their own progress and abilities. As part of the audition, students must sight read. On the rubric students receive points for maintaining a steady tempo, maintaining the key, and note accuracy. For most students, note accuracy is the most difficult part. Some teachers instruct their students to focus on the rhythm and sing everything on the same note. Therefore, the points they receive for rhythm and maintaining a key outweighs the points they lose for note accuracy. Students who advance because of this strategy over students who tried to do the sight reading fully may not always be better musicians.

However, when assigning students tasks, clarity is very important. It would not be fair to deduct points for not including something the student did not know was expected. Rubrics are a quick tool that can make their expectations clear, but this is often used as a crutch. Teachers should be able to make their expectations clear, without relying on the crutch of rubrics.

I believe with music, students should be assessed on effort and improvement. This can be difficult to assess, so it requires lots of communication between the teacher and the individual students. I would assess students at the beginning and set goals for the students to achieve. If a teacher makes these goals important to the student the student will not be limited to them. The teacher and student must have a constant dialogue on what can be improved. Therefore, the teacher may make their expectations clear, without setting limitations. If teachers believe in the students and give them the opportunity for improvement, students will be validated and will want to work hard for themselves and their work will be more genuine and organic.

"Creating Musical Flexibility Through the Ensemble"

Brandt Schneider opens his article, "Creating Musical Flexibility Through the Ensemble" by stating "Bands and orchestras are often repertoire machines – churning out a fixed collection of pieces year after year." I would amend this statement to include choirs as well. This was my experience in my own music education, class time was spent learning a number of pieces and focused on performing. As I begin to think about developing my own class room, I was unsure of how I can teach students music for the concerts while still incorporating the other skills I must teach them. This article is tremendously useful providing advice on how to help students develop as all around musicians and make your ensemble more than a "repertoire machine." 

To begin Mr. Schneider assessed his ensemble and determined the four areas he would like to improve; musical discipline, technique, theory, composition. These techniques are vital to being a good musician, and can often be overlooked in the context of an ensemble. I like how Mr. Schneider recognized that repetition is a good way for students to learn, so he included listening and ear training exercises in every rehearsal. He incorporated singing solfege with playing the songs on their instruments. This helps them to hear the intervals and develop their listening skills. He also had his students work on the same songs in all 12 keys. Transposition is a very important and difficult skill, by creating a sort of game for the practice the challenge is also fun and less stressful. The "Switching Genres" game also helps to keep the practice entertaining by letting the students play with the style of the song. This game helps students understand the characteristics of other genres and how to apply it to the music. In addition, the students played each instrument part. This also helps them practice their listening ability. I also like this technique because it helps them develop an understanding of how their individual part fits in with the rest of the ensemble. It helps them appreciate what parts they should listen for and helps the overall blend of the ensemble. 

The article includes a recording from the earlier portion of Mr. Schneider's rehearsal process. The ensemble has many pitch issues. However, it is still impressive that some of the students can accomplish that with only four weeks on their instruments. Later in the year, Mr. Schneider says they went to a festival and shared this rehearsal technique with an audience and it went very well! It is very impressive that they were able to accomplish that from where they began the year!

Jazz and Folk Music

As a classically trained musician, the majority of my musical knowledge relates to classical music. However, it is important to be an expert in other genres as music educators. I believe that students should be required to learn about the great composers of the classical genre and their music. Although it is vital to learn about these composers, to only teach classical music would deprive the students of a complete music education and history. Furthermore, it may distance some students so they would not benefit from their teacher's teaching. Students should be exposed to a wide range of music so they may develop their identity as a musician and be well rounded. 

Jazz and American folk music should both be vital parts of music education in this country.  Jazz and American folk music make up a rich part of our country's history and the development of music within it. Music teachers should be well versed in these genres as well as classical. Although teachers should be experts in both folk and jazz, I believe they should begin with folk music because folk music builds a very sturdy foundation that teachers can build upon with other genres. The music is accessible and are rich with history and musical merit.

There are some songs everyone will have to sing multiple times in their lives no matter what age they are. These songs are important parts of our culture. They must be able to sing these songs well and with confidence.  As music educators, we must teach them these songs over the course of their education.

• Happy Birthday- Every musician knows what it's like to be at a birthday party, and cringe when it comes time to sing this song. Imagine if it could be sung well every time! 
• Patriotic Songs- These are an important part of heritage. Students should take pride in being able to sing these songs and appreciate the meaning behind them.
• National Anthem
• America the Beautiful
• This land is Your Land
• Amazing Grace
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Who am I?

I was incredibly fortunate enough to have a phenomenal music teacher in elementary school. Actually, I really had incredible music teachers all throughout my education, but that is where it really began. My teacher genuinely believed in the importance of performing. Every year she put together performances for each grade level. Each year we had the opportunity to perform for our friends, classmates, parents, and teachers. We developed enormous pride in our work, and thoroughly enjoyed the process.  This passion that was cultivated in the earliest years of my education followed me. Even if at first I didn't realize I really wanted to pursue a career with music, I knew I never wanted to stop. And I never plan to.

In his book Teaching Music with Purpose, Dr. Boonshaft's genuine and thoughtful approach to education inspired me. I believe that music is one of the most powerful tools educators have. It is a universal art that everyone can enjoy and connect with. If we approach music education with the same sense of wonder, dedication, and compassion as Dr. Boonshaft describes in his book, music educators can truly change lives.

I believe that performance is a vital part of every student's education. Providing students with opportunities to perform creates a window for so much growth. I worked as a paraprofessional for a second grader for a few months, each week I looked forward to the 40 minutes we got to spend in music class. Whenever the teacher played a song he loved, or they started working on a new song he would close his eyes and move his head to the music. His grin was so large that I knew in that moment he heard and understood the beauty in the music. As a teacher, I believe it is our job to nurture that love of music. Through performances students learn cooperation, they learn how to work with others to create a work of art. They must learn how to blend with their fellow musicians. This cooperation helps them to build a community. Music will also teach students to support each other, they will learn to congratulate their classmates on their handwork and appreciate each other's gifts.

Through music, students also have the opportunity to explore other cultures. At UConn we had a program called Opera Outreach. Through this program, voice majors would visit local elementary schools to perform for them and teach them about opera. We got a wide range of reactions from the students, some classrooms would be filled with giggling students who had never heard singing like that before. It was very exciting to be able to expose these students to opera so they understand that it's still beautiful even though it sounds different. Other students had seen our visits a few times and looked forward to it. I was always astounded when we walked into a room of second graders who were genuinely excited to hear opera! When I was young, like many students, I was not exposed to opera and assumed it was something unpleasant. It was so wonderful to see students of such a young age embracing opera!

Music continues to help me grow as a person everyday. I love the way Dr. Boonshaft began the book with the story about his mentor who at the age of 81 had come to realize that he knows nothing. This resonated with me in particular because I believe that we must all be lifelong learners, and there are certainly days when I feel I know nothing at all about music or teaching. This past week I spent two days substitute teaching for the chorus teacher at the high school where I work. If there are two areas I could use a lot more practice in, its piano and sight reading. The teacher didn't know she would be absent so the very first time I was looking at this music was in front of 25 students who were already skeptical of me. It was incredibly stressful, but it was unbelievably enjoyable. I learned how to think on my toes and how to appear calm when I feel exactly the opposite inside. In this experience I also came to understand Dr. Boonshaft's chapter "Not again--Better." I would repeat phrases with the students several times, and sometimes it seemed like nothing would change. It is important to tell the ensemble how they can make the section better, instead of just telling them to do it again. When their teacher returned I was very proud of our hard work, and the perseverance I learned from those students.

In his chapter titled "Why do we teach?" Dr. Boonshaft stated that in educating one generation, we educate that generation to teach their children, and their children, etc. I hope to have this impact on my students. I know the tremendous benefits of music education, and educators like Dr. Boonshaft, my elementary school teacher, and all the other music educators I have been fortunate enough to know inspire me to be the finest music educator I can. I hope to one day teach my students the values and passion for music that my teachers taught me.