CONDUCTING YOUNG BANDS

When conducting young bands, I'm afraid the "artsy stuff" has to go out the window.  Young bands need everything exaggerated.  The beat needs to be exact and easily seen.  Cues need to be very obvious, with both eye contact and a very direct cue with the free hand.  Getting students attention several measures ahead of time is helpful.  One way I do that is to use my free hand and hold up one finger - it gets their attention and they know they have to get ready to come in.  If I really need to get someone's attention (usually drummers) I move to the left or the right.  The movement up front should get them to look.  With dynamics, kids need to full scope of movement.  Arms should use the full range of motion, and I'll even squat down at the podium to really get them to be quiet.

BLOG!

I think about blogging a lot.  And then I don't blog.  It's probably because it's more important for me to attend to other things.  BUT I think that blogging can help me to organize my thoughts.  So here's what I want to blog:

1. What I've learned this year
2. Review of my concert pieces, and which ones should become standard pieces to perform
3. Discussion of future music to play (link here to library)
4. Rock and roll in band music
5. Music Festivals
6. How else to get kids involved in playing their instruments
7. JAZZ BAND

VACATION!

Vacation is too long. I have got a lot done the past few days, though, so that's a good thing.

NACB

As guest conductor for the NACB this week, I was able to hold my 1st rehearsal in my new band room, and conduct the concert!

• In regular rehearsals, we don't play the national anthems, so I didn't either, but I got a little nervous thinking about it and should have practiced it. However it went off almost flawlessly. The band wanted to slow down more than I did towards the end, so I followed them a little more than I should have.
• Fairest of the Fair went quite well, though I had to relax - they didn't go my tempo. I think it was the percussion & trumpets that slowed us down.
• Sabre Dance sounded great but the trumpets missed the repeat at the beginning. I was holding up a finger so they'd wait, but they weren't watching. Given another opportunity I'd hold that hand up higher.
• Best Broadway Marches was overall very good, but a train wreck in the middle. The tempo was supposed to be suddenly quick again and trumpets enter, but they totally missed it. I tried to start there quickly, and they still didnt' play! The THIRD time, they got it. I was real happy with the slower section, as the low instruments followed me quite well.
• The Beatles Forever was smooth.
• Trumpets, Ole! Great tune, and the group got the tempo changes very well. Big help from George the tubist.
• Burnished Brass was easily played right through.
• Hello, Dolly was trouble. The middle section got kind of screwed up with the sound effects and missed entrances. It was still fun though.
• Shenandoah is such a nice tune. The baritone player wasn't quite loud enough, but my 1st clarinets kept their level down just right.
• Dry Bones is awesome. I almost skipped it, but the clarinet players really wanted it (probably since they get to stand up!)
• We didn't play the last two songs, due to lightning. I was really ready for Men of Ohio, too!

NEBDI 2011

Jeff King - Getting Your Students to Practice

• Mr. King believes that the best way to get students to practice is to set clear objectives with a definite timeline for those objectives
  
  • Instrument checks (reeds, cleanliness, functionability, name tag, pencil, other supplies)
    
  • Notebook check
  • Parent sign-off (Students & parents BOTH must be made aware of the objectives & deadlines)
  • scales/rudiments
  • solo
  • concert pieces
  • these objective are laid out in 6-week syllabus, basically
    
• Rhythmic Values page has easy to difficult rhythms (pg37)
  
• "How to Practice" informative sheet for parents (pg39)
• The Duncanville Band has a very cool little logo - could NCUHS get one??
• The "Weekly Rehearsal Planner" (from "Setting Rehearsal Priorities" booklet, pg26) could be very useful, with minor adjustments, and could be used as lesson plans for Band.
• FOUNDATIONS FOR SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE
  
  • The fingering chart is extended, which is great for HS
  • "Concert F around the Band" (pass around F, or 5ths, etc)
    
  • Articulation exercises - tenuto, "lifted", staccatto
  • Long tones - LOTS of long tones
    
    • brasses should do some with only mouthpieces
    • mix up the exercises
  • Warm-ups are great instrument-specific exercises
  • Scales & tuning exercises, too
    

Robert Duke - Beautiful

Rik Pfenninger - New Concepts in Linear Improvisation

• www.rpimprov.com
• You only need FOUR SCALES to improvise
• The Jazz Theory Book
• Band in a Box
• REAL BOOK, Vol.6

Kevin Sedatole, MI State
Conducting Using the Laban Technique & Choosing Quality Literature

• Based on work of Rudolph Laban
  

GRADUATION

I had the honor of playing snare drum with Chandler on Pomp and Circumstance at graduation. The band waited for a signal to play a preliminary piece, but there was never a signal. We missed that, but Pomp was really played well. Percussion had to be careful to stay out of the line of sight for the women who started the seniors marching down the aisles. And of course, on the way out the band played twice as fast.

CONCERT!

I'm so proud of my students tonight! The jazz band had two great soloists who used the blues scale, the beginners came SO FAR, and the advanced band played some really advanced stuff! I can pinpoint three mistakes bu them: percussion came in two beats late (even though I pointed right at them), a flutist played a dotted quarter & eighth like a half note & quarter note (thus adding a beat), and a saxophonist had HUGE trouble with a nasty F# (creating some wicked dissonance where there really was no dissonance!). They got some dynamics in Court Festival, the trumpets were glorious in Imperium, Antagonist was fast and powerful, and Can-Can was so together! The flute quartet was so good, too. The Beginning Band was well-behaved and played all their stuff well.