A First Band Lesson

When assigned to present a five-minute lesson on a band instrument, I had no idea where to begin. I've been an "orchestra kid" since fourth grade, and a singer from even earlier, but I have very little experience in a band setting. Luckily, I was assigned to teach clarinet, which I studied (very briefly) at summer camp, many years ago. At the time, I had learned the basics of the instrument, and how to play "Edelweiss," from The Sound of Music, to perform for Parents' Weekend at the end of the session. I had a vague memory of the basics, and I used various websites to refresh my memory.

But what turned out to be my problem was not lack of knowledge but lack of time. I had no idea how long five minutes actually lasted. I wrote a lesson plan detailing parts of the clarinet, how to assemble the instrument and how to hold it, and proper playing posture. However, that lesson could easily run to 90 minutes or longer, without ever making a sound. And that would be no fun for a sixth-grader. So, after seeing how some of my classmates started, I decided instead to focus only on the mouthpiece. My first lesson would start with a small amount of background of the instrument, and then move on to assembling the mouthpiece and trying to make a sound, preferably without squawking.

And despite the fact that I changed a large portion of the lesson at the last minute, and the fact that I have a very limited working knowledge of woodwind instruments, I think the lesson went rather well. Although I would wager that it would have been drastically different with an actual sixth-grader, rather than a role-playing course instructor.

Incidentally, it was quite interesting to see the way my colleagues began their lessons, and what errors they made or what good tips I could take from them. Since I presented in the middle of the group, I think my lesson also benefited from those who went earlier.

How Do We Evaluate Progress?

There is a real problem of students under pressure to earn good grades, rather than actually learning. I agree with Alphie Kohn, who explains that we must improve our methods of grading in order to alleviate this problem. According to Kohn, the way to do this is to acknowledge that learning is subjective rather than a quantifiable objective. While grading rubrics purport to be a step in the right direction because of their level of detail, they, too, are objective in nature. As Kohn writes, "We have to reassess the whole enterprise of assessment."

Still, there must be evaluations of students' progress. There has to be an objective way to group students based on ability, or the more slowly learning kids inhibit the growth of the advanced ones, which is a detriment to everyone involved. What we have to do is find a way to balance the two sides. But without a better alternative, a rubric seems the way to go, for now.

Regarding Jazz in Classical Instruction

Oftentimes, teachers of "classical" music, i.e. band or orchestra, may dismiss jazz and folk genres as irrelevant. However, I believe that they should hold a vital place in our curricula.

I was lucky enough to grow up in a town with an established K-12 music program, starting with general music in Kindergarten, and adding options of orchestra in fourth grade, and band and chorus in fifth. The general music curriculum in elementary school largely consisted of folk songs, because they were easy to remember, and they weren't harmonically difficult.

Jazz band was option starting in middle school, although I, as an orchestra instrumentalist, wouldn't be included in that. Some of us would dread the jazz section of the biannual concert because the director was obligated to give each student a 16-bar solo, lest their parents complain. Of course, now I know that such practice is vital to forming skills that they would use in later life, not to mention building confidence.

But I digress. Folk music is what establishes a child's relationship with music theory. American children should be familiar with patriotic songs, such as "America the Beautiful" and "God Bless America," as well as songs of historical significance like "Follow the Drinking Gourd," and familiar melodies like "Simple Gifts" and "Shenandoah."

While it may not be necessary for music educators to be experts in jazz and folk music, it would certainly help to be somewhat well-versed in the history and repertoires of those genres. After all, folk music led to jazz, and even today's pop and R&B music can find their roots in jazz. Most students today only care about 2 Chainz or Taylor Swift, rather than Mozart or Brahms. But if educators can help them see that link into music history, that can help hold their interests in the classics.

Flexibility in Young Musicians

In his article, "Creating Musical Flexibility Though the Ensemble," Brandt Schneider describes his journey of improving upon the traditional model of music education, which all too often focuses solely on rote performance, at the sacrifice of our students' creativity and musicality. Schneider puts an emphasis on ear training, to the end of teaching his students to be more "flexible musicians." As part of this effort, he also introduces his students to arrangement and composition.

While I agree that a well-rounded musician should be able do all of the things mentioned in the article, including transposition and "Switching Genres," I don't believe that those skills are necessarily useful outside of a band setting. In singing, the accompanist can change keys, and the chorus will follow suit, maybe not even realizing that a change has been made (unless someone has perfect pitch). And in a string orchestra, all instruments are concert pitch, so the example of having a saxophonist playing the flute part would not apply. Several years ago, there was an instance in which I was playing in a pit orchestra, and we were asked to transpose a number up by a whole-step because it was too low for the actor. Nonetheless, as a cellist, I don't see this coming up very often.

A good musician is aware of precisely what is going on 'behind the scenes' of the music, and can make changes to blend with an ensemble or stand out when need be. However, it seems to me that the ability to change styles and keys at will would only be useful for certain musicians playing in 'popular' settings, i.e. jazz or rock bands, which traditionally only include a small selection of instruments.