Funding Music

Ideally, every student would grow up in a school district with the resources to fund all every program conceivable. But unfortunately, in today's depressed economy, when companies and schools are constantly cutting costs, music programs, along with other arts and athletics, are the first on the chopping block. Those music departments lucky enough to remain in operation have severely reduced budgets, and struggle to maintain their decades-old programs upon which people have come to rely.

Assuming there is interest to maintain the four band, orchestra, jazz, and chorus ensembles, teachers are faced with the choice of cutting programming or activities, or recycling repertoire. In this case, it may be necessary to raise funds from parents and from the community at large. While administrators may shy away from asking parents for their hard-earned cash, it may be the only way for a music program to survive in its current role, the role to which everyone has become accustomed.

While parents may be resistant at first, fundraising could be a great way to get the entire family involved and invested (emotionally, as well as financially) in your programs. When parents come back inside the school organization they can bring new life to a program. They can provide new ideas, and bring new light to old programs. And when they see their ideas come to fruition, in whatever form, they own a part of that program. And come next budget season, when the Board of Education is looking for cuts, the music department has a new cheering section.

Music Education in the Digital Age

Technology has affected every aspect of our lives, no question. We compulsively check our smartphones at every spare moment, workplaces revolve around email and proprietary computer systems, even our children's toys have microprocessors. It's not unreasonable to realize that music education has not escaped this phenomenon.

There are myriad ways to utilize recent technology in order to enhance our curricula. Now that students have their own mobile devices (iPods, smartphones, tablets, etc), it's clear that they expect those devices to be a part of every part of their lives. They see their parents doing it, so why not? When I was in high school, a music technology class was just beginning, using keyboards with MIDI recording software and Finale. Not that many years later, all that hardware and software is almost unnecessary. All we need is a tablet and $5 on the app store.

Educators like Christopher Russell and Paul Shimmons dedicate entire blogs to mobile apps, specifically for the iPad, and how they are used in music classrooms. I'm particularly intrigued by Brandt Schneider's usage of SoundCloud, enabling his students to record and critique their own performances.

Some may be nervous to bring these newfangled techniques into their classrooms. I, for one, can't wait to take advantage of these technologies, and whatever the next new thing will be.

On Requisite Skills

There are almost too many skills to number that are vitally important for music educators, but the following three traits especially stand out to me:

Perseverance and Work Ethic: It is necessary to maintain a positive, professional attitude toward your ensemble and your music. Regardless of the starting point, there is nowhere to go but up. Each time we rehearse a piece, contribute constructive criticism, and the ensemble will continue to improve. As Peter Boonshaft writes, we often subject our students to lengthy repetition in rehearsal. However, all that repetition is not for nothing. With each cycle through the music comes improvement, and after some time, the performance gets significantly better. Over the course of years, young musicians will learn the value of a job well done. As they polish their craft, they will gain a new appreciation for the intricacies of being a valued member of their ensemble.

Knowledge and Skill: Of course, in order to teach young musicians how to become better musicians, educators must be well versed in the fundamentals of music theory and repertoire, as well as the art of conducting. Frank Battisti discusses the required skills. His requisites range from the painfully obvious, like knowledge of clefs and musical notation, up to varied performance experience and administrative skills. He details how different types of performances contribute to building different skills. Chamber music, for example, helps us learn to listen to our fellow musicians, collaborating to perform as one player, while playing in a larger ensemble allows us to study and analyze the conductor's style to use for the benefit of our own conducting. Battisti also notes that we should observe other aspects of the arts, such as theatre and literature, in order to stimulate our minds.

Passion and Dedication: Battisti also recognizes the importance of a positive attitude toward our music, and the hard work that is required to become successful. He draws parallels between musicians and sport stars, like Michael Jordan, whose name has come to be synonymous with being the best at what you do. When Jordan retired from basketball the first time, he tried his hand at baseball, with not very much success. But instead of quitting on the spot, he kept with it for years, taking baseball lessons even after making a return to the NBA. This persistence shows Jordan's passion for excellence in sports, a passion that musicians should take into their own pursuits. Throughout my own public school career, I was lucky enough to have three of the most passionate orchestra teachers I have ever met. They labored to keep their students involved in the ensemble, making rehearsals fun, and provoking young musicians to want to race home and practice their instrument after school every day. Their dedication was not only useful in keeping me in the music program, but also led me to decide to become a music educator as well, following in their footsteps.

Reflecting on Choral Warmups

I've been participating in formal singing groups since fourth grade, not to mention instruction in general music from kindergarten through fifth grade. So I must admit, when tasked with warming up a choral group, I assumed it would be significantly easier than teaching a mostly unknown-to-me band instrument. I borrowed some of my favorite and most useful warm-up exercises from various choral directors over the past ten years, and I though I had a good variety, warming up the singers' bodies, voices, and minds. But I still ran into problems.

Last week, when teaching clarinet, I was thrown off my the time constraint of a five-minute lesson. I wasn't sure how long or short that was, or how much time had passed. And I ran into that same issue this week. Additionally, all of my choral directors have also been skilled piano players, and accompanied warm-ups with full harmonies. I, however, can only play simple melodies with one hand, and in a limited number of keys, so I had to simply play the first note of each passage. Nonetheless, I don't think that drastically hindered the execution of the exercises, and I did cover all of what I had planned. Another small problem was presenting an exercise using Italian, "bella signora," without confirming the pronunciation beforehand. Now I know to address that first, in the future.

Interacting with the singers while warmups were in progress was one thing that I hadn't thought to address. To correct vowels, pitch, or posture would reinforce correct behavior rather than simple rote recitation of the exercises.