May/June 2015 Ala Breve

Piano and Voice Brass, Percussion, Strings, and Woodwinds

ala breve ala breve

the official publication of the Alabama Music Educators Association

15Noteworthy... SBO Essay Winners

16ABA All-State Photos

18Dr. Ed Cleino: A Model Educator

19 Reprint of Ed Cleino Editorial

20Schedule of Events

25Phi Beta Mu “Tips that Click”

26Jazz in Elementary Music by Sherry Luchette

28Rehearsal Techniques: Training Students to Use the Tools of Music by Tad Greig

30Five “Must Haves” for Non-String Players who Teach Orchestra by Adriana Marshall

32March Madness (Reviews) by C. David Ragsdale

35Teaching Guitar Workshops

36Do Gestures Matter? A Research-Based Approach... by Jeremy N. Manternach

39Urban Music Education: Debunking the Myths... by Nicole Robinson

President Carl Hancock University of Alabama Box 870366 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 (205) 348-6335 chancock@ua.edu

President, ABA Rusty SmithsCourson Station High School P.O. Box 253 Smiths Station, AL 36877 (334) 664-4435 courson.rusty@lee.k12.al.us

Past President Sara GreystoneWomackElementary School 300 Village Birmingham,Street AL 35242 (205) 439-3200 saratwomack@gmail.com

President, AOA

Sarah Schrader 320 Lee Rd. 23 Auburn, AL 36830 (334) 728-2855 burkart_sarah@yahoo.com

President-Elect Susan Smith Saint James School 6010 Vaughn Road Montgomery, AL 36116 ssmith@stjweb.org

Executive Director Editor, Ala Breve Garry Taylor 1600 Manor Dr. NE Cullman, AL 35055 (256) 636-2754

amea@bellsouth.net

President, AVA Carl Davis Decatur High School 1011 Prospect Drive Decatur, AL 35601 (256) 559-0407

carlbethemeryellen@gmail.com

Industry Representative Becky Lightfoot Arts Music Shop 3030 East Blvd. Montgomery, AL 36116 334/271-2787

beckyl@artsmusicshop.com

Garry Taylor, Editor & Advertising Manager 1600 Manor Dr. NE Cullman, AL 35055 (256) 636-2754

amea@bellsouth.net

AMEA Collegiate Advisor Ted UnivesityHoffman of Montevallo Station 6670 Davis Music Building 308 Montevallo, AL 35115 (205) 665-6668

ehoffman@montevallo.edu

Treasurer/RegistrarPat POAMEAStegallRegistration Box 3385 Muscle Shoals, AL pstegall@mscs.k12.al.us35661

President, Higher Education James Zingara UAB 231 Hulsey Center Birmingham, AL 35294 (205) 934-7376 jzingara@uab.edu

ADVERTISING & COPY DEADLINES

Fall - August/September (Back to School) issue: July 15

Winter - October/November (Conference) issue: September 15

Spring - February/March (All-State) issue: January 15

Summer - May/June (Digital Only) issue: April 15

Recording Secretary Carla Gallahan 212 Smith Hall, Troy University Troy, AL 36082 (334) 670-3502 School cgallahan@troy.edu

President, AMEA Collegiate Thad Walker University of Montevallo (256) 636-0756

jwalker14@forum.montevallo.edu

President, Elem/Gen Karla Hodges Rock Quarry Elementary 2000 Rock Quarry Dr. Tuscaloosa, AL 35406 (205) 759-8347

karlahodges@gmail.com

Unless otherwise indicated, permission is granted to NAfME members to reprint articles for educational purposes. Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of AMEA or the Editor. All announcements & submissions are subject to editorial judgement/revision.The Alabama Music Educators Association is a state unit of NAfME: The National Association for Music Education, a voluntary, nonprofit organization representing all phases of music education in schools, colleges, universities, and teacher-education institutions. Active NAfME/AMEA membership is open to all persons engaged in music teaching or other music education work.

AMEA Governing Board 2014-2015

Carl Hancock, AMEA President

An Incredible Life of Service

A life filled with meaningful service is one of the rewards of being a music educator. And yet, there are those rare individuals who give so much of themselves, they advance an entire profession. Over the past few weeks, I started reading old Ala Breve columns written by former officersof our governing board to gain perspective and appreciate our unique history as an Association. As I read, I wonderedwhat motivates a person to volunteer to serve in leadership roles and sacrifice their time and resources to contribute to an organization. I learned that volunteering is the direct result of strongly identifying with a group, having professional skills to contribute to the greater good, and recognizing and responding to the needs of others. Moreover, it has been said, real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile––Ed Cleino’s life was clearly filled with joy.

On April 4, 2015, we lost a dedicated servant of music education, Dr. Edward H. Cleino. Ed’s passing marks the culmination of 70 years of unbroken membership in the AMEAthat was interwoven with numerous leadership roles that shaped music education in our state. Cleino’sserved asSouthern Division President of MENC (now NAfME), Editor/Business Manager of the Ala Breve, AMEA Secretary/Treasurer, Elementary Division Co-chair, Vocal Division Chair, AMEA Membership Chair, and Chair of the Retired Members Committee. He was also the sponsor of the first chapter of CMENC in Alabama and was appointed to several important national MENC committees. This impressive resume only beginsto scratch the surface of the many activities of this great public servant who once humbly proclaimed, “I didn’t have

anything but an eagerness to help.” It should come as no surprise to learn that Dr. Cleino was an active member well into his retirement. A quote from one of his many statements in the Ala Breve captures his enthusiasm for volunteering to help the AMEA and willingness to serve, “There may be snow on the roof, but there’s a fire in the furnace.” In 2008, the AMEA inducted Dr. Cleino as an inaugural member of the AMEA Hall of Fame. Our Association owes him a huge debt of gratitude for the yearshe lead with a servant’s heart.

In honor of Dr. Cleino, I invited Dr. Beth Davis, who recently penned a dissertation on his life, to write a tribute to him, which can be found on page 18. In addition, the cover of this issue features a photo of Dr. Cleino filming his pioneering music education television show, Music Time. The photos of Ed were shared with us courtesy of his daughters, Elizabeth Allaway and Dr. Anne Witt. On page 19, Danielle Todd selected aneditorial from a 1983 edition of the Ala Breve to illustratehow Ed used personal stories and forthright

From Dr. Tim...

“One person can make a difference.”

encouragement when reminding members about the importance of being involved in professional development. Finally, I asked Dr. Tim Lauztenhauser, who studied with Dr. Cleino many years ago, to share a couple of brief thoughts. I hope you will take a moment and read about Dr. Cleino’s life of service. He certainly was amodel of leadership for our Association and his contributions will be long remembered.

In closing, as noted by Cleino in 1960, “…as we approach the close of another school year we find the time ideal for taking inventory–––for determining what has been accomplished.” It seems that the inventory of Ed’s life of service to the AMEA was abundant and filled with treasures valued by generations of music educators.

Friends, I hope you have an enjoyable summer. Please keep Dr. Cleino’s family in your thoughts.

For many of us, this illustrious one person is Dr. Ed Cleino. I dare say the vast majority of the music educators reading this tribute are - in some way - the benefactors of the endless wisdom of Dr. Cleino. Of the many remarkable mentors I have had the privilege-and-honor of knowing, Dr. Cleino was in a classby-himself. He was the epitome of a positive role model from a professional perspective, but - far more - he was a caring-sharing-LOVING soul who always put his students at the forefront of his life; he never hesitated to remind us how proud he was of our ongoing successes, and how much we meant to him. My last time with him was during a visit to Tuscaloosa prior to the AMEA event in Montgomery. I spent some time with the music education students and Dr. and Mrs. Cleino attended. I enjoyed one of his signature hugs and thanked him profusely for what he meant to my life...it was also the first time I mustered up enough courage to say, “Dr. Cleino, I really love you.” He thanked me, and responded, “I love you too, and please call me Ed.” I laughed and said, “Dr. Cleino, I simply can’t do that; you are and you will ALWAYS be: DR. CLEINO!” So...Dr. Cleino, until we meet again: I LOVE YOU.

Tim Lautzenheiser

Each Member of the Jaguar Marching Band receives a scholarship

Full-Band travel opportunities to away games and exhibitions

Matching university-provided wind instruments

New custom drumline for 2014 Season

One Pre-Game Show and Three Half-Time Themes each season

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251-460-6136

usajmb@southalabama.edu

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To schedule an audition, complete the online form found at: www.montevallo.edu/music/auditions

To schedule a visit or for more information contact: 205-665-6670 or music@montevallo.edu

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Karla Hodges - President, Elementary/General Division

Greetings to my fellow Elementary/ General Music Teachers!

Here we are again at the end of another school year. This time of year brings on so many different emotions. I am excited about the upcoming summer vacation and spending time doing the things that I love, but I am also met with feelings of sadness. I am sad to say good-bye to a fabulous group of fifth grade students and I hope that I have prepared them well for their middle school music years. I also look back at what I have taught all of my students throughout the year and wish that I could have taught them more. But then I am met with the feeling of anticipation. I anticipate the start of another great school year, and look forward to creating new lessons, sharing my favorite old lessons, and instilling a love of music in every child that I teach. I am sure that you feel the same way at this point too.

We are also at the end of a term in our Elementary/ General Division as well. It is the time where I have the privilege of passing the President responsibilities to Cliff Huckabee. Cliff has diligently served our division as the Elementary Presidentelect and the Festival coordinator. He is going to be a fantastic leader as President. I look forward to the great things he will bring to our division. Phil Wilson will be

1946Yale H. Ellis

bringing his dynamic personality and leadership skills to the executive board as President-Elect. We are also excited to have the following people returning to our board; Melissa Thomason, Secretary; Lori Zachary, Treasurer; and Kristi Howze, Hospitality. Two new faces to our leadership team are Ben and Kristina Sisco. They have graciously agreed to be the Festival Coordinators for the 2015 AMEA Elementary Music Festival.

As I pass the torch to Cliff, I want to say thank you to all of you for supporting me as I served as the President of the Elementary/ General Division. My favorite part was meeting so many wonderful new faces. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting our members both new and old as well as our wonderful clinicians. I count you all as new friends and it has been a joy to work with each of you. I also want to thank Beth Davis, our out-going Past President. Thank you for your friendship, guidance, and unending support during the past two years.

One last bit of business. Please consider submitting an application to present or perform at the 2016 AMEA In-Service Conference. YOU are a fantastic teacher and YOU have knowledge that can be shared with others. Please consider sharing that knowledge with us or your wonderful student performers in January. The

deadline to submit those applications is June 1, 2015.

I hope you all have a rejuvenating summer and greet August with enthusiasm and spark!

Respectfully submitted, Karla Hodges

Upcoming Dates:

June 22 – July 3, 2015: Orff-Schulwerk Certification Level I and III,Samford University

July 20-31, 2015: Kodaly Certification Levels 1 and 2, University of Montevallo

October 9, 2015: AMEA Elementary Music Festival, Samford University

Tiffany English and Andrea Coleman; Featured Clinicians

October 10, 2015: AMEA/ AOSA Fall Joint Workshop, location TBA

Tiffany English, workshop clinician

November 11-14, 2015:AOSA Professional Development Conference, San Diego, CA

January 21-23, 2016: AMEA In-Service Conference; Montgomery, AL

AMEA Presidents - Past to Present

1948Walter A. Mason

1950Vernon Skoog

1952John J. Hoover

1954Lamar Triplett

1956Carleton K. Butler

1958Mort Glosser

1960Wilbur Hinton

1962Lacey Powell, Jr.

1964G. Truman Welch

1966Jerry Countryman

1968Floyd C. McClure

1970Jerry Bobo

1972Frances P. Moss

1974George Hammett

1975Frances P. Moss

1976S. J. Allen

1978W. Frank McArthur, Jr.

1980Paul Hall

1982Lacey Powell, Jr.

1984Johnny Jacobs

1986Merilyn Jones

1988Ronald D. Hooten

1990Ken Williams

1992Dianne Johnson

1994James K. Simpson

1996Johnnie Vinson

1998Michael Meeks

2000John McAphee, Jr.

2002Tony Pike

2004Becky Rodgers

2006John Baker

2008Pat Stegall

2010Steve McLendon

2012Sara Womack

2014Carl Hancock

James Zingara - President, Higher Education Division

During the course of my seventeen years in Higher Education, I feel that I have learned a few foundational educational tenets that I like to review before every new school year and to also share with my graduating students. I see them collectively as a touchstone to stay grounded and stay on track within the bigger educational picture. As our summer break grows near, I would like to also share these with you in the hopes that some of these ideas may help you, and conversely, that you may share some of yours with me at some point in the future.

Know your stuff. As mainly an applied teacher, I try to make sure that I can find time to teach fundamentals as well as musicality. We often forget to find a balance and may look past a problem area, especially in rhythmic acuity. If we are teaching in a secondary area, preparation time is essential.Nothing gives you more confidence in a studio or classroom than knowing your subject matter.

Be there. By the very nature of the job, we have to be away quite a bit for performances and conferences. Make sure that you are current in all make-ups.Nothing is more discouraging to studio morale than a consistently empty office. The same is true with communication; if you are on the road, quick communication can keep students engaged in your absence.

Never take students for granted. If you are asking for something over and above the academic standard, always offer something in return. Buy them pizza or take them to lunch; offer them a break from the routine. A simple gesture of appreciation can go a long way with students in your studio, ensemble or classroom.

Lead by example. Don’t ask students to do anything that you are unwilling to do. I make it a point to not sit in my office while there is work to be done. To me, good leadership entails the ability to pitch in and get your hands dirty.

Things That I Have Learned

Raise the bar slowly. When coming in to a new situation, give students goals high enough to succeed and increase the standard slowly over time.We need to not punish them for inexperience, but to provide them with a ladder of success that rewards effort and achievement.

No politics. No religion Students need to come to these opinions on their own; in my opinion, I should stay neutral and leave these subjects to others. This helps make the studio or classroom a “safe” non-judgement zone where only the work at hand matters.I want the student-teacher relationship to be built on the work that is endemic to the course rather than a on set of beliefs that have little to do with the subject matter. All students need to feel that they are included.

Be prepared! Students can smell lack of confidence and preparation; we can’t expect them to display good works habits when they do not see a quality work ethic in us.

Don’t Lie! If you don’t know something, admit it…you’ll score lots of points if you follow up the next day. Again, students have an uncanny ability to detect sincerity, so pretending to have knowledge that you do not possess can undermine loyalty and effort.

Do not blame your students for your own errors! This includes picking music that is too difficult, having unreasonable expectations and asking for information or techniques that were not properly prepared through instruction. Take the blame and move on; if this isn’t a recurring theme, most students will understand and continue to contribute.

Don’t gossip! Do not ever talk about a student to other students or colleagues in a negative way concerning his/her looks, personality or beliefs. Only address those behavioral issues that are relevant to the class. Students need to feel that they are being evaluated only on effort and results.

Do not glorify yourself! One of the true attractions to these jobs is the hero worship that students will give to you. It is an easy trap

to fall into…do not glorify your performance/teaching past or your standing in the musical community.This hero worship can lead to fear of the outside world and can trap the student in staying many more years at your school or in the surrounding community than is needed. The student will eventually see and appreciate your place within the career field. Let your teaching and performing do the talking for you.

Tell the truth! Again, don’t try to attract hero worship by using superlatives about yourself, the student or the quality of the group on a daily basis. It will hurt them in the long run if they find out they weren’t “the best” at a later date.

Update and keep your syllabus strong. Having a legal course of policy trumps arguments and confrontations every time; especially at the end of the semester.

Bring great soloists, ensembles and speakers to your school. There is no substitute for hearing great players, pedagogues and thinkers in person. These experiences will help enormously towards sparking the students’ curiosity to seek knowledge and broaden their experiences from outside the university walls.

Do the Right Thing. Always ask yourself the question: “What is the best thing for the student?” At times, this may bring us at odds with colleagues or administrators, but I believe that the student’s musical health and academic well-being is central to our purpose and needs to be at the forefront of our daily efforts.

We tend to get caught up in the multitude of highs and lows that occur daily in our teaching, performance and other creative activity. Staying grounded in these guidelines help enable me to stay the course during the rough seas of a busy school year.Hopefully we are all in the part of the year where those seas are calming and I would like to wish you an enjoyable and restful summer break!

Beginning, Middle, End. I began the first article for the Ala Breve this year indicating that this concept characterizes much of what we do in our profession. Thinking about our last AVA event—All-State Festival—I certainly am cognizant that the end of the school year is here. Only our Baccalaureate, Graduation and Spring Concert performances remain. To begin the process of planning for next year the cyclical nature of our profession continues.

Thank you for making a potentially difficult schedule at All-State Festival work. Thank you for being so flexible and accommodating with all aspects of the festival. Some of the best in-service occurs when we watch a master teacher at work. We were afforded this opportunity for approximately twelve hours during the festival. Watching the conductors has always been my favorite aspect of attending the all-state festival. I hope this year you were able to spend time after the festival evaluating your own rehearsals in light of the good teaching that you were able to witness over the course of the festival.

The cyclical nature of our profession has impacted the makeup of our AVA board. The ending of a long well-lived career with AVA is upon us. Pat Blackwell, AVA Executive Secretary, has indicated that she is ready to retire—a second time. First, after teaching for 36 years, she retired from public school service, and began her “full-time” job as the executive secretary for AVA. For the last 7 years we have all enjoyed the fruits of her labor. Pat Blackwell is AVA. She holds a unique perspective, for she not only has served as our executive secretary, but she was a member, director for many years. With this special awareness, she has facilitated the smooth operation of our organization for our board and member directors. Pat, we will miss you. Also, our webmaster has asked to be relieved from his responsibilities. So, as we begin the unprecedented search for an executive secretary and webmaster, should you desire to serve in either of those capacities, please communicate your interest.

Please submit to perform at the AMEA Conference. We are going to try an alternative performance venue within the

conference center and hopefully, the different venue will provide a better performance experience for our students. Submissions are due by June 1.

The AVA summer board meeting is May 31June 3. Should you have anything you would like the board to discuss please forward your communication before the meeting in May.

The Fall Workshop this next year will remain a one day event. Plan to attend the workshop at First Baptist Church in Montgomery. Again we will have approximately four minisessions during the day-long event. Should you have any interest in presenting one of these sessions, please complete and return the proposal form that your district chairman distributed.

Remember to renew your NAfME membership before the end of school. I wish you all the best as you end the school year.

Carl Davis- President, Alabama Vocal Association

Sarah Schrader - President, Alabama Orchestra Association

the school year

hope you can look back at your year and admire the great accomplishments you and your students made. I am happy to say that the Alabama All State Orchestra Festival was a huge success this year. We enjoyed an amazing weekend of rehearsals and concerts! Thank you everyone who had a hand in helping make this festival such a huge success. Thank you students for bringing your best self to the festival.

This Summer, AOA will be working on next year’s All State Festival, AMEA Presenters, and a new state wide Orchestra Performance Festival to be held Spring 2016. We have our 2016 conductors set for the All State Festival. Peter Bay, Music director and Conductor of the Austin Symphony Orchestra will conduct our Festival Orchestra. David Pope,

Thad

distinguished string educator in Florida, and conductor for the Florida State String Summer Music Camp, will conduct the Sinfonia Orchestra. Kirsten Marshall, Director of Orchestral Programs and a violin instructor at Ithaca Talent Education in Ithaca, New York will conduct the Consort Orchestra. Teachers, students, and parents, music excerpts to audition for the 2016 All Sate Orchestra Festival will be posted in mid-August.Spread the word to prospective participants this year. The group of conductors will be amazing, so you don’t want to miss out!

Teachers, mark your calendars for January 21-23, 2016 for the AMEA conference in Montgomery, AL. We will have fantastic sessions for you to attend. These sessions will offer inspiring ideas for you music instruction in the classroom and privately. If you would like to present a session, please submit the Call for Sessions form, or if you would like your string group to be considered to play at the conference fill

out the Performance Application form found on the AMEA website.

Planning for the first annual Orchestra Performance Festival is underway. This will be a state wide festival including youth orchestras (school and community) from all over the state. The Festival will be held sometime in the spring of 2016. Your group will perform selections of music and sight reading and get feedback from other orchestra colleagues. Please look for more info to come on this in upcoming issues of Ala Breve. To make sure you don’t miss out on any information pertaining to music education in Alabama, make sure you renew your membership this Summer when it expires. This way you will receive all issues of Ala Breve and be in the loop on all upcoming events.

I hope everyone enjoys their summer vacations. I look forward to what amazing things you will accomplish through music in the next school year.

Walker - President, Alabama Collegiate Division

Collegiate Members, As summer is coming to a close, I hope you all are making some great summer memories and that learning, performing and teaching great music has been a big part of your summer break.

The Collegiate Board is now focusing on our two major events for the upcoming school year: AMEA and the Fall Summit. Both of these events will give us all a chance to learn some insider tips and get practical advice from experienced music educators from around the state. It is also a great opportunity to meet with fellow music students from colleges and universities across Alabama. Both AMEA and Fall Summit promise to be entertaining

and informative.

Whether you are a freshman just beginning your music education studies or like myself, you are nearing the end, membership in NAfME can be a valuable tool in preparing you for a teaching career. The best way to stay informed about upcoming events and opportunities is by joining our Facebook page-Alabama NAfME-Collegiate. I am also always available if you have any questions.

I am looking with anticipation toward the 2015-2016 school year and I am looking forward to working with you!

Thad Walker President-Collegiate Division University of Montevallo

Jwalke14@forum.montevallo.edu

An educational festival for elementary, middle, and high school students in band, choir, and orchestra

As

comes to a close and summer is highly anticipated, I

SBO Magazine’s annual Essay Contest winners were recently announced, and TWO of Alabama’s own, students at Floyd Middle Magnet in Montgomery, were winners!

This is the 15th year of the contest for School Band and Orchestra Magazine, and the theme this year was “How Does Your Music Class Prepare You For Life.” Thousands of entries were submitted, and from those, ten $1,000 scholarships were awarded. Both Trey Bird (8th Gr) and Angeli’c Harris (6th Gr) from Floyd received their winnings on Wednesday, April 22 at the school, with their director Coleman Woodson, at their side.

Matt King, School Service Supervisor at Art’s Music Shop represented the magazine in presenting the scholarships to the students. In addition to the monies awarded to the individual students, the school itself will be awarded matching music products ($2,000 worth), from the co-sponsors of the contest: NAMM, Alfred Music, Sabian, Woodwind & Brasswind, and the Yamaha Corporation

Angeli’c Harris

Floyd Middle Magnet School

6th Grade

A band class can prepare you for life by teaching you dedication, creativity, and patience. These are all characteristics that are needed for a successful life. Band Class has proven itself to be valuable in many ways. I have enjoyed each lesson learned in Band Class so far.

Band Class helps me develop the characteristic of dedication. I am dedicated to spend hours of practice. Practicing helps me to become a better musician. I am dedicated to helping other members of the band learn their music. I am dedicated to doing my best at each performance.

Band Class has taught me how to be more creative. Part of learning how to play music is learning how to listen to music.

By listening closer to music I have learned how to improvise music and create my own style. I have also learned how to play different instruments. I have not been afraid to try different instruments, such as, French horn, trumpet, piano, xylophone, and drums.

Band Class has taught me how to be patient. Some music arrangements take longer to learn than others. Learning each music arrangement takes time and lots of patience. By being patient, I have learned how to enjoy music better.

In conclusion, band class is preparing me for life. It is teaching me how to be dedicated, creative, and patient. Each day in Band Class, I look forward to doing things that will help me become a better person in life. Band Class has given me a chance to grow in my personality. It has made me more confident and strong in accomplishing my life’s goals.

Trey Bird

Floyd Middle Magnet School

8th Grade

Music class helps prepare me for life in many different ways. When I joined the band, I just wanted to learn to play an instrument. Now, I realize that I am learning several things that will help me in life and help me become a great musician.

Music class helps me stay focused on

tasks. In music class, you have to focus on the music you are learning to play. By focusing on music notes, I can also apply this to my everyday life to focus on whatever I may be working on at the time.

Music class has shown me the importance of practicing and having a good work ethic. Practice makes perfect. I want to be a great musician and am willing to practice in order to achieve my goal. In life, you need to have a great work ethic in order to be a success.

Music class also shows me that I can be very creative. Music class is exposing me to several types of music and brings out my creative abilities. This encourages me to try new things in life and use my creative talents.

I am so excited to be taking a music class this year. I have gained so much from it. I am now more focused, have a better work ethic and can use my creative abilities. I plan to continue taking music classes so that I can be a great musician and a success in life.

Matt King (School Servicer Supervisor, Art’s Music Shop); Angeli’c Harris & Trey Bird (scholarship winners), Coleman Woodson (Floyd Middle Magnet School Band Director)

Pat Stegall, AMEA Registrar

registration experience last year. For the coming year, here are a few suggestions that should make the process even easier.

Join or renew your NAfME membership Online in late June or early July at www.nafme.org

Encourage the new music teachers in your school system to join/renew NAfME membership and pre-register for the conference online.

After completing one year as the AMEA Registrar, I can honestly say how much I appreciate those that have served in previous years! This is a daunting task and I now understand just how much work and planning goes in to make the registration for our conference run smoothly. I hope that you had a pleasant

Pre-Register for the conference online as soon as it becomes available.

Remember your membership is required to attend the conference, so join/renew well ahead of the conference. This will save you time at the conference.

Last year, over 600 members preregistered, while over 300 registered on-site. On-site registration will still be available, but we want to encourage everyone to pre-register online.

Look for emails and your August Alabreve for more info on how you can pre-register for the 2016 AMEA Conference.

Piccolo-Kayla Moyers, Buckhorn HS; Flute-Holley Moates, Oak Mtn. HS; Oboe-Lian Remley, Shades Valley HS; Bassoon-Alex

Chenault, Grissom HS; Eb Clarinet-Grace Shim, Hillcrest HS; Bb

Clarinet-Matthew Belser, Alabama School of Fine Arts; Alto

Clarinet-Kaitlyn Stahl-American Christian Academy; Bass

Clarinet-Sarah Nguyen, Sparkman HS; Contrabass Clarinet-Kiya McMillian, Alexandria HS; Alto Saxophone-Gus Arnold, Huntsville HS; Tenor Saxophone-Qrentin Moffet, Randolph School; Baritone Saxophone-Patrick Morrison, Sparkman HS; Trumpet-Robby Garrison, Vestavia Hills HS; French Horn-Reese Williams, Mtn. Brook HS; Trombone-Seth Almond, Auburn HS; Baritone-Cory Cheung, Hoover HS; Tuba-Ben Cooper, Austin HS; String Bass-Katherine Reardon, Bob Jones HS; PercussionJames Burch, Auburn HS

ABA All-State Red Band 1st Chairs

Joel Henson, ABA Scholarship Committee Chairman, presents the ABA/Photography by Suzanne Scholarship to Gus Arnold, Huntsville High School.

All-State Solo Finalists

1. Rebecca Percy, Hewitt-Trussville HS; 2. Patrick Mills, Vestavia Hills HS;

3. Charlie Mercier, Chelsea HS; 4. Everrtt Clemons, Oak Mountain HS; 5. John Daniel Dempsey; Jacksonville HS; 6. Justin Way, St. Paul’s Episcopal School;

7. William Russell, Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School

Wow!!! I know that we say this just about every year, but our 2015 All-State Festival Concert has to be among the best that I remember in my 26 years as a band director. Our students definitely rose to the occasion and I can’t wait until my CD of the performance arrives so I can listen to it again!!!

Our clinicians are definitely to be commended for doing an outstanding job: Robert W. Smith (Red Band), Richard Saucedo (White Band), Ken Bodiford (Blue Band), and Carla Gallahan (Middle School Band). In Robert’s case, how cool is it that he was actually a member of the Red Band three years running while in high school, and after a very successful career as a band director, college professor, and composer, he actually had the opportunity to return and conduct the band that he played in all those years ago!!!

In addition, many thanks to David Pryor, Will Mixon, and the directors of District VII for providing percussion equipment, manning information tables, moving from the convention center to the civic center for the concert, and so many other behind the scene details that we probably don’t even know about. Last but not least, we should remember the dedication of our band hosts as well, as they selflessly devote their time at allstate every year: James Ed Champion (Red Band), Damon McAllister (White Band), Heather Henson (Blue Band), and Connie Hammond (Middle School Band).

A special thanks as well to the music faculty at the University of South Alabama for hosting our solo contest on Wednesday. Their facilities proved to be a great venue for the event!!! The historic Saenger Theatre in downtown Mobile was also a tremendous location for our host night concert as well. The University of South Alabama Wind Ensemble and their conductor, Dr. Will

Petersen, provided us with an outstanding concert that I’m sure we’ll remember for years to come!!!

We will return to Mobile for all-state in 2016. As I’ve shared with you previously, the board unanimously voted to accept the offer to hold all-state in Montgomery for 2017 and 2018. While we should be accustomed to the facility (since we have been there for AMEA several times recently), this will be a new experience for most of our kids. Although Mobile and Huntsville have proved to be great locations for our all-state festival, I look forward to seeing what Montgomery has to offer as well.

Hopefully you’ve already made plans to attend our summer convention this year. This is a great opportunity to pick up a little professional development, have an opportunity to socialize with our colleagues from throughout the state, and even enjoy a little beach time and/or play a little golf. The ABA Board and the Music Selection Committee will meet all day on Tuesday, June 23rd, and the general membership will gather on Wednesday, June 24th and Thursday, June 25th. I’m sure our incoming President, Mike Holmes, has some great clinics planned!!! The conference hotel will once again be the Hampton Inn and Suites in Orange Beach. Registration information is located on the front page of the ABA webpage at www.alabamamea.org/bandmasters/index.

If you get your registration postmarked to Harry McAfee by May 30th there is a $20.00 discount…so send it in now!!!

Thanks so much to those that are rotating off the board for your service to our organization: Keith Anderson (District I), John McCombs (District III), Michelle Gann (District V), and David Pryor (District VII). I would also like to thank all of you for the opportunity to serve as your President over the past two years. It has truly been an honor to be selected among your peers to lead our professional organization. As I shared with you at our last general business meeting in Mobile, I could not have gotten through the last two years without your help, and I can honestly tell you that I don’t recall one instance when I called on someone for help that they didn’t say yes. Please continue to fill those roles as needed, and most importantly, reach out to the new directors in your area and offer to help them as well (and new directors…ACCEPT THEIR HELP!!!). I distinctly remember my first years as a director and feeling lost. Fortunately, I wasn’t shy and didn’t mind asking someone else how to do something!!! In closing, I wish our incoming President Mike Holmes and our incoming President-Elect Doug Farris the very best over the next two years!

Rusty Courson - President, Alabama Bandmasters Association

Dr. Ed Cleino: A Model Educator Then and Now

Edward Henry Cleino was born on January 29, 1917 in Rolla, a small town in central Missouri. Ed, as he came to be called, was the fourth of four children and the only boy. His father, Henry Cleino, was an attorney and his mother, Lula Phariss Cleino, was a homemaker who also played piano.

Cleino was born into a family who valued education and the arts.Both of his parents attended college, an unusual circumstance for his time.His father was an attorney, and his mother completed a number of college level math courses. To supplement their children’s public school education, Cleino’s parents saw to it that Cleino and his three sisters participated in music classes in the morning and art classes in the afternoon on Saturdays.Additionally, Cleino and his sisters benefitted from living in the suburbs of St. Louis, where arts opportunities of this kind existed at that time. They also benefitted from a family income that was available for such extra instruction in the arts and a selfsacrificing mother, who willingly transported four children to and from full days of classes on those Saturdays.

This value of education and the arts was evidenced in Cleino’s life by his participation in music in high school and attending college to earn music degrees, including two graduate degrees. He chose the arts as a career and spent the majority of his life as a performer, a teacher, and an arts advocate.

Not surprisingly, Cleino’s association with education resulted in meeting and falling

in love with Bettie Anne, who was attending college at the time with aspirations to become a nurse. Bettie Anne ultimately earned a Ph.D. in higher education and also became an educator. Dr. Cleino and his wife passed this value of education along to their five children. All of them graduated from the University of Alabama. The Cleinos now have several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Clearly, this legacy of valuing education continues to be integral to the Cleino family. In addition to Cleino’s value of education and the arts, Cleino’s caring, compassionate, humble nature also proved to be a major factor in his success as a music educator.Cleino’s wife said that he was the most caring person she had ever known, a characteristic that was obvious to his students. Those students often argued, however, that Cleino possessed not only the characteristics of humility, kindness, and compassion; he also embodied the attributes of consistency and perseverance.

Finally, Cleino demonstrated vision and acted on that vision.He came to the University of Alabama, saw a way to increase the enrollment, offer better training to music educators, and build a graduate program. Such efforts in establishing the first graduate degrees in music education laid a foundation for expansion of the program that recently added a Ph.D. degree to its catalog of programs.

He also articulated a vision that educational television could be a useful tool to enhance the music education in the state of

by Dr. Beth A. Davis

Alabama.He acted on that vision to plan, compose a teacher’s guide, and teach the weekly program.He also realized that feedback from the consumers of the program should be gathered, studied, and used to improve the program.These efforts with Music Time served as a beacon, leading the way in utilizing the new technology of television to educate the children in the state of Alabama and beyond.

Dr. Cleino’s tenure at the University of Alabama spanned thirty years. After retiring from full time teaching in 1979, Cleino did not go home to enjoy a well-deserved rest from a most successful career.Instead, he worked tirelessly for nineteen years in several capacities in the state.In this regard, Ed Cleino demonstrated a penchant for service that was evident throughout his life. “It’s just the way I am. I want to help,” Cleino said. Cleino’s professional service reached beyond the borders of Alabama, particularly in the expanding Music Educators National Conference. First, he served as Southern Division President for three years from 1969 to 1972. As recognition of his pioneering efforts in public television, mostly due to work in the field with Music Time, Cleino was appointed Chair of the Audio-Visual Committee and the Media Committee of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC).He served in each role for two years. Cleino also shared his expertise on the subject of educational television by presenting sessions at regional and national conventions. His work in this area came to be well known and respected throughout the country as he willingly shared his knowledge and experience about his passion: the use of media in music education as he served in these various roles. Cleino served as a member of the MENC National Nominating Committee on two occasions. As he neared the end of his career, Cleino had become well-known and respected throughout the nation. His knowledge and experience in working with music educators across the United States made him an ideal choice to recommend others to serve in various similar capacities.As such, his appointment to the MENC Nominating Committee served as a fitting finale to a career that included numerous contributions to the music education profession.In that respect, Cleino demonstrated such a philosophy, “I didn’t have anything but an eagerness to help.”

Just as he had helped his family, his teachers, his country, his students, and his

Dr. Cleino on the set of Music Time, a weekly program on public television that ran from 1957 - 1972.

colleagues, he served music educators of the state, region, and nation in an exemplary way that could properly be a model for those beginning careers at the present time. His unselfish, diligent leadership served as a beacon for those who followed in his footsteps.In short, Cleino led by example. In the above respects, Cleino aptly could be characterized as a template for Tom Brokaw’s “Greatest Generation” of Americans.Brokaw described these Americans in the following way:

The young Americans of this time constituted a generation birthmarked for greatness, a generation of Americans that would take its place in American history with the generations that had converted the North American wilderness into the United States and infused the new nation with self-determination embodied first in the Declaration of Independence and then in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights…At the end of the twentieth century the contributions of this generation would be in bold print in any review of this turbulent and earth-altering time. It may be

historically premature to judge the greatness of a whole generation, but indisputably, there are common traits that cannot be denied. It is a generation that, by and large, made no demands of homage from those who followed and prospered economically, politically, and culturally because of its sacrifices. It is a generation of towering achievement and modest demeanor, a legacy of their formative years when they were participants in and witness to sacrifices of the highest order. They know how many of the best of their generation didn’t make it to their early twenties, how many brilliant scientists, teachers, spiritual and business leaders, politicians and artists were lost in the ravages of the greatest war the world has seen.

This evidence supports the notion that Brokaw’s description could have been written about Dr. Cleino.Cleino possessed a modest demeanor.He leaves a legacy of model teaching, mentoring, professional service, performing, and visionary thought that was coupled at all times with action. He

accomplished towering achievements in the field of teaching with his thirty-year tenure at one institution and his pioneering endeavors in educational television.Such contributions are in bold print in the awards and writings he received.He served his country, his family, his students, and colleagues, as a soldier, a father and husband, a teacher and mentor, and a leader. The ripples of Cleino’s contributions will be felt for generations yet to come. Dr. Cleino surely was a model music educator during his lifetime and leaves a legacy for those of us still teaching to replicate.

References

Illinois birth certificate, Edward Cleino (1917). Cleino personal interview, by Beth A. Davis, 19 July 2012, Tuscaloosa, AL.

Brokaw, Tom. The Greatest Generation. New York: Random House, 1998.

Photographs courtesy of the Cleino family

Davis, Beth A. (2014) Edward H. Cleino: The Father of Music Education at the University of Alabama (dissertation)

The editorial below, by Dr. Cleino, is reprinted from the December 1983 Ala Breve.

AMEA recently launched an Industry/Institutional membership drive and would like to express appreciation to the following partners who have joined AMEA in our efforts to promote music education in Alabama. Please support these industry/institutional members who support you as music educators!

Andy’s Music

1412 Hillcrest Rd. Mobile, AL 36695 www.andysmusic.com

AWB Apparel

206 Potomac Ct. Woodstock, GA 30188 www.awbapparel.com

eMedia Corporation

664 NE Northlake Way Seattle, WA 98105 www.emediamusic.com

Group Travel Network, Inc.

410 N. Dillard St.- Suite 104 Winter Garden, FL 34787 www.grouptravelnetwork.com

Marchmaster, Inc.

P.O. Box 73379 Newnan, GA 30271 www.marchmaster.com

Musical Destinations, Inc.

P.O. Box 771060

Winter Garden, FL 34777 www.musicaldestinations.com

Simply Sheets Fundraising

3065 Heatherbrook Trace Canton, GA 30114 www.simplysheetsfundraising.com

Southern Performances

16121 Mansion St. Foley, AL 36535 www.southernperformances.com

Superior Travel and Tour

1270 Coronado Terrace Deltona, FL 32725 www.superiortravelandtour.com

Troy University

John M. Long School of Music

Troy, AL 36082

www.music.troy.edu

UNA Department of Music & Theatre

UNA Box 5040 Florence, AL 35632-0001

www.una.edu/music-theatre

Art’s Music Shop, Inc.

3030 East Blvd. Montgomery, AL 36116 www.artsmusicshop.com

Bailey Brothers Music Company

4673 Highway 280 East Birmingham, AL 35242 www.baileybrothers.com

Gadsden Music Company

P.O. Box 132 Gadsden, AL 35902 www.gadsdenmusic.com

J W Pepper & Son 9053 Riverside Parkway Lithia Springs, GA 30122 www.jwpepper.com

Mouchette Enterprises, Inc.

P.O. Box 394 Northport, AL 35426

QuaverMusic.com

1706 Grand Avenue Nashville, TN 37212 www.quavermusic.com

Springdale Travel/Student Tours

958 Montlimar Drive Mobile, AL 36609 www.springdaletravel.com

Southern Star Music Festival and Southern Star Festival of Champions

635 Sunset Dr. Norcross, GA 30071 www.starmusicfestivals.com

Thomas Tours, Inc.

2405 12th Ave. South Nashville, TN 37204 www.thomastoursinc.com

The University of Alabama Bands

211 Moody Music Building

Tuscaloosa, AL 35487

www.bands.ua.edu

University of South Alabama

LPAC 1072, 5751 USA Drive, S Mobile, AL 36688 www.southalabama.edu/music

Balance in all Things Tips That Click

In our exhuburance to accomplish as much as possible as rapidly as possible, it is sometimes very easy to let things get out of balance between our professional and personal lives. I was fortunate to have worked with Dr. Ted Galloway earlier in my career. Dr. Galloway was the director at Vestavia Hill High School for many years. As good as a musician and teacher as he was, I think Dr. Galloway taught me more about how to balance my ambitions for my professional life with appropriate goals for my personal life. As busy as he was with his school demands, Dr. Galloway always made time for his family and church activities. It is through him that I became a member of the Lions Club, and I have found that that time in a civic organization has only added to my skills as a teacher. The focus of this edition of Tips That Click is to provide information on how to ensure your lifestyle balance. In gathering research for this article, I was fortunate enough to have contributions from two of the most highly respected teachers in the state. They both give some very valuable information that should assist all of us.

Dr. Johnny Jacobs is a member of both the Alabama Music Educators Association AND the Alabama Bandmasters Hall Of Fame and has served as a teacher and mentor to many outstanding band directors in this state. He provides us with three great pieces of advice concerning achieving balance as a music educator: “First, give primary priority to your spiritual life. Everything else in your personal and professional life is a reflection of how you nurture yourself spiritually. Second, come to

grips with your philosophy of music education and make sure what you are doing each day is an outgrowth of it. This simply means deciding what you think is important in what you do, and stick to it. This should help you remained focused on your core musical and educational values. Lastly, don't try to implement every good idea you ever heard of or thought of. Pick the best ones and do an excellent and thorough job of them with your students.”

Chuck Eady is a Past-President of the Alabama Bandmasters Association, and has served for over three decades as a band director in Alabama and Tennessee, currently teaching at Pleasant Grove High School. He offered his valuable insights into keeping things balanced: “In my younger days I must confess that I allowed my band program to consume me. As I matured and started a family my perspective began to change. I was fortunate to be around some older, wiser band directors, who encouraged me to maintain a balance (don't marry your band program). I never bring my concerns with work home; I leave them at the office. When I am at home I give my attention to my family. I try to set aside special time for my wife and I alone as well as times we can spend with our family. I like to play golf with my sons and my friends, and I enjoy woodworking. When I have off days from school I try to stay away from my office and my students. Get away time is crucial. One of the highlights of my year is attending the Mid-

West Clinic in Chicago. I would urge any director that has never attended to go. Best clinics and concerts, and a great time of comradery with other directors from across the world. I am beginning my 36th year of teaching and still love what I do!”

Rho Chapter of Phi Beta Mu International Bandmaster Fraternity is committed to improving quality instruction and advancement of bands in this state. Please email pemin@mac.com with any comments on this column or suggestions for future columns.

Phi Beta Mu New Members: Chris Cooper and David Raney

Phi Beta Mu

Outstanding Band Director Jon Bubbett

Phi Beta Mu Hall of Fame Inductee Garry Taylor

Phi Beta Mu

Outstanding Young Band Director Nic Smith

Jazz In Elementary Music

Ideas & Activities

In the world of Elementary music teaching, the idea of teaching jazz to young children can be a mysterious undertaking. What does it mean to “teach jazz” to young children? How does a music teacher include meaningful activities that are ageappropriate for their students? It’s not quite as mysterious as you might think. America’s classical music is jazz, and it contains some distinct features: melodies are primarily learned by ear, lots of improvisation is used, and there is a swing style rhythm with emphasis on beats 2 & 4. We can use these three characteristics of jazz music as a spring board to teaching children jazz activities in the music classroom.

Let’s first look at the aspect of jazz music being passed down by ear and the swing rhythm. Because much of the music is experienced and heard rather than written down in note form, listening and movement activities are key in understanding jazz melodies and the swing feel. A simple activity is to pick a “Jazz musician of the Month” for the music classroom. The teacher can make a poster with the musician’s picture, and share some basic biographical information with the students. For the entire month, the same song is played as students walk into class that is

performed and/or written by the jazz musician being featured. The teacher can lead students in tapping out steady beats to the music on their bodies, and create fun body movements (such as pretending to play different instruments) to the music while singing along to the melody and/or lyrics. Repeating this activity for the month allows students to become familiar with the song. Children will soak up the music and swing feel like sponges, and begin to talk about the musician they are learning about in school. This is a simple, yet powerful and age-appropriate way to engage younger students in to jazz melodies and swing. Below, I have listed some jazz musicians and tunes for you to consider using for this activity. Big band music in particular works well because the steady swing beat is very easy to hear.

Jazz Musician of the Month

Duke Ellington - “Duke’s Place”

Count Basie - “Shiny Stockings”

Benny Goodman - “Sing, Sing, Sing”

Ella Fitzgerald - “A Tisket, A Tasket”

Louis Armstrong - “Potato Head Blues”

Another activity that works well in using the ear, experiencing the swing feel, and also

by Sherry Luchette

opens up an introduction to improvisation is what I call “Scat Echoes.” Using some simple scat words, the teacher begins by saying a scat word such as “bop,” and the students echo it back. It’s really that simple. There are many ways to elaborate on this to make the activity more challenging. Try changing your inflections, using a high or low voice, adding a string of scat words, using a faster tempo, or more syncopated phrases. Naturally from this point, the teacher and students can then tap the rhythm of the scat word on their bodies while saying the words out loud (body percussion.) After echoing and body tapping of the words is comfortable, teachers can add pitch with their voices, and blues track CD accompaniment (See last page for materials.) By adding vocal pitch, we now have some built-in ear training and improvisation delivered by the teacher to the students as a start. With practice, students can become the leader and begin to originate their own scat phrases for others to echo. A blues progression track is highly recommended to practice the “Scat Echoes” activity with for two reasons. One, the 12 bar blues form is a very common progression and is one that is used heavily in jazz,blues, and pop music. Being familiar with a basic blues form as a teacher and student is very valuable because of the common use of this form in so many styles of music. Secondly, it makes more sense harmonically to one’s ear to be able to scat and/or scat sing with accompaniment. It’s adds dimension to to the activity when a student can rhythmically and harmonically hear their scatting with an open blues track played by a rhythm section. This allows easy practice, and it’s fun. “Scat Echoes”can be added easily into a lesson plan for 5 minutes during class time.

A Basic Blues Form Progression

Editor’s Note: This article appears as one of a series written especially for Ala Breve by experts in the field of music education.

I cannot emphasize enough that all music teachers and their students should be very familiar with a basic 12 bar blues progression. Above is an example of a basic progression that is designed by me in poster form, color-coded and easy to follow. Roman numerals are used so that the blues progression can be formed in any key. Note that in a blues, there are many different chord progressions that are possible. This is not the only one, but I find that it is helpful and easy for students to hear the beginning and end of the form when the IV7 chord is placed in the second measure, and the V7 chord is placed in the last measure of the form. Also note that this blues form uses all dominant 7th chords: I7, IV7, and V7. There is no longer a reference to building chord types off of the major scale, all chords are dominant 7ths. This is part of the distinct sound that you hear in a blues.

Once students are familiar with a basic blues form, and have practiced scatting and singing with body percussion over a blues track, students can use non-pitched percussion, such as small hand drums, sticks, or shakers to play the rhythm of the scat words while singing them out loud. This replaces the body percussion. Students are now learning how to play simple jazz phrases on percussion instruments. Instruments can be passed around in a circle, an activity I call “Switch-a-Roo.” This is a fun way to give students a chance to play various percussion instruments during music class time, and work together as a group, honing some basic jazz improvisation ideas, while still hearing and feeling the swing feel and blues form.

For the ultimate challenge, non-pitched percussion can be replaced with pitched instruments such as classroom xylophones or recorders. When dealing with pitched instruments, the scale choices and key used over the blues form are now an issue. The idea is to provide safe note choices for the students so they can continue to focus on playing and feeling the jazz phrases. In the general music classroom, we are limited with the scale choices that work best over a blues form. This has to do with the fact that the classroom xylophones are C major scales with F# and Bb bars (if you can find them :) And with recorders, most students are familiar with B, A, G, continuing on with D, E, C, etc. With this is mind, the suggestion is to use what we call in jazz a

minor pentatonic scale (also known as a “la” based pentatonic scale) or a blues scale. Both scales work over the entire blues form starting at any point in the form. The best key choices for the general music classroom would be E minor or B minor. This is because of the limited bar notes available on the classroom xylophones. E minor in particular is ideal because it contains the notes “B-A-G” which are also easily played on the recorders:

E Minor Pentatonic : E-G-A-B-D-E

E Blues Scale: E-G-A-Bb-B-D-E

If you have a Bb bar available, you can add it to the scale (don’t remove anything) and use a blues scale. The Bb is known as the “blue note” because it is a tritone away from E. It adds tension, a lovely color, and bluesy sound that is very distinctive in jazz and blues improvisation. Try the “Scat Echoes” activity again after setting up the xylophone bars with these scales. (They do not have to be in this exact order, the low D bar can be on the bottom, the only requirement is to remove the C & F bars.) This time, the teacher will say a few scat words (no pitch from the teacher, because we are now working with pitched instruments) and the students say the scat words out loud and play the rhythm of the scat words on the notes of the scale of the xylophone. The students can play any of the notes they want, even two at a time in any order. Because you have a scale that will work anywhere over the blues form, there are no “wrong notes’ to play. Students can focus on their jazz phrases and swing feel, which is way more important to develop at this stage of the game than worrying about playing “correct” notes.

Using recorders is a similar process, except it is key to use one note at a time. For example, the teacher says, “Using only the note “B,” play Shooby bop wop.” Students echo the rhythm of the words using the note “B” on their recorders. This type of practice continues, and then the note “A,” for example, is added into the mix. Now students can play either “B” or “A” in any order they want, focusing on playing the rhythm of the words “Shooby bop wop.”

Adding the a blues accompaniment track in E is very helpful with this activity, and opens up all kinds of fun playing ideas for your recorder players.

up your young students into hearing, moving, singing, playing and improvising in the jazz style. Remember to keep it simple and have fun!

So there you have it, some fun ideas to open

Sherry Luchette currently teaches Bass and Jazz classes for children at the Pasadena Conservatory, and freelances as a jazz bassist in the Los Angeles area. She is the author of three Book/Cd sets titled The Flying Jazz Kittens. All Book/CD sets include blues track melodies and play-a-long tracks for the activities shared in this article. The blues poster is also available.

For more information: www.flyingjazzkittens.com,www.peripole.com, www.jwpepper.com, www.westmusic.com, www.musicmotion.com,www.musick8.com

Rehearsal Technique: Training Students to Apply the “Tools” of Music

by Tad Greig

“Outcomes”, the markers for successful teaching. The Students Will Be Able To... (SWBAT). Though there have been times where we have all groused about these terms, I think that we can all agree that it is our desire to see our students succeed. This desire, then, requires parameters and definition. What is “success” for our musical students? For all of us in the profession this is a very personal and philosophical question. Though this article will not provide the “be all, end all” answer, it will provide some food for thought.

When asked “how do I measure the success of my music students” related to performance ensembles, my two primary answers are: for the non-majors, that they continue to make music in their lives, and for my majors and minors, that they have sufficient mastery of their skills to be able to work independently. They have enough skill to self-evaluate with mastery.

Given my thoughts, I am led directly to what I teach in ensemble and the process of skills development. Though there is much to be gleaned from the performance of great repertoire, I view this music as Application, the final exam, the cumulative showcase of what the students have learned. Yes, within each piece of music there are multiple “teachable moments”. At the same time, think about these moments when the students have had some preparation or context prior. How much more significant is it when the young musicians can contextualize in the musical moment without stopping and explaining. This leads to the topic of this articleRehearsal Technique: Training students to apply the “tools” of music

Think about your rehearsal process. From before the moment the students enter the class, through the time that they leave. Take this time and subdivide it into learning “chunks”. For me, these chunks are divided into: Pre-Rehearsal, Warm-up, Bridging, Musical Rehearsal and Conclusion. Within these there are multiple subdivisions.

Pre-Rehearsal – Though all of us have differing schedules with more or less access to the rehearsal space, travel to multiple

buildings etc., it is still significant to provide an organized space for the students to enter. Cacophony breeds cacophony. We want our students to leave the baggage of the day at the door, and come into our learning space ready to engage. We also want to establish a regimen and order. This leads to a pattern of structure and accelerated focus in the class to come.

1. Have the room arranged for the group (stands chairs), a rehearsal plan on the door or board.This leads to the expectation of self-preparation.

2. Have your materials on the stand and ready. Related to your rehearsal order, lesson plan the skill sets that you desire in your music and have a means to approach these concepts in warm-up. If it is balance and blend; use chorales or homophonic exercises where you can focus on the development of these skills. Asymmetric meter; have some unison rhythmic exercises on the board so that all students may interact with the concept, etc.. Rather than having only the musicians with the specific musical or technical challenge problem solving, expand the task to the entire ensemble so that there is a collective learning opportunity.

To correlate, the rehearsals of choirs, orchestras and bands are extremely similar to the labs associated with science or math classes. First, we establish the environment;

1. The room is organized; rehearsal topics (experiments) are posted to get the students ready for engagement.

2. We have a collective warm-up period where everyone is engaged (directions/explanations of the experiments of the day).

3. We transfer from the warm-up phase into application of skills on the music being prepared (take the information from the directions and instructions and begin the experiment).

4. We stop and make corrections,allowing the

students to hear our recommendations and to grapple with the information given to create a more flawless and musical product, (oversee the groups of students, making sure that the steps involved in the experiments are understood appropriately and appropriate actions are being taken, nothing on fire or exploding !!).

5. We then take the information from the beginning of the class, add the corrections/suggestions to the musical rehearsal (experiment) and assess the outcome (did the results of the experiment meet the desired outcomes of the professor). Can the students (musicians),then, replicate this learning by themselves or as a collective unit? I find these correlations strikingly similar!!

If I were to ask what your desires are for your ensemble related to their functioning as a better ensemble, I could assume the following: Play in-tune, balance and blend, articulate appropriately, phrase, steady time, become aware of the ensemble rather than only self, etc.

Though I will not go through a litany of possible exercises, I will defer to the Edward Lisk gospel of warming up ideas and purposes: The Creative Director: “Alternative Rehearsal Techniques”. It is a fount of creative ideas to develop specific areas in your musicians.Understand that you may use your own creativity and understanding of your circumstances to modify, but as a great beginning, get this one on the shelf!!

The key is to set some developmental goals for your groups. Some may apply to a specific technique embedded in a certain piece, others may be global techniques necessary for all great ensembles. Also remember that the students need to invest in their development. Make sure to ask questions about the sounds that you make. Get their opinions. The depth of this conversation grows as your musicians’ intellect develops, along with the anticipation of being asked to offer opinions.. If they are asking good questions or offering quality responses, you know that the information is sinking in! Going back to our Science/Math analogy; we cannot simply

Editor’s Note: This article appears as one of a series written especially for Ala Breve by experts in the field of music education.

provide the answers to problems and expect the students to achieve a depth of understanding beyond the specific answer to a specific question. Mastery comes from the students knowing “how to” so that they may replicate responses when the same musical questions are asked in the future.

When I talk about these issues at conferences or in my music education classes, I am often asked the question, “How long do all of these engagement/ warm-up exercises take? I have concerts to prepare for”. Let us use a standard class period of 42 minutes as our model. Understanding that the average students’ brain is in its highest form of engagement in the first ten percent or so of the class (engagement related to retention of material), this is the best time for not only warm-up but skills development as well. Understand also that warm-up and skills development should cross-pollenate with your musical rehearsal;

Long-tones – warm-up the instrument, establish unison intonation, as these are done without music they establish connection and communication with the conductor (make sure to keep them fresh with ideas: volume, articulations and other non-verbal cues). Do they always need to begin on concert F or Bb? Why not G or E? Play the first pitch, sing the second…

Articulation exercises – Warm up the tongues, fingers, slides etc. Reinforce scales and key signatures. Have students visualize a rhythm that you tell them and then apply (warms up the brain), use of tricky rhythms or meters from the music that you are preparing.

Harmonic engagement – 97% of what we play is harmonized in some fashion, so get to these sounds/balances before you require application in a specific piece. Balance and blend, tone color, connection with to conductor, expressive style etc.., all essential for any quality ensemble, and you are establishing them while students are developing expectations to take to their performance music. With my ensembles we read new chorales each rehearsal so there is a sight-reading component that further engages the musicians. If you do not have the resources, try stacked scales; dividing the group in two or three or four and assigning multiple scales simultaneously Bb-D-F major, or closer intervals; Ab-Bb-C. Students get the initial sound groupings and then think forward to their next pitch. There are certainly many more that you all use and I will gladly share

additional ones with you if you contact me.

Again, the students’brains are being engaged and warmed up. This engagement is the desirable outcome for the music preparation to follow.

All of the above mentioned exercises take approximately ten to twelve minutes. As mentioned before, though there is regimen and order that student musicians need, there is not monotony. Variations for these brain warmers abound with your own touch and creativity. Also remember that these developmental exercises work best in an organized environment, where students are settled in and ready to work

From here, we move into the rehearsal part of the plan: The preparation of the performance music.

I am a fan of the process espoused by Daniel Kohut in his text Musical Performance: Learning Theory and Pedagogy. The concept of approaching the student learning through a “Synthesis, Analysis, Synthesis” design, especially when working with large ensembles provides a quality learning atmosphere that allows for correction yet keeps the entire ensemble involved a majority of the time. How often, after an intense warm-up, activating all of the musician’s brains, preparing for rehearsal, do we go immediately shift to correction with one isolated group of musicians, while the others sit? Granted, we do need to correct individuals and sections, but when? Consider the bridge from the warm-up to the rehearsal. We already have an idea of the various corrections that we need for the day and where they are located. Certainly go to those areas but first consider contextualization, getting all of the musical minds to that place, understanding where they are before dismantling the section(s). Think about dropping your students into the middle of a forest with or without a map. Those with the map may quickly orient and thus devise a logical path, those without the map franticly look in all directions trying to figure out the best way to safely exit. Work back from your area of correction, engage the entire ensemble, continue through the point of correction, stop, address the area with the specific musicians and plug them back in.

SYNTHESIS I

We have the appropriate section of music ready (was posted when the students arrived

in class). We work collectively before dealing with any corrective issues. This assimilates the ensemble. They are reminded of the sounds and styles of the specific area(s). The conductor has pre-planned for problem areas within the planned section. When these arrive, again, the conductor has already devised an action plan for their correction. There is a stoppage and the specific musician(s) are addressed.

ANALYSIS

Concepts are broken down into their individual parts for explanation, experimentation, and hopefully comprehension. Once corrected and understood, the corrected section is then plugged in to the work with all other musicians playing, thus re-orienting the ensemble with the desired interpretation.

SYNTHESIS II

Once the above has been executed, it is hoped that a more musically desirable product will result. Additionally, the learning from the Analysis section will hopefully be transferrable to future music (depending upon the nature of the correction). We put everything together resulting in a more accurate and musical product.

Coda: In ensemble as in the other classes that our students take, there need to be opportunities for students to develop the skill-sets necessary to problem solve for the future. For our students to develop these skill-sets and moreover to be able to problemsolve independently,they must have sufficient information and mastery to be able to answer the questions being asked. Providing the tools for learning and allowing, with guidance, the students to master the required techniques will provide more high-functioning musicians and will provide our ensembles with musicians who can more readily and independently answer the musical questions being asked in the repertoire that we choose.

Dr. R. Tad Greig is the Director of Instrumental Activities and Associate Professor in Music Education in the Department of Music at Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA.

Five “Must Haves” for Non-String Players who Teach Orchestra

By Adrianna Marshall, Ph.D.

Imagine that youhave taught elementary and middle school band for the past five years, and today yourprincipal announces that youwill also be teaching orchestra next year. While some music educators may think that this is not a possibility, in reality this scenario happens quite often. According to the National String Project Consortium, 29% of school districts in the United States offer string instruction, and 30% of the orchestra directors are nonstring players.

Non-String players become orchestra directors for many reasons. There couldbe budget cuts in yourschool district. Imagine thatyourschool lost funding for a full-time band or choral teacher,and you need to find a new teaching position. Youthen realize that the only opening is orchestra teacher. In other instances, your principal may decide to make you a part-time employee in order to budget for an orchestra teacher. In efforts to maintain your position, you havedecided that teaching band and orchestra is better than becoming a part-time teacher.

Some other reasons for a shift in your music teaching career could stem from you deciding to relocate to a new school district. While in search for a new position, the only availablepositionsdo not include teaching within your specialty. For some music educators, youmay have decided that you want to try something new because you have a desire to teach in asubject area outside of yourprimary instrument. Most importantly, there is a probable need in yourcommunity or inyourschool district for more string instruction. So, dust off those old violins,violas, cellos, and string basses youfound in yourinstrument closet and place it in the eager hands of a student!

Must Have #1 In preparation for your interview, you should rehearse your

answer to the most anticipated interview question which is, “I see that you are a (brass, percussion, woodwind, or voice) player, how are you qualified to teach orchestra?”Have youprepared your response? Are youtrulycompetent teaching on a secondary instrument?

There are many websites and blogs dedicated to assisting non-string players on how to repair instruments, bowing techniques, and choosing repertoire, but there is little information on how one should prepare for the interview.The initial process of preparing to teach orchestra begins with youplaying a stringed instrument. Istrongly suggest taking private lessons until you feel comfortable teaching yourself. Preparation for teaching string starts with obtaining a K-12 Music Teaching Certification, completing string education courses, and conducting field experiences in an orchestra setting.

Must Have #2 Gauge your stringplaying ability. Do you consider your skills to be at the level of a beginner, intermediate, or advanced player?The ability of non-string players is not as important as other facets of your teaching practices such as rehearsal techniques and conducting.

If you received your undergraduate degree in music education, you completed string education techniques courses.Do you still have your course binder and textbook? To polish your stringplaying skills, invest in a stringed instrument and search for a local private teacher who will be able to guide you through refreshing your skills from undergraduate studies. It is important that you are able to play at the beginner level of violin, viola, cello, and bass in order to adequatelydemonstrate various concepts to your orchestra students.

Must Have #3 Become familiar with teaching materials for orchestra. Ask

yourself these three important questions; whatstring method books are usedin a public school setting? Who are the most popularorchestracomposers and arrangers? What other teaching materials will I need for daily rehearsal? You can find the answers to many of yourquestionsby communicating with other local orchestra teachers, contacting your former college music education professor, or by visiting the numerous websites dedicated to teaching strings.

Must Have #4 Join your local string community. Introduce yourself tofellow string teachers who teach in your area. If you are a new music educatorand are also new to string education; it would be valuablefor you to gain mentorship with a veteran teacher.Become acquainted with local private string teachers, your local chapter of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA). Joining your local community orchestra will also assist you in polishing your string playing.

Building your professional relationships with other stringeducators provides you a new group of colleagues to draw upon for advice. There are many facets of your new career in string that will be unfamiliar to you, such aswhat instrument dealers and luthier who will be of service to your students. In addition, you can discover local businesses and venuesthat support community concerts and events.

Must Have #5 Set first-yeargoals for your music program.By adopting the Doran (1981) approach to creating goals and objectives S.M.A.R.T(specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) you can systematically establish objectives for yourorchestra program.

Specific: Your first-yeargoals should align with the mission of your school and

Editor’s Note: This article appears as one of a series written especially for Ala Breve by experts in the field of music education.

include detailed curricular goals. Create a monthly goal for each section of your orchestra. Plan to conduct informal and formal assessments.

Measurable: How do you plan to measure the success of your orchestra students? Plan to assess your students by assigning music theory and history homework assignments, and by conducting performance assessments. Some method book instructormanualsprovide a variety of rubrics that rate the level the foundational string playing skills, such as note errors, tone production, and posture. Start with less specific rubrics until you are comfortable with creating rubrics that are tailoredto your program.

Achievable: Confirm that you are setting realistic goals that also challenge your orchestra. If you are teaching beginners, it is important for your students to have a strongfoundation in string playing such as bowing, music literacy and playing posture. This takes time, provideseveral lesson plans when introducing new concepts and allow plenty of time for review. Successful teachers do not rush to complete all the exercises in a new method book each year.

Relevant: Are you creating meaningful lesson plans that encompass the artistic processes of creating, responding, as well as performing?If you are new to teaching orchestra, aligning yourrepertoire and lesson planswith the core music standards is very important. Theprocessof creating musical activities that encourage competent music students in your orchestraprogram promotes music growth.

Time-Bound: Maintain accountability in your orchestra program. Create a practice agreement for independent and sectional practicing. Going forward, you will be able to motivate your students to achieve new skills and concepts.Create a learning environment that encourages excellence.

References

Alexander, M. & Smith, B. (2009). The statusof strings and orchestra programs in United Statesschools [White paper]. Retrieved March 31, 2015, National String Project Consortium and American String Teachers Association, http://www.astaweb.com/ App_Themes/Public/Uploads/ PDF/WhitePaper.pdf

Brenner, B. (2010). Reflecting on the Rationales for String Study in Schools. PhilosophyofMusic Education Review, 18 (1), 45-64.

Doran, G. T. (1981). “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. Way to write management’s goals andobjectives“. Management Review (AMA FORUM) 70 (11): 35–36.

Hamann, D., & Gillespie, R. (2004). Strategies for teaching strings: Building a successful string and orchestra program. New York: Oxford University Press.

National Association forMusic Educators (NAfme) (2015, March). The Core Music Standards are all about Music Literacy. Retrieved from http://www.nafme.org/my-

classroom/standards/ Shahin, A. & Mahbod, M.(2007) “Prioritization of key performance indicators: An integration of analytical hierarchy process and goal setting”, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 56 Iss: 3, pp. 226 – 240

Zaffini, E. D. (2015). Using Informances” in General Music. General Music Today, 28 (2), 13-17.

Dr. Adrianna A. Marshall, violist, is an assistant professor in music education at Western Illinois University, she also serves as the music teacher certification advisor for undergraduate students. Currently, Dr. Marshall teaches music education and string methods course offerings such as Introduction to Music Education, String Techniques, Teaching and Assessment in Secondary School Music, American Popular Music, and What to Listen for in Music.

March Madness!

Welcome to March. ‘Tis the season of amazing school performances and nail-biting finishes known to most as college basketball tournament season, but to our profession as the month of Music Performance Assessment. It’s also the season of safe programming, controlled sounds, and the maddeningly narrow body of marches we tend to utilize for our MPA program openers. One glance at any district’s MPA program will highlight the tendency among directors to rely upon a fairly static stable of marches for performance at MPA. Why do we perform these same, relatively few marches year after year? Why do we feel compelled to perform a march at all? Is the “warm-up” march, as it is often called, programmed for its artistic, educational, and historical merit? Unfortunately, marches are often employed as a strategy of safety or even out of a simple lack of awareness of the myriad of programming options available to directors for their opening number. As will be discussed here, marches are an excellent tool for teaching critical musical concepts, but such tools are not limited to the march genre.

The march, which dates back many hundreds of years, but only took its western foothold in the British and American military bands of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, is an important and fundamental component of the legacy of the American band movement which especially prospered in the first half of the twentieth century. Fueled by the instrument manufacturing industry which sprang into existence to serve the U.S. military during the two world wars, and championed by returning service members, soaring patriotism and the relatively recent advent of football, the band movement and military marches in particular became as iconic an American phenomenon as apple pie.

John Phillip Sousa, “the March King,” became an international celebrity, entertaining audiences in America, Europe, and around the world with his inexhaustible repertory of military marches of unfailing singability and rousing spirit. Sousa’s success as a bandleader and composer of marches secured the American wind band and its then-limited repertoire within the national psyche, giving permanence and purpose to the budding band movement in America. Many great composers

and performers emerged from the Sousa era which swept early twentieth century America - Herbert Clarke, Arthur Pryor, Karl King, and Henry Fillmore, to name a few. Their music, prominent at festivals, circuses, parks, and other such public events was the popular music of the day, challenged only by another uniquely American musical genre coming of age at the very same time - jazz.

That marches - military, circus, and novelty alike, are the cornerstone of the band repertoire is an undeniable fact. As a profession, we remain grateful for the work of our forefathers who pioneered a new musical genre through the near exclusive use of these inspiring 2-steps. However, they do lack a certain sophistication of craft, readily acknowledged by the “March King” himself, as being the “secret of their success.” Sousa described his marches as “music for the feet, not for the head,” warning that successful marches are of simple melody, basic harmonic structure, and contain “no confusion in counterpoint.” Indeed marches, by their very origin of purpose, are of simple construction, and generally lacking in substantive melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic development.

So why do we still program them? Marches are an excellent tool for teaching students to hear the simple musical components of melody, harmony, and rhythm. Marches are excellent for teaching the difference between balance and blend and for honing listening skills in students in such a way that they learn to aurally organize sound from background to foreground. Stylistically, the march assists students in learning how to articulate with good tone quality and finesse while creating musicians who can hear and discern a wide range of musical styles.

However, for many directors marches are merely programmed into the DNA, and are performed sometimes out of a sense of professional obligation and without regard to historic, artistic, or educational merit. Marches are such a bedrock to our existence as a profession that to consider replacing them may seem heretical. Yet since there is, in fact, no written rule that one must begin the MPA performance with a march and since it is, after all, “March Madness”, here are three recommendations for FANFARES which can

by C. David Ragsdale

be a refreshing alternative to marches for the inaugural sounds of your next MPA performance. Each of these fanfares, grades 3, 4, and 5, respectively, are written by composers whose works are popular within the modern wind band medium and yet, which do not appear (with one minor exception) on the ABA cumulative list.

YOUNG PHEASANTS IN THE SKY, Satoshi Yagisawa

Young Pheasants, by Japanese composer Satoshi Yagisawa, is a thrilling grade 3 fanfare in ABA form. The outer sections are brassy and vibrant while the middle B section provides a warm, lyrical contrast. Marked at 152 bpm, the opening statement, set off by percussion, begins with strong trumpet sounds solidly inside the staff, supported by low brass, and dressed with trilling woodwinds above. The beginning is full and explosive, an exciting, well-scored opening in B-flat major.

After a brief pause, the woodwinds deliver the B section with a warm chorale setting of a beautiful melody carried by oboe and first clarinet. Flutes assist in the ensuing phrase before the supporting arrival of tutti ensemble for a lush and expressive finish. Here again, Yagisawa offers sensible scoring, assisting in the execution of full-bodied ensemble sounds, rich in character, warmth, and expressive opportunity.

The opening fanfare emerges again for the final eight bars; however, this time, trombones and trumpets are featured in a challenging four-bar statement requiring acute articulation, flexibility, and high range (trumpet to B-flat, trombone to A). If there is one area that could move this fanfare from grade 3 to 4, it would be these few bars. Full percussion and timpani escort the fanfare to a boisterous finish, enthralling performers and audience alike.

The 2.5 minute work is scored for piccolo, two flutes, oboe, bassoon, three clarinets, bass clarinet, two alto saxophones, tenor and baritone saxophone, three trumpets, four horns, three trombones, euphonium, tuba, string bass, timpani, extensive percussion, and is available from de haske publishers for about $90.

RED ROCKS FANFARE, John Bogenschutz

John Bogenschutz’s Red Rocks Fanfare is a solid grade 4 fanfare with terrific rhythmic vitality and excellent colors, which is achieved through muted brasses, extensive percussion, and well-scored woodwinds. Like Young Pheasants, it begins with the trumpet section in tight harmony, all squarely on the staff for maximum strength and impact. A trombone choir then re-states the trumpet theme before the third statement, which combines the two sections for an impressive opening section.

The horns carry a contrasting, lyrical theme, which is punctuated by muted trumpets and warm woodwinds swirling about, offering a sonic respite before the return of the fanfare motives, accompanied by a brittle woodwind ostinati. The final moments of the fanfare are just as heroic as the first sounds, replete with timpani solo beneath powerful, B-flat major chords.

Red Rocks is a brief, albeit challenging, grade 4 fanfare. First trumpet regularly visits high Bflat, while the woodwinds have some tricky chromatic licks beneath hemiola in the busy percussion writing. Overall, however, the fanfare is worth the effort and makes for an exciting concert opener.

The 2 minute work is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two bassoons, three clarinets, bass clarinet, two alto saxophones, tenor and baritone saxophone, three trumpets, two horns, three trombones, euphonium, tuba, timpani, extensive percussion, and is available from Grand Mesa publishers for $60.

ECSTATIC FANFARE, Steven Bryant

Steven Bryant’s Ecstatic Fanfare is based upon the first movement of his work for band and electronica similarly titled Ecstatic Waters. This grade 5 fanfare features bold melodic lines, almost exclusively voiced in the brasses while woodwinds, percussion, and piano provide antithesis, momentum, and energy. The woodwinds and percussion deliver a serene interlude midway through before brass emerge again, led by heroic (and high!) horn writing, for a stirring finale. Ecstatic Fanfare is an exciting and mature concert opener with plenty of difficulty and fun distributed across the score.

Aside from the technical challenges inherent in the work, Ecstatic Fanfare also presents beautiful melodic character, supported by sophisticated scoring and depth of harmony. While rhythmically, the work moves through

frequent meter changes and is occasionally syncopated, it is fundamentally straightforward. The challenges (and beauty) lie in the sprawling brass writing which is frequently countered with technical woodwind together contributing to the work’s overwhelmingly celebratory spirit.

Ecstatic Fanfare is about 3 minutes in duration and is scored for piccolo, three flutes, two oboes, two bassoons, three clarinets, bass clarinet, two alto saxophones, tenor and baritone saxophone, four trumpets, four horns, three trombones, two euphoniums, two tubas, string bass, piano, timpani, crotales, glockenspiel, vibraphone, tam-tam, triangle, and bass drum. The score and parts are available directly from the composer at stevenbryant.com for $115.

C. David Ragsdale is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Music at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

Audition

Saturday, November 8, 2014

DEGREES:

BM with Concentration in Music Education (Instrumental and Vocal)

MM with Concentration in Music Education (Instrumental and

Saturda

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Saturday, April 4, 2015

BM with Concentration in Performance (Instrumental and Vocal)

BM with Concentration in Elective Studies (Business or Specific Outside Fields)

MM with Concentration in Music Performance (Piano and Vocal)

MM with Concentration in Collaborative Keyboard

The University of South Alabama Department of Music, through its innovative curriculum, empowers professional musicians, music and those who wish to enrich their lives through the arts. The Department serves the needs of the University to promote genera provide a vital cultural link to the great state of Alabama and to the Gulf Coast region. Its excellent facilities and faculty, promotion of technology, and dedication to life-long learning provide a wide spectrum of experiences for both the student and the community.

INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLES

Wind Ensemble

Symphony Band

Symphony Orchestra

String Ensemble

Jaguar Marching Band

Jaguar Pep Band

Jazz Ensemble

VOCAL

CHAMBER ENSEMBLES

Trumpet Ensemble

Trombone Ensemble

Tuba Euphonium Ensemble

Chamber Brass Ensembles

Chamber Woodwind Ensembles

Percussion Ensemble

USA Steel Band

USA World Music Ensemble

Piano Ensemble

Guitar Ensemble

The Music Starts Here

Teaching Guitar Workshops

Shades Valley High School, Birmingham, Alabama

July 6-10, 2015

Get Guitar in Your School!

Deadline for Registration is May 15th!

Attend a Teaching Guitar Workshop and learn how to start or expand a great classroom guitar program. This Professional Development course for school music educators is endorsed by NAfME and backed by the recommendations of thousands of school music educators who have studied with us!

We offer graduate credits and letters stating clock hours for teachers who need to get re-certified as part of their continuing education. Attendees also receive a stack of method books and sheet music, as well as lots of guitar accessories. Check out our Workshop sites below. See you this summer!

Apply Online or Download a Paper Application - http://www.guitaredunet.org/site/

Pricing:

• $549 TGW Attendee (Graduate Credit)– If are attending Level I or Level II for the first time you will receive three graduate credits from VanderCook College of Music, a letter stating clock hours, books, and accessories.

• $379 TGW Attendee (no Graduate Credit) – If are attending Level I or Level II for the first time, you will receive a letter stating clock hours, books, and accessories.

• $299 TGW Alumni (REPEATING COURSE) – TGW Alumni who wish to REPEAT Level I or Level II will receive a letter stating clock hours and materials.

Level I Participants will learn:

• Posture and hand positions

• Note reading in 1st position

• Basic theory including barre chords and power chords

• Classroom management

• Chord strumming w/singing in various styles and keys

• Beginning classical, finger-style, and pick-style right hand techniques

• Improvisation w/ movable pentatonic scales

• Pacing We

Do Gestures Matter? A Research-based Approach to Conducting Gesture

By Jeremy N. Manternach, Ph.D.

Teacher-conductors often have intense beliefs as to what constitutes a “good” conducting gesture. That said, various accomplished conductors’ firmly held beliefs are often at odds with one another. In many instances, conducting studentsare asked to unlearn much of what a previous instructor had taught them in favor of the “proper” technique. Herein lies the rub. Holden (2003) has pointed out that “any discussion of conducting technique canbe problematic” (p. 3) because there are so many disparate opinions regarding its definition. So is the old adage true:the only thing two conductors can agree upon is the incompetence of a third?

Maybe not.

Over a number of decades, researchers in the social and neurosciences have examined human interaction in a variety of situations. These researchers have found that human beings tend to imitate one another. Among their findings, participants have been shown to imitate various gestures (Chartrand & Bargh, 1999), postures (LaFrance 1979; LaFrance & Broadbent, 1976), facial muscular activity (Dimberg, Thunberg, & Elmehed, 2000), and arm tension (Berger & Hadley, 1975). These imitative behaviors have been more likely to occur when there are high levels of rapport. In many cases, the research participants were not even aware that they had imitated another person. Hoffer has speculated that “When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other” (quoted in Emotional Contagion, Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson, 1994, p. 16).

Maybe these findings don’t surprise us. We watch scary movies in order toexperience fear ourselves. Our scalp seems to get itchy the moment we hear about a local elementary school’s problem with lice. We flinch and can almost feel the pain when a kicker is flattened by an unseen blocker. Simply observing someone who is yawning is often enough to cause us to yawn ourselves. In some cases, we need only read the word “yawn”(Did it work? For a fun challenge, try visiting http://www.dontyawngame.com/).

In his book, Mirroring People, neuroscientist Marco Iacoboni (2008) asserted that such responses may be related to the human mirror system. First discovered in macaque monkeys, this system is said to

contain neurons that fire while both observing and performing a task. In many cases, he asserts, these mirror neurons cause us to simulate others’ actions, leading to physical responses.1 Regardless of the cause, researchers have thoroughly documented the human tendency to imitate one another, referring to it as “the chameleon effect,” “the perception-behavior link,” or “emotional contagion.”

So what? How does this information affect our pedagogy?

If this relationship occurs in daily human interactions, might it also occur in musical settings?Some teacher-conductors have proposed just that. Axel Theimer and The VoiceCare Network2, Rodney Eichenberger, James Jordan (1996) and others have argued that rigid and/or muscled conductor gestures and postures can cause singers to vocalize with more tension. Eichenberger has even created a well-known instructional video on the topic, entitled What They See is What You Get. Karl Gehrkens, former professor at Oberlin College, claimed that conductors rely on “instinctive imitation; that is, his methods are founded upon the fact that human beings have an innate tendencyto copy the actions of others, often without being conscious that they are doing so (Gehrkens, 1919, p. 3).

These teacher-conductors have relied on their own experiences or research outside music to back their claims. Much of the research in musical settings has seemed to target ensemble expressivity or timing. More recently, however, researchers have taken a different tack, testing whether choristers would directly or indirectly imitate the gestures and tensions of a conductor.

In one of the first studies on this topic (Manternach, 2012b), participants moved their head or shoulders more during inhalation while watching a conductor who modeled upward head or shoulder movements during his prep gestures.In another study, Daugherty and Brunkan (2013) found that singers tended to round their lips more when a conductor modeled an /u/ (“ooh”) vowel while they sang a short melody. In a replication of this study (Manternach, 2012a), singers not only imitated conductor lip rounding, but also showed a tendency to imitate conductor eyebrow raising over time. Perhaps most interestingly, some singers

changed their behaviors withoutreporting that the conductor had made any changes. It is possible that these results represent other-than-conscious singer behaviors.

Other researchers have measured indirect imitation of conductor muscle tension. Fuelberth (2003) investigated whether singers would respond differently to various left hand crescendo gestures as they sang a short folk song. She found that a left hand fisted or stabbing gesture corresponded with the highest ratings of inappropriate singer tension. Most recently (Manternach, in press), I used surface electromyography (sEMG) to measure singer extrinsic laryngeal muscles as they breathed while watching various conductor prep gestures. Singers engaged one neck muscle (the sternocleidomastoid) slightly more vigorouslyduring some occurrences of a conductor “fisted” gesture compared to one with an open palm. On a related note, singers also engaged a muscle at the base of the tongue (the suprahyoid, a laryngeal lifting muscle) slightly lessvigorously when the conductor used a prep gesture that initially dropped (thus simulating a 4th beat of a standard four-beat pattern)rather than one that went straight up and returned to the conducting plane. It is possible that the slightly longer duration of the dropped gesture allowed for less muscle engagement.

One may argue that these are laboratory results gathered in artificial settings. They involve participants who sang for a prerecorded conductor and may have been wearing measurement devices. True enough. They used “reductionist” research designs. However, such designs allow us to isolate one conductor behavior. In doing so, we can eliminate variables and be sure that singer changes were related to the variable we want to study.

Should these results reflect real responses to conductor nonverbal gestures, what are the implications for a choral teacher-conductor who is standing on the podium? Consider a few questions:

How do you demonstrate breathing to your choirs? Do you show the breath with a head and/or shoulder lift or take a noisy breath in order to “help” your students know when to come in?

Do you furrow your brow or flex your arm muscles in order to show dynamic

Editor’s Note: This article appears as one of a series written especially for Ala Breve by experts in the field of music education.

changes?Do you accompany this arm tension with a fisted hand posture? Do you slump forward and round your back in order to show a subito piano?

Do you find that your shoulders feel tight in order to maintain a conducting plane at your chest or above?

When standing in front of your choir, do you engage your back muscles in order to lift your sternum to the ceiling? Do you sink into your hips, causing your shoulders to slump forward in order to remain upright? Would your “posture” allow you to sing efficiently?

Do you find that you are sore or need a massage after a few hours of conducting? Put simply, is there anything you model as a conductor that you would not want your singers to directly imitate?

In a series of three articles in 1983, Leon T hurman, founder of the VoiceCare Network, proposed that teacher-conductors have often put the cart before the horse in the rehearsal room and concert hall. I propose that using tension to convey musical ideas may inadvertently evoke unwanted vocal tension and less desirable voicing habits from our choristers. While in search of our musical and expressive goals (the cart), we may forget that human beings’ efficient use of their voices (the horse) is the very factor that will allow us to reach these goals.

Further, these results may have an impact on our rehearsal efficiency. We can likely train our students to respond to our verbal instructions regarding efficient singing rather than our nonverbal instructions. As Iacoboni stated, “…if the choir is not composed by beginners, we canassume that a fair amount of training may override these automatic tendencies tomirror” (M. Iacoboni, personal email, October 15, 2008).In other words, we can teach our students to ignore our gestures that might evoke vocal tension. I would propose that our rehearsal time might be better spent examining text, developing sight singing skills, or learning new repertoire.

While this recent research has all involved singers, I would posit that these results can inform instrumental conductors, classroom teachers, and anyone who works with human beings. It is also important to recognize that one group of studies does not establish “Truth.” It is my hope that researchers will continue to investigate various conducting techniques in order to better understand the conductor/ensemble relationship. In doing so, we can find more time-efficient ways to encourage the most rewarding music making in our rehearsals and performances.

References

Berger, S. M., & Hadley, S. W. (1975). Some effects of a model’s performance on an observer’s electromyographic activity. American Journal of Psychology, 88, 263-276.

Chartrand, T. L., & Bargh, J. A. (1999). The chameleon effect: The perceptionbehavior link and social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 893-910.

Daugherty, J. F., & Brunkan, M. C. (2013b). Monkey See, monkey do? The effect of nonverbal conductor lip rounding on visual and acoustic measures of singers’ lip postures.

Journal of Research in Music Education, 60, 345 – 362.

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Manternach, J. N. (2012b). The effect of varied conductor preparatory gestures on singer upper body movement. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 22, 20–34. 157, 62-70.

Manternach, J. N. (in press). Effects of varied conductor prep movements on singer muscle engagement and voicing behaviors.

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1 There is skepticism regarding the importance of mirror neurons in human beings. For one example, see The Myth of Mirror Neurons by Gregory Hickock.

2 For more information about the VoiceCare Network and their outstanding summer workshops, visit www.voicecarenetwork.org/.

Jeremy N. Manternach is Assistant Professor of Vocal Music at the University of Iowa

Urban Music Education: Debunking the Myths and Understanding the Realities

by Nicole R. Robinson, PhD

Editor’s Note: This article appears as one of a series written especially for Ala Breve by experts in the field of music education.

Misconceptions: My Story

I beganteaching music twenty years ago at R.N. Harris Elementary School in Durham, North Carolina. I truly believe I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to teach at this school, which was the most challenging, yet one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. R.N. Harris was an urban school that was full of “contradictions” for being an urban school.For example,studentsexcelled beyond standard academic expectations to the point thatadministrators from surrounding districts and states regularly observed our curricula. From this contradiction, I learned to never limit my students and predetermine their potential of success based on where they came from. Another contradiction: my concerts were full to capacity ofparents cheering and supporting their children. As a result, I understood that minority low-income parents care and love their children as any other parent. My principal’s magnetic, yet strict personality galvanized teachers, empowered parents, and convincedstudents they could achieve anything because they were smart, gifted,and beautiful. From this, I developed the awareness that urban schools could be successful under great leadership. Such contradictions inspired me to propel past the “chatter” of typical expectations about teaching in an urban school and set my compass for the educator I am today.

I also encountered some harsh realities while teaching at R.N. Harris. I realized that life for many of mystudents were difficult,at best. I recognizedthat for many students school was more than a place to learn; it was often a place of refuge, a place to eat a meal (sometimes two), and a place of escape from the challenging conditions they survived every day. As I became more cognizant of such realities, I challenged myself to embrace the natural musical abilities they brought to class instead of assuming that they may be musically “stunted” due to their harsh realities.The joy and excitement my students expressed asthey experienced newmusical concepts and the graciousness they exhibited for the experiences are still fresh in my mind. Over the years, I taught music in suburban and rural settings, but to this day, my “love affair” with R.N. Harris Elementary School remains as powerful as the first time I entered the school as a new music teacher.

Now, that I am in higher education, I

feel my work with urban schools has come full circle. I have spentcountless hours researching and writing about music education in urban schools. I have worked with preservice music teachers to prepare them for the classroom, most of which became music teachers in urban districts. I have worked with numerous teachers in urban districts in a variety of capacities to provide resources, tools and professional developmentsin order to enhance teacher effectiveness,and I have established several partnerships with large and small urban districts throughout the United States in effort to implement district-wide reform programs. Throughout my various experiences, I have encountered some of the “best of the best”: some of the best elementary, choral,and band teachers; some of the most musically gifted students; and some of the finest administrators. Unfortunately, with all the success and positive experiences I have witnessed through my work in urban schools, it is disheartening to still here the negative “chatter” of the low expectations of urban schools—the misconceptions continue and the myths abound, as a result.

It is not the intentionof this article to disregard the realities of the bureaucratic, societal, and cultural challenges such schools encounter. Urban schools are typically underfunded and under resourced and due to geographic location, primarily serve students from the lowest socioeconomic background and whose parents have comparatively lowlevels of formal education (Haycock, 1998).

Approximately 25% of urban school students are English Language Learners compared to only 8% in suburban schools; approximately 40% of students in urban schools receive services under Title I compared to 20% in suburban schools (Council of the Great City Schools, 2013). These are just a few of the challenges urban schools encounter. However, I hope we can stop allowing the realities of urban school to dictate our efforts to improve music educationfor children who attend these schools.

Unfortunately, there are myths and misconceptions of urban education that have misdirected our critical response to find real solutions. In the remainder of the article, we will look at some of these myths and misconceptions about teaching music in urban schools. Over the years, I have questioned a

few of these myths below. So for each urban education myth discussed, I will debunk the myth using a broad, general lens based in education research.I conclude each section with a specific music education transfer.

TheAchievement Gap and Access to Quality Education

There is an undeniable academic achievement gap between minority and disadvantaged students and their White counterparts. The greatest gap occurred during the 1970s with approximately a 50percentile point difference in standardized test scores/academic achievement profiles between minority and White students. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the difference narrowed substantially by 30 points; however, in the mid-2000s, it increased again approximately 24-percentile points. There has been no real explanation for this gap, norhas there been any research-based evidence if there are inherent racial and ethnic differences in academic abilities.

However, many suggest that the achievement gap is contributed to by various external or environmental factors, or homebased and school-based factors. Home-based factors include, but are not limited to hunger and nutrition, parental involvement and availability, excessive television/media engagement, student mobility, environmental health risks (i.e.,lead poisoning), reading skills, and birth weight. Such disparities typically exist between lower and higher income students. School-based factorsmay include teacher experience and attendance, technology assisted instruction, teaching preparation, school safety,and school size. These factors may have a greater impact on academic achievement (National Center for Education Progress, 2015).In addition to the academic achievement gap, other gaps exist between minority and disadvantage students and their White counterparts, as well: access to and enrollment in honor courses, gifted courses, advance placement courses; and enrollment in colleges, graduate, and professional programs (Ladson-Billings, 2006). However, Peske and Haycock (2006) state the connection to academic achievement is teacher quality: Poor, minority children don’t underachieve in school just because they often enter behind; but, also because the schools that are supposed to serve them actually

shortchange them in the one resource they most need to reach their potential—high-quality teachers. Unfortunately, rather than organizing our educational system to pair these children with our most expert teachers, who can help “catch them up” with their more advantaged peers, we actually do just the opposite. The very children who most need strong teachers are assigned, on average, to teachers with less experience, less education, and less skills than those who teach other children. Regardless of how teacher quality is measured, poor and minority children get fewer than their fair share of high-quality teachers (pp. 1-2). These researchersalso compared teacher quality between some urban and nonurban schools. Results indicated that 34% of students aturban schoolsas compared to 19% of students in non-urban schools were taught by “out-of-field” teachers.This corroborated research with teachers in Tennessee, Texas, Massachusetts, and Alabama, which determined the effects of teacher quality on student academic learning(Institute of Education Sciences, 2012). Results included that effective teachers (those in the top quartile) covered approximately 150 percent of the required curriculum, where as, noneffective teachers (those in the bottom quartile) covered only 50 percent of the required curriculum. The cumulative impact over multiple years indicated that students who had three consecutive years of highly effective teachers improved test scores by 21 percentile points, while students with three years of non-effective teachers fell by 30 points behind.

Transfer to Music Education: Although there are no nationallybased standardize tests in music education, “gaps” or differences tend to exist among music students of urban and non-urban schools. Similar to general education, such gaps in music education are a result of a lack of student access to quality music education curricula and quality music teaching. Also, there are substantial gaps in the quality of resources (i.e.,instruments, facilities, etc.). Another music education “gap” includes the perception of the quality of formal and informal musical experiences students encounter outside school. Although many urban students may have an extensive amount of informal music experiences (i.e., church, community groups, make shift studios), ourprofession continues to place

more value on more formal music experiences (i.e.,lessons, etc.). This gap actually becomes a barrier and oftentimes eliminates students’ access to broader music experiences.

The Teacher Shortage and Chronic Teacher Mobility

The “teacher shortage” has become a significant part of the 21st century educational landscape and it has generated some of greatest challenges American public schools have ever encountered. In one national study of all schools, the researcher discovered that approximately 535,000 teachers were hired one year and the following year, approximately 546,200 departed, indicated that more teachers left the profession each year than remain, creating a critical shortage of teacher for vacant positions (Ingorsall, 2003). All schools— rural, suburban, and urban—experience varying degrees of teacher shortages; however, urban schools are the most severely affected bythe teacher shortage(Howard, 2003). Frank (2003) states, “while one school experiences a teacher shortage another school just miles away may have a perennial waiting list of potential candidates. Although both are in essence drawing from the same labor pool, one school is simply more desirable as a place of employment” (p. 3). According to the Council of the Greater City Schools (2013), out of necessity to fill vacancies, approximately 80% of urban districts hire noncertified teachers, 60% hire teachers with emergency permits and 60% hire long-term substitutes each year; approximately 12% of new teachers hired in urban districts each year entered the classroom without any professional training in education at all (Howard, 2003).

Another problem urban districts encounter in addition to not having enough teachers is teacher mobility. Mobility occurs when teachers transition from school to school (Hancock, 2009). There are several repercussions as a result of voluminous teacher turnover, including disruption of cohesiveness and effectiveness of school communities, the interruption of educational programs, and a negative impact on professional relationships (Elfers, Plecki, & Knapp, 2006). The most detrimental consequence is the disruption of cohesive instruction each time a student encounters a new teacher.“A class of predominately African-American students has a 50% chance of having two or more teachers each year” during their public school academic experience (Haberman Foundation, Inc., 2009).

The continual change of teachers combined with the social, emotional, and personal challenges urban students typically must endure makes successful academic attainment nearly impossible. Haycock (1998) suggests that this continual change of teachers generates a “compounding effect” in which the learning gap expands as student progress through school,making consistent academic development is nearly impossible.

Transfer to Music Education: There are many talented music teachers dedicated to teaching in urban schools. However, due to the shortage of music teachers in large, urban districts, there is typically a reliance on less experienced teachers to fill vacancies. Each time a general music, choral,or band program employs a new music teacher, a disruption occurs in the cohesive learning of music for those students. When students experience chronic teacher turnover year after year, they are not able to obtain consistent, systemic music training and instruction; making consistent music development nearly impossible.

“Urban” and stigmatization

In most contexts, the word “urban” is used positively and creates images of hope and social prosperity. “Urban living” is innovative and contemporary; “urban sprawl” indicates growth, development, and expansion; “urban wear” is cool, hip, and creative; “urban” legends are modern, mystifying, and exhilarating. Sadly, when the word “urban” is used in the context of education, the word often references a deficit, despair, and social hopelessness.

The official definition of urban is “of, relating to, or designating a city.” The U.S. Census Bureau (2014) defines the classification of urban areas to “densely settled territory that meet minimum population density requirements with at least 1,000 people per square mile; urban counties are those with populations of 200,000 or more people.” Therefore, urban should not be used to describe the general population of students that attend such schools; urban should merely refer to the geographic location in which the schools are located. Due to locations being in large metropolitan areas, urban schools educate a large percentage of the overall U.S. student population. There are approximately 18,000 public school districts thateducate 64 million students in the United States. Of these, 100 of the largest urban districts educate 14 million of these students each year. In essence, less than 0.6 percent of the schools in country educates more than onethird of the total US student population.

It is imperativethat we begin to contemplate how we utilize the word “urban” in music education. Several years ago, the special education community initiated a movement to shift the use of words used to identify and label exceptional students. Labels such as “the deaf boy” or “the quadriplegic girl” were intended to identify and classify exceptional children for special services, however, many educators believed the use of such labels actually stigmatized students and inadvertently denied them certain opportunities in the mainstream (Adamek & Darrow, 2010). Now, “person-first”, label-free approaches, such as the “boy with a hearing impairment” and the “girl with a physical disability,” are now used in effort to reduce viewing students through a deficit lens and to preserve the dignityand enhance the humanistic quality of students (Adamek & Darrow, 2010).

Transfer to Music Education: Similar to the special education movement, I propose that music education reframes the use of the word “urban” from a deficit perspective where students are stigmatized and denied opportunities to a more dignity-preserving one. Currently, “urban” stigmatizes students who attend these schools for their education. By incorporating more person-first, label-free language, such as “students who attend an urban school,” the label “urban” will merely defer to the geographic location of the school, instead of inappropriately characterizing students that attend schools in urban areas. Also, by shifting to person-first language,our approach to urban music education would broaden and expand to empower our students in urban school rather than disenfranchise them as “hopelessly poor urban individuals.”

In the mid 1800’s, Horace Mann worked to reform the public schools of Massachusetts. In essence, he believed that education was a form of social justice and would serve as an “equalizing” opportunity for the poor (Labuta & Smith, 1997). He established six principles of public school education, which at the time were controversial: (1) citizens cannot maintain both ignorance and freedom; (2) education should be paid for, controlled, and maintained by the public; (3) education should be provided in schools that embrace children from varying backgrounds; (4) education must be nonsectarian; (5) education must be taught using tenets of a free society; and (6) education must be provided by well-trained, professional teachers.

Mann believed education would propel poor people out of poverty and enable

them to compete on more equal footing with the educated and financially upper socioeconomic class population—ultimately, “balancing the wheel of the social machinery” (Labuta & Smtih, 1997). Unfortunately, rather than serving as the “great equalizer” and usher of humanity as Mann envisioned, urban schools in the United States s continue to be incubators wherepatterns of inequity are establish, maintained, perpetuated and reproduced (Noguera, 2003).

In conclusion, I have witnessed many successes in urban music education around the country; twenty years ago, I was the beginning of my success story. If we begin to work to bring the pieces together—quality teachers, connecting to students music experiences, broaden access to music education, to name a few—I believe we will have even more success stories in urban music education. However, among the challenges that urban schools encounter, the greatest challenge is shattering the stigma of “just being urban.” What would happen in urban education if we began to view urban schools as places full of “smart, talented and beautiful students?”

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Nicole R. Robinson is a Professor of Music Education and the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Presidential Endowed Chair for Elementary Music Education at the University of Utah.