DECEMBER 17 – 19, 2025 | BOOTH 825
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 4:00PM, LOCATION TBD
Jason Fettig, President
Matt Temple, President-Elect
Elva Kaye Lance, Vice-President
Randall Coleman, Immediate Past President
Scott Tobias, Executive Secretary-Treasurer
Al & Gladys Wright Distinguished Legacy Award, Randall Coleman
Alfred Young Band Composition Contest, Audrey Murphy
AWAPA Commission, David Gregory
Citations & Awards, Heath Nails
Constitution & By-Laws, Matt Temple
Foster Project NBA Representative, Wolson Gustama
Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors Board of Electors, Thomas Fraschillo
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Awareness, Tremon Kizer
Marching Band Committee, Adam Dalton & Bobby Lambert
Merrill Jones Composition Contest, Matt Smith
National Programs of Excellence, Melinda Mackenzie-Hall
NBA Foundation, Susan Creasap
Nominating Committee, Randoll Coleman
Research Grants, Brian Silvey
Selective Music List – Concert, Arris Golden
Selective Music List - Jazz, Steve Shanley
Selective Music List – Marches, Col. Don Schofield
William D. Revelli Composition Contest, Matthew McCutchen
Young Composer Jazz Composition Contest, Richard Stichler
Young Composer Mentor Project, Frank Ticheli
Young Conductor Mentor Project, Linda R. Moorhouse
To promote and empower band performances throughout the world.
To encourage and promote the commissioning and performance of new wind band music.
To provide inclusive and authentic professional development opportunities and resources for everyone.
To acknowledge and celebrate the diversity of bands, educators, performers, and band support organizations.
To promote pride, commitment, and enthusiasm among band directors and performers.
To encourage lifelong involvement in music and to support interested students in pursuing musical careers.
To promote an inclusive community among directors, performers, the music industry, and all other band support organizations.
NBA Journal Editor, Matthew D. Talbert
NBA Journal Layout & Design, Nash P. McCutchen
Articles presented in the NBA Journal represent views, opinions, ideas and research by the authors and are selected for their general interest to the NBA members. Authors’ views do not necessarily represent the official position of the National Band Association, nor does their publication constitute an endorsement by the National Band Association.
As the summer draws to a close and many of us return to our classrooms, I am filled with a mix of likely familiar emotions. In my relatively new life as a full-time educator, it has been nice to get a bit of time to recharge. That said, the many active teachers among us in membership in the NBA know very well that summer is not really “time off.” Aside from a few weeks here and there to squeeze in some time to unplug, much of the summer is spent thinking creatively about what we will do when the students are back. Many are engaged in professional development and preparing for giving our students and our curriculum all our energy and expertise. I admire all of you for your tireless dedication to our profession!
As we dive back in, I want to bring you attention to some of the most important things going on in the NBA this year and share some of the goals that we have in service to our membership and our community. First, I want to remind everyone of some of the deadlines still approaching for many of our resources and wonderful programs of recognition:
▶ Research and Project Grants applications are due on October 15th. These small monetary grants range from $250-$500 and are awarded annually based on the merits of applications. Check the
website for more details.
▶ The NBA/William D. Revelli Composition Competition deadline in November 1st, 2025. This flagship competition boasts many winners that have gone on to become staples of our repertoire and is generously sponsored by J.W. Pepper.
▶ We are still accepting submissions for future NBA Journal articles. If you have a particular area of expertise you would like to share with our membership, please consider a submission! Check the website for more information
▶ The Al and Gladys Wright Distinguished Legacy Award is given each year to no more than two individuals who have demonstrated the highest level of achievement in leadership, teaching, and mentoring in the band profession. Nominations are due by November 1, 2025.
▶ The wonderful Young Conductors and Composers Mentoring Project is alive and well and will continue to be supported by the amazing work of the United States Air Force Band in Washington, DC. We have decided to move the next chapter of that program to the summer of 2027 to be held in opposite years of the new biennium moving forward, so stay tuned for more information.
We proudly continue to be the largest collection of band supporters, students, and professionals in the nation ...
President’s Message,
Jason K. Fettig, cont.
In addition to these programs, the prestigious Programs of Excellence recognition process is well under way, and Citations of Excellence are ongoing all year. If you would like to submit for a COE for a deserving individual, please contact your State Chair. Our NBA booths are also available for exhibiting at state conferences, and you may request one under the “Members” tab on the website.
During this biennium, we have improved upon some of our resources and launched several new initiatives that we are excited to support:
▶ Our NBA Music Lists have undergone a multi-year renovation and are in excellent shape. We have both a new search engine on the website to more easily find exactly what you are seeking, and a new process for submitting requests for edits to existing repertoire, or new pieces to be added to the collection. The Music Lists are available to all members on the website under “Members.”
▶ We have launched a new push to form Student Chapters across the country. Our preservice teacher members can gather at their institutions with a mentoring faculty member to take advantage of NBA resources, network with established members of the
profession, and request learning and mentoring opportunities for their chapter. If you are a student member or a faculty member at an institution of higher education with interested students, please consider forming a student chapter!
▶ The Access Collective is a new program co-sponsored by the NBA and Music For All that pairs early service teachers with experienced mentors who have expertise in IDEA values in the classroom. The NBA has made it a priority to systematically take this program nationwide and support the participants to share the results of these collaborations at their state MEA conferences. Please check out “The Access Collective” tab under “What We Offer.”
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, is the opportunity for community and fellowship in person. So much of our time together across this organization feels confined to Zoom and email, and we want to prioritize the opportunities to get together in addition to the annual Midwest Clinic. This upcoming spring, the NBA is joining forces with CBDNA to offer the chance to attend three of the five Division Conferences, and the potential to add more Divisions in 2028:
▶ Southern Division: February 1921, University of South Florida; Tampa, FL
▶ Eastern Division: March 19-21, 2026, University of Massachusetts; Amherst, MA
▶ North Central Division: April 9-11, 2026, University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI
NBA ensembles will be performing at each of these conferences, and all NBA members are invited to attend for a discounted rate. Not only will the concerts and clinics at these events be relevant to your own classrooms, but it is also an opportunity to refresh your personal creativity, your passion, and your relationships with other members of our community. Please consider attending any of these if you can get away!
Thanks to all of you for your continued membership in—and service to—this community. We proudly continue to be the largest collection of band supporters, students, and professionals in the nation and there is even more that we can do together for BAND in the years ahead.
Yours in service,
Jason Fettig President The National Band Association
Early in my teaching career, I heard someone compare the anticipation of a new school year to riding a roller coaster: we eagerly wait to get on, and before long, we can’t wait to get off. And here we are again—buckled in and beginning another ride.
As with any journey into new and unfamiliar territory, we need a guide. Today, we benefit from advanced navigational tools—GPS systems that track our movement, provide directions, offer course corrections, and even alert us to upcoming weather conditions. Before these conveniences, travelers relied on compasses, and before that, on nature itself—the stars, the sun, the seasons—for guidance and direction.
In education, our compass is often found in our mission statements. Our school districts, fine arts departments, state associations, and band programs each use mission statements, curricula, and defined goals to keep us aligned with our purpose.
Looking ahead at the opportunities this year holds, I’m reminded of something an experienced band director once said while describing the downfield march in a block drill: “It’s like plowing a field—plow the rows straight and deep so that those who
come after you can find their way.” He was referring to keeping files aligned during a performance, but that metaphor also speaks to the broader work we do in music education.
As we embark on this new year, we must once again rely on our compass—actually, several compasses. We have personal compasses: our moral values, beliefs, and internal priorities. And we have our program compass— our shared goals that reflect why we do what we do. Most of us strive to:
▶ Develop skilled musicians
▶ Cultivate outstanding citizens
▶ Provide meaningful musical experiences
▶ Foster strong social connections
▶ Support the mission of our schools and communities
▶ Instill a lifelong love of music
So we ask ourselves: What experiences will help us meet these goals? How can we provide challenging opportunities that promote growth while also nurturing our students?
As the year unfolds, perhaps we’ll reevaluate our priorities and find new ways to grow—musically, personally, and professionally. We might:
▶ Create more local performance Continued on next page
Elva Kaye Lance
The work happening in band rooms across the country is truly inspiring. And remember—plow the rows deep and straight, so those who follow can find their way.
Vice President’s Message, Elva Kay Lance, cont.
opportunities to strengthen community ties
▶ Offer more small ensemble experiences to foster individual responsibility
▶ Provide leadership roles across grade levels to empower students
▶ Engage in service-learning to deepen our understanding of others and make a broader impact
While the days can feel long, the weeks often fly by. Before
we know it, we’ll look back on a lifetime of meaningful experiences and powerful memories—all from working in one of the most impactful professions there is.
So, look to your compass. Let your personality, your community, and your values guide your journey. Though our paths may differ, we are united by our commitment to the future of music education. The work happening in band rooms across the country is truly inspiring. And remember—plow
the rows deep and straight, so those who follow can find their way.
It’s an honor to be associated with each of you in this fine organization. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if I can support you in any way as we move forward.
Happy Music-Making,
Elva Kaye Lance Vice President
National Band Association
The National Band Association was founded on September 11, 1960. This new organization was the dream and brain child of Traugott Rohner, the editor and founder of The Instrumentalist magazine. Rohner set up a meeting with two of the most capable leaders among America’s band directors, Dr. Al G. Wright, who was at that time Director of Bands at Purdue University, and John Paynter, Director of Bands at Northwestern University, and these two very able leaders established a new, inclusive band organization which grew into the largest band organization in the world.
Al Wright was the NBA’s first president, and he soon became aware of a need to establish a special, high level award program to recognize excellence and exceptional service to bands. The result of this was the establishment of The Academy of Wind and Percussion Arts (AWAPA). This award was established for the purpose of recognizing those individuals who have made truly significant and outstanding contributions to furthering the excellence of bands and of band music, and it was not to be limited to band directors, but to anyone who’s contributions were determined to be so outstanding that they deserved and warranted honor and recognition.
The nine-inch silver AWAPA figure is designed to be the “Oscar” of the band world. Elections to the academy are made from time to time by the Board of Directors acting upon nominations from the AWAPA Commission. Presentations of AWAPA awards are made at band performances or meetings of national significance. The new recipients of the award are announced at the annual National Band Association Membership Meeting at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago each December, and the honorees from the previous year are invited to attend that meeting for a formal presentation of the award.
If the recipient is not able to be present at that meeting, the award is presented at another prestigious band event where the recipient is properly honored and recognized. The award consists of a silver statuette, a silver medallion, and an engraved certificate. The Academy of Wind and Percussion Arts represents the highest honor which the National Band Association can confer on any individual.
The NBA represents the best there is in a great, proud profession. When we honor our very best, we bring honor on our organization and on our profession. A list of the past recipients of the AWAPA Award is literally a “Who’s Who” list of some of the greatest leaders involved in the band movement during the past six decades. The list includes an international cross section of important individuals representing all aspects of the band world, who have rendered remarkable service to bands.
William D. Revelli
November 25, 1961
Karl L. King November 10, 1962
Harold D. Bachman January 9, 1965
Glenn Cliffe Bainum February 21, 1965
Al G. Wright March 7, 1969
Harry Guggenheim August 18, 1969
Paul V. Yoder December 18, 1969
Toshio Akiyama December 13, 1970
Richard Franko Goldman July 23, 1971
John Paynter March 5, 1972
Roger A. Nixon July 12, 1972
Traugott Rohner
February 11, 1973
Sir Vivian Dunn March 2, 1973
Jan Molenaar July 11, 1974
Frederick Fennell August 3, 1975
Harry Mortimer August 3, 1975
George S. Howard December 16, 1976
Mark Hindsley March 2, 1978
Howard Hanson December 13, 1978
James Neilson December 13, 1978
Vaclav Nelhybel December 13, 1978
Leonard Falcone December 12, 1979
Alfred Reed December 12, 1979
Arnald Gabriel December 16, 1980
Nilo Hovey December 16, 1980
Trevor Ford December 16, 1981
Vincent Persichetti December 16, 1981
Clare Grundman December 15, 1982
Morton Gould December 15, 1982
Karel Husa December 15, 1982
Harry Begian December 14, 1983
Francis McBeth December 12, 1984
Normal Dello Joio December 12, 1984
J. Clifton Williams December 18, 1984
Frank W. Erickson December 17, 1986
Neil A. Kjos December 17, 1986
Merle Evans
December 20, 1986
Hugh E. McMillen
December 17, 1986
Claude T. Smith December 16, 1987
Warren Benson December 14, 1988
John Bourgeois December 14, 1988
Donald Hunsberger December 19, 1990
Edgar Gangware December 19, 1991
W J Julian December 16, 1992
Geoffrey Brand
December 20, 1995
Harvey Phillips December 21, 1995
Richard Strange
December 20, 1995
L. Howard Nicar, Jr. October 16, 1996
Kenneth Bloomquist December 18, 1996
H. Robert Reynolds December 18, 1996
Elizabeth Ludwig Fennell December 17, 1997
Arthur Gurwitz December 17, 1997
Russell Hammond December 14, 1999
William F. Ludwig December 14, 1999
John M. Long December 20, 2001
Raoul Camus December 19, 2002
Paul Bierley June 14, 2003
William J. Moody
December 18, 2003
Earl Dunn
December 16, 2004
Victor Zajec
December 16, 2004
James T. Rohner
December 15, 2005
Frank Battisti
December 21, 2006
David Whitwell December 20, 2007
Frank B. Wickes
December 18, 2008
Ray Cramer December 17, 2009
James Croft
April 16, 2011
Paula Crider
December 15, 2011
Mark Kelly
December 15, 2011
Bobby Adams
December 19, 2013
Richard Floyd
December 18, 2014
Edward Lisk
December 17, 2015
Linda R. Moorhouse
December 15, 2016
Thomas V. Fraschillo
December 21, 2017
John Whitwell
December 20, 2018
Richard Crain
December 19, 2019
Loras John Schissel
December 15, 2020
Bruce Leek
December 16, 2021
Julie Giroux
December 20, 2022
Frank Ticheli
December 20, 2022
Gerald Guilbeaux
December 21, 2023
John Stoner
December 21, 2023
Tim Lautzenheiser
December 19, 2024
The mission for directors of school bands is understood inherently by those who think of themselves more often as instrumental music teachers rather than simply as band directors. The basic objective of instrumental music education is that students will learn performance skills in order to understand musical language and to experience the joys of recreating music in the expressive medium of their choice. Music education should prepare students also for a fuller understanding and appreciation of the music they will be hearing the rest of their lives regardless of its style or venue. Efforts to address the National Standards for Music Education in band class by including music theory, music history, improvisation, and composition will help the students be better listeners in adulthood and will make better musicians of those who wish to pursue musical careers or practice music as an avocation in adult life.
The National Band Association would like school administrators, teachers, and parents to recognize that students elect to study instrumental music for a variety of reasons, including: as an outlet for creativity, a source of social interaction with like-minded peers, a possible career choice, gratification that comes from recognition by responsive audiences, discipline through study and practice, and service to school and community. The evaluation of instrumental music programs should be grounded in a review of the educationally and aesthetically justifiable objectives that are explicit in this mission statement.
The long-respected model for learning to play a musical instrument based on the role of artist-teacher with a studio of private students applies as well to school bands. Band class must provide these same foundations: a correct concept of characteristic tone quality, development of technique based on a graded course of study, a formal system for counting rhythms, practice in developing good intonation, and the sure goal of playing expressively.
An instrumental music program should offer a broad range of musical experiences: an extensive solo and chamber music repertory that provides subtle opportunities for nuance and other systems of expression; a school jazz ensemble that stresses rhythmic precision, understanding of harmonic progression, and creative improvisation; a concert band, the core of the program, where our musical heritage is transmitted through inspirational compositions by the most creative composers.
Service activities such as marching band are often important to the school and community, and students who participate gain social, educational, and musical values. Because evaluative competition can raise standards and motivate progress, NBA strongly recommends that all bands participate in festivals or contests sponsored by district and state music education associations, especially when a rating rather than a ranking is the goal. However, the integrity of the instructional program can be threatened by a disproportionate emphasis on competitions and servicerelated performances. Marching band activities that require extra rehearsals and travel time should be scheduled with concern for the many responsibilities that students have in addition to their musical studies, and must never be the focus of the instrumental music program. Excessive demands on students, parents, and community––financial and otherwise––bring about consequences harmful to the essence of the instrumental music program.
History demonstrates that those who cultivate a special intelligence in an area of personal interest make great contributions to the way we live. Efforts by legislators or educators to emphasize one area of study alone stifle the pluralism that has been one of this country's strengths. Rather, schools should provide a broad base of knowledge for students and also encourage development of the special abilities of those who demonstrate the capacity to excel. Instrumental music studies provide a laboratory of artistic and social opportunities for individual development that contributes to the collective good.
The arts provide unique forms of knowledge, present a basic means of communication, and produce lasting works that are the hallmarks of a civilization. President Abraham Lincoln reminded us that education is not for the purpose of learning to earn a living, but for learning what to do with a living after it has been earned. Whether in the arts or other areas of interest, students who are encouraged to develop their talents and interests participate in the continuous regeneration of our democratic ideals.
Al G. Wright
1960 - 1962
Honorary Life President
John Paynter 1962 - 1966
Honorary Life President
James Croft 1986 - 1988
Frank B. Wickes 1988 - 1990
Edward W. Volz 1966 - 1968
William J. Moody 1968 - 1970
Edward S. Lisk 1990 - 1992
George S. Howard 1970 - 1974
F. Earl Dunn 1974 - 1976
William D. Revelli 1976 - 1978
W J Julian 1978 - 1980
Kenneth Bloomquist 1980 - 1982
James Neilson 1982 - 1984
James K. Copenhaver 1984 - 1986
Robert E. Foster 1992 - 1994
John R. Bourgeois 1994 - 1996
James Keene 1996 - 1998
Thomas Fraschillo 1998 - 2000
Paula Crider 2000 - 2002
David Gregory 2002- 2004
Linda Moorhouse 2004- 2006
Bobby Adams 2006- 2008
Finley Hamilton 2008- 2009
John Culvahouse 2009- 2012
John M. Long 2010 Honorary President
Roy Holder 2012 - 2014
Richard Good 2014 - 2016
Scott Casagrande 2016 - 2018
Scott Tobias 2018 - 2020
Rebecca Phillips 2020 - 2022
Randall Coleman 2022 - 2024
Research relevant to the field that you would like to share?
Professional advice or tips that might help other band directors?
Something to say?
The National Band Association welcomes and encourages members to submit articles for possible inclusion* in future editions of the NBA Journal. Peer-reviewed** and non-peer reviewed articles are accepted. The NBA Journal is published quarterly and deadlines/ instructions for submission are as follows:
Winter Edition (published in February)
Spring Edition (published in May)
Summer Edition (published in August)
Fall Edition (published in November)
*Articles are published at the discretion of the editor and may appear in a later journal edition or not at all.
**For guidance on how to submit a peer-reviewed article, please see page 63.
Please submit your article in Word document format to NBA Journal Editor Matthew Talbert: talbertm@ohio.edu.
All winners of the following awards are listed at NationalBandAssociation.org/Awards-Recognition
Academy of Wind and Percussion Arts (AWAPA) Award
Al & Gladys Wright Distinguished Legacy Award
NBA Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors
Programs of Excellence Blue Ribbon Award
The NBA/Alfred Music Young Band Composition Contest
The NBA/Merrill Jones Memorial Band Composition Contest
The NBA/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest
The NBA Young Composers Jazz Composition Contest
Mentor Award
Citation of Excellence
Outstanding Jazz Educator
Citation of Merit for Marching Excellence
Outstanding Musician Award
Outstanding Jazz Musician Award
Music Camper Award
Band Booster Award
WHO MAY ENTER: Anyone
REQUIREMENTS:
ENTRY MATERIALS:
FORMS & MATERIALS:
$5000 AWARD: November 1, 2025 ENTRY DEADLINE:
A work for Concert Band/Wind Ensemble. Recommendations as to style, form, length, and instrumentation are outlined in the contest rules.
A pdf of the full score plus a digital audio recording of a live performance or recording session must be sent to the chair.
Dr. Matthew McCutchen (e-mail: mccutchen@usf.edu)
Attn: NBA Composition Contest
School of Music, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Ave., MUS 101 Tampa, FL 33617
CONTEST RULES & PAST WINNERS: NationalBandAssociation.org/composition-contests
NBA/WILLIAM D. REVELLI MEMORIAL BAND COMPOSITION CONTEST COMMITTEE
Matthew McCutchen, University of South Florida, Chair
Terry Austin
Virginia Commonwealth University
Marcellus Brown
Retired (ID)
Catherine Sinon Bushman
St. Cloud State University (MN)
Travis Cross
UCLA
Arris Golden
Michigan State University
Jennifer Hamilton
Red Mountain High School (AZ)
Chadwick Kamei
Pearl City High School (HI)
Tremon Kizer
University of Central Florida
Diane Koutsulis
Retired (NV)
Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin
Penn State University
Jason Nam
Indiana University
Sue Samuels
Furman University (SC)
Col. Don Schofield
United States Airforce Band
Shanti Simon
University of Colorado Boulder
BY MICHAEL YOPP
Building a music program is a strategic commitment on each director’s part. My research and four decades of building various programs has supported the conclusion that building any organization has certain commonalities that one must master to be successful. Building relationships is one of the largest factors in the growth of any program.
Every director of a stagnant program has an excuse for lack of growth. Facing each of the excuses as just obstacles to overcome will begin the growth process. Knowing the direction the program needs to go, developing a plan to get there and promoting that plan are critical to ultimate success. A director must believe in him/ herself, in their students, as well as every stakeholder that will connect to the program in any way. Many articles have been written on recruitment and retention and while that is an important aspect, the truth of any strategic plan has to do with the relationships.
Recruitment and retention are year around processes and must be part of every director’s philosophy but without a comprehensive, strategic plan of relationship building, the numbers will never increase.
When relationship building, maintaining professional distance should always be the norm. There is a fine line between being friendly to students and stakeholders versus being their friend. While it might seem logical for the professional relationships to evolve into friendships, the danger of being friends with students, parents, administration or any other stakeholder can be problematic. Develop a friendly but professional outlook with each group, maintaining the separation that will not demean the program becomes the wisest, most productive course of action.
Space does not permit a full explanation of each of these relationships in depth but never avoid building relationships with a wide circle of people. These people then become stakeholders, not
Dr. Yopp has four decades of growing programs, having had successful programs in Tennessee as well as Florida, with both states awarding him for his growth in the performing arts. Dr. Yopp’s high school and University programs have reached the highest levels in every area, with award winning Symphonic, Jazz and Marching ensembles. Under his direction, groups were past finalist in the Essential Ellington Contest, Superior programs in every area, and WGI finalist in both Winds and Percussion, Dr. Yopp has built in numbers and quality for successful programs at every level.
passive observers of a program with solid relationship building. A strong program needs a strong student base, talented, committed staff, working parents (boosters), supportive administration, respect of peers, excited community, and proud alumni. Cultivate each of these areas, creating new relationships if they are not already in place. Develop the relationship so that each believe in the program’s vision. Gain a professional trust of and to each area and never lose the value of these people as part of the fabric
Continued on next page
that makes a program successful.
This is a monumental task but paramount in the growth and foundation of any program. Once each group has been identified, ask what the possible result of this professional relationship is. Do not overlook any relationship that connect to the program. Some examples of overlooked relationships at the secondary level are the custodial staff and guidance counselors. Showing them respect and gratitude will go a long way when a spill need cleaned, or a student needs a schedule change. There are many times overlooked as relationships but are needed to make a program
successful. At the collegiate level, the financial aid and admissions departments can make or break the vision for the program. Directors need to understand these peripheral relationships don’t work for the director and have other responsibilities so are not at the mercy of the directors demands. The lack of respect from directors toward others within the extended group is a factor in the organization’s weakness. The director is teaching the students and parents who to respect and who to ignore. As an example, while working for a large school district in Florida with 14 High Schools, I had a district inventory personnel member that would tell
Relationships Matter..., Michael Yopp, cont.
me every year during inventory, that I was the only director with my instruments organized for examination. However, through the years, when I was short tubas or percussion equipment due to program growth, I called her and asked where I could reassign (borrow) these instruments, and she would make it happen, always telling me “You’re the only one I will do this for”. Professional respect built that relationship. Others can help achieve the vision but always remember it is a twoway street in relationships and the director is not the most important one in it.
Continued on next page
Relationships Matter..., Michael Yopp, cont.
Building a solid program through relationship requires a “3 + 3” process- 3 groups of students and 3 groups of adults. Student relationships will always be in three groups- committed students that will be successful in the program no matter who is leading, the workhorse students that just want to be good and willing to work and the most overlooked group are the social student who just wants to be part of something. Directors that try to identify only the best musicians have little confidence in their own ability to cultivate students in the workhorse and social areas. As a result, they have good SMALL programs that are just a few dropouts away from the program’s demise. Develop a relationship with all three groups, knowing the possibility that each group may gravitate to the next. In the past, students who started in my groups as social, rose to be up committed All-State students because we developed the inclusive environment that allowed them to flourish.
The other 3 in the process are the adult stakeholders. Parents, which like the students, breakdown to the same committed, workhorse and social perspective. The second group are those “inside the institution” adults which is other educators, administration and support staff, and lastly, the “outside the institution” group
which is community, alumni, school boards or college trustees, music peers and businesses. Again, the cultivation and development of professional relationships is foundational to a program’s overall success. Due to these relationships, very rarely do I have to defend what and why we are doing things in our program as these adult groups are the vocal arm of our organization. With the open lines of communication to these groups and awareness of organizational objectives, all areas become stakeholders to our overall success.
Always consider this simple idea- A program will succeed or fail because of YOU- the director. Our responsibility as music educators, directors and conductors goes much further than waving our arms and teaching musical concepts. Growing a program is critical to our continuation as a viable part of American education. Not growing a program to its fullest potential could be the demise of music at every level. Take an active part in the revival of bands, choirs and orchestras in your school. My hope, as I am getting to the end of my career, is each of you directors will be the rebirth, not the closure, of programs. In some small way I want to be an asset for all young directors.
BY JEFFREY HADFIELD
After a successful concert, the last thing you want to worry about is getting music ready to play within a day or two. I have served as a music librarian with various community programs, university ensembles, and as well as running my own program. I’ve learned that managing a library can be painless if systematically organized. Whether you have prepared several weeks in advance or are unsure what to read at the next rehearsal, having a music library that is organized and conducive to your environment will help you during these quick transitions. Not having a plan or knowing you are walking into an unorganized room can quickly become, “the monster underneath your bed” that pesters you at night. The following tips and tricks may help you start approaching the music library and transform your library from the beast you never want to interact with to becoming your best aide and friend.
Look at where music is stored within your space. Is your library all in one location or scattered throughout your space? You may want to create a long-term plan for getting your library all back together and systematically work within the flow of your ensemble room. A practical solution might be to move the music library out of the ensemble room into an office or storage space connected to the larger room.
Looking at the status of your current library filing system will help you determine the route you may want to go with the project later. Most established libraries often have a file system of reference information. Whether it is by a card catalog, inventory binder, spreadsheet, or a file management program, use the current system as you begin your
Jeffrey Hadfield is pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Wind-Band Conducting at West Virginia University with Dr. Scott Tobias. He holds a Master of Music in Conducting from the University of Louisville, where he studied with Dr. Frederick Speck, Dr. Amy Acklin, Dr. Jason Cumberledge and Brad Rogers, and a Bachelor’s in Music Education from Brigham Young University—Idaho, where his mentors included Diane Soelberg, Dr. Darrell Brown, and Dr. Robert Tueller.
Prior to his graduate studies, his teaching experience included teaching high school band in Las Vegas, Nevada, within the Clark County School District. His professional experience also includes significant administrative work within the Nevada Music Educators Association (NMEA) and managing the Idaho Falls Youth Symphony, where he oversaw programming logistics, retreats, auditions, and general operations. He is a member of WASBE, CBDNA, NBA, NAfME, and Windjammers Unlimited.
organization project. Take note of what methods or systems work for the program's needs.
Music Library Organization 101..., Jeffrey Hadfield, cont.
Ask yourself the following questions regarding space: Does your music library have room to grow in the next 10 to 20 years? Do you have room to work and sort music near the music library? If not, you may want to consider different locations and office equipment to help aid in not only storing the music but also maintaining it. Whether it’s minor tweaks or a major overhaul, create a game plan for using the library. As an old adage goes, “leave it better than you found it.”
We’ve all walked into a rehearsal space to discover the river of papers flowing throughout the room. Suppose it is a medieval moat of paper around your podium. In that case, having a designated return area will help you keep your room decluttered.
Avoid having one single “return” or “to sort” bin. Have one stack return music with similar correlations such as genre, concert cycle, or chart title. The other stack will be random music without any correlations. As you tackle and sort your music library, this will exponentially improve your time sorting later.
This may seem simple, but it is often a step that gets overlooked. Make sure you completely sort music for your current library setup before making changes. Doing so will speed up the process of redesigning your library into a better system. If you start the other way around, it will take longer because you sort as you go, creating a bigger mess.
Some music libraries have become quite the collection of noteworthy music that has either fallen out of favor with popularity or are just simply incomplete sets. With these bigger libraries, avoid making big purges of discarding. You may be tossing a set of music that will be a treasure down the road. Consider possibly using it for another mode of instruction, such as a quick sight-reading drill for practice.
For example, when I taught high school in Las Vegas, I had a small music library was smaller but my feeder junior high school programs had more of an established library with music they weren’t using with their programs. My colleagues generously let me borrow to practice sight reading pieces with
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my students. This was a great way for me to extend the value of the music, even though I wasn’t considering programming the works.
If you truly need to get rid of incomplete sets or even ones that are complete, make those changes slowly and bit by bit. Consider donating your music to a community music library that collects and lends out old music sets such as the Chatfield Lending Music Library in Minnesota. Years ago, the Chatfield Brass Band started to collect local band music from different organizations, discarding charts. Today, this community band has created an extensive archive of charts that once were incomplete old sets into usable ones for those looking for a particular piece. You can subscribe to a yearly library membership to gain access to these charts. It’s possible that Chatfield Music Library may have a missing part or out-of-print music in the archives. One person’s junk within a music library could be another’s treasure.
As we progress into the future, more publishers and composers are distributing music sets in digital formats. While digital sets have many pros and cons, one of the biggest negatives is how easy it is to lose files in the shuffle
of computer files. One way to organize these digital files is to catalog and save these items on an external storage device. Having an external storage device designated specifically for and stored with the library will help preserve music for future use, either digitally or physically. Another way to avoid losing music is to print off a master set to remain in your library. In addition, storing documentation of licensing information with the music will help keep legal access for use instead of purchasing new music and licenses again.
How you catalog your library information can give you helpful information before you pull the chart off the shelf. Using a systematic letter and numbering system can help create categories for different ensemble types and where the composition is stored. If an organization has grown with different ensemble types, it may be worth creating a prefix to the numbering system to distinguish if the orchestral piece is a full orchestra piece (OR-143) versus a string orchestra chart (SO-143). Prefixes and suffixes to a call number can help distinguish music in large quantities. If scores are stored separately from the parts, maintain a similar filing system for ease of reference between score and parts. If you personally curate your own scores and markings,
Music Library Organization 101..., Jeffrey Hadfield, cont.
make sure there is an extra original score in the organization’s set. Also, knowing and maintaining what type of uniform containment system for your library will help you stay organized for future use.
Periodically, you may need to update how reference information is organized for the current needs of the ensemble. For example, if your library uses an old card catalog system, it is probably time to use a computerized spreadsheet for quicker ease and search of information. There are various
library management programs to manage a library on a computer. Another way is using an inventory sheet that lives with the music, as shown in Figure 1, which is a great way to maintain information (Figure 1).
Most established libraries often have a file system of reference information. Whether by a card catalog, inventory binder, spreadsheet, or a file management program, use the current system then switch when the disorganized mess is no more.
Sometimes, it seems impossible to tackle your music library on your own, especially as we are pulled in many different directions as an ensemble director. It’s easy for the music library to slide away and to get out of hand. If needed, recruit some help to make some headway on your library. Many directors get their student leadership involved with the process. This is an excellent way for them to work together, get acquainted with the
music, and for you to get to know them as well. You may want a student to be a library DJ over the sound system as you sort through chart titles. You and your student may discover a hidden gem you can soon program. And, of course, providing food to your student leadership also sweetens the deal.
Many students don’t understand how professional music organizations distribute and return parts. This also includes how to mark parts for practical use and helpful reminders. In a school setting, this is a perfect opportunity to teach your students how to handle music properly,
Music Library Organization 101..., Jeffrey Hadfield, cont.
even if the distributed parts are photocopies. Plan an activity where students must mark up a part. Walk them through the different ways of adequately marking the music, including marking it in a way that would help for the next person who uses the music. Another simple way is to show them different examples and discuss what would work best (Figure 2).
Students tend to take better care of the music if they don’t know if it is a copy and you expect them to return the part after the concert cycle. Teaching them to treat all music as an original, published part will teach them responsibility for maintaining/returning borrowed items. One way you
could do this is to establish a folder checkout system, acknowledging that they must return the folder's contents at the end of the cycle (Figure 3).
Having the organization, resources, and knowing the ins and outs of your music library will help you save time and stress in the long run. At first, it may be daunting, but once the monster has been put in place, your library will be your room’s most incredible tool and resource. You can clearly focus with peace of mind on student engagement while teaching and performing music.
BY COLONEL DON SCHOFIELD
Growing up in Georgia, I was raised with the belief that SEC football is a blend of loyalty, fanaticism, and religious dedication. Cheering for your team was a family tradition, as was a visceral dislike for the big rivalry schools. During the last decade. one of those teams that I held in high disdain was Alabama, and one of the things that constantly irritated me about Alabama football was how lucky the Crimson Tide seemed to be when playing a game. With their back up against the wall, behind in the score, and with little time on the clock to secure a win, coach Nick Saban seemed to constantly pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat and always find a way to win. Now, after years of observing how leaders, directors, and coaches manage successful teams, it is clear to me that Coach Saban did not have magical powers, but knew how to harness processes and discipline.
Nick Saban’s philosophy, aptly termed “The Process,” transcends the realm of sports clichés and
embodies a systematic approach to mastery that has garnered widespread recognition beyond the football domain. At its fundamental essence, that process emphasizes the meticulous execution of sequential actions necessary for success, rather than fixating solely on the ultimate outcome. Saban’s guiding principle is that his team should refrain from being swayed by the current game score and instead concentrate on meticulously refining each repetition, practice, and moment. This approach revolves around unwavering preparation, discipline, and meticulous attention to detail, all underpinned by the belief that consistent and high-quality effort eventually yields the desired results, even if those results may not be immediate or certain. While we often venerate individuals with “natural talent,” we witness highlight reels, marvel at prodigies, and assume that greatness stems from some mystical inborn attribute. However, when we scrutinize the underlying mechanisms of success, the reality is far less mysterious and
Colonel Don Schofield serves as the Commander and Conductor of The United States Air Force Band in Washington DC, where he leads a team of 184 Air Force musicians in more than 1,600 performances annually, reaching hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide each year. He also is a faculty member at the University of Texas at El Paso, teaching courses in graduate conducting and wind band history and literature. Colonel Schofield received his Bachelors Degree from the University of Georgia, his Masters Degree from Louisiana State University, and his Doctoral degree from Boston University. Prior to receiving his Air Force commission at Officer Training School, he taught public school in Georgia.
Colonel Schofield has conducted military bands, professional orchestras, and school honor bands throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Puerto Rico. He has served a featured conductor at 18 international, national, and regional state music conferences and commissioned 38 composers to write new works for wind band, orchestra, choir, and chamber ensembles.
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considerably more reassuring. Excellence is nurtured through process and discipline, not solely through raw aptitude.
Anders Ericsson is a Swedish psychologist who conducted research on the achievement of human expertise. His 1993 paper, titled “The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance,” hypothesized that deliberate practice is crucial in acquiring expert performance, challenging the notion that innate talent is the primary driver of success. Instead of emphasizing innate ability, Ericsson demonstrated that high-level skill is predominantly the result of purposeful, structured practice over extended periods. Deliberate practice encompasses more than mere hours of effort; it involves consistently pushing oneself beyond current abilities, seeking immediate feedback, and fixing mistakes. This type of practice is mentally demanding and often lacks enjoyment, yet it leads to tangible improvement. Ericsson’s studies, particularly those involving musicians, chess players, and athletes, revealed that experts are not born but rather developed through purposeful work. The widely popularized “10,000hour rule” attributed to author Malcolm Gladwell is a simplified interpretation of Ericsson’s work, but the key difference with
Embracing the Grind of Excellence, Colonel Don Schofield, cont.
Ericsson’s research lies not in the quantity of hours, but in the quality and focus of those hours.
Ericsson’s concept of deliberate practice is founded on three pillars: goal-oriented focus, expert instruction, and immediate feedback. For music educators, these pillars can distinguish between stagnation and advancement. Specifically, adapting these pillars to enhance instruction can be applied in the following ways:
Deliberate practice extends beyond mere repetition of a piece. It involves breaking down challenging passages, concentrating intensely on specific skills such as tone, intonation, articulation, and rhythmic accuracy. Establishing clear, achievable goals for this type of focus is essential for measuring progress. It is crucial to recognize that no matter how small the incremental steps may appear, they collectively propel both the individual and the ensemble toward the overarching objective of excellence.
The leadership and guidance of a knowledgeable teacher is paramount in music education. Expert instructors assist students
in identifying their weaknesses, setting
appropriate challenges, and demonstrating effective techniques. They refrain from simply suggesting “practice more” and instead provide direct and clear guidance on how to practice more effectively.
In music education, feedback can originate in many different ways, from a teacher correcting posture or fingerings, a recording that reveals individual flaws, or even specialized software that analyzes pitch and timing. The key aspect is that students promptly correct their mistakes, rather than perpetuating them until they become ingrained habits. In practice, this can manifest as a violinist working on a challenging shift with their teacher, who identifies subtle errors and suggests targeted exercises. Alternatively, a singer utilizes a recording application to promptly identify pitch issues, adjusting their performance before developing negative habits. The iterative cycle of challenge, feedback, and correction remains constant.
By applying Ericsson’s deliberate practice to music education, the concept of rehearsal and practice transitions from unfocused
repetition to a focused, interactive process. Students are consistently pushing their boundaries, guided by expert feedback, and making real-time adjustments that prioritize excellence. This approach enables students to maximize their potential through structure, instruction, and feedback.
One of Nick Saban’s most significant insights in “The Process” is that it eliminates the paralysis of decision-making from the path of development and excellence. You no longer need to constantly wonder, “What should I do next?” or “How do I improve?” because the steps are already outlined. Decision fatigue occurs when we and our students face an excessive number of choices: which piece to practice, which technique to work on, whether we are spending our time wisely, and whether we are progressing. Without a clear system, every ensemble rehearsal and individual practice session can feel overwhelming before it even begins. By adopting a processdriven approach to your rehearsals, you establish a structured routine or method for improvement. Concepts to integrate into your instruction:
• Structured Practice Plans: Develop a daily practice plan to ensure students know what
to expect each time they attend rehearsal. This deliberate plan could include warmups, scales, etudes, current repertoire, and sight reading. Each segment serves a specific purpose, eliminating the need to waste energy deciding what to do next.
• Clear Priorities: The process identifies the most important aspects for you as the expert instructor. Ideas include Mondays are dedicated to tone and intonation, Tuesdays to sight- reading, Wednesdays to repertoire, Thursdays to technique, and Fridays to scales. This structure ensures that students know your priorities and will help guide their focus.
• Feedback Loops: Students should always be aware of their access to feedback loops. Built- in moments for selfassessment and/or teacher feedback are integrated into the routine, eliminating the need for students to decide when or how to seek assistance or review their progress. This could be clear teacher feedback from the podium, ensemble/individual analysis of a performance or rehearsal recording, or practicing/rehearsal with a tuner or metronome to help
quickly and accurately identify deficiencies.
• Automatic Habits: Over time, routines become automatic. Students no longer debate what to practice or how to begin; they simply follow the process, conserving mental energy for the actual work of improving themselves.
For music educators, implementing a structured process reduces the initial planning time dedicated to individual repertoire preparation and enables them to allocate more time to refining student progress, utilizing all of their prioritized musical and performance elements. For students, this approach eliminates the mental burden of determining their focus during rehearsal and practice, allowing them to allocate their time and energy more effectively towards learning and improvement rather than constant decision-making. By employing these principles to establish a process-driven rehearsal structure, educators and students alike can experience reduced stress, enhanced consistency, and a significantly elevated potential for musical and personal development.
Developing and maintaining a deliberate process requires more than just our intrinsic motivation.
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Discipline serves as the driving force that propels us forward towards progress, bridging the gap between our aspirations and our daily realities. However, it is crucial to ensure that discipline remains constant, regardless of internal or external factors. Stephen King’s book titled “On Writing” emphasizes that his discipline is not about waiting for inspiration, but rather is about consistently demonstrating personal commitment and action. King establishes a daily word count goal (sometimes as much as 2,000 words) and utilizes his routine to adhere to a strict writing schedule, even during holidays. He treats his passion for writing as a professional endeavor, not a hobby, and purposefully overcomes distractions, disregards self-doubt, and integrates writing into his life as an essential and non-negotiable aspect. Igor Stravinsky maintained a meticulous composition routine that started early each day, when he felt that his mind
and creativity were at their peak and he was least susceptible to external influences. He secluded himself from the outside world, even declining visitors and phone calls, to fully concentrate on his work. For Stravinsky, discipline encompassed not only time at the desk but also mental preparation, orderliness, and a steadfast commitment to the process. He asserted that the “restrictions” of a strict schedule were essential for genuine creativity, arguing that freedom can be paralyzing and that creativity flourishes within defined boundaries.
In essence, process and discipline may not be glamorous or lend themselves to captivating highlight reels and mythical tales of divine inspiration. However, they serve as the bedrock upon which meaningful achievement is constructed. While talent may provide opportunities, it is process and discipline that bridge the gap and lead to success. If excellence
is a priority and a goal for you and your students, it is crucial to move forward with a plan and not wait on motivation or inspiration. Instead, focus on developing a repeatable process by emphasizing fundamental performance aspects such as tone, blend, intonation, and articulation while cultivating discipline by eliminating distractions and establishing daily performance goals. Demonstrate to your students that the key to success lies in consistent effort, even when personal motivation decreases. Over time, your students may discover that excellence may not be as elusive as it appears, but it is the natural consequence of fixed dedication and steady perseverance. Embrace the Grind of Excellence, as exemplified by the leaders, educators, coaches, and artists who have already achieved remarkable accomplishments. The takeaway is that the path to excellence is accessible to anyone willing to invest the necessary effort.
BY MATTHEW TALBERT
New music teachers have myriad obstacles to overcome as they begin their journey into the teaching profession. Some of these obstacles include teaching students with varying skill levels in the same classroom, large class sizes, the feeling of isolation if they are the only music teacher in the building, developing a recruiting plan for the following years, and so much more. While this list highlights only a few challenges beginning music teachers face, one issue remains at the forefront of successful teaching: classroom management. When teachers understand how to effectively manage their classroom, the impact on student success increases drastically. Regardless of how well you plan the content of your lessons, or how you structure your rehearsal plans, none of it matters if you and your students do not understand the importance of effective classroom management.
Often, classroom management is a lengthy process, one that
consistently needs refinement and focused attention. It is common for new teachers to get caught up in comparing their pace of instruction with other teachers, as if there is a strict timeline in which they must adhere. Keep in mind, however, that no two teaching situations are the same and effective classroom management strategies will take time to develop based on the students’ needs. Be patient with yourself, grow gradually, and understand the time and energy devoted to refining your classroom management will lead to lasting results. Greater classroom management leads to greater student success. To help support the implementation of classroom management strategies as you start the year, here are several practical strategies you can incorporate immediately. Remember, consistency is paramount in classroom management. You must have the same routine/expectations daily.
Matthew Talbert, Associate Professor of Music Education and Director of the School of Music, joined Ohio University in the fall of 2016. Talbert earned a Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of South Carolina (2012), a Master of Music in Music Education from Appalachian State University (2005), and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Appalachian State University (2004).
A positive teacher-student relationship is necessary to maintain control of the classroom. When students feel comfortable and connected to their teacher, they are more likely to follow instructions, handle constructive criticism, and behave appropriately. To help build this rapport, consider implementing simple strategies that happen as students are entering the classroom:
• Greet students by name at the door. For some students, music class is the only reason they are at school.
• Try to make your first interaction with each student positive.
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• Ask students about their hobbies outside of school.
• Use a quick check-in with students who seem disengaged (Everything ok? Is there anything I can do to help?)
At first, this may seem like a trivial task that is taking too much of your instructional time. Remember, students of all ages thrive on structure and routine. These questions may seem excessive, but the teacher must have clear answers before they welcome students into their classrooms for the first time.
• Is there a particular door they should enter?
• Is there a particular door they should exit?
• How long do students have to be seated?
• Do you want them to open their cases and remove/assemble their instrument?
• Do you want them to make sounds as a group or warm up on their own?
Your answers to these questions will likely vary depending on the grade level you are teaching. For example, with beginners, it is important to closely monitor students as they take their instruments out of their cases. Few things are more discouraging to a student who is excited to
Classroom Management Strategies ..., Matthew Talbert, cont.
play than to open the case upside down on their lap and watch the instrument fall onto the tile floor, requiring repair. While students are becoming comfortable with procedures, consider opening instrument cases together as a section so you can help prevent accidents.
We can all agree that time is a valuable commodity, especially in a performance-based class. If possible, leave enough time at the end of each period to prepare the room for the following class. When students walk into a classroom that is well-organized and clean, the teacher has set a tone for learning, students are likely to feel calmer and more focused, it minimizes wasting valuable rehearsal time, and is demonstrates that the teacher and students are ready to work.
• Arrange chairs for the next class based on the seating chart you have designed (this helps with attendance and learning names).
• Arrange stands for the next class.
• Have the plan for the class period clearly displayed.
• Have the last class of the day set the room for the first class the next day.
Once students have entered the room and met the standards you have set, it is important to make sure you remain efficient. Holding steadfast to a daily routine helps maximize instructional time and encourages students to stay engaged.
• Always start class on time. If the expectation is for students to be ready to play three minutes after the bell, start class three minutes after the bell, regardless of if the full class is ready to begin. This reinforces the need to remain on schedule.
• Use a timer if necessary to stay on schedule.
• Model appropriate behavior.
• Discipline issues are minimized when students are engaged.
With large groups of students (possibly heterogenous beginner classes), varying ability levels in the class, and a noisy room, maintaining classroom management is essential during rehearsal. In addition to the strategies listed below, I would encourage you to video your rehearsals and look for two specific items when you rewatch your recording: monitor how much time you spent talking during the class period and monitor how much
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Classroom Management Strategies ..., Matthew Talbert, cont.
time the students spent playing their instruments. Be precise, use a stopwatch. Plan for how you plan on transitioning from one activity to the next. When you have a more focused learning environment, you maximize student engagement and increase the chance for student success.
• Do not ignore a behavior that is against the standard you have set for your students. This must be addressed in the moment and the consequence must be consistent.
• Do not talk over your students.
• Get away from the front of the classroom. Proximity and non-verbal cues are a great
tool in effective classroom management.
• Celebrate accomplishments (rhythmic success, pitch success, behavior success, etc.). No accomplishment is too small to celebrate.
• Know if something can be fixed in two minutes or if it is going to take longer. The longer the problem takes to fix, the more likely students are going to disengage and possibly cause classroom management issues.
• Remain calm.
Classroom management is a skill that must constantly be refined. Students are changing and the ways
in which we manage classrooms must take that into consideration. By building positive relationships/ rapport, establishing clear routines, maintaining an organized space, and being intentional during rehearsals, newer music teachers can work to create a space and a system where all students can find success. Remaining consistent is an absolute necessity and the time you spend at the beginning of the year establishing your expectations will pay dividends throughout the year.
Warmups are often considered a vehicle to prepare students’ bodies, instruments, and minds to rehearse. Playing an instrument is a physical skill. Musicians use muscles and produce motor movements to perform, and like someone who is about to exercise, musicians should warm up their bodies to prepare for performance. Warmups also facilitate a mental transition from other school spaces into one of music making. Students are likely coming to the music room from an entirely different class or situation, and can benefit from a clear and intentional transition into rehearsal. The act of walking through the music room door and having an established warmup sequence not only provides a consistent routine but also provides students with a cue that the time for music making has begun. A warmup sequence can have behavioral advantages as well. Research suggests that students feel calmer and tend to have fewer classroom management issues
when they know what is happening in a given situation and know what is expected of them.1
These conventional viewpoints about warmups preparing bodies, instruments, and minds to be focused and ready to perform are valid – these are definite benefits of having an established warmup sequence. However, if teachers stop at these goals, they may miss other beneficial opportunities that an intentional warmup sequence can offer. A warmup can be much more than a preparation exercise – warmups are an opportunity to develop fundamental musicianship skills, to give students individualized feedback, and to refine skills that directly transfer to concert literature. Teachers can intentionally develop and teach a warmup sequence that does more than simply get students ready for the “real music” – they can create a space that includes and engages students from the very beginning of class, and that helps students
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1 Saliha B. Selman & Janean E. Dilworth-Bart. “Routines and Child Development: A Systematic Review.” Journal of Family Theory & Review, 16, no. 2 (2024): 272-328.
Laura K. Hicken is an Assistant Professor of Music Education at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Hicken holds degrees from The University of Texas at Austin, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Prior to teaching at BGSU, Hicken taught at Towson University and taught high school and middle school band, 6-8 general music, and elementary music.
As an active clinician, Hicken presents at state, national, and international research and in-service conferences. Hicken’s research is focused on teacher attention and decision making and she uses eye-tracking data to study these processes. She is published in The Orff Echo, The Journal of Music Teacher Education, and The Journal of Research in Music Education.
Hicken’s professional memberships include the International Society for Music Education (ISME), The National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the National Band Association (NBA), and the Ohio Music Educators Association (OMEA).
Meaningful
and
Engaging
Fundamentals, Laura K. Hicken, cont.
improve their performance skills and their musical independence.
The music that teachers choose to perform with their ensembles combines many musical elements and skills, and that combination of elements makes the music interesting and fun to perform! Teachers often select repertoire that will help their students practice certain musical skills. However, concert literature is not the primary setting in which to teach fundamental musicianship skills; concert literature requires the combination and application of musical skills. Students will not learn to play their instruments successfully by simply playing one more piece of music – students learn to improve their performance by practicing fundamental skills in a limited context and then applying skills across a variety of literature. Warmups provide the space to learn and develop those skills.
What kinds of elements and exercises should be included in a warmup to effectively addresses fundamental skills? The warmup sequence should include the components that appear in
concert literature but in isolated and limited contexts. Warmups should include exercises that develop characteristic tone, range and flexibility, rhythmic accuracy, articulation/diction, musical expression, intonation, and ensemble skills (Figure 1). These skills should be practiced in isolated contexts so that students are free and capable to focus their attention on that singular element. There are multiple exercises which address each musical component, so teachers can mix and match from day to day to keep students engaged and build their flexibility.
Note that the purpose of these exercises is to isolate musical skills as much as possible at first and then to gradually combine skills as the warmup sequence progresses. Warmups should start with an exercise with which the most students have the highest probability for success – long tones.2 During long tones exercises, students are playing whole notes one at a time on a pitch that is familiar; they do not need to think about changing pitches, articulation patterns, rhythm (other than counting to four), or expression. During this exercise, students are truly able to
2Robert Duke. Intelligent music teaching: Essays on the Core Principles of Effective Instruction. (Austin: Learning and Behavior Resources, 2012), 93.
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devote their attention to making the best possible sound on the instrument and adjusting around that skill. An even more isolated exercise for tone quality would be having students start long tones on brass mouthpieces and miniinstruments (flute head joint, clarinet mouthpiece and barrel, saxophone mouthpiece and neck, oboe reed, bassoon reed and bocal). In this context, students are only focusing on tone production without the added context of holding an instrument. Consider the difference of attention to tone quality for a beginner flute player who is playing on the head joint alone versus holding the full instrument. Isolating individual skills allows students (and teachers!) to focus their full attention on one skill rather than multiple skills all at once.
As the warmup progresses, teachers can begin to add a few additional elements, but not too many at once. For example, when students play an articulation exercise on a single pitch with simple or familiar rhythms, they certainly should also be thinking about tone quality, but other musical elements are well within their capabilities (a single familiar pitch) or unnecessary (melodic facility) for that exercise.
Meaningful and Engaging Fundamentals, Laura K. Hicken, cont.
Teachers can make isolated fundamental skill development engaging by facilitating student reflection and goal setting. For students to truly attend to and improve a skill, they need to know which skill requires their focus and how to improve that skill.3 This student awareness requires the teacher to explain the purpose of each warmup and to remind students of that purpose consistently so that they pay attention to the correct element(s). Students’ individual attentional focus could progress to the teacher asking students the purpose of a warmup before the class performs it or the teacher asking students to suggest a “range and flexibility” warmup for the ensemble. Students can start making connections for themselves about which exercises develop which skills and what elements to attend to during those exercises.
Teachers can also lead students through a goal setting and reflection cycle during warmups so that students can start developing their own learning process to become more independent. Teachers can remind students of the warmup exercise’s purpose and then ask students to imagine (or say aloud) what aspects of their body and sound they want to focus
on. Teachers can ask students to predict how it will feel and sound to play this warmup correctly before leading the students through the exercise. Once the exercise concludes, the teacher can ask students how their actual performance aligned with their image of a correct performance. For this activity, students could talk in pairs or engage in a brief full-group discussion. The teacher is leading the students to set a goal and make a prediction about their individual performance, and then to assess whether that prediction occurred or not (and whether they achieved their goal). When people are learning a skill and their prediction doesn’t align with their performance (i.e., they make a mistake), the brain is cued to make a memory to do something different the next time. The key is that there must be a realization that a mistake has occurred. That means students must predict how they want to do something and then follow up by thinking, “Did that go how I wanted it to go?”
The teacher can lead students in this process to start. Students will likely need guiding questions to make their intentions/predictions and then may need help giving themselves feedback about how the performance went.
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Duke, Robert A. “Their Own Best Teachers: How We Help and Hinder the Development of Learners’ Independence.” Music Educators Journal, 99, no. 2 (2012): 36-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432112458956
Helping students to effectively focus their attention is important for goal setting and reflection. When teachers ask students, especially beginners, to practice too many things at once, the students are likely to experience cognitive overload and make mistakes.4 Mistakes are, undoubtably, part of the learning process,5 but certain mistakes are more desirable than others. Mistakes that occur due to students processing too many elements at once or making many mistakes at once are unhelpful to the learning process.6 For mistakes to effectively facilitate learning, students need to be aware of them and know what to adjust to fix them. For example, playing with poor tone and missing a fingering are both performance mistakes, but students’ intentions and reflections related to those mistakes can be the difference between desirable vs. unwanted mistakes. If students had a clear idea of the tone they hoped to produce and were intentional about how they formed their embouchure and air stream, they could then reflect on whether their sound matched their intention or not. If they did not produce
the desired sound, they could learn from that reflection and try something different. However, if the student was trying to think about tone, articulation, fingerings, and a new key signature, the likelihood is low of them intentionally producing a sound and then reflecting on the result of that intention.
As a reminder, this prediction and reflection sequence is an individualized process for each student, so the teacher will need to walk around to hear and see individuals and provide individual feedback (more on this topic to come). This student engagement process takes an initial investment of time, which is why the warmup sequence is an ideal location.
The students and the teacher only need to focus on one or two musical elements at a time, and the exercises are typically short. These experiences can be effective in scaffolding the students’ learning about making predictions, being reflective, and giving themselves feedback. The teacher is also working in a limited context during warmup, so it should be easier to direct attention to students’
individual playing as well.
Individualized Feedback – A Mini Private Lesson in a Group Setting
Once students are playing warmups that isolate individual musicianship skills and the students are aware of what to pay attention to during each warmup exercise, the teacher has a great opportunity to further develop students’ skills by providing individualized feedback during the warmup sequence. Everyone’s attention is in the same place –the students are thinking about a specific element during the exercise, and the teacher is specifically paying attention to that element as well. Now the teacher can provide individual students with specific feedback about the musical element being attended to.
Take a moment to consider how many of your current students are taking private lessons on their instrument. Some students may be studying with a private teacher, but perhaps many of your students do not have the time or resources to take lessons. If only a few of your students are enrolled in private lessons, where are
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4Susanne M. Jaeggi, Martin Buschkuehl, Alex Etienne, Cristoph Ozdoba, Walter J. Perrig, & Arto C. Nirkko. “On How High Performers Keep Cool Brains in Situations of Cognitive Overload.” Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 7, no. 2 (2007): 75-89.
5Clay B. Holroyd & Michael G. Coles. “The Neural Basis of Human Error Processing: Reinforcement Learning, Dopamine, and the Error-Related Negativity.” Psychological review, 109, no. 4 (2002): 679-709; Nick Yeung, Matthew M. Botvinick, & Jonathan D. Cohen. “The Neural Basis of Error Detection: Conflict Monitoring and the Error-Related Negativity.” Psychological review, 111, no. 4 (2004): 931-959.
6Nelson Cowan. “The Magical Number 4 in Short-Term Memory: A Reconsideration of Mental Storage Capacity.” Behavioral and brain sciences, 24, no. 1 (2004): 87-114; Nelson Cowan, Emily M. Elliott, J. Scott Saults, Candice C. Morey, Ssam Mattox, Anna Hismjatullina, & Andrew R. Conway. “On the Capacity of attention: Its Estimation and its Role in Working Memory and Cognitive Aptitudes.” Cognitive Psychology, 51, (2005): 42-100.
most of your students receiving individualized instruction to learn and develop fundamental skills on their instruments? The warmup is an opportunity for you to give students mini private lessons in a group setting. Students can develop individual musicianship skills through focused attention and intentional feedback from their teacher even in an ensemble.
How does this work in a warmup setting? As the students play each warmup exercise, the teacher can walk around the room listening to individuals. Remember that everyone is already aware of what musical skill each exercise develops, and everyone is focusing on that skill. The teacher walks around and gives individual feedback as students play or during the pauses between performances. This feedback can be as simple as “Susie, take a fuller breath to get a stronger tone on this next note” while playing long tones. This feedback could also happen in a quick pause after an exercise to tell a student to adjust something about their embouchure or share what they need to do to play a dynamic change with good tone quality. The key here is that the feedback needs to be specific about what the student should do differently
7Duke, 128-129.
Meaningful and Engaging Fundamentals, Laura K. Hicken, cont.
or what they did well.7 Feedback to the full group is not as effective because it almost always does not apply to everyone, and students are not likely to assume that the group feedback applies to them. So when a teacher says, “Everyone needs to take a fuller breath and play with a stronger tone” to the whole class when really Susie is the one who needs to do that, two things could happen: Susie may not realize that feedback applies to her and thus does not fix the issue, and other students who are already playing with a strong sound think the feedback does apply to them and they play too loudly. Teachers should also avoid comments like, “Do that again and play it better,” and hope that students will implicitly understand who needs to play better and how they need to play better. Specific and individualized feedback is not only more efficient, but also helps students better understand their own skills and needs, and this process mirrors that of private instruction.
Some teachers may feel discomfort about giving individualized negative feedback (here negative feedback refers to those comments about improving a student’s performance rather than feedback given with negative
emotion). Some teachers feel as though they are putting students in the spotlight or calling them out. Though this feeling is altruistic and comes from a compassionate place, there is research to support the idea that students of all ages can, in fact, handle negative feedback, and that negative feedback does not result in negative feelings about their teacher, the lesson, or their instrument.8 Think back to when you were learning your own instrument or some other new skill. Did your studio professor/ coach/teacher only tell you what you were doing correctly? Probably not – they likely told you what you were doing wrong and hopefully told you what to do to make it better. It is our fundamental job as music teachers to help students improve their performance skills.
Teachers cannot expect students to get better on their own simply by repeating a musical phrase over and over, especially without help or guided attention. They must interact with students at all stages of rehearsal including the warmup to help students improve their musicianship. The students will only pay as much attention to the warmup sequence and goals as the teacher does, so this interaction between individual students and the teacher is a good way to keep
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8Katrina A. Cox. “Effecting change in the choral setting.” (PhD diss., University of Texas at Austin, 2019).; Robert A. Duke & Jacqueline C. Henninger. “Effects of Verbal Corrections on Student Attitude and Performance.” Journal of Research in Music Education, 46, no. 4 (1998): 482-495.
students engaged in the warmup as well. Interaction and individualized feedback are required to help students improve. Further, once a teacher provides students with specific feedback, students need an opportunity to apply the feedback through an additional performance. Negative feedback followed by successful change and then positive feedback creates a positive association!
Teachers can make individualized feedback even more engaging by gradually asking students to take more of the feedback responsibility. The teacher starts the class/week/ school year by giving a lot of individual feedback and taking the lead on that process. Slowly, the teacher can start to ask students what they heard about their own playing or that of other ensemble members and sections. A great way to introduce and develop this engagement is to ask a student to play something 3 times (e.g., three long notes, three staccato quarter notes) and then ask the student which one they thought was best and why. Giving students three iterations to play and selfassess provides a limited context and choices for their feedback. Rather than playing one rep and then assessing if it was good or bad and why, students have a point
9Duke, 142-144.
of comparison. The warmup is an ideal time to engage students in the feedback process since the students and teacher have already clarified the purpose and musical goal of each exercise.
In addition to learning and developing fundamental skills and giving students individualized feedback about those skills, the warmup sequence is an ideal time to isolate aspects of concert literature before putting them into context within the piece. Teachers can think about the fundamental musicianship skills they plan to address during music rehearsal and incorporate those into the warmup. Concert literature is not the context in which to teach these skills. There are too many elements for students to think about with notes, rhythms, articulation, expression, part independence, etc. Students can effectively learn and develop those skills during the warmup and then apply those skills to the literature.9
If a teacher’s rehearsal plan includes a passage of music with a tricky rhythm, they can isolate that rhythm during warmup – count it, clap it, do air patterns, and play/
sing it on a single pitch. Air and/or play new articulations on a single pitch before adding melodic notes during rehearsal. Practice dynamic changes on long tones and singlepitch rhythms before applying them to the music. Practice scales, chorales, and scale patterns in the keys of your repertoire. Conduct an exercise with varied tempos to help the students practice watching the conductor. Again, the purpose of addressing literature issues during the warmup sequence is to isolate and address skills in a limited context so that students can focus on fewer goals at one time. Then when students reach the spots in the literature that include those elements, teachers can reference the warmup, “Does this rhythm look familiar? Yes! We played this during warmup and now we’re adding the melodic line!” or “Remember how we worked on matching staccato articulation during warmup – do that same thing here!” Teachers can also reference individual feedback in the context of literature, “Susie, you did a great job of supporting your sound with full air in m. 40!”
A quick way to get students engaged during this part of the warmup is to ask them what they notice about the exercise. Teachers can ask this question during the warmup and later during music
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rehearsal. The teacher can assess whether students make the connection between the warmup exercise that was out of context and the concert piece. Teachers can also ask students to remember what musical element(s) they addressed when they played the exercise during warmup, “Why did we work on this passage during warmup? What were we paying attention to?” These questions get students refocused on the musical element(s) they should attend to during that part of their concert music.
Though warmups can sometimes feel like a repetitive routine, they can truly be an engaging experience for students. They can be a way to get students’ bodies ready to play but can also deepen students’ musicianship skills and independence. If teachers want to accomplish more with their warmup time, they can be intentional about planning the warmup sequence to be meaningful and to develop individual students’ fundamental skills. Teachers can tell students why they are playing each exercise and give students feedback about their performances to help individuals improve their playing. Teachers can direct students’ attention to listen to specific musical elements so
that the students can start giving themselves feedback and learning independence.
This warmup format does take a little more time and is likely not a 5-minute portion of rehearsal. But if teachers are intentional about planning the warmup to address fundamental skills, then they are developing musicians with transferable skills – skills that will directly apply to literature. Developing students’ musical independence is a worthy goal in and of itself, but an intentional warmup sequence should also result in more efficient, quicker progress with concert literature because the students have worked on skills in a limited context and are then applying those skills to the music.
Our students need our engagement and feedback to become better musicians, and they need our guidance to listen to aspects of their own performance so that they can grow into independent musicians. This engagement and independence can absolutely happen through an intentional warmup and fundamentals sequence. It’s worth the time, and it’s worth the effort.
The term "holistic" has become a prefix used in various contexts, including holistic approach, holistic medicine, holistic education, and holistic business, among others. Holistic refers to considering the entirety of a system rather than focusing solely on a specific part or subset. As a doctoral student at Florida State University, one of my mentors, Dr. Clifford Madsen, often shared the holistic phrase, “Everything Relates to Everything.” Initially, I probably didn't pay enough attention to his words. However, when I started applying this philosophy to my conducting and later to my conducting pedagogy, my effectiveness on the podium and in the classroom increased significantly.
As a teacher who values visual learning styles in a predominantly aural art form, I have found Venn diagrams and other similar tools helpful in breaking down complex information into more
digestible formats. The illustration below, while certainly not the first Venn diagram used to describe conducting, reflects my approach to expressing a holistic conducting philosophy that also reinforces the idea that “Everything Relates to Everything.”
Each circle represents a crucial knowledge area for conductors, with the central white shape indicating the zone of peak effectiveness. Conductors should strive to excel in these four domains while exploring their interactions to enrich the musical, artistic,
Dr. Tim Oliver is the Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the University of Mississippi. He conducts the Wind Ensemble, teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting, wind band literature and history, and collaborates with his colleagues to coordinate and lead the Ole Miss Bands Program.
Before his appointment at Ole Miss in 2023, he served as a faculty member at Arkansas State University, Temple University, and the University of Kansas, as well as a junior and senior high school band director in Missouri and Florida.
A native of Centralia, MO, Tim earned his bachelor's and two master's degrees from Truman State University and his doctoral degree from Florida State University. He is an active guest conductor, performance clinician, researcher, and adjudicator, and a strong proponent of promoting connections between music performance and music education. His research presentations and publications focus on conducting pedagogy, wind band repertoire, and aesthetic distance.
and educational experiences of their ensembles. Here are some ideas to enhance specific skills
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in each area and improve their interconnections, fostering a more holistic conducting and musical experience.
Many of us have experience with the aphorism, “Do as I say, not as I do,” which can be relevant during rehearsals when inadequate or inappropriate gestural vocabulary is provided to the ensemble. Two examples come to mind. How often do we, as conductors, inform the group that they are performing a passage, particularly a tutti section, too loudly? Yet, if we examine the size of our conducting gestures, are we inadvertently asking for that volume given the size of the gestural frame we employed? The size of the gesture is directly related to the volume we want to encourage. Smaller gestures are usually more precise; however, not everything should be small, as there are times when we desire a large sound. When the ensemble is playing too loudly, we should ask ourselves: Were my gestures too large, and did they partially contribute to this rehearsal issue?
Second, how often do we ask our ensembles some variation of “watch me”? Yet, how frequently do conductors “count off” to
Everything Relates to Everything ..., Tim Oliver, cont.
begin a musical event? I believe that the most significant cause of ineffective communication between conductors and ensemble members is a conductor who regularly begins a musical event by “counting off.” In so doing, the conductor is tacitly training the ensemble not to watch them. To confirm this, try the following simple experiment. While seated, have your students close their eyes. Then count off to them before they play a concert Bb. They will know when to begin because they are listening (which we want to encourage), but not watching you. When they aren’t watching, students miss all of the musically descriptive information that can be included in a preparatory gesture before they ever play a note, which can lead to more delays and rehearsal inefficiency.
As musicians, we are quite familiar with the concept and experience of practicing. We develop individual practice methods that evolve over time. As a nascent conductor, my conducting practice primarily focused on expanding my gestural vocabulary. However, with experience, I learned that score study is the cornerstone of a conductor's practice. Like instrumentalists, conductors create their own score
study practices using various analysis techniques to prepare for rehearsals.
A formal analysis of a work’s structure and phrase lengths can enhance rehearsal planning and teaching. By pinpointing where phrases start and end, we can determine optimal moments for breathing and shaping dynamics effectively. Additionally, recognizing repetitive elements allows us to organize rehearsal segments and ensure cohesive execution of similar passages, even if they are not performed sequentially or linearly throughout the piece. Understanding the overall form helps us plan a series of rehearsals, enabling us to work on the entire piece without dwelling too long on specific sections. Ultimately, analyzing the form provides us with a musical roadmap to support our individual and long-term rehearsal strategies, helping us meet our musical goals and objectives.
Much like spoken or written language, as conductors expand their gestural vocabulary, their ability to convey specific musical intentions improves. Beginning conductors often develop the
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habit of having their non-baton hand mirror their baton hand, partly because they aren’t always confident about what to do with their non-baton hand while their baton hand is in motion. One technique to consider, which can also deepen the personal connection between the conductor and the ensemble, is to use invitational gestures as cues instead of relying too heavily on direct gestures, like fingerpointing. Think about how you would shake hands with someone, and let that gesture inform your invitation with your non-baton hand as you reach out to ensemble members. By doing this, you signal that you welcome and invite their contributions to the music and encourage their collaboration with the rest of the ensemble.
Additionally, eye contact and a genuine smile can significantly help ensemble members feel more comfortable as they collaborate musically. As conductors, especially when working with developing, inexperienced, or anxious musicians, we sometimes find ourselves looking at a nervous soloist during a performance, trying to reassure them in that moment. One of the most effective ways to support students and instill confidence before a solo or significant passage is to establish eye contact with them prior to the phrase, offer a warm smile,
and perhaps a subtle nod of the head. While this gesture may not always result in the desired musical execution, it signals to the musicians that you recognize their contributions and value their essential role in the music. After the solo or passage, a moment of eye contact accompanied by a genuine smile serves as an excellent, non-verbal way to show musicians that you appreciate their musicianship and are grateful for their efforts.
Anyone who has led a marching band likely possesses some basic knowledge of choreography. The most effective directors and design teams understand how color, staging, and choreography can enhance musical and overall effects to create the best presentation. In contrast, I contend that a conductor who has predetermined the gestures they plan to use during a rehearsal or performance, prior to studying the score, is simply engaging in uninformed “conducting choreography.”
Our gestural vocabulary has the potential to grow and be enriched when we non-verbally convey specific musical intentions derived from our study of the score.
fermata, which can appear in scores without clear guidance for interpretation. When encountering a fermata, consider these three key questions: 1) How long should it last? 2) Does it end in silence or continue with sound? 3) How do my hands convey the intended interpretation? For example, if there's sound during the fermata, our movement should align with the music’s intention. Conversely, if it concludes with silence, a simple circular gesture can signal the release, though it might not be the most musical choice. What shape should the fermata’s release take, and how do our hands express it? If the fermata continues with sound, how can we clearly indicate when and how to resume? While thorough score study provides essential context for effectively interpreting fermatas, developing a clear and creative gestural vocabulary is crucial for bringing their musical intention to life.
EXPERIENCES, & HUMANITY WITH MUSICIANSHIP & SCORE STUDY
One musical element that can challenge conductors is the
The concept of Aesthetic Distance is not new. It refers to finding a balance between our objective and subjective interactions with music. In other words, at times a particular piece of music resonates emotionally, creating a connection with us. Other times, we may discover a
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piece and objectively appreciate its form, simplicity or complexity, and other musical elements, while lacking an emotional connection. However, as we study a piece and begin to analyze its components, our perceptions—and our aesthetic distance—can shift.
Percy Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy illustrates a potential change in our aesthetic distance. Initially, we might be captivated by the lyricism of the second movement, the challenges of the third movement, or the unpredictable exuberance of the fifth movement. Yet, delving into the background and lyrics of the folksongs Grainger arranged to create this landmark work reveals deeper meanings. For instance, the second movement, Horkstow Grange, which some consider among the more expressive and emotive works in our repertoire, is rooted in a folksong that tells a tale of violence and death. This insight, revealed through score study, can deepen musicians' connection to the music, offering a richer human experience.
Another of my mentors, Prof. Dan Peterson from Truman State University, was my first conducting teacher and the individual who inspired and encouraged me to
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pursue a career as a conductor. One of the most important lessons he imparted was this: “As a conductor, you have to make the decision.” That statement, though simplistic, holds profound meaning and raises some existential questions when applied holistically to conducting and music education.
Every conductor should strive for ongoing personal growth and self-awareness, not only as musicians but also as educators and human beings. We should evolve over the years; each year of experience should build on the last rather than simply “rinse and repeat.” Take time to reflect on what truly matters to you, both professionally and personally. Consider the musical and artistic experiences you want to facilitate for your ensemble. Do these experiences align with your musical and educational philosophies, or are they merely attempts to keep up with others? Is your choice of repertoire or performance venue based on solid educational principles, such as the students’ “Zone of Proximal Development,” or is it an egodriven decision? By grappling with these important questions and seeking meaningful answers, you can enhance your teaching and conducting, as well as the experiences of your musicians.
Podium Presence & Gestural Vocabulary are essential for conducting, and for many outside our profession, they will likely remain defining features. Furthermore, many aspiring conductors may continue to gain their first experiences with conducting through the development of gestural vocabulary. However, when we adopt a more inclusive, holistic view of conducting where “Everything Relates to Everything,” our art form can gain new significance, offering us enhanced musical, artistic, and educational experiences for ourselves and our ensembles.
For many conductors, the elusive subject of “score study” may elicit feelings of fear, trepidation, or even guilt. While we know score study is an important process of preparing a piece for rehearsal, we may not have mastered a formal score study system during our undergraduate coursework. As we lead busy lives as not only conductors, but also classroom teachers, administrators, counselors, instrument repair technicians, parents, and more, it is easy for score study to be left to the bottom of our priority list. It may be easy to think that serious score study is only for the elite wind band conductor who does nothing but spend hours each day in their ivory tower studying scores before rehearsing a group of world-class musicians. The truth is that study is critical for all conductors at all levels, and every band director faces the challenge of finding the time to devote to serious study. However, by developing an efficient process and committing to it, the
way we do when we practice our instrument, even a few minutes of focused study can make a world of difference on the podium and in the classroom.
Each conductor should develop a process – their own process –that is consistent and repeatable. This way, each time each time they begin studying a new piece, no matter how long or short, no matter how simple or complex, they will be able to get right to work following their process and absorbing the details of the music. Learning these details is what helps a conductor make deep connections throughout the music and develop their own interpretation. While most would agree on what the important elements of music are, there are many ways to go about learning those elements which will eventually be synthesized into our interpretation of the piece. A helpful process is to take multiple passes through a score, focusing on one element with each pass. This
Cormac Cannon is Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at the University of South Carolina, where he conducts the USC Wind Ensemble, guides the graduate wind conducting program, and oversees all aspects of the band program. He is also the 3rd Music Director and Conductor in the history of the esteemed Palmetto Concert Band. During his time at USC, ensembles under his direction have given feature performances at the College Band Directors National Association National Conference (2023), the CBDNA Southern Division Conference (2018, 2022), and the South Carolina Music Educators Association Annual Conference (2018, 2024). He has been a featured presenter at numerous state and national music conferences, including the Midwest Clinic. Cannon currently serves as President Elect for the Southern Division of CBDNA and the Collegiate Chair for the South Carolina Band Directors Association. He holds degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music, and the University of Iowa.
can help prevent the conductor from getting overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information in
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the score. Also, this process of “active noticing” means that while focusing on a specific element during each pass, the conductor will continually notice other details which will layer into their knowledge of the music with each pass through the score.
Myriad questions will occur to the conductor during the process. The study process revolves around asking these questions, deciding on your own answers to the questions (through research and reflection), and then acting on these decisions through a commitment to interpretation and physical gesture. While marking the score is an important part of the process for many conductors, it is important to remember that even after marking something, we must continue to review and internalize the details of the score. The following seven steps provide one possible path to learning a score. Conductors should spend time developing the order and process that is most meaningful and efficient for them and follow the same process every time.
Context is critical for any piece we learn. We must have at least a basic understanding of who the composer is, when they lived, and how this piece fits into their output. An understanding of the composer’s ouvre will help us predict what type of style,
form, and harmony we will likely encounter in our process. If the piece is by a contemporary composer who also writes big band music, we will expect different harmonies and we will approach articulation differently from a piece written by a composer who lived in the 18th century. It is important to find information regarding the occasion of composition of the piece and for whom it was written. While some of this information will be found in the score, it is also very simple to find program notes and information about the composer in online resources, journals, and composer web sites.
The next step is to peruse the score and become comfortable with printed music itself. Read every printed word in the score, from the instrumentation list to the program notes, to the performance notes and indications in tiny print at the bottom of a page. Is the score transposed? What is the score order? Is there anything odd about it? For example, do the bassoons follow the oboes or the clarinets? Are the horns above or below the trumpets? Are there divisis within staves or does every instrument have its own line? Are there measure numbers, rehearsal numbers, or rehearsal letters? Do the rehearsal numbers fall in logical places or do they occur every 5 or 10 measures? If they
Ask, Decide, Ask ..., Cormac Cannon, cont.
are not already, take the time to number every measure of the score. This process provides the conductor with a tactile connection to every single measure of the piece and also helps identify any errors that may occur in the composer/publisher’s numbering or rehearsal marks.
Early in the process a conductor may not yet have determined their exact performance tempi, but it is important to identify the composer’s indicated tempi and meter changes, which frequently contribute to the overall form of the piece. Follow the score and be sure every tempo marking and relationship is understood. If a composer uses a tempo term with which you are unfamiliar, look it up, and check tempi with a metronome. Besides contributing to the form, we know meter changes will be an important element of our physical conducting. Develop a simple and consistent method for marking meter changes. Marking each meter change will also help bring patterns to light which may aid in our learning.
Identifying and marking entrances and orchestration
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changes is important, not only to be able to cue a player and help them enter on time, but also because learning the orchestration helps us develop our aural image of the piece. Reviewing and marking every entrance helps us identify common/expected and unique/challenging instrumental combinations. Conductors should have a consistent system for marking instrumental voices. For example, one may write “Picc” for a piccolo entrance or “SD” for a snare drum entrance.
Though we know harmony is a critical element of music which contributes to our aural image and the form of the piece, we frequently do not spend enough time analyzing the harmony prior to beginning the rehearsal process. Understanding every harmony in a piece will not only help us better hear the sounds in our head but will also help us anticipate challenges in the rehearsal process. Harmony is a compositional device as well as a pedagogical opportunity, and we must know the harmony prior to the first rehearsal. Some may use Roman numerals while others use jazz chord symbols. Conductors are encouraged to use whatever method is most comfortable for them and most useful for understanding and marking the harmony.
After repeated passes through the score focusing on layout, tempo, meter, orchestration, and harmony, the formal structure of the work will be coming into focus. Having a clear understanding of the big picture form is crucial for developing a convincing interpretation and makes rehearsals more efficient. For example, knowing that an identical section of music is repeated several times and pointing this out to the ensemble will help students apply rehearsal concepts from one section to another. Conductors should use whatever system of diagraming form that is most useful and meaningful for them. Remember that this is not a music theory assignment or test! No one may ever see your diagram, but it will help you better understand the music. Knowing the form helps the conductor pace the performance of the work and aids in making the architecture and climax of the work clear for the audience.
Once all the above elements are learned, reviewed, and diagramed, the conductor should practice their interpretation by “performing” the work. Sing the melodies in the exact way you want the players to interpret them, with the correct pitches,
inflection, dynamics, and phrasing. Sing these lines while playing the harmony on the piano. Check your tempo with the metronome and practice conducting the correct meters while singing the melody and imagining the harmony underneath. Sing with great enthusiasm and attention to detail. By actually performing the music as best we can alone at our desk, we will have a clear aural image of the music, be more committed to our own interpretation, and better anticipate and detect errors.
At each step in our score study, we ask questions. By committing to the answers, through research, study, and reflection, we are developing not only our knowledge of the music but also our personal interpretation. Through enthusiastic practicing and eventually through gesture, we solidify our interpretation, anticipate errors and deviations from our unique concept of the piece, and ultimately share our interpretation with our students and the audience. While the elusive concept of score study can be daunting, developing a consistent system and committing to focused time for study will ultimately help us be more effective on the podium, in the classroom, and in the concert hall.
I. STEPHEN LIAS – MUSICAL UPBRINGING
Composer Stephen Lias states that he cannot recall a time when he did not compose. As a boy, it was his mother who helped him learn musical notation so that he could write down the music he was constantly making up. He compares his early composition experience to the way children think about coloring, in that it came naturally to him without any thought of it becoming a calling or career. He credits piano lessons as the catalyst for the melodies that he now composes, beginning by creating familiar melodies through experimentation at the piano. Eventually, though, the process became one in which he would create his own melodies and attempt to realize them at the keyboard.1
II. STEPHEN LIAS - ATTACHMENT TO NATURE AND COMPOSING IN THE WILDERNESS
Although Lias was not always
the avid outdoorsman that he is today, he has now formed such a connection to nature that it is crucial to understanding him both as a person and as a composer. In 2009, he began to apply to artistin-residence programs at national parks and got his first opportunity as the artist-in-residence at Rocky Mountain National Park in 2010. Since then, he has done extensive work as artist-in-residence at many of the national parks around the U.S. Lias’s association with the national parks has also led to his biggest ongoing passion project, the Composing in the Wilderness workshop.2
MOUNT RAINIER SEARCH AND RESCUE
III. GENESIS AND TRUE EVENTS
Genesis
Mount Rainier Search and Rescue began as a commission from saxophonist Nathan Nabb. Nabb was preparing repertoire for an engagement with the XPlorium Chamber Ensemble in Taiwan and came to Lias to request a piece
David Roush is currently serving as Assistant Director of Bands and Lecturer of Bands at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. In this capacity he acts as conductor of the KSU Wind Symphony and University Band, assists in the direction of the Marching Owls, and teaches courses in the music education curriculum.
Prior to arriving at Kennesaw State, David was an active music educator in the public schools of Illinois, serving from 2013-2019 as Band Director for the North Clay and Neoga school districts. David holds a bachelor of music degree in music education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a master of music degree in wind conducting from the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities where he studied with Dr. Emily Threinen, and a doctor of musical arts degree in wind conducting from Northwestern University where he studied with Dr. Mallory Thompson.
1David Roush, “Into the Wilderness: A Profile of Composer Stephen Lias and Examination of Mount Rainier Search and Rescue” (D.M.A. lecture recital document, Northwestern University, 2024).
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specifically written for saxophone quartet and percussion ensemble. Lias received permission from Nabb to make the piece part of his national park series of works, and set out searching for inspiration. During this research, he was captivated by a news article about a search and rescue incident involving climbers Scott Richards and Peter Cooley on Mount Rainier. Lias immediately began sketching musical ideas and entering into his creative process. He also sought and received the blessing of survivor Scott Richards to write about the harrowing experience. The end result of Lias’s effort is a piece that is an extremely compelling artistic and dramatic interpretation of the true events which occurred on the mountain.3
The climbing incident involving Richards and Cooley began around 6:00am on May 15th, 2004. The two-person team was ascending a section of Mount Rainier called Liberty Ridge when Cooley suffered a fall and incurred severe head trauma as well as injuries to his left arm and leg. At 6:10am, Richards reached Mount Rainier National Park on a cell phone and relayed
what had happened. He was advised by Ranger Mike Gauthier to chop out a platform on the ridge where he could secure a tent and do his best to stabilize Cooley for what would be a lengthy rescue operation.4
What followed was a monumental rescue effort involving more than 60 people and lasting for 3 days and 3 nights, all while Richards tried desperately to keep his friend alive. Teams of climbers and helicopter crews simultaneously attempted to reach the stranded victims, battling horrible weather the entire way. Ultimately, the climbing teams and helicopters were able to reach the accident site at nearly the same time, and Cooley was airlifted off the mountain. Richards descended on foot with the climbing teams and made camp for the night at Thumb Rock. It was there that they were notified that Peter had been pronounced dead upon his arrival at Madigan Hospital; he had sadly passed away in the helicopter en route.5
An examination of Mount Rainier Search and Rescue is
best achieved by considering the different sections of the work as scenes in a film. The piece depicts Cooley’s accident and the immediate aftermath, phone calls between Richards and emergency personnel, helicopters attempting to reach the stranded climbers, cold nights alone on the mountain, and ultimately an impassioned expression of grief at Peter’s death. As in a film, the piece contains hard cuts between the different “scenes” as the drama unfolds simultaneously in different places. These are labeled for the performers and signaled to the audience with chimes and abrupt changes in the character of the music as seen in Figure 16 (see page 50).
Each scene in the piece has its own musical material and atmosphere, and each time the listener is returned to a certain scene, that material has changed with the progression of the story. The scenes are largely organized in sets of three. There are three phone calls, three helicopter attempts, three nights on the mountain, etc. The exception to this is the opening accident motive.
3David Roush, “Into the Wilderness: A Profile of Composer Stephen Lias and Examination of Mount Rainier Search and Rescue” (D.M.A. lecture recital document, Northwestern University, 2024).
4“Major Search and Rescue Incidents on Mount Rainier, 2004,” U.S. National Park Service, accessed December 18, 2023, https://www.nps.gov/mora/ planyourvisit/upload/sar04-reformatted.pdf.
5“Major Search and Rescue Incidents on Mount Rainier, 2004,” U.S. National Park Service, accessed December 18, 2023, https://www.nps.gov/mora/ planyourvisit/upload/sar04-reformatted.pdf.
6Stephen Lias, Mount Rainier Search and Rescue (Malvern PA: Alias Press and Theodore Presser Company, 2011).
Into the Wilderness ..., David Roush, cont.
The opening motive of the piece is the sole motive that appears only twice in the work. In its initial appearance in the opening bars of the piece, it is used to represent the shock and fear of Peter’s accident as he loses his footing and falls. It is seen below in Figure 2.17 (see page 50).
When the motive returns for its only re-appearance at m. 219, it represents a different type of wound. The same material that depicted Cooley’s accident is intended here to represent the sudden shock and grief of Richards receiving the news that Cooley did not make it. In this instance, the motive is extended and layered in new ways, and echoes of it slowly fade over six measures. The second iteration of this theme is seen below in Figure 2.28 (see page 51).
Lias uses three recitative-like sections of the piece to represent phone calls between Richards and emergency personnel. Each one is marked “unmetered,” and the
first one includes instructions for the players that state: “Freely – as if speaking the words, but quickly and with urgency. Rhythms, dynamics, etc. are approximations. Alter or embellish as desired for effect.”9
The first phone call is below in Figure 3.110 (see page 52).
The second phone call, lasting from mm. 100-104, is shorter, and generally calmer. Seen below in Figure 3.2 (see page 53), this phone call contains the instruction “Somewhat less urgent, but not slow.”11
The final phone call of the piece is one of the most emotionally powerful and haunting moments in the work. In this call, the tenor saxophone player representing the emergency personnel is instructed that “It should appear that you might play at any time.” However, they never do. As seen in Figure 3.3 (see page 54), the alto saxophone instructions read “Desperate, despondent, alone. Pauses can be awkwardly long.”12 In this moment, the listener is made to feel the
utter desperation and isolation of Richards, however this moment never happened in real life. Lias elaborates:
"I needed a way of crystallizing the utter feeling of helplessness and aloneness that Scott was feeling. And having gotten the idea of these musical representations of phone calls between him and the search and rescue, the idea of him trying to make a phone call and getting no answer, having set that up. [...] it felt like the perfect metaphor for how desperate they were for rescue and how alone and helpless they felt."13
Three chorale episodes in the marimba represent the three nights Richards and Cooley spent on the mountain. Saxophone glissandi (modified by electronic delay and reverb effects) and ethereal cymbal sounds accompany the developing marimba chorale to create an atmosphere of desolation and loneliness. While the listener might be tempted to focus on the haunting whine of the saxophones, the crucial feature to pay attention
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7Stephen Lias, Mount Rainier Search and Rescue (Malvern PA: Alias Press and Theodore Presser Company, 2011).
8Stephen Lias, Mount Rainier Search and Rescue (Malvern PA: Alias Press and Theodore Presser Company, 2011).
9Stephen Lias, Mount Rainier Search and Rescue (Malvern PA: Alias Press and Theodore Presser Company, 2011).
10Ibid.
11Stephen Lias, Mount Rainier Search and Rescue (Malvern PA: Alias Press and Theodore Presser Company, 2011).
12Stephen Lias, Mount Rainier Search and Rescue (Malvern PA: Alias Press and Theodore Presser Company, 2011).
13David Roush, “Into the Wilderness: A Profile of Composer Stephen Lias and Examination of Mount Rainier Search and Rescue” (D.M.A. lecture recital document, Northwestern University, 2024).
Into the Wilderness ..., David Roush, cont.
to is the chorale.
In the first appearance of this material at m. 51, the listener is presented with only a single melody in the marimba, and haunting interjections by the soprano saxophone. See Figure 4.1 below14 (see page 54).
The second time this material appears, there are two significant changes. As the second night on the mountain begins, the first thing that becomes apparent is that the chorale melody from the first night is now expanded into four voices. The second is that the alto saxophone joins the mournful cries of the soprano, adding to the texture of haunting echoes accompanying the chorale. See below in Figure 4.215 (see page 55).
The representation of the third night in the piece is not labeled as such in the score. Instead, the next time this chorale reappears is at m. 228 in the section titled, “Grief at Thumb Rock.”16 After the restatement of the accident motive from the beginning of the piece, the chorale from the second night re-emerges. It builds, and
the soprano saxophone lets out an anguished cry as the saxophone quartet joins in a final powerful statement of the chorale. In this climactic moment of the work, the chorale (which has been slowly developing over the course of the piece) culminates in this impassioned outpouring of grief as seen in Figures 4.3 and 4.417 (see page 55 and 56).
Three sections of the piece represent the two climbing teams that worked to reach Richards and Cooley on the mountain. The teams are initially depicted by two keyboard percussion motives, and eventually the saxophone quartet joins. See below in Figure 5.118 (see page 56).
The constantly shifting time signatures in these sections represent the uneven terrain the teams were forced to navigate, and some percussionists are instructed to play in a “barbaric ad lib” to represent boulders crashing down the sides of the mountain19. When this material returns for a second time at m. 108, it is initially similar to its first iteration, but a new third
motive is added. It is displayed below in Figure 5.220 (see page 57).
In the third appearance of the climbing teams at m. 172, it is neither the keyboard percussion nor the saxophone quartet which play first. Instead, as seen below in Figure 5.3 (see page 57), a percussion introduction builds up to a statement of the third motive in the saxophones21. True to the real-life events, the final appearance of the climbing teams coincides with the final appearance of the helicopter teams.
The final thematic element to discuss is the most straightforward programmatic representation in the piece, that of the helicopter teams. The helicopters are represented by relentlessly driving sixteenth notes in both the percussion and saxophones. In the first iteration, shown below in Figure 6.1 (see page 58), the helicopter theme is slowly replaced by wind sounds as weather forces the helicopter to turn back22.
14Stephen Lias, Mount Rainier Search and Rescue (Malvern PA: Alias Press and Theodore Presser Company, 2011).
15Ibid.
16Stephen Lias, Mount Rainier Search and Rescue (Malvern PA: Alias Press and Theodore Presser Company, 2011).
17Ibid.
18Stephen Lias, Mount Rainier Search and Rescue (Malvern PA: Alias Press and Theodore Presser Company, 2011).
19Stephen Lias, Mount Rainier Search and Rescue (Malvern PA: Alias Press and Theodore Presser Company, 2011).
20Stephen Lias, Mount Rainier Search and Rescue (Malvern PA: Alias Press and Theodore Presser Company, 2011).
Continued on next page
The second helicopter attempt is thwarted in much the same way as the first, but in another reflection of the true-to-life events, they are able to drop supplies to the stranded climbers. The landing of these supplies is represented by sporadic interjections from the soprano and alto saxophones as well as percussion. See Figure 6.223 below (see page 59).
The helicopter teams are successful on their third attempt to lift Peter from the ridge. This is represented musically by
overlapping upward sixteenth note runs in the saxophone quartet as shown in Figure 6.324 (see page 59).
For a variety of reasons, some of which are outlined here, this author believes that Stephen Lias is a compelling artist who is consistently creating unique and noteworthy music. From a researcher’s perspective, he is also personable, responsive, open to inquiries, and eager to make artistic connections. Mount Rainier
Into the Wilderness ..., David Roush, cont.
Search and Rescue is only one example of the impactful work Lias continues to produce. At the time of this articles’s completion, Lias is also in the midst of much new writing for wind ensemble, the results of which should be fertile ground for future research and interaction with the composer. This author encourages readers to engage with Stephen Lias and his music.
21Ibid.
24Ibid.
Into the Wilderness ..., David Roush, cont.
Into the Wilderness ..., David Roush, cont.
cont.
Into the Wilderness ..., David Roush, cont.
Into the Wilderness ..., David Roush, cont.
Into the Wilderness ..., David Roush, cont.
Into the Wilderness ..., David Roush, cont.
Into the Wilderness ..., David Roush, cont.
Into the Wilderness ..., David Roush, cont.
Into the Wilderness ..., David Roush, cont.
Into the Wilderness ..., David Roush, cont.
BY
Small Band, Big Sound. Tackling the Challenges That Small Bands Face
by Chris DeVona
Chicago, Illinois: Meredith Music Publications, a division of GIA Publications, Inc. 2024
ISBN-978-1-57463-577-5
US $24.95; 161 pages
Small Band, BIG SOUND, is exactly what the title implies. The focus is on sound. There is little if any mention of marching, movement, or visual aspects of the small
band. Discussion of growing your program is not here. This is a book that will help you help the students you have today sound their best in all settings. From the author: “…some bands may never grow for reasons beyond the director’s control…talk of recruitment and long-term program building offer no help for the teachers who are left wondering: but how do I teach this year’s band?” At last, this is a book that answers that question.
This short book only has two parts. Part one is eighty-nine pages, the largest section of the book. Its four chapters address what exactly flex band music is, creating your own flex band arrangements, custom arrangements, and adapting music. I learned that I had no idea what flex band really means. You will find that simply knowing this will lead you into a world of possibilities. DeVona discusses how to add guitar in ways you wouldn’t imagine, how to adapt piano into the ensemble to its best advantage, ways to address when some individual players musically outgrow the possibilities of the
Gary Barton retired from the La Porte, Texas Independent School District after thirty-seven years of teaching in five states. He received the Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Louisiana-Monroe and the Master of Science in Education from Indiana University. A Past President of the Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association and Past 2nd Vice-President of the National Band Association, he has written for numerous publications and has done clinics and presentations in sixteen states. He may be reached at bartonglp@gmail.com.
small ensemble. Two especially thought-provoking sections discuss desirable and undesirable qualities of small bands. Key points of writing arrangements, setting up the score, and engraving are presented. DeVona’s advice: seek Continued on next page
Reviews ..., Gary Barton, cont.
professional advice if copyright legalities are a concern (your friends and colleagues are probably not experts). Part two, chapters five through seven, focus on rehearsal strategies. This section is short because good rehearsal strategies apply in all scenarios. DeVona’s contributions focus again on
by David M. Hedgecoth
Chicago, Illinois: GIA Publications, Inc., 2023
ISBN- 978-1-62277-711-2
US $16.95; 118 pages
getting the best sounds possible with the resources available to you right now.
Four brief appendices discuss suggested repertoire, ranges, sample piano parts, and sample band part assignments. Small Band, BIG SOUND will help you
A“Handbook” for Charter School Music Educators – the title may lead you to believe that this book will be filled with solutions and tips that will lead you to success as a charter school music teacher. With that expectation, be prepared to be disappointed. What you will indeed find is a clear, easy-to-read discussion of what a charter school really is, how they came to be, what is myth and what is truth.
There are only five short chapters. The first is a concise overview of the history of charter schools. The second chapter presents fifteen critical questions that guide independent research into any charter school. These questions lead to the next chapter which presents ten questions for the interview for a teaching position. Studying these questions will not only prepare you, but your interviewer will realize that you are a serious candidate. The next chapter is a vocabulary of “talking points” about charter schools.
to be successful with as few as nine players, how to distribute and adapt percussion parts when there are too many players and when there are too few. There are no wasted words in this book and anyone who works with small ensembles will benefit from this highly recommended book.
The final chapter focuses on the first year at a charter school, including dealing with a lack of tradition, classroom management, and curriculum. That all of this is within only sixty-two pages should tell you that this is a clean, tightly written book. The remaining pages are each a one-page listing of the laws for charter schools in the forty-five states who allow them; enlightening and worth the price! Hedgecoth does an unprecedented service in collecting this material. It is valuable for anyone who is involved with charter schools. Experienced teachers will find it to be a handy resource; for new teachers or those new to charter schools, it is crucial. If knowledge is power, this book will give you the power to make informed decisions in this rapidlyevolving educational territory. High recommended, especially if you are considering working in a charter school.
BY MATTHEW TALBERT
The difference between a peerreviewed research article and the articles traditionally published in the NBA Journal is best described as a difference in the vetting process and source material. To have an article appear as “peer-reviewed” in the NBA Journal means recognized researchers and scholars in the field of music/music education will read, evaluate, and then recommend whether or not an article should be published, revised or rejected. This process is widely recognized as an indicator of quality scholarship in a particular discipline or field. Other names for these types of articles are “scholarly” or “refereed.”
A traditional NBA Journal article is most often written from the perspective of the author’s unique experiences in life, music, and/or the profession. These
articles are of extraordinary value, as they often present a number of ideas that have been effective for the author and may also be effective for the reader.
A research article is most often written as a continuation of ideas presented in previous articles, with the motivation drawn from combining the findings of those previous articles and the author’s own experiences, experiments, or observations. In building the article in this way, the validity of the information is heightened beyond the traditional article. These articles are also of extraordinary value as they may also impact the way the reader approaches the subject material in a potentially more generalizable way. When incorporating the peer-review process, the an author’s article now has a final layer of review (for accuracy) utilizing other experts within the same subject matter.
Matthew Talbert, Associate Professor of Music Education and Director of the School of Music, joined Ohio University in the fall of 2016. Talbert earned a Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of South Carolina (2012), a Master of Music in Music Education from Appalachian State University (2005), and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Appalachian State University (2004).
LAYOUT AND VALUE OF THE RESEARCH ARTICLE
Dr. Russell Gavin, former chair of NBA’s Research (and Editorial) committees, shares his thoughts on the layout and value of these types of articles:
A number of peer-reviewed research articles may read like other articles found in the NBA Journal, with the author outlining their thoughts on a
subject while using citations to support the premise of the issue being discussed. Other research articles will take on a bit more of a scientific approach. These articles begin with a review of literature summarizing the research on the topic that already exists, while simultaneously presenting the reader with the rationale driving the current article. A method section follows, describing what actually happened in the research, then a results and analysis section(s) describing what the researcher found, if anything. The article closes with a discussion of the findings and how they may relate to the world. The article concludes with a list of references from which the author drew information and ideas.
If you are inexperienced at reading research articles, you may want to read the discussion section first. This part of the article will explain how the information found in the rest of the article may impact you and others in the article subject community. Oftentimes this is the place where practical ideas will be most clearly expressed; however, taking in the entire article will always give a much clearer view of what the author was attempting to express.
As mentioned above, an ideal
Continued on next page
research article is adding to the research that came before it. This continuation and growth of knowledge is one of the defining characteristics of this kind of inquiry. At the end of the article, the reader is left with information that is not only new to them, but simultaneously new to the world. This level of investigation is of paramount importance in all areas of music and education, and the NBA is proud to present this new avenue for such exploration and thought.
for Submission of Peer-Review Research Articles
A. Submission Method: Manuscripts should be submitted as Microsoft Word attachments via email to the Editorial Committee Chair: silveyba@missouri.edu
B. Length: The manuscript should not exceed 25 pages and should include an abstract of 100-150 words in length on a separate page. We encourage the submission of short form articles (4-10 pages) as well as full-length articles.
C. Cover Page: To ensure anonymity in the review process, the manuscript should contain no clues as to the author’s institutional affiliation or identity. Author’s name(s), address, institution affiliations,
How to Submit Peer-Reviewed Research to the NBA Journal, Matthew Talbert, cont.
How to Submit Peer-Reviewed Research to the NBA Journal, Matthew Talbert, cont.
and pertinent information should be listed on a separate cover page at the beginning of the submission. The cover page should also include up to five keywords/phrases that describe the contents of the manuscript.
D. Style Guide: Manuscripts should conform to one of the following style manuals:
(1) Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition, 2019),
(2) The Chicago Manual of Style(17th edition, 2017), or
(3) A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (K. L. Turabian,
9th edition, revised by Wayne C. Booth, Gregory Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, and the University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff, 2018). Note: Authors may not combine and/or mix styles within a single manuscript
E. Tables and Figures: Tables and figures may be included with the manuscript, however, these must be publishable in black and white. It is the author’s responsibility to make sure any tables/figures are checked for accuracy before submission. Additionally, if any copyrighted materials are submitted, it is the author’s responsibility to provide
documentation allowing the reproduction of these materials.
F. Ethical Requirements: It is the author’s responsibility to ensure that no copyright issues have been violated by the submission, including images, charts, etc. Manuscripts already published in other journals can be submitted for consideration in the NBA Journal providing the author has permission to do so.
Questions about submitting a peer- reviewed article? Email Research Chair Brian Silvey at silveyba@missouri.edu
