September 2012 | Southwestern Musician

SEPTEMBER 2012

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FIND WEST MUSIC!

7 FEATURES

SEPTEMBER 2012 VOLUME 81 — ISSUE 2

14

Summer Dialogue III: TMEA’s Role in Times of Change

21

Student Retention

Over 40 TMEA members deliberated on the future challenges to music education and offered input for the Executive Board to consider on how TMEA might best address those challenges.

Sometimes a simple change can make a big difference. Learn how you can positively affect student retention without investing additional time or resources.

BY MATTHEW MCINTURF

28

20 Ways to Get Your String Orchestra in Tune Help your string orchestra achieve musical excellence by incorporating proactive and reactive intonation solutions.

BY MICHAEL ALEXANDER

Cover photo by Karen Kneten

COLUMNS President’s Notes .............................................. 4

by John Gillian Executive Director’s Notes..................10

by Robert Floyd Band Notes .............................................................22

by Ronnie Rios

35

Guiding Musical Creativity in a Test-Driven Culture While creativity is a highly valued quality many assert is fostered through participation in the arts, is the way we teach truly supporting our students’ creative development?

BY SCOTT HARRIS

44

Mentoring Can Make the Difference By strengthening the TMEA Mentoring Program, the Executive Board hopes to better serve new and less experienced music teachers and support their professional success.

BY ROBERT FLOYD

UPDATES Renew Your TMEA Membership ....................................................................2

Orchestra Notes ...............................................32

by Lisa McCutchan

SOUTHWESTERN MUSICIAN Is Available Online ......................................................2 TMEA Clinic/Convention: Get Ready to Learn..............................................7

Vocal Notes ............................................................40

by Janwin Overstreet-Goode Elementary Notes .......................................... 48

by Michele Hobizal College Notes ......................................................52

by Keith Dye

Honor Band Finalists and Winners ............................................................ 24 TMEA President’s Concert.......................................................................... 26 Music TEKS Revisions: Ready for Comment ............................................. 27 Invest in the Future Through TFME............................................................ 27 Honor Orchestra Finalists and Winners .................................................... 34 Thank You, Scholarship Donors ................................................................. 56 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

1

Editor-in-Chief: Robert Floyd

UĂ R\G@tmea.org 512-452-0710, ext. 101 Fax: 512-451-9213

Managing Editor: Karen Kneten

kkneten@tmea.org 512-452-0710, ext. 107 Fax: 512-451-9213

TMEA Executive Board President: John Gillian john.gillian@ectorcountyisd.org 3624 Loma Drive, Odessa, 79762 432-413-2266/Fax: 432-334-7174 – Ector County ISD

President-Elect: Joe Weir joseph.weir@humble.k12.tx.us 19627 Firesign Drive, Humble, 77346 281-641-7606/Fax: 281-641-7517 – Atascocita HS

Past-President: Ross Boothman rboothman@lumberton.k12.tx.us 8285 Ginger Lane, Lumberton, 77657 409-923-7858/Fax: 409-923-7819 – Lumberton HS

Band Vice-President: Ronnie Rios ronnierios@yahoo.com 22343 Paloma Blanca Court, Harlingen, 78550 956-427-3600 x 1080/Fax: 956-440-8343 – Harlingen HS

Orchestra Vice-President: Lisa McCutchan

Renew Your Membership All TMEA memberships H[SLUHG -XQH If covered, OLDELOLW\ LQVXUDQFH H[SLUHG $XJXVW Renew now to FRQWLQXH UHFHLYLQJ WKH EHQHÂżWV RI PHPEHUVKLS DQG WR continue supporting the future of Texas music education.

Get started by choosing Renew from the Membership frame on www.tmea.org.

Membership ‡ Join ‡ Renew ‡ 8SGDWH 3HUVRQDO ,QIR ‡ 0HPEHU &DUG 5HFHLSW ‡ 0HPEHU 'LUHFWRU\

‡ 5HQHZ QRZ DQG UHPLQG \RXU FROOHDJXHV DV ZHOO ‡ 9HULI\ DQG XSGDWH \RXU HPDLO DQG PDLOLQJ DGGUHVVHV

www.tmea.org/membership

lisamccutchan1@gmail.com 17426 Emerald Canyon Drive, San Antonio, 78232 210-397-4759/Fax: 210-695-4804 – O’Connor HS

Vocal Vice-President: Janwin Overstreet-Goode MRYHUVWUHHW JRRGH#ÀVGN QHW 1406 Frontier Lane, Friendswood, 77546 281-482-3413 x 150/Fax: 281-996-2523 – Friendswood HS

Elementary Vice-President: Michele Hobizal VDOO\KREL]DO#NDW\LVG RUJ 11003 Bergamo Drive, Richmond, 77406 281-234-0050/Fax: 281-644-1690 – Wolman Elementary

College Vice-President: Keith Dye keith.dye@ttu.edu 6607 Norwood Avenue, Lubbock, 79413 806-742-2270 x 231/Fax: 806-742-4193 – Texas Tech University

is available online in interactive format

TMEA Staff Executive Director: Robert Floyd | UĂ R\G@tmea.org Deputy Director: Frank Coachman | fcoachman@tmea.org Administrative Director: Kay Vanlandingham | kvanlandingham@tmea.org Advertising/Exhibits Manager: Tesa Harding | tesa@tmea.org Membership Manager: Susan Daugherty | susand@tmea.org Membership Assistant: Rita Ellinger | rellinger@tmea.org Communications Manager: Karen Kneten | kkneten@tmea.org Financial Manager: Laura Kocian | lkocian@tmea.org Information Technologist: Andrew Denman | adenman@tmea.org

70($ 2IÀFH Mailing Address: P.O. Box 140465, Austin, 78714-0465 Physical Address: 7900 Centre Park Drive, Austin, 78754 Phone: 512-452-0710 | Toll-Free: 888-318-TMEA | Fax: 512-451-9213 Website: www.tmea.org 2IÀFH +RXUV Monday–Friday, 8:30 A.M.–4:30 P.M.

View previous months’ articles Use the online version in class Share stories with administrators Download PDFs to your electronic library

www.tmea.org/magazine

Southwestern Musician (ISSN 0162-380X) (USPS 508-340) is published monthly except March, June, and July by Texas Music Educators Association, 7900 Centre Park Drive, Austin, TX 78754.

6XEVFULSWLRQ UDWHV 2QH <HDU ² 6LQJOH FRSLHV 3HULRGLFDO SRVWDJH SDLG DW $XVWLQ 7; DQG DGGLWLRQDO PDLOLQJ RIĂ&#x20AC;FHV 32670$67(5 6HQG DGGUHVV FKDQJHV WR 6RXWKZHVWHUQ 0XVLFLDQ 3 2 %R[ Austin, TX 78714-0465. Southwestern Musician was founded in 1915 by A.L. Harper. Renamed in 1934 and published by Dr. Clyde Jay Garrett. Published 1941â&#x20AC;&#x201C;47 by Dr. Stella Owsley. Incorporated in 1948 as National by Harlan-Bell Publishers, Inc. Published 1947â&#x20AC;&#x201C;54 by Dr. H. Grady Harlan. Purchased in 1954 by D.O. Wiley. Texas Music Educator was founded in 1936 by Richard J. Dunn and given to the Texas Music (GXFDWRUV $VVRFLDWLRQ ZKRVH RIĂ&#x20AC;FLDO SXEOLFDWLRQ LW KDV EHHQ VLQFH ,Q WKH WZR PDJD]LQHV ZHUH PHUJHG XVLQJ WKH QDPH 6RXWKZHVWHUQ 0XVLFLDQ FRPELQHG ZLWK WKH 7H[DV 0XVLF (GXFDWRU XQGHU WKH HGLWRUVKLS RI ' 2 :LOH\ ZKR FRQWLQXHG WR VHUYH DV HGLWRU XQWLO KLV UHWLUHPHQW LQ $W WKDW WLPH RZQHUVKLS RI ERWK PDJD]LQHV ZDV DVVXPHG E\ 70($ ,Q $XJXVW WKH 70($ ([HFXWLYH %RDUG FKDQJHG WKH QDPH RI WKH publication to Southwestern Musician.

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Southwestern Musician | September 2012

Celebrating the refurbished 81 Rank Holtkamp Organ in Hemmle Recital Hall with a concert on Sunday, September 23, 2012, 3 pm featuring internationally acclaimed organist

James David Christie

From Here, Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Possible.

Lubbock, TH[DV Â&#x2021; ZZZ PXVLF WWX HGX Â&#x2021; H[W Audition Dates: Saturday )HEUXDU\ DQG )HEUXDU\

PRESIDENT’S NOTES IMPORTANT DATES September—Renew your TMEA membership and preregister for the 2013 convention.

October 2—Convention housing opens.

November 15—TMEA scholarship application deadline.

December 31—TMEA convention mail/fax preregistration deadline.

January 24—TMEA convention online preregistration deadline.

February 13–16, 2013—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

On the shoulders of giants B Y

J O H N

O

G I L L I A N

ur association has been fortunate to have outstanding leaders throughout its 92-year history. As President, I committed to remembering our past and building toward our future. So, after being elected President-Elect, I began my research into our history by learning more about the leaders during TMEA’s first ten years: founder James E. King, 1920–23; Conway King, 1923–24; E.A. Lightfoot, 1924–26; G.C. Collum, 1926–28; R.E. Frazier, 1928–30; and Paul James, 1930. My research uncovered the full names of those previously listed only by their initials and revealed differences in dates of service from what we had previously reported via our website.

The information offered here I found in the Minutes and Procedures of the Texas Music Educators Association, 1924–1961 at the TMEA office. The following is derived from only a few of this book’s over 600 pages. In it, I learned many interesting facts, including some of the names and places where our early association began. This book was edited by Past-President Dr. Nelson G. Patrick (1957–58), who was UIL Director of Music from 1961 to 1984 and faculty member at the University of Texas through 2002.

I also referred to www.tmea.org for some brief biographical information about TMEA by reviewing the Past-Presidents and Past Vice-Presidents pages.

If you have not taken time to look at these pages, I encourage you to do so as they are full of interesting information on our history. Ancestry.com was also a helpful tool for discovering more about where some of these past leaders lived and worked. The most exciting event while working on this article was speaking on the phone to our founder’s granddaughter who shared some new information with me about her family.

Our founder, James Edwin King (January 25, 1885–July 26, 1947), served as

Much like these pioneers, TMEA members have succeeded in recent years by modifying their practices to meet the needs of students and FRPPXQLWLHV GXULQJ GLIÀFXOW WLPHV 4

Southwestern Musician | September 2012

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the first President of Texas Bandmasters Association, the forerunner of TMEA, from 1920 to 1923. His brother, Conway Edward King, was our second President, from 1923 to 1924. Both of these men were born near Marlin, which is about 30 miles southeast of Waco. From the records found, the family lived between Waco and Marlin in McLennan County.

Their stepfather, Ben Hawkins, was a music dealer during the time these brothers were forming our organization.

In 1910 at the age of 25, J.E. King was listed as a band teacher near Marlin.

When he founded our organization in 1920, he was a bandmaster near Waxahachie. During this year, J.E. King met with some of the other community band directors near Waxahachie to form Texas Bandmasters Association. In 1930 J.E. King was working as a band director in Coleman, where he died in 1947. His sons Jimmie and Leonard opened King Music Company in Brownwood in 1946, and it is still open for business, although it is no longer owned by the King family.

J.E. King’s granddaughter lives just outside the city limits of Brownwood.

I find it interesting that in the book

of minutes there is little mention of J.E. King. There is a lengthy historical document of our association’s early years included in the book, and I plan to use this in segments of future columns. This history does include the early work of J.E. King. The only other reference I found of him was with his name listed as a member in 1936 as a director in Coleman.

Conway Edward King (May 10, 1894– April 27, 1978), our second President, had moved to the West Texas city of Rotan by 1917 and in 1920 was in Maypearl (near the city of Waxahachie), where he served as bandmaster. C.E. King became President at the age of 29 in 1923. In 1925, C.E. King was a bandmaster in Weatherford, and in 1930 he was band director in the West Texas city of Lamesa, where he established a tradition of awardwinning bands that continued for many years. He did all this in the depths of the Great Depression after, as recorded in the minutes, a former director left the Lamesa band with conditions of “financial looseness, which are humiliating . . .”

The initial minutes of our organization include many details one would not expect to find in an organization’s meeting min-

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Southwestern Musician | September 2012

utes. Often names were mentioned with less than favorable information. While not particularly pertinent to the meeting, this specificity certainly makes for interesting reading.

It was 1925 when Texas Bandmasters Association was legally incorporated as Texas Band Teachers Association (TBTA).

Elijah Ashburn (E.A.) Lightfoot (September 19, 1887–January 2, 1971) from Sherman served as our third President (the first for TBTA). In addition to the incorporation documents filed in Sherman, Grayson County, in 1925, Lightfoot was instrumental in passing the legislation allowing cities to levy a tax, the Texas Band Tax Law, to pay for the organization and direction of municipal bands. This helped keep music alive in Texas. During Lightfoot’s term as President, the association approved the printing of a journal entitled The Texas Bandsman.

In 1926, Levi Gilford C. (G.C.) Collum (May 13, 1892–July 20, 1951) from Stamford was elected as our fourth President at a meeting in Waco.

During Collum’s term as President, school bands started becoming much

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2013 TMEA Clinic/Convention February 13–16

San Antonio

GET READY TO LEARN With over 200 clinics led by expert music educators, you will walk away from the TMEA convention equipped with new insight, information, and techniques that will improve your instruction the day you return to the classroom. The 2013 TMEA Featured Clinicians will offer over 30 especially exciting clinics covering a myriad of topics. Learn more about them in this issue’s Vice-Presidents’ columns.

October 2: Housing Reservation System Opens December 31: Fax/Mail Preregistration Ends January 24: Online Preregistration Ends

www.tmea.org/convention Southwestern Musician | September 2012

7

more common, often taking the place of municipal bands.

As a young member I wondered why there were no photos of our fifth President, Ralph E. (Pop) Frazier (December 2, 1881–August 25, 1937), from Breckenridge, and our sixth President, Paul Ardean James (August 13, 1880–April 8, 1930), from Memphis.

I have found sources of photos for each of these men, but unfortunately, they aren’t of high quality. (If you have access to good quality photos of these men, please contact the TMEA office or me.)

At the time he was elected President in 1928, R.E. Frazier taught in the small community of Breckenridge, about 30 miles north of Eastland. The meeting where he was elected was also held in Breckenridge.

Activities included an auto ride through nearby oil fields, a banquet at the YMCA, and a directors’ band performance at a Breckenridge HS basketball game.

In 1929, the annual meeting was in Dallas. During part of the meeting, Frazier explained to the membership that he had been fired as the Breckenridge band director by the school superintendent and that a petition was circulating to

get him reinstated. His next year was in McKinney. Frazier also had addresses in Hereford and Pampa.

Our sixth President, Paul James, served as President for the shortest term to date.

After being elected President on January 25, 1930, during a meeting in Abilene, James served as President for only 42 days before dying from a sudden stroke at the age of 49 on April 8, 1930, making him the “William Henry Harrison” of TMEA Presidents. James taught band and orchestra in Memphis, located in the Texas Panhandle.

In addition to those mentioned previously, the following are the meeting locations of TMEA (and its predecessor organizations) in its first decade: ³:D[DKDFKLH RUJDQL]DWLRQDO meeting and consolidation of bands for a “march parade” ³:D[DKDFKLH PHHWLQJ DQG contest DQG ³'DOODV PHHWLQJ DQG contest ³6KHUPDQ PHHWLQJ DQG Brownwood contest

³'DOODV PHHWLQJ DQG FRQWHVWV LQ Corsicana and Mineral Wells ³:DFR PHHWLQJ DQG FRQWHVWV LQ Waco and Amarillo ³)RUW :RUWK PHHWLQJ DQG Wichita Falls contest Our earliest leaders often lived in one city and traveled to nearby communities, concurrently leading municipal and school bands in those cities. They were pioneers of music education who persevered through the very difficult years of the Great Depression, adjusting and modifying their work to meet the needs of the communities and the young students they served. Much like these pioneers, TMEA members have succeeded in recent years by modifying their practices to meet the needs of students and communities during difficult times. While our experience is far from that of the Great Depression, our members have made many sacrifices and adjustments to their programs to help ensure the future of music education in Texas.

I commend you for your continued dedication and commitment to your students and for your communities.

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTES

Like going home B Y

IMPORTANT DATES September—Renew your TMEA membership and preregister for the 2013 convention.

October 2—Convention housing opens.

November 15—TMEA scholarship application deadline.

December 31—TMEA convention mail/fax preregistration deadline.

January 24—TMEA convention online preregistration deadline.

February 13–16, 2013—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

R O B E R T

F L O Y D

A

t its June meeting, the Executive Board took action to accept a long-term proposal from the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau to keep our convention in San Antonio through 2025. This agreement is contingent on the contract providing the same benefits presented in the June draft, and we are finalizing that process. Currently we are under contract with the city through 2016. While previous Boards have given serious consideration to offers by Houston on two different occasions, as well as informal proposals from Dallas and Austin, the reality is we have not met in any other city since 1984. We have now become San Antonio’s largest annual customer, this past year picking up over 20,000 total room nights.

There are numerous reasons for previous Boards’ decisions, but three have driven those decisions over time. The first is high-quality convention facilities and hotel meeting space. At the head of this list is Lila Cockrell Theater, a performance venue just minutes from the exhibit hall and clinic rooms. The recent $28 million renovation has made it a first-class hall for us, and the city, in a good-faith gesture to TMEA, delivered on virtually every suggestion to meet our needs, not the least of which is the beautiful Wenger acoustical shell. No other city in Texas can offer us a convention center that houses a theater like Lila Cockrell. In addition, securing ballroom space in hotels in close proximity to the center allows us to keep All-State rehearsals close by.

Three reasons have driven our decision to remain in San Antonio for our convention: facility quality, hotel proximity, and the city’s location.

10 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

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Secondly, San Antonio is the only city where we can contract over 5,000 hotel rooms in the downtown area without the need for busing. Busing would cost a minimum of $100,000 in any city and would surely trigger a registration fee increase.

Hotel rates that range from $91 to $188 are an option in San Antonio, and any attendee should be able to find affordable accommodations within walking distance of the center. We have already negotiated rates through 2016, and the increases have averaged no more than 1% per year.

Finally, the central location of San Antonio limits excessive travel for most attendees. With the size of our state, travel is certainly an issue, especially for our West Texas members and students, but that is simply a reality with which we have to contend. Certainly moving our

convention to Houston would increase that distance for them, and moving to Dallas would increase travel for Houston and valley area attendees without significantly easing the distance for those from West Texas.

While San Antonio continues to be the best fit for us, we will have some challenging times ahead. The convention center will undergo a major expansion project beginning next year. This expansion will significantly increase the convention bureauâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capability to attract major conventions they lose to cities such as Orlando and Las Vegas. We have survived periods of construction in San Antonio before, and I am confident we can do it again. The convention center officials are sensitive to our space needs and have assured us that we will never have to hold

TMEA CLINIC/CONVENTION February 13â&#x20AC;&#x201C;16 Â&#x2021; San Antonio www.tmea.org/convention

a meeting with less meeting space than we currently utilize. The end product will be spectacular and should meet our needs comfortably through 2025.

Our relationship with San Antonio goes back at least to the â&#x20AC;&#x2122;50s, and as a member told me recently, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We cannot leave San Antonio; I know exactly where I want to eat each night and where I want to sleep.â&#x20AC;? Our exhibitors, especially from the north, also love San Antonio to get out of the freezing cold and â&#x20AC;&#x153;have a taco on the river.â&#x20AC;? Yes, we all are creatures of habit, and when we go to the convention, as one member said, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to spend time finding our way to a particular workshop or concert.

Of course, the City of San Antonio values our business for financial reasons. We are a major client for them that generates significant hotel tax dollars. But equally important, we are family. Our relationship has triggered their willingness to place a â&#x20AC;&#x153;canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t refuseâ&#x20AC;? offer on the table for the Executive Board to consider and adopt. I am confident the Board has made the right decision, and TMEA will have a wonderful home for years to come.

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12 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

Summer Dialogue III: TMEAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Role in Times of Change

A

t its January meeting, the Executive Board voted to host a two-day July conference, Summer Dialogue III: TMEAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Role in Times of Change, to identify and discuss future challenges to music education in Texas schools. More specifically, the participantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; charge was to provide input to the Executive Board on how best to address these issues.

This report is a summation of the outcomes of that highly productive and successful meeting.

Even before participants arrived, they had provided their insights into the myriad challenges facing music education given the implementation of STAAR and continued school funding issues. As the Summer Dialogue began, participants identified the topics they believed should be their focus during the remainder of the event. Each participant brought forward many topics worthy of in-depth review, and together they chose to center on challenges and opportunities in these three areas: Â&#x2021; $FFHVV WR 0XVLF (GXFDWLRQ Â&#x2021; $GYRFDF\ 0HVVDJLQJ Â&#x2021; 6WXGHQW 5HWHQWLRQ Participants worked in groups to identify priorities and actions that TMEA could either work to accomplish or ways TMEA could influence other decision makers who have authority over those areas (e.g., administrators, state political leaders).

Bob Morrison, founder of Quadrant Arts Education Research,

14 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

capably facilitated the two-day discussion. He focused the group during its first session by reviewing the status of music education in our nation and highlighting how our reality in Texas compares. Like most other states, the opportunities to study music education in Texas are pervasive, yet participation in music education is not. Morrison reminded the group that whatever the vision is for Texas, it will happen only because of an intentional strategy to make a difference.

Access to Music Education While music education courses are available at every level, students continue to struggle to access these opportunities. With increasing academic demands, ongoing focus on testing, and scheduling challenges, even the most interested music students are sometimes forced to make a choice that prevents their participation in a music program. Participants identified several challenges to student access, including the following: Â&#x2021; ,Q HOHPHQWDU\ PXVLF HGXFDWLRQ VWXGHQWV RIWHQ KDYH DFFHVV WR a music education class on an extremely limited basis and are sometimes taught by a classroom generalist. Teachers may be instructing their students as little as 25 times throughout an entire year. These limited schedules inhibit the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; skill and knowledge development such that elementary students RIWHQ HQWHU PLGGOH VFKRRO PXVLF FODVVHV LOO SUHSDUHG ,Q DGGLtion, students are frequently pulled out of class for remediation in other subjects.

This comprehensive education tool brings harmony training, rhythm training and ensemble timing together in one convenient educator resource. It enables music educators to clearly demonstrate for students how to tune individual notes within chords, so that entire chords may be tuned. The HD-200 Harmony Director helps musicians understand how their parts fit into the complete harmony of the ensemble.

size at certain grade levels and delivering this information to administrators. Â&#x2021; &UHDWLQJ KLJK VFKRRO PXVLF FRXUVH RSSRUWXQLWLHV IRU VWXdents with no middle school musical training. Â&#x2021; 2IIHULQJ DGGLWLRQDO PXVLF FRXUVHV H J SLDQR ODE PXVLF KLVtory, music technology, nontraditional performance ensemEOHV &RQQHFWHG WR WKLV LV WKH QHHG WR ZRUN ZLWK 7($ WR JHW 3(,06 QXPEHUV DVVLJQHG WR DOWHUQDWLYH PXVLF FRXUVHV Â&#x2021; 2IIHULQJ RWKHU $3 FODVVHV EH\RQG 0XVLF 7KHRU\ $OVR sharing criteria on how to make music courses honors-level courses in order to achieve weighted grades. Â&#x2021; (QFRXUDJLQJ PRUH RQOLQH FRXUVH DYDLODELOLW\ WR LQFUHDVH student scheduling options. Â&#x2021; 'HYLVLQJ D PDVWHU WHPSODWH WKDW PHPEHUV FRXOG JLYH WR FRXQVHORUV SDUHQWV HWF IRU VFKHGXOLQJÂłWHPSODWHV WR KHOS them understand a master schedule (4- or 7-year plans). Â&#x2021; 6LPLODUO\ DW WKH PLGGOH VFKRRO OHYHO WHVWLQJ LV D FKLHI UHDVRQ students are denied access to music education. While there is a middle school fine arts course requirement, the focus on testing continues to affect whether a student participates in a middle school music program beyond the requirement (and whether remediation results in their being pulled out of class when enrolled). Â&#x2021; +LJK VFKRRO FRXUVHV DUH UHJXODUO\ SXVKHG GRZQ WR WKH middle school level, and students are pressured to complete those credits then, thus costing them the opportunity to participate in additional fine arts courses beyond the one-course requirement. Â&#x2021; $IIRUGDELOLW\ LV DQRWKHU LVVXH VRPH VWXGHQWV IDFH ZKHQ considering enrollment in a music course. Often music instruments or fees associated with participation prevent a student from being able to consider enrollment beyond what is required. Â&#x2021; $W WKH KLJK VFKRRO OHYHO PRVW PXVLF FODVVHV KDYH QR DGGLtional weight in grading or are not AP classes, and thus students who are focused primarily on an elevated GPA are dropping out of music programs to take grade-weighted classes instead. Â&#x2021; 6WXGHQWV ZKR FKRRVH WR HQWHU D PXVLF SURJUDP ODWH ODFN WKH opportunities that traditional beginners have. Without a specific course or late-entry point designed for this population, these late bloomers are simply discouraged from pursuing interest in a music program. Their later interest could stem from a variety of reasons, and participants believed it is important to make music programs accessible to these students.

Response to Access Issues Participants identified several methods for increasing student access to music education, including the following: Â&#x2021; (GXFDWLQJ DGPLQLVWUDWRUV DQG RWKHU WHDFKHUV DERXW WKH UXOH that a student must be in a class for at least 90% of the scheduled time to receive a grade in that class. Â&#x2021; (QFRXUDJLQJ UHVHDUFK RQ WKH QHJDWLYH HIIHFWV RI ODUJH FODVV 16 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

Â&#x2021; 6RPH RI WKHVH LVVXHV UHJDUGLQJ DIIRUGDELOLW\ FRXOG EH resolved simply through educating parents and students DERXW KRZ WKH\ FDQ SDUWLFLSDWH H J VFKRODUVKLSV JUDQWV ,Q some cases, educators need to consider language barriers in their parent communication materials. Â&#x2021; 70($ FRXOG KRVW FOLQLFV RQ JUDQW ZULWLQJ WR KHOS WHDFKHUV acquire funding that might allow them to purchase instruments and thus remove the financial burden from students. Â&#x2021; :KLOH QRW WKH RSWLPDO VROXWLRQ LI WHDFKHUV ZLWKRXW PXVLF certification are teaching music, they could be provided materials targeted to the generalist to help them better instruct students. Â&#x2021; 70($ FRXOG SURPRWH D OHJLVODWLYH DJHQGD WKDW LQFOXGHV moving fine arts from the enrichment to the foundation curriculum in law. Possibly even more effective would be the removal of these categories altogether with a return simply to one required list of courses that school districts must offer. TMEA could also file legislation once again to limit student pull-out for remediation. (This was initially discussed as a solution to access issues, but it was also identified as a response to other areas.) Â&#x2021; $QRWKHU PHWKRG WKDW SDUWLFLSDQWV UHSHDWHGO\ LGHQWLILHG WR elevate the presence of music education is through influencing indicators to the Fine Arts Distinction Designation criteULD WKURXJK WKH VWDWH¡V FDPSXV DFFRXQWDELOLW\ V\VWHP ,Q WKLV case, the suggested language would include criteria that all music education classes be taught by certified music specialists, not only to ensure students are receiving a quality music education, but also to send the message that to be recognized for delivering a high-quality educational experience, the school needs to make this commitment. Â&#x2021; 70($ FRQYHQWLRQ VHVVLRQV FRXOG RIIHU DWWHQGHHV LQIRUPDtion on research that can help them champion the importance of music education and thus convince administrators not to pull students from music class for remediation. Â&#x2021; $GGLWLRQDOO\ 70($ FRXOG FRPSLOH DQG SDFNDJH FRPSHOOLQJ research results about the academic value of music education so that they are easily accessible and presented in formats

that could be communicated effectively. Â&#x2021; *LYHQ WKH HPSKDVLV RQ FROOHJH DQG FDUHHU UHDGLQHVV KDYing documentation that links how music education affects FROOHJH FDUHHU UHDGLQHVV FRXOG EH EHQHILFLDO DV WHDFKHUV WU\ WR educate school administrators and counselors on the importance of the arts, especially with scheduling challenges that continue to increase. Â&#x2021; 70($ FRXOG DOVR ZRUN PRUH WR LQIOXHQFH VFKRRO DGPLQistrators and their understanding of the law as well as their perception of the importance of music education.

Participants asked TMEA to again consider presentations before school administrator associations. Â&#x2021; 70($ FRXOG RIIHU D SDQHO GLVFXVVLRQ FOLQLF DW WKH FRQYHQtion to help members better understand the challenges of scheduling and how to work with the many demands music students face in continuing to participate in music programs.

Messaging/Advocacy The second topic of focus was on how to best craft and deliver appropriate music education advocacy messages. Participants suggested the following ideas on crafting the message itself: Â&#x2021; 7KH PHVVDJH VKRXOG DQVZHU ZKDW ILQH DUWV SURYLGHV WKDW LV unique and essential. Â&#x2021; :H VKRXOG EHJLQ WR DVN ZKHWKHU WKH SURGXFW RI WKH 7H[DV education system is an incomplete child (music education is crucial to each studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success). Â&#x2021; 7KH PHVVDJH VKRXOG VXSSRUW WKH LGHD WKDW PXVLF HGXFDWLRQ LV valuable simply for musicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sake, not only because it correlates to other learning. Â&#x2021; 7KH PHVVDJH IRU VWXGHQWV VKRXOG FRPPXQLFDWH WKDW PXVLF HGXFDWLRQ LV IRU DOOÂłWKDW WKHUH DUH RSSRUWXQLWLHV DQG D SODFH for every student in a music program.

Potential Actions Some of the potential actions participants identified for TMEA leadership to consider included the following: Â&#x2021; 'HYHORSLQJ DQ DGYRFDF\ PHVVDJH DERXW PXVLF HGXFDWLRQ WKDW FRXOG EH UHDG DW HYHU\ PXVLF SHUIRUPDQFH DFURVV 7H[DVÂłD simple message that all TMEA members could access and incorporate into their announcements. Â&#x2021; 'HYHORSLQJ D PHPEHU W\SH IRU SDUHQW DQG FRPPXQLW\ VXSporters to reach out to businesses and the community to work with them and educate them about music education. Â&#x2021; +RVWLQJ DQ DFDGHP\ VLPLODU WR ZKDW 7%$ GRHV WR SUHVent sessions to first-year teachers regarding the need for advocacy. Â&#x2021; 'LVWULEXWLQJ SUHVV UHOHDVHV VWDWHZLGH WKURXJKRXW WKH \HDU RQ the value of music education. Â&#x2021; &RQQHFWLQJ ZLWK FROOHJH DQG XQLYHUVLW\ GHSDUWPHQWV WKDW DUH teaching future school administrators to help connect with this group early and help them better understand the value and place in law of music education. Â&#x2021; 2IIHULQJ DGYRFDF\ PDWHULDOV DQG WUDLQLQJ DW 5HJLRQ meetings. Â&#x2021; 3UHVHQWLQJ VHVVLRQV DW DGPLQLVWUDWRU DQG FRXQVHORU FRQYHQWLRQV RQ ILQH DUWV ODZ UXOH VFKHGXOLQJ HWF WR DGYRFDWH IRU greater participation in music education. Â&#x2021; 3URYLGLQJ DGYRFDF\ PDWHULDOV DQG PHVVDJHV LQ SULQW DXGLR and video formats to be accessible by anyone regardless of the technology available. Â&#x2021; 5HRUJDQL]LQJ WKH DGYRFDF\ VHFWLRQ RI WKH 70($ ZHEVLWH to provide easier access to more advocacy materials and research results. The messages being delivered need to be

Â&#x2021; 0XVLF HGXFDWLRQ RXWFRPHV DOLJQ ZLWK WKH YDOXHV DVVHUWHG E\ WKH 3DUWQHUVKLS IRU VW &HQWXU\ 6NLOOV FULWLFDO WKLQNLQJ DQG problem solving, communication, collaboration, and creative thinking. This message could speak directly to the business community and demonstrate how fine arts students will be better prepared for employment. ,Q FUDIWLQJ DQG GHOLYHULQJ RXU PHVVDJH ZH PXVW EH FRJQL]DQW of the various audiences and develop the core message in various ways to communicate effectively with each group. We must consider parents, students, colleagues, the college board, administrators, legislators, the business community, and the media in crafting our message.

Southwestern Musician | September 2012 17

data-rich, demonstrating real evidence of the value of music education.

donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t offer weighted grades to achieve the highest possible GPA.

Â&#x2021; &UHDWLQJ D WDVN IRUFH WR UHVHDUFK WKH HIIHFWLYHQHVV RI SXOO outs. (Without this data, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s difficult to substantiate an argument against pull-outs.)

Â&#x2021; 6RPH PXVLF SURJUDPV UHTXLUH H[FHVVLYH WLPH DQG ILQDQFLDO commitment.

Â&#x2021; +DYLQJ QRQ PXVLF HGXFDWRUV GHOLYHU WKH PHVVDJH RI WKH importance of music education, as this will always be more effective. This could happen at the state level, and it could translate to the local level, where it would be most effective to have parents be the champions of music education to administrators, and especially to the elected board members.

Improving Retention Participants offered the following ideas and actions for music educators and for TMEA to consider in their work to improve student retention:

Â&#x2021; ,QFOXGLQJ PRUH VSHFLILF DQG VWULQJHQW UHTXLUHPHQWV LQ ILQH arts education delivery for a school to achieve a Fine Arts Distinction Designation within the school accountability.

TMEA could work to include time-on-task requirements, teacher certification, and facilities specifications within the distinction designation criteria. Â&#x2021; &UDIWLQJ RXU PHVVDJH WR DGPLQLVWUDWRUV WR LQFOXGH D IRFXV on the existence of Music TEKS so that they are aware that our academic discipline is standards-based and not extracurricular. Â&#x2021; (VWDEOLVKLQJ UHODWLRQVKLSV ZLWK OHJLVODWRUV HVSHFLDOO\ ZLWK the many freshmen legislators who will begin in the next session.

During the discussion, an example of local advocacy was offered defining how a local council of presidents could be formed to include the presidents of each of the major booster organizations (music, dance, theatre, art). This group could present fine arts advocacy messages to the local school board with a single voice. This group could be effective in supporting each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s programs consistently to the decision-making body.

Student Retention While schools offer music education opportunities at every level and the law requires fine arts education to be taught at every level, the percentage of students who remain enrolled in music courses remains low. Participants discussed the possible causes of this low retention rate. (Note: several of these issues and the recommendations in the next section align with the Student Access issues and recommendations.) Â&#x2021; 6WXGHQWV DUH SUHVVXUHG WR WDNH KLJK VFKRRO FUHGLW FRXUVHV during middle school, and this limits them from continuing to enroll in music classes. Â&#x2021; 6WXGHQWV DUH GLVFRXUDJHG IURP SDUWLFLSDWLQJ LQ PXOWLSOH electives. Â&#x2021; +LJK VFKRRO VWXGHQWV DUH SUHVVXUHG WR GURS DQ\ FRXUVHV WKDW 18 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

Â&#x2021; $ SRVLWLYH HGXFDWLRQDO H[SHULHQFH LQ HOHPHQWDU\ PXVLF HGXFDtion is key to developing a continued interest and participation in music education. Given how critical this is, music classes should be required to be taught by certified music specialists. Â&#x2021; 70($ FRXOG SURYLGH SURIHVVLRQDO GHYHORSPHQW DFDGHPLHV for new elementary music teachers to offer them examples of model programs and proven methods to incorporate into their classrooms. Â&#x2021; $GPLQLVWUDWRUV DQG VFKRRO FRXQVHORUV QHHG PRUH HGXFDWLRQ on what the law says and on the intrinsic value of music HGXFDWLRQ IRU DOO ,Q ERWK FDVHV ZH QHHG WR EH DEOH WR VKRZ them how music education supports college readiness, and we need to offer solutions to course scheduling issues. Â&#x2021; 7KH GHYHORSPHQW RI RQOLQH UHPHGLDWLRQ FRXUVHV FRXOG EH a valuable way to offer these students help without taking them out of a music education class. Â&#x2021; 0RUH ILQH DUWV FUHGLW UHTXLUHPHQWV FRXOG EH DGGHG These additional requirements could be limited to the Distinguished Achievement Program so that we could establish a positive perception about the rigor associated with music education courses. Â&#x2021; 70($ FRXOG RIIHU PRUH UHFUXLWPHQW DQG UHWHQWLRQ FOLQLFV during the convention and resources on the website to offer best practices on how to improve student retention based on specific demographics (urban versus rural, etc.). Â&#x2021; 70($ FRXOG RIIHU RQOLQH YLGHR SHGDJRJLFDO VHJPHQWV WKDW teachers could easily access to help them better deliver quality instruction. Â&#x2021; 0RUH QRQWUDGLWLRQDO PXVLF HGXFDWLRQ FODVVHV FRXOG KHOS UDLVH student interest and participation, especially for late-bloomer students (and students who didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t receive continuous instruction because of remediation). TMEA could conduct a survey of its members to find existing best practices of this throughout the state. Â&#x2021; 70($ FRXOG SURYLGH PDJD]LQH DUWLFOHV DQG FRQYHQWLRQ clinics on how to obtain grant funding and other external funding sources.

Â&#x2021; 6SHFLILF WR EDQG WKH IRFXV RQ PDUFKLQJ EDQG LQFOXGLQJ the extreme time and financial commitment, results in student dropout. TMEA could try to effect change in this area such that any student who wants to be in band could be allowed to do so regardless of marching band participation.

TMEA could also provide clinics at the convention on how to balance the curricular music class with its extracurricular component, marching band. Â&#x2021; $ SRVLWLYH ORQJ WHUP VROXWLRQ WR UHWHQWLRQ FRXOG EH WR encourage more music educators to pursue administrator certification. With more trained music educators as school administrators, many of the issues would be much better understood, and hopefully addressed. Â&#x2021; 70($ FRXOG ORRN IRU ZD\V WR HQFRXUDJH PRUH QHZ WHDFKers to participate in the TMEA Mentoring Network and for experienced teachers to offer their expertise in the program. Â&#x2021; :LWK VWXGHQWV DQG SDUHQWV RIWHQ IRFXVHG RQ HQUROOPHQW LQ AP courses to ensure a higher GPA for college acceptance, there needs to be guidance on how to make four-year participation in music courses a choice that wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t result in a lower GPA. Other Topics ,Q DGGLWLRQ WR GLVFXVVLQJ WKH WRSLFV RI 0XVLF (GXFDWLRQ $FFHVV 0HVVDJLQJ $GYRFDF\ DQG 6WXGHQW 5HWHQWLRQ 6XPPHU 'LDORJXH participants discussed issues and some solutions surrounding other important topics of teacher assessment, recruiting future teachers, diverse course offerings, as well as how TMEA could better serve members of the Elementary Division. Participants reported the following: Teacher assessment: After much discussion, participants concluded that it is important for music educators to work more LQVLGH WKH ER[ÂłZH QHHG WR H[SHFW WR EH HYDOXDWHG LQ WKH VDPH way that other teachers are, not expect a different assessment because the discipline is different. Good teaching is good teaching across all disciplines and if fine arts teachers are evaluated in the same way, then it breaks down the wall of distinction between the arts and other classrooms. Equally important is the need to work with administrators to help them understand what they should be looking for in their assessment of most teachers.

They need to be offered a way to apply their assessment tool to music education.

TMEA could create a guide for what an administrator should expect in elementary, middle, and high school music classrooms and how that corresponds to the current evaluation system. This guide would allow teachers to have the proactive conversation with their principals to help facilitate meaningful assessment.

Future music teacher recruitment: The current structure provided through the Texas Future Music Educators program offered by TMEA can be effective, but educators need to be given PRUH JXLGDQFH RQ ZKDW KDV ZRUNHG IRU RWKHU FKDSWHUV ,QFOXGLQJ retired teachers in a chapterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s activities could be an effective addition. There should be a greater emphasis on ensuring a quality experience for student teachers and a continued emphasis on their seeking a mentor when they enter the profession.

Diverse course offerings: ,Q DGGLWLRQ WR LGHQWLI\LQJ VHYeral diverse course offerings available at various districts and

discussing the possibility of many others, the group discussed relevance of these various course offerings and some of the roadblocks to providing them (e.g., teacher training). While there is an emphasis on reaching more students through diversifying the courses available, discussion also centered on the idea of working to make the pillars of band, orchestra, and choir more relevant to all.

TMEA support of Elementary Division members: TMEA could better support this population in a variety of ways, including having educational opportunities at Region meetings, working to influence the inclusion of class size limits (one and a half times the limit for other classrooms) into the criteria for the Fine Arts Distinction Designation, researching various scheduling options and providing these to elementary campus administrators, helping educate non-music-trained music teachers in the ways that TMEA can support them, and helping TMEA members reach out to the non-member music teachers to bring a greater focus to the importance and benefits of their membership.

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Next?

The TMEA Executive Board will review the recommendations of the Summer Dialogue participants, prioritize their importance, and work with TMEA staff to incorporate the feedback into specific projects. One of the overriding outcomes of the Summer Dialogue was the unanimous recognition that a significant number of the issues brought forward had been discussed by previous review groups and dealt with in some capacity by TMEA. For numerous topics discussed, there are already supSRUW PDWHULDOV LQ SODFH RQ WKH ZHEVLWH ,W KDV EHFRPH FOHDU WKDW TMEA staff must do a better job of communicating the availability of tools and resources, where they are located, and how to use them. Finally, the TMEA Executive Board will utilize above mentioned input as they plan our agenda for the 83rd Texas Legislative session. ,I \RX KDYH FRPPHQWV VXJJHVWLRQV DQG VROXWLRQV IRU DQ\ of the discussed items, please email these to rfloyd@tmea.org.

Finally, our thanks go to the participants who gave a part of their summer to contribute in a meaningful way to this effort. They were outstanding!

Southwestern Musician | September 2012 19

TCU Director of Chorale Studies, Dennis Shrock conducts the TCU Concert Chorale in Fort Worthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s St. Stephen Presbyterian Church

PerformCreate

S T U R E T E

D E N T N T I O N

Matthew McInturf

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YHU \HDUV DJR DV D \RXQJ WHDFKHU , KDG DQ HSLSKDQ\ about communicating with students and accepting UHVSRQVLELOLW\ IRU WKHLU UHVSRQVH WR P\ FODVV ,W¡V DQ H[SHULHQFH WKDW , KDYH VLQFH VKDUHG ZLWK P\ VWXGHQWV as they prepare to become music educators. ,Q WKH IDOO RI , EHJDQ P\ ILUVW \HDU LQ WKH 5LFKDUGVRQ ,6' ,W ZDV P\ ILUVW \HDU WR WHDFK KLJK VFKRRO , ZDV H[FLWHG WR EH D SDUW of the great tradition of music education in Richardson and to KDYH WKH RSSRUWXQLW\ WR OHDUQ IURP VR PDQ\ SHRSOH , DGPLUHG $V HDJHU DV , ZDV WR GR WKLV , ZDV DOVR PRUH WKDQ D OLWWOH DSSUHKHQVLYH Part of my assignment was to teach a beginner trumpet class DW RQH RI RXU SULPDU\ IHHGHU VFKRROV ,Q WKH SDVW , KDG HQMR\HG teaching beginners and had been successful in the process. &RQVHTXHQWO\ , ZDV PRUH FRQILGHQW DERXW WHDFKLQJ WKLV FODVV WKDQ , ZDV DERXW DQ\ RWKHU SDUW RI P\ QHZ MRE $OO RI P\ H[SHULences, however, had been in classes that met daily for at least 50 minutes. This class met in the elementary school cafeteria twice weekly for 45 minutes. ,Q VKRUW , IRXQG P\VHOI OHVV VXFFHVVIXO ZLWK WKLV FODVV WKDQ ZLWK DQ\ FODVV , KDG HYHU WDXJKW , ZDV FRPSOHWHO\ XQSUHSDUHG IRU the difference that meeting every other day made in the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; UDWH RI OHDUQLQJ DQG LQ WKHLU SHUFHSWLRQ RI EDQG , DOVR KDG QRW realized the obvious fact that being on the elementary campus isolated the beginners from the older band students, and that my class was all they really knew about the band experience. By the VSULQJ VHPHVWHU , KDG ORVW DOPRVW DOO SRVLWLYH PRPHQWXP DQG the students were not enjoying the experience. By the end of the year, only two of the original twenty signed up to continue band

DV VHYHQWK JUDGHUV 7KLV ZDV DQ REYLRXV GLVDVWHU DQG , NQHZ , KDG to change it the next year. :KHQ , EHJDQ WKH QH[W \HDU P\ SULRULW\ ZDV WR PDNH WKH FODVV HQJDJLQJ DQG WR UHWDLQ WKH VWXGHQWV , EHOLHYH WKDW SOD\LQJ WKH trumpet is fun and that success is motivating, so my goal was to FRQYLQFH WKH VWXGHQWV RI WKDW , WKRXJKW , QHHGHG WR ILQG D ZD\ WR JHW WKHP WR H[SHULHQFH LW DQG WR EXLOG FRPPLWPHQW HDUOLHU , GHFLGHG WR GR VRPHWKLQJ YHU\ VLPSOH , ZRXOG WHOO WKHP LW ZDV IXQ and that they liked it.

7KH QH[W IDOO DV , ZRUNHG ZLWK LQGLYLGXDO VWXGHQWV GXULQJ FODVV , ZRXOG VD\ ´7KDW ZDV JRRG <RX GLG WKDW ZHOO ¾ 7KHQ , ZRXOG DVN ´,VQ¡W WKDW IXQ"¾ $OPRVW LQYDULDEO\ WKH\ DJUHHG , ZRXOG WKHQ VD\ ´'RQ¡W \RX OLNH SOD\LQJ WKH WUXPSHW"¾ %\ WKH HQG of the first six weeks, every student in the class had publicly stated that playing trumpet was a great thing to do and that it was fun.

This changed the entire atmosphere of the class. The results: all EXW WZR VLJQHG XS WR FRQWLQXH LQ EDQG WKH QH[W \HDU ,QFLGHQWDOO\ they practiced more and played much better as well. , KDG DOZD\V WULHG WR PRWLYDWH VWXGHQWV SRVLWLYHO\ 7KH GLIference this time was having them verbally commit before their peers. Being intentional about this created a positive atmosphere and a commitment to playing the instrument. Once students verbalized that band was fun, it became socially acceptable to acknowledge it, and fostered a positive culture in the class.

Matthew McInturf is Professor of Music, Director of Bands, and the Director of the Center for Music Education at Sam Houston State University.

By the end of the first six weeks, every student in the class had publicly stated that playing trumpet was a great thing to do and that it was fun. This changed the entire atmosphere of the class.

Southwestern Musician | September 2012 21

BAND NOTES

Go build a bridge B Y

IMPORTANT DATES September—Renew your TMEA membership and preregister for the 2013 convention.

October 2—Convention housing opens.

October 26—Deadline to receive All-State Jazz audition CDs in the TMEA office.

November 10–11—All-State Jazz judging.

November 15—TMEA scholarship application deadline.

December 31—TMEA convention mail/fax preregistration deadline.

January 12—Area Band and Vocal auditions.

January 24—TMEA convention online preregistration deadline.

February 13–16, 2013—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

R O N N I E

R I O S

Y

RX KDYH WKH JUHDWHVW EDQG JLJ LQ WKH ZRUOG <RX KDYH WKH EHVW EDQG VWXGHQWV LQ WKH ZRUOG <RXU EDQG KDOO LV LQFUHGLEOH <RX·UH ORRNLQJ IRU VSDFH WR SXW WKRVH WURSKLHV IURP ODVW \HDU RQ D VKHOI VRPHZKHUH <RXU VFKRRO KDV WKH EHVW WHDFKHUV LQ WKH ZRUOG <RXU GULOO WHDP KDV WKH EHVW GDQFHUV HYHU <RX FRXOG JR RQ DQG RQ My point is that extending from your world to the many others in your school is a bridge that needs to be handled ZLWK FDUH , FDOO WKLV ´7KH %ULGJH RI $JUHH DQG 2YHUFRPH µ Regardless of what you call it, the bottom line is that we must be easy to work with. We will see the same people each and every day as we travel to and from RXU EDQG KDOOV WR WKH PDLQ RIILFH RU IURP RQH FDPSXV WR DQRWKHU ,W LV LPSHUDWLYH that each time we walk through the band room door, we exercise our ability to work cooperatively with one another.

Remember that even if something isn’t important to you, it very well may be important to someone else in their own way. We must recognize and respect that. When dealing with administrators, they may not understand why you LPPHGLDWHO\ QHHG WKDW GUXP KHDG IRU WKH VKRZ WRPRUURZ ,W·V MXVW WKH ZD\ LW LV Explain yourself clearly, and be nice in the process.

Make fast friends with the school custodians. Offer them your extra fundraiser items. Hand them a soda or water when they find you that copy paper you desperately needed in a hurry. Their support will be critical to the daily operation of your program, and they deserve your respect and gratitude.

Even that new teacher you’ve never worked with before could become one

It is imperative that each time we walk through the band room door, we exercise our ability to work cooperatively with one another.

22 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

RI \RXU EHVW DOOLHV %H QLFH <RX GHILQLWHO\ want your expectations heard, but you also need to let the ball be in someone else’s court to build a cooperative environment. Over time, you will enjoy the reciprocity from your actions.

Texas Bandmasters Association Convention/Clinic Thanks go to Tom Harrington and the TBA Board and staff for yet another wonderful convention and many great clinics. We are especially grateful for the opportunity to use their time and facilities to host our state Honor Band competition and our All-State audition music clinics.

This cooperation is the cornerstone on which we build the greatness of Texas band programs.

2013 TMEA Clinic/Convention Update , KRSH \RX KDYH RXU FRQYHQWLRQ GDWHV marked on your calendar (February 13–16) DQG WKDW \RX DUH SODQQLQJ WR DWWHQG <RX will experience an extraordinary opportunity for professional development and personal inspiration! , DP H[FLWHG WR DQQRXQFH WKDW WKH Band Division featured clinician will be

Do you have students interested in music business?

Tom Shine, retired band director from 'XQFDQYLOOH ,6' :KHQ \RX DWWHQG WKH convention in February, be sure to attend his sessions as he will present clinics to help you become a better teacher and director.

Tom Shine Featured Clinician Tom Shine has recently retired after a 40-year career as a Texas high school band director. The last 30 years were spent as Director of Bands for the

Teachers Everywhere Are Raving About

“The students can’t get enough of it!

The feedback I receive is a lot of happy

parents.”

—JOHN MONTGOMERY, HOLLAND, MI

“I’m seeing my students become Since 1990, the Texas Music Office in the Governor’s Office has provided Texans of all ages with accurate, unbiased information about our state’s music industry.

The TMO’s website, EnjoyTexasMusic.com, lists more than 18,000 Texas music business contacts, as well as many helpful teaching aids and a complete descirption of the 145 Texas colleges offering music and music business degrees.

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Southwestern Musician | September 2012 23

Honor Band Finalists & Winners

'XQFDQYLOOH ,6' 'XULQJ KLV WHQXUH KLV bands won three state marching championships and were named 5A TMEA +RQRU %DQG WKUHH WLPHV 'XQFDQYLOOH ,6' middle school bands earned an additional four TMEA Honor Band awards during that time. His DHS Wind Ensemble never earned lower than a superior rating and twice performed for the Midwest ,QWHUQDWLRQDO %DQG DQG 2UFKHVWUD &OLQLF DQG RQFH IRU WKH 0XVLF (GXFDWRUV 1DWLRQDO &RQIHUHQFH LQ ,QGLDQDSROLV 7KH Duncanville band program is one of the few worldwide to hold the Sudler Flag of Honor and the Sudler Shield of Honor from the John Philip Sousa Foundation for exemplary band programs.

During his 30 years in Duncanville, he commissioned numerous original works and transcriptions for band. Shine served DV WKH 5HJLRQ 70($ %DQG &KDLU IRU over 25 years and was on the TMAA Executive Board for seven years. He was honored by the Texas Bandmasters Association with its Meritorious Achievement Award in 2006 and named %DQGPDVWHU RI WKH <HDU LQ ,Q UHWLUHment, he continues to serve as a clinician for numerous schools in Texas and DQ DGMXGLFDWRU IRU 8,/ DQG LQYLWDWLRQDO contests.

Honor Band &RQJUDWXODWLRQV WR RXU ² Honor Bands, finalists, and their directors. We look forward to hearing our Honor Bands in concert in February.

Thanks go to the Honor Band judges and panel chairs for their contribution to the success of this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Honor Band competition.

24 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

Class 1C

Rank

School/ISD ........................................................................................ Directors .UXP 06 Krum .................................................................................. Jack Forbis /LWWOHILHOG -+ Littlefield ......................................................................Anna Muela &UDQH 06 Crane .............................................................................'DYLG &DGHQD +RZH 06 Howe ........................................................................... Michael Marsh 0DXULFHYLOOH 06 Little Cypress-Mauriceville ..................................... Kathy Smith

Rank

School/ISD ........................................................................................ Directors &DUOLVOH +6 Carlisle ................................................................................ Josh King 6RPHUYLOOH +6 Somerville ................................................................. &DUO ,GOHELUG +RQH\ *URYH +6 Honey Grove ..................................................... Dennis Syring 5LFH +6 Rice .....................................................................................Bill Anthony 7DKRND +6 Tahoka........................................................................&DUUROO 5KRGHV +DZNLQV +6 Hawkins ....................................................................Burdett Glady

Rank

School/ISD ........................................................................................ Directors )UHGHULFNVEXUJ +6 Fredericksburg..............................................John Rauschuber /D 9HUQLD +6 La Vernia ...................................................................... 6WDF\ &ODUN &DQWRQ +6 Canton ..........................................................................Robley Toups 3RUW ,VDEHO +6 Point Isabel ...........................................................Scott Hartsfield $UJ\OH +6 Argyle............................................................................Kathy Johnson /RQH 6WDU +6 Frisco ................................................................... Timothy Golden .HQQHGDOH +6 Kennedale ..................................................................... Erol Oktay

Rank

School/ISD ........................................................................................ Directors %UD]RVZRRG +6 Brazosport ............................................................... %ULDQ &DVH\ %HUNQHU +6 Richardson ....................................................................Frank Troyka 0DUFXV +6 Lewisville ..........................................................Amanda Drinkwater &RSSHOO +6 Coppell .......................................................................... Scott Mason -RKQVRQ +6 North East......................................Jarrett Lipman and Alan Sharps /RSH] +6 Brownsville ..................................................................George Trevino &OHDU /DNH +6 Clear Creek ............................................................ Joseph Munoz

Class 1A

Class 3A

Class 5A

Is Your Membership Active?

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Wait Until an Audition Entry Deadline Is Looming to Renew!

Go to www.tmea.org/membership and choose Renew Membership Verify and update your email and mailing addresses. Your receipt and membership card will be sent to your email address.

e c i o V r u o Y d n Fi Instruments

s r i a p e R | ls a t n | Lessons | Re

Houston - Retail 8600 Jameel Rd Suite 120 (713) 996-7993

Allen 109 Central Expressway North, Suite 517 (214) 383-1737

Webster 19335 Gulf Freeway, #10 (281) 316-1724

Hurst Melbourne Plaza 948 Melbourne Road (817) 595-1511

Sugar Land Market at Town Center 2567 Town Center Boulevard (281) 980-5777

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The Woodlands 2QTVQȧPQ %GPVGT 19075 Interstate 45 S Suite 111H (936) 273-3602

Benbrook Located inside the Wal-Mart Supercenter 8840 Benbrook Boulevard (817) 249-2595

Katy LaCenterra Shopping Center 23501 Cinco Ranch Boulevard, Suite H100 (281) 391-1933

Garland North Garland Crossing 5435 North Garland Avenue, Suite 150 (972) 530-9083

Lewisville FM 3040 and Rockbrook Dr. 360 E FM 3040 Suite 820 (972) 315-8400

Round Rock 2541 S IH-35, Suite 750 (512)255-0558

Plano 701 North Central Expressway, Suite 200 (972) 424-1317 Arlington Arlington Highlands Shopping Center 4000 Five Points Boulevard, Suite 129 (817) 466-8696

Sunset Valley 5207 Brodie Lane, Suite 220 (512)892-0044

at Sign up oreRewards c n E / m rts.co us!

MusicA d get $10 on an

2013 TMEA Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Concert )HEUXDU\ S P Â&#x2021; /LOD &RFNUHOO 7KHDWHU Â&#x2021; 7LFNHWV THE DALLAS WIND SYMPHONY is the leading professional civilian wind band in the United States today. Comprising 50 woodwind, brass, and percussion players, the band performs an eclectic blend of musical styles ranging from Bach to Bernstein and Sousa to Strauss. They combine the tradition of the British brass band with the musical heritage of the American town band and the pioneering spirit of the 20th century wind ensemble.

Under the direction of Artistic Director Jerry Junkin, the mission of the Dallas Wind Symphony is to bring extraordinary musicians and enthusiastic audiences together to celebrate the performance, promotion, and preservation of the music and traditions of the American windband.

CLARINETIST H Ă&#x2026;KAN ROSENGREN has appeared as concerto soloist in Europe and the United States, has performed in recital throughout Europe, the U.S., Israel, and Asia, and has made numerous festival appearances around the world.

featuring HĂĽkan Rosengren

Rosengrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s repertoire includes all the traditional works for clarinet solo and chamber music, and he is a champion of new music. Composers who have written and dedicated works to Rosengren include Anders Eliasson, Poul Ruders, Jan SandstrĂśm, Henrik Strindberg, Alexander Lason, Nikola Resanovic, and Frank Ticheli. Chinese-American composer Chen Yi is writing a concerto for Rosengren to be premiered in 2014.

As featured soloist for the 2013 TMEA Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Concert, Rosengren will be performing the Clarinet Concerto written for him by Frank Ticheli.

Purchase $15 general admission tickets when you preregister for the TMEA Clinic/Convention.

Tickets will be available to pick up in the registration area at the convention.

26 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

Music TEKS Revisions: Ready for Comment September 14 Deadline

D

rafts of the revised Fine Arts Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) were presented to the State Board of Education (SBOE) on July 19.

These drafts are available on the TEA website for review and informal comment. It is important to take time now to review the Music TEKS and offer your feedback on or before September 14.

The Purpose The TEKS define the basis for instruction and drive the interaction between the student, the teacher, and the content.

Our TEKS help teachers be more effective in the classroom, offer clear guidance regarding learning outcomes, and help school districts articulate the curriculum. The SBOE schedules TEKS reviews and revisions for each subject to ensure their standards remain current.

The Review Committees SBOE members nominated educators, parents, business and industry representatives, and employers to serve on the review committees that began meeting this past May. The

SBOE selected 28 individuals to participate in the Music TEKS review and to create draft revisions. Over 20 TMEA members are part of that ongoing review, and our thanks go to them for offering their time and expertise to ensure the Music TEKS provide educators with clear and rigorous standards to be the basis of their instruction.

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Next?

The Review Committee will consider your feedback in their continued work on the revised TEKS language.

The Fine Arts TEKS are scheduled to be adopted by the Board in the spring of 2013 and implemented in the classroom during the fall of 2014. Materials would be available based on the new TEKS in the fall of 2015.

To review the draft TEKS and submit comments for consideration by the review committee, go to www.tmea.org/smlink/TEKSdraft

Invest in the Future TEX AS FUTURE MUSIC EDUCATORS

offers students who have an interest in a music education career a network of support and information to help them be better prepared to pursue their passion. TFME offers students their first experience of belonging to an association committed to excellence in music education. It takes only three interested students and a TMEA member sponsor to start a TFME chapter, so whether your music program has 25 or 250 students, you can form a chapter.

For more information, contact Kay Vanlandingham kvanlandingham@tmea.org or call (512) 452-0710, ext. 103.

Getting Started Is Easy!

1. Go to the Programs section of the TMEA website to download the bylaws and a sample chapter charter to use as a guide for starting your chapter.

2. Market the new chapter to all high school music students.

3. Submit your chapter charter and dues to TMEA. 4. Request a grant to help your chapter get started.

5. Support your TFME members and enjoy the significant return on your investment!

Southwestern Musician | September 2012 27

20 Ways to Get Your String

Orchestr a to Play in Tune

by Michael Alexander

I

n observing school orchestras as they rehearse and perform, I have found that one element clearly separates superior ensembles from the others: intonation. As you help your orchestras improve their intonation, consider the following ideas that I have found particularly effective. Proactive solutions to intonation issues develop the ear and finger-pattern accuracy while reactive solutions correct pitch problems as they occur in the rehearsal.

Proactive Solutions to Ensemble Intonation 1. For students to play in tune, they must know what “in tune” is.

Compare and contrast what in tune and out of tune sound like by playing two in-tune “A” strings (or tuners) and manipulating the pitch of one up or down. Have students give a thumbs-up if it needs to move higher, thumbs-to-theside if in tune and thumbs-down if it needs to go lower.

2. Involve students in open-string tuning issues. Insist that students actively participate in the tuning process through hand signs (flat/sharp, higher/lower), stand partner help, and by tuning softly so that others can hear to tune accurately. Insist that fine-tuners be installed on all strings for ease and accuracy in tuning.

3. Establish a procedure for tuning the open strings. A group tuning 28 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

procedure should teach proper manipulation of the pegs and fine-tuners, allow each student to clearly hear the tuning stimulus, and include tuning the open strings by unisons, octaves, and fifths across the orchestra. [For my recommendations on ensemble tuning procedures see the November 2008 issue of the ASTA journal: The American String Teacher.]1 4. Use of finger pattern drills and a chromatic scale. Daily warm-ups that utilize finger pattern drills will help solidify hand positions (thus intonation) and introduce variant finger patterns prior to their appearance in literature (extensions, low 2, etc.). A warm-up that includes a one-octave chromatic scale offers daily reinforcement of extensions and/or shifting in the lower positions. (Michael Allen’s Daily Warm-up for String Orchestra2 and Expressive Technique for Orchestra3 by Brungard, Alexander, Anderson, and Dackow both contain excellent finger pattern drills for daily use.)

5. Be relentless in correcting the collapsed wrist and flat fingers.

Whether beginners or advanced students, poor position almost always results in poor intonation. Collapsing the left wrist or playing with flat fingers will cause the pitch to slide flat. If your students want to grow long fingernails, tell them they can do that on the right hand. The warm-up is the easiest time to observe position problems; students who are corrected can then be double-checked throughout the rehearsal.

6. Echo-play folk tunes (phrase by phrase). During the warm-up period, students should echo melodies performed by the teacher. Start by presenting individual phrases of familiar melodies that begin on the downbeat on a common open string (G, D, or A). After several weeks, invite your students to bring in folk tunes, jingles, or other familiar melodies and teach them to the class. Another variant is to have students improvise brief melodic segments (1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2 measures, based on a prescribed set of pitches) and have the class echo each improvisation.

7. Sing daily to internalize pitch. Singing demands that students internalize pitches and hear them before they sing (with open strings and finger patterns, string players do not necessarily do this). Use a common round syllable such as doo.

Start with simple lines from their beginner book or short phrases from the literature. You will be amazed when you hear your students singing their music on the bus ride home from contest.

8. Use drones to help tune scales and passages in a single key (internalize the key). Scales are often used in warm-ups and scale tuning can be enhanced by having one section sound the root and fifth while the other sections perform the scale. Pause on various scale degrees and allow students to hear the resulting intervals (consonant or dissonant) and their resolution to the next pitch. Remove vibratoâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;it warms up the tone, but it also confuses the pitch.

9. Teach the ear to tune chromatic and diatonic movement. As a part of your warm-up, ask your students to move up or down by half-steps from a given unison starting pitch according to your instruction. Start in unison and then divide the group in two, with half following your right hand and half following your left. As they move to each new pitch, ask them to tune first with their section, then to the intervals provided by the other sections. After several weeks of tuning intervals, advanced ensembles can be divided into four sections and begin to tune chords. This exercise also works well diatonically (using the degrees of the scale).

10. Enhance dissonance, relax consonance. Utilizing the preceding chromatic or diatonic exercise, ask students to play dissonances louder and with wider vibrato. In the same manner, ask them to play softer and with less vibrato when they perceive a consonance. The concept of enhancing dissonance and relaxing consonance is at the root of functional harmony (tension and release) and makes chord progressions more obvious to both the listener and the performer. It is also the basis for the appoggiatura (one of the earmarks of classical period style).

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Reactive Solutions to Ensemble Intonation 1. Unify rhythm and articulation. To increase the odds of pitch accuracy, increase rhythmic accuracy by using pizzicato to clarify rhythmic passages; any incorrect rhythms will jump out from the context. In a large enough section, a wrong pitch performed with the correct rhythm and articulation may be hidden by the rest of the section. Unifying rhythm and articulation will aid in overall audience perception of intonation.

2. Mark music with meaning ful symbols. Ask students to use markings that illustrate tuning solutions (don’t just circle it).

When a chord tone won’t tune, use up or down arrows to indicate which direction the student needs to move (higher or lower). Use the ^ symbol for marking two notes adjacent by half-step. When a note in the key is missed, add a reminder sharp or flat above the pitch (if placed next to the pitch, the student may think it is an accidental and play the note as a natural in its next occurrence). Students can’t mark their music when it is placed in transparent sheet protectors.

Give students a grade on markings before each concert.

3. Shake it up and return home. When students were performing an out-of-tune pitch, Dr. Louis Bergonzi had them hold the pitch, then slide the finger up and down the fingerboard, and then return to the pitch on his signal. When the entire group has to focus on retuning to a pitch after confusing it, the tuning improves.

4. Play within the sound of the section leader (unison matching).

Denese Odegaard has each student match the section leader within a given passage. She adds one student at a time until the whole section is playing, and tuning, in unison. This exercise, when used regularly, can build a strong section sound with unified pitch, rhythm, and articulation.

5. Lessen dynamics, tempo, and articulation to make pitch obvious.

When loud passages won’t tune, rehearse them at mezzo piano so that everyone can hear all chord tones, gradually increasing volume to the proper dynamic. When fast passages won’t tune, rehearse them at a slower tempo and gradually increase the speed with pitch mastery. When staccato passages won’t tune, rehearse them slow and legato, increasing tempo and articulation with proper intonation.

6. Tune the fermata. Put a fermata on the downbeat of each measure in a problematic passage and have students tune each.

In 4/4 time, once the downbeats are in tune, put a fermata on beat three (or beats one and three). This provides students time to correctly hear and tune the strong beats (where chord changes typically occur).

chords and harmonic progressions. Build chords from the root, decreasing the dynamic level on each consecutive chord tone: root, fifth, seventh, third/sixths, seventh/seconds. In dense homophonic passages, analyze the harmony and bring out the root of each chord to enhance the progression.

9. In pizzicato, build from the bass (loudest to softest). When playing pizzicato chords, ask the string bass to be the leading voice dynamically, with cello, viola, and violin each playing progressively softer (a “dynamic pyramid” above the bass).

What is produced is a warm, rich, full pizzicato that is more sonorous and easier to tune.

10. Bring out phrase shape to enhance tuning. The climax of a phrase (dissonance, V7, etc.) should be played louder and with wider vibrato than the beginning and ending of a phrase (consonance, tonic), which should be performed at a softer dynamic and with smaller vibrato. B.R. Henson used to say, “The most beautiful distance between two points is a curved line.”4 Have students mark an asterisk (*) at the top of each phrase to help define points of arrival. This is particularly helpful to the non-melodic voices that may not see the phrase shape of the melody. Pablo Casals wrote, “Music is an endless succession of rainbows.” In multiple-phrase passages, have students mark the high point of each sequential phrase with increasingly larger asterisks.

While the techniques I present here are my favorite and most often-used, there are certainly other methods that can help you achieve superiority with your ensemble through better intonation.

If you have additional intonation ideas to share, please email me at Michael_L_Alexander@Baylor.edu.

References 1. Alexander, Michael, “Teaching Tuning to the String Orchestra: Classroom Procedures for Beginning to Advanced Students,” American String Teacher, 58 (4), (2008): 20-26.

2. Michael Allen, Daily Warm-up for String Orchestra (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Pub., 1993).

3. Kathy Brungard, Michael Alexander, Sandra Dackow, and Gerald Anderson, Expressive Technique for Orchestra (Madison Heights, WI: Tempo Press, 2011).

4. B.R. Henson, author personal account, Sam Houston State University, 1984.

5. David Blum, Casals and the Art of Interpretation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1980).

Dr. Michael Alexander is Associate Professor of Music Education at Baylor University.

7. Tuning within the key. When rehearsing one section on a particular passage, have the other sections softly play either the root or fifth of the key. Surrounding the section with the open fifth provides a warm, fuzzy, harmonic blanket from which improved tuning is sure to issue.

8. Remove the melody and tune the accompaniment. Our ear is drawn to melody; removing it allows us to clearly hear Southwestern Musician | September 2012 31

ORCHESTRA NOTES IMPORTANT DATES September—Renew your TMEA membership and preregister for the 2013 convention.

September 15—HS String Honor Orchestra online entries due.

October 2—Convention housing opens.

October 15—Postmark Deadline for HS String Honor Orchestra CDs and other entry materials.

October 20–21—HS String Honor Orchestra judging.

October 27—Area recording date.

November 10–11—Area CD judging.

November 15—TMEA scholarship application deadline.

December 31—TMEA convention mail/fax preregistration deadline.

January 24—TMEA convention online preregistration deadline.

February 13–16, 2013—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

Change B Y

L I S A

M C C U T C H A N

I

have been thinking a lot lately about the word change.

Change means so many things to so many people.

Change can be exciting, uplifting, rewarding, and refreshing, especially if it is change we have wanted.

Change can also be frightening, agonizing, depressing, and miserable if it is a change we have not invited into our lives. I think of how many changes I have made in my lifetime. Some were welcome changes that needed to happen. Others happened by circumstances totally out of my control. Discussing change with my students is exciting. It seems that the younger generation looks at change more positively. Young people see change as a chance to start anew.

Aren’t we always telling our students, as well as our own children, that change will be good for them, or that they should learn from their mistakes?

Changes in adults’ lives can often have a more negative impact. How many times have we experienced unwelcome change in our lives? It seems that we often have specific agendas in our heads. When a change comes our way, we cannot envision an outcome other than what we already know. It is the fear of the unknown.

This past year we all faced changes. Here are a few that come to mind: the unknown about job availability, displacements, reduced budgets, more students and fewer faculty, more work and no raises—the list continues. Last year most of us complained to colleagues, friends, and family about the changes. Looking back over the course of the year, most of the changes we experienced were really not as bad as we had feared. New schools were still being built, raises have returned to some districts, music educators as well as other classroom teachers are still being hired, contests are still being administered, and school trips are still being planned.

Was it the fear behind the change that had so many of us distraught? Maybe we should all look at the word change with a slightly different perspective. Maybe the changes that occurred are more positive than negative. For me, I learned how to keep a closer watch on my school spending. I found ways to hire clinicians through sponsorships by music stores. Symphony members were willing

Maybe we should all look at the word change with a slightly different perspective.

32 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

to help me out through their community service hours (I never knew they existed).

My booster organization got more involved with fundraisers and fundraising ideas. We became closer as a community. Colleagues on my campus seemed in general to be more cooperative with each other knowing positions were cut.

The word change raises questions we cannot overlook. How do we accept change as individuals and educators? Do we fight change or embrace it? This year, instead of being part of the problem, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strive to be the ones who find the solutions.

2013 TMEA Clinic/Convention Update I am pleased to announce that Kathleen DeBerry Brungard will be the Orchestra Division Featured Clinician. When you plan your time at the convention, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll want to be sure to attend her clinics.

Kathleen DeBerry Brungard Featured Clinician DeBerry Brungard holds degrees in music education from Wesleyan College and Northwestern University. She has completed doctoral coursework in

Southwestern Musician | September 2012 33

Honor Orchestra Finalists & Winners

educational administration at Arizona State University and the University of North Texas. She has taught orchestra, strings, and band grades 1–12 in the public schools of Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, California, and Texas. Many of her elementary and secondary orchestras have performed for numerous regional, state, and national music educator conventions, including the Midwest Clinic and MENC. As a high school orchestra director, her string orchestra performed as TMEA Honor String Orchestra.

DeBerry Brungard has been involved in curriculum development for the gifted and talented and has also written curriculum guides for strings at all levels of instruction. She is lead author of Orchestra Expressions, published by Alfred Publishing Co. and Expressive Techniques for Orchestra published by Tempo Press.

DeBerry Brungard also contributed to the GIA publication Teaching Music Through Performance. She presents string education seminars throughout the U.S. As an active member of NAfME, ASTA, NSOA, and TMEA, DeBerry Brungard has served in numerous capacities at the national, regional, and state levels of these organizations. She is an active clinician, conductor, and adjudicator throughout the U.S. and abroad. She has conducted all-state orchestras in more than a dozen states, including the Texas All-State String Orchestra.

2012–2013 Honor Orchestras Congratulations go to all of the participants in this year’s Honor Orchestra competition! The finalists were chosen this past June in Odessa and our Honor Orchestras were named on July 23 in San Antonio. A special thanks go to Melissa 34 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

High School Full

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6

School/ISD ........................................................................................ Directors Clear Lake HS/Clear Creek ...............................Bryan Buffaloe and Kevin Black Creekview HS/Carrollton-Farmers Branch ................................... Julie Blackstock Westwood HS/Round Rock ...........................................................Susan Williams Berkner HS/Richardson ............................................................... Craig Needham Johnson HS/North East...................................................................Karen George The Colony HS/Lewisville.................................................................Louis Ghent

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6

School/ISD ........................................................................................ Directors Fowler MS/Frisco ....................................... Karina Lindsey and David Dunham Kealing MS/Austin ............................................................................David Jarrott Doerre IS/Klein ...............................................................................Dawn Multop West Ridge MS/Eanes ............................................................Elizabeth Compton McMeans JH/Katy......................................................................... Amy Williams Robinson MS/Plano ..................................................................Mary Havenstrite

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

School/ISD ........................................................................................ Directors Canyon Vista MS/Round Rock ............................................... Elizabeth Frederick McMeans JH/Katy......................................................................... Amy Williams Robinson MS/Plano ..................................................................Mary Havenstrite Doerre IS/Klein ...............................................................................Dawn Multop Johnston MS/Houston .......................................................................... Jose Rocha Beckendorff JH/Katy ...................................................................Matthew Porter Ereckson MS/Allen .......................................................................Angie Cimbalo Fowler MS/Frisco .......................................................................... Karina Lindsey

Middle School/Junior High Full

Middle School/Junior High String

The High School String Honor Orchestra finalists and winners will be included in the January issue.

Livings and Todd Berridge for their assistance during this competition at the TODA convention.

New Listening Procedure for Violins at Area Contest This summer a special committee made up of Bryan Buffaloe, David McCutchan, Michael Stringer, Jeff Turner, and Frank Coachman met to discuss the Area listening/judging process.

The procedure that has been used the last five years did not allow for each judge to hear every student entered on a particular instrument in Round 1. The new method will allow every judge in Round 1 to hear every student.

This year a three-panel audition process will be used for Violins for both Round One and Round Two. Each panel will hear all contestants using a sampling of an excerpt(s) and/or etude(s). Similarly

timed excerpt/etude passages will be selected for each of the three panels. The first round will be designated online as the Area Round. The second round will be designated as the All-State Round. As in the past, the recording cuts for both rounds will be posted online the day before the recording date.

This new listening process was favorably received by Region Chairs during their training this summer and has been approved by the TMEA Executive Board.

Errata Please continue to look online for the posting of new erratas for both etudes and All-State excerpts. The deadline for erratas is September 1, 2012. Please email lisamccutchan1@gmail.com with any concerns and questions about the AllState Music.

*XLGLQJ 0XVLFDO &UHDWLYLW\

IN A TEST-DRIVEN CULTURE

BY SCOTT HARRIS

I

n today’s educational environment, the mere mention of the word test elicits immediate and strong reactions from teachers, administrators, parents, and students. Whether it’s the TAKS, TAAS, TEAMS, STARR, SAT, ACT, GRE, or another acronym yet to be established, the test seems to drive much of our educational programming, curriculum, and day-to-day teaching.

While creativity is a highly valued quality, in this test-driven culture many wonder if students are actually learning how to be creative. Almost all academic environments stress the importance of creative and critical thinking, and many believe music and the arts is where creativity flourishes. In fact, creativity is a required element on music education curriculum standards for NAfME, TMEA, and NASM, and music education advocates assert that the development of creativity further supports music students’ 21st-century career readiness. But does involvement in a school music program automatically foster development of individual creativity? Does singing in the tenor section, playing second clarinet, or playing viola

in orchestra for six years bring out a student’s creativity?

The traditional approach to music education has been built on the large ensemble experience—participation in band, choir, or orchestra. In these organizations, leadership, programming, conducting, and instruction generally all come from one person—the director. The director selects the music, assigns the parts, teaches each member how to perform, and conducts the performance. The director is highly creative, regularly making interpretive musical decisions in addition to finding unique solutions to endless programming, logistical, and personnel issues. In this model, are the students also being individually creative? I’m not so sure.

Music curriculums also have their share of tests. While we don’t administer

written exams in the traditional academic sense, we do have chair placement, allregion auditions, solo and ensemble, concerts, and contests. These are our tests, and I believe that they not only drive our curriculums, but, depending on our approach to them, can suppress our students’ creative development.

Having said that, I also believe these activities are essential ingredients in a successful music program, and I am not arguing against them. I believe we can work within this test-driven culture to ensure our students are developing individual skills in creative thinking. Creative thinking can and should be directly incorporated into everything we do and teach.

Teachers must take the lead and value this as an essential part of music-making. We must passionately inspire and guide our

Does involvement in a school music program automatically foster development of individual creativity?

Southwestern Musician | September 2012 35

students toward creative thinking and ultimately better musicianship!

THREE KEYS TO GUIDING CREATIVITY In considering how we can support our students in their individual creative development, consider the following: 1. Provide the tools. Just as an author can’t write a novel without a mastery of language, before they can develop musical creativity, students must first learn how the instrument works and about tone quality, technique, and notation—the basics of musicianship.

2. Provide the time. Time is our most important commodity and our greatest investment. If you truly believe something is important, find the time to cultivate it! As music teachers we require rehearsals, private lessons, and daily practice. In each of those settings, we should allow for (or even require) time for creative pursuits (5–10 minutes is sufficient).

Rehearsals: Admittedly, developing individual creativity in a large or chamber

36 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

ensemble setting is difficult. Sometimes part of the challenge is being creative in your role as the director and finding new and unique ways to engage your students.

Consider these examples: Follow the leader. Ask a student to the podium and play a game of follow the leader. The leader identifies the first note, then plays whatever they want—a scale, arpeggio, rhythm, melodic phrase, etc. The ensemble then plays it back.

Freeform creative music-making. Ask a small group of students (chamber ensemble) to create spontaneous music within a specific time period.

Encourage students to listen to each other and play off of each other’s ideas. Recording, listening to, and discussing the results can be beneficial steps to the process.

Musical analysis. Involve students in musical decisions such as the style and shaping of a phrase or line.

Discuss, compare, and share opinions about why one approach might be

preferable over another.

Private lessons: This time offers the best opportunity to guide students in creative music-making. Engage in calland-response activities, active listening (to each other or recordings), detailed analysis and critique, and most importantly having fun! Leading and learning by example will always trump textbooks and test scores. Teach your students to ask questions. Great teaching isn’t giving students the right answers. Great teaching is empowering your students to ask the right questions!

Personal practice: As students plan their daily practice (warm-ups, technique exercises, solos and etudes, ensemble music, and sightreading), encourage them to include free time—time to relax, explore, be adventurous, and enjoy the instrument without rules. This might include playing with a favorite recording, reproducing and elaborating on familiar tunes, experimenting with nontraditional sounds and techniques, or improvising.

What is important is that the student is encouraged to do whatever they want for

that part of their personal practice time. If students do only what is required of them they will never appreciate true creativity.

3. Get out of the way! This is perhaps the hardest thing to do, but students must discover their own creative insights and abilities. As teachers, we can guide and encourage our students, but we must never do it for them. They may be wrong (or at least our definition of wrong), but at times being wrong can actually inspire the most imaginative of new ideas! Being wrong can sometimes be okay!

So, how can we incorporate creativity into the test preparation we already do? The following are some examples of activities and exercises I utilize that encourage creative thinking. While I am a percussionist, and these exercises were all developed within a percussion context, I believe they can be applied to any studio or ensemble environment with just a little imaginative creativity!

FUNDAMENTALS Most young students find practicing fundamentals (scales, arpeggios, rudiments, and other exercises) to be a tedious, uninteresting process with little shortterm musical gratification; however, with a little imagination you can make fundamental practice less tedious and much more productiveâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;possibly even fun! For any given exercise ask students to figure out on their own how they can alter, add, vary, or change the following:

The more creative you are as an instructor, the more memorable the exercises will be and the more influential the experience becomes for your students. using different rhythmic groupings (as heard against the click). For instance, instead of 8th notes over the beat, play the exercise with triplet groupings or in groups of five. Again, your hands are playing the same exercise but you are feeling it, and ultimately understanding it, at a different and much higher level; Â&#x2021; SHUVRQQHO SOD\ ZLWK RWKHU SHRSOH DQG with different instruments. Combine some of the above alterations asking some students to play one way and others another. This type of group practice can then lead directly into chamber freeform music-making.

The possibilities are endlessâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important is that teachers give students the spark to be creative on their own!

ALL-REGION/SOLO MUSIC Solo study in the fall tends to be dominated by practicing the current All-Region music. There are many ways to continue working on the etudes while still cultivating creative thinking. Here are a few: Â&#x2021; /HDUQ WKH HWXGHV ZLWK RWKHU VWXGHQWV work together on technique, interpretation, and musical expression.

Play for each other and critique each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work. Â&#x2021; +DYH VWXGHQWV RQ RWKHU LQVWUXPHQWV play your etudes. For instance, a flute playerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interpretation of a mallet or vocal work, while different, will greatly expand the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; palette of expressive ideas. Â&#x2021; 7XUQ WKH HWXGH LQWR D GXHW RU WULR (with like or unlike instruments).

Â&#x2021; G\QDPLFV LQFOXGLQJ FUHVFHQGRV DQG diminuendos; Â&#x2021; UDQJH XVH WKH IXOO UDQJH RI WKH instrument as appropriate and possible; Â&#x2021; DFFHQWV DUWLFXODWLRQV RQ GLIIHUHQW notes/beats or sections/note groupings of the exercise; Â&#x2021; SRLQWV RI WHQVLRQ DQG UHOHDVH ZLWKLQ D phrase; Â&#x2021; PHWURQRPH EHDW VHW WKH FOLFN RQ WKH beat (as usual), on the upbeat, or on the second or fourth 16th note. You are physically playing the exact same exercise but you are hearing and feeling the musical passage differently; Â&#x2021; PHWURQRPH EHDW ,, VHW WKH FOLFN RQ the beat, but play the same exercise Southwestern Musician | September 2012 37

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Add different ranges, tone colors, rhythmic percussion, a bass line, and/or harmony. In addition, two (or more) students playing the same etude can turn it into a chamber work, trading phrases, expressive ideas, and working together to present the piece in a fresh performance.

This may take some dedicated time and effort, but the results can be incredibly interesting and can greatly enhance the students’ understanding of the etude and the music.

Other creative activities to engage student musicians: :HHNO\ PXVLFDO PRWLYH Post a short rhythm or melodic phrase each week in your rehearsal room and instruct your students to use it as a starting point for creating music (on paper, live improvisation, or with other people).

5ROH SOD\LQJ Study how professionals, teachers, or other students play the instrument or specific etude or solo. Then try to imitate how they

play. The Internet offers great video resources for assignments in studying how other people perform.

-XPS VWDUW LPSURYLVDWLRQ With a small ensemble, and using simple tunes or pieces of music, take turns improvising. Folk tunes, Christmas carols, patriotic songs, and elementary-aged music work great! Much of this music uses simple harmonies and chord progressions, strong tonic/ dominant relationships, and chord symbols (like in jazz or on a lead sheet). In addition to developing improvisation skills you can discuss practical applications of music theory and aural skills.

JUST PLAY! At the heart of any musician is the enjoyment of playing—not necessarily performing or practicing, but playing.

Encourage students to spend 15 minutes daily playing with no music, no tune, no exercises, and no direction. Have them explore their instrument to discover what it can do. While this isn’t improvisation in

the academic sense, there is certainly creative value in simply trying new things, having fun, and expanding one’s understanding of one’s instrument and personal voice in creative music-making.

The possibilities for musical creativity are endless. The more creative you are as an instructor, the more memorable the exercises will be and the more influential the experience becomes for your students. Teaching to the test is only part of the equation—it’s a small part of a much larger learning process. We have the unique opportunity to engage students long-term in instrument-specific, innovative, intelligent, and creative activities that will prepare them for a broad and diverse musical future.

Scott Harris is the Interim Director of the School of Music and Associate Professor of Percussion at Stephen F. Austin State University. He currently is the Associate Editor of Education for Percussive Notes magazine and has given clinics and performances throughout Texas and the United States.

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Southwestern Musician | September 2012 39

VOCAL NOTES IN MEMORIAM JOAN DAVIS January 22, 1951– July 12, 2012 K ENNETH STEELE March 1, 1945–July 21, 2012

IMPORTANT DATES September—Renew your TMEA membership and preregister for the 2013 convention.

October 2—Convention housing opens.

November 15—TMEA scholarship application deadline.

December 31—TMEA convention mail/fax preregistration deadline.

-DQXDU\ ³TMEA convention online preregistration deadline.

February 13–16, 2013—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

+RZ GR \RX GHÀQH success?

B Y

J A N W I N

O V E R S T R E E T - G O O D E

H

ow do you define success in your choral program?

What are your intentions for your choir? Do you set goals for your groups, for individual students, for the entire program? What do those goals include? As we begin planning for the new school year, this is a perfect time to reexamine our definition of success and, perhaps, develop a plan to publicize that success to administrators and to the community.

We are all tempted to view success as a numerical outcome within a competitive context. Do you define your success mainly by the number of students who make an All-Region or All-State Choir? Is your success defined by superior ratings at Solo and Ensemble Contest or earning Sweepstakes trophies at Concert and Sightreading Contest? Or do you define success by non-competitive statistics such as program growth, audience attendance, and community appreciation and participation? What about the impact of performance preparation and the actual performance, both on the audience and the performers? Is there success to be found in that?

Have you considered removing numbers completely from your assessment of success? Do you recognize, acknowledge, and take satisfaction when you transform your students into intelligent consumers of music, when you teach them to sing in tune or to be better sightreaders, or when you guide them to develop a quality vocal tone that will last a lifetime? Do you enjoy a sense of gratification and fulfillment when former students tell you they have continued to sing beyond their secondary school choir experience or when one of them decides to enter the music education profession? When performers and audience members alike are moved by a performance, do you consider that a success?

Too often, we find ourselves competing for recognition, funding, and respect from our school administrators, who also become caught up in the numbers game.

In some cases, administrators expect an equal level of success (i.e., numbers)

Think now about what you can do to help support your success throughout the coming school year.

40 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS

AUDITIONS AUSTIN, TX

November 17, 2012 January 19, 2013 January 26, 2013 February 2, 2013 February 16, 2013 February 23, 2013

Listening The World is

m u s i c . u t e x a s . e d u

director came on board.

Promote your choir at every opportunity. Use interdistrict email and community newspapers to keep your program in the forefront of the news. Publicize concerts and programs. Offer complimentary tickets to administrators and teachers in your building. Get pictures in the newspapers and on webpages as often as possible; a student or parent could be in charge of publicity for the program to relieve you of that extra duty. Take advantage of any opportunity to advance your choir’s profile and put a positive spin on the choir’s success, whatever form that may take.

The dictionary defines success as achievement of intention, and, something that turns out well. How do you define success; how could you define success; and how should you define success? Find those achievements, accomplishments, and points of pride, and celebrate your program’s success.

J O I N U S F O R T H E 6TH A N N U A L

Texas Lutheran University

SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Youth Choir Festival Choir directors and their treble singers (grades 4–12) are invited to a clinic with internationally recognized choral director and composer

Bob Chilcott Saturday, January 26, 2013 9:30 a.m.– 5 p.m. | Jackson Auditorium

For more information or to register, visit www.tlumtscma.com, or contact Laurie Jenschke at ljenschke@tlu.edu.

1000 W. Court Street | Seguin, Texas 78155 42 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

some of the finest vocal educators across our state and nation, so don’t wait to make plans to attend—the professional development opportunities you will experience will be incredible! We are especially excited to have Judy Bowers present sessions as our 2013 Vocal Division Featured Clinician.

2013 TMEA Clinic/Convention Update The 2013 TMEA Clinic/Convention will feature 22 clinics specifically targeted for Vocal Division members over the four-day event. Our clinics will be led by

PHOTO CREDIT: JOHN BELLARS

from all fine arts organizations on their campus even when the circumstances differ for each group. It is often a difficult job to adequately explain these differences to administrators and parents if they are only counting the numbers. And the impact of these differences can be quite significant.

For your own peace of mind and longevity in the profession, you should promote non-numerical successes as often as possible. In the end, they are much more important than the numbers. But to offer satisfaction to the number counters around you, look for ways you can put a positive spin on the numbers you have.

If you had one student make All-Region last year and two make it this year, publicize that as “a 100% increase in AllRegion membership in one year.” If you have 60 in your school choir and 35 attend solo and ensemble contest, publicize that “almost 60% of the choir performed at solo and ensemble contest this year.”

Use the numbers you have to your advantage: 50% of the auditioning students advanced to the next round; the choir showed a 25% increase in participation from last year; the choir program has grown by 200% since the current choir

Judy Bowers Featured Clinician Judy Bowers, Professor of Choral Music Education at Florida State University, holds music degrees from Louisiana State University (Ph.D.) and Texas Tech University (B.M.E.). She is an active choral clinician, frequently invited to conduct All-State groups and present clinics for teachers around the country.

Her research interests include learning partnerships, developmental choral groups, the adolescent voice change, and at-risk music students.

Bowers was awarded a University Citation for Excellence in Teaching at FSU where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in choral music and music education. She also conducts the Women’s Glee Club. Bowers created the Adopt-a-Choir program in Leon County, a community service partnership with the public schools. She also recently collaborated with an inner-city middle school to provide additional music ensembles, thereby expanding the middle school program and enriching the teacher preparation experiences for FSU students.

University of North Texas

College of Music

Auditions Regional Auditions (live percussion auditions offered on campus only)

Saturday, January 19, 2013 (Chicago) Saturday, January 19, 2013 (Los Angeles)

University of North Texas Campus Saturday, January 26, 2013 Friday, February 1, 2013 (Graduate Percussion, Piano, Voice, and String Auditions ONLY)

Saturday, February 2, 2013 Saturday, February 23, 2013

Mentoring Can Make the Difference The TMEA Mentoring Network can help new teachers:

by Robert Floyd

A

t its June meeting the Executive Board made a commitment to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of the TMEA Mentoring Program to serve new and inexperienced teachers across the state. For years we have known that up to 50% of educators across the curriculum drop out of the profession in their first five years of teaching.

Recent statistics I have read have pushed that percentage as high as 80% in some states.

All of us who have taught throughout our professional careers remember how in those early days and years we would become discouraged, frustrated, and exhausted. As a young band director I was fortunate to be surrounded by incredible music educators and mentors to guide me, yet many days I went home wondering if teaching was the appropriate career for me. Thankfully, I survived and went on to spend 26 amazing years in the classroom.

I must give credit to the veteran teachers who guided me during those tumultuous first five years. That support ranged from the specific, such as how to teach a particular rhythm, to the general of simply assuring me it was okay to have a bad day.

So how do we ensure that more young teachers have the opportunity to be successful in our profession? Certainly the efforts of TMEA and the Foundation for Music Education (through the Music Education Mentoring Network) have produced numerous success stories, but we must do more. One of the frustrations experienced over the years has been identifying those teachers who need help. Many young teachers are too proud to ask for assistance; others simply never know about the program and thus never went online to www.tmea.org to register. Still others do not recognize the roller coaster ride they are about to experience and are not cognizant of the need for mentoring.

So our first priority is to expand the ways in which we can identify these new teachers. From a new solicitation process at the 44 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

IRFXV RQ SURIHVVLRQDO GHYHORSPHQW UHPDLQ DFWLYH PXVLF HGXFDWRUV WKURXJK successful induction H[SHULHQFH UHGXFHG VWUHVV WKURXJK collaboration with other music educators EHQHILW IURP WKH KLJKO\ YDOXHG H[SHUWLVH and modeling of veteran teachers recent Region meetings, to closer networking with universities helping us identify their recent graduates, to asking you to simply call Kay Vanlandingham in the TMEA office with the name of a young teacher in your district or part of the state, we all must play a more significant role in reaching those who are new to our profession.

Secondly, we are in the process of updating our database of protégés and mentors. As a TMEA member, you may sign up for either online, and if you have already volunteered to serve as a mentor, you will receive an email confirming your continued interest to serve in that capacity. We are looking for mentors who are nurturing and willing to share their knowledge and experience with others, as well as protégés who are receptive to the input of a veteran teacher and willing to take advantage of their knowledge base.

Other strategies the Executive Board and staff are exploring relate to how the mentor and protégé can effectively communicate, pairing of protégés in small groups or cohorts, developing mentors in teams of two, periodically evaluating the process, keeping administrators apprised of young teacher participation in their campus or district, hosting an online discussion board, sending appropriate materials from the TMEA office on a regular basis, and having both state and area coordinators by division, to name a few.

Finally, we welcome your ideas and contributions about how we can take the TMEA Mentoring Network to a new level. In addition to the Executive Board’s decision to invest resources and time in improving this member service, the Summer Dialogue III attendees also discussed its merits and importance during their July meeting. There is no better way to serve our members and ultimately our students than through such a program. We look forward to hearing from you.

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ELEMENTARY NOTES IMPORTANT DATES September—Renew your TMEA membership and preregister for the 2013 convention.

October 2—Convention housing opens.

November 15—TMEA scholarship application deadline.

December 31—TMEA convention mail/fax preregistration deadline.

-DQXDU\ ³TMEA convention online preregistration deadline.

February 13–16, 2013—TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

2Q \RXU PDUN JHW VHW JR B Y

M I C H E L E

H O B I Z A L

W

elcome to the 2012–2013 school year!

Hopefully everything is set and ready to go.

Whether you are a new or veteran teacher, the beginning of a new school year is always exciting. It’s also a time to renew your commitment to be at your best. The following are some tips to help you on your way to success and to a stress-free environment: 1. Be organized. Many of you know this has always been my challenge. My students are accustomed to my forgetting where I put my recorder, books, glasses, etc. I have dedicated some serious thought into where everything should go in my music room and, most importantly, whether those places make sense so that I will remember the next time. I posted a picture of my music room in Edmodo. Check it out and give me your thoughts (and see page 50 for more information on Edmodo).

2. Find ways to get to know your students’ names. Hopefully you’re like my former teaching partner and have a mind like a steel trap. The rest of us, however, can use all the help we can get. Arm yourself with several welcome-backto-school songs that incorporate the students’ names. My favorite for first grade is “Willoughby Walloughby” (in the kindergarten Spotlight on Music textbook). I tried using it with kindergarten but had several cry when they thought everyone was making fun of their names. “Hey Hey” and “Hickety Tickety” are two more fun songs that include students’ names. I also include their student ID pictures in my seating charts. This not only helps me but is a huge help to a substitute teacher, especially in the event there is a child with health issues.

You are the one teacher who can tie everything together in a fun way. Enjoy the beginning of the new school year!

48 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

3. Dive into your lesson plans. Make sure you have thought through exactly what your objectives and curriculum are for each grade level. Your song choices and activities are very important. A great fifth-grade song to start the year is “Good Morning” by Randy DeLelles (from GamePlan 5 by DeLelles and Kriske).

4. Get a mentor or be a mentor. If you are a new teacher in a big school district your fine arts administrator will probably have a mentor lined up for you. You can also sign up for a mentor through TMEA. It doesn’t matter if you are a new or veteran teacher— sign up to either have a mentor or be a mentor. Helping each other with new ideas and different ways of doing things is always an advantage.

Think about what you want to accomplish this year for each grade level. You are the one teacher who can tie everything together in a fun way. Enjoy the beginning of the new school year! On your mark . . . get set . . . go!

What Does TMEA Have to Offer Me? One answer is the 2013 TMEA Clinic/ Convention in February—you simply must attend as it’s going to be the best yet!

Check out the video you can present to your principal if you need help demonstrating the importance of attending the convention. Here are the steps to follow:

Clinicians, Randy DeLelles, Jeff Kriske, and Georgia Newlin.

1. Go to www.tmea.org/convention.

2. Find the Convention Promotions section.

3. Click on World of Music video.

As you’ll see in the Convention Promotions section, there are other relevant promotional materials as well.

Review them all to help you determine what might best help you make your case to attend.

2013 TMEA Clinic/Convention Update I hope you’re making plans now to attend the 2013 Clinic/Convention—it is going to be fantastic! The clinic sessions are diverse and dynamic, and you are sure to walk away with loads of ideas, songs, and activities. Get ready to be inspired and educated by our Elementary Featured

Randy DeLelles Randy DeLelles and Jeff Kriske Featured Clinicians Randy DeLelles taught elementary music for the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada, for 25 years, and Jeff Kriske recently retired as director of music activities at The Meadows

in Music Education

FACULTY Christopher Azzara, chair John Fetter Donna Brink Fox Richard Grunow Philip Silvey Ann Marie Stanley

Q Study with resident artist faculty Q Perform in premier ensembles Q Experience contemporary approaches to music teaching and learning Q Share your passion esm.rochester.edu/apply

Southwestern Musician | September 2012 49

Jeff Kriske School in Las Vegas. Both are active workshop presenters throughout the U.S. and Canada.

DeLelles and Kriske have made contributions to the McGraw-Hill, Silver Burdett, and Warner Brothers textbook series. They have coauthored 13 publications and recently completed work on Gameplan: An Active Music Curriculum for Children (kindergarten through grade five).

and middle school choral festivals. She is a faculty member of the Summer Kodály Institute at Indiana University as well as the Kodály Workshop at James Madison University and is on the faculty at the Vocal Arts Camp in Harrisonburg, Va. Newlin is a Past-President of the Organization of American Kodály Educators and is a member of the VoiceCare Network. She has been a presenter for numerous music associations and conferences at local, state, and national levels. She has had articles and choral octavo reviews published in the Choral Journal and the Kodály Envoy.

Newlin holds a doctor of musical arts in pedagogy from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford, a master of music in music education with Kodály emphasis from Holy Names College, and a bachelor of science in music education from West Chester University.

Fine Arts TEKS First Drafts The Fine Arts TEKS Review Committees have been working very hard to update the existing Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Now it is your turn to tell us what you think. Go to www.tmea.org/smlink/TEKSdraft to see the first drafts of the Music TEKS revisions and offer your feedback online, or

email me your feedback at sallymhobizal @katyisd.org and I will share it with the committee. You have through Friday, September 14, 2012. These are your Music TEKS, so look closely at them and give your thoughts.

Edmodo!

Project Share was a great idea, but it was only available for some public school teachers. Edmodo is available to any and all teachers. As mentioned in the August issue, I’ve now created an Edmodo group—TMEA Elementary Music Teachers. Go to www.edmodo.com to create your free account. I will be transporting all the materials in Project Share to Edmodo with Google docs. Be looking for an email from TMEA with directions on how to join our Edmodo group, TMEA Elementary Music Teachers!

2013 Convention Helper or Volunteer If you would like to volunteer to be a presider or office helper or to work registration, go to the TMEA website and fill out the online volunteer form or simply email me at sallyhobizal@katyisd.org.

The more volunteers we have, the more of a success our 2013 TMEA Clinic/ Convention will be, so don’t wait to be part of the fun!

Remember to Renew Your Membership All TMEA 2011–2012 memberships expired June 30.

Also, if covered, liability insurance expired August 20.

Renew now to ensure you receive the benefits of your TMEA membership for the entire year.

Renew Online Today—Click Renew from Georgia Newlin Featured Clinician Georgia A. Newlin is an assistant professor of music at Adelphi University teaching music theory, music history, and fundamental keyboarding. She has taught in early childhood and public school elementary music positions for fifteen years.

Currently, Newlin is called upon as a conductor and adjudicator for elementary 50 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

www.tmea.org/membership Verify and update your email and mailing addresses. Your receipt and membership card are sent to your email address.

The TMEA membership year ended June 30. Renew now, and remind your colleagues to do the same!

WANDA L. BASS SCHOOL OF MUSIC

0 1 9 r e b m e v 9 No 8 y r a u r b e F 9 8 h c r a M TO SCHEDULE AN AUDITION:

www.okcu.edu/music ocumauditions@okcu.edu

405.208.5980

COLLEGE NOTES

Development opportunities B Y

IMPORTANT DATES Septemberâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Renew your TMEA membership and preregister for the 2013 convention.

October 2â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Convention housing opens.

October 12â&#x20AC;&#x201D;College Fall Conference in Austin.

October 15â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Call for papers.

November 15â&#x20AC;&#x201D;TMEA scholarship application deadline.

December 31â&#x20AC;&#x201D;TMEA convention mail/fax preregistration deadline.

January 19â&#x20AC;&#x201D;CTME Leadership Summit at Dallas Baptist University.

January 24â&#x20AC;&#x201D;TMEA convention online preregistration deadline.

February 13â&#x20AC;&#x201C;16, 2013â&#x20AC;&#x201D;TMEA Clinic/ Convention in San Antonio.

K E I T H

D Y E

I

think I can safely say we are now all fully re-engaged in our educational activities in the classroom, the applied studio, or the rehearsal hall. For most, life in the past few weeks has gone from perhaps the somewhat slower, more introspective pace of summer to the nonstop activity of the demands of fall.

As you get to know new freshmen, transfer, and graduate students and renew relationships with those returning, make plans now to take advantage of opportunities for professional development and renewal. Please include the following in those plans: Â&#x2021; 7KH &ROOHJH 'LYLVLRQ )DOO &RQIHUHQFH ZLOO EH DW WKH 70($ RIILFH LQ Austin on October 12. The title of the conference is â&#x20AC;&#x153;Challenges, Insights, Solutions.â&#x20AC;? It should be an informal and collegial venue allowing you to consult and share with colleagues engaged in the vast spectrum of collegiate music instruction across the state. Watch for emails detailing more specifics on this event. Â&#x2021; 7KH 7HFKQRORJ\ ,QVWLWXWH IRU 0XVLF (GXFDWRUV 7, 0( 1DWLRQDO Conference will be held in conjunction with the TMEA Clinic/ Convention in February. TI:ME will begin their offerings with a technology preconference on Wednesday, February 13, and continue with music education technology clinics through Saturday, February 16. This is a unique opportunity bringing together many of the leaders in application of new technologies in music education. Â&#x2021; )LQDOO\ DV DOZD\V SODQ WR DWWHQG WKH 70($ &OLQLF &RQYHQWLRQ February 13â&#x20AC;&#x201C;16. Our convention will be an invaluable gathering of music education activity. It is my pleasure to introduce the College Division featured clinicians for the 2013 convention: Dr. Harold Abeles and Dr. Randy Kohlenberg. I believe all College Division members will find their sessions to be particularly practical in application to our work in the classroom and

Make plans now to take advantage of opportunities for professional development and renewal.

52 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO

DEPARTMENT OF

OPPORTUNITY

EXPERIENCE EXCELLENCE

SCHOLARSHIP AUDITIONS )HEUXDU\ WK WK

086,& 87(3 ('8

Dr. Lowell E. Graham, Chair 500 W. University Ave. El Paso, TX 79968 915.747.5606

applied studio. Topics will include: effective practices in the applied studio, development of tools for accurate student evaluation of faculty and instruction, securing funding for educational projects, and pedagogical principles for online music instruction.

Harold Abeles Featured Clinician Harold Abeles, Professor of Music and Music Education, has been at Teachers College for 28 years, where he previously served as the Chair of the Arts and Humanities Department and the Director of the Division of Instruction. Before coming to Teachers College, Abeles served on the faculties of the School of Music at Indiana University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and

Oklahoma State University. He also served as a general and instrumental music teacher in Ashford, Connecticut,

and in Prince Georges County, Maryland.

He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from the University of Connecticut and his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.

Abeles has contributed numerous articles, chapters, and books to the field of music education. He is the coauthor of the Foundations of Music Education and the coeditor, with Professor Lori Custodero, of Critical Issues in Music Education: Contemporary Theory and Practice. Recent chapters by him have appeared in the Handbook of Music Psychology and the New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning. He was the founding editor of The Music Researchers Exchange, an international music research newsletter begun in 1974. He served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Society for Research in Music Education and has

Learn Boldly. Live to Inspire.

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE: Da capo Award in Music Up to full tuition per year Jones Fine Arts Award for Music Majors Up to $4,000 per year Performance Awards for Non-Majors Up to $2,000 per year Scholarship Audition Dates: Sun., Feb. 24, 2013 @ 2–4 p.m.

Sat., March 23, 2013 @ 10 a.m.– noon Sat., April 20, 2013 @ 2–4 p.m.

Texas Lutheran University Contact 1.800.771.8521 or e-mail dboyer@tlu.edu

54 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

SCHOOL OF MUSIC

For specific qualifications for each award, visit www.tlu.edu/music or scan the QR code above with your smartphone.

Bachelor of Music in All-Level Music Education Bachelor of Music in Performance Bachelor of Arts in Music

served on the editorial boards of several journals including the Journal of Research in Music Education, Psychomusicology, Dialogue in Instrumental Music Education, and Update.

His research has focused on a variety of topics, including the evaluation of community-based arts organizations, the assessment of instrumental instruction, the sex-stereotyping of music instruments, the evaluation of applied music instructors, the evaluation of ensemble directors, technology-based music instruction, and verbal communication in studio instruction.

Ensemble has performed at the International Trombone Festival and at the Eastern Trombone Workshop in Washington, D.C., on several occasions.

He presented a Carnegie Recital Hall debut concert in New York City in 1987 as a member of the Rokoko-Duette, and has performed in recital across the U.S. and Canada. An active member of the Market Street Brass Quintet at UNCG, Kohlenberg is the editor of several monumental works for trombone and author of numerous books and trombone related articles. Kohlenberg’s students have been consistent winners of teaching position searches, ensemble auditions, solo competitions, and all-state auditions.

More Opportunities 7KH FDOO IRU SUHVHQWDWLRQV DW WKH convention poster session has been issued. See below for submission details.

Randy Kohlenberg Featured Clinician Randy Kohlenberg has been on faculty at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro as trombone professor since 1985. Originally from Austin, he began his career as an instrumental music instructor in the public schools (Karnes City and Gonzales) and has taught at the University of Oklahoma and Morningside College. He holds a Ph.D. in music from the University of Oklahoma and has been recognized for his work in the field of music education as an orchestra conductor. He is also known for his role as founder and curator of the Glenn D. Bridges Archive-Library and is the Archivist of the International Trombone Association.

Kohlenberg is an Executive Board Member of the Rushmore National Music Camp and is Past-President of the North Carolina Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators.

Kohlenberg’s UNCG Trombone

9ROXQWHHUV IRU WKH FRQYHQWLRQ DUH always requested, needed, and appreciated. Whether you are interested in presiding over division sessions or helping with registration, the alwayswilling volunteer force guarantees our convention remains a world-class event. You can volunteer online by going to the College Division menu on the TMEA website.

CTME Notes Ren Robertson, Vice-President College students have geared up in the start of a new semester! For many collegiate officers, it’s a time to start thinking about a new year’s worth of events. Here are some helpful tips for starting the year right.

Continue planning for the upcoming year. It’s a good idea to communicate dates as soon as possible so that you can actively prepare your events in a timely manner. It’s also important to let officers know their yearly tasks so that they can effectively begin their work without getting bogged down with the demands of school.

Recruitment is also very important at the beginning of the year, and it is another reason to schedule meetings and events early. Advertise your meetings with gusto, and don’t forget the most reliable way of getting people to come to events is personally inviting them. It’s also important to welcome freshmen as they begin their collegiate careers. Making goodie bags to deliver to freshmen the first week of school is a good way to let new students know that your organization exists while making them feel more comfortable in the music department.

Finally, the CTME website can be a great help in your planning. Consult the resources and other information at ctmeweb.org.

Call for Papers The College Division Research Committee is pleased to announce the call for proposals for presentations at the TMEA Clinic/Convention Research Poster Session. The committee invites submissions from members in all TMEA divisions, including college students. Selected authors will present their research at an informal session in which interested music teachers can learn about the research and discuss its applications to music teaching.

Prepare an abstract of approximately 750 words that provides a concise yet thorough summary of the research, and paste it directly into the body of an email to Amy Simmons, Research Poster Session Organizer and Presider. At the top of the message, include the project title, author(s), institutional affiliations (of all), and the principal author’s email address, mailing address, and phone number.

Each selected presenter will prepare a 40" × 40" poster that describes the research and will provide abstracts for interested individuals attending the poster session during the 2013 TMEA Clinic/Convention.

Submission Deadline: October 15, 2012 Submit to: Amy L. Simmons, Ph.D., TMEA Research Committee School of Music, Texas State University DP\ VLPPRQV#W[VWDWH HGX Southwestern Musician | September 2012 55

Thank You, Scholarship Donors -XQH ² -XO\ Carol Ackerman Mark Alewine Ramon Alvarado Amy B. Anderson Mary Ann Anderson Martha S. Anthis Michael Wayne Anthony Saundra B. Ashworth Kacie Bailey Mark L. Baker Lynne R. Barnes Lisa Russell Batson Cherie Bell Cora M. Bigwood Kelly Anne Bishop Paula A. Blackmon Roderick E. Blake Juanetta Bocko Julie S. Boltz Nick Boltz Danielle McCabe Bosch James R. Brannon Sara Brannon Freda A. Breed Rebecca Briguglio Robert Brockett 5RELQ %URFNZD\ 1LFKROV Clint Brown Steven L. Bryant Elvira V. Bugerenko Bruce A. Burchard Jeane Burks David Leon Burney Robert Burnham Jaime Simon Bustillo Mary Grace Carroll Abe Castellano Melanie Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neal Cavenaugh Christopher B. Cermak Walter Chalcraft Adam Chitta Rev. Allen C. Clark Kay L. Clark Phillip Clements -RQDWKDQ &RIĂ&#x20AC;HOG Kevin Coleman Richard L. Colodney Daniel A. Colunga Denise Condie Eric Cooksey Michael Joseph Corcoran Abby Crawford Chelsea Czapla Nathan E. Dame Aaron Daniel Paula Sue Darby Lemuel Eleazar De La Cruz Ginger R. Denney Jeff Downey

Keith G. Dye Gwendolyn M. Earnhart Jeremy L. Earnhart $QQH 0DULH (QGUHV Kathy Eunice Robert Travis Fife Mark D. Frank Elizabeth B. Frederick Jacob Nikhil Garcia Laura Garcia Michael A. Garcia Richard A. Garcia Jan D. Garverick, Ph.D. (XQ 0HH *DU]D Aaron L. Gemoets Monica Marquez Gerard Dr. Kyle Robert Glaser Michelle Glasscock Susan L. Glover Greg R. Goodman Elizabeth Graves Jack Green Janette Lynn Groll Jeffrey Hall Jane Ann Hamman Shari Hammons Robert Arthur Hanlin, Jr. Mary Margaret Haraden Alan R. Harkey Carol Harlos Derek Harris Mary Catherine Harris Tina Harrison Richard Herrera David Ivins Hill Michele Hobizal Robyn D. Hollimon Matthew Holm Deborah Haley Holmes Joe F. Irwin Melissa James Terri L. Jarvis Luanne Jay Tom Jennings Deana Moore Johnson Bethany L. Jones Jedda Jones Jeffrey D. Jones Jenny L. Kelly Aaron M. Kennell Maureen Keton Timothy Klingler Matt Knight Jessica Koppe Carole Beth Krueger Jane A. Lamb Dianne Lami Anna C. Langley

56 Southwestern Musician | September 2012

Angela Leonhardt Mike W. Lipe William B. Long Melissa Frickey Lord Dr. Daniel Howard Loudenback Linda Flores Love Shannon Magee Gail M. Manago Barbara A. Manson Vivian A. Marino Jeanette E. Markee John Scott Marsrow Debbie Martin &KULVWLQH - 0DUWLQ %HXWQHU Richard Kamron Mathis Nina R. Mavrinac Tonya McKenna Christine Meischen Carolyn Jane Mena Michial Lee Meyer Dr. Eileen Meyer Russell Daisy A. Miller David William Mobley Carla Mueller Roland Muzquiz Naser Nazer Melissa G. Nealy Stephen Timothy Netsch Kathy C. Newhouse Ron Raymond Noble Veda Ojeda Heather Orr Kay W. Owens Carol Parnell Justin D. Pata Cathy Patton Lindy Perez James D. Pfeiffer Rhonda Pitts Christine Joann Pivovar Dr. Joel Plaag Judy Putney Carol L. Pyle Dan Randolph J. Reuben Reza Julie Rhodes Emily Rimmer Javier Luis Rivera Vivian Roberts Marsha Robinson Arturo Rocha, Jr. Kelley PochĂŠ Rodriguez Deirdre Rogers Phil Rumbley Veronica Salinas Laura Sambrano Emilio Sanchez

Lance Sanford Juyne Sauer Deborah A. Scharf Dr. John C. Schmidt David John Schoen Stephen Schuhmann Andrew T. Sealy Rachel Shirk Dr. Stephen Scott Shoop Angelene Shultz Paul Leon Sikes Candace Kay Sisson Angie Smith Gary Smith Russell B. Smith Travis R. Smith Wilbert Oscar Solomon, Jr. Ken Stanton Susan Stanton Ida Mae Steadman Peter M. Steinmetz David Stephenson Richard E. Sullivan Linden Swindle Mary Switzer Tonda Sykes Christina Marie Tannert Irma M. Taute Mary M. Thomason Michael Thrasher Linda G. Traue Jason S. Tucker Jen Tyler Summers Pamelia J. Urban Paul Vanderpool Karl Dean Veasey Daniel Vega Ricardo A. Vilardell Maryanne Lange Visconti Pam Childers Wade Adrienne E. Walls (QLNR :DOWHU +RZDUG Roger W. Warner Beth B. Watson John Watson Tiffany Louise Webb Joseph L. Weir Natalyn Merrill Whitis Marvin S. Wilkins Jimmie Williams II Willis Williams Frank Norman Woodruff, Jr. Della A. Woods Paula Woyton Joel Wren Hon. Jie Yang

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