Dallas part 2

The next part of my immersion was visiting where the band journey starts for students in Grade 6 to 8. These middle schools have strong ties to the high schools with directors often visiting and instrumental staff being shared. There are a lot of similarities in fundamental concepts being taught and important mentoring and supporting of students transitioning into Grade 9.

Forestwood MS had a heartening approach to ‘hump day’ with a student leadership team welcoming all the students at the entrance with applause, music and energy that helped create an atmosphere of being welcome and valued. Band directors Michael Roberts and Tamaki Ueno did an amazing job throughout the day helping all students succeed, encouraging them to solve the problem rather than just giving an answer or direction. Students move beyond just being able to do the task but also develop the language to describe what is going on. A Grade 8 student can chose the ‘student aide’ elective where they act as a support in the beginning class for the year which is particularly helpful with having another hand on deck in the large beginner sectionals.

Arbor Creek MS is another highly successful program and the band directors Kimberly Beene and Sarah Ayoub have an impressive knowledge of key fundamental concepts of tone, posture and articulation for all instrument. Lesson plans are clearly displayed on the screen and every minute of the lesson is used productively. There is also a lot of personality in the room with ‘Pinky’ the band mascot and motivational posters. The beginning clarinets and saxophones are on 2.5 Vandoren reeds which give a beautiful tone thanks to excellent breath support and embouchure reinforcement. Having a daily 45 minute class plus daily practice really helps with developing those concepts in the early stage. Having a dedicated band room helps with having a customised podium area with space for the laptop with the lesson plan and audio tracks, a tablet connected to a metronome, keyboard and resource trolley of all the bits that are handy to have at arm’s reach. Rehearsals begin with fundamentals for 15-25 minutes and changes between pieces in band rehearsals are quick with students being still and quiet and silently fingering their parts while percussion gets efficiently organised.

My final school in Dallas was Shadow Ridge MS with Ross Patterson and Adrienne Schuster. Their Honor Winds ensemble has been selected to perform at the Midwest conference next month and were preparing a program of nine works. After completing the daily drill and using the tuner on each stand, they took a moment to watch their local high school, Flowermound, perform live at the Grand National Marching Band Championship. I was impressed with how much playing was done in the 90 minute rehearsal with short, efficient instructions followed by lots of playing with a rough ratio of 1:5. I particularly liked how every piece of percussion equipment had a labelled home at the back of the bandhall and students were independent at being ready to play with the correct instruments. In the beginning classes students give regular non-verbal feedback on understanding with a thumb gauge and they are keen to volunteer to demonstrate on their instruments – so much so that it has to come down to who has the best hand raise. Working with mixed abilities in the class is supported by repetition of exercises, playing it the first time if you can (ie, have done your practice) otherwise fingering and air-playing. If students don’t get to a ‘thumbs-up’ stage in their class the expectation is that they need to do their bit at home to build competency so they whole section can sound good.