Woodwind Tech

Resource Notebook
WENDY LAFFERTY

Table of Contents
Clarinet Summary
.... pp.
35
Flute Summary

pp. 6 8
Saxophone Summary
. pp. 9
11
Method Book Comparison
. pp. 12 14
Playing Test Rubric
.. p. 15
Peer Teaching Reflection #1
.. pp. 16 18
Peer Teaching Reflection #2
.. pp. 19 20
Informance lesson Plan
. pp. 22
23

3
Using the Process
. pp.
24 25
Transpositions

p. 26
Revisiting Teaching Strategies for Woodwinds
. pp. 27 28
Basic Problems in Woodwind Teaching
pp. 29 - 30

Clarinet Summary
For beginning clarinet players, assembling the instrument can look
quite confusing at first. There are a lot of pieces, the alignment needs to be

4
correct, and doing so properlywithout bending the keysis something that
must immediately be approached in beginning clarinet lessons. I think the
first thing that should be introduced to the student is how to tell if the cork
needs grease, and how to do so properly. Making sure that the cork is always
greased will drastically decrease the likelihood that the keys will bend or get
damaged during assembly. They should be warned, though, that dousing it in
grease is not good either. They should dab a little on each cork, then use
their finger to rub it in. Getting grease on the pads is not good for them so
they should just put on what they need to make the joints slide together with
ease.
Once the instrument is togetherbefore having them playstudents
should learn about the reed and the mouthpiece. Being able to line those up
properly can really make a difference in the sound, the resistance, and the
intonation of the students playing. Once the students take the reed out of
the package, the teacher should instruct them to put it in their mouths to
wet it. Always make sure to emphasize the importance of wetting the reed
because playing on a dry reed will do nothing but add to the frustration of
learning a new instrument. Then, the instructor should describe how to put it
on the mouthpiecetelling them to put the flat side against the mouthpiece,
making sure it is centered both left and right, as well as up and down. The
next step is to slide the ligature over it and tightening the bolts. To help them
get the hang of this, the teacher can draw a diagram on the board, they can
go around and help each student individually (depending on how much time

5
they have), or they can use diagrams that are provided in the methods
books. They could even do all of the above throughout a couple of days to
cater to all types of learners.
Once the instrument is put together properly, they should be taught
how to hold it. The clarinet should be held in front of the student at about a
forty-five-degree angle. Their left hand should be on the top, with the thumb
covering the back hole, the first three fingers hovering over the holes, and
the pinky hovering over the long keys on the side. The right hand should be
on the bottom. The thumb goes underneath the thumb rest, while the rest of
the fingers are pretty identical to the left handexcept on the bottom.
Covering the holes is also something that many students might struggle
with. They should be told to keep their hands shaped like a C so that they
can use the fatty part of their fingers to cover the hole entirely. Failure to do
so will cause the note to either sound airy, or even not come out at all.
When proceeding to play their first note, the students should be taught
to bring the instrument to them, not vise versa. Emphasizing this will help
prevent posture issues down the road. Embouchure is the next step. Forming
a good embouchure is important to the clarinet. Thing such as tone,
intonation, projection, and even ease of playing, are all controlled largely
with the embouchure. When playing the clarinet, the corners of the mouth
should be tight and pulled in and down and the lips should be firm, while still
allowing the reed to vibrate properly. They should be encouraged not to bite
or clamp down on the reed, and minimal jaw movement is ideal. Having the

6
students just practice putting the instrument in and out of their mouths and
forming an embouchure is something that I think would really help them
learn what it feels like.
When finished playing, the instructor should teach the students
how to put the instrument away so that it is safely in its case. Swabbing is
very important to a clarinet player because failing to do so will ultimately
result in damage to the instrument. They should be taught how each joint fits
into the case and how they should twist to get the instrument apart without
damaging the keys. Handling the instrument with care should always be
emphasized. If students are taught this from day one, bad habits are much
less likely to be formed, and instruments are less likely to get damaged.
These are skills that these students will use for the rest of their playing
careers.

Article for reference:

http://www.clarinetcloset.com/tipsforbeginners.html

Flute Summary
The first thing we learned about the flute in class was how to properly
assemble and disassemble the instrument. We were first told to put our
cases on the floor, making sure that the latches were faced so that they
would latch upward. Doing this made sure that we would not open the
instruments upside downwhich could possibly cause significant and
preventable damage. When we opened our cases, our first instruction was to
grab the middle joint by the edge, not by the keys. When putting the
instrument together, students should immediately be taught to make as little
contact with the keys as possible, because pushing or manipulating the keys
in the wrong way can do immense damage to the instrument. Once we had
the middle joint in our hands, our next task was to attach the head joint to it.
If the head joint did not slide on smoothly, the instructor should tell the
students to wipe it off with the cleaning cloth. The residue on the instrument
could very well be preventing it from sliding with ease. The head joint should

8
not be pushed all the way in because this is the main point which affects the
tuning of the instrument. Pushing it in too much would cause the instrument
to play sharp, but having it pulled out too much would cause it to be flat. The
students will learn where they should pull out through time, listening, and
attention to their instrument and its tendencies. The next step was to grab
the foot joint in the same way they did the other jointsby the edges, and
avoiding direct pressure on the keys. The end of the tubing should be lined
up in the middle of the last key of the middle joint. This is a good way to get
the students used to how to properly align their instruments.
The next thing we discussed in class was hand position, posture, and
how to bring the flute to our mouths. Students should make sure that they
are sitting straight and tall at all times so that they can produce a good, solid
tone. Sitting on the edge of the chair, keeping the head up, keeping feet flat
on the floor, and making sure that the arms are not drooping downward are
all very important factors to making a good sound on the flute. Because of its
shape, the students should also make sure that they are angled slightly to
the right so that they do not hit anyone else in the ensemble. The flutes
sideways design causes ensemble playing to require some adjustments to
prevent either injuring someone else, hurting their instrument, or
interrupting the music.
Taking care of the instrument was something that is a very important
thing to teach beginning instrumentalists. students must be taught how to
properly dry out their flutes. Failing to do so can do significant damage to the

9
pads of the instrument, and make playing much more difficult and less
successful for beginning players. All the students should have a rod and a
cloth to dry their instruments with. To dry the flute, the students should fold
the cloth in half and put through the hole in the rod. The next step is to wrap
the cloth tightly around the rod so that there is no plastic showing. The
students need to make sure that they are holding the other end of the cloth
so that it does not bunch up and get stuck in the instrument. This can do
significant damage. After these steps are taken, the student can run the rod
through the instrument, making sure that they get out as much moisture as
they canespecially in the head joint. Once the students are finished this,
the instructor should talk to them about the importance of disassembling the
instrument in a way which will not damage it. The focus in doing this is the
exact same as putting it togetherjust in reverse. The instructors should still
stress that minimal contact with the keys is ideal, that they should always try
to be as gentle as they can be, and that it should be stored safely in its case
when finished. The instructor needs to always emphasize the importance of
these steps because failing to do so will cause the students to slip into bad
habits, or lazy tendenciesultimately causing them to spend more money,
become overly frustrated, or settle for less than their potential.

Article for reference:

http://www.zacharymusic.com/Zachary_Music/FLcarePics.htm

10

Saxophone Summary
During class, the first thing we discussed about the saxophone was
reed care and proper assembly of the instrument. We were instructed to
place the reed in our mouths to wet it because playing on a dry reed will not

11
only cause the sound to be harsher and more resistant, but it could also be
damaging to the reed. The next step was to put the mouthpiece on the neck
so that putting the reed on the mouthpiece would be easier. The mouthpiece
goes on loosely first so that the reed is not damaged during the assembly
process, then the reed should be properly aligned on the mouthpiece. Once
all these steps are complete, the screws should be screwed just tight enough
to securely hold the reed in place. The screws should not be screwed as tight
as they can go. Then the students put the neck on the instrument, tighten
the screws so that the neck does not swing around, and then put their neck
strap on so that they are ready to play
Posture when playing the saxophone is quite important; however, it
can vary from person to person. The students should always be told to sit up
very straight and tall and to bring the instrument to them. Teachers should
make sure that students have their neck strap at an appropriate tightness for
them. The instrument needs to come to them. Students should never be
hunching over to reach their saxophone. This will lead to bad habits down
the road, and will ultimately make the instrument much harder for the
student.
Holding the instrument, though, can be done in a couple different ways. One
way to hold the saxophone is to bring the mouthpiece to your mouth with the
body resting in between your legs. The student could also hold the
instrument at their sidewhich is the most typical way students are taught

12
in the beginning. Both ways are acceptable, as long as their overall posture
remains proper.
Embouchure was the next thing we discussed when we were learning
the saxophone in class. To form a saxophone embouchure, the students
should be taught to create an oh shape with their mouth, and then put the
mouthpiece into their mouthstrying to keep the mouth in that shape and
then tightening the corners. The bottom lip should roll over the bottom teeth,
acting like a cushion between the reed and the teeth. When teaching,
teachers should be extra aware of how the students are putting pressure on
the reed. The firmness should come from the corners of the mouthnot from
the jaw or from biting the reed. If the instructor notices that the student has
trouble getting notes to speak or if the student is getting a very pinched,
weak sound, it is likely that the student is biting. Have them think more down
and in with the corners of their mouth, rather than clamping. Making these
adjustments will do wonders for the sound that the student is able to make.
Articulation on the is another very important thing that must be
addressed to beginning saxophone players. To start the note, the student
should start with the tongue on the reed with pressure behind it. Then when
they want the note to speak, they simply release the tongue. Doing this will
avoid honky or harsh articulation sounds and will help with both fast, clear,
and consistent articulations. Another thing that will help the sound and
attack of the player is the air flow. As with any wind instrument, the kind of
breath support that the player has will greatly affect the quality of sound that

13
they will be able to produce. Unlike the clarinetwhich is also a single reed
the saxophone uses warm air to produce its tone. Keeping the breath strong
and supported will make playing much easier and clearer for the player.
Beginning woodwind teachers must remember that it is the little
details like this that make people excel on their instruments. If the instructor
fails to address the issues above, the student is much more likely to develop
bad habits and become discouraged and disengagedwhich is the opposite
of what should happen. Teaching beginning players is something that
requires deep focus, attention to detail, and patience, and perseverance
from both the students and the instructorand when approached effectively
and efficiently, can truly make all the difference in how well the student
plays later in their musical careers.

Article for reference:

http://hubpages.com/technology/beginningsax

14

Method Book Comparison

The first few pages of beginning methods books are very useful
references for beginning students. Often times, this is the only place outside
of class that students go to for examples, pictures, and tips for what to do
when practicing at home. The books, Essential Elements 2000, Tradition of
Excellence, and Accent on Achievement, all offer at least some great basic
information on posture, forming an embouchure, and how to produce a good
tonewhich is all great and completely relevant information for beginning
players. All this information, however, if not presented in an easy-to-follow,
and visually appealing manner can do nothing for beginning students. Quite
often, these individuals are already feeling overwhelmed with learning an
new instrument so as an educator, providing them with a good, reliable
resource to answer their questions is crucial to some of their musical
progress.

15
The book that I thought had the least amount and worst quality of
information between these books was Essential Elements 2000. Even though
this book did give basic information on posture, breathing techniques, tone
production, and instrument care, its presentation was simply not there. There
were no visual examples or diagrams for the student to reference, there was
no color at all, and there was really not a lot of detail. The information was
organized in a subtitle-bullet-point format, which does not allow for much
elaboration at all. The very first page of this book, though, was great. When
opening the book, the very first thing that the student would see was the
history and background on their instrument. I thought this was really great,
because even though it is a method book intended for helping the student
learn to play the instrument, knowing its history and cultural relevance is
also a huge part of being completely proficient at anything. This is definitely
something that the instructor should draw attention to when introducing the
book to the students as well. The book also provided pretty good information
on how to assemble the instrument. And, along with this, it provided a
diagram of not only how each piece fit together, but also what each part of
the instrument is called. This is a great way for students to be able to look at
their own instruments and compare them to the one correctly put together in
the picture to make sure that they put it together correctly.
The Accent on Achievement book was a little better than the Essential
Elements when comparing the first couple pages. There was more color, the
information was accompanied by good diagrams for reference, and it even

16
gave the students tips for good practicing. It is really difficult for students to
just read instructions on how to do something properly on an instrument so
the visual pictures that are provided by this book are extremely useful for a
beginning instrumentalist. This book also talks about good playing position
unlike the one mentioned previously. It shows an example of a young girl
playing the flute while implementing proper posture, and hand position.
Right beside this picture, the book offers specific bullet points describing
what the girl is doing correctly in the picture. The students can use this as a
guide and constant reminder of things that they should be thinking about
when playing their instrument. The book, Accent on Achievement also takes
a whole page to introduce basic music reading conceptsones that are
specific to the instrument that they are playing. For example, the flute book
provides information on how to read treble clef, whereas a tuba method book
would provide information on bass clef. This book, overall, I thought was very
helpfulmuch more so than the Essential Elements Book.
I thought of the three, the best book was the Tradition of Excellence
method book. I loved the fact that this book was so detailed and specific
not only with their information, but also with their pictures. It went step by
step on assembly, posture and hand position, embouchure, tone, and
instrument care and maintenance. The pictures provided with these tips not
only showed examples of people implementing them, but also zoomed in on
specific parts of the instrument or hand that required special attention from
the player. Another great thing about this book that was not included in the

17
other books was the fingering chart on the front cover of the book. Though
all of the books had them, for the student to be able to have that resource in
such an easily accessible location will greatly benefit them as they begin to
progress on the instrument. The fingering chart even includes a diagram at
the top which helps show them how to interpret the symbols on the chart. I
thought that overall, this book was very well-planned for beginning players.
Though method books are by no means intended to be the only
resources available for studentsespecially not in todays timesit is one
that a lot of students use as their primary source of reference when
beginning to play an instrument. Even though the internet and other places
are open for students to look at, they often dontsometimes just because it
is out of their way to do so. Thus, providing students with tools at their
fingertips can greatly prevent them from developing bad habits, help them
progress quickly, and help them become more confident in their own
abilities. I think the Tradition of Excellence does a great job at making its
information easy to follow, visually pleasing, and easily accessible for
beginning studentsmaking practice much easier and more successful
overall.

Objective

Excellent 5

Good - 4

Average - 3

Fair - 2

Poor - 1

No

18

Tone Quality

Note Accuracy

Rhythmic
Accuracy

Posture/Poise

Tempo

Musicianship/Atten
tion to Detail

Tone is
consistently
focused and
clear. Student
demonstrates
great
embouchure,
air flow, and
support to the
sound.

Tone is mostly
focused and
clear with few
problem areas.
Student
usually
demonstrates
good
embouchure,
air flow, and
support to the
sound.

Tone shows
focus most of
the time.
Student
demonstrates
decent
embouchure,
but is
sometimes
inconsistent
causing the
sound to
fluctuate.
Student
performs notes
with 80%-90%
accuracy.

Tone is
sometimes
unfocused,
unclear and
wobbly-showing that
the student
needs to work
on
embouchure,
air flow, and
breath
support.
Student
performs
notes with
70%-80%
accuracy.

Student
performs notes
with 100%
accuracy.

Student
performs notes
with 90%
accuracy.

Student plays
rhythms with
100% accuracy
with good
attention to
the style of the
piece.

Student plays
rhythms with
90% accuracy
and usually
shows good
attention to
the style of the
piece.

Student plays
rhythms with
80%-90%
accuracy but
sometimes
seems
unstable with
the way it
stylistically
should be
played.
Student
displays
posture which
is good, but
needs
perfected in
some areas.

Student
frequently
inaccurately
plays the
rhythms and
seems the
piece feels
frantic and
out of control.

Student
demonstrates
excellent
posture which
promotes good
habits, clear
tone,
instrument
stability, and
good
intonation.
Tempo remains
consistent and
steady
throughout the
piece.

Student
demonstrates
good posture,
but is not
always
maintained
throughout the
piece.

Tempo remains
mostly steady
throughout the
piece.

Tempo had
minor
fluctuations
throughout the
piece.

Tempo had
several
fluctuations
throughout
the piece .

Student played
expressively
through the
dynamics,
articulations,
and tempo
markings,
throughout the
piece.

Student played
expressively
through the
dynamics,
articulations,
and tempo
markings
through most
of the piece.

Student paid
attention to
some of the
details, but left
out some
aspects.

Student could
have done
much more
with the
expression
and detail of
the piece.

Students
posture needs
quite a bit of
improvement.

Tone
continuously
lacks clarity.
Student
displays lack
of control of
embouchure,
air flow is
unsteady and
unsupported,
and the
sound is
unstable.
Student
consistently
plays
incorrect
pitches, and
shows lack of
preparation.
Student
consistently
plays
rhythms
wrong. They
seem unable
to feel the
beat of the
music. This
shows lack of
preparation.
Student plays
with lazy
posture
which
promotes bad
habits, poor
tone quality,
and poor
breath
support.
Tempo did
not remain
consistent
throughout
any of the
piece. Its
instability
caused the
piece to
seem frantic.
Student did
not attempt
to put in any
expression,
detail, or
style to the
piece. It
sounded
stagnant

Stud
grad
cate
bec
atte
give
sche
reta
for a
ded
atte

19
throughout.

Playing Test Rubric

Peer Teaching Reflection
#1
This peer teaching was definitely a learning experience for me. After
teaching, I felt like I did alright; however, there were several things that I
could have done much better. My goals and objectives for the lesson were to
have the students be able to accurately play measures 1-10 of Indigo Rock
and to have them be able to explain, recognize, and implement the concept
of accent into the music. While the objectives were eventually met at the
end, I still felt like there were some things that I could have done much more
efficiently during my teaching. When getting up to teach, I felt confident in
my lesson plan but I feel like I stumbled with transitions and sticking to my
plan. I think this was what caused it to be rocky and even a bit awkward in
some places. I asked really vague, open-ended questions, my feedback
seemed unnatural and passive, and sometimes I just felt like my presence in

20
front of the class was not as effective as I would like it to be. I think this
stumbling also caused me to drag things outultimately making the pacing
of the lesson as a whole seem quite slow and tedious. In front of a class of 6th
graders, this can cause too much room for disruption and misbehavior. I need
to really make sure that I focus much more harshly on keeping my pace up,
asking more effective and engaging questions, and eliminating my awkward
transitions. Making these changes will not only help with the effectiveness of
my teaching, but it will also help me appear and feel much more confident in
my teachings.
My warm up was another thing I struggled with when creating my
lesson plan. Because of the nature of the piece I was teaching, I wanted to
do something with the first rhythms of the song. I thought that doing an
audiation activity would be a really good approach. The problem with this,
however, was not the activity itself but the way I approached it. When I wrote
the rhythm on the board, I did not include a time signature, which could have
been quite confusing for the students. Another issue was that I only sang the
pitches on a long note and expected them to repeat it back on the rhythm.
For a beginning band class, making that change instantly might be quite
difficult. I should have provided them the pitch on the rhythm and a neutral
syllable so that they would be more likely to be successful in the activity.
When preparing warm ups, I really need to make sure that I take everything
into consideration so that my students can get the most out of the warm up.

21
Another large issue with my lesson plan was that while my approach to
having the students give me the starting pitch worked for keeping students
involved and participating, it did not really work for this particular song
because not everyone started on the same pitch. I should have looked at the
other books to see what note everyone started on. If I had taken the time to
do this, I could have had each different section play their starting pitches so
that they would not only practice doing so, but they would also be able to
hear the first chord. I need to make sure that when choosing how I am going
to approach things, I need to take details like this into consideration.
I thought that overall, my teaching of the song went quite well. I did
good chunking, I gave effective cues, and overall I think I did a good job at
assessing the class. If there was an issue we did it again, and if not we would
move on. I think that my feedback could be improved quite a bit. When
teaching, I think I was a little afraid to use too many cliche positive
feedback comments because they felt awkward. However, there were
instances where giving the class positive feedback would have, indeed, been
helpful to them as learners. When I asked them to assess themselves and
their playing, I did so in very vague ways. I should have been more proactive
in addressing specific issues, not just broad general comments. Providing the
class with more individualized, specific feedback and corrections is
something that I truly need to work on for my future students.
For my first peer teaching in this setting, I did not think it was too bad;
however, I know that I do have my work cut out for me. I need to make sure

22
that my pacing is bettereliminating my passive questions and comments. I
need to improve my warm-up strategies so that my students can successfully
complete the musical tasks that I ask them to do. I need to make sure that
when I am teaching, I am actively trying to make them all better through a
lot of the different aspects that we have talked about in class. I feel like
improving all of these aspects will do wonders for my teaching. I will be more
connected with the class, I will be more effective in my instruction, listening,
and assessing, and I will be more attentive to detail when creating activities.
Making these adjustments are crucial for the success of both myself as an
instructor, and my students in the future.

23

Peer Teaching Reflection

#2
I felt a lot better about this peer teaching overall. I thought the lesson
went much more smoothly and had less awkward transitions. I did a better
job at moving from one activity to another than I did in the first one. I
thought confidence was there, but I was lacking a little in energy. I still felt a
little weak from being sick, unfortunately. As a teacher, I know that this will
happen at times, and I should try my best to work past it so that it does not
come across to my students as though I do not want to be there. I want to be
able to give my students the best education possible, always, so I think this
is something I need to be aware of for my future classroom.
My goals and objectives were to have the students learn The Lone Star
Waltz from the methods book and to have them be able to understand,
describe, and demonstrate their understanding of the waltz style of music. I
think the students did a great job at both the song and the concept. They not
only played the song accurate pitches and rhythms, but they also did a fairly
good job at adding the stylistic things I suggested as well. I know that When
teaching I described the style like I would to a dancer. I think they
understood it quite well. Thinking down, up, up, really helped the students
be able to feel the pulse of the waltz style.

24
For the beginning exercise I did an audiation activity that implemented
the beginning rhythms and pitches of the song that we learned. Because the
song did not start on tonic, and it had some skips that would have been
difficult for the class to sing right away, I started with a little bit of a
preparation to the rhythms by starting out with them singing, DO-TI-LA-SOL,
then leading into the actual rhythms and pitches from there. I think doing
this was quite effective because they could clearly hear where the pitches
were coming from since they already had them in their ears. This exercise
was pretty successful with the class. Though I do think this was a great warm
up exercise, I still think I should have done more with technique with the
warm up. I did not really focus enough on breathing or long tones during the
warm up. We pretty much jumped right from the audiation activity to the
song. It was alright, but if I were to use this again in the future, I would
definitely add those elements into my plan.
I think my biggest strength in this lesson was my pacing and my
confidence. I knew what I wanted and I just had the students do it. I
definitely think I improved a lot in this area compared to my first peer
teaching. I kept the students engaged with my use of proximity. This was
another area that I felt a lot better about after this lesson. For the first peer
teaching I just stood basically in the same spot which made it easier for
students in the back of the room to misbehave and become disengaged.
My biggest weakness was my use of open-ended questions. During the
lesson, I asked very broad questions such as, How did we feel about that,

25
or How did that feel? With the lack of specificity in my questioning, not only
are the not useful, but they open doors for the students to react negatively.
When I did this during my lesson, it felt really awkward and bumpy because I
kept waiting for people to volunteer to answer, but no one did because they
really were unsure of how to answer. I think I really need to focus more
closely on what exactly I am looking for in a particular exercise to begin to
really narrow my questions down. With assessment, I also know that I need
to listen much more closely to the performance as a whole, rather than just
focusing in on the specific area that I am working on. During the peer
teaching I was listening more for the style and rhythm of the exercise, and
not as much on tone quality and pitch accuracy. These are both still quite
important areas to be aware of when teaching a beginning woodwind class,
and I should not have let things like that slide.

26

Informance Lesson Plan

National Standards
1. Singing alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire
of music.
3. Reading and notating music.
4. Evaluating music and music performances.

27

Objectives

Students will learn, understand, and implement concept presented to

them
Students will be able to accurately play song on their instruments
Parents will understand the tactics and approaches used in class and
see how they enhance the music education of their students
Parents will have the opportunity to ask questions regarding musical
concepts
Instructor will have an opportunity to communicate and interact with
family, community members, and administration

Instructional Strategies

Instructor will welcome the parents and family and explain the
objective of the evening
Instructor will do a breathing activity with the class to begin.
o Instructor will explain why breathing activities are crucial for
wind players.
Instructor will do an audiation activity that has to do with the concept
being taught to get the students warmed up
o Instructor will leave time afterwards to turn to parents and family
to explain the value of audiation and why we do it in class.
Instructor will have the students open method book to the exercise
planned for the day
o Go through the processes
Count rhythms
Sing note names and silent practice
Play song
Instructor will have students analyze their own playing
o What went well?
o What could be better?
Instructor will discuss why we have the students evaluate
their own playing
Students will play through again
Instructor will introduce concept to the class
Instructor will have class implement the concept in their own playing
o Students and instructor will collaboratively assess their
performance
Students and instructor will discuss concept again, making sure
everyone understands the new material

28

Students will perform the piece again, implementing everything

discussed in class.
Parents will now have the opportunity to ask questions
o Instructor will discuss concert etiquette and other specifics
regarding their child being involved in band

Using the Process

29
The process consists of four steps that help beginning woodwind students
effectively and efficiently learn exercises from their methods books. Using
this helps students not only be able to play the exercises on their
instruments, but also be able to exercise the other basic musical skills such
as counting and singing. Using the process is extremely beneficial to
beginning woodwind music classrooms. The four steps to the process are as
follows:
1. Count the instructor begins by having the students count their parts.
Doing this helps narrow down the different musical aspects to help
students feel less overwhelmed, and allows them to be able to put
their focus on getting the rhythms solid.
2. Sing the next thing to add to the rhythms are the correct pitches.
Having the students sing their parts not only allows them to practice
their singing kills, but it also helps get the pitches in their heads so
that when they put the music on their instruments, they have already
heard what it is supposed to sound like. This is definitely an effective
way to start having students listening early.
3. Sing and Silent Practice this step is meant to slowly integrate the two
together. When doing this, the students are still getting the singing
experience while preparing their minds and fingers to move at the
appropriate time, pushing down the appropriate key. This is a great tool
for the instructor because if the singing fails due to adding the fingers,
it is a great clue that they need to repeat a step before putting it on
the instruments.

30
4. Play finally, the students will play the music on their instruments.
Since they have already gone through the process and should have the
notes under their fingers and the pitches in their ears, they should be
prepared to work on things such as dynamics, articulations, and tone
quality. The instructor can then proceed to teaching the concept and
expanding their musical knowledge in a variety of ways!

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Transpositions
The clarinet is a Bb instrument, which means that to transpose the
instrument from concert pitch to what would be played by the clarinet, you
have to take the pitch up a major second.
The saxophone is an Eb instrument. To transpose this from concert pitch, you
move the notes down a minor third (or up a major sixth). The following chart
can be used for reference:

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Revisiting Teaching
Strategies for Woodwinds
Article Review: Revisiting
Teaching Strategies for

33

Woodwinds by Keith
Koster
This article has a lot of great information about teaching beginning
woodwind players. One thing that this article really brings to the surface is
the fact that instructors need to make sure that they are teaching their
students in unique, creative ways that will truly promote learningnot just
lecturing at them and having them play. The author of the article focuses a
lot on the concept of problem-based learning, which is absolutely something
that I believe is important to the learning of students. It brings to the
readers attention that teachers must always be checking themselves to
make sure that they do not fall into the rut of just teaching. Truly educating
the students means allowing them to actively be a part of the process
which is a lot of what is discussed in this work. The author talks a lot about
the use of questioning in during lessonswhich is also something that we
have talked about a lot. Asking productive, quality questions regarding what
the students heard and felt during their performance is a great way for them
to not only learn, but be actively involved in their own learning.
The work also includes suggestions of target technique exercises that
the instructors could implement into their classes. He has great ideas on
exercises to help strengthen the embouchure, to help them become better at

34
breathing, to help students be more accurately in tune, and to build better
tone quality on their instruments. The exercises suggested in the article are
both effective and engaging for the students, which is definitely something
that will help the student perform the task accurately. I also really like that a
lot of the things he talks about is instrument-specific. The article offers a lot
of really useful information for each woodwind instrument, which is a great
tool for beginning woodwind instructors!
The tables and graphics offered by this article are also really
informational! There is one that offers resources just for clarinet players, one
that offers credible recordings that the instructor could show to each
different section, and several others that really give a lot of useful
information. The information presented in this article can be a great resource
to beginning woodwind players, and it is definitely one that I could likely find
useful once I am in the field.

35

"Basic Problems in
Woodwind Teaching"

Article Review: Basic

Problems in Woodwind
Teaching by Francis N.
Mayer
This article brings up another good point about teaching beginning
woodwind players. One issue with a lot of the teachings that are happening
in the field right now is that it is mainly focused on digital technique. How
fast they move their fingers, how loud or soft they can play, how accurate
the notes are--these things often are the main focus of beginning woodwind
classes. Topics such as tone quality, building proper embouchure, and good,

36
supported breaths are often either left out or just briefly brushed on during
lessons.
The article argues that this approach is not ultimately beneficial to the
students. The author claims that more focus needs to be put on building the
aspects of playing that create good tone, such as embouchure and breath
support, than just getting a sound and playing accurate pitches. I think this
article says a lot of the same things we have discussed in class regarding the
topic of tone quality. Beginning students should be taught to be aware of how
they sound from the very beginning, otherwise they will have to develop the
awareness of it later. This article, though, I think also takes it a step further.
Of course, in beginning woodwind classes you initially teach the basics like
breathing and embouchure formation; however, I do not think that it is as
extensively focused on as it should. Embouchure formation requires constant
work in order to train the muscles to work like that, and the kind of breath it
requires to play a woodwind instrument takes practice and awareness from a
new wind player. This articles main claim is that with the demand of good
tone, the training to obtain it is lacking in the beginning woodwind
classrooms. In other words, I think the article claims that sometimes as
music educators, we focus so much more on the product than we do the
processwhich, according to the author, does not actually make much
sense. Good, controlled tone comes from all of these other aspects that often
are not talked about enough. I think the author makes a lot of good points in
this article, and as a future educator, it could absolutely serve as a good

37
reminder to take the time, to work with students on things that will help
them successfully create the kinds of sounds on their instruments that I
would want from them. Sometimes as educators we get so lost in the
timeline of events that some material, unfortunately, gets brushed over.
Having something like this to broaden the mind of the instructor could be
really beneficial in the field.

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