E.

Narrative Reflection

The first artifact I chose was my beginning band composition project from Band
Arranging, where I arranged Hedwig’s Theme. I had been arranging as a hobby for quite some
time at this point, so I was already very familiar with the music notation software and how to do
basic arrangements. However, from this project, I learned how to arrange practically for real
musicians to play. I learned to consider concepts like range, endurance, and fingerings/slide
positions, as well as everything else that would impact an ensemble’s ability to perform the
music. It really made me think from the perspective of those instruments to determine if it was
playable or not. This reflects my best work because it was a very successful project. Not only did
I score a perfect on it, but when the Eastern Symphonic Band played my arrangement, they were
able to do it successfully and had a lot of fun with it. I spent a lot of time and energy on this
project, and the end result was worth it. This attains the department learning objective (B.I.1)
because it required me to intellectually understand basic structural elements of music by
arranging the piece and determine voice leading, and it required aural understanding because I
had to melodically dictate the music.
The second artifact I chose was my Music History II midterm exam. From this artifact, I
learned how to study properly in order to achieve the grade I wanted. History has always been a
rough subject for me compared to others, so I was very hesitant coming into this course. But I
took it upon myself to figure out how to learn history, because I knew that this information
would come in handy later on in my career. This reflects my best work because I scored a perfect
on this midterm, which was very significant to me because the hard work I had put into it had
paid off. This artifact demonstrates attainment of the department learning objective (B.1.2)
because it required me to analyze the role of music within a variety of cultures and historical
periods in order to answer the questions. The essays of the midterm demonstrate my knowledge
on how this music impacted society, and how the styles of certain compositions were influenced
by the time period they were written in.
The third artifact I chose was my conducting video titled C2 Exam 1 – Stuart. In this
video, I worked with a band ensemble on a section of Three Ayres from Gloucester on various
concepts such as style, phrasing, and compositional context. From this artifact, I was able to gain
more experience being in front of an ensemble and acting as a band director. I learned what
exercises worked well and which ones that weren’t as efficient. I also found that I am very
comfortable standing up on the podium in front of an ensemble, which is very reassuring for me
as a future educator. This video reflects my best work because I executed everything that I
wanted to work on very well, and I was able to get a “performance ready” sound from the
ensemble. I ensured that everyone was engaged the whole time, and I asked guiding questions to
stimulate thinking. This demonstrates attainment of the department learning objective (B.I.4)
because I was able to conduct this ensemble using my knowledge of the piece in addition to my
ability to lead an ensemble.
 Through my time in the music department, I have grown as a musician, a teacher, and an
individual. I have improved immensely since my first few days as a college student, and it is
very rewarding to see my progress throughout these past few years.
The first way I have grown is in my confidence. I remember my first day of Intro to
Music Ed, I felt pretty overwhelmed with everything I would have to do in order to complete my
degree. I also remember being incredibly nervous teaching my first ever lesson, because I wasn’t
sure if I had what it took to be a teacher. With each methods course I had, I became more and
more confident being in front of people and being self-assured with my teaching. This was
accelerated in my Lab Methods course, because I was teaching lessons very often in front of my
peers, and with each lesson I improved on something. Now, as I am in my Conducting II class,
conducting in front of an ensemble hardly phases me, and I have strategies and methods that I
use in that class that were discovered in my previous methods courses.
Additionally, I have overall improved on my instruction, delivery, and clarity. In my first
few lessons, I would often speak really quickly and forget to communicate various information
to students that would later lead to confusion. This progressively got better the more I taught – I
learned how to speak clearly and in such a way that promotes student understanding. I learned
how to do this primarily with teaching reflections. Watching my teaching videos and writing
about them really helped me think of how to fix and improve the way I delivered instruction.
Now, I believe that I speak at a normal pace, and I really take the time to communicate
thoroughly, which can be seen in my more recent teaching videos.
Finally, from my time being in various ensembles and individual lessons, I have learned
how to be a better musician. I have discovered strategies, exercises, routines, and pedagogy on
the horn that help me perform better, and I can apply these to teaching students. For example, I
never practiced before I came to college. But once I started the music program, I found that I
could no longer get away with that, so I had to essentially learn how to practice. I had to sit down
and figure out what worked and what didn’t, and discover the steps I needed to take to perfect
my music. I use these strategies when working with band students now, because I have tested
them out myself enough to know that they work, and I know how to troubleshoot based on my
own experience.
Overall, I believe that I have grown tremendously since my first days of college. I have
learned so much from all of my experiences, and I can’t wait to use what I learned when I go out
to teach.