From Fundamentals To Fun A Curriculum For Building Strong Small School or Single Director Programs2018.original.1543956007

FROM
FUNDAMENTALS TO FUN
A curriculum for building strong small school or single
director programs
STEVE GIOVANONI
MIDWEST CLINIC AND CONVENTION
December 19-22, 2018
From Fundamentals to Fun: A curriculum for building strong small
school or single director programs.

Why: For the Music? For the Students? For You?

I am the curriculum. I bring all the knowledge, motivation, skills, communication
etc. necessary for the job. What I do. How I do it. Why I do it. This is the curriculum
that I bring to my teaching. You are the face of the brand!

There is never enough time to do everything every day. You must accept this fact.

Kids learn, right or wrong, every time we have them do something or do nothing.
Rehearsals are not static. There’s no maintain. It is never a constant. Students get
better or get worse with every moment we spend with them. Did your class get
better or worse with that rehearsal, warm-up, chorale, song, exercise, drill etc.?

Building Your Curriculum: Start by asking questions. Analyze everything. Look at
everything you need to do plus, why and how you do it. Ask yourself, “Am I creating
a disconnect with my fundamentals?” Teach to avoid issues.

What are the conflicts- Is my teaching leading to performance? How you teach the
fundamentals effects everything else.

Discipline is to facilitate rehearsals that improve playing music. Grades come from
rehearsals because we need to assess where everyone is, in order to improve our
rehearsals. Letters/media to parents comes from our curriculum because
rehearsals lead to performances and disseminating information about all the things
we do is important.

A tuning ritual is not part of my curriculum (because this is not how we perform).
Playing in tune by moving air to center the pitch is part of my curriculum. Tone and
tuning are in separable. This means that the fundamental and overtones are too. I
teach both together.

What is your definition of director, teacher? What is it you do, or want to do, with
your class or group etc.? Is your Curriculum doing that? Are you doing that? Do
you know what experiences your kids had before they got to you?

Put everything you need to do and teach into a coherent curriculum. Create a
rehearsal plan for everything you teach. Have a daily plan for everything you do.

So, how will I know what is in my curriculum? Making decisions.

What I Teach or Do: concrete fundamentals. “I teach these things.” “I need to teach
these things.” “I do these things. “
“A Tool Is Only As Good As The Craftsman Who Wields It!”

Why Not Make Every Rehearsal Special?
Don’t just read the music: LIVE IT!

Why I Teach It or Do It: My reasons, justification for choosing how and what I
taught. My motivation, belief about best practices, recognizes problems and admits
responsibilities.

How I Teach It or Do It: method of teaching, sequence, terminology for explaining,
examples. “I do it like this.” “Here’s how I teach clarinet embouchure.” The “How” is
the part that the students experience. This is where they gain or lose intrinsic
motivation. Here is where you move the fundamentals to fun.

What Why How
Get organized. I can be productive, better Make list- prioritize.
teacher, get principal off
back.
Whole note. To develop music reading Counting experience.
abilities. Visual recognition.
Written exercises.

Your “Why” (intrinsic motivation) is not the same as the kids “Why”. Your “How” is
the bridge to their “Why”. Understand your “Why” and grow their “Why” through
your “How”.

We all know why we teach the concrete things, lines and spaces, notes, rhythms etc.,
but we need to understand our intrinsic why, and how it effects our teaching. Why I
chose music and how I perceive music in my life and career are important to what
I’m going to do every day. For me personally, I love music. I think music is
important and I want people to have a quality music experience whether I’m
performing or teaching. Creating a high level of music is my why. When I teach I’m
trying to rehearse with that purpose. I want to find the music and get them to be
able to experience the music. When I perform I’m playing to create a musical
experience that I conceive. We create an experience for ourselves first, then we
share it with others. The audience experiences the musicians giving birth to the
music. What are the keys to this experience? The fundamentals are the keys to any
performance: notes, rhythms, tone, tuning, articulations and dynamics. I want the
kids to get addicted to fundamentals and to see them as the life of music. Bringing
music to life makes the music fun and exciting. Make them crave these things. Kids
also need words like creepy, sad, longing, patiently, not just faster, slower. Our
groups are the first audience. Then they become the musicians for another
audience. If the kids are lacking a musical experience, how can they share music
with the audience. They can only share what they have. If they lack the skills to
perform musically, their performance will lack any musical content. Without
musicality, band is just an activity that can be thrown aside. Musical expression is
the value that makes music a necessary subject to be treated with importance. If we
just learn notes, then it’s just fine motor calisthenics.


We make fundamentals fun when kids experience making music with them. That’s
why I do this.

Examples of some areas for thought.

What kind of group do you have? Beginner, Advanced, Mixed?

Make your curriculum age appropriate. Live at the level of your kids.
Do not say I wish my group could do this or that. Say, my group does this best and
start there. Build an upward spiral from where they are. Ask yourself, what do I do
best? Start teaching from there. What is your worst thing? Start learning from
there. Locate the position that correlates your abilities with that age group.

Rehearsal Format. Two parts of rehearsal: 1). Tutti work- improving musical skill
in a block setting. 2). Literature- transferring skills to performance literature that
requires students to execute skills in various combinations.

How do you start class? Does your class have a prep? Is your classed focused
from the beginning? Do you enter the rehearsal after them or doing other things
and then just start? Do you gather your focus and theirs into one purpose?

How is your podium area? Does it make your rehearsal better or worse? Do you
have the equipment you need to improve your rehearsal and teach your curriculum?

Do you perform the skills necessary for your curriculum? Beginning band- Can
you perform the instruments you are going to teach? High school- Can you perform
the musicality that you wish the group to display?

Conducting technique. Does it show, nonverbally teach, my curriculum? Is my
curriculum finished when I conduct? Do I show the music visually to the band? Do
they show the music aurally to the audience?

My curriculum is different every year. It fluctuates to meet the needs of the kids I
have each year/semester. Some years, kids struggle with tone or technique. Some
balance or rhythms. Some steady pulse etc. Some years, everything. I never
complete my curriculum. After adjusting to kids’ abilities, I may end up spending
more time developing certain areas and less time on others. If I have to spend more
time building steady pulse, then that is time away from playing more songs or some
other area in order to keep kids at a balance between all their skills. If you have a
band with fast scales but poor embouchure, air support, tone etc., you will not be
able to make use of it in performance. It is a struggle to maintain a balanced
rehearsal. You must constantly evaluate everyone’s needs to keep building your


best band. Keep a grade of where everyone is at for each fundamental: tone,
technique, articulation, embouchure, posture etc.

What part will concerts/contests take in your curriculum? How important are
they? Does contest preparation control your curriculum? Learn these songs only,
just what is in these songs. Rote teaching or are pieces a synthesis of your
curriculum.

Bring in clinicians or guests whenever possible, not just for contest. Kids need to
be part of the music world, not just your rehearsals, no matter the level of the group.
Good groups enjoy compliments. Struggling groups and directors need to see how
to improve and experience it in small measures. Build a network of good retired
directors who love teaching and match your philosophy. Maybe they will adopt
your band. Kids will really look forward to it.

Do what is best for the group to improve. Stay small in your goals and planning.
Be specific about everything you do in rehearsal, drills, exercises, chorales etc. What
size bite can your group chew and digest correctly? We all have to chew more often
than we take a bite. Does your rehearsal do more chewing than biting, or do we bite
off more than we can chew?

Taking charge of your curriculum-, I will design my class around achieving my
curriculum. I will present the best curriculum I can today. Tomorrow will be better.
As I discover deficiencies, I will modify my curriculum to improve its effectiveness
for the next rehearsal. Learning styles, ability, retention, class size etc. are all part of
the daily curriculum. Some kids learn five fingerings but get confused once you have
seven fingerings, the processing of flats and sharps, definitions, whether to increase
or decrease lesson materials, reteach time, more examples, literature. Every
decision we make is about curriculum.

How are your writing chops? Do you write for your group, exercises etc.? Save
time and money. Write your own warm ups. You can adjust them for your group
whenever you need to. Write chorales that fit your group’s level and address an
issue they need to work on. Writing will help you with score study and preparation.
The more music I write, the better at rehearsing and teaching I become. When you
write you are aware of a specific need or problem that your group has. If you have a
theory class, have them write a warm up chorale.

The top four pillars of my curriculum are:

1. Perform- (Be the model). Play all the instruments in your group well enough to
be the model you want beginners to follow. Make a good tone on each instrument.
Play your primary instrument well enough to make high school region or district


band. You must understand and enjoy the skills you wish to build and foster in
others. Kids get very excited when they hear their instrument played well. They
will want to play well also. Nothing beats live for really getting the point across. It
is better than YouTube to a beginner. It is the difference between digital and
records. Digital technology has less resonance than records. Newer is not always
better and nothing beats live.

We teach one thing. We all teach music performance. Music performance is our
goal. We give students musical experiences by performing music. Everything else
stems from that. It is how we order, teach and connect the information. I am not
teaching them how to be band directors. Therefore, my curriculum is the
accomplishment of this one thing. Is your rehearsal about music performance? We
talk all the time about showing the music with our conducting and not talking.
Perform the music for the kids. They need live music. Model and match.

My Kit- mouthpieces, drum sticks, tools. Play along during warm ups, drills. Keep in
shape. Drum sticks for quick demonstration, firewood if you are trapped in blizzard
or dagger for vampires etc. Tools for quick repairs.

2. Pedagogy- (Recognizing and correcting the issues). Knowing and understanding
what they are doing, right or wrong, plus knowing and understanding how to fix it.
You need to have the ability to communicate these skills to others. This takes a lot
of practice and work. Knowing what to do and how to do it, being able to instruct
others to know and do the same is crucial. This also includes knowing how to
interpret a musical line and understanding the proper way to balance and blend the
pieces you are performing. The paper is only a guide. Music is always in the
performance of the paper. Bring sound to life, to live and breathe with us. Teach the
motive, not the measure. Make the time sacrificed in the creation and
performance of music gratifying through the experience of this music.

When you are able to fix a kid’s problem and make them sound better, they get
excited about playing. When you cannot fix their problem, then they lose interest in
playing. It is not fun to be bad. Yes, they have to be responsible for their playing.
We cannot control that part but we have to control our part and be able fix any
problem, preferably, before it starts. Teach to avoid problems. Your curriculum
builds success or failure.

Imagine your group without trumpets, flutes, tubas or drums. What happens to
your group if you cannot help these people improve? They are people first; people
who play trumpet, flute, tuba or drums. Can we afford to let these people sit in our
class and not benefit? Be prepared to teach kids to be performers on their
instruments. Know the issues and get ahead of the problems.



3. Be a director not just a conductor (Getting it all done). Understanding the
architecture of a score, using your theory, music history, and form and analysis
classes to build your interpretation is only one part. Planning for your whole
program in a like manner is just as important. Directing is more than just
conducting. It is about leading a program not just conducting a piece of music. Most
of your time will be spent on things outside of rehearsing. In small schools or
programs with one director, you are it: the face of the franchise, the brand. What
everyone thinks about you is what he or she thinks about the program. If they say
band is cool, it is because they think the way you teach/run the program is cool.

Administration. Remember the saying, “God helps those who help themselves“.
Principals are usually supportive of people that can help themselves. In other
words, if I go to my principal and say, “If I can do it like this, then you don’t need to
mess with it.” I will get an ok. Take solutions to your administration, not problems.
New teachers, talk to other directors to get options to problems. Get your program
laid out and get a handbook with a solid behavior plan. Most school behavior plans
are not conducive to rehearsing. Athletic groups handle their own discipline.
Handle your own too. This may take a little bit of politics. Get help from
experienced teachers on dealing with admin.

Large schools are more compartmentalized. There is less separation in small
schools. We share more things: kids, resources and facilities. We need greater
interaction with others. This requires more give and take. Remember, the core
teachers have a smaller budget than you. No complaining. Talk to the people who
have the ability to help. Understand everyone else’s job. Build a program that is not
an island. Get to know your faculty and be a part of the school district, K-12, not just
a program in a corner somewhere. Know the community; it takes time to get all this
in place. Be patient and persistent in your efforts. We cannot focus on one facet of
the program over another. Develop a rhythm for working each part of your
program. It has to fit together like a chorale, balance and blend every voice. Be
visible, not a diva. Are you giving back equally to what you get, or are you proving
yourself at someone else’s expense?

4. Rehearsal (Be in the moment). Create their Why. Making music is the How.
When the first three pillars are done well, kids enjoy rehearsing even more. Know
what your lesson essentials are (See lesson format). Can we make the changes we
want to hear and see? It is not just the idea. Great ideas are part of planning, but it
is how we get the kids to perform the idea. That is the teaching and that is when the
music happens. Score study: teach the motive, not the measure.

What will I do for tone today? For Tuning? For Musicality? For Technique? For
Balance and Blend? For Dynamics?



A thousand missed F# in one day do not add up to a bad day. They are the result of
not enough training yet (repetition to build response), or the students have not yet
developed to the cognitive and kinesthetic level necessary to perform the task. Both
require a teacher to plan appropriate rehearsals with enough drill to develop them.
If they need more work on something, do more work! Performance is doing the
work it takes to perform. Invent an exercise or drill that focuses on the issue. How
many ways can I rehearse F# today? How many different songs, worksheets,
chorales, games, air finger, finger tapping etc. can we do? Is it a coordination thing
or a processing issue? If you build it, they will come and play F#.

Did you ever notice how beginning band concerts always sound like beginning band
concerts? It is harder to overcome the weakest link metaphor when kids are
younger. Older kids get better at hiding their links. They have come to realize that
their links are not as shiny as everyone else is, so they do not show them. Some
young kids do not know there is a difference in their links compared to others. My
goal every year is to make beginning band not sound like beginning band, emphasis
on sound. Do not be fooled by technique. You might have a group that can ram
through a grade 1.5 then next year, when you try a grade 2; they do not have the
foundation to perform the style or tone demands of a lyrical section especially when
ranges are expanded. It does not matter if you are a big or small program. It is hard
to fix it after beginning band. Do not get me wrong, kids love playing fast and we
need to work on building technique every day, but always with the goal to be more
musical and express ideas musically. Does your beginning band sound like an older
group playing that grade .5 piece or do they still sound like a beginning band playing
a grade .5 piece? Do the same for a grade 1. Musical growth, not just technical
growth, is a major part of my curriculum. Produce musical growth. Teach
musically. Use technique to build tone quality. Yes, fast notes can help build tone.
Fast notes can also make music; build their pulse, etc. Technique, fingers moving
faster over the same air stream. I play slow or fast the same way. Teach them to
make rests exciting.

Success vs Progress.
Progress has to be a part of your curriculum. Success is more about your opinion
than your progress. Progress is never enough if your idea of success is just a perfect
score. Progress is relaxing when your idea of success is the growth of each student.

Start your own process.
Where are you in your teaching?
Why are you here?
What are your pillars?
What do you need to do to make these a part of your rehearsal?
What do you need to change about yourself, your teaching?


What do you need to change in your students?

Start being! Who are you and how do you want your classes to be?

What my curriculum looks like in action. My rehearsal

Set up
Equipment
Books
The Folder

Lesson Format Essentials

Rehearsal- what is not there; is the music! We need to make music in all of this!

What: what do I want teach them? What are the important things?
Why: why is this important?
How: what methods/exercises am I going to use to teach it? Sequence: what order
allows everyone to see, know and reach the target?

Teaching: putting everything into action. For each of the following items I must use
the previous three things on both the macro and micro level of my lesson.

Goals: These are the threads that weave throughout your entire rehearsal. They are
more for me than them.
Right note, good tone, in tune, right rhythm, correct dynamics, correct articulation.
Make your ear your primary instrument.
Breath together, play together.
Tune your tone.
Demonstrate leadership on your instrument for the entire rehearsal.
Be responsible for tempo during rehearsal.
Sing the right song today- best attitude
Treat rehearsal like a performance
Be happy, but not satisfied
Make your instrument sound like your instrument
Perform like a musician
Perform as a professional
Perform correct articulations throughout the rehearsal.
Perform correct dynamics throughout the rehearsal.
Perform correct notes throughout the rehearsal.
Perform correct rhythms throughout the rehearsal.
Notate all your mistakes on the music


Respond positively to criticism
Master all directions given by the director
Practice until all comments are mastered
Concentrate for 100% of the class
Perform for 100% of the class with only musical sounds
Apply correct attitude to control emotions for 100% of rehearsal
Make yourself better today
Apply all information to the performance
Hear yourself playing like the recording
Create a collaborative environment in rehearsal
Find inspiration in the music
What is it for? Find the What.
Focus air through 100% of the note
Perform with proper fundamentals for 100% of rehearsal.
Use repetition to build confidence. Keep focus on improvement. Do not bail.
Thoughts influence actions. Keep the good ones.

The 2 Parts of a Rehearsal
Fundamentals Music
100% of students working. All requisite skills needed to play each
No inactivity- Everyone is improving. piece have been learned. No stopping to
Cover all skills needed to perform the teach something new.
musical selections that day. Just Make Music!

*Repetition is necessary, but dangerous. Are you improving with each repetition?

Fundamental Skills (Performance)- (Time varies by ability level)
Focus on fundamental performance skills. Focus on air stream, Posture (Reduce
tension, Balance), Breathing (Inhale-Exhale OH-HO), Embouchure (Corners, Face,
Chin, Lips, Teeth), Tonguing (Position, placement and usage), 3-S’s (Start, Sustain,
Stop). Work on centering Tone and Tuning together. Technique exercises. Goal is
to have 100% engagement on all exercises. Tutti exercises should predominate this
time frame.

Performance Exercises
Breathing Exercises- Get the proper feel for inhale and exhale.
Fogging- Open throat, relax embouchure.
Lip Slur/Lip Bend exercises- Have many various exercises that you can rotate
between.
Long tones- Scales, 10 sec drill, F/Bb around the room, Overlap, Chords, Chord
scales, Parallel scales, With Dynamics (playing, counting, hands)
Scales- Focus on Tone, Tuning, Technique. Start slow- accuracy- increase tempo.
Use different rhythms (dotted quarter, eighth etc.) or patterns (1 2 1, 1 2 3 2 1 etc.)
Chorales- Balance, Blend, Tone, Tuning.


Scale Chorales- Make chorales out of scales.
Flexibility Exercises- (Fast Lip Slur) Build embouchure response.
Interval Studies- increase ear and air control.
Articulation studies- Vary styles. Doo, Dah, Toe, Tee
Technique- Etudes, Scales, Articulation, Flexibility with increased tempo.
Tuning Drills- Develop ears.
Conducting Drills- Play the Beat, Control the right side of the note.
Alternate Fingering Exercises- Woodwinds
Rhythm Sheets- Perform Various Rhythms.
Drone Background- Set fundamental pitch
Eyes Closed Exercises- Internal counting, become aware of details.
Vibrato/Air Pulse Exercises- helps embouchures and tongue position.
Crescendo/Decrescendo- one dynamic level over 10 beats.

Fundamental Skills (Academic)- (next 2-5 min of Rehearsal)
Short worksheets designed to introduce or check understanding of theory concepts
that students will be encountering in an upcoming piece of music. We plan for these
in advance of future pieces.

Academic Exercises-
Terminology/Symbols
Note names
Note durations
Clefs
Staff
Time signatures
Key Signatures
Measure attributes
Dynamics
Tempo Markings
Articulation symbols-
Counting Exercises-

Literature- Musical Experience- (Remainder of Rehearsal).
Make music. No new material. Introduce any new concepts as a fundamental skill
before bringing out a new piece. Focus is on having a musical experience. Only
reminders are given. Rehearsal is now getting students to perform all their skills in
a musical context. Making a musical product together as a group. Learning to
understand musical expression is now the focus. Rehearsal should be fast pace now.
Your conducting should guide the instruction. Bring fundamentals to music.
Students make music- what can they do (Add) to the music to make it more
exciting? (However, remember your job. You cannot change jobs: melody,
harmony etc. Just how musically you do it.)



Use recordings, student evaluation (plus, check, minus) to grade themselves.
Group teaching, Music extremes, Rotating sectionals.

Memorize sections. (Think/hear the details) Bop Parts
Move around the room. Accompaniment track.
Change rehearsal set up. (With rules) Play every other measure.
Practice Circles. Play backwards.
No conductor. Brass buzz.
Play with recording. Sizzle.
Record and Analyze. Different tempos.
1st chairs only. Different Dynamics.
1 parts only.
st All slurred.
2nd parts only. Note by note.
Clap song. Alternate measures by sections.
Sing Parts. Cut Time.
Close eyes. Perc. As metronome.
Subdivide.
Clarinet & Tuba play

Closing Remarks- (Connect thoughts about goal achievement throughout lesson).

Creating Purposeful Rehearsals:

Student centered rehearsals….
Teach meaningful and effective fundamental concepts by:
Building tone and intonation.
Teaching accurate pulse and rhythm.
Controlling dynamics.
Developing articulation.
Developing technique.
Make music
Are efficient, no wasted time.
Build focus
Constantly reevaluate during rehearsal.
Create good habits.
Are happy, but not satisfied.
Use Warm-ups for mental, physical, sequential and performance based activities
that lead to furthering our music comprehension and performance skills.
Keep a vision of students as (Attentive, making music, good tone etc.)
Empower Students. Ask them questions
Let technical issues self-correct by subsuming them in a musical motive.
Always rehearse with a musical motive. Musicianship- it is all about communication
to the listener.


Stimulate thinking that leads to discovery. Telling is not teaching.
Teach through gesture. Build a response to gesture not to voice.
Lead students to think for themselves. Tuning, dynamics etc. are they making
judgements for themselves.
Rehearse in a positive context.
Have genuine eye contact with everyone.
Help students discover and correct their mistakes.
Will listen critically, but not speak that way.

Beginner Focus: TONE, RHYTHM and NOTES

Musical cuts and bruises. Purpose over happiness.
A healthy striving- handling failure/mistakes while building your skills.
Maintain meaningfulness- be fulfilled during pleasant or unpleasant events.

Making Comments:
A positive instruction is complete unto itself.
Criticize effort and approach.
Say now instead of but.
Be aware of…
Can you …
How did it feel when?
I am at measure ____, can you be there also.

Rehearsal comment sheets
Remember, students do not process the same as adults.

Behavior:
Teach replacement behaviors. Land on what you want.
Tell me what you were doing.
Show me what you should be doing.
Be ready by…

Set appropriate boundaries.
Context-appropriate emotions.
Whatever is; is nothing more than that. Do not take it personal.
Drum rules: What to do in class. (Keep friends close, enemies closer and drummers
right beside you.)

Student’s Personal Evaluations:
Students need to learn to have positive evaluations during rehearsals. Have them
mark their parts with a +, ✔or – to critique themselves. Do this with the same


passage or exercise multiple days in a row so they can grade their own
improvement.
Activity types:
Release dopamine: Natural high, exciting, energetic, fast paced.
Mirror Me: Play or conduct and students copy.
Synchronicity: Only conduct the musical elements, no gestures of tempo.
Change it up: Change the set-up.
Student thoughts: Students give feedback.
Story time: Tie music to social events.
Making music: non-verbal rehearsal segment. (Mime Time.)
Breathing warm up.
Singing: Sing between the ears. Inside ear drum.
Mini practice sessions.
Sound bite responses.

Activities and games.
Ask questions.
Raise your hand if you….
On a scale of 1-5, using your fingers. How was our.
Close your eyes. Raise hand when in tune.

Fingers together-play in tune. Fingers apart- bend pitch out of tune.

Note overlap. Play a note for 8 counts. On beat 5 next person or group enters.

Tennis ball drop. Clap or play as ball hits ground.

Metronome. Kids count. Turn volume off then on to see if they held tempo.

Jeopardy. Use call bell to play jeopardy with music questions.

Matching. Draw a card and match it to cards on table. Keep a time chart.

Sol-La- Me.

Note name stories.

Worksheets.

Would you rather ______ or ________. _______ are group 1, _______ are group 2.
Do you like ____ or _________? Etc.

Instrument Parade- 6th grade.



Airplane game- Brass buzzing.
Brass mouthpiece and ping pong balls.

Ictus- Kids stand up. Conduct a pattern. When you stop, they must stop. Kids that
play sit down. Make harder by only playing on a certain beat, then change pattern.

Long tone contest.
Accuracy Race.
Pencil check- 100% -students pick warm up activity
Staff wars app

The Rehearsal Lesson:
Teaching practices: Teaching to avoid issues. Teach by motive not by measure.
Small steps/pieces, layer in. Tame the wild beast.
If you focus on what is ahead of you, you cannot perform what is in front of you. Be
in the moment.
Play the right note, with a good tone, perfectly in tune, with the correct rhythm,
correct dynamics and correct articulation.

Tone Pedagogy:
Air is the first principle of all wind instruments!
Move air to center pitch. Clear sound.
Whistling is a great tool for reed and brass players but not flute.
Learn to hear clarity between overtones. Each overtone needs to be a precise line,
not a wide blur.
Fogging- long or quick
Lip Resonance- If lips roll back over teeth it will effect lip resonance.
Sound in front of corners.

Embouchures: some general principals.
Corners are the firmest part of the embouchure, except for flute. I do not use the
term firm with flute embouchure.
Corners focus down toward chin. Form a triangle. I do not teach smile for clarinets.
Lip Resonance- If lips roll back over teeth it will effect lip resonance.
Embouchure establishes aperture. Aperture is funnel for directing air.

Tongue position- to focus air through instrument.
Develop tongue and embouchure independence.
Whistle, except flute.
Brass lip slurs.
Arch the front of the tongue. Feel the stretch. The “S” sound from Sue
Clarinet play high/Saxes play low/flute touch tip/dbl reeds mid-range.
See vibrato also


Tonguing- tonguing to build embouchure/aperture focus
No syllables at first. Only air practice.
Legato first, light fast touch.
TooToo- legato
To To - Staccato- establishes the same beginning to both notes; just add space.
Double tonguing- air stream and embouchure.

Be efficient. The less you move the tongue. The quicker it is to create the
articulation. I keep the tip of my tongue very close to the point where I want to
make contact. I have no idea how close I really keep it, but I tell the kids it is only a
sixteenth of an inch away. They get the idea that the tip of the tongue stays in the
front of their mouth and is not moving all over the place.

Vibrato-lip/jaw –with all instruments except flute/oboe I have them use their
normal vibrato. Use for tongue position, lip pitches, opening throat. Always start
early.
Tongue and embouchure independence.
Builds constant airflow.
Builds embouchure flexibility. A flexible embouchure builds endurance and aids in
tuning.
Brass, feel the lips moving on the cup. Keeps them from pushing mouthpiece into
lips.
On single reed instruments it forces them to keep the top teeth on the mouthpiece.

Technique:
Musicality makes technique easier.
Fluid change between notes.
1st digit of finger for fluid change of notes.
Whole finger for trills.
The band metronome- Create the beat with your articulation and finger change.
Hug the keys. No fly away fingers.
Tongue speed- “Watch my fingers as I play fast. They stay close to the keys. What
do you think your tongue needs to do to articulate fast? Stay close to the point of
articulation. “
Build technique through variety. Try trill exercises.

Technique is not about going faster. It is about being more efficient and moving less.
The shorter the distance that the finger moves, the quicker its task is completed. I
strive to have the kids “Hug the keys” as I like to say. Always keep your fingertips
close to the keys. Most instruments never have to take them off. Staying in contact
or as close as possible for open holes, helps them create less finger motion and be
more efficient.



Tuning:
Set tuning slides/mouthpieces and move air to pitch using embouchure flexibility
and tongue positioning.
Find their tuning balance point.
Students learn to anticipate- listen ahead.
Tone and tuning are in separable.
A full resonant oscillating centered sound. Fast air on all notes, loud or soft.

Brass:
Start with lips flush. Not rolled in or out. Make a fancy “M”.
Concentrate on the buzz and buzzing process. Lip resonance.
Corners to canines.
Lips to cup, not cup to lips. Aperture to cup.
Fog first-change aperture not tongue position, throat or teeth opening.
Whistle for tongue placement.
Use tonguing to build embouchure stability.
Double tonguing can build tongue placement.

High Brass Playing-CSO- John Hagstrom
The difference is the result of the air being put into the position of starting the
sound. It is the immediacy and the compression of the air that makes the difference.
The trumpets and horns blow much harder than the trombones and tuba, but much
less air quantity actually goes into the trumpet and horns, especially in the high
register. The goal of efficient high brass tone production is to have the action of the
air at the beginning of the tone generating process.
Do not blow harder than you can resist and balance with your tongue position and
embouchure.
Let the energy of your air start the sound. Decisive energy.
Tongue position is vital to increasing one’s range. Whistle a scale. Tongue focuses
the space in your mouth.

Low Brass- Skip Gray
The tongue merely shapes the air stream at the beginning of notes.
Use long “O” vowel to keep throat open.

Low Brass- Steven Mead
The body should feel powerful but relaxed.
Extend, heighten the oral cavity- egg shape, vertical.
Fix the sides of the lips. Keep the aperture of the lips open in a precise and focused
way. Relax the neck and shoulder muscles.
Resonance- sympathetic vibration of the air in the cavities of the mouth, nose and
pharynx.


Blowing pitched air. Ensure the tip of the tongue position for the beginning of the
note does not vary. Support all the vowel sounds with the right kind of air.
Keep the air free and the upper relaxed and open.
Keep the space of the oral cavity round and high.

Woodwinds:
All reed instruments, the corners come forward to the reed. Reed must vibrate
freely. Single reed mouthpieces, the weight of the head rests with the top teeth on
the mouthpiece (Let gravity do its job). Corners secure the mouthpiece and bottom
lip should feel the reed vibrate. Caution; make sure the lip is not rolled down behind
the teeth. Always see at least an 1/8” of the lip around the reed. This depends on
the thickness of the lips. We must experiment with each student to get the right
amount. Single reeds are not secured by using both sets of teeth. There is no biting,
gripping etc. with the teeth.
I use vibrato exercises as a way to build air and embouchure flexibility. Not just for
the vibrato instruments.

Flute- very relaxed embouchure. Air makes the aperture. Bottom lip is rolled
forward to flatten out on the lip plate covering half the tone hole (Frowning, sad
face,) Aperture focuses a majority of the air into the tone hole. Practice making your
embouchure. Place your index at the bottom of chin. While blowing air, aperture
focuses air at finger knuckle. Top lip stretches down to bottom lip. Practice
exercise- Place tip of tongue lightly touching the roof of your mouth. Make
embouchure and blow at finger with tongue still touching roof of mouth. Repeat
the same tongue position while playing a 4th line D. Remember, this is a practice
exercise. You do not perform the flute with your tongue against the roof of your
mouth. Keep face relaxed. Start vibrato early.

Clarinet- has firmest embouchure of all the woodwinds. Keep natural curve of chin.
Let bottom lip follow the reed up into place. Do not tuck it down behind the teeth.
Learn to have fast focused air. With open G and no register key, be able to shift air
and jaw to create high note. Create a firm jaw (jaw goes forward not up) with a high
arch at the front of the tongue, back of tongue stays down. Hear a clear tone with
precise overtones. Do not shy away from high notes for air focus and embouchure
workout, just stay away from the break until good technique is established.

Bassoon- reed must float between lips. Double lip embouchure. Equal pressure
around the reed. Be aware of teeth pressure from top and bottom. Learn what a
good tip opening looks like. Whistling is a good way to form embouchure.
Embouchure has a slight overbite. Crowing on reed to feel maximum reed
vibrations and find out which side is better on top and bottom. You should have a
multiphonic crow. Start vibrato early as well. Have a good reed source and learn a
lot about reeds, the blades, rails, thickness, adjusting. Hand position and balancing
the instrument need extra time to develop. Be diligent in watching these areas.


Oboe- reed must float between lips. Double lip embouchure; like “O” in home.
Crowing on reed to feel maximum reed vibrations and find out which side is better
on top and bottom. You should have a multiphonic crow. Be aware of teeth
pressure from top and bottom. Learn what a good tip opening looks like. Start
vibrato early as well. Have a good reed source and learn a lot about reeds, the
blades, rails, thickness, adjusting. Learning to exhale before you inhale is very
important. Learn to create a super focused air stream from the tongue position and
not from squeezing the throat. Watch for too much reed inserted past the lips.

Saxophone- reed must vibrate freely. Must be able to produce a low reedy sound
on just the mouthpiece. Feel an abundance of vibrations from the reed. Like a goose
is chasing you. Start vibrato early and on the mouthpiece. The longer you wait the
more likely they are to get lockjaw. Use the lip bend as a technique to check that
they are able to keep the top teeth on the mouthpiece. You can move easily from
here to vibrato. Round embouchure with firm corners but not firm lips. Fog a
mirror with fast air.

Percussion
Less is more- keep body movement to a minimum.
Up front- set up at the front of the room.
Hands and fingers- constantly focus on correct positions.
Have many jobs.


Scale Chorales:
1= 1st note of scale. 2 = 2nd note of scale. 3= 3rd note of scale. Etc.

A:
Group 1 | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | 1 etc.

Group 2 | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | 1 - - - | 2 - - - | 3 etc.

Group 3 | - - - - | - - - - |1 - - - | 2 - - - | 3 - - - | 4 - - - | 5 etc.

Group 4 | 1 - - - | 2 - - - | 3 - - - | 4 - - - | 5 - - - | 6 - - - | 7 etc.

B:

Group 1 |8 - - - |8 - - - |7 - - - | 8 - - - ||

Group 2 |3 - - - |4 - - - |2 - - - |3 - - - ||

Group 3 |5 - - - |6 - - - |4 - - - |5 - - - ||

Group 4 |1 - - - |4 - - - |5 - - - |1 - - - ||

Musicality: teach musically
No two notes are created equal.
Hierarchy of beat pattern: strong vs. weak. Show in conducting.
Hierarchy of subdivision: 16th notes lead to one. General, Captain, Major, Colonel.
4,1,2,3. 4=more weight. 1=least weight.
Make rainbows- Richard Floyd
Clarity- sounds blend, not cover. Maintain space between the overtones.
Lean on the dissonances.
Two kinds of music; song (lyrical) or dance (bouncy). Dr. Menghini
Triplets add momentum.
Rests are exciting.
Tension and release. The phrase and its cadence.
Melody, Counter Melody, Accompaniment and Pulse.

Notes = Skeleton.
Tone/Tuning = Clarity of communication
Rhythm = Heartbeat
Articulation = Style
Dynamics = Mood

Tempos express things about character, style, energy etc. They express musical
things, relationships. How much weight each beat has. How much time we stay in
one place. It dictates what kind of expression is contained in the pulse. How the
beat breathes: slow tempo- labored, languishing etc.: fast tempo- light, excited,
frantic etc. Tempo means so much more than speed.

Conductor’s job
Know what kind of group you have.
Have the knowledge to advance your group.
Communicate your knowledge through your conducting.
Create musical experiences no matter what age or ability.
Rehearsal shows the preparation. You cannot lead without it.
Leave the group saying, “That went by fast” after rehearsal is over.
Help them to acquire and assimilate well-formed concepts and techniques.
Be the what, why and how of your rehearsal.
Be a performer, teacher, director, and conductor.
Know your scores and exercises.
Know your terms.
Show the relationships, strong vs. weak beats, meter, pulse, phrase, dynamics etc.
Balance and blend create tuning.
Have multiple set ups.
Brass, play into the stands to let the sound be dispersed.
Conduct corrections visually rather than verbally.
No lectures.
Conducting reflects the flow of the music.
Ask them to tell you the length of the phrase. Ask them where the high point of the
phrase is. Ask them to play the phrase without breaking it, with the peak at the
proper point.
Have them play from memory.
Work backwards. Start at the end of a phrase or section.
Work the bass voices first. Foundation parts then melody last.
Have them play the passage alone without conducting so they can develop a sense of
responsibility.
Have them play passage with the melody instruments standing up.
Have them sing their part.
Have them describe the musical character.
Have them tell you if they hear a difference.

Dr. Tim
Time is the equalizer, managing it is the key.
A safe, challenging, encouraging atmosphere enhances musical learning.
Intrinsic motivation comes from the learning process.


Ben Zander
My job is to awaken possibilities in other people.
Teach possibilities not positive thinking (pretending).
Leadership is taking people with you.
What is going out from you?

A very brief outline of my sequence for beginning band

Classroom Procedures: Be concise and then practice them. How to enter and exit.
Where things are stored. Handbook. Class rules. Consequences. Concerts. Trips.
Responsibilities. Layout the year.

Instrument Selection: match the physical and mental strengths of the students to
an instrument.

Theory: establish a daily routine for developing the skills for recognizing music
symbols and counting rhythms.

Breathing: establish a daily routine for developing good inhalation and exhalation.
Tongue is in the front part of the oral cavity. Front of tongue is arched and back of
tongue is down. Teach posture in conjunction with breathing.

Posture: I do a lot of standing. Beginners enjoy playing standing up, so I use this to
my advantage. This allows me to keep them from leaning and slouching in their
chairs. They start right away learning to balance their bodies and their instrument.
It gets them to stand tall and bring the instrument to them.

Hand position: is begun before the instrument. I have the kids hold a softball with
their palm and fingers completely touching the ball. From here, their task is to move
the first two digits of their fingers, while the rest of their hand remains in contact
with the ball. Establishing the practice of only moving their fingertips is the start of
good technique. We also practice moving our fingers while remaining in contact
with the keys/valves except open holes once we have instruments.

Instruments: Set date for everyone to bring instrument. Start teaching the parts,
assembly and care of the instrument.

Starting to play: making sound.
Embouchure- You need to be able to produce a good embouchure on each
instrument.
Mouthpieces- You need to know how to make the right sounds on each mouthpiece.


By the time we begin making sound, I have established a routine with breathing and
theory already in place. Now when I add the mouthpiece tone to the routine, I
alternate between each of these three as I strive for retention and recall, clarifying
and re-teaching, coordination and muscle memory. I am checking to make sure the
kids are developing a correct understanding and physical independence in each
skill. Beginners do not have the physical or mental endurance to focus on a single
area for an entire class, so I build multiple areas within each lesson.

Why these three areas? Working with only the mouthpiece is the key to performing
all of the sound production functions on their instrument. Everything that goes into
producing the sound, air, embouchure, tongue position etc. are part of a kinetic
chain leading to tone production. Therefore, they are all taught in conjunction with
building this area. Reading is the visual recognition of music symbols and is the key
to developing our mental understanding of music as a language and form of
communication. Therefore, everything that builds this area staff, notes etc. is taught
as part of this process. Performing rhythms is key to developing our physical/tactile
relationship with music. Our ability to express our musical experience starts with
rhythm and pulse. Rhythm is the motion of music and the foundation by which the
language of notes and sounds of the instrument are unified into one. Everything
that goes into our rhythmic kinetic chain is taught in conjunction here. Think about
it. Any change in music is a change in rhythm. It is movement. From notes to
vibrato, the movement of tension to release (no matter how it is created) has an
underlying rhythmical physical effect.

Beginning with note reading exercises and games, interspersed with rhythmic
counting and chanting, all the while building the embouchure with mouthpiece
exercises and breathing drills. I rotate back and forth until a confidence is achieve in
these areas. I also begin to expose the students to many concepts that they will need
down the road. Teaching beginners is a very active class.

Tone: with beginners, the first and most important technique when it comes to tone
production is the relationship between the embouchure, tongue and air.
Establishing this will expedite learning in all other performance related areas. This
is why I start with just the mouthpiece. The correct balance between embouchure
and aperture is critical for maintaining a full column of air that moves from the
lungs to the bell in an unbroken, unencumbered process. After teaching the physical
embouchure and the first sounds (establishing lip resonance), I move right into
separating the working parts of the embouchure (lips, corners, aperture), in relation
to tongue position and air. The shape of the space between our lips is important to
all instruments for funneling the air through the instrument. Here I start
incorporating whistling (except for flutes) exercises to build the student’s concept. I
add in exercises where the students maintain the front of the tongue arched and the
back of the tongue down while using their aperture to focus the air up and down on


their hand, doing air bends and vibrato exercises of sorts for creating flexibility.
Next, I flip it around and have them maintain their aperture while changing tongue
position, like whistling from low to high but without the sound, only air. Of course,
all of this is done in conjunction with using a proper air stream, so all three parts are
being worked together. I do a lot of lip bends, slurs, and modified vibrato exercises
to facilitate muscle development. A poor relationship between these parts hurts all
other areas of performance. Not only for areas like tone and tuning or articulation,
but also for brass changing partials, flutes changing octaves and response in the rest
of the woodwinds as well.

Tuning: from the time that the student assembles the complete instrument, I teach
tone and tuning together. I have the brass pull their tuning slides and the
woodwinds set their mouthpieces or head joint to the proper length and have them
adjust air, tongue position or embouchure to produce an in-tune tone.

Articulation: once the mouthpiece is mastered, it is time to add articulation to the
mix. Here is where all the previous work on developing independence between the
tongue and aperture helps. (My working ahead philosophy.) Before I every focus
their attention on articulating, I do many exercises that incorporate the touching of
the tip of the tongue lightly to the roof of the mouth while they blow through the
aperture. I do no vocalization exercises in conjunction with this. I do not want them
to learn to vocalize to articulate. It can be impossible for some kids to stop once they
start. I keep the aperture, air and jaw steady while they develop the ability to move
only the tip of the tongue. When I make the transfer to the instrument, most of the
bad habits have been minimized, so I have a lot less cleaning to do. The key to good
articulation is simple. The less distance they move their tongue. The quicker it is to
create the articulation. I keep the tip of my tongue very close to the point where I
want to make contact. I have no idea how close I really keep it, but I tell the kids it is
only a sixteenth of an inch away. They get the idea that the tip of the tongue stays in
the front of their mouth and is not moving all over the place.

Technique: now we add in the rest of the instrument. We incorporate hand
position and posture, which we have been developing during our embouchure
breaks. If the student has a full resonating instrument, this includes good air and lip
resonance the instrument will respond to finger changes easily. If the student has
developed their proper hand position and posture, they will be able to facilitate
changing fingers as quickly as their natural abilities allow. If the student has
developed the ability to move only the tip of their tongue while their jaw and
embouchure do not, they will be able to articulate the notes comfortably. Building
speed from here becomes just a matter of correct practice and physical maturity,
which only comes in time. Technique must be pursued in its proper order in the
chain of development. Starting with technique before a solid foundation is attained
will prove fruitless in the end.


Most people I meet seem to be from the school of thought that technique is simply
moving the fingers faster. For me, this is just the final step of a much longer process
that starts back with the mouthpiece tone. As I said before, playing is not about
isolated skills, it is a kinetic chain that has to be formed correctly. With beginners, it
is about creating a whole foundation; not technique, posture, tone etc. as individual
islands, but a group relationship. With that said, the most important aspects of
technique are the ones you cannot see (air, tongue, lip resonance, teeth). Yes,
posture and hand position are important, but these are visual fundamentals. The
student can work on these things independently with a mirror or partner to help
themselves match the correct image that you provide them. It is the things you
cannot see that impact the student the most and therefore we need to spend the
most time on these areas until they become aware of what is a proper result for
these areas.

For me, technique is a continuation of the process of daily growth. When a strong
foundation is achieved with mouthpiece tone, reading and rhythm, then the natural
progression is to strengthen their recall abilities and manual dexterity by increasing
the tempo at which they perform their assignments.

When it comes to developing dexterity within their technique. I like to do many
short exercises that focus on a few notes at a time. Repetition is the key here. You
do not want to overload the students. You want to address the coordination needed
for the finger combinations used for each set of notes. Focusing on fewer notes will
produce more growth in dexterity for those notes. Work small to make big gains.
Technique is not about going faster. It is about being more efficient and moving less.
The shorter the distance that the finger moves, the quicker its task is completed. I
strive to have the kids “Hug the keys” as I like to say. Never take your fingertips off
the keys/valves except for open hole instruments. Staying in contact helps them
create less finger motion and be more efficient.

There is a big difference in the development of a student who is in the 5th grade as
compared to a student who is in the 6th grade. As well as from a 6th grader to a 7th
grader. The student’s age has a lot to do with how much and how fast I progress
through all of this material. Especially technique. It is dangerous to put speed
before correctness. A good performance is the only goal.

My purpose for technique in the first semester is to build muscle memory,
coordination and fluidity with the fingerings. During the second semester, I work on
increasing their dexterity by working on expanding the group of notes while
increasing tempo. I also do this in various key signatures to build proficiency.
Technique is about familiarity with the instrument. The things you pick for your
students to play have to build familiarity through a balanced approach. It needs to
have them play all the notes they know, every day.


Moving to much tongue and/or the jaw while articulating are very common issues.
This is why I spend so much time developing the independence of tongue, aperture
and air as discussed in the previous sections. Establish a good articulation before
you combine it with changing notes. Slur examples first, until they can articulate
and move their fingers smoothly.

Solve technique problems before they begin. Teach ahead to establish the habits
that will create success. There is no such thing as good technique. Just good
playing. We cannot give students natural ability. We can only maximize its effect.
Teach them to play well. Whether it is quarter notes at moderato or sixteenth notes
at prestissimo. Good playing is good playing.

Percussion: I have percussion up front near me so I can watch their hands and
posture very closely. Limit body movement from the very beginning.

Method book: All of the published methods are excellent resources, but none of
them is complete. You need to have supplemental materials to go along with any
book. Supplements should reinforce all the concepts taught.

Set Up: Each day the band rotates their seats so that a different group of students is
in the front row.

Contact:
Steve Giovanoni
giovanoni@rfisd.net
(210) 357-2468


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