By Cheryl Floyd
Do you ever wish you knew more about the instruments you are teaching in beginning band classes? Certainly, you have expansive knowledge regarding your principal instrument and perhaps some of you are very comfortable on several secondary instruments as well. You are familiar with the characteristics and quirks of the instruments you have spent hours practicing. You know how to be a role model, demonstrate fundamental skills and correct flaws. Why? Because you have “been there and done that.”
But what about those instruments you have had only a passing acquaintance with since your undergraduate method courses? To make matters worse, we all know the instruction we were presented in many of those classes was likely the equivalent of reading the Cliff Notes instead of digesting the actual book! We were simply exposed to rapid-fire information with no in-depth exploration regarding the subtle differences and idiosyncrasies between all the instruments we would encounter. The bottom line is you went to class, barely made a characteristic sound on the clarinet or any instrument for that matter, then walked across a stage with a diploma in your hand and then placed in a classroom filled with beginning 6th or 7th band students and expected to teach them to make music.
We shrugged our shoulders, told ourselves “it is what it is” and tried to do our best. But it does not have to be that way. There are multiple strategies we can embrace to minimize these deficiencies. Let’s look at a few.
-Make it a goal every summer to play through one or more beginning band books of instruments that are out of your comfort zone. Play every line…every line! Learn what it is like to cross the break on clarinet or find 6th position for the first time on trombone. My husband played through the method book for every instrument he was charged to teach during the summer after he graduated and before he ever stood in front of a beginning class.) JUST DO IT!!!
-Take private lessons. Seriously consider taking a few private lessons on your weaker instruments. Think of it as professional development on steroids. You will never regret it. Recently I personally taught flute lessons via Zoom to a young teacher who had never taught flute, had a weak experience in her woodwind pedagogy class, and very much wanted to do her best for her students! She has become a very successful flute teacher and still reaches out to me when she has any questions!
-Attend clinics at conferences. Not just the clinics on student retention, leadership, and rehearsal techniques but avail yourself of the opportunities to attend “nuts and bolts” clinics on instruments. I have been a flute player and music educator for over 40 years, but I never fail to learning something new when I attend an instrument clinic.
-Attend summer workshops like the Music For All Summer Symposium (now Bands of America Band Camp). Their director’s track is second to none and filled with practical “hands on” sessions.
For example, this past summer I was asked to teach both a beginning flute and beginning clarinet session. Thanks to Yamaha and Sweetwater instruments I was excited to learn that 20 flutes and 20 clarinets would be available for demonstration with all participants! I was thrilled…and a bit intimidated! What if no one came to those sessions? What if directors came and the majority didn’t want to participate? What if my middle school teaching strategies didn’t work? To my surprise, both sessions were packed! Every instrument was taken and directors who arrived later were disappointed there weren’t any more instruments available!
In the flute session one director told me he had never been able to make a sound on the flute head joint. I assured him he wouldn’t be my first failure! To his surprise I was able to help him get a beautiful sound on the flute head joint, the class went crazy, and he was ecstatic. Something tells me he is enjoying his beginning flutes this fall.
Check out Operation O.B.O.E, Bocal Majority and Floot Fire. There are sessions for directors only with an option for instruments provided for participants in the double reed sessions.
Paula Corley is a master clarinet teacher! Her website (Clarinet City) is filled w/teaching videos at all levels. There are also many free printable handouts!
– Seek information exchanges with colleagues. You help me know more about the trombone and I will teach you how to deal with the third octave on the flute. This resource is limitless!
-Hang out with directors who have amazing beginner classes. Take them to lunch. Pick their brains. Ask them for techniques and tips. Observe their classes and take it all in.
Bottom line… Resources are never-ending. There are no boundaries. You are only limited by your imagination, resourcefulness and passion for acquiring knowledge. Go for it!
MusicAchievementCouncil.org
