The first several weeks of Beginner Band are crucial to the over all success of the students. These kids are often required to learn two skills at once, both of which involve multitasking - playing and instrument, and reading music. I had heard for years about the idea of Sound Before Sight, mostly as an elementary pedagogy but also by some as a beginning band method. My earliest attempt at this was missing some key components that ultimately resulted in a slower start to reading and playing, and less progress over the year. This year my friend and I worked together to develop a comprehensive curriculum that would both train the students on the basics of playing while simultaneously building them up for reading and playing. The two classes who got the full treatment are currently having better success than anything we've experienced, while the class that didn't get all of it is still struggling on the literacy end. Hopefully there's something in here that will give you ideas for your own Sound Before Sight curriculum, as having one that is effective can definitely make a big difference for your students!
Showing posts with label journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label journal. Show all posts
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Building Beginners Through Sound Before Sight
The first several weeks of Beginner Band are crucial to the over all success of the students. These kids are often required to learn two skills at once, both of which involve multitasking - playing and instrument, and reading music. I had heard for years about the idea of Sound Before Sight, mostly as an elementary pedagogy but also by some as a beginning band method. My earliest attempt at this was missing some key components that ultimately resulted in a slower start to reading and playing, and less progress over the year. This year my friend and I worked together to develop a comprehensive curriculum that would both train the students on the basics of playing while simultaneously building them up for reading and playing. The two classes who got the full treatment are currently having better success than anything we've experienced, while the class that didn't get all of it is still struggling on the literacy end. Hopefully there's something in here that will give you ideas for your own Sound Before Sight curriculum, as having one that is effective can definitely make a big difference for your students!
Friday, May 25, 2012
Journal Entry - "The First Year" 05/25/12
I've officially survived my first year! I feel like I saw an "Achievement Unlocked" pop up earlier, or at least felt one. I know I was in the middle of a series about student motivation, and I do want to finish that, but I also want to take a post to reflect on this past semester. Combined with some of my other entries this year and we'll have a pretty decent record of my experience this year: I Found a Job!, Thing Are Getting Better, Three Tips to Make Your Next Concert a Hit and Journal Entry 3-24-12.
In the last journal entry I talked about how I believed the band was hitting a major turning point. At UIL we made a 2 in Sight Reading and a 1 in Concert. The concert rating was significant because it was the first 1st Division in Concert Contest since 2009 for this group, also because we got a 3 at Marching Contest, and also because that meant they would get to perform at the UIL State Wind Ensemble Festival. It generated a lot of excitement, not just for the kids, but for the community as well.
In the last journal entry I talked about how I believed the band was hitting a major turning point. At UIL we made a 2 in Sight Reading and a 1 in Concert. The concert rating was significant because it was the first 1st Division in Concert Contest since 2009 for this group, also because we got a 3 at Marching Contest, and also because that meant they would get to perform at the UIL State Wind Ensemble Festival. It generated a lot of excitement, not just for the kids, but for the community as well.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Journal Entry 03-24-12
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Things Are Getting Better...
It's been quite a while since my last post. So much has happened! I would apologize for the lack of a post, but I notice it's common on education blogs, especially those written by active public school educators, for there to be long gaps between blogs while school is in session. I figure the people who would be interested in this blog can probably understand.
And while I look forward to writing over the breaks, I have to admit I'm not too sure what to blog about. Many of my past blogs were based on findings in my research, but since August 1st I've been engaged in nothing but practice. When I do resume blogging, I imagine it will be as unstructured as many of my earliest blogs.
So with that in mind, I wanted to just post a journal entry more than anything else. For my friends and family out there who follow this, and anyone else for that matter, I'm happy to report that most of what I have shared on this blog in terms of pedagogy and procedures has been largely effective. For example...
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
I Found a Job!
Hello friends!
This is strictly a journal entry. I just wanted to talk a little about the past few months. I didn't want to write a journal blog of despair, but really that's what the past couple of months have mostly been.
I started my job search in February, before the TMEA Convention. I remember being so excited for TMEA (after all, 2010 TMEA was life changing for me), and then being progressively more bummed out when I didn't get a call to meet a principal who had said he would like to meet me while he was there. Of course I did eventually meet him. I knocked the interview out of the park, and went back a couple of weeks later to meet the other principal. I was the favorite for the position of Band Director at this district for weeks, but in the end I didn't get it. It was the first major missed opportunity of many in the job hunt season. You see, normally this small school district didn't get any good applicants, but this time they had several good applicants, and one outstanding applicant. He showed just as much enthusiasm and imagination as I did, but the big difference was that he had several years of experience as an assistant at an incredible small school program in the East.
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| Special Thanks to my cooperating teacher and his great students for this awesome name plate they gave me at the spring concert. |
I started my job search in February, before the TMEA Convention. I remember being so excited for TMEA (after all, 2010 TMEA was life changing for me), and then being progressively more bummed out when I didn't get a call to meet a principal who had said he would like to meet me while he was there. Of course I did eventually meet him. I knocked the interview out of the park, and went back a couple of weeks later to meet the other principal. I was the favorite for the position of Band Director at this district for weeks, but in the end I didn't get it. It was the first major missed opportunity of many in the job hunt season. You see, normally this small school district didn't get any good applicants, but this time they had several good applicants, and one outstanding applicant. He showed just as much enthusiasm and imagination as I did, but the big difference was that he had several years of experience as an assistant at an incredible small school program in the East.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Oh, the Places You'll Go!
Today the band performed at a festival as part of its spring trip. The director chooses this festival both for its location and for its hard judging. In the parking lot, in front of the busses, with grey overcast and gusting winds, he called the band (still in their tuxes and dresses) around into a circle and announced they had made straight ones at the contest for the first time. A victory cheer rang out, complete with smiles, hugs, jumping, and that sort of thing. The excitement seemed short lived, however. They were surprised, but not too surprised.
Later in the day a student wanted to leave the room, and for this place I had to follow. I got my shoes on, put my ear buds in, and started listening to the second movement from “Estancia”. Due to a slight headache I was slow getting off the couch, and let the student get a little head start on me, so when I walked outside I was walking alone.
Outside – the wind was stronger here than it was on the mainland. Through the sound of the breeze cut the calls of seagulls, of which there were likely hundreds near by. Leaving the complex, walking on grass, I came to an old, wooden bridge. The bridge led over a hill of tall grass and occasional cacti that predated civilization on this patch of land. It was the same kind of terrain that surrounded all of the developed lots you passed on the way to the condos. Soon you had to walk over a thick, long patch of bright, tan colored sand as you continued over the bridge. It was loose sand, textured with unmoving ripples, but also easily picked up by the wind and carried into your eyes. But then once you were over the hill, you could finally see it.
The beach.
Unlike on the bridge, the sand on the beach was compact. I pictured it being loose and difficult to walk on, but it was very much the opposite, compact though bumpy. It was also much darker sand than I’d pictured. Just like any wet dirt you would find. And it was warm. In fact, while the clouds were overcast grey, and the gusty winds never let up, the temperature stayed slightly warm, and the air humid. When I took out one of my ear buds I finally could hear the sound of crashing waves added to the roar of the wind and the calls of seagulls. The waves themselves were more frequent than I would’ve imagined. And taller. Turbulent was the word that came to my mind.
Yep, this particular beach was not quite as nice as I had hoped. The entire beach front was littered with mounds of seaweed. With bare feet you had to carefully step over it on your way out to the water. Even the seagulls seemed to have a tough time. When flying from right to left, they zoomed past me, but in the opposite direction they had to fight for every foot of progress against the wind. For a moment I wondered if that was frustrating for them, and then the wind resistance brought one of them within ten feet of me at lower than chest height. For a few moments, before it escaped, I was able to replace the backdrop with one from a higher altitude, and I imagined what it might be like to be his wing man, like something out of an IMAX movie.
Not what I’d imagined, but still very nice (the beach, that is). The last time I visited a beach I was with the Angelo State University Marching Band not far from here in Corpus Christi, though we didn’t arrive at the hotel until after dark. The last time I could recall being to the beach before that? My childhood, and a family vacation with my dad and his second wife down in a beach town in Mexico. It got me to thinking.
Thanks to the band, I’ve done a lot of traveling, and I’ve been a lot of places. Thanks to the band I got to see and experience so many things, whether it was that yearly trip to Schlitterban after State Solo and Ensemble, or the Inaugural Parade in Washington D.C. (which itself was followed by a few nights and days of sight seeing, great dining, and incredible memories), and so much more.
Being part of “the band” has been, and continues to be one of the greatest decisions of my life. Not only when I signed up for it as an elective for the first time (when I chose it as the alternative to Spanish), but every year that I decided to go back.
We don’t want those trips to be the reason kids sign up for band. We want it to be for the musical experiences. But this sort of traveling is also a great reason. The friends, the stories… Oh, the stories. So many of them. I often wonder how many other bands had their own version of “619”, or their own Fight Clubs going on in hotel laundry mats.
Most students graduate and rarely, if ever, play music again, with a band or otherwise. Which is sad. But of course we chose differently. I can’t help but to think that it was one of, if not the most influential decision of my life. Where would I be, if not for “the band?” Who would I be? What experiences would I have? I’m sure it wouldn’t have been a bad life, but I seriously doubt it would’ve been anything like what I’ve lived so far.
How many people from my high school band do I still keep up with? How many friends have I made through Kappa Kappa Psi across the southwestern US as well as in my own chapter? Thanks to the fraternity, in addition to the band trips, I went to district conventions for six straight years, visiting cities and campuses I might not have otherwise ever seen. And the hotel at National Convention two years ago? Presidents go there. I might have never been there, nor met Pat Sheridan and Sam Pilafian, were it not for the fraternity. And I would’ve never been in the fraternity were it not for “the band.”
On my way back from the beach I had these thoughts swimming in my head. In my ears were the sounds of “Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral”, a piece of music I had the privilege of performing a few years ago. It was one of the greatest musical experiences I can recall from my college years. Why were all of these memories and thoughts pouring into my head?
Who knows? But I felt like telling every one of those kids in the band I was here with, “Stay in band. It will be the best decision of your life, every time. Whatever you do, stay in band!”
The places it has taken me. My goodness! I’m so grateful to have had a great high school band experience. I’m so grateful to have stuck with it through college. And though right now, with graduation a week away and the poor outlook of the job market bringing great uncertainty for me and my family (which has a second son joining the ranks in just a few short months), I know that once I find the next band to be a part of, sticking with it will continue to be one of the most rewarding decisions I could possibly make. Seriously, are we lucky, or what?
But I probably don’t have to tell you. Regardless, I just had these things on my mind lately, being on yet another band trip, but the last of my college career, and the first with a high school group since 2003, and with student teaching having officially ended this past Friday, and graduation a week from today… you get the idea. I just wanted to document them. And share them with anyone who would listen.
So thank you for reading, for allowing me to share. Until next time, take care!
Musically yours,
Mr. Cooper
Later in the day a student wanted to leave the room, and for this place I had to follow. I got my shoes on, put my ear buds in, and started listening to the second movement from “Estancia”. Due to a slight headache I was slow getting off the couch, and let the student get a little head start on me, so when I walked outside I was walking alone.
Outside – the wind was stronger here than it was on the mainland. Through the sound of the breeze cut the calls of seagulls, of which there were likely hundreds near by. Leaving the complex, walking on grass, I came to an old, wooden bridge. The bridge led over a hill of tall grass and occasional cacti that predated civilization on this patch of land. It was the same kind of terrain that surrounded all of the developed lots you passed on the way to the condos. Soon you had to walk over a thick, long patch of bright, tan colored sand as you continued over the bridge. It was loose sand, textured with unmoving ripples, but also easily picked up by the wind and carried into your eyes. But then once you were over the hill, you could finally see it.
The beach.
Unlike on the bridge, the sand on the beach was compact. I pictured it being loose and difficult to walk on, but it was very much the opposite, compact though bumpy. It was also much darker sand than I’d pictured. Just like any wet dirt you would find. And it was warm. In fact, while the clouds were overcast grey, and the gusty winds never let up, the temperature stayed slightly warm, and the air humid. When I took out one of my ear buds I finally could hear the sound of crashing waves added to the roar of the wind and the calls of seagulls. The waves themselves were more frequent than I would’ve imagined. And taller. Turbulent was the word that came to my mind.
Yep, this particular beach was not quite as nice as I had hoped. The entire beach front was littered with mounds of seaweed. With bare feet you had to carefully step over it on your way out to the water. Even the seagulls seemed to have a tough time. When flying from right to left, they zoomed past me, but in the opposite direction they had to fight for every foot of progress against the wind. For a moment I wondered if that was frustrating for them, and then the wind resistance brought one of them within ten feet of me at lower than chest height. For a few moments, before it escaped, I was able to replace the backdrop with one from a higher altitude, and I imagined what it might be like to be his wing man, like something out of an IMAX movie.
Not what I’d imagined, but still very nice (the beach, that is). The last time I visited a beach I was with the Angelo State University Marching Band not far from here in Corpus Christi, though we didn’t arrive at the hotel until after dark. The last time I could recall being to the beach before that? My childhood, and a family vacation with my dad and his second wife down in a beach town in Mexico. It got me to thinking.
Thanks to the band, I’ve done a lot of traveling, and I’ve been a lot of places. Thanks to the band I got to see and experience so many things, whether it was that yearly trip to Schlitterban after State Solo and Ensemble, or the Inaugural Parade in Washington D.C. (which itself was followed by a few nights and days of sight seeing, great dining, and incredible memories), and so much more.
Being part of “the band” has been, and continues to be one of the greatest decisions of my life. Not only when I signed up for it as an elective for the first time (when I chose it as the alternative to Spanish), but every year that I decided to go back.
We don’t want those trips to be the reason kids sign up for band. We want it to be for the musical experiences. But this sort of traveling is also a great reason. The friends, the stories… Oh, the stories. So many of them. I often wonder how many other bands had their own version of “619”, or their own Fight Clubs going on in hotel laundry mats.
Most students graduate and rarely, if ever, play music again, with a band or otherwise. Which is sad. But of course we chose differently. I can’t help but to think that it was one of, if not the most influential decision of my life. Where would I be, if not for “the band?” Who would I be? What experiences would I have? I’m sure it wouldn’t have been a bad life, but I seriously doubt it would’ve been anything like what I’ve lived so far.
How many people from my high school band do I still keep up with? How many friends have I made through Kappa Kappa Psi across the southwestern US as well as in my own chapter? Thanks to the fraternity, in addition to the band trips, I went to district conventions for six straight years, visiting cities and campuses I might not have otherwise ever seen. And the hotel at National Convention two years ago? Presidents go there. I might have never been there, nor met Pat Sheridan and Sam Pilafian, were it not for the fraternity. And I would’ve never been in the fraternity were it not for “the band.”
On my way back from the beach I had these thoughts swimming in my head. In my ears were the sounds of “Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral”, a piece of music I had the privilege of performing a few years ago. It was one of the greatest musical experiences I can recall from my college years. Why were all of these memories and thoughts pouring into my head?
Who knows? But I felt like telling every one of those kids in the band I was here with, “Stay in band. It will be the best decision of your life, every time. Whatever you do, stay in band!”
The places it has taken me. My goodness! I’m so grateful to have had a great high school band experience. I’m so grateful to have stuck with it through college. And though right now, with graduation a week away and the poor outlook of the job market bringing great uncertainty for me and my family (which has a second son joining the ranks in just a few short months), I know that once I find the next band to be a part of, sticking with it will continue to be one of the most rewarding decisions I could possibly make. Seriously, are we lucky, or what?
But I probably don’t have to tell you. Regardless, I just had these things on my mind lately, being on yet another band trip, but the last of my college career, and the first with a high school group since 2003, and with student teaching having officially ended this past Friday, and graduation a week from today… you get the idea. I just wanted to document them. And share them with anyone who would listen.
So thank you for reading, for allowing me to share. Until next time, take care!
Musically yours,
Mr. Cooper
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Boston Brass and the ASU Brass Festival
I just wanted to take a moment to say that I've had the pleasure of hearing Boston Brass at Angelo State University today and yesterday. In both cases they were amazing. In fact, after their recital/masterclass yesterday I went immediately to a rehearsal with my accompanist, and played with more technicality and musicality than I have in three weeks! It's really true that your mental concept of how you should play has a major impact on the playing itself, and can often fix major problems with very little practice time. With the right concept, what might have taken hours to achieve can happen in a matter of minutes. But that's a tangent.
I also got to attend a masterclass with Andrew Hitz, their tubist. In addition to being a beast on the tuba, he's a really cool guy with a good sense of humor. Myself and the other older player in attendance let the Jr. High and High School students ask all the questions, but even so he was able to share techniques that are applicable at all levels. I thought it was interesting how he was able to pull that off.
Anyway, they're a tremendous group. I highly recommend checking the Boston Brass website, which has a streaming mp3 player with random tracks from their albums. They're in the elite tier of the world's brass quintets, so if you want to hear some music that will knock you off your seat, check these guys out!
While there are aspects about the program at ASU that I have gripes about, I'm honestly grateful to have Dr. John Irish and Dr. Ed Surface helming the brass instruction. These guys have studied with all the best, and are extremely well networked. As a result I've been able to meet and, in some cases take lessons with, some of the best brass musicians in the world. They work hard to put these annual festivals together, and if you ever get the chance, you should go! For more information about those festivals or the brass happenings at Angelo State, you can go to their website here. I'm honestly proud to have studied brass at ASU.
Program Notes for the upcoming Senior recital are on the way. I got some revisions from Dr. Surface, so once I get that knocked out I'll be sure to post it up here. It's shaping up to be a great performance, and I'm excited to even have some high school students I've worked with coming out in addition to many of my colleagues in the department and family members. I'm looking forward to it!
Until next time, thank you for reading, and take care of yourself!
Musically yours,
Mr. Cooper
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| Standing with Andrew Hitz, tubist for Boston Brass, after today's performance. |
Anyway, they're a tremendous group. I highly recommend checking the Boston Brass website, which has a streaming mp3 player with random tracks from their albums. They're in the elite tier of the world's brass quintets, so if you want to hear some music that will knock you off your seat, check these guys out!
While there are aspects about the program at ASU that I have gripes about, I'm honestly grateful to have Dr. John Irish and Dr. Ed Surface helming the brass instruction. These guys have studied with all the best, and are extremely well networked. As a result I've been able to meet and, in some cases take lessons with, some of the best brass musicians in the world. They work hard to put these annual festivals together, and if you ever get the chance, you should go! For more information about those festivals or the brass happenings at Angelo State, you can go to their website here. I'm honestly proud to have studied brass at ASU.Program Notes for the upcoming Senior recital are on the way. I got some revisions from Dr. Surface, so once I get that knocked out I'll be sure to post it up here. It's shaping up to be a great performance, and I'm excited to even have some high school students I've worked with coming out in addition to many of my colleagues in the department and family members. I'm looking forward to it!
Until next time, thank you for reading, and take care of yourself!
Musically yours,
Mr. Cooper
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