I added a list of links to relevant music organizations to my “for-students” website today. Perhaps your students would find them interesting, too. Please feel free to copy and paste the following list of links (hopefully they will copy and paste with the embedded URLs still embedded) into your own website. It may be the most relevant website addition you could achieve in 30 seconds!
National Flute Association
International Double Reed Society
International Clarinet Association
North American Saxophone Alliance
International Trumpet Guild
International Horn Society
International Trombone Association
International Tuba Euphonium Association
Percussive Arts Society
World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles
These organizations were chosen for being (1) the largest membership of their target instrument, (2) international, and (3) non-profit. And of course, if there is a more valuable or viable organization than I have listed, please leave a comment to let me know. I would also like to add more wind band organizations and a jazz musicians’ association to my list; but as I am currently targeting student players (not music teachers) I intentionally left off educational organizations such as MENC and Jazz Education Network.
What organizations might be useful or important to your students?
September 24th, 2009
When trying mouthpieces on prospective Band students, it may be helpful to move from mouthpieces of least resistance/musculature to mouthpieces of most resistance/musculature. Flute, for example, requires almost negligible flexing of muscles in the lip and corner of the mouth, and gives no resistance to air blown across the tone hole. Brass instruments, on the other hand, require significant muscular activity in the corners of the mouth (to avoid puffy “chipmunk” cheeks) as well as significant motion in the center of the upper lip to produce higher and lower buzz. (You may choose not to ask students for more than a simple, straight buzz, but I find teaching a class to move their buzz higher and lower takes little additional time but is valuable in placing students on the least difficult instrument for their mouth.) Perhaps the most athletic embouchure your students will try out is the oboe, the reed of which gives strong back pressure–or, in your students’ terms, is “hard to blow through”. The resulting effort of lungs, cheeks and lips is enormous for the first-timer. A beginning or pre-band student who attempts to blow the flute headjoint just after the force of brass or oboe is likely to get a nasty, airy sound, or no sound at all. On the other hand, it has been my experience (unscientifically tested though it may be) that students who work through the back pressure of clarinet (don’t bite down on the reed!) can be more easily coaxed to produce the amount of air needed for a first low brass buzz (though, admittedly, some students do better from brass towards clarinet), and from there can be coaxed into he more focused buzz of the smaller high brass mouthpieces and then to double-reeds.
Thus, my suggested list of order of mouthpiece fitting:
Flute
(Saxophone)
Clarinet
Low brass - Trombone
High brass - Trumpet
(French horn)
(Bassoon)
(Oboe)
Mouthpieces that some band directors choose to either not use in fittings or not start in first-year band have been listed in parentheses. For example, I prefer to only try tuba mouthpieces for students who excel at, yet feel cramped in, the trombone mouthpiece; for students who may have tuba lips, I will try the tuba mouthpiece only after seeing the student buzz trombone and trumpet. The same goes for French horn, which mouthpiece has roughly similar rim size as trumpet but for which the inverted-shape mouthpiece cup gives a feeling of being an entirely smaller size. Double reeds are listed in parentheses due to the number of wind pedagogues who (a) don’t teach double reeds in very small school bands, (b) don’t teach double reeds because, for better or for worse, their marching program takes paramount importance, or (c) prefer to switch their most successful flute and saxophone students over to double reeds after the fall concert.
Additional reading:
Clardy, Mary Karen. Flute Fundamentals.
Dietz, William et al. Teaching Woodwinds: A Method and Resource Handbook for Music Educators.
Farkas, Philip. The Art of Horn Playing.
Kohut, Daniel. Musical Performance: Learning Theory and Pedagogy.
Westphal, Frederick. Guide to Teaching Woodwinds.
Whitener, Scott. A Complete Guide to Brass.
September 14th, 2009
I recently commended Joseph Pisano’s list of the best free music software currently available. I also wrote that one of my favorites from the list is MuseScore notation software. If you need more input before taking the leap, please check out Joy Morin’s in-depth review of MuseScore over at colorinmypiano blog. Joy’s candid review covers both the pros and cons of MuseScore. Joy’s recommendation: great functionality for students, great value for the price, but professionals may want to wait for future version of this promising but incomplete application. Thanks, Joy!
September 7th, 2009
Joe Pisano over at MusTech.Net has posted an outstanding article covering the best free music software currently available. His list includes software for notation, ear training, tuning, multitrack recording and more. My personal favorites are MuseScore notation software and Audacity multitrack recording and editing software. Thank you Dr. Pisano!
September 6th, 2009