Before I transitioned to higher education, I spent 10 years as a middle school and high school band director in Title I schools. When I began teaching, one struggle I had to address was low enrollment. By empowering my students and collaborating with parents, administrators, and community partners, ... Read More about Recruiting & Retaining Minority Student Musicians
Search Results for: teaching strategies
Making the Most of Listening
Great recordings--are you using them in your teaching? We are fortunate to have a wealth of high-quality band recordings that are easy to obtain. Probably every director would agree that if their students listen to great compositions played by awesome concert bands, they will play better. However, ... Read More about Making the Most of Listening
6 Benefits of Adding Rhythm Ear Training to Your Band Curriculum
According to Wikipedia, "Ear training (or aural skills) is a music theory study in which musicians learn to identify pitches, intervals, melody, chords, rhythms, solfeges, and other basic elements of music, solely by hearing. The application of this skill is analogous to taking dictation in ... Read More about 6 Benefits of Adding Rhythm Ear Training to Your Band Curriculum
How Do You Teach Rhythmic Precision?
In a Band Directors Talk Shop survey, we asked readers, “What is the best phrase, analogy, or activity you've ever heard/used regarding the teaching of rhythmic precision?” With hundreds of responses to the survey, we came up with this categorized list of your answers. Thanks so much to all of our ... Read More about How Do You Teach Rhythmic Precision?
What I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Band Director
In our recent survey, we asked Band Directors Talk Shop readers, “What do you wish you had learned or been been told before becoming a band director?” With hundreds of responses to the survey, we came up with this categorized list of your answers to the question. Thanks so much to all of our ... Read More about What I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Band Director
Starting from Zero: Building a Music Program
Building a music program from scratch is a challenging task for any music teacher. With only a couple students, little to no music library, no instruments, and a budget that is small to non-existent, these components make building a program a complicated task. For many teachers building a music ... Read More about Starting from Zero: Building a Music Program
Staying Out of Trouble (Texas Bandmaster Association Archives)
The TBA Archives refer to the Texas Bandmasters Association archives of clinic handouts from past conventions. Conventions are one of the best ways to learn new things, spark new ideas, ask questions and be inspired. The only problem is all of that new knowledge is thrown at us in about a 48 hour ... Read More about Staying Out of Trouble (Texas Bandmaster Association Archives)
