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Angela Kinerk

Woodwind Tech
Outside Observation
12/6/13
On Wednesday before Thanksgiving I visited my hometown middle school band classroom. I
stayed and chatted with my band director most of the day, but the 5
th
and 6
th
grade beginning band was
in session for 45 minutes. I sat among the students and played with them, while observing the director.
The class started with breathing warm-ups then they did a review of what they were learning
and looked at a schedule. There is a smartboard in this band room and the teacher made lists and could
write notes on it, which I thought was pretty cool. The review consisted of a reminder of when the
concert was and what the students should wear. It listed all the songs they were going to play for the
concert as well. Then there was the schedule for that day in class, which listed several pieces to
rehearse, and a discussion. I will definitely use that organization technique as a teacher, because it is
great for teacher and students to have a routine and a set schedule.
After the smartboard review they did the instrument warm-ups. The kids had been working on
chromatic scale, so they played one octave chromatically at a very slow tempo, up and down. They also
did a 4-bar chorale sort of piece that the director had written for the purpose. They tuned in sections,
and the director picked two people from each section to compare, and let the students have a chance of
deciding how those two students needed to adjust to be in tune. All of this seemed to be routine and
went pretty quickly.
From my own middle school experience with this director and from this observation, I can say
that his work with chromatic scale is very strong. Every student there knew how to play it, even if they
had to think about it and play slowly. The tuning was horrible, but I think that is a reflection of the
beginner level of the band, rather than a fault of the teacher. I liked the way that he let the students
hear the difference in an isolated situation. He also gave the students a visual by holding his hands out
levelly and placing the second one higher or lower than the first, based on the intonation of the student
who played second. I think the visual helps students hear the difference in the pitches, because I know
it helped me.
Before rehearsing the pieces, the director asked questions about what the students needed to
be aware of in the piece, such as key signature, time changes, long rests, etc. This helped the students
focus on the piece and be a little more prepared to play it. This director has very strict rules about
silence when he is on the podium, so once he stood up there, the students immediately quieted and
were in ready playing positions. I thought that was really admirable, and he did it without being cruel or
making the kids dislike him. The pieces were very simple and most were holiday songs for the upcoming
concert. The director told me he had actually arranged one of the pieces on his own to fit it to his band.
The students seemed enthused about the music, but got distracted easily when the director had to pay
attention to a specific section. For example, there was a clarinet passage that the students were having
difficulty with, and the director took time to have them play it slowly and together. Once they got most
of the notes, he asked them to play it more expressively and used me as an example. (The kids were
really impressed that I could sight-read their music. ) Expressive playing seemed to be an important
issue for the director, and he often mentioned it.
All the band students perform together, but the classes are split into 5-6
th
and 7-8
th
, which
causes some major difficulties. The younger students get most of the easier parts, but they often lack
the melody, so it can be difficult for them to put their pieces together without the sounds of the older
band. They cannot have two separate bands, because there are not enough people in the small school.
I have no idea how their scheduling works, but in my future classes I would really try to avoid that kind
of situation, and hope that I could have either two bands, or all students meeting at once. Since this
director seems so good at arranging, I would say he should rewrite a few parts to spread the melody
more evenly. Sometimes he would play the melody with the kids, but without conducting they often fell
apart.

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