Friday, April 20, 2012

Blog 7-Advocacy


Dear Superintendent and School Board
It has come to my attention that a large funding cut to the public school music program is under consideration and will be voted on at the school board meeting this coming week. I would like to take this opportunity to express a few factors that I hope you will take under consideration before finalizing this important decision.
The public school music program provides excellent musical opportunities that are available to all students. The program provides musical opportunities to students in 5th thru 12th grade.  Students perform at least two concerts a semester, learn music fundamentals, and work on sight reading skills. The work done in these ensembles ensures that the music program is compliant with the National Association for Music Education National Standards and opens many musical opportunities for students.
As participation in a musical ensemble begins in 5th grade students are well on their way to achieving a great level of comprehensive musicianship when they enter high school. This has greatly enhanced the high school programs level of excellence which is tangibly shown by the several superior ratings received at both District and State Music Festival.
The skills that students learn in music classes fall into two categories: intrinsic musical values, and non-musical opportunities for growth that are extremely well facilitated by a performing ensemble class. Music requires a unique skill set of technique, subjective interpretation, appreciation of aesthetic beauty, and the cultivation of a desire to communicate subjective, intangible things. The music classroom also provides an unparalleled environment to develop the skills of teamwork, self-discipline, leadership, and responsibility.
Thank you for your time! If you have any more questions regarding the music program in our school district please don’t hesitate to contact me!
Sincerely,
Kira Lee

Music Director

4-20 Observation

I observed Kelly Berhdal's Freshmen Concert Band during their adjudicated performance and sight-reading session for District Music Festival.

I thought that the kids did a really excellent job on both portions. Mr. Berhdal obviously had them very well prepared on their concert music and they have obviously worked on sight-reading skills.

In regards to the music they performed I noticed that one of their pieces definitely had several rhythm challenges (sounded like mixed meter and some interesting cross rhythms). The kids where prepared enough that the main comments from the adjudicators were about increased dynamic contrast and expanded listening skills to work on more accurate intonation as an ensemble

One of the most effective things I observed was before the sight reading session Mr. Berhdal talked through the whole piece giving different sections specific things to watch for and referencing certain points that they would be able to latch on again if they got lost.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

4-2 Elementary Band Observation

I observed Jennifer Murphy's 5th Grade band rehearsal at Emily Dickinson Elementary.   They were working on some music for the upcoming 5th grade band and orchestra festival. Also, during this class period she introduced the concept of the concert B-flat scale and how saxophones and clarinets would not be playing a written B-flat scale but they would all be playing the same pitches.

Ms. Murphy obviously had a well established system because all the students seemed to know the drill on how to get their instruments and get set up and ready for band. There were a few stragglers that didn't have music or seemed to take forever to get their instruments out, but overall it seemed to go pretty well.

I was really impressed at how Ms. Murphy was able to mix individual help without the entire group sitting idle. She moves around her classroom a lot so she can hear individual students and offer assistance.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Blog 6-Tone

Achievement of a characteristic tone on each instrument in an ensemble is important for three reasons

1-Good tone is the foundation of a balanced and blended ensemble sound
As we read in the article on balance and blend-an ensemble that is comprised of musicians producing a good characteristic tone within in a pyramid-like proportion of bass to treble will naturally lend itself to a more balanced and blended sound
2-Good tone is key to developing a keener sense of intonation
when students are producing a good tone that is characteristic of their instrument it is much easier for them to hear intonation discrepancies and correct them. 
3-Achievement of a characteristic instrumental tone is more than half the battle of achieving musical success on an instrument
A large portion of the technique that students are learning (bowing, embouchure, air control, ect) is all directly related to tone production. As students make success in these areas the improvement of their tone will be a tangible result of their efforts.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

3-22-12 BHS concert band observation

1. I observed one of Kelly Berhdal's concert bands in rehearsal during 1st period at BHS.
2. There were definitely some problems with students being unprepared and unfocused . Like Mr. Berhdal said, sometimes you just have a bad rehearsal day. I was so impressed at how quiet they got when he raised his voice. I'm sure that this style of management probably only works for some people and it probably also only works now that he knows the student body pretty well. I don't think it would be such a great option for me.
3. This ensemble was kind of in a middle stage of repertoire learning--there are definitely some notes that still need to be learned, but they were able to work on some issues of balance and blend.
4. The two main pieces that we heard them work on seemed to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. the In This Quiet Place seemed much too easy and they were definitely bored with it, however the Cowboy piece seemed to be really challenging them.
5. I think this observation definitely made me realize that kids are sometimes just difficult and things don't go very well and you just have to shrug it off and make your next rehearsal better.

3-22-12 BHS Jazz band observation

1. I observed Kelly Berhdal's 7:30 jazz band in rehearsal at BHS.
2. It kind of bothered me that they didn't really start on time and it seemed to take a while to get everyone settled in and into work mode. Once they got there though I thought that they got a lot done in a small amount of time.
3. I thought that the warm-up they did was great! I was really impressed at how well all the kids did with their improvised solo and I thought it was great that they also did a call and response type of exercise to focus on ear training.  The band was working on some charts for an upcoming show so they were into a polishing up stage at this point and really working on uniformity of sound, attacks, releases, and dynamics.
4. I'm not very well versed in jazz band literature. I thought they sounded good and it didn't seem too hard for them. There definitely were a few rhythmic things that had challenged them, but none of it seemed beyond them. Can we maybe discuss how to evaluate literature for a jazz band, or an ensemble that isn't our forte???
5. I thought that it really seemed like the kids were enjoying themselves and working hard at the same time. I think its really important to develop strong courses like this outside of your main concert group because it develops musical skills in a different way and also is an extra engagement for the students.

3-20-12 BHS observation/practicum

1. I observed and lead a warm-up for Mr. Certalic's Camerata orchestra (a group of high schools, the majority of whom are juniors and seniors) at BHS during one of their rehearsals.
2. I think the biggest management issue I notices was when the students needed their etude and fiddle tune books and it probably took at least 5 to 7 minutes for everyone to get a book and get re-settled. This could probably be remedied by having more than one storage area for the books (for example keep violins, violas, and celli books in different areas so there is a little less of a stack-up.)  Also, I will definitely want to plan ahead so they have those books at the beginning of class and avoid the disruption.
3. The learning goals of Mr. Certalic's warm-ups are the foundations of everything that he does in orchestra. They are all founded on improving the basic tenants of string playing (intonation, tone, and technique) The call and response exercise that I led was meant to work on ear training development.
4. The variety of warm-ups that Mr. Certalic has is incredible. The etude book is a collection of many of the best traditional etudes for different stringed instruments arranged for an orchestral group. The collection of fiddle tunes is a great way to bring in some American culture/a style outside of western art music and to also work on improvisation which is often a skill that is neglected in the education of orchestra students.
5. I think it is really wonderful that these students are learning the importance of different warm-ups to develop their technique. I think one of the main things that I would add is that time on scales needs to be divided between working very slowly and carefully for accurate intonation as well as developing speed and agility.