Early in my career as a band director, I learned a valuable lesson in the art of disguising intonation in my concert band. While teaching at a small school in the panhandle of Florida, I invited a veteran clinician to work for my concert…
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Selecting the right music is one of the most difficult aspects of the job of the band director. This is obviously where the rubber meets the road when it comes to the front line picture of the job because of our music, and how it sounds, is…
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Check with principal/department head - What is your teaching schedule? | Who sets the teaching schedule for the building? | Who schedules music calendar? | Who schedules facility use?
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Tone and intonation are two aspects of instrumental playing that are most often left to develop on their own. This "approach" comes from the misconceived notion that as long as one continues to play the notes (the more and faster the…
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Whether you are a new teacher, veteran teacher in a new school or someone trying to build and maintain a school instrumental music program, there are two challenges you will face. Those two challenges are recruiting students and retaining…
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So here you are a first-year teacher. You have completed your formal education and are about to be thrust into the real world. Just to make sure you are ready, I have prepared a final exam.
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Thinking musically is one of the most important things to learn in the process of creating of a vocal style of brass playing. Develop the ear and a feeling for melodic line so that good musical experiences in the memory trigger immediate…
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Preparing a major solo piece takes a lot of time, whoever the soloist is. Playing the notes may take a shorter time but a piece of stature and importance needs more of your time than the time it takes to get through the notes.
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The euphonium is one of the finest melodic instruments in the band. While its popularity has not reached the status of its brass contemporaries, it still serves an important musical function in most bands today.
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Focus On Music also brings you the ability to schedule Breathing Gym authors, Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan, to present Breathing Gym clinics for you, your school, your ensembles, your music staff, future music educators, conventions,…
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