Commentary

Commentary: Selecting Repertoire

Skimming the Top: - How to Find the New Masterworks - It was the summer before my second year of teaching and I had been looking forward to this day for months. Eager to fill my students' folders with new music in the fall, I had been saving all of the promotional recordings I had received from publishing companies and today was Listening Day Number 1. My enthusiasm didn't last long, though, as after three hours, I had found only one piece that I thought was interesting and well written. "Hmm," I thought, "I must have just accidently picked the wrong companies – tomorrow will be better." 

Perspectives – The Mandatory Marching Band

When it comes to the high school marching activity, most programs follow one of two very different approaches. Allowing marching band to be optional usually means that all students who want to participate can do so, but they aren’t obligated to take to the football field if they only want to pursue jazz, concert, wind bands, or other musical activities. While this approach makes sense for many programs – depending on school tradition, culture, size, and the interests of both the student body and director – there are some strong arguments to consider in favor of having the entire band department participate in the marching band, whether incoming students initially want to or not.

Perspective: The Biggest Challenges Facing Music Ed

In a recent blog post, the Oxford University Press asked a handful of notable college educators about the most important issues facing music education today. This question is also a common feature in the conversations that form this publication’s cover stories: after all, how better to explore critical survival strategies than to examine a program’s greatest challenges? As educators discuss the evolutions of their programs and the impediments they face, it helps to both present a mosaic of the broader state of music education, as well as illuminate particular and often unique challenges confronting school music programs and their directors.

The answers, like the programs themselves and the personalities of the people that run them, are widely varied.

Commentary: Bass Saxophone

Making a Case for the Bass… Saxophone

The bass saxophone, one of the most unique, multipurpose low woodwinds available, has been off of the radar for most music educators for the last half-century. However, the instrument is making a comeback. It’s time for everyone to learn a bit about the history – and future – of this great instrument.

MAC Corner: Parents’ Roles

Paradigm Shifts and Parents’ Roles

Every once in a while we need a good dose of mother nature to wake us up and make us realize what is truly important. I have had many such moments throughout my life. Each time I experience one, it forces me to get out of the rut of my daily existence. It drives me to take a good hard look at the things that matter – and I mean really matter.

It is so easy to get caught up in our work and our lives. Too often we end up obsessing over little things, things that we believe are important for us to do our jobs well, things that allow us to get through the day and to (supposedly) live our lives. But too often these things don’t really matter.

Guest Editorial: Honor Bands

Organizing an Honor Band

Honor bands are a rewarding experience for students, clinicians, teachers, and families. They represent an opportunity for motivated students to come together and create something special in a short amount of time. During the honor band experience, learning occurs in several ways: students learn from each other, students learn from a section coach, students experience a new director, and students perform new music.

When getting a brand new honor band off the ground, there are a lot of details to consider. Each situation is unique, but let’s consider the three main phases in the organizational process: preparation, the day of, and wrap-up.

From the Trenches: All-Star Orchestra

World-class musicians and technology converge to support music education

What if it were possible to bring together the greatest classical musicians to perform and record the masterpieces of classical music? What if these world-class musicians could exploit new technologies to bring these great works to new audiences? What if these same musicians were to become musical guides, mentors, and teachers for a new generation of musicians, enthusiasts, and advocates? And what if one of the great conductors of our time were to lead the way?

Well that is exactly what has happened as a result of the vision and passion of the legendary Maestro Gerard Schwarz with the creation of the All-Star Orchestra, a modern variation of Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts on CBS. This time, they are not just for the young, and new technologies unleash the power to benefit from these first-rate musicians in your own music room.

Perspective: Advocacy Ammo Incoming

So, how’s that national conversation about the impact of music education going?

If Internet search results are any indication, there may be sunny days ahead for music advocates, teachers, and directors, even those whose school programs are under siege by budget-focused administrators looking to wield the proverbial axe.

A recent search for “music education” in Google’s “News” search bar yielded the following headlines:

Study: Music Education Could Help Close The Achievement Gap ... (Huffington Post-Sep 2, 2014)

Perspective: A Haven for All

Once again, a high-profile marching band is in the headlines for the wrong reasons.

Last fall, millions of people across the country were transfixed by The Ohio State University’s Marching Band. The Best Damn Band in the Land, as they call themselves, had a fantastic season, assembling outstanding show after outstanding show. YouTube videos of the group’s performances received tens of millions of hits, and the university band earned countless kudos and accolades for their creative, precise, and wildly entertaining halftime routines. On the heels of this eye-catching season, it came as quite a surprise to many when incoming president of the university, Dr. Michael Drake, announced on July 24 that he was firing Jonathan Waters, director of The Ohio State University Marching Band.

Perspective: A Better Tomorrow

We’ll never survive!” exclaims Buttercup in the light-hearted fairy tale classic, The Princess Bride, when she learns that she is about to enter the dreaded Fire Swamp. Unperturbed, Westley, her hero, glibly replies, “Nonsense! You’re only saying that because no one has.”

Although arts education may at times feel as perilous as William Golding’s Fire Swamp, where plumes of flame erupt with little warning and eviscerate anything in their path, every year countless daring teachers successfully navigate the seemingly endless array of pitfalls that can threaten to derail their curricular offerings. Still, funding, administrative and parental support, scheduling, and the many other logistical and bureaucratic details music educators face can be formidable challenges. When the outcome looks bleak or a particular problem persists, a bit of solid advice and know-how just might prove to be the difference between survival and, well, the less pleasant alternative.

MAC Corner: Goal Setting

"This is the year that I’m going to…”

How many times have we said this to ourselves? At the beginning of each school year? At the beginning of each new year? Making these kinds of resolutions is part of what we do so that we can continue to grow as music educators, as well as to help our students grow not only as music-makers, but also as leaders. What is on deck for this new year? Here are a few items that you might consider for the 2014-15 school year.

From the Trenches: Budgets

Understanding the school budget process

Well, it is that time of year again – time to prepare for the school budget process. What’s that, you say? It’s too late? The process is almost over?

No, no – I am not talking about the upcoming year (2014/2015); I am talking about the next year – the 2015/2016 school year! You see, in order to be really effective impacting the budget process, you (and your supporters) need to be preparing now.

Here is why: