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During the warm-up chorale, I point to my ear periodically to remind students that it is THEIR job to play in tune.
Read More...Still fighting the time battle? Nearly every student in your band program has their own smart phone or a tablet.
Read More...Assign a method book exercise that gets the fingers/slides moving.
Read More...Set your metronome to 60 bpm (beats per minute), one note each second.
Read More...If you’re having a problem playing a certain passage, set out an empty glass with 10 pencils on the side.
Read More...Too often, younger players try to begin playing before they are actually “set” to begin, resulting in poor entrances, missed rhythms and notes, and an array of other inaccuracies that otherwise might not occur if they simply take a moment to prepare.
Read More...Brass players, warm up on your mouthpiece only.
Read More...My long-time sax repair man showed me a trick that has saved me a lot of money on pad replacements.
Read More...Having worked with elementary band students for the past 26 years, I have found that having my Woodwind and Brasswind students think of the acronym AIM (Air in Motion) works a lot better than asking them to “support their air,” which can mean several things and become confusing.
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