MUE 6080 Module 8: A Hong Kong Odyessey

With complete certainty I feel that the band trip to Hong Kong for the Blue Springs band was out of line and should not have happened. As a band director in a small school that also uses middle school students to supplement the high school band when possible, I feel that the trip was way too expensive to begin with and it is sickening to read the information about the five year loan after the trip. I would imagine that this particular school is very similar to mine in that the budget is on the small side and instruments might be old and/or in need of repair. That money could have probably been much better spent on something directly for the classroom.

I don’t want it to sound like I am against band trips because I strive to take the students on a trip every other year, however, we go to locations that are relatively close and inexpensive. For example, this spring we will go to Chicago, IL for a music contest. The cost of $340 per student includes 2 nights in a hotel, transportation, all meals, the festival, a full day at Six Flags, a murder mystery dinner theater, and the musical “The King and I.” To be honest, I try use these trips as a part of my recruiting efforts since we have so many scheduling conflicts against band. Since this is only the second trip the students have gotten to take and the first trip (Pigeon Forge, TN) wasn’t exactly anything to get excited over, I’m really hoping the Chicago trip gets the students excited to the point that they tell other students how much fun it was.

Speaking specifically to the money involved, I find it impressive that the small community in the article came within $30,000 of the Hong Kong trip in a one year period. I offer 4 fundraisers a year for band students and can barely get any participation. Additionally, some parents feel that $340 per student is too high for the above mentioned Chicago trip. I struggle constantly with getting parental involvement and just a few moments ago returned home for working the weekend concession stand fundraiser. In all of our fundraisers, any profit raised is applied to student trip accounts rather than to the band program (for new instruments) and I still struggle to get parent and student involvement. It appears that this band director at Blue Springs had a good relationship with the community and I feel that he should have pursued a smaller trip that could have easily been paid for. Lastly, since he pushed for the Hong Kong trip, he absolutely should have continued working there until the debt was paid. I really hope this is not a true story. 

MUE 6080 Module 8: Course Application to Teaching

There are several ways in which my learnings from this course about philosophy and aesthetics will influence my teaching in the future. Early in the course, when we had a class discussion concerning philosophical positions in the classroom, I had truly believed that I not only knew my philosophy but was also adhering to it quite well. As the course developed I realized this was not the case and my pragmatic approach is not always pragmatic. My goal has consistently been for students to develop the skills to be lifelong learners, so that they could learn without the assistance of an instructor along every step of the way. However, I have realized that I do not use enough methods of inquiry and my methods are inconsistent. While I feel that some of the inconsistently could be blamed on the constant change the program has been going through the last 2 ½ years with the addition of jazz band and marching band, it is mostly my fault. Having consistency in all facets of a band program is very important to growth and success and this coursework makes it clear that I need to fully commit to a pragmatic approach. Concerning the aesthetic foundation of music education, I will take from this course the importance of reaching the students that might not be able to get the feeling of “living” in any other area of their lives. We know that conditions beyond the school may not provide for a “living” situation but rather an “existing” situation for some students and music education needs to be available for those students.

Of the information covered concerning sociology, social psychology, and psychology, the area that will affect my future teaching the most is the concept of self-image, motivational factors, and the tendencies that align with socioeconomic statuses (SES).  I found the SES information in chapter five to be especially thought provoking. I grew up in a home that had work boots and I was a first generation college attendee, but I still found art music as enjoyable. I suppose that could be credited to the efforts of my music education teachers. Even currently I attend several concerts a year and the spread looks a little something like this: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, touring artists at our local Jazz venue Jazz at the Bistro, REO Speedwagon, Zac Brown Band, and Pentatonix. Prior to chapter five I assumed that something like musical tastes had no boundaries, and maybe it doesn’t, but it is good for my future teaching to understand that SES has a lot of influence on musical preference.

Because of where I am currently in my teaching position, and the efforts I am exerting to influence decision makers that music education is important, I will take the information from unit one and apply it rather quickly. About this time ever year for the last three years I have researched and complied data on other area middle schools and their course offerings compared to their test scores. My goal is to encourage my district to offer more elective choices for 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders as we currently offer only one section in their schedule for an elective. In addition to math, English-language arts, social studies, science, physical education, and the one elective, all students are required to take an additional reading class. I hope that expanding my presentation this year to include information about the importance of music education on character in Greek and Roman philosophy and later in the Boston school music standards of 1837 (standard number 2) that I can prove music educations importance to not only a well-rounded child, and possible higher test scores, but also to the character of students. After all, my middle school is considered a “National School of Character.” While this is not something that I will do in my classroom with students present, recruiting and advocating is (unfortunately) a large part of the job. I feel confident that the information from the beginning of this course will help contribute to a solid agreement this time around. 

MUE 6080 Module 7: Four Musical Concepts to Improve

In general, I would like all of my band students, grades 6^th through 12^th , to have a better understanding of dynamics, form, improvisation, and intonation.

In the high school band I try to use our contest pieces to incorporate lessons with such information. For example, this contest season the high school band is playing “Air for Band” and “Fantasy on an Early American Marching Tune.” Since “Air for Band” is rather straightforward structurally, I used it to show the students parallel period and antecedent and consequence phrases. After this particular lesson, the students did a stronger job of holding the phrases out. One student told me “now that I understand that is a half cadence, I want to play it longer.”

To work on intonation I occasionally hook a Smart Music microphone up to the computer connected to the projector and we make a game out of which section is playing the most in tune. The large projection of the turner really helps students see what sound they are producing, but it takes a lot of preparation and time out of rehearsing. I need to promote that activity more often.

For dynamics I record the students playing a piece or excerpt and play it back to them. While they’re listening, they draw a picture to show their dynamic range. This usually prompts them to be more extreme with their dynamics, but it usually seems to be quickly forgotten by the next class period.  

Improvisation is the area that I need to work on the most in terms of developing staged lessons. Students are too overwhelmed to jump in a play a non-written solo (or anything non-written for that matter) and so far my exercises have not done the trick. I am going to look into using a method book for improvisation, specifically something that could be used in the concert band setting as well as in jazz band. 

MUE 6080 Module 7: Student Objectives and Assessments

Jazz Band Objective – Given the sheet music with chord changes for “C Jam Blues”, the student will determine and notate at least 3 pitches that would properly fit in each chord change.

Marching Band Objective – Given a metronome marking of 88 bpm, the student will march in a parade block with proper horn carriage, while using a glide step, and properly guiding their lines.  

Concert Band Objective - Given the sheet music for “Air for Band”, the student will label where each section of the A-B-A1-Coda form begins.

Beginning Band Objective (WW, Brass, and mallet percussion) – Given a fingering chart for the first five notes of the Bb scale, the student will create for beat phrases by improvising.

To assess each of these four objectives, the teacher could use a rubric.

Jazz Band “C Jam Blues”	3	2	1
	Student identifies 3 or more notes for each major that will fit in the chord structure	Student identifies 2 notes for each major that will fit in the chord structure	Student identifies 1 note or no notes for each major that will fit in the chord structure
	Student notation is neat and legible		Student notation is messy and illegible

Marching Band – Parade Block	3	2	1
	Student consistently pulls the toes up, creating a strong glide step	Student mostly pulls the toes up, creating an intermittent glide step	Student rarely pulls the toes up, and lacks a  strong glide step
	Student consistently guides their lines side to side and covers down front to back	Student mostly guides their lines side to side and covers down front to back	Student rarely guides their lines side to side and covers down front to back

Beginning Band – 5 notes	3	2	1
	Student uses all five notes to create a short improvised melody	Student uses 3 or 4 notes to create a short improvised melody	Student uses 1 or 2 notes to create a short improvised melody
	Student maintains a consistent tempo throughout the melody		Student does not maintain a consistent tempo throughout the melody

Concert Band – “Air for Band”	3	2	1
	Student labels all 4 sections correctly	Student labels 2 or 3 sections correctly	Student labels one or none sections correctly

MUE 6080 Module 7: Beethoven's "Pathetique" with Behaviorists and Cognitive Approaches

To teach the opening 16 measure of Beethoven’s “Pathetique” sonata in a behaviorist/stimulus approach a teacher has to present a stimulus. They could reward accurate playing with a reward (sticker, treat, etc) or just with a smile and a compliment. This is a straightforward process because the behavior is observable and easy to measure.

To teach the opening in a cognitivist/gestalt approach the teacher is going to focus more on how the student is processing information about the music.  The teacher may spend considerable time with the student detailing the purpose of various musical attributes that Beethoven used. For example, the teacher may challenge the student to determine the purpose of the decrescendo in the bass clef (in measures 6-7) a measure before the treble clef is instructed to decrescendo. While the internal change that happens during this approach is difficult to measure, it may provide for a deeper attachment to the music for the student (compared to the behaviorist approach). 

MUE 6080 Module 6: Conformity in the Ensemble

Probably the biggest use of conformity I have witnessed in my teaching career was the introduction of marching band at my school three years ago. While there had been a marching band in through the mid-1990s, the uniforms had been in storage since 1996. When I was hired I was quick to dust off the old uniforms and make a big deal about this thing called marching band. Ultimately I believed marching band would be a way for me to attract more students to the small program. While I have seen a small increase over the past three years, I have also had some students leave the program. I still believe that in the longer run the revival of marching band will prove to be a huge help in reaching students through music even though I am not seeing the changes as quickly as I had hoped for. Below I will detail the ways that marching band has influenced high school band conformity at my school.

The first step to starting a marching band nearly from scratch was to get a song that we could march to. I attempted to use the school fight song for this because I assumed the students would be familiar with it and maybe even have it memorized. The only probably was that there was not a school fight song. And so “Louie Louie” it was. We worked relentlessly to figure out the left foot from the right foot and how to hold the horn and pull the toes, all while several students were completely defiant likely because I was their 3^rd bank director in 5 years and I was making them do something completely out of their comfort zone. I was quick to give the band a performance opportunity. Just three weeks after starting we marched in a local parade. 

There was another band in the parade that was about 7 times the size, very experienced, and very well-funded. I thought this would intimidate my students but instead the conformity had already begun. They were in awe of the other group and pointed out their drums, which were far better than the hand me downs I was able to purchase, and wanted to know when we would get some like theirs. And so the next step was to make our drums look like new. 

We also entered a parade competition that year as comments only. It was amazing to see the reactions as we watched some of the larger bands when we were finished. Although my school is located only 25 minutes outside of St. Louis, many of the students have had little exposure beyond their town. I’ll never forget how a student asked me if the high school campus that hosted the competition was a college. We also took our “marching band” to play pep songs in the stands of the soccer games since we didn’t have a football team. That winter the marching band did a short marching routine at the homecoming assembly and the crowd loved it.

The following year we returned to the same competition, actually competed, and for it is worth, did not finish last. We also went to a competition at a University (as inspired by the question from the year before). It was also a “hashtag not last” event for us. I think it was that trip and that competition that really “sold” the kids on marching band. They were able to watch a college football game and see the best college marching band in our state. One of the students told me months later that he sent an email to the college band director the very next day. That student, who was unable to get accepted straight into college based on grades, is now doing basic training so that they can be in the National Guard and attend that school (and march in the band) next year.

Fast forward to year three and our first ever summer band camp and field show. We were able to enter into a co-op with another small school to make a football team. And so without a football field to practice on we developed a half time show that included three songs complete with drill and a color guard routine. We competed in the same two parade competitions as the years before but also attend a university’s “Band Day” in which the students were able to march on the field with the college band during halftime.

Throughout this whole process I feel like it was all in the way it was presented to the students that lead to them liking or disliking marching band. The trophies from the competitions are proudly displayed in the band room and every placement we earn is announced over the intercom the next school day. Students are allowed to pick songs for the stand tunes we play at the football and basketball games and also get to vote on the halftime show. I often give anonymous surveys out during marching season and the response I see the most under “favorite part of marching band” is the applause and recognition from the crowd or audience. I think many of my students really latch on to events that give them a sense of pride and I truly believe that marching band offers that for many that are unable to get that feeling anywhere else in their lives and this influence has led to conformity within the group. 

MUE 6080 Module 6: Creative Activities in Middle School and High School Band

Jazz band is still a new concept at my school. Currently the jazz band has full instrumentation for the first time in its three year existence. It is made up of grades 6^th through 12^th and we meet once a week after school. There are a few creative activities that we already do, but there are also more that I would like to try. For example, we begin every class by warming up with the B flat blues scale. Since improvisation is such a foreign concept to them right now I encourage students to find a new way for us to use the blues scale to warm up. We begin by playing swung eighth notes with 4 counts for each note and continue to reduce the amount of beats each note receives until we are playing one eighth note per pitch. Next the students make suggestions to add some variety to the scale. Previous suggestions have included playing it in “thirds”, were we play the root followed by the 4^th, then the flat third followed by the sharp 4^th, and so on. The only other creative activity that we do in jazz band currently is improvising while trading two measure phrases using a melodic line found somewhere in the piece. It is way too overwhelming to say “ok student, improvise totally on your own for 12 bars.” By reducing it down to 2 measure phrases and requiring them to use previously learned material, the idea of improvising seems much more attainable. Additionally, I encourage them to repeat what I play that way they don’t feel the need to focus on the music as much and begin to trust their ear.

A creative activity that I think would strongly benefit several students in jazz band would be to transcribe a short jazz solo. This would really get the students using their ears while also learning new patterns or licks that sound good on their instruments. So much of improvisation success comes from being properly trained and proper training usually comes from a variety of activities. One last activity that I would like to try with the jazz band students is for them to take a melody and rewrite it by using the techniques of ornamentation and reinvention. This is a pretty basic concept but one that I was recently retaught at our state’s music educators conference in a session by Mike Steinel from North Texas. I plan to provide students each a different 4 bar melody for them to rework twice; once with ornamentation and once with reinvention. The following is a picture from the materials from the conference session.

In 6^th grade beginning band I sometimes play the call and response game with the class. I play a melody using the first 5 notes of concert B flat scale and they repeat it back. It usually takes about 3 attempts before the majority of the class feels comfortable with the melody. After the class is in a comfortable groove I ask for student volunteers to make up a melody. Lastly, students in the combined 7^th and 8^th grade band and in the high school band like to “jam” on the piano. While one or two of them know enough about the piano and the internet to be able to play something recognizable, most students do not. To help guide the students I could teach them the most popular chord progression in popular music (I, V, vi, vi) in the key of C. From there they could learn how to transpose the chords to a desired key for a new song. 

MUE 6080 Module 5: SES of School and Community

The median home price in my school district’s community is $158,000. That is roughly $80,000 lower than its neighboring communities. The areas is comprised of mostly single family homes, but also contains several apartment and townhouse style complexes. The average monthly rent in the area is $1,194. The school district enrolls 1,012 students grades kindergarten through 12^th grade. There is one elementary building, one middle school building, and one high school building all on the same campus. The most recent data shows a free and reduced lunch rate of 47.3%. The demographic breakdown for the school is 62% white, 23% black, 5% multi race, 5% Hispanic, and 5% Asian. Some of the enrolled students do not reside in the community, but rather attend the school through the Voluntary Inter-district Choice Corporation or VICC. The demographic breakdown for the community is 83% white, 6% Asian, 4% black, 4% Hispanic, and 3% multi race.

In my almost three years working in the community I have noticed a wide variety of characteristics among the area families. Most of the families I have gotten to know are dual income families, in which both parents work, on single income families in which there is only one supporting parent. Most are working in blue collar jobs while some have careers related to higher education. In terms of the band program, I have to consider the expense of the instruments when trying to recruit for band. Some families find great value in music education and have the means to provide an instrument for their child, some value music education but expect a school instrument to be provided at no charge, and some do not value music education but will encourage their child to participate if there is no charge related. It is an interesting mix and each situation requires its own specialized approach to getting that child involved in band.

There are also some considerations when selecting music and determining the teaching approach. Due to scheduling conflicts with local churches, Wednesday night performances are discouraged. At our “Winter” concert we perform several “Christmas” or “holiday” pieces as well as selections that represent a variety of beliefs. Additionally, we perform traditional carols near Christmas in order to raise money for a local charity that provided presents to families in need. 

MUE 6080 Module 5: Music as Social

A recent social (music) situation occurred with my high school band students. They were performing a pep song (“Royals”) at the homecoming pep assembly and the entire crowd joined in, sang the lyrics, and even clapped some of the rhythmic lines. Administration views the purpose of this performance as having music that will get the crowd excited, however, I additionally view it as a recruiting opportunity since the entire district (K-12) attends. The piece was very short and mostly fit the popular music mold, although the tempo was slower than most pop songs. The band also marches to create several pictures on the gym floor while performing at this assembly since marching band is still relatively new for the school and we want to get the word out that it exists. I think it is fair to say that this performance is not intended for careful listening given the loud nature of the venue.

The 20 high school band students who performed wore casual pants, their band shirts, and the marching uniform hats with a Burger King crown attached to go along with the homecoming theme of “A Night with King Midas.” I encouraged the drumline to interact with the elementary students (who were sitting in the front row). They used a section of the song with stick clicks on beats 2 and 4 to get the kids clapping with them. The students memorized their music and the only amplified instrument was the bass guitar. There were about 1000 staff and students (grades kindergarten through 12^th) in the audience and I believe that some of them really did listen to the song in the sense that they had to pay close attention to ensure that they matched pitch when they sang. With that being said, several audience members took the opposite approach and used the time to converse with their neighbors. Audience members did not purchase a ticket and were not allowed to have food or drink, nor did they have a printed program. They did however applaud after the performance!