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Teaching Tips

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  Mellophones – French Horn or Mello Mouthpiece?
Feb 24, 2011
French Horn MouthpieceObviously, the French horn is extremely difficult to play while moving so most marching bands will use the marching French horn, mellophone, or the alto horn as the marching equivalent to the horn.  Which one you should choose is itself an entirely separate story so I will focus on the mellophone here since that is what most Drum Corps have been converting over to as of late.  The biggest challenge is what to do about the mouthpiece.  If you are lucky enough to have spare trumpet players that will be converting to mellophone for the marching season this is less of a problem but if you are like most bands (and myself included back in the day) you will have several horn players playing this instrument during the marching season while still trying to develop as a horn player during concert band.  So do you use a standard mellophone mouthpiece, alto horn mouthpiece, or go with the horn mouthpiece with an adaptor to fit the leadpipe?  There is a huge variety of opinion on this just as a disclaimer and there are pros and cons to each choice.
  New Projects!
Jan 27, 2011
Dynamic Marching DVDsWe take pride in providing innovative ideas for band directors.  In the near future we plan to take it to the next level with must-have DVDs on brand new topics.
  Creating Visual Effect: Comparing Apples to Oranges…or not
Apr 14, 2010
apples-orangesIt is common belief that when a band does poorly in the GE caption, it is because the judge "just didn't like our show."  "We played jazz and he's a classical guy." "Our small band can't compete with the larger one.  The "dirty little secret" of General Effect is that none of that really matters. Judges are not trying to compare apples to oranges.  They're just judging fruit.  The GE sheet can be thought of qualities common to "good fruit".  In other words, qualities of effective shows (regardless of size, source material, etc...)
  What to Listen For in Music... Ensemble
Apr 14, 2010
listen-to-musicEvery music educator has a drum that they beat day in and day out. Not the literal drum, as many of us are simply not gifted in the percussive arts. (If you're like me, hopefully you've avoided having your inadequacies caught on tape - pray you keep it that way). The ceaseless campaigning I am talking about boils down to our central mission as a teacher - the undercurrent that guides, nuances, and directs our efforts in what we do. For some it might be musicianship, others it might be precision, others still might champion facility and technical prowess. All of these are hugely valid, as they are all essential aspects of music-making and should be expected of every student on whatever level they personally can achieve.
  The Importance of Breathing While NOT Playing
Apr 16, 2009
breathing exercise marchingEvery band director preaches over and over again about taking a good breath to play your instrument. It always seems that the answer to any sound production problem is "Use more air!" and sure enough, it is great to remind your students of how to breath properly. A large breath can indeed help groups when they play, but how often do you talk to them about breathing when they don't have to play? How often to you assign breathing routines in a fundamentals block? Most likely the answer is not often, if even at all.
  On Setting Attainable Goals in Rehearsals
Apr 2, 2009
tuba playersAim Small, Miss Small, Move On!  Every year we, being students, staff, clinicians, etc, have plans on what we want the upcoming marching band season to be. Regardless of the past year's accomplishments, we want to play the best, look the best, march the best, and in some cases, sing the best. We want to create the most ingenious product of the year and want to be apart of the best product of the year. If that was not the case, why even bother spending hours upon hours planning and rehearsing, right?
 
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