the entire school population? Although I had “success” receiving


superior ratings at festival each year I taught middle school band in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, I began doubting my teaching ability when I heard one of my top students proclaim in “my” class, “I love coming to band class because I don’t have to think.”ii


classrooms.iii


Ensemble teachers are encouraged to I immediately realized that I was simply


training the best musical robots to follow my creative decision-making, and they dutifully responded. I had squelched all of their decision- making and realized they were receiving a marginalized music education.


They certainly


weren’t asked to be creative, only responsive to my baton and direction, and I was doing most of the connecting to other subjects for them. I needed a new version of band teaching, but where would I start?


Band education does have a history of


trying to foster educational change, but the field is slow to respond due to the embodied nature of our traditions.


In 1965, the Comprehensive


Musicianship movement emerged after a symposium at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Ensemble teachers were asked to expand their teaching to include more than learning the performance skills to execute literature; they were called upon to expand their teaching to be “interdisciplinary” and “intradisciplinary”–– to make connections to language arts, history, social studies, science, math, music theory, composition, history, theoretical frameworks, and social justice issues. I remember loving hearing the stories from my director about the composer’s intent of a piece or the composer’s life history. I still remember them today. However, I was never asked to research and discover any of the informational depth of the music, create my own interpretation of the music, or collaborate with my peers to make our decisions about a section feature or soli. In 1976, Robert Garofalo published his


landmark book Blueprint for Band, which offered a play-by-play prescription for deeply analyzing compositions aimed at guiding band teachers in their in-depth work prior to rehearsing. As a high school student, I could have shared in that responsibility and would have enjoyed digging deeper into the piece with my peers.


include and assess four artistic processes in their classrooms: Creating, Performing, Responding, and Connecting. Students and band teachers are given space to imagine how these music processes could unfold with their students. Additionally, in a recent issue of Music Educators Journal, Tobias, Campbell and Greco suggest that ensemble classrooms include and encourage project-based learning to “transform a music program by offering genuine student-centered learning.” They explain that this idea of project learning comes from a “cognitive revolution . . . and the revitalized thinking about skills for the twenty-first century, standards that emphasize critical thinking, and inquiry-based learning.”iv One such project many band teachers


In 1992,


Garofalo and Battisti published Guide to Band Masterworks. In 1994, MENC (now the National Association for Music Education) published nine national music standards that were to be adopted for all music classrooms. Many ensemble directors began reimagining how to include singing, composition, and improvisation in their ensemble rehearsals, and perhaps even today many of us are still striving for these outcomes In 1997, the first book of the series Teaching Music through Performance in Band was created to facilitate ensemble teachers more comprehensive musical instruction. These books encouraged a plethora of new musical outcomes for students and directors, and those in ensemble education are grateful for these books. Fast-forward to 2016, where we have


new Core Arts Music Standards and Model Cornerstone Assessments for most music


48


already use is solo and small-ensemble activities. Teachers could augment this experience with student solo and small-ensemble classroom days. With your guidance, you could help students form groups, select music, and guide the type of accompaniment options, use of technology, rehearsal styles, reflections, and assessments. In her dissertation, Danelle Larson studied high school students who were assigned to form chamber ensembles several days a week for fourteen weeks, instead of always being in band rehearsals. She left the chamber music students alone to rehearse, but guided the students with a few rehearsal check sheets and a list of questions to help them assess their work each day. She found that the chamber- music students’ motivation and attitudes toward band class improved over that of the students who remained in the teacher-led band class. Additionally, for the lowest-performing students in the chamber-music groups, their attitudes improved more than those of other students who had been assigned to chamber-music groups. This is one example of the aforementioned project- based learning where students get to engage during ensemble class in collaborative music-making and creative decision-making. Think about how the use of technology could enhance chamber-ensemble groups by adding an instrument or students accompanying themselves. More projects could be incorporated into your teaching with creative discussions among you and your students. It’s possible that their attitudes and motivation could greatly improve.


Other researchers have tried innovative


teaching ideas for band and discovered their positive impact on learning in band classrooms. Jason Caslor fostered group improvisation in the full ensemble rehearsal, and Amy Spears asked all the top ensemble students to use a different type of music literacy to learn a band piece for performance. The students were given a Grade 2 piece, no music—only a part recording, and were asked to learn the part to the piece by ear. Comments from the researcher, ensemble teacher, and students included improved ensemble cohesion, performance responsiveness, and appreciating learning via a new musical literacy: These comments were truly inspiring. students who seemed to be most involved


The


appreciated their new way of thinking, learning, and collaborating. So, in 2016, I challenge you to sincerely


consider: Which version of band are you teaching? The following versions, 1.0–6.0, are hypothetical examples of band teaching that I created as a way to start your thinking and discussions.


These


versions could unfold in a variety of ways and perhaps you have personal versions. Think about how your teaching career has morphed through different versions of teaching:


Version 1.0–– Teacher-centered, military discipline and strict regulations align with tradition in rehearsal participation by students following the instructions of the teacher to develop musical skills and knowledge.


Version 2.0––Teacher imparts comprehensive musicianship information where students learn from the teacher about the history, theory, and compositional construction of the piece during the group rehearsal.


Version 3.0 ––Band teachers add some aspects of the 1994 National Music Standards in their classrooms, which includes aspects of connecting with other disciplines in the school. Students share in knowledge discovery about their pieces performed. Students form traditional small ensembles and learn solos with piano accompaniment.v


Version 4.0 ––Students lead warm-ups in large- group rehearsals and get to participate in some curricular and/or rehearsals decision-making that aligns with the 1994 national standards.vi


Students


form nontraditional ensembles and explore student-centered rehearsing.


Version 5.0 ––As a teacher, you embrace the idea of student-centered learning and encourage your students to help make decisions within rehearsals, and with administrative choice so they feel empowered and a part of a community of artistic decision-makers.


questions and challenge their thinking.vii


You ask deep meaningful You assign


homework that connects school music to their personal music life.viii


They start learning to assess


their musical preferences, their peers, and themselves. You assign projects for students to discover information.ix


They form nontraditional


ensembles using digital media to create parts and accompaniments.


Version 6.0––You and your students structure your public performances around music projects and performances you’ve facilitated with the students.x


Your rehearsal time is spent facilitating


learning with students working on real-life music problem-solving: arranging a cover song, folk song, or composed melody for a small ensemble of any instrumentation, everyone respects and works with their musical preferences, and we encourage the students to learn and perform at times without music, by ear. You help them create concerts that


February/March 2016


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