Join us in Chicago from December 18-21 for The 73rd Midwest Clinic. There are more than 50 concerts and more than 90 clinics to attend, plus reading sessions, rehearsal labs, and the largest exhibit hall in the history of the convention.
Consider observing the second annual H. Robert Reynolds Conducting Institute, with sessions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This year’s clinicians are H. Robert Reynolds and Jerry Junkin. Brush up on your college methods courses with the Day One Institute, which focuses on woodwinds and percussion this year.
If you have juniors and seniors who will major in music education, sign them up for Thursday’s High School Institute. Billed as “serious training for those who have already chosen to be leaders,” this is an exciting opportunity to meet and work with other high school students planning to pursue the same path.
At the first Midwest Clinic in 1946, a group of 120 directors came together to improve themselves as musicians and teachers. This tradition continues today, and there is plenty at McCormick Place West for teachers of all ages to see, hear, and learn. Don’t miss it!
Strategies for Diversifying and Enriching Concert Programs in the School Ensemble
Jordan Smith
Wednesday, 10:30 a.m.
Devote time on a regular basis to listening to music you have never heard before, with a strong emphasis on all those composers who were left at the margins when we were students. This will undoubtedly become the most enjoyable part of your work week.
Start small. Devote a part of your commute to tuning into playlists like the Toronto Symphony’s “Discover Female Classical Composers” or unCLASSIFIED’s “Need to Know: Black Composers.” For now, focus on the joy of listening to new music without worrying about the specific needs of your band or orchestra. Decide what works and what composers are your favorites, and use later listening sessions to explore these composers’ complete catalogs. Integrate it with your life, but avoid listening to too much in one sitting. In time, this music will help to inform every other layer of decision making about the music your students will perform.
Horns Can Be Your Friends Too! Helping Horn Players be Successful in a Concert Band Setting
Laurie Lafferty and Margaret Tung
Wednesday, 10:30 a.m.
Often horn is considered a color instrument, and in many band programs, starting on the horn is not an option. Therefore, directors must be keen in choosing students to switch to horn. Directors and teachers should look for students who have a good sense of pitch and a strong work ethic and who do not get discouraged easily.
Setting the student up for success is crucial when switching a student to horn, and embouchure development is key for long term success on the instrument. For example, a trumpet embouchure uses 1⁄2 top lip and 1⁄2 bottom lip, but a horn embouchure uses 2⁄3 top lip and 1⁄3 bottom lip. These details can mean the difference between a successful or unsuccessful switch.
From Chaos to Sanity
Andrea Hollenbeck
Wednesday, 12:00 p.m.
Gain more sanity, cherish the gift of time to be your best, prioritize your health, and find more balance in your life. This clinic shares efficient strategies through checklists, provided lesson plans, and a discipline toolbox.
I become inundated and sometimes overwhelmed with handouts at conferences, so I created a website, www.band
I also kept a journal, challenging myself to summarize each class of every day in one sentence for a year. I challenged myself to summarize each class into one sentence, then to summarize that data by months.
Building Beginning Bassoonists: A Quick Start Session for Music Educators
Shannon Lowe
Wednesday, 12:00 p.m.
To set up students for success on the bassoon, one of the best things you can do is insist that they play on professional handmade reeds. Mass-produced bassoon reeds, although affordable and easily purchased, do not come with the craftsmanship and care that a professional reed maker’s bassoon reed does.
When I have worked with middle and high students who play on mass-produced reeds, many of their struggles with embouchure, response, pitch, and sound quality are caused by commercially made reeds. By switching these students to handmade bassoon reeds, many of their problems on the bassoon significantly improved. Professional handmade bassoon reeds come at a greater cost, but the investment will indeed be worthwhile.
Middle School Rehearsal Environment
Susan Waters
Wednesday, 1:30 p.m.
Create a culture in your rehearsals where students can feel supported, welcomed, respected, and safe to try whether they succeed or fail. This culture of safety and respect is built from the first day of the beginning class, when students start to learn how to be a member of an ensemble.
One way to teach respectful culture in early lessons is a “Selfish vs. Selfless” lesson. Students understand the difference between the two terms but will need to learn how this looks in a performing ensemble.
Examples of selfishness in an instrumental ensemble:
• Not practicing my part.
• Playing louder than everyone else.
• Playing incorrectly on purpose.
• Not playing correct bowings or articulations.
• Playing with bad posture.
• Not bringing materials to class.
Examples of selflessness in an instrumental ensemble:
• Practicing my part.
• Playing with good balance and blend.
• Trying my best to play accurately.
• Playing the written bowings and articulations.
• Playing with correct posture.
• Bringing all necessary materials to class.
Ensemble students who understand this simple comparison, along with directors who actively support the concept, enjoy a supported and respectful culture within the ensemble that transcends all grade levels.
Program Building in Title I Schools
Andy Bower
Wednesday, 1:30 p.m.
Building a strong music program in Title 1 schools is challenging. However, with creativity and the right folks in your corner, anything is possible. These people, who I like to call Friends of the Program, can often be a surprise key to your success or failure.
Friends of the Program are individuals outside your paid staff who are invested in your students and have unique ways to help. Consider what non-monetary needs you have to meet to keep your program afloat. A few common examples include lighting and sound experts, dry cleaners for uniforms or robes, other music experts to give you feedback, and truck drivers.
There are three steps for finding Friends of the Program. First, identify the program’s needs and the individuals in your community who can fill them. Next, reach out to those people with both requests and offers (offers can include such perks as advertisement, free performances by your students, or community service). Always frame your requests around how they can help students. The final step happens when these folks help your program in any way. Quickly follow up with an attitude of gratitude. Anyone who helps your program deserves to hear back from you and your students directly, giving thanks and explaining how their contributions helped you. Donors/helpers who receive genuine and specific feedback from you and your students are incredibly likely to help again in the future. Once you have these Friends of the Program in your corner, the sky’s the limit.
Save Your Program Now! Proven Strategies!
David Law
Wednesday, 2:00 p.m.
The school board is not your enemy, but they are the decision makers. Early in the fall, ask for permission to present a five-minute session to your board. Bring in students to talk and demonstrate. Help students prepare what they are going to say and consider such topics as how preparing for All-State auditions hones life skills in preparation and focus. Also, consider a demonstration of how to play Hot Cross Buns on clarinet with a student for each board member.
Make your principal look good by having that person introduce the students. Teach students how to shake hands correctly (while making eye contact) and to speak clearly to the board members. When finished, have the students thank each board member individually for the opportunity to present and shake hands again. Follow up in the spring with a similar presentation but with a different age group.
Juggling Artistry and Strategy: Maximizing Time in Our Rehearsals, Days, and Years
Karen Fannin
Wednesday, 3:00 p.m.
The poet W.H. Auden said: “A modern stoic knows that the surest way to discipline passion is to discipline time: decide what you want or ought to do during the day, then always do it at exactly the same moment every day, and passion will give you no trouble.” Although music teachers are probably not striving to be stoics, we can still learn from Auden’s advice.
One way to discipline time is to automate behaviors and habits that energize us. For music teachers, the energy trifecta consists of score study, healthy food, and exercise. These three sources of fuel provide the energy we need to feel invigorated to make music and teach our students. These sources also feed off each other. Activity helps us feel better, which inspires us to eat healthier. When we feel better due to healthy eating and exercise, we have more energy for score study. Score study energizes us because as we discover more in the music, we feel excited to lead rehearsals and share what we have learned with our students. The key to making changes in any of these areas is to focus first on just one of these sources of energy to create sustainable change. Creating one new habit can lead to building others.
Oboe Pedagogy from Day One
Carol Zeisler
Wednesday, 3:00 p.m.; Thursday, 4:30 p.m.; Friday, 12:00 p.m.
Without excuses answer the following questions: How prepared are you to teach oboe? How many oboe students have you started or switched? How many oboe students have you prepared for the next level?
Our role as directors is to prepare students for the next level. We learn the basics in our college instrumental methods classes and then are expected to be all knowing on all instruments, but without performing experience, we know little. Put aside excuses and fears. This clinic will cover many of the Fs of oboe, including foundation, fundamentals, fingerings, familiarity, finances, fear, frustration, and forked F.
One tip is the D Rule of oboe playing. This means that any D5, whether D, Db, or D# (Eb), uses the half hole. For notes higher than these Ds, cover the half hole and use the thumb octave key.
Embracing the Traditional and the Emerging: A Win-Win for Ensembles, for Music Education, and for All Students
Keith Kaiser and Matthew Clauhs
Wednesday, 4:30 p.m.
Rather than discussing traditional ensembles versus emerging or popular ensembles, the profession is better served by focusing conversations on the best traditional and emerging pedagogies that can be used in all music education settings. As an example, emerging/popular ensembles should consider the relevant best practices that are considered fixtures of traditional ensembles, such as the importance of planned and expert-led pedagogy, music literature that is likely to provide expressive music experiences, and sequenced and goal-oriented curricula. Likewise, traditional ensembles should carefully consider the relevant best practices inherent to emerging ensembles, such as the importance of active student participation and independence, lifelong music participation, and the inclusion of all K-12 public school children in music education. Lastly, we offer that, as long as all facets focus on best practices and the shared values most important to music education, a comprehensive public-school music education program can reap many benefits for ensembles, for music education, and for all students.
Rescoring for the Small or Incomplete Band
Karen Gregg and Kirk Vogel
Wednesday, 4:30 p.m.
When rescoring for a small band or a band with incomplete instrumentation, by looking at the function of each missing instrument and you may find that the task of rescoring for your ensemble is not as daunting as it may first appear. Determine the function of each missing instrument (melody, countermelody, sustaining harmony, rhythm, bass line) and determine if another instrument in the band is already covering that functional part of the music. If that functional part of the music is written in another part, there is no need to rescore that section of the missing instrument. By viewing your ensemble from what functional parts are missing rather than seeing what instruments are missing, you could significantly reduce the amount of rescoring necessary for your ensemble.
If that function is not covered in another part, determine which instrument will now cover that function. The new scoring might make it necessary to rescore other parts. If you rescore a soprano melody to a tenor voice, you might need to adjust octaves in the harmony or countermelody parts.
Obtaining publisher permission to rescore music is a requirement. Visit the publisher website and send an email to the permissions department. Make sure to include all pertinent information such as the reason for the rescore, the purpose of the performance, the date and location of the performance, and the size and grade level of the ensemble. The response time from publishers can range from a few weeks to a couple of months. One publisher requested the pdf of our proposed changes. Once we provided that information, permission to rescore parts was granted within one week. Be prepared for some publishers to charge a fee.
Lessons with the Masters: Rehearsing the Jazz Band
Mary Jo Papich, Roxanne Stevenson, José Diaz, Antonio García, Roosevelt Griffin III, and Ellen Rowe
Thursday, 8:30 a.m.
This session will include tips from top-notch educators on rehearsing middle school through professional jazz bands. Favorites include:
• Encourage your students to externalize the beat. If they feel it the groove will improve instantly.
• Tune your brass to concert Bb and saxophones to concert A.
• Rehearse in a big circle.
• Do your best to create a no-fail atmosphere and encourage all students to solo.
• When tuning, ask everyone to decide if the pitch is above, below or in tune, keeping all involved.
• Everything we do in jazz has to do with listening and imitating. Play many recordings and use YouTube for assignments.
• When working with young students, empathy and patience are key to getting the most out of them.
• Do not permit passivity. Don’t rehearse one section of the ensemble while the rest of the band does nothing.
• Instead of trying to explain the swing feel, have your drummer play the ride cymbal with a good Duke or Basie recording repeatedly.
• Set high expectations for your musicians and make rehearsals enjoyable.
• Never use the word difficult because it sets limits in expectations. Use new instead.
• Give the students a list of professionals on their instrument to explore. Every couple of weeks ask kids which tunes they have listened to, and ask specific questions, such as what they like about that artist’s playing. Active rather than passive listening is extremely important.
In-Tone and In-Tune: Improving Your Low Brass Sound From Beginning Band Through High School
Justin Cook and Ryan Robinson
Thursday, 10:00 a.m.
Playing sharp is endemic in young brass players. The simplest and most obvious solution is to pull the slide so the pitch goes down. However, the easiest fix is not always best. Every brass instrument and player has a magic place where the tone is the most resonant. For most, the magic place is significantly lower than commonly understood. Because it is difficult for young players to differentiate between good and great sounds, there are a few exercises that can help.
A simple exercise that can help students find the sweet spot is playing long tones, such as a Remington exercise or scales, against a drone. Set the metronome to a moderate or slow tempo and have students play the exercise against the drone. Avoid allowing students to move slides too much. Instead, try to have them focus on listening to the pitch and matching it themselves. More often than not, students will find themselves playing lower in the pitch. The result tends to be a more open and resonant sound. When we find that magic spot, only then should we adjust the slide to correct pitch issues.
Whatever It Takes: Building a Successful Music Program in a Title I School
Sarah Moulder
Thursday, 10:00 a.m.
Students make bad choices, which can range from saying hurtful things and forgetting to do homework to substance abuse and damaging property. How we deal with and react to failure and mistakes determines much about character.
Restorative practices are key to setting a safe and comfortable climate that promotes success and academic growth in a classroom. The next time you have a student who makes a bad choice, help this student recover. Don’t allow students to flippantly apologize; the best apology is changed behavior. Help students to understand how their actions affect those around them, and hold them to high standards of behavior and discourse. Remember to remain calm, even in the most challenging situations. Many students have experienced significant trauma, which can trigger some poor choices.
As adults, we need to help students learn how to interact with one other. Start by setting a positive example and remaining calm and consistent as often as possible. The bottom line is that we are all human, we all make mistakes, and we all deserve a chance to fix things without being ridiculed, shamed, or yelled at. When implemented consistently, restorative practices can revolutionize broken relationships and classroom climates.
For more information about restorative practices, visit the International Institute for Restorative Practices website at
Frank Battisti and Tim Lautzenheiser
Thursday, 3:00 p.m.
When ensemble directors select the music they plan to use with their students, they do more than pick out pieces to perform on concerts. They define their curriculum. The quality of the music performed and consumed by students profoundly influences what they come to appreciate and love later in life. The potential for students developing high musical taste, values, and appreciation is much greater if they perform and consume music of artistic merit than if they perform and consume junk-food quality music. (We are what we consume.) Teachers of English literature select novels that are written by the best authors in the English language. Likewise, public school music teachers ought to select music composed by the best creators of music – composers such as Bach, Ellington, Beethoven, Gershwin, Ives, Sousa, Copland, Joplin, John Williams, and Schuller – music capable of igniting both the student’s intellect and emotions.
Mystery of the Clarinet High Notes
Meghan Cabral
Thursday, 3:00 p.m.
The altissimo and clarion registers for clarinet players are often a struggle but do not have to be. This struggle can be avoided by setting up the clarinet players differently from day 1. Clarinet embouchure setup is the key to student success, and the key to the clarinet embouchure is obtaining an F# on the clarinet barrel and mouthpiece. Students can be set up on the mouthpiece and barrel with a tuner on their first day, and students who have been playing for years can be reset on their barrel and mouthpiece to learn how to get there. To get the F#, all clarinet students should use a mouthpiece patch to help anchor the top teeth on the mouthpiece. The perfect embouchure is formed by saying ee to give a high tongue, with an oo to bring the corners of the mouth forward around the mouthpiece.
Have students do pop-up exercises, where students play and hold a C4, for example, with a good full tone and then they add the register key to continue a good, loud tone on a G5. If the higher note doesn’t come out, have students remove the mouthpiece and barrel to check whether they are still getting an F#.
Students rarely take enough mouthpiece into the mouth. They should take in enough mouthpiece to hit the fulcrum between the reed and mouthpiece. This is where the reed and mouthpiece separate from each other. It is easy to check by carefully sliding a piece of paper between the reed and mouthpiece. Students should then make a pencil mark where the paper stops and then take in that amount of mouthpiece. This will most likely be too much mouthpiece, so then students should back off a little bit at a time until they no longer squeak.
Do You Hear What I Feel? Uncovering Instructional Pathways Leading Toward Increased Expressiveness
Erin Cole Steele and F. David Romines
Thursday, 4:30 p.m.
This clinic distills the myriad expressive components into easily manageable points with rehearsal strategies. It is no accident that many great band directors are also talented storytellers. Music obviously tells a story, and how expressive elements are managed is important to both music and a good story.
1. Grabbing audience attention from the beginning.
2. Changing volume and intensity.
3. Timing of events.
4. Peaks and valleys.
5. Rhythm.
6. Contrasts.
7. Repetition.
8. Silence, pauses, repose.
9. Emphasis on the smallest elements that move things forward.
We cannot ignore the universal elements of communication when crafting an interpretation or telling a story. Laughter, surprise, joy, and sorrow are all expressed in similar ways across cultures. Tell a good story with music and you will do just fine.
Special Education in the Large Ensemble: Successful Strategies for your Band and Orchestra
Julie Anne Syperek, Maria Shea-Michiels, and Danielle Slansky
Friday, 10:30 a.m.
Related Service Providers are found within the world of special education – a complex area within schools that can be difficult to navigate, as there are many moving parts and many staff members who are specialized and only work with a select amount of students. In other words, their world is a lot like the world of band and orchestra.
They are experts in fine motor movement, large muscle movement, vision and hearing, tongue and mouth manipulation, behavior, social-emotional learning, and all of the areas that we as instrumentalists probably wish we knew more about. Their knowledge goes deep, and their flexibility, innovation, and desire to help their students succeed is unparalleled.
Partnering with these teachers has helped me find solutions for the seemingly impossible challenges that face my special education students, and in a surprising twist, they have taught me strategies that help my general education students as well. Over the past year, we have been collaborating to solve common problems band students have with articulation, while building student awareness about their oral motor strength and coordination.
Classroom Management Solutions: Who Is In Charge of Your Rehearsal, You or Your Students?
Marc Dickey
Friday, 12:00 p.m.
The concept of extinction is that by having specified rules, and by enforcing them consistently, students will eventually comply, simply as a result of repeated restatement of the rules. For instance, if your rule is “If you want to speak, raise your hand and wait for me to call on you,” then every time students break that rule, you simply restate the rule dispassionately. You do not need to get angry or escalate your rhetoric in any way. Guilt and fear are powerful motivators, but they are dehumanizing and not conducive to learning. Once you begin enforcing your rules, expect that students will test them. Testing your rules is how students affirm that you are sincere in creating a safe, predictable, and routine environment in which they can learn.
Teaching Deliberate Practice: The Missing Fundamental
Chris Grifa
Friday, 1:30 p.m.
Deliberate and effective practice may be the most important skill we can teach our students. When my school changed the class schedule from a traditional seven-period day to a four-by-four block, students were progressing more slowly, preparation for concerts were was taking longer, and students were struggling to reach the previously established levels of performance. I realized that even though I was teaching my students to practice, I was not teaching them as effectively as I believed. I discovered that practice itself is a skill that can be practiced and improved.
The biggest change to my teaching of practice was to give my students opportunities to practice practicing during rehearsals. I call this practice time guided practice. During their guided practice time, students have five minutes to practice using a process we have developed to work on challenging sections of music on their own. The process includes using the following practice strategies in this specific order.
1. Count the rhythm.
2. Check whether they know all of the notes (this is accomplished visually, without playing their instruments)
3. Play each note slowly and out of rhythm. Use a tuner to determine if they are playing the correct pitches. (Students are using the tuner as tool to determine if they are playing the correct note, and not necessarily whether they are playing the note in tune.)
4. Put the correct rhythm and the pitches together at a slow tempo.
5. Repeat the passage while slowly increasing the tempo.
When the time limit has expired, I ask how many students improved the section they were practicing and then ask one or two students to share what they worked on and what they did to improve the passage. My favorite follow-up question to ask is what they would work on if they had two more minutes to practice on their own. This allows students to understand they can improve without my help, which bolsters their confidence when they practice at home.
