Percussive Storytelling: Making Music Accessible to Kids Everywhere
Yamaha Artist Cory Hills began his professional percussion career the traditional way, never imagining that one day, his primary audience would be elementary schoolchildren.
After discovering his love for percussion at a young age, Hills kept on drumming throughout high school and into college, finding success and checking off the goals of an aspiring professional musician: obtaining multiple degrees, holding prestigious fellowships and performing with orchestras all over the country, even winning a Grammy® award.
But when a graduate program took him to Europe to study art, he had an epiphany. Instead of following a path that would lead to either a professorship or joining a major symphony, Hills decided to turn his focus to where he felt he could make the greatest impact, creating Percussive Storytelling, a children’s program that fuses original classical music with storytelling.
While Cory still dabbles in traditional musical pursuits, performing regularly with the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet and numerous other chamber groups, his mission has become to make music accessible and empowering for youth. We recently sat down with Hills to discuss how he unexpectedly found his purpose.
VEERING OFF THE TRADITIONAL PATH
The a-ha moment happened while in Italy, Hills remembers. “I was studying contemporary arts exploration; European art, avante garde, high art and high fashion,” he says. “It was art for art’s sake, and I felt a disconnect with the audience and what my voice was trying to say.”
He channeled his struggle by writing a simple story called “The Lost Bicycle” and putting percussion to it. It was 2005, and without realizing it, the interdisciplinary Percussive Storytelling concept was born. Yet Hills set the idea aside and powered on with a typical percussion career.
Years later, Hills was asked to perform “Lost Bicycle” at a Kansas elementary school, and the students loved it. It led to more gigs, then an unusual offer from a local donor who wanted to personally fund Cory to present the show at multiple schools in Kansas. Hills took the opportunity to bring music to more kids, and for the next six months performed throughout the district nearly every school day.
“Playing drums while telling stories is not a new concept,” Cory says, noting that this has been an important part of the Senegalese griot tradition for thousands of years. But his particular approach to merging original stories and music was a winning recipe for Hills’ audiences — and for his sense of purpose.
UNDERSTANDING THE WHY
Hills spent the following years performing nonstop, but it wasn’t until he had kids of his own that a new perspective was added.
Becoming a stay-at-home dad gave him the time needed to reflect and start connecting with researchers and experts that explored different educational approaches. “I hadn’t really had a chance to dissect what I was doing before and understand why people liked it, what worked and what didn’t,” he recalls. Everything changed for Hills after spending time with his own children. “That’s when I realized I was able to attach some of what I was doing to child psychology and learning development,” he says.
As an example, Cory cites Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, which states that kids learn in different ways, from verbal to visual to tactile. Hills remembered this from his undergraduate studies but realized he could put it into practice by “making these stories come alive in three-dimensional ways to give children the maximum number of opportunities to successfully interpret the information.”
Hills also reflected on his original mission of bringing music to low-income communities. He often found himself performing at the same middle-class schools, and decided to shift his focus to working with schools in lower socioeconomic areas. He also won a grant through the National Endowment for the Arts in the small town of Alamosa, Colorado, where he not only brought his workshops to schools but also to settings like after school programs.
For the first time, Hills worked hands-on and with the same kids regularly, whether daily for a week, or once weekly for several weeks. “Instead of me performing, we’d sit down together, write stories, play percussion, and compose music together, all in a short span of time,” he says.
It was an approach he found to be far more impactful, partly because percussion instruments are so accessible and easy to pick up and learn without much instruction. “It’s not like learning tuba,” he points out. “For percussion you just hit a woodblock or triangle with a stick, and essentially have a 100% success rate. That’s what makes it really fun, because we don’t lose time on the learning curve — the kids can just jump right in. They quickly realize, ‘I can do this!’ and gain confidence.”
SEEING HOW MUSIC BENEFITS KIDS
Once Hills shifted to workshops, bookings skyrocketed, and soon thereafter he was offered a fellowship with the Fred Rogers Institute in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, from 2021-2022.
Cory raves about his time studying the legacy of Mr. Rogers. While the organization’s emphasis is primarily on creating original productions, Hills was a fellow on the research side — their first to focus on children’s music.
He analyzed Rogers’ extreme attention to detail and deliberate use of music and props, then created his own show, “Frankie the Otter.” It features a non-gendered otter who’s new to an animal sanctuary, meeting other animals who tell their stories. “It focuses on social emotional learning and growth, so it’s a show about friendship, kindness, and the power of community,” Cory explains. With emphasis on access, Hills also created a free accompanying PDF guide for the show that any parent or teacher can easily use. It contains activities and QR codes linking to videos.
“It’s transformative, like music therapy for some students,” Hills says of “Frankie.” Many participants start off writing light, silly stories, then eventually feel empowered to share deeply from the heart. Cory has watched bullied, silent children open up after several days and process a range of emotions, and has observed nonverbal autistic kids discover how to engage and newly express themselves.
Hills notes the influence of Mr. Rogers, who noticed that some kids shut down if you try to engage directly. “[But] if you put something as a buffer between you and allow them to talk through something — for him it was a puppet —they will actually open up,” he says.
EXPANDING ACCESS TO ARTS
Cory Hills presented “Frankie the Otter” at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) in 2023. Given the impact of his workshops, Hills hopes to cultivate partnerships so he can create additional interactive guides and visit more schools. He’s also leveraging technology to expand access, using virtual shows to reach schools that might not have as much access to the arts.
Learn more about Cory Hills at splatboombang.com.
Creating:
Edit in notation software (like 
1) Begin with the question, “what is sound?” As students guess, slowly navigate them toward the answer: “vibrations in the air.” Next ask, “What is actually vibrating when we hear sound?” The answer should be “air molecules.” Feel free to use the following explanations below alongside diagrams or photos in a slideshow presentation.
2) Have a project open in your DAW and encourage students to view the sample browser/loop browser. From here, differentiate audio loops by their “audio icon” (see below) and drag and drop one into the timeline. See some examples below for reference.
I would like to begin this series by sharing what is one of the core tenets of building and sustaining school music programs: recruitment. As a music educator in the age of data-driven decision making, I have tried to leverage administrator demands for data by providing evidence of how students, parents and staff make the program shine, as outlined in Roger Mantie’s “
Recruitment has no real beginning or end. It is a continuous process fueled by active recruiting strategies, culturally relevant curricula and student ownership of the process, according to Daniel J. Albert’s “
Performance is a great way to showcase your students’ abilities, and it also serves as a chance to connect with potential recruits. Whether we performed at a sporting event, seasonal concert, performance assessment or a community event, I always made sure to provide space for recruiting. Students shared their experiences in the music program, and I had flyers, handouts and contact information ready to give out to students and parents who might be interested in signing up.
There are several ways to look at and set your enrollment targets. Some look at what percentage of the total school population is enrolled in a particular program, while others look at numbers of new recruits versus retention of prior classes. And there are still others who look at historic trends and set targets based on those.
You can’t rush the good stuff. Whether you’re waiting for the ensemble to gel or for that one kid to finally get it — patience is key. Many of my mentors echoed this sentiment. And trust me, those seeds you’re planting? They will grow. You just have to give them time.
This was a quote that my college band director, Dr. Charles Menghini, said in passing that I’ve never forgotten. “Sometimes the money’s not in the budget, but that doesn’t mean it’s not out there.”
Give your students some skin in the game by letting them help select pieces or lead warm-ups. When I started incorporating student input, the atmosphere shifted from “us vs. them” to “we’re in this together.” And the best part was that performances were better for it. Besides, I’m the only director at my school, and I need the help!
What you choose to play shapes not just the musical experience for your students, but also their emotional and intellectual development. What we play may be the most important curricular decision we make. And sometimes it’s also OK to program things that the kids like! Keep an ear out for what your kids warm-up on before rehearsal begins, and you instantly will know what works.
This is an original: Complain about something twice, and you either need to fix it or let it go. It’s a principle that has served me well and has kept the rehearsal room positive and proactive.
I catch myself with this one. If you’re using the word “should” too much, you’re not in the moment, and that’s a problem. Or, you have not accepted either what your situation is or where your control may be. I learned early on to adapt, reassess and keep it moving. “We shouldn’t have to invite the principal to our concert — they should just attend!” This, and other items, are not always how things work.
Good or bad, tomorrow is another chance. Each new day presents a clean slate to try again, to be better, to make music. Embrace it.
Teaching music, for Burdette, is not just a job. It’s her passion. It’s her calling.
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Wigglesworth says that taking all these classes together was making the students not just better performers and musicians, but also better overall learners. Though these students have now graduated, their legacy includes their inspiration for the Performing Arts Academy. “These alumni, they were hungry, they wanted this,” Wigglesworth says. “They started to paint a picture of what could be a reality — and that was the academy.”
Students involved in the Performing Arts Academy must fit all their private lessons and extra performances into their existing school schedules, which include all traditional school requirements. “Their schedules are pretty jam-packed,” Wigglesworth says.
Because West Covina is located in Southern California, faculty have developed working relationships with professionals from 
You easily can play complex chords on them. Many chords require just one or two fingers, which allows students to play their favorite pop and Disney songs without the insane stretches that might be required on the guitar (something that is great for kindergartners and students with small hands). Because of the ukulele’s unique tuning and its smaller fretboard, suspended and 7ths chords are easier to learn.
Don’t start teaching with the instruments already in students’ hands. Instead, create a presentation on how to properly hold and use ukuleles, including examples of what not to do. Tuning, maintenance and how to put the instrument away should all be addressed a day before the instruments are put into their hands.
If you don’t already have ukes in your classroom, you’ll need to do a bit of research. Most entry-level ukuleles cost around $50 to $60. Anything less than this are likely not high quality instruments. Entry-level ukuleles are usually made of wood or plastic. Most classroom sets are plastic, although there are a handful of economical wooden ones (such as those by Makala), but instruments made of wood require more care and are more susceptible to damage.
I’m supportive of using both ukuleles and 
I enjoy live music, but hearing exceptional groups reduced my confidence. Still, it was important to continue this exposure, not only to continue getting examples of what I wanted, but for my own enjoyment as well.
We know when something doesn’t sound like we want it to, but what do we do when we’re in the middle of rehearsal? If something sounds off but you can’t put your finger on it, start separating the parts. Break down complex pieces to understand them better.
Whether they sound off or not, make a habit of tuning specific notes and chords to ensure uniformity. I started by picking one student to play a note. I then played my instrument and tuned to them. This showed an example of what “in tune” sounded like. Later, we started having kids tune to each other — just a couple each day.
Delve deep into the music, studying one line at a time. I’m serious. Take a piece and plunk out every single instrument line on the piano, or grab an instrument and play through. Go through every line and see what your kids are actually playing. Then do it again. Then one more time.
Directions: Assign an instrument to your students and, with the help of their parent or guardian, ask students to search online to answer a given set of questions. Some of these answers might be hard to find, but they’ll end their journey knowing a few more fun facts. Students can present these facts to the class, or the answers can be used to create an interactive round of 
Directions: Ask your students to craft a make-shift microphone, turn down the lights and throw their own karaoke night in the living room with their friends or family. Whether they use Disney singalongs or 
Recently, I took my students at 
Share Circle
My favorite students are those who are always enthusiastic or engaged during my rehearsals, even when I knew they didn’t want to be there. The kids who made it easy for me to teach when maybe I didn’t want to be there. Kids tend to see their teachers as superhuman and expect us to always be at our best. On my most challenging days, the few kids who went out of their way to smile and say good morning or check in with me, made all the difference.
I remember how it started in 2021 during the post-COVID re-boot. We were all looking for ways to boost morale and confidence. At a rehearsal early on during spring training, Gino tested the microphone. The kids couldn’t hear it from the field, so they started to scream “What?! What?! What?!” until Gino yelled, “Checking the microphone!” at a volume they could hear. They all cheered and screamed exuberantly.
Greet your students daily — at the door or before your rehearsals. Say, “Good morning” or “Good afternoon” while making excellent eye contact, smiling and projecting. If students don’t respond, don’t take it personally. Teenagers mumble. You can inspire them to respond with your energy or teach them to respond.
If a normally cheerful student looks sad or is acting out of sorts, take a second to investigate. “Hey, you normally answer many questions in rehearsal, but you seemed quiet today. Is everything ok?” When students have bad body language in rehearsals, don’t assume it’s a response to you, the rehearsal or even that the student realizes they have bad body language. We can help students learn the power of their body language through coaching and raising awareness.
She made a youthful executive decision: “I’m not only going to become a music educator, but I’m also going to work in schools that have predominantly Black and brown programs.”
Soon after her post traveled wide, Fripp was speaking on podcasts and headlining conferences. Additional social media posts followed, and she signed one as “A Passionate Black Educator.” Since then, the name stuck.
She offers some tips to fellow music teachers. For people of color, she says, be proactive and speak up about your needs by getting involved with professional organizations and attending board meetings. “Don’t be afraid to use your voice, because you’re giving voice to the voiceless.” Fripp says.
I highly value my music department teammates, but I had to learn how to be an effective member of the team. I had to open my mind to the concept that the success of my colleagues’ programs was just as important as mine. I came to recognize that many stakeholders view the department holistically and the success of any aspect of our music program was a reflection of our team. I learned how much we had to follow the motto of the Three Musketeers: “One for all and all for one.” Most notably, I realized that like most things in life, what we put into the team is what we will get out of it.
Your presence alone at a concert sends a clear message to your colleagues that you support them, their students and music education as a whole regardless of which ensemble or grade level is performing. Although showing up is meaningful, a great teammate takes it to the next level by assisting their colleagues during those stressful performances.
Over the past several years, one of the greatest intrinsic benefits of attending performances throughout the district is connecting and advocating with administrators! Take the opportunity to highlight for a principal, superintendent or school board member some of the excellent music learning occurring throughout your district. Mentioning the growth of an ensemble or program is much more impactful to an administrator when the group is sitting on stage with big smiles.
Offering collaboration as part of being a team player is cliche. In fact, suggesting collaboration alone doesn’t offer much value because all educators must collaborate throughout the day to do their jobs. What I’m suggesting is that great teammates collaborate creatively beyond the routine collective tasks and events we do as colleagues.
The relationships you have with your colleagues matter! Everyone you work with doesn’t need to be a personal friend, but great team players work toward building healthy relationships with their peers. One of the best ways to do this is to gather with your colleagues outside of school. My department meets at least bi-yearly to share in fellowship as a districtwide music educator community.
Embarrassingly, I didn’t learn about commissions until I went to college and met composition majors. People asked these composers to write music for them. What? That can happen?! As I became friends with some composers, I started to think about commissioning. Imagine being able to help my friends do what they love by doing what I love.
I have heard a lot of music teachers say, “I only program good music.” However, we all know what that means: They only program the status quo because it is too much work to find something else. If this continues to happen, then music as an art form would never advance because people are afraid to challenge what we already know.
The beauty of a commission is that it is created for you and your group. It is like that new suit that took the tailor an hour to fit just for you, and when you get the finished product, it fits perfectly — and, boy, do you look good! With a commissioned piece, you can even share it with your colleagues who might have similar instrumentation.
We are all artists. We know how difficult it can be to make a living by following your passion. Music is an undervalued and underappreciated profession. When you purchase music from a large music distributor, the composer probably is not making that much money from that purchase. I don’t think this is breaking news to anyone.
I have a few different processes for finding the right composer. My first commission was with a composer named 
Tran, who recently left his job to begin a doctoral program in choral conducting at the 
“I always like to think of it as if you’re going on a trip: You want to put the address into your GPS, so you know where you’re going,” Tran says.
“Person” and “Process” feedback are two types of responses that affect mindset. Person feedback says: “You’re a great musician.” which praises the ability. Process feedback, by contrast, acknowledges effort: “You did really well on the solo during the concert because you were practicing that.”
Students should review what they have accomplished and the feedback they have received to assess their performance. When Tran does one-on-one check-ins with students, the rest of the class engages in self-reflection.
The Tough Teacher: This is the teacher who kids dread seeing, but the one they think about when they’re adults. These teachers are like Batman — the hero that they deserved but not the one they thought they needed at the time. As students, we resist these teachers because they take us out of our educational comfort zone. Then one night when we’re in our 20s, 30s, 40s or older, we wake up and think, “They were right.”
The Sage or Mentor: You know these teachers — the ones who drop in with a one liner that you’ll never forget. Sages are similar to the tough teacher, but their timing is impeccable. They have an air of mystery — you don’t interact with them a lot, but when you do, you know something impactful is about to happen. Some of the most profound advice and teachings I have received were from people I rarely saw.
In recent years, we’ve had a much-needed push toward being kinder — this is great! However, I’ve noticed that some people begin confuse kindness with being unable to deliver direct feedback when needed. As teachers, we can be just as concerned with being fair and insistent as we are with being kind or nice.
The first year I wrote these notes, I had 40 students in the band. The next year, I had 75, and eventually, I had 120. At this point, I was looking forward to not writing these notes anymore. Two days before our first concert, a freshman band member came to me after rehearsal and said, “Mr. Stinson, I can’t wait to see what you write on my concert program! We kept hearing in junior high that everyone gets one!”
Balance
Other examples may have a more layered effect. If we don’t care about poor behavior, then we may be sending a message that we don’t care about the kids who are contributing positively. These students may then wonder what’s the point in contributing to a system that may end up having diminishing returns.
Sims first encountered GRR as a pedagogy during his college years, and then began developing his approach more with each teaching job. “I was a super nerd in college, so I read everything I could get my hands on,” he says with a laugh.
Once students have mastered analyzing their own performances during warmup, Sims starts letting them guide exercises in method books. Here, transfer of knowledge is key. Students learn to apply their critiques from the warmup to their analysis of the actual rehearsal. “Sometimes, kids will get stumped,” he says. “I can ask leading questions like, ‘During the warmup, you said tuning was an issue. What did we do during the warmup?’ And then [they fix it] almost immediately.”
Middle school students are often in a developmental stage that blends high energy with social uncertainty. To keep his classroom running efficiently, Sims sets high expectations for his students’ maturity level. “Depending on the kid or the age level, sometimes it takes a little while to teach the maturity behind making intelligent musical comments,” Sims says. “Some students have a tough time either giving constructive criticism or receiving it.”
By making an intentional effort to engage students with one another, Sims breaks down typical preteen cliques, helps students come out of their shells and builds the band into a cohesive unit. “What’s awesome is, whenever kids come into the band room for the first time, they’re all in these little friend groups,” Sims says. “As the year progresses, you’ll see them with a different group.”
According to Griffin, there has been a noticeable lapse in the preservation of Cajun and Creole culture from her grandparents’ generation to her own. “I feel like our culture has just been slowly taken away from us, and we’re paying the price,” she says.
Griffin earned a bachelor’s degree in music education at the 
Two summers ago, Griffin along with her husband, Gregg, and another district music educator, started 
“Louisiana’s music culture is so rich with jazz and all these things that come from our state,” she says. “But in our school programs, our kids play mostly western, classical and noncultural music.”
The good news is that there are many ways to create music for video games, so you can find what works best for you.
Many short, repeated themes must be written. Video game composers specialize in incidental music, which is music written for something that isn’t music-centric (such as a symphony you’d buy tickets to see).
1. Start on the Musicality Immediately
7. Let Them Play
My experience as a conductor comes in handy because I’ve learned to communicate with gestures instead of words. During a concert you’re going to use gestures to get students to respond. Why not show them during rehearsal?
Just make a short list of the things you teach in your classroom: dependability, responsibility, respect, encouragement, leadership, teamwork, how to grow from disappointment, how to win, how to lose, punctuality, dedication. The list goes on and on.
With that in mind, I went to the head of our CTE department for the school district and had an open conversation about my desire to champion students who are excelling in multiple programs. My main talking point focused on my senior drum major who is an amazing leader, flute player, powerlifter and advanced welder! Wow! Let’s show off her amazing talents AND how incredible our school district, administrators and her parents are for helping her along this very diverse pathway. These are the stories we need to tell (and sell!).
Letter names scribbled under every note.
The basic principle of sound before sight is that aural comprehension precedes theory or grammar, similar to how humans learn language. Keep in mind that aural comprehension is not the same as rote memorization. The two can be distinguished by the following analogy: Imagine you had to memorize a speech in a language that you don’t comprehend. You might be able to say the sounds mostly correctly, but you don’t understand what you’re saying, nor could you use the words you’ve memorized to improvise new sentences. In music, a student might memorize a piece but make a pitch error and not notice. They may be unable to identify a tonal center or whether the piece is in major or minor. And perhaps they are unable to take an excerpt and transpose or improvise on it.
Get ready for a hot take: A lot of sight-reading happening out there isn’t really reading at all. Stay with me. Often, sight-reading looks like giving students a new piece or exercise in their method book. They look at the sheet music but cannot hear what it would sound like in their head. So, they start to decode the first note symbol into the correct fingering, then the next and the next. Then they string it together, maybe with some unnoticed pitch errors. Were they reading?
It has to be clear that notation is representation of a pitch, not of a letter name or a fingering: I postpone referring to notes by letter names for a few months in order to emphasize patterns and tonality. We use solfege or neutral syllables on each pitch. I start beginners on a one- or two-line staff to simplify patterns, emphasize the sound and symbol relationship, and deemphasize the inclination to name notes. Eventually I scaffold up to traditional notation.
So, why does this shift to holistic music literacy matter? What are the stakes? I can’t say how many adults I’ve met who, at some point, got the message that they “just weren’t musical” or “just weren’t talented,” so they quit learning music. Unfortunately, this is still happening today. Stories like these, I believe, are the result of a way of teaching that often fails to impart holistic music literacy. The truth is: Musicality is an inherent human trait, just like language. With the right teaching, the musician in everyone can flourish.
The goal of Notice-Shift-Rewire is to help master executive attention. What’s executive attention? It’s the complex way our brain sorts out all the incoming stimuli, blocking out what’s not important and focusing on what needs doing. Picture yourself having dinner with a friend: You are focused on the great story they are telling you, not on the random guy in the blue shirt at the next table over or the sound of your fork on your plate. When executive attention is poor, according to Klemp and Langshur, too many stimuli are competing, which makes us feel distracted, unfocused and stressed. (Sound familiar?) Add in today’s fragmented environment — awash with distracting social media, incoming texts and multiple screens — and our poor brains are swamped.
The first part of the practice is to notice, or observe, what’s happening in your mind, using a neutral standpoint. Let’s say you had a really hard day teaching. You feel depleted and discouraged. Your brain starts whirring with negative, unhelpful thoughts — for example, “I should be better at this by now” or “I am not cut out for teaching.” But here’s the thing: Human brains are wired to glom onto more negative thoughts and experiences instead of positive thoughts and experiences. Giving negative thoughts more energy is what scientists call the 
Rewire
Choose your cart carefully because it is your classroom. Helpful features to have on a music cart include:
Hand Clapping and Cups: The smaller the instruments, the easier it’s going to be for you. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t make great music. Prioritize small hand percussion instruments like scrapers, shakers and handbells. Don’t forget that our bodies can be instruments, too.
Small Manipulatives and Other Helpful Items: Keep small items in your cart like scarves (for choreography), balls, hacky sacks, rubber dots, etc. that are portable, engaging and inspire movement. Other helpful things to keep on hand include mini whiteboards, golf pencils, scrap paper and blank staff paper.
Teacher Tip: Take Up Space — Even if you’re always teaching in someone else’s space, you must think of it as your room until the bell rings. It’s also a valid move to ask the other teacher to leave their desk so you can take over, even if it’s uncomfortable at first.
What’s the Difference Between Matte and Glossy?
Vibraphone bars are graduated in size and length the same way they are on a marimba and xylophone. This means that the bars are at their largest in width and length at the bottom and gradually get smaller as the pitch rises. The same principle applies to a grand piano. When you look inside a piano, the strings attached to the higher notes are very short and thin, while lower pitches have thicker and longer strings.
The vibraphone bars are tuned to A=442hz (like most other pitched percussion), however, if you are playing the vibraphone with a grand piano tuned to A=440hz, you might notice some tuning discrepancies. The vibraphone is technically 8 cents sharp compared to the piano and the rest of the ensemble. For this reason, companies will offer vibraphone bars tuned to A=440hz. This is only necessary when playing in smaller ensembles with a grand piano or other fixed pitched instruments, however, the difference isn’t noticeable in most scenarios.
Early priorities included infrastructure, such as great trucks, great buses, great equipment. The next priorities included uniform and equipment sponsorships. Once these pieces were in place, the board secured the best teaching staff and administrators they could find. Then, they trusted those instructors and teachers to do their jobs and provided them with the resources needed to be successful. There was, of course, give and take, such as metrics, goals and incentives. The board provided fantastic oversight in the early days, but as the corps’ leadership became more solid, the board maintained its focus on fundraising and community involvement.
On top of being a dedicated band parent, Don was a leading spinal surgeon in South Carolina, and he was positioned to rally the community to support the organization. He envisioned a support system for the Wando Band that could engage alums and other stakeholders to raise monies for the campus and the middle school programs. He was wholly committed to keeping band costs down and filling in the gaps in funding at the district level to enable Wando to remain competitive nationally. He also extended support to the middle school feeders that required additional funding for equipment or travel.
We often think of recruitment as a one-night-only event. You show up, the kids see and/or try the instruments, and then they sign up. That’s it.
That first general music class visit in the winter is short! I demo all four string instruments and introduce our programs in about 15 minutes. I am saccharine sweet and bubbly. Why? Because kids have limited attention spans, and the worst thing I can do is drone on about class rules and logistics. No need to talk about rental fees or playing tests. They will come later. It’s easy to forget that a big reason kids join your program is because of you! Be energetic, welcoming and fun. They’ll leave thinking, “Wow, I want to be in that teacher’s class!”
One year, our band directors were lamenting about their low numbers. It was noted that we had opt-in testing. Students had to turn in a form to try the instruments. That is a barrier to participation, and we want as few barriers as possible. So, we worked with our administration to switch to opt-out testing. Students are brought down to the try-on room as a whole class. Every student tries at least one instrument, unless they have a note from their parent/guardian asking them not to (which is incredibly rare). Upon making this change, our numbers skyrocketed.
Because every student tries instruments, following up is a simple process. A letter goes out to all 5th-grade families, reminding them of the opportunity to join a music ensemble. Our secretaries help with the logistics. We skip the students who have already signed up and send a letter to everyone else.
It’s Worth it!
According to Sepulvado, the Teaching Lab’s focus on underserved forms of music education stems from a desire to make music more accessible to a wider variety of students. “One of the most important discussions happening in education is about equity and how to meet students where they are,” he says. “I’m a big believer in the importance of classical music and jazz, but I do think there’s tremendous power and value in having a class where students are playing music that they listen to and love.”
