NAMM 2022 Yamaha Guitars Recap
As an artist, I’m always fascinated by the design layouts and floor plans developed for trade show events. Display areas have to be visually appealing as well as functional, plus they have to be easy to navigate by a large group of people.
The new Yamaha location at the 2022 NAMM show, on the third floor of the Anaheim Convention Center, allowed the company to condense several product areas into one large square presentation space. This allowed for full line of sight to all of the display areas within the booth — a great idea that I think was appreciated by Yamaha staffers and attendees alike.
The focal point, in the middle of the space, was the revolving stage, overhead Yamaha logo and the company’s spectacular new CFX grand piano. Theatrical lighting set the mood, along with huge wall monitors projecting performance videos and NEXO speakers suspended from the ceiling emanating immersive surround sound. No matter where you were standing in the booth, the effect was dramatic!
But my personal focus, of course (and the reason I was representing Yamaha at NAMM), was on Yamaha guitars, and there were plenty of them at the show, including …
Second-Generation Revstars
I’m happy to report that there were quite a few second-generation Revstar guitars on display in the guitar section, including a left-handed RSE20L and numerous Professional (RSP) Series instruments.
I’d been dying to try out the Professional line for a while, and got the chance to demonstrate an RSP20 in Swift Blue and an RSP02T in Sunset Burst (shown below) at the show. Both guitars had been set up perfectly, and played just the way I (and, I think, most people) like them. To my eyes, the combination of cream pickups and scratch plate really do complement the Sunset Burst finish very well.
All RSP models are identical in construction, with chambered mahogany bodies, maple tops, rosewood fingerboards, carbon fiber rods in the body and neck, and 12-inch radius fretboards with stainless-steel jumbo frets. They also feature an extremely versatile five-way selector switch and a unique Focus Switch for an instantaneous boost in the low and mid frequencies. The RSP20 has two humbucking pickups, while the RSP02T sports two P90s instead, for those tasty single-coil sounds we all love. The tones they provide for rock ’n’ roll are excellent, and blues slide, legato melodies and double-stops all shine on both instruments. They were my favorite electric guitars at the show, without a doubt.
New TransAcoustic Guitars
Yamaha acoustic guitars were also represented extremely well at 2022 NAMM, with a full complement of amazing TransAcoustic instruments. The FGC-TA and FSC-TA are the latest cutaway models in the line and really do take center stage for the solo performer who needs an acoustic guitar that provides easy access to the upper register.
I used an FSC-TA in tobacco sunburst finish throughout the show for my demo performances, and I really loved the plugged-in tone as much as the acoustic sound and ambient effects. (Check out the video below for my full performance on this guitar.) It came as no surprise to me, then, that the FSC-TA followed in the footsteps of previous TA models by winning the NAMM “Best in Show” award again this year! What will they think of next for this range?
New Amplifiers
The big news on the amplifier front is that Yamaha THR-II wireless desktop amps have received a refresh in the aesthetic department and are now available in black or white, in addition to the original tan finish. This makes total sense when you consider that most players will have these amps on their desk at work or coffee table at home. Your choice of desktop amplifier can now complement your interior design palette as well as your musical taste!
Also on display at NAMM were Line 6 Catalyst combo amplifiers, along with the company’s flagship Helix processor and HX Stomp effects pedal, all of which were put to good use in the stage backline. The new DL4 MkII, which takes delays to the next level of digital expression, was also a mainstay of the main stage at the Yamaha booth.
The Videos
I always feel that products are best demonstrated in the capacity in which they’ll ideally be used, paired with other products and in a real-world live music situation.
The FSC-TA, vocals and percussion loops in the video below, shot at NAMM, are all running through a Helix effects processor and a Yamaha Stagepas 1K (since supplanted by the second-generation Stagepas 1KMk II) portable line array PA system — the exact same setup that I use for all my live performances. You’ll notice that the parts all retain their clarity even when I’m overdubbing in the looped outro section. I think it sounds pretty good, considering this video was captured using my smartphone. Trust me: the sound is infinitely better in person.
I shot this second video the day before the show opened because I couldn’t resist capturing my two favorite guitars before they were covered in fingerprints by adoring fans — the Revstar RSP20 in Swift Blue with humbucking pickups, and the RSP02T in Sunset Burst, with those lovely cream P90s. I hope you enjoy admiring these beauties as much as I did, as well as listening to the musical underpinning I composed to celebrate their release.
The Wrap-Up
While attendance at the 2022 NAMM show may have been lighter than in past years, it was clear from the enthusiasm of the attendees that the passion for the music manufacturing industry is alive and well.
We all love what we do, and that always shows at the Yamaha booth. The live performances there were all world-class, interactions with dealers, competitors and artists were always cordial and fun, and the entire Yamaha team worked together in every way to support the vision of the company, its products and the end user.
We are back, stronger and better than ever!
Photos courtesy of the author and Steve Leiken.
A group piano program is a unique and fun way for students to progress quicker than if they were taking individual lessons, Miller says. With a group of students who are at the same level, you can pre-determine the pacing and you can make lessons more curriculum based rather than individualized. The pacing can move faster as students’ skills develop because they are following the same curriculum with the same teacher.
It can be a challenge to build a Keyboard Explorer program, but it is also a labor of love — as long as you are patient, Miller says.
In the past, the solution to having more than 100 students on a waitlist was to hire more teachers, which proved to be easier said than done. “There were students who had to be turned away because there just wasn’t enough room or individual teachers,” Miller says. “The Keyboard Explorers program is a great way to give more students the opportunity to take lessons at the conservatory!”
For Felder, music education should be more about the journey than the destination. That means creating what he calls “many mini-opportunities” for students to practice and perform outside of the classroom. He says it’s important for students to perform for different crowds and to “allow their music to be heard more than just once.”
Mini-opportunities serve multiple purposes, Felder explains. First, they allow his students to give back to their communities. They also introduce his students’ art and music to members of the community who may not otherwise be exposed to it. Felder says that at their spring shows, he’ll often see people who first experienced the SHABACH music program during one of their mini-opportunities.
Felder says finding these curated opportunities can be challenging, so it’s important for him to stay personally energized about music. He sees himself as a “teaching artist,” meaning that he values the level of his own musical experience, while also trying to share that knowledge and love of music with his students.
It’s also important to be transparent with your students. “Life is still happening to us,” Felder says.
Felder insists that there is no cookie-cutter way to attempt intentional music programming and that each group of students should have curated programs for their own needs and situations. To be successful with this type of curriculum, Felder says you must find balance and learn what works best for each group of students. And, perhaps most importantly, it’s about staying flexible and being able to change direction when a situation arises that can’t be ignored.
Early in my career, my approach to assessment was primarily based on two types of performance: pass-offs for individual students and performance assessment ratings for ensembles. Pass offs are a type of performance task, e.g., scales, rhythm sheets and excerpts from music, that students perform to demonstrate their level of proficiency. Performance assessments can include any contest, festival or competition in which students are evaluated and given a formal rating as a group. Many music educators are familiar with and utilize these systems because we experienced and excelled at these types of assessments when we were students.
The Purpose of E-Portfolios
You’re probably thinking: This all sounds great, but where do I find the time to construct, implement and grade all this!? This is a valid question. It took me almost four years to see my department’s e-portfolio come to fruition. It is not a quick, set-it and forget-it sort of task.
The first We Are Nashville Festival took place in 2018 at 
With the pandemic still raging in 2021, Finney knew that the festival would need to be all digital, which he was excited to explore. Finney works as a Learning Technology Specialist for Metro Nashville Public Schools and assists educators with successfully integrating technology into their instruction. So, he interviewed local artists and music directors and provided digital resources for students and teachers.
While elementary school students are in their general music experience, middle school and high school students arrive to practice and take workshops of their own. Then, they break apart and begin practicing their music in sectionals and tier-based rehearsals before coming back together for dinner. During dinner, the We Are Nashville student orchestra made-up of high school students from all over the Nashville area, begin their final run-through of music before the final dress rehearsal and show.
He hopes that the elementary school students can look at the middle and high school students and envision themselves in their positions. Finney says that he receives feedback from teachers who say that their students want to join the middle school or high school orchestra or choir because they saw them perform at the festival. For Finney, that is what the festival is all about. He says it’s important for students to realize that “they’re just like me, or they look just like me, and they’re doing something I would love to do,” he says.
A proposal of the course was given to the building principal at the time, Dr. Joseph Hepp, a multi-instrumentalist in his own right, and reviewed by our district curriculum coordinators. After they approved it, the elective was added to the course offerings during course selection.
Once the course was approved, I began to write and design the curriculum as well as a scope and sequence for the course. I decided that students would spend half of the semester on ukulele and then transition to guitar. I wanted all my students to walk away with a skillset where they could continue learning, playing and enjoying music on guitar and ukulele beyond the class. Thanks to discussions and input from my colleagues, I determined that I wanted students to be able to meet two primary goals:
When it came to teaching common harmonies and progressions on the instrument, it was more difficult to find text and resources that met the needs of the class. While there are several popular methods for teaching harmony, few would effectively work for guitar and ukulele. For this reason, I ended up creating most of my own original resources (slideshows and handouts) to teach harmonies and chords with the aid of online resources such as 
Along with the curricular support for the class, our district supported the purchase of a set of guitars and ukuleles through building and curriculum budgets. As the program expanded, we were able to use a combination of our department budget and curriculum budget to expand our inventory. Every student is assigned a guitar and ukulele during the course that they can use in class and take home as needed. If you are unable to secure a district budget funding source, I highly encourage looking into 
This guitar and ukulele elective has become extremely popular in our building! Last year, we ran six sections of the course taught by one other teacher and me and engaged approximately students in meaningful music making! One of the most surprising and rewarding pieces of feedback I received from students is how much they value being able to learn traditional music notation in high school!
Fundamentals include all elements of the daily diet for the contest literature, including rhythm training, ear training, breathing exercises, buzzing for brass, long tones, lip flexibilities, harmonic slurs, articulation exercises, range builders, dynamic control exercises, scales, chorales, tuning sequences and more.
If we only have time for a very short warm-up, it must include a sustained long-tone exercise: a Remington/interval study or major/minor scales. It also must include a lip slur exercise for brass (either a soft, slow slur or something quick) and a harmonic slur for woodwinds. Sometimes we will have our woodwinds play a fast finger/technical exercise while the brass plays slurs for efficiency. And finally, the daily drill must include something to work tonguing and style. This could be multiple tonguing, fast tonguing or even learning to control accents, tenutos, staccatos or other styles students will need to succeed.
While we don’t try to “teach to the test” at Claudia Taylor Johnson, we structure our fundamentals/daily drill to address the skills needed for our performers to play our contest program at a high level. If we know that we are working on Borodin’s “
Students have been taught to wash their hands after using the bathroom their entire lives, but hand-washing has felt like a new concept recently. The task of taking an entire class of students to wash their hands before music class is too clunky to do every hour. Instead, I have elected to allow students to self-regulate when they need to wash their hands or quickly use hand sanitizer.
Less Sharing, More Concentrated Time
When my district, 
The calendar for the upcoming school year has likely already been set. Make sure to map out your year, start by adding the following events to your work calendar:
Once you have your calendar mapped out, you will have a better idea of when your first public performance will be and with which ensemble(s). You can begin to think about programming music. To keep it simple, try to find programs from the past three years of concerts to give you an idea of what music the ensemble(s) have performed. This gained insight can guide you toward a difficulty level. Rosters of your classes will also help you estimate expected instrumentation. From there begin pulling music from your library that is comparable to the previous year’s concert programs. I also encourage teachers to pull music that is on the easier side for sight reading at the beginning of the year. This helps to build confidence for the ensemble and for you to focus on musicianship versus notes and rhythms from day one.
Now that you have spent time getting to know your inventory, calendar and creating your important support system within the school, make sure to reach out to your mentor and colleagues outside of your school. The true secret to success is having a support system that might include friends you graduated college with or past teachers who you now call your friends. Connect regularly with the people who will listen and offer advice when asked.
Set boundaries with your work email. After a certain time at night, you are no longer on the job and all incoming emails can be read and responded to the next workday. The earlier you set these boundaries the better — parents and students will learn your communication habits. Stay strong when someone becomes upset that you did not immediately respond to an email that they composed at 11:00 p.m. Politely respond during your regular work hours and thank them for their patience.
This initial stage can vary depending on your experiences. In your first few years, you might say things that your teachers told you. You might emulate their mannerisms when you conduct or count off a group. You might even dress like your mentors or adopt their sense of humor. None of these things are bad!
Then, some doubts set in. You may have had some doubts about your career initially, but in this potential stage, the doubts build. You may think:
Stage 4 is a stage of confidence. It is not an arrival stage; we enter into it as we grow to know our strengths and weaknesses better, and we begin to understand how we operate.
I eventually ended up back where I started at 
As we were wrapping up the conversations regarding the logistics of operating the band program and saying our good nights, a special young man rolled up to me in his wheelchair and asked me an important and challenging question.
I have found all too often that my first instinct, my first response in any situation is to focus on the problem. This is all too easy to do because whenever you turn on the news, listen to the radio, open your phone, all the world’s problems come flooding in. The daily confrontation of problems is brutal.
Tomoki Miyazaki is a year younger than Micah, an incredible flute player with perfect pitch, and he is legally blind. After hearing him shine as a performer throughout the spring of 2021, we started conversations with Tomoki about doing something he’d never considered — being part of the marching band. With his incredible playing ability in mind, our music arranger designed numerous solo moments for him throughout the 2021 show. The first time we heard him performing with the group, amplified for the world to hear, we knew we had a special performer. With this excitement came a very unique obstacle.
I’ll be honest, flute choirs can be expensive — alto and bass flutes have pretty high price tags. Most of the information below is about the lower-range harmony flutes because many schools have a selection or easy access to higher-range melody flutes (
This 8-person setup will be enough to get you going.
Most flutes come with the option of a curved headjoint. While this is often an adjustment made on soprano flutes for younger students, having a curved headjoint becomes increasingly more common as the flute gets lower. Watch flutist Gina Luciani weigh the 
Thumb Rests: I recommend thumb rests for bass and heavier flutes. Bass flutes often have metal thumb or hand rests that help players balance the extra weight. These are especially handy for students who will be playing for a long period of time but do not plan on playing with a stand.
The students have fallen in love with the event, too. “I have students who will buy a suit just for jazz night. They get all dressed up, and they’re super pumped,” Pohland says. “It’s turned into way more than I could ever have imagined.”
Having open, honest conversations isn’t only beneficial with his own family. Pohland has also found that building personal connections with students helps the program gain a sense of camaraderie. He says that one of the keys to building a trusting relationship with students includes “sharing my stories — sharing why I’m passionate, why I’m energetic about music.”
While a close-knit musical family may sound like a dream come true, maintaining a music program in a small, rural town comes with its own unique challenges. Some students may struggle to make it to every rehearsal when they have other commitments at home like working on their parents’ farm. Other students may struggle to get to rehearsal on time when driving to school takes 30 minutes or when Minnesota weather rears its destructive head.
Communication goes hand in hand with community outreach. One of the benefits of building a music program in a small community is the ability to get students directly involved with community performances.
You cannot be a wallflower music teacher and expect kids to flock to your class. Be bubbly and personable. Show kids that you are committed to them and that you see and hear them. Make them laugh. Truth be told, I gauge my effectiveness each day based on whether I can get my students to laugh.
While I recognize there is enormous value in practicing instruments outside your primary instrument, as an ensemble director, I simply do not have the time to devote to preparing quality demonstrations on a variety of instruments. Instead, I call upon my colleagues, music major friends from college or, in some cases, former or current students to showcase their talents on various instruments.
Unison playing in an ensemble is necessary when students first begin learning a musical instrument. Because novice students’ audiation and tone production are developing, it helps to have everyone play the same melody together for reference. Additionally, playing in unison helps alleviate some of the anxiety students might experience from playing something incorrectly or thinking they sound bad. After all, how many of us sing more quietly in the car once the radio is turned down?
If you are tasked with developing beginner instrumentalists to eventually feed your top ensemble(s), promote students based on their demonstration of mastery, NOT on the instrument they play. As someone who spends the majority of his day teaching band classes, I know this can be a tough pill to swallow. Remember though, our role as music educators is NOT to teach a piece of music, but to teach musical concepts and skills. The pieces we program are simply vehicles to determine the extent to which students understand and can demonstrate these musical concepts and skills. This is why your learning objectives and success criteria based on the standards found in your curriculum are so important!
Most ensemble directors have a social media account for their music programs. This is a terrific way to share your students’ accolades with the world. That said, don’t devote the bulk of your social media posts to celebrating only the achievements of your top ensemble(s). Earning a superior rating at a festival is great news worth celebrating — but so is the first time your beginning brass students learn how to buzz! When every student feels celebrated in your program, word travels fast.
The music department at Tennessee State University has a rich legacy and a storied history. From our world-famous 
With the “Grow Your Own” funds, we have enhanced our curricula in numerous ways. We now offer a Praxis review course, which provides students with a formal class setting that prepares them to pass both the Praxis Core test, as well as the content-specific Praxis Music test.
Schoolland first created her open-door band room policy while working at an inner-city school in Colorado. Many of her low-income students struggled with the logistical side of practicing their instruments, such as transporting their instruments to and from school or not having space at home to practice. “I had one student who lived in their car,” she says. “He couldn’t practice trombone in his back seat. That’s where the idea of keeping the band room open after school took root — from the knowledge that not every kid has a safe place to practice outside of school.”
A growing music program requires mutual trust between students and teachers if it’s going to thrive and flourish. Getting students motivated to practice during their free periods or after school also requires that they gain self-confidence in their own musical abilities.
Being a small community worked in Metlakatla’s favor. “We literally know where everyone lives,” Schoolland says. “When we were shut down for more than a couple days at a time, staff members from the school volunteered to help deliver instruments. We were able to get instruments in kids’ hands pretty quickly.”
Instead of lamenting on the small budget, Taylor went to work to find outside funding and has received nearly $20,000 in donations in the past four years.
While the school provides students with the larger and more expensive instruments, such as French horns, baritones, tubas and oboes, families are typically expected to rent more popular and smaller instruments like flutes, clarinets and saxophones. However, Taylor says that situation created equity and balance problems.
Taylor initiated her wish list with requests for mouthpieces, reeds, neck straps, valve oil, cork grease and lessons books. She would always attach a picture of her with the students. “Having an action photo with kids playing instruments tended to grab people’s attention,” she says.
Taylor is also active with 
Of greater impact, Taylor was the Eastern Division recipient of the 2021 
Taylor says that her biggest recruitment methods are the fun activities within the program itself. Her 5th-grade band students learn “The Star-Spangled Banner” and perform at a 
One of the most obvious ways to reach students is through the act of making music. Often, we get stuck in the nuts and bolts of rehearsals or stress of prepping for a concert, but it’s essential to take a step back and make sure to spend time each day when students (and you) revel in the joy of music.
4. Always Have Chocolate
Music educators often need to take a breath and consider the context of a situation. It’s easy during concert season to get caught up in the nitty gritty of the technical aspects of the music or the details of an upcoming performance. As a young teacher, I used to get frustrated at students who forgot their bow tie for our state assessment. But I learned to remind myself that 1) we are all human, 2) there may be important context as to why that student did not have their bow tie, 3) it’s not the end of the world and 4) always pack extra bow ties. These apply during concert season but it’s important to have similar reminders for daily rehearsals.
There’s a mentality that we have to “get back to normal” now that COVID-19 is abating (fingers crossed). All music educators suffered playing through the pandemic, losing some great players and seeing a reduction in participation. It’s essential to remember that the work you are doing right now each and every day will probably see a return in several years, not in a few weeks. Like the stock market performance over the past 100 years, we need to be visionaries and focus on the next 10, 25 and 100 years of music education.
If you have lost some motivation or feel frustrated about your job, you are experiencing a low point — it happens to all of us. This is precisely the time to find some extra time and resources and make an investment for YOURSELF. I recommend taking a professional development class. I teach online classes at VanderCook College of Music, and I assure you that there is a relevant, thought-provoking course for you that will light a fire in your musical soul. Check out 
If you feel like you need help in a particular area, don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are countless online groups that you could consult, or you can reach out to your local music educators association. Another great resource is your local music store/supplier who likely knows great people for you to connect with, but you have to ask!
Each mode can be split into left, right or both hands. The grade is presented in a fraction of correct notes over possible notes and is color-coded for quick visual assessment.
“Free Play” is a great space to explore the labels that Synthesia offers. Students can choose to have the keys on the screen labeled with the note’s letter, solfege (fixed or movable) or scale degree. The same labels can be applied to the moving squares, allowing students to mix and match. A great way to relate fixed Do and letter names would be to have the keys labeled with letters and the moving squares to be labeled with solfege. Students could then explore the relationship in a low-risk environment.
Creating Classroom Play-Along Videos
This step takes time to complete. I like using the Goldilocks approach to get it just right. Think of three BIG ideas that can fuel your plan. One way of thinking about this is to go back to your mission. Generally, your mission can be pared down to three or four big ideas. Use those as the backbone for your overarching goals. For me, they are creating great musicians, developing a community within the program and its ensembles, and to serve others through what we do. Written as strategic goals, they read:
My specialties include communications, financial management, booster club, calendar and facilities, travel arrangements, student leadership and serving as department chair and vertical team lead.
I first became familiar with 
Let’s think about how children learn language. First, they absorb through listening then they babble — nonsense syllables at first and then slowly, through imitation, a real word or two start to emerge. Even when the sounds are unclear, adults or older children give clarity and meaning to those words. Words turn into sentences, and soon, the child is thinking fully through language and holding conversations with other people. After years of practicing how to listen and talk, we then teach the child how to read and write.
Next, I give my students a chance to babble or talk on their own and improvise at the piano in 3/4 meter. I will keep the parameters simple: Put both hands on a D pentascale and improvise a piece in 3/4. I usually allow students to play on their own before I add an accompaniment pattern. Again, if my students stay in 3/4, I know they understand and are audiating triple meter. If they are struggling to play with consistent macro- and microbeats, we will spend more time listening and moving.
Experimental music will excite the audience in ways that classical-era pieces simply can’t: My dad isn’t the biggest fan of classical music. So, when one of my ensembles put on a spooky modern Halloween concert instead of a traditional concert with “
This piece by 
As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t stumble upon “
Sometimes we can get in a rut of making sure all pitches and rhythms are correct before adding the expressive layers of dynamics, articulation and other interpretative devices. However, if we wait until the final stages of learning, it can be too late. By this time, our students’ habits for a particular piece are already ingrained in their minds and muscle memory, and they may not be able to make the changes consistently and successfully to their playing.
Prior to asking students to “drill” a passage a certain number of times, make sure they can play it accurately and independently. A helpful way to make sure this happens is by assisting them with mental study. Create a copy of their score and then have them use colored pencils, markers or digital ink to annotate the music and highlight certain score details that they may easily forget. By having the students write in the scores themselves, they are more likely to remember those specific musical markings. By using different colors, there is a higher chance they will accurately visualize the score without having the physical book in front of them.
When we opened 
Reagan also had a logistical team called SCORE, which stood for Student Care of Resources and Equipment. This team included 10 to 15 students who were dedicated to keeping the band hall clean, setting up for rehearsals and managing events. Line leaders and section leaders were often members of SCORE as well. The Reagan students were so motivated to serve the program, and because they had a voice in the process, they took ownership of all tasks, big and small.
Students in appointed positions apply each spring and submit a resume, portfolio and teacher references, and they go through an interview process and teaching audition. Drum major candidates also complete a conducting audition. Appointed positions are selected by a committee that includes band directors from the high school and middle school, private lesson teachers, former student leaders and several guest panel members, including marching techs or visitors from another district school.
Execution and Pacing — In our teaching workshops, student leaders break into groups of 10 to 12 to practice teaching with one another. Each student will inform the others in the group what he or she plans to do, take them through the lesson and then receive feedback from a director or coach on improving the lesson. Student leaders learn pacing, time management and how their peers respond to feedback. This is where directors work with student leaders to develop patience, kindness, compassion and confidence. Topics we focus on during this process:
Broken/Old Drumsticks: I’ve used these for everything from removing stuck slides to rolling out small dents on a brass instrument. Sand down any rough edges before using.
Eyeglass Screwdrivers: A set of small screwdrivers are always helpful in a pinch. I also have some longer screwdrivers on hand, which can help to loosen some stuck screws. Warning: Don’t force screws too much because a stripped head is a more significant repair.
Would you consider donating to our program if you have any of the items below in your garage, basement or workroom?
Explore Other Options
Why then, do so many people equate music reading with note naming?
When students are focused on note-naming, they would look at the notes to the right and say, “C, E, G.” That is three bits of information that really serve no musical purpose. When we emphasize intervallic reading, the student recognizes that these three notes, built up in skips, create a C major chord — one bit of information. The student can audiate that chord, the hand automatically knows what shape to create to play the chord and the knowledge is easily transferable to other keys.
At the beginning of my career, I contacted a few well-known directors and asked if I could observe an evening rehearsal. The response was almost always a “yes” or a “yes, but would another time of year work?” Bring a notebook, jot down some thoughts and just take it all in. The next day, try something new in your classroom that you observed the night before. It might work or it might not — but it’s another tool in your bag.
Figure Out What You Need First
My general rule for a new technique or approach is to try it for 30 days. Sometimes, I record our first day trying out the new suggestion out, and then compare it to how the band sounds 30 days later. If I followed the technique correctly, and the group sounds better, we kept it.
My mentors are great overall, but some excel in specific areas. When I have a marching band question, I contact a particular person. When I have a question concerning a situation specific to my school, I reach out to a friend who also works in a low-income/underserved school. I have another friend who doesn’t even work in music but who has been incredibly helpful with financial advice.
The first thing you must do as a new director is to learn about the community, students, stakeholders and the general dynamics of the school. That’s what I did when I accepted the job at 
Perform Often — No matter the age of your students, they should be performing. The typical model of fall, holiday, performance assessment and spring concerts truly doesn’t meet students’ ability to perform. It also leads to performance anxiety. To eliminate this, I try to schedule at least one performance each month after students’ first year of instruction. This could be as simple as a chamber group performing at a nursing home. The more students perform, the better they become at performing, and it increases their music-reading skills. My high school students will perform 12 times in various ensembles from November to January, and only one of those times is a full ensemble concert. These include multiple jazz performances at nursing homes and community events; our marching band performing in the city Christmas parade; and our chamber ensembles performing at the 
Build Your System — The same concept works for music as you develop your own system. Being the only 6-12 director, using the same language from top to bottom makes my life easier. For example, I use the same method book series from beginner band all the way through high school. I also use the same methodology for counting rhythm. Whether you choose to count in the traditional method, Eastman Technique or in any other form, you must make it the same from bottom to the top. I started this process during my first year at SCHS, and now four years down the road, all grade levels count using the same system. Our rhythmic integrity has greatly improved and our students’ abilities have increased. This is part of building your system.
With every big decision I have taken to our administration, I always have a back-up plan. Your administrators are there to support you, not to fight with you, and if they are fighting against you, then you might need to look in the mirror. Your top priority is your program, and you must fight for it. But you must realize that you are just one program at your school. If your plan is rejected, don’t be discouraged. Have a back-up plan or be willing to work with administrators on a revised plan. Or, come back at a later date and say, “Remember when I wanted to do XYZ — what are your thoughts on it now?” You may be shocked, as I have been, at how administrators are more willing to approve, or at least discuss, the original plan. Team-building and collaboration are essential.
String
Popsicle Sticks
Visual Music: Play Dough, Styrofoam Putty and Pipe Cleaners
Sensory Tools
4. Take a Trot
7. Put Down that Book
10. Chew a Piece of Gum
In 2008, 
What excellence looks and sounds like: Consider watching videos or playing audio recordings for students of professional groups, as well as great groups their own age. Students will learn to admire professional recordings, but they can learn as much from listening and watching great examples of their peers performing.
Getting our students to a place where they were excited to be great together and to believe in the journey was a process! It was paramount for us to have the values listed above in place before we ever attempted to improve as musicians and athletes.
Friend Groups Might Change
Students might challenge many of the changes you want to implement. It helps to be aware of the teacher you are replacing and the program’s history. If the program was successful and everyone loved the previous director, don’t change too much at first. If you do, be ready to hear complaints from students and parents. Again, it’s not personal — people tend to think about what they’re losing rather than what they will be gaining. Be patient and guide them through this.
Buyer’s Remorse
Additional tips on questions for the interviewer:
Some Other Thoughts
Have Your Elevator Pitch Ready
Practice, Practice, Practice
Have Someone Look It Over
Brag About Yourself
List Other Relevant Information
In the article “
Do
Even if you have a standard uniform, many things can go wrong. Consider the following:
In music, the performance is the essay, and students knowing what to do and doing it are two very different things. The knowledge often doesn’t translate. How beautifully and musically our students play hinges on their ability to move from conceptualizing to actualizing, and the gap often appears in the results of their performances. For example:
Guiding students to listen beyond their ears and react to certain stimuli is no different than training students to form an embouchure or take a proper breath. In other words, provide clear information to students, have them practice, give them feedback — then repeat. Keep in mind that students will only fix what bothers them. Until they are as bothered by a problem as their coach, they will be limited in the amount they can improve.
Train your students to respond in one of three ways: “Yes, I think so,” “No, I don’t think so” or “I don’t know” — which may sound surprising.
Breathing to Play vs. Breathing to Live
Rule: Students should avoid breathing in predictable places such as at bar lines.
Tuners and metronomes
The article referenced above contains excerpts from their book, “
In interleaved practice, “a student practices an identified problem area for a brief amount of time, leaving it to begin practicing a different skill area. The performer is alternating and intermixing the practice tasks. The long-term retention is better with interleaved practice, even though the short-term satisfaction isn’t as great.” She illustrates interleaved practice using the letters ABCBACACB. In other words, in interleaved practice, certain material is practiced, then left alone but interspersed with, or revisited back and forth, between other practice material.
A final type of practice is known as mental practice. This kind of practice is undertaken away from our instruments and does not entail any playing whatsoever.
