Fossil Ridge HS – Marching Band
With the Fossil Ridge Marching Band, I run sectionals, help with setting and cleaning drill, assist at competitions, and do logistical work such as painting the field and moving equipment. Having had no prior experience with high school marching band (my high school had no marching program), this has already been an invaluable experience. Directors Aaron Herman and Hannah Peterson, as well as several of the other staff including Dr. Christina Herman, made it a priority to help me learn how to teach marching band.
I’ve learned strategies for differentiating between the many different skill levels, setting drill, teaching visual marching techniques and choreography, helping students play together in the challenging outdoor listening environment, and running the challenging logistics of a competitive marching band program.
Westview MS – Summer Music
In the summer of 2024, I taught the beginning trumpets and horns and conducted the intermediate ensemble at the Westview MS Summer Music camp in Longmont, CO. Over 2 weeks, I rehearsed Christina Huss’s “As Spirits Soar” with the group of mostly Seventh Grade students, and a recording of the first rehearsal is below.
From this experience, I learned the importance of keeping the presentation of concepts short, with lots of opportunities of apply them in and out of context. In the following rehearsal, I spent far too long working on the concept – it takes more time for students to become more comfortable with syncopated rhythms.
After that, I focused on creating an environment of practice where students have as many opportunities to apply syncopated rhythm and articulation concepts in context. Presenting the concept over and over again does not yield results as efficiently as prioritizing rehearsal time.
Bill Reed MS – Sixth/Seventh Grade Band
Throughout the 2023-2024 school year, I came in weekly to work with band students at Bill Reed Middle School. I taught private lessons and sectionals on woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments. I also had the opportunity on several occasions to lead rehearsals with the Sixth Grade brass class, woodwind class, and the full Seventh Grade ensemble. Below is a recording of a rehearsal on the second movement of James Ployhar’s “Scandian Suite.”
In this lesson, I centered around the dotted quarter – eighth note rhythm as the main concept. I prepared a transposed sheet so that all the students learn the melody, which helped with engagement. The main area for improvement from this teaching episode was classroom management – I needed to do better in keeping all students engaged in learning something relevant to their instrument and role in the ensemble. I improved on this in later ensemble teaching, including at Westview.
Shepardson Elementary – Rock Band
In Spring 2024, I had the opportunity to volunteer 8 times with the Fifth Grade Rock Band ensemble at Shepardson Elementary. Ms. Laura Beese was relatively new to teaching Rock Band, so learning along with her and the students was very valuable. I assisted students with guitar, drums, bass, and keyboard instruments during weekly morning rehearsals.