Best Practices
Best practices is, basically, engaging all elements of music in regards to program culture, program systems, instruction, musical understanding, instrumental performance, and musical independence.
Goal Centered Planning
Plan with the end in mind. Know what individual and ensemble skill goals you want your students to achieve. Share these goals with your students so they understand why they are doing what you are asking them to do. Even though we think our students are on the same page as us, they most likely are not, due to lack of effective communication from the teacher.
Skills Rubric
Provide a rubric for your students of the skills on which you are working. This makes the abstract a bit more concrete for the young musician.
Planning and Fundamentals
The foundation you build will be the basis for everything else your students will learn. If the foundation is weak, everything that follows will be exponentially weaker. The process of learning to play a wind instrument correctly is a slow one; it can't be rushed and there are no shortcuts. You will always be teaching two steps forward then one step back in order to build that solid foundation. Don't forget about spending time on developing the students rhythmic reading skills as well as music theory at each level. Don't start feeling anxious and rushed to 'get to the music'; slow and steady wins the race. With solid foundational skills your students will approach 'learning the music' in a more independent manner.
Tonal Concepts First
The basis for all wind instrument tone quality is air. Develop a system for teaching your students how to breathe and use their breath like a wind player. Time on breathing is never wasted. Teaching embouchure will be more customized to the student; remember not everyone will have the same results due to facial structure, lip size and shape, and maxillofacial structure. Customize your teaching to the student. Finally, don't overlook articulation, correct posture and hand position. Again, this can be affected by the physical characteristics of each student, but not as much as with the embouchure.
Ensemble Skills
Ensemble skills should be taught early on in the process. In a beginner class, learning to play/hear in tune and blending unisons and octaves, will go a long way in developing listening skills when they are in a full ensemble situation. In grades 7-12, using those listening skills learned in the beginner class will serve them well when working on levels of listening and playing. Students must learn to think like a musician and collaborate among musicians using the same vocabulary.
Levels of Listening
Students should be able to identify at least 4 levels of listening: 1) self; 2) section; 3) color group; 4) ensemble. In level 1 students should be listening to themselves for characteristic sound, playing in the most resonant part of the sound, and intonation. In level 2, students should be blending in with the other players in their section. In level 3, students should be blending in with their color group (the groups of instruments who have the same part). In level 4, students should be able to balance in the ensemble from the lowest sounding melodic instrument.
Articulation Clarity
Another aspect of ensemble skills that tends to get overlooked is articulation clarity. Within a section, all students should be using the same articulation syllable. If even one student is using a different consonant or vowel, there will be clarity issues. Articulation clarity is closely related to clarity of musical lines.; if the articulation is not clear within a section, it will affect the line clarity as well. Have a method of teaching articulation syllables to your students and make sure that you monitor and redirect frequently. This is something that can wreak havoc in the band if it is not addressed.
Clarity of Musical Lines
Part of balancing an ensemble is also making sure the line clarity is there. Having good articulation clarity in every section will help with this concept. Line clarity is a matter of prioritizing the musical lines and balancing accordingly. So, the melody is top priority; and within that there needs to be well tuned and blended color groups, the counter melody would be next with good color group tuning and blending, then the accompaniment and so on. Most music is printed with aggregate dynamics (everyone has the same dynamic level written in the music), but we know that won't work. All the student sees is his/her dynamic marking, so part of their training as an independent musician is to determine their function within the overall ensemble and balance accordingly. Students should be learning these skills as soon as they begin playing their instruments. Directors should question students as to their function within a composition and have them re-do the dynamic markings accordingly.
Musical Nuance
Making musical moments is often overlooked by students and directors alike. Students are in their own bubble trying to get all of the notes and rhythms generally without regard for the intent of the music. Learning to identify phrases is the first step to playing musically and a huge step towards musical independence. Learning to shape phrases and give direction to the musical line is the piéce de résistance. Music is either going towards a moment or coming away from one. So we, as musicians, have to learn to make that distinction. Another way of thinking about musical nuance is to think about lending 'character' to the music by the use of shaping, dynamics, vibrato, etc. Most young musicians tend to focus on the note head without regard for what should be between the note heads. They must be taught to play 'through and between' the notes.
Best practices are to be learned from, not mimicked.