| ELEMENTARY GENERAL MUSIC | MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL BAND | HIGH SCHOOL BAND CAPSTONE | PSU EXPERIENCES |
High School Band Capstone
As part of my final coursework in music education prior to student teaching, I worked with Dr. Bundy in the fall of 2010 on exploring the wide range of musical activities that comprise a high school band program. We covered a wide array of topics relevant to organizing and running a band program, including lesson planning and rehearsing, repertoire selections (core repertoire, units of study), marching band (organizing, running, repertoire), jazz band (repertoire, improvisation, recruitment), instrument repairs, recruitment and retention, & band uniforms (designing, purchasing).
In this course, we...
~Observed high school band directors in action in schools across central Pennsylvania
~Developed a unit plan around a core repertoire piece to possibly implement while student teaching
~Rehearsed the State College Area High School Concert Band and Penns Valley Area High School Band
~Practiced basic instrumental repairs with Mr. David Cree
~Attended masterclasses on teaching jazz and improvisation with Rick Hirsch and John Kovalkich
~Worked with a representative from DeMoulin Bros. & Co. on purchasing and designing high school band uniforms
In this course, we...
~Observed high school band directors in action in schools across central Pennsylvania
~Developed a unit plan around a core repertoire piece to possibly implement while student teaching
~Rehearsed the State College Area High School Concert Band and Penns Valley Area High School Band
~Practiced basic instrumental repairs with Mr. David Cree
~Attended masterclasses on teaching jazz and improvisation with Rick Hirsch and John Kovalkich
~Worked with a representative from DeMoulin Bros. & Co. on purchasing and designing high school band uniforms
A large focus of this course was developing a unit of study around core repertoire, which I did for Roland Moehlmann's arrangement of J.S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in Bb Major. The concept of core repertoire is focused on developing critical musical and ensemble skills through rehearsing particular works that have significant musical and performance value. While we did not have the opportunity to use our units of study during our capstone experience, Dr. Bundy's goal was for us to use them during our student teaching with permission from our cooperative teachers. Here is the link to my unit of study for Prelude and Fugue in Bb Major.
Another large focus of this course was observing and working with local high band directors and their ensembles. For several classes, we went out into the field to observe high school band directors work with their ensembles and have discussion with these directors on a range of topics that affect high school band programs. On two separate occasions, we were able to rehearse with actual high school bands on pieces we had been working on individually and receive feedback from Dr. Bundy and the director
Our first field experience was working with the Advanced Band at State College Area High School. Each person had twenty minutes to work with ensemble on a piece they had prepared. For this experience, I rehearsed the 2nd movement from Roger Cichy's Divertimento for Winds and Percussion. Our second field experience came when we had the opportunity to rehearse the Penns Valley Area High School Band at the Blue Band Building. Once again, each person got to work with the ensemble on a piece that they had prepared and I ended up working on them with The Renaissance Fair by Bob Margolis. This was a very unique experience in that I got a chance to work with many of the students that I would see on a daily basis during my student teaching at Penns Valley Area High School and get a feel for the level of musician, caliber of the ensemble, and overall dynamic of the group and individuals. Interestingly enough, some of the dances and themes used in this piece appear in Douglas Akey's A Praetorius Prelude, which is what I rehearsed with the Middle School Band. Below is the video of my rehearsal with Penns Valley as well as all subsequent worksheets that I developed for this rehearsal.
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Aside from working on our unit study and observing/conducting high school bands, we did a fair number of activities to prepare us for future teaching in secondary instrumental. As part of learning about how to lead and organize different ensembles, we spent a large amount of time learning about the wide array of resources available to assist with organizing rehearsals and choosing repertoire. Here is my review of one of the resources given to me to investigate on my own. Following our investigation of materials and resources to help with selecting repertoire, we were assigned to develop our own concert using repertoire we deemed appropriate for our "ensemble." Below are two of my files relating to resources and developing an appropriate concert program.
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