Page 43 - Bandworld Magazine 2015

abdomen should ever be when playing. This first note played is called a “square” note. With each repetition, the notes become longer “rectangles.”
The Articulation
We have all heard the saying, “If you don’t use it, you will lose it.” In the case of most school aged instrumentalists they never had articulation skills to loose. Practicing a minute of tongu- ing each day will help students develop and maintain fast and accurate tonguing skills. In this exercise the student tongues sixteenth notes for a certain length of time (beginners=4 counts, middle schoolers=8 counts, and high schoolers=16 counts) fol- lowed by two counts of resting, repeating this 5 to 10 times. Yes, this exercise is based on the panting breathing from the previous exercise above as we want to reinforce the “separate the vocal folds” concept. Pick a note such as a unison F so the entire band can do this together. Start with the metronome on MM=80 and each week increase the speed until the students can easily tongue all totaled for over a minute at MM=160.
Trills in Chunks for Technical Development
with performance, but many students will improve their count- ing and sight-reading skills since they will have to think “what comes on 1, what comes on 2, etc.”
Grab and Go (Learning to Scan)
Take a passage of four sixteenths. You may wish to write out two-octave scales in sixteenths (beamed by fours) for your band for this exercise. Part 1: Have the students play the first sixteenth of each beat resting where the three other sixteenths are. Repeat, only playing the first and second sixteenths of each grouping and resting on three and four. Then rest on the first two sixteenths and play the third and fourth sixteenths. Then play only the second and third sixteenths, followed by the first and fourth sixteenths each with appropriate rests. Part 2: Play every other note. Do not let the students finger the missing note. Then play one note, resting through the next two notes. Con- tinue on so the student has to count the missing notes. This exercise will help students learn to play on the beat rather than before. As you know waiting to play is difficult for many young musicians.
The Results
Once the students learn these drills, then the actual time to prac- tice them will be less than ten minutes, but the pay-off for the individual player will be as if he has practiced for many hours. This directed practice will ensure that the student has practiced breathing and tone production, articulation, technical develop- ment, and reading skills. What is not to like about this?
We all strive to develop fast fingers in our woodwinds, yet in working out of the first method books, the students play too slowly for such a long time. In my own teaching as soon as a student knows two notes, I teach him to trill between the two. Not only is the goal to move the fingers quickly, but I also want the student to play the two notes or trill on one blow of air. As you know many beginners change the air speed with each note they play which produces a plodding musical effect. But, with informed teaching skills on your part, beginners can achieve the same level of speed as advanced players. In most cases, the fingers move from the third knuckle back from the nail. Set the metronome at MM=60. Trill for a dotted quarter (three eighths note) resting for an eighth to produce one chunk of trills. The trill should start and end on the chosen note. Do chunks of trills for a minute or more. Change the trilling notes from one re- hearsal to the next. The goal is to separate the air stream from the fingers.
Reading/Chunking
Musicians who read one line of notes see the notes in one inch chunks (about the size of a quarter or 25 cent piece). The eye takes in these notes in about 1⁄4 second, storing them in the short term memory for about six hours. The eye then moves on to the next one inch chunk of notes. Practicing scales in chunks fol- lowed by a rest will help the student coordinate his eye move- ment with musical performance. It will teach the student to read in real time rather than reading ahead, memorizing and regur- gitating the notes, while trying to read ahead. Since most pub- lishers know about reading in one-inch chunks and select their publication font based on this information, take a section of a piece and have the students play beat 1 followed by a rest, then beat 2 followed by a rest, then beat 3 followed etc. Not only will this exercise help the student coordinate his eye movement
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