scale syllabus

When I was in high school, I didn't appreciate the resources available nearly enough. One such resource was the scale section in our jazz band method book. I can't imagine how much time it took our band director to put it together—it's handwritten for all four common transpositions in jazz band—and contains several patterns in all keys as well as the typical jazz scales.  While it probably isn't necessary to write out every the scale for every key of a given mode, I think it is helpful for some students to see everything written out. I decided to recreate (or at least imitate) it in Sibelius for my students last year, and I'll share it here in case it is useful to anyone else. If you use it, let me know how you like it (or not).

Download scale syllabus

instrument review: schiller tenor sax

There is plenty of information about some Chinese made instruments on the web, especially some low brass, so I'm starting my reviews with one that doesn't seem to have gotten as much coverage.

This tenor sax was purchased in August 2010 for about $800. Since then, it has been played by several students in multiple settings (concert and jazz band as well as chamber groups) and has seen daily use for four school years.

From the start, I have thought that it has a solid sound and response from low to high. Not being a saxophone player myself, I'm also pleased that it plays reasonably well in tune--no instrument is perfect, but my students and I have no problem playing in tune on this tenor. 

picture of saxophone here...

The only issues I have had in four years are common to other saxophones and were easily fixed without sending it to the shop. Screws occasionally loosen, a spring has had to be reset a couple times, and sometimes students have squeezed the octave key on the neck so that it doesn't seal completely. Oh, and while I was recording the audio above, I noticed a student must have bumped the Eb/D# key guard so that it's bent a little and doesn't let the pad open enough...

I've played a couple of the newer Schiller Tenor Saxes (like this one) and found them to be similar in quality to the one at school. I haven't tried the newer version with the same finish, but I would expect it to be about the same. Having played a number of their saxophones (alto, tenor, and bari), I've been pleasantly surprised by how well most of them have played. The only exception was the first few altos I tried five or six years ago, and they seem to have improved in intonation markedly since then.

chamber music in band

When I started teaching at St. Croix Prep, it was all I could do to figure out how to teach as well as determining the content for my frequently-changing courses. I had to get bands to sound passable in time for their performances and I had to help individual students grow during their weekly lessons. Early on, though, I wanted to expect more from student musicians than just playing their own parts in the full band. Since my groups have always been relatively small (anywhere from 13 to 47 students), there has often been one-on-a-part instrumentation. Still, chamber music requires a higher standard of playing from every student involved, and I have worked on incorporating it a little more deeply every year.

Between no chamber music and chamber music, I added a requirement to my middle school classes that I call "class performances." Once or a twice a quarter, every student has to perform for the class. First- and second-year players get to pick from their method book and typically play alone (though I permit duets on occasion if they take the extra time to work them out). For the last quarter of sixth grade, however, all students have their lesson groups rearranged from like-instruments to mixed duets and trios. Then, in the second half of the year, seventh and eighth graders do the same. More advanced students may play in a quartet or quintet, but I've found that duets and trios are usually easier to manage.

Class performances can be one of my favorite parts of the year. It's a chance for the performers to work through nervousness and perhaps even show off for their peers, I get to sit and enjoy the music (if it's good), and the students listening practice for being good audience members at more formal performances. Next step: though I do record the performances, I would love to make them more accessible to students and parents as a marker of their progress.

This past year, we hosted a small Solo and Ensemble event. We brought in a couple of adjudicators and hosted a few groups from one other small school. The students were proud of the ratings they earned, and I'm looking forward to growing the event some more next year.