"BUILDING BETTER BANDS-SWITCHING INSTRUMENTS"

Doug Johnson, Omaha Creighton Prep High School

Dedicated to Glenn Koca, former director, Papillion High School; Ken Molzer, former director, Papillion Junior High; and Dick Keiser, former director of LaVista Junior High, now at Boys Town High School.

I. The Beginning Process: summer band and fall band camp

At Prep we have a tutoring system in which each incoming eighth grader is assigned to an upperclassmen prior to our senior recognition concert in April. At Prep, prospective students receive a mailing one enclosure of which is a band interest letter. The decision day for 8th graders to attend is in March during which there is a required meeting of all eighth graders planning to attend. Band interest surveys are returned at that time. All interested 8th grade parents are mailed a welcome letter with a circle of fourths sheet, a scale sheet, and a fingering chart for that instrument. The parents are asked to fill out an assessment of how many scales their son can play and how many he has memorized. It gets both the bandsman and the parents thinking about the mind-set and responsibilities needed for success in the program. All percussionists are informed that they will begin on mallets. The letter also invites the 8th grader and parents to the senior recognition concert each Tuesday following district music contest after which the 8th grader will be working with a tutor on his scales. Although attendance is not required it is stressed that attendance will give the 8th grader a head start on the program. By getting the letter out early in March we hope to pre-empt soccer and baseball conflicts with concert attendance/

The tutor writes a welcome letter accompanying the enclosures. In the letter the tutor invites the 8th grader to attend the senior recognition concert and bring his instrument. The tutor explains the importance of scale knowledge and memory. The tutor writes again offering help and follows up with a phone call to see how the 8th grader is doing on his scales. All of this helps establish a link and a reassurance that, "I did it; so can you." This positive, can-do attitude foreshadows when a bandsman is asked to switch, usually by one who switched himself, that, "I successfully switched; so can you." A final reminder call to the 8th grader to remember his instrument and materials is made a few days before the concert.

After the concert the tutor coordinator, usually a junior, announces the eighth grader's name and his tutor's name. They go over to get his Prep Band shirt and go to a classroom where they play through as many scales as the eighth grader knows. The tutor then fills out a tutor assessment sheet of the eighth grader's strengths and weaknesses. This information is given to the tutor coordinator who marks each 8th grader's scale knowledge (what he can play, what he has memorized) on a master poster in the bandroom. The tutor also notes which scales he assigned to his 8th grader to play and memorize for the next meeting during summer band the last week of May. This early warning system alerts you to the instrumentation you'll face next year and the various strengths and weaknesses of the sections. It also lets you know who has a larger knowledge base and/ or level of motivation, both important in identifying potential switchers.

Following the concert the tutor writes a letter of encouragement to the 8th grader noting his scale success as well as restating the challenge to the 8th grader to master as many as he can before summer band. He also mentions that all scales must be memorized by the day of the ice cream social concert the first week of June to remain in varsity band. By reducing it to the number of days left versus the number of scales he can state, "You have six weeks and six scales- that's only one scale a week. Call me if you need help." Sometimes you can broach the subject in May of switching if, for example, you already have 10 percussionists and six 8th grade percussionists coming in ("We don't have enough parts."). The percussionist section is a fertile ground for recruiting- the members usually have less invested in their equipment and time spent in snare fundamental lessons and since all percussionists start on mallets they at least know their note names.

Our summer band program ("Prep Junior High") runs from the day after Memorial Day until the second week in June. It consists of one hour of tutoring of freshmen and one hour of full band. During the tutoring hour the tutors play scales along with their freshmen. They will ask them the theory and have them spell each scale as they finger it. This identifies who has a grasp of what he is actually doing. Having the tutor play along helps establish the template for our inner concentric circles, TONE AND INTONATION. During full band we introduce the materials that will be used in the fundamental part of each day's rehearsal in the fall. Although it usually takes 20-25 minutes in the fall we spend most of the hour working on just different fundamentals according to the concentric circles hierarchy of importance. Summer band concludes with an ice cream social concert in our commons. The first part of the concert is a demonstration of the fundamentals that we use in rehearsal each day with an accompanying explanation in a handout. In it we discuss "forging the tool" versus "using the tool" the analogy that illustrates that fundamental mastery is the forging of a tool which you can later use in the forging of another tool. You can't forge a tool and use it at the same time. The final part of the concert is actual literature, a few simple marches or novelty numbers. Only freshmen who have finished their scale memory during the first few rehearsals get the actual concert literature. The rest we tell "If you don't finish your scale memory you won't be here in the fall anyway." Some freshmen play most of the numbers, some will only play the national anthem and sit during the concert part of the program.

To summarize, the system that we use to integrate 8th graders incorporates communication, expectations and encouragement, all elements of which work towards getting students to switch. Early identification of talent and work ethic is essential in identifying which students have the greatest chance of success in switching instruments while at the same time giving us a picture of overall strengths and weaknesses of next year's band.

Our fall band camp is a series of 14 workshops the first week of August which incorporate various aspects of individual and ensemble performance. Glenn Koca, Ken Molzer, and Dick Keiser have all appeared as clinicians. Two workshops are devoted to sections working with specialists on each instrument and three workshops are conducted by guest clinicians. It is a terrific opportunity to hear experts on the various instruments as well as watch great directors work with your band. You see your own band with different eyes when someone else works with them. We begin working with the freshmen on memorization of minor scales and strategies for solving rhythmic problems. As these are fundamental skills that few of our freshmen possess we don't switch anyone at this time, preferring instead to help them master these fundamentals on their first instrument without having to learn the idiomatic considerations of a new instrument.

II. The process: the school year

The first quarter freshman grades are based upon minor scale memory and rhythm tests and our fall concert occurs about the same time as the conclusion of these tests. Both sets of tests incorporate increasing attention to development of tone and intonation, two attributes in our "bulls-eye," or innermost circle. Testing is done with homogeneous groups of instruments where possible so that idiomatic considerations of the instruments may also be addressed. It also allows a possibility of getting more than one student from a section to switch to switch to the same instrument as they are used to working with that person already on the first instrument.

Having identified through scale memory and rhythm testing the most talented and motivated students and considering the needs of the band instrumentation you can begin to recruit volunteers to switch instruments. Section leaders are asked to talk to the students about switching. Many times the section leader has himself been asked to switch by an earlier section leader and can readily identify with the freshman's concerns and apprehension about switching. The message: "I did it and so can you."

Of utmost importance is the quality of instrument that the recruit is being asked to play. Originally this was to be part of the presentation but fortunately Dr. Gilbert will address this matter in his clinic tomorrow.

III. Beginning the Switch

We begin each rehearsal with at least 20-25 minutes of fundamentals based upon our concentric circles. Many of our rehearsals early in the year are devoted entirely to fundamentals, working on developing a "template" of sound that bandsmen may compare to what they are hearing when rehearsing literature. This represents an opportunity for tutors to work with the musician making the switch. We start the recruit on beginning band method books and have the tutor play along with the recruit so that the recruit may listen to what he should sound like. The tutor offers suggestions about breathing, posture, hand position. It is a more immediate reinforcement and mistakes are corrected more readily than trying to accomplish it during rehearsal or a once-a-week lesson. Bad habits are less likely to take root with daily monitoring. Once the tutor has determined that the recruit is ready he starts him on scales, following the plan introduced to 8th graders in April. Since the recruit has been through the plan on his original instrument he is comfortable with the procedure for problem solving ( marking mistakes, reviewing the flats/ sharps, spelling and fingering the scale). The benefit to the tutor is that he doesn't have to give up any after-school time and gets out of the fundamental part of each rehearsal. Once the recruit gets started his new section members will rotate daily into the practice room with the recruit. Section members who have appeared in the past to lack necessary leadership or teaching skills have often proven effective in these situations.

During this time, principally the second quarter, the other freshmen are working on technical studies upon which their second quarter grade is based and from which the recruits are exempt. As technique is farther out in our concentric- circle priority diagram we defer this mastery for the recruits until the following year in the second quarter. All we need for them to accomplish is an increased perception of what their instrument should sound like and what they need to do to get that sound.

IV. Creating Opportunities for the Recruit.

Our Christmas break sectionals give recruits daily workouts with their tutors without having to contend with school responsibilities. Initially they work only with their tutors during the fundamental portion of the sectional then go to work on scales during the literature part of the sectional. When they are making sufficient progress on their scales they can work on literature. This is the same standard that they were held to in summer band in June, scale mastery before literature, so they understand the need for fundamental mastery, although we don't require that they have all the scales memorized before tackling the literature.

Incorporating the recruit into the full rehearsal, our winter concert in January includes one or two numbers that will make the transition easier: we will program one chorale and usually feature a soloist with the band, the accompaniment band part easier to play for the recruit. Often a recruit will play both of his instruments on the winter concert as he might wish to keep up his skills on his first instrument to play in one of our second-semester recitals or to audition for All-State on his first instrument.

During the third quarter in the fundamental part of the rehearsal we use a method book recommended to us by Glenn Koca, former director at Papillion High School, "Rhythm Etudes" by McLeod and Staska. Warner Brothers Publications now owns the rights to this book and we received permission to reprint 16 copies of two pages to demonstrate how this book could be used in integrating recruits into the full band sound template.

One especially important activity for recruits is the UNO Honor Band held the last week of January. It is the only honor band of its kind, allowing directors to nominate students, and for that we at Prep are most grateful to Dr. Jim Saker. This gives us the opportunity to have our recruits be in an honor band and work with a guest director

During the third quarter we also have sign ups for our solo recital program which occurs in the first week of April and the second week of May. It is a great opportunity for all musicians to improve and enjoy the aesthetic of our craft. Especially for freshmen and recruits the first solo is technically very easy because you want them to concentrate on producing the characteristic sound on their instrument and get a sense of the expressive possibilities of solo performance. Where possible we try to coordinate dates so that the younger musicians are on the same program as their section leaders so that they can listen to a sound upon which they can model their own. Sometimes we have small ensembles perform; these are also excellent opportunities for recruits to work with smaller sections and develop a cleaner sectional sound as it is easier for younger musicians to extract their sound from the ensemble and then incorporate their sound more efficiently.

Private lessons on the second instrument is, of course, a crucial component of success. The last few years we have been fortunate enough to receive some donations enabling us to help with the cost of a few lessons.

IV. Evaluating recruits

Generally we stay out of their hair; every recruit gets an "A" in band. We ask so much of our musicians- summer rehearsals, fall band camp, early-morning sectionals once a week, Christmas break and spring break rehearsals, that once past the third quarter of the freshman year, the freshmen have been exposed to fundamentals and the strategies for mastering them. Recall that these recruits were identified as being talented and motivated before they even officially started at Prep and we've never had a problem with a recruit consistently lapse in effort.