Duets – The Start of Chamber Music in Your Band Program

In my experience as an instrumental music teacher, I found that having students play in small chamber music groups was a very beneficial exercise to improve the student’s overall musicianship. The simplest form of chamber music is the duet. It is an opportunity for the student to play with a teacher or to play with…

Read More

Making Musical Connections with a Middle School Band

One of the most elusive aspects of performance in the middle school band is the students’ ability to understand how to make musical connections—that is, the relationships and performance implications of notes, chords, etc. within a phrase. In the initial and middle stages of learning how to play a wind instrument, students seem to perceive…

Read More