So much of what our students are interested in right now revolves around communication and sharing of ideas. That those ideas often do not include band is immaterial - if we can even enter in to their awareness outside of class-time increases our odds of retention many times over. Students have more going on than any previous generation, and the things they spend their time with will become the things they are good at. If you want band to be a “sticky” activity for them, you will have to dive into their arena.

Below are three spheres of influence that exist within each band program the world over. We’ll explore some more cutting-edge social media tools (Facebook, Twitter), other more conventional electronic communication methods (website, e-mail), as well as the original social media - public interaction.

As you will see, the spheres of influence overlap in several places. The effect of these methods of communication varies depending on the audience you are talking to. To this end, it is in your best interests to utilize as many of these services as you are able to. The wider the net you cast, the more fish you shall catch.

Your students

Facebook: This is the leisure activity of the moment for many of your band students. Take advantage of the access this allows you into their awareness. Start a Fan Page - they are incredibly easy to set up, and your profile is completely protected from any cross-contamination. Use this page as a point of communication for your program, much as you would your band website. Keep your information brief - headlines and short items - post links to longer-form information hosted on the band website. This will let Facebook’s default content organization keep your space neat and easy to follow. [link]

Twitter: Where Facebook is a virtual dorm-room for many students, Twitter is the conversations you overhear in the dining hall and student lounges. This is a great way to instantly broadcast contest results, important announcements, or any other information that large groups of people would benefit from knowing. It’s also possible to update your Facebook and Twitter accounts simultaneously using services like Selective Twitter or Ping.fm - saves you valuable time and energy. [link]

Mass text message: With parent approval (as many of them are footing a .10 charge for each of these texts) this can be a boon to you and your program. Our students are often organizationally challenged, so anything we can do to help keep them on-track both helps the band and helps the students. Between game-day reminders(Departure @ 3:00 in uniform - report to band hall @ 2:15) to mental ticklers on school trips (Remember to check in with your chaperone @ 4:00 in the food court) these notices can save many headaches and confusion. There are sites that can manage these for you, but the best suite of tools I have come across is the CHARMS Office Assistant - it’s an absolutely top-notch product.

Mass e-mail: Similar to mass-texting, but without the 140-160 character limit. CHARMS also has this feature built-in, and we have experienced great success in weekly mass e-mails to the entire band program. The number of confused or uninformed phone calls dropped to almost none once we started using this technology. Especially with busy parents who spend their first 30 minutes at work catching up on e-mail, a Monday-morning-reminder-e-mail about the contest that coming Saturday will stick much more than the calendar mailed in August.

Online calendar: Calendars are the life-blood of a band program, and truly are worth their weight in gold. Many families post the band calendar on the fridge in August, only to have it covered in other calendars, permission forms, quizzes, papers, and other bric-a-brac by the beginning of September. A shared, online calendar is wonderful because it is always there and always available. In addition, many newer smartphones (iPhone, Android, Palm Pre) are equipped to automatically sync these shared calendars - instantly updating your band parents to changes or alterations to the schedule. We have had great success with Google Calendar - it has a clean interface and is easy to update. It also allows several e-mail addresses to have “read/write” access, so that events can be updated by the first available director or band booster if needed.

Your band boosters

Website: This is a vital component to your band program. In terms of technology, this item will reach the highest percentage of your population hands down. It doesn’t need to be extravagant, flashy, or even terribly pretty - but it should do two things very, very well: Provide accurate information and direct questions to the proper parties. Announcements, calendars, director bios (with e-mail and phone numbers), any other content you want to host - it all should be contained within a clean interface and easily accessible to your students and parents.

Don’t have the time? Find a band booster who has a background in web design to help you out. If that fails, look to a WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) page creator to help get the site off the ground, and delegate content management to a booster or student-worker. A great company that we have experienced success with isSquarespace hosting - hands down the easiest website creator I have ever used, and even rudimentary word-processing skills fit the bill for content management.

Mass e-mail: Monday-morning reminders are the saving grace of many a parent. With the considerable stress that so many families are under, sometimes that little mental jog in their inbox is the difference between attending and forgetting.

Mass phone call: Many schools employ these pre-recorded messages to alert families of weather-related closures, or other immediate-notification information. These 30 second sound-bites can be an invaluable tool to inform and remind families of upcoming events or important need-to-know information. This past year, a football game was postponed due to severe weather after the band had arrived on-site. As the buses pulled out of the parking lot, I was able to record a message and send it to every parent’s cell phone before the band was even back on the highway. A truly, truly useful service - also included in the CHARMS Office Assistant suite.

Your community

Website: Similar to your interaction with your boosters, the website is your public face to your community. Accurate and timely news items, accurate contact information, and links to everything else you have - make sure all these things are easily discoverable on your site.

Vimeo/YouTube: Students love to see themselves perform. Parents love to see their students perform. Grandparents and extended families LOVE to see their students perform. When you are able to, post video of the student’s performances - the return on this investment will be tenfold. Be aware of copyright restrictions (Mr. Video has been known to send DMCA Take-Down notices for posted videos), but post what you can when you can. My school’s videos total over 1200+ views in the past year - in a school of 1500 students, that’s a good amount of attention.

Of the two services, Vimeo’s product is the better resolution - but the market penetration for YouTube might suit your needs better.

Newspaper: Newspaper is the oldest form of second-hand (non face-to-face) social media in existence. Anything positive that happens in your band program should be sent via the appropriate channels to your local paper. Contest results, concert notices, fundraiser information, drum major selections - your community will buy in to what you are doing when they can put a face and a name on the students doing it. Lobby for yourself, because not many others will.

Football/Basketball games: Perform at as many school-related sporting events as your schedule and program allow. Band, in its current form, was created in part to support the other activities in the school - so support them as much as you are able. If all you can do for the soccer-team-regional-tournament-send-off rally is send the battery section to play cadences, send them. Having someone there is often more important than what they do.

Community Functions: Similarly to supporting the school, put your students in front of the community as much as possible. Parades, county fairs, grand openings - even if it’s a small ensemble or partial group your presence will be noted and appreciated. The more your community sees the band program investing in it, the more it will invest in the band.

Have some feedback? Want to share a great website, service, or program you’ve come across? I want to hear from you! Please e-mail me: cmeals42 [at] gmail [dot] com - I am looking forward to your e-mail!

Follow me on Twitter (@CoryMeals) - Friend me up on Facebook! - Check out the Waller HS Band, on Facebook!

My personal drum - my dharma, if you will forgive slight alteration to the concept - is a student’s individual responsibility to the greater process and product they participate in. To put it a different way: I want every student to understand how they fit in to what we do, I want enable them to contribute at their highest level, and I want them to see a process by which they can replicate these results at a higher level of achievement the next time they undertake said task. Yes, I know - I expect this out of 15-year-olds who have trouble remembering if they are wearing socks without looking. I have grey hair for a reason.

One of the tools I have found over the years to help develop this mindset is a relatively simple conceptual tool you can use  with your students daily. It’s something that is simple enough that even the most elementary musician could explain the bullet points to you, but allows for enough depth that even upper-level students will continually discover new aspects and layers within it.

Level one is the awareness of the sounds and contribution that are being created within the student themselves. Whether good or bad, the road to improvement starts with an objective awareness of what we are doing. Good sound, bad sound, accuracy, or complete musical farce - our students must be able to recognize what they are creating. To get this point across, a good axiom to reinforce is that students should “always have an opinion” about what they just did. Make the students back up their opinion (which will invariably start out as  ”good” or “bad”, if not “I don’t know”) with an example (“my sound wasn’t good because it moved around” or “I didn’t like that because the fast part sounded muddy”).

When your students start listening to themselves actively, you will notice a dramatic improvement in the overall quality of your band sound.

Level two is the awareness of what the surrounding musicians are doing. Matching and fitting your contribution to your neighbors further amplifies both efforts, as well as presents a more professional and polished product to the audience. This level of awareness helps to train the students to further refine their performance through comparison to their neighbors. This can apply to dynamics, style, musical line, and any other aspect of performance or interpretation you can think of. A good goal for students here is to “match their trio” - trio being the students on either side of them, as well as themselves. These levels of awareness are an additive process, and always come back to their basis in the first level of awareness.

Once level two is achieved on a high level, you will start to notice marked gains in the clarity of your ensemble sound. This can take on both positive and negative manifestations, as you will hear both the good and bad of your student’s performance with equal ease. Identify these and work with your students to further refine the skill of matching - the mistakes will decrease over time. Patience is key.

Level three is the awareness of what the entire group is doing during a piece of music. Students operating at this level can aurally identify the constituent parts of a piece of music and prioritize their contribution based upon their interaction with these important parts. This level does require a considerable amount of detail work on the part of the ensemble and its director, but the results that are achieved through this attention to detail are quite stunning.

Students that achieve level three awareness on a high level produce results that are unmistakable in their quality, clarity, musicality, and nuance. If your ensemble can truly operate at this level the majority of the time you are truly somewhere special! Enjoy and submit an entry for the Midwest Clinic, National Concert Band Festival, or TMEA Honor Band - others need to hear what you are doing!

These levels or awareness are dependent, however, on two items being completely committed to the skill of matching and its development: The Students (the aforementioned 15-year-old, organizationally-challenged children), and The Director. On both group’s parts there must be patience and trust - this process, actively and diligently pursued, creates results that are second to none. It can be a challenging process, but the growing pains you and your ensemble undergo are well worth it if you stay the course.

We’ll be visiting some other methods that address the fundamental utilization of these three levels over the next few weeks. Until then - Happy Holidays and have a great time traveling!

Note: The concepts discussed above have their basis in the pioneering work of many teachers, but specifically that of Eddie Green, conductor emeritus of the University of Houston Wind Ensemble. If you would like a great utilization of this (and many other) ensemble fundamental techniques, you should check out Essential Musicianship for Band by three of the foremost experts on ensemble fundamentals: Eddie Green, David Bertman, and John Benzer. All three have been wonderful mentors to me in my teaching career. The teacher edition is $25.00 - tax-deductible money well spent. Great resource. Enjoy!

One of the things that has always intimidated me in the design process is the balance you have to find in your final product. I'll get into my definitions for these terms below, but to me you have to strike a balance between three basic domains to have a successfully designed show: Education, Entertainment, Art.

Educationally you need to meet and slightly push the skill level of your students, the needs of your given competitive circuit, and the stage of conceptual development your ensemble has reached.

Entertainment can come in many guises - this does not mean you need to "dumb-down" or otherwise lobotomize the product that will work so well for your students to grow as musicians. But you do need the band parents and local supporters to get behind what you are doing on the field, their word-of-mouth is more valuable to you than any trophy or medal. Sometimes it's the music you perform that resonates with the audience, sometimes it's one or two drill sequences that they really enjoy. The best advice I can give is to ask your clientele what they've liked in the past.

At my current school, I noticed that our crowd went wild for military-style marching bands - being only an hour's drive from College Station and the Texas A&M Band primes that pump. So rather than fight it, we integrated several quasi-military maneuvers into our show - things that showcased contrary motion in blocks and lines. The band never received more praise for their contest show than when those effects hit well - even from the crowds at football games.

Know your audience - give them a taste of what they want. If your clientele have a strong like for "show band"-style performances, but you are tooled more for corps-style education find a vehicle that allows you to throw in a little of that style of performance. It's not selling out, and nor is it opening the door for further encroachment - format it well, and it won't look out of place at all.

Artistically, my advice is to play it safe. There are a handful of groups out there (LD Bell HS, Avon HS, Marian Catholic HS, Carmel HS) who have the chops to push the activity forward through what they create. Everyone wants to design one of "those" shows (e.g. Bell 2008, MCHS 2001, Avon 2004, Carmel 2002) but not everyone's staff and/or performers is a) ready for that or b) able to pull it off. Those groups have matured and grown through countless years into what they are today - you aren't going to bust out of Grover's Corners tomorrow and dethrone them. Maybe down the road, but not today.

It's far better to create something that you find aesthetically pleasing and balanced, and let that package stand out against the field. So many shows try to be more than what they are, and 99% of them make the performers look bad in the process. Don't try to sculpt the Pieta on your first (or fifth) pass - make something that looks good, flows well, and completes its ideas. You will stand out with that product, I promise.

Now that you have a framework in place, it's time to start throwing ideas against the wall to see what sticks. This can take a while, as most music you listen to that you like will invariably include things that won't work for your needs. Heart-rendingly gorgeous as it is, most groups can't (and shouldn't) attempt Mahler 2. Likewise, Symphony for Band by Persichetti is amazing music, but would not translate well onto the field.

Hopefully you are able to work with a team, as those collaborations often yield the most refined and targeted productions for groups. Your team can include the band staff that works with you throughout the season, your music arranger, your drill writer, a program coordinator you bring on just for this process - the list is limited only by your resources and tolerance. Be sure to include people who have a stake in the band's success - either directly through their teaching or indirectly through their design - they have a vested interest in creating a product that will make the group look and sound good.

The flip-side of this coin, however, is that designing as a group can be very challenging. Egos, vendettas, passive-aggressive tendencies, megalomania - these land mines have all derailed the creative process in groups at every level. This can make it an easy decision for a director to assume all creative control and box everyone else out, but this is a mistake. It yields a far better result to include everyone in the process - both in the product and in the instruction.

The trick is to lay down some ground rules (e.g. 'stay away from jazz' or 'nothing faster than 192' or even 'start with this genre or period of music'), check everyone's egos at the door, and then brainstorm with wild abandon. Take your time doing this - either online (use a wiki or google docs) or in person (Post-It meeting pads are great) - this can and should be a weeks-long process. No one's ideas are good or bad, brilliant or stupid - the wheat will separate from the chaff before long. People will start to build on the ideas that are good, and then go from there.

Once you've got the skeleton of your show - which should be roughly 30-50% more than you need - go back and look at how it syncs with the three domains we discussed earlier. If you're fulfilling all of those with what you've put together, then congrats! You are well on your way to strengthening your band program through multi-faceted success in the fall!

So long as you are honest with yourself, communicate openly with everyone involved, and keep your eye on the prize (which is students achieving excellence, creating music, and becoming self-led learners through their preparation and performance) you WILL be successful - both metaphorically and competitively.

Disagree with me? Think my ideas are wrong? Awesome - I want to learn from you! I seriously want to hear from you - e-mail me!!! (cmeals42 [at] gmail [dot] com

The following list are some ideas you can use to help these students reach the level needed to continue and improve the success of the program. They are as much psychological and  organizational ideas as they are instructional. If you have any questions about the implementation or scope of any of these, please feel free to e-mail me (cmeals42 [at] gmail [dot] com). I want to help you tailor these ideas to fit your group and make them successful!

1) Meet them before they get to your program:

This could involve visiting their middle school/intermediate campuses on a regular basis to assist their director with whatever they need. If your schedule doesn't permit that, then organize social activities that involve the intermediate students and the upper level students working and performing together. A combined performance at a football game is a great ice-breaker, and lets the younger students see what the older get to do on and off the field.

Also, a combined concert session is a great way to catch any students who haven't signed up by the spring semester. The older and younger students sit integrated in the same ensemble set-up, the older students playing along with the younger on a prepared piece. Then the younger students look on as the older play a piece from their contest (or concert) program. You also could explore peer-led and peer-mediated sight-reading in this setting, as well as several meet-your-neighbor games. The sharing and friendship building is infectious.

Pizza doesn't hurt either. Lots of pizza.

2) Give them a base to work from:

The last time we traditionally see our students is either late May or early June, and then it's all-too-often late July or early August before we work with them again. For all students, but especially your incoming students, this time is deadly to their success and productivity in the fall.

If your clientele will support it, I would suggest holding several "introductory" rehearsals during the final weeks of school - geared exclusively towards your freshmen and student leaders. Advertise these starting in January, so that the students have no reason not to know about the rehearsals. Publish fliers, send out e-mails, call each student individually if you have the time. You want a good picture of who your incoming performers are going to be, and this is where you can score huge.

Here you can "introduce" the concepts you want to use to run your rehearsals (teach them how to look, listen, learn, and perform) as well as begin the process of teaching marching technique. This will be the most challenging obstacle for most incoming performers, so it's best to spend as much time as you can on it. Kinesthetic concepts like marching are hard-fought, dearly-won, and totally worth the time.

Then, hold a multi-day "fundamentals camp" immediately after school lets out. If you have the staff available, it's best to run this camp as three separate tracks that intersect at carefully-planned points: winds, battery/front ensemble, guard/dance. You can cover the bulk of the marching and music fundamentals you wand to utilize in the fall, as well as begin introducing the idea of moving and playing through these same exercises. In addition, you can cover any incidental music (drill team, National Anthem, school song, fight song) while your students music-learning skills are still high. It will save valuable time during August and September.

3) Include them in the group:

The goal is to weave these students into the social fabric of the program as quickly and seamlessly as possible. Assigning an older student to be their "buddy" is a great way to foster this kind of family atmosphere. If this isn't a reality for you, assign each section leader to their new members. The incoming students need to feel completely connected, plugged in, and accepted in the program. Even the students who appear at first to be marginal contributors to the band's success could one day become a drum major - students have an uncanny ability to surprise us.

4) Give them a voice:

Create a student-leader council and include two of the most well-connected and sociable new members on it. Get their input on the issues and decisions facing the band, and then let them evangelize to their friends about what's right with the program. Even if there are students who dislike these particular students, they will be much more prone to continue their involvement if they see that their opinion matters.

The strength of any program rests in how it trains its young to take the reins down the road. Using the above concepts as guides, I know that you will be able to retain, train, and grow with all your incoming students.

Comments? Feedback? Hit me up! cmeals42 [at] gmail [dot] com

One of the most enjoyable things about music selection is the enormous sense of possibility that exists within the sphere of the repertoire. We all know that some pieces are completely out of our reach, but the realm of 'what-might-be' is so deep and wide... it's an exciting time.

There are several things, though, to keep in mind as we traverse this expanse of literature. It is filled with amazing new works and chestnuts that will outlast our careers and those of our students, but one must select pieces of this importance carefully. There are some simple, time-honored rules that can help narrow the field down to 'what-very-likley-could-be' or even 'what-could-actually-work-and-not-create-heart-conditions-in-april'. Those are the pieces we want to find, and fast.

Rule #1) Never pick a piece that has ranges you have not heard your students perform with a good sound. The most efficient way I have found to measure what these ranges (high and low) are is through full-range scales. It is a humbling experience, and will definitely show you your weak and strong sections. It's a great litmus test for work-ethic as well - if students don't pass off their scales in an timely manner, it's going to be difficult for them to work up technique with any urgency.

Rule #2) Don't pick pieces where the technique outstrips rhythms or fundamentals your students are weak on. For instance, it would a bad idea to attempt a transcription of Tschaikovsky's 4th Symphony, Mvt. IV, if your students can only play their scales in quarter and eighth notes at 92 bpm. Equally unwise would be to program a Sousa march with a band whose ensemble articulation is mediocre and muddy at best. Picking something to challenge the students is completely in line with quality music selection, but they won't be successful if the skills required of them are 3-4 levels above their abilities. Shoot for one level or completely in their wheelhouse - add practice, performance, and repeat yearly.

Rule #3) Don't pick a piece you're not willing to (or fear you won't have the time to) teach the fundamentals of to your students. This is applicable to both the musical and technical aspects of the piece in question. If you (or your students) don't have it in you to refine ensemble technique, don't select Morningstar by David Maslanka. If you're still learning the upper levels of how to create clarity in complex harmonies, don't select pieces like Lincolnshire Posy or As the Scent of Spring Rain. Completely divergent pieces, but both require ensemble clarity in moments of high harmonic demand. If you aren't willing to dissect it, refine it, polish it, and test it - don't play it.

Rule #4) Balance music your students should play with music your students want to play. Too much of one or the other is like too much dessert or too much broccoli - both have hidden consequences that reveal themselves down the road. It's okay to play a flashy opening piece your students like (Ride by Samuel Hazo, for instance) and couple it with a piece that will stretch their musicianship (Sanctuary by Frank Ticheli), and close it out with a march that they can sound great on (Belle of Chicago by J.P. Sousa). If your students get excited about playing Hindemith or Husa, however, count your lucky stars and put it on their stands - you are somewhere special!

Rule #4A) In marches, stay away from editions with full score that take the first clarinets into their clarion register in unison with the flutes. That scoring is devilish to balance and tune, and is almost more work than it is worth in the long run. If your score is condensed and you can safely drop your clarinets into a reasonable register, run with it. Otherwise stop, look, think, and re-file.

Rule #5) Look at your time-on-instrument for brass players. Unless you have extremely deep sections, make sure there's room within each piece for your brass to rest and regroup - they are the heavy artillery in any literature, but they can't play continuously. If you over-program, they most likely will run out of gas before the performance is finished.

Rule #6) Play to your strengths. If you have a phenomenal soloist then you need to feature them. It not only makes the ensemble sound better, but lets the younger and less experienced performers know that you will reward their efforts with performance opportunities if they continue to improve. There is no harm in centering an entire movement around one student, so long as they have the musical tenacity to focus for that length of time. A good indicator is earned success in an honor-ensemble audition process.

There are many, many more rules to consider, all of which should come from your experiences teaching your students and visiting with other directors. The key things to remember are to know the abilities of your performers, know where your ensemble and fundamental weaknesses lie, and select your music accordingly.

Questions or comments? E-mail me cmeals42 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Regardless, look to the site for new videos in the next few days, as well as updates to my Creative Resources page and hopefully some nice CSS bells and whistles.

Until then, dear reader(s), I leave you with a trailer for a product that makes me very excited: Dynamic Marching presents "In the Mix":

Between writing drill and being a band director and administrator, the minutes seem to slip out of my grasp with greater and greater ease. The days, truly, are packed.

With that, I leave you dear reader(s). More soonly, I promise.

I've begun my yearly scratching for ideas and concepts to motivate me this year - and that search has led me to dig some trenches deeper, and to start other furrows completely anew.

The idea I am mulling more deeply this year is the communicative (and storytelling) nature of what drill is. There are times, I will be completely honest, that the story I tell through drill has all the coherence of the ramblings of a 2-year-old recapping their day. It's pretty shapes and interesting motion, but to borrow from Faulkner "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". There are good days, where everything seems to click and I get to take the music and finally meet its level in what I do - but those days never feel frequent enough.

The new idea is the relationship between line and space, the weight both of those carry to the audience, and what the true nature of the shapes (and motion) we use are. It's obvious that a thicker object opening to negative space within itself will draw attention - especially if done in an intriguing way - but is there added aesthetic value to *what* that shape is or does? Does one specific kind of linear shape suggest a certain dynamic or mood over another, or are the shapes merely vehicles for the motion we're trying to create? This is what a long weekend can do to you!

Just re-reading this post, I am reminded of a small child asking if the color blue makes people sad and the color yellow makes them happy. Most would dismiss them out of hand, but my personal experience tells me there is more credence to that than is often given. Sitting and taking in one of Jackson Pollock's large-scale paintings is a study in what color and form (or lack thereof) can bring to the table. Similarly, just staring at Yves Klein's works like "Blue Monochrome" will work in disparate but similar ways.

This is a slice of the Chautauqua that is rumbling around in my head - only safe to come to the surface for fuel on Sundays apparently. I only wish my ramblings were half as eloquent as those of JN... but we should all have goals, right?

Good night, dear reader(s)!

Since I balance being a band director and drill designer, this is an especially busy time for me. Add in a new puppy and I am gob-smacked with things to do. Ergo, content for the website will remain scarce for at least a few more weeks. Until then, check out the websites for some of my clients:

Dulles HS Band - TX

Seven Lakes HS Band - TX

Mayfield HS Band - NM

Waller HS Band - TX

or check out my Tumblr here.

enjoy!