Cooper's Divertimento

The Benefits of Clinicians

2013-07-05T17:22:00.000-05:00

Watching a clinician at workis like seeing a skilled surgeonin action. It's awesome. The term "clinic" is so appropriate to band for what it is. You bring in an expert to diagnose the problems your band is having, prescribe solutions, and set your band on the path to healthy playing and ensemble skills. Kids love working with a guest conductor, but I think I gain as least as much out of it

Success Comes in Many Forms

2013-05-27T13:00:00.000-05:00

I hope to keep this blog short and sweet. It's both a reflection of my second year of teaching, but also it might help some of you who have had a frustrating year as well. Maybe you've been here before. It's been a tough year! In many ways my first year of teaching was more successful than my second year. In my first year I was at a "one man gig" and was responsible for everything from 1st

Ear Training for Beginners (Plus "InTune!" App Review!)

2013-04-13T11:19:00.001-05:00

One thing I neglected my first year of teaching was devoting time to ear training. I was probably overwhelmed as it was, but really it's not difficult to incorporate this critical musical skill. We want our student musicians to have discerning ears. You can start this right from the beginning of the year. Here are a few of the things I did this past year. I feel like it's resulted in more

Countdown the Issues to Increase Motivation

2013-02-18T10:41:00.000-06:00

Well, we're all right in the thick of contest preparation. It's been a while since I've had anything to say, but I thought I would share this quick motivation tip to help keep your band students going during this stressful, but (hopefully) most rewarding time of the year. It's the "Major Issues Remaining" countdown. Well, call it what you like, but here is how it works... In my first year of

Five Ways to Teach or Clean Articulation

2012-12-02T13:44:00.000-06:00

It's never safe to assume that students are articulating correctly. Students get by through their beginner year with ways of faking it, and of course we as teachers can only spend so much time on one given thing. It's understandable. Articulation has to be retaught and reinforced every year, throughout the year. Sometimes I forget this, and yet I'm always surprised by how much things clean

The Beginner Band Starter Kit

2012-11-27T17:00:00.000-06:00

Does your beginner band class feellike this? Hopefully these articles cangive you some ideas that help! I made a lot of mistakes with my approach to Beginning Band in my first year. There were some things I did right, but man was there a lot I could've done better. I wish I knew then what I know now - which I admit, still isn't much! There is still so much I'd like to know and learn when

4 Ways to Supplement the Beginner Band Book

2012-11-24T15:01:00.000-06:00

Beginning Band students needsupplemental exercises to develop their playing just like we did to develop ours. I made a lot of mistakes with my first beginner class. One of the biggest by far was not supplementing their beginner band book. It's not that I didn't want to, or didn't know how to. It was more that I was so busy in my one man gig that it ended up as one of those

The Easy Way to Teach Scales

2012-11-20T17:00:00.000-06:00