What makes a great high school band?

Going Beyond the B-flat Scale Whole/Half/Quarter/Eighth/Sixteenth Band Warm-Up!  

Over the past few weeks I have been doing some major soul searching of what makes a great band rehearsal.  This semester I passed out "Songs of Earth, Water, Fire, and Sky" by Robert W. Smith.  I quickly collected this piece back when I passed it out to my band a few years ago.  I gave it a go this semester and found excitement in the piece when my young clarinet section basically mastered a tough sixteenth note ostinato passage from just one day of sectionals. I knew my philosophy on selecting music needed to change along with a new-found focus on creating a very balanced and consistent warm-up routine for my band rehearsal.  I did something very unusual this past week as I stopped the learning of all sheet music and instead had section leaders run sectionals going over all 12 major scales and specific tuning tendencies/solutions for their instrument family.  The results were amazing.  Now I need to take this energy and enhance the rigor of the band rehearsal.

Over the past two weeks I have read:
Habits of a Successful Band Director by Scott Rush
A Guide to Understanding and Correction of Intonation Problems by Al Fabrizio
Tuning the Band and Raising Pitch Consciousness by James Jurrens
Tuning for Wind Instruments: A Roadmap to Successful Intonation by Shelley Jagow
Improving Intonation in Band and Orchestra Performance by Robert J. Garofalo
Forward from Bach and Before for Band (Teacher's Edition) by David Newall
Forward Foundations For Superior Performance (Teacher's Edition) by Richard Willans and Jeff King

Reading each of these books has done two things:
1.  Really confused me!  One book says to tune the band to Concert F for example and one book says to never tune an alto saxophone to a Concert F.  One book says you should use equal temperment tuning the majority of the time while another says to use pure tuning the majority of the time.
2.  Really excited me!  I think by writing down an organized outline of my rehearsal and letting students understand why we are playing what we are playing, the band will in turn have better results.

I created a Google Doc for myself to take notes as I read each book.

Here is a synopsis of what each rehearsal will require:
1.  Students enter the band room and have instrument/folder/chair/stand/pencil set-up within three minutes after the bell rings. 
2.  Students spend about a minute "noodling" on their instruments while maintaining good posture and breath support.  They should be playing through scales, a section of music being worked on in band, or a solo piece.  
3.  Students should then use the tuner to tune to the appropriate pitches for their instrument.  Each student has a binder with those pitches listed in it according to consistent pitches from the multiple books listed above in this post.  In marching band situations, the section leader will be tuned and the rest of the section will tune to the section leader "bell to bell!" 
4.  We will then have the clarinet and tuba (using a tuner) play a Concert F.  From there each principal from the low end on up will play a beatless Concert F.  We will then repeat the process but after the principal plays, the rest of the section will enter one by one with a goal of no "beats" in the tuning. 
5.  We will sing the F major scale then play it.  Sometimes Mr. B will record the singing and immediately play it back for the students to respond to.  
6. Play “F around the room” from "Band and Orchestra Intonation: 
Teaching an Ensemble Skill" by Dr. James South, Southwestern Oklahoma State University
A. Beginning with the tubas, each player plays a 4-count concert F in turn, matching the pitch, tone, and intensity of the player before. Players with weaker tone production will
be motivated to improve, and they have a model to emulate.
B. Play a perfect fifth around the room. Each player in turn plays a 4-count concert F,
then a low Bb. As player one reaches the Bb, player two enters on the F, and must tune a beatless fifth.
C. Each player holds the F for eight counts, overlapping for four counts with the player after
him/her. Each player adjusts for the first four counts, then holds steady for the next player to adjust.
D. Each player plays in turn an F, then a Bb, and then a D, each for four counts. As the
third player enters, a major chord is created. Both the third and the fifth must tune to the root and
eliminate the beats.
E. Try this in other keys (use keys in which you’re playing music that day)
6.  Students will sing the Clarks F Scale and then perform it in rounds.  
7.  Students will sing solfege exercises and then perform them on their instruments.  Exercises are included in their binders. 
8.  Students open up "Foundations for Superior Performance" where we will work on: 
A.  Long Tones
B.  Scales (with different articulations and explanation of proper syllables)
C. Arpegios
D. Chord/Interval Tuning with Singing
9.  Students will open up "Bach and Before for Band" and do the following: 
A.  Sing soprano part-full ensemble
B.  Sing alto part-full ensemble
C.  Sing soprano and alto parts-ensemble is split
D.  Sing tenor part-full ensemble
E.  Sing soprano,alto,tenor parts- ensemble is split between three parts
F.  Sing bass part-full ensemble
G.  Sing all parts-ensemble split on each part
H.  First reading of the full choral with all four parts being performed!
10.  Breathing and Rhythmic Exercises 
11.  Daily Listening of Amazing Recordings
12.  Rehearsal of concert music and sight reading
13.  Warm-Down 



Things to think about:
-Air, Posture, Embouchure Placement, Mouthpiece-selection,amount,angle,lay, Barrel/Bocal Length, French Horn Hand Position, Tongue Position, Reed Condition
-Every student must know the intonation characteristics of his/her instrument, and should be able to
bend a pitch both sharp and flat.  (use intonation graphs, alternate fingerings, lipping)
-Students need chamber music opportunities
-Every student must be able to sing and understand the 12 intervals
-Students should complete a range check in order to know which voice part they should be singing