MMEA Conference: Newer Ensemble Directors Helping the Newest Directors

This clinic was with three ensemble teachers who have been teaching for five or six years. The clinicians included Kristin Chartier (Orchestra Director in Shrewsbury), Jason Bielik (Band Director at North Middlesex Regional High School), and Ashley Nelson (Choral Director at Norwood High School).

This session focused on learning the tricks of the trade for teachers in their first three years of teaching (that's me!). We talked about gaining administrative support, getting along with your school secretaries and custodial staff. Parent support took up almost half of the clinic. We talked about how we put ourselves out there for parent complaints when we "do" more activities. If we just stuck to the school day and performed twice a year, our programs would be mediocre and would not offer much for our students. Sometimes we make mistakes and sometimes it is not our mistakes but parents misunderstanding. Jason Kristin, and Ashley have all receive parent complaints before and their advice was not to let that depress you as it often can. The best advice is first to not make mistakes and secondly if you do make one, admit to it immediately and solve it.

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Band Room: A New Design

Just in case we ever get a new or renovated high school (I might be dreaming), I wanted to be prepared for helping input the best design possible for a new band and chorus room. I ended up attending a clinic by the Wenger group. Wenger is the company that made the acoustic shells on our high school auditorium stage along with the two "soundproof" practice rooms that were installed back in the 1960's. The company is now the standard company used in the United States for music room design. I learned many things at this clinic. Firstly, I learned that most bands and choruses have their own rehearsal rooms, practice rooms, and offices. We spent a long time focusing on where sound goes after it leaves the instrument. Our music room has a ceiling that needs to be at least four feet higher. Additionally all the equipment in the room cuts down on reverberation. It is suggested that any closets or storage areas in a band room have open grilled doors so that air and sound c...

Learning Theory through Pop Music by Matthew F. Finnegan

Did you know that most pop music has a four beat pattern where the snare drum usually accents beats two and four? Example: "Get a Grip" by Aerosmith! At 8:00 am I attended what I consider my favorite clinic thus far at the MENC All-Eastern Music Educators Conference. Titled "From Simple to Complex: Leading the Listener to Learning," clinician Mathew F. Finnegan gave great examples of how popular music can be used in the classroom to teach music theory. The idea is this: teaching music theory through the old school fashion of notes on a page and through classical music does not work in today's classroom. In order to create the motivation for students to want to learn theory, we need to reach out and use the music which relates to them the most and connect it with the content we want to teach them. I found this clinic to be very inspiring. Here we just focused on the beat, but this clinician has already established how to incorporate pop music with the teach...

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