Exciting News!

CONGRATULATIONS!

The Dutch Fork High School Siver Spirit Marching Band has been selected to appear in the 2009 ABC/IKEA Thanksgiving Day Parade in the City of Brotherly Love...Philadelphia, PA.

A Jazzy Morning

Jazz band was a success. We had over 25 students show up to school early to participate. I have to say I am surprised at the response and I am also surprise at the results. We sounded pretty good for the first meeting. We even had a full rhythm section. I really think this can be something to on which to build. We didn't play anything too difficult but I had fun and I think the students did too. We are getting together again next week.

Jazz in the Morning

It sounds like morning radio show but it will be what is happening in the band room this morning. I wanted to get a Jazz band started at DF and many of the students expressed interest in it but they have so much to do after school that many said they couldn't do it. So a few of them came up with a solution. Let's have Jazz band on Wednesday morning. We have late arrival on most Wednesdays. It is for department meetings but as I am my own department, I usually meet with myself. I got special permission to do Jazz band during this time. I sincerely hope that they all show up and we can do it. Once upon a time Jazz band was a class at DF. For some reason it is not now so this is an attempt to bring it back. I am not a Jazz purist by any means. I play tuba. You figure it out but I do like it. If there is one group that will get you counting and playing it is Jazz band. The goals for this year in Jazz band:

1. Have fun.

2. Build up some interest.

3. Do a few public performances.

4. Have fun. (It's worth putting down twice.

I will give you a report of how things go. I haven't had one in about 4 years so I am hopeful.

The Tally

The results are in and we didn't do too badly. We have 19 in region band and 5 in all-state. I think that is ok for a year with so much change. I would like to see more of our younger students doing well but then again I would like to see more younger students. We really need to work on getting them from the middle school to the high school. Rest assured we will find a spot for anybody that wants one. But anyway, we have reservations at a nice hotel with a heated indoor pool for the region clinic. For all state we are staying at the nicest hotel in Greenville, the Hilton. I think it is important to reward with the students getting them nice arrangements when they do well. Besides that, I don't want them to stay any place I wouldn't stay if I was on my own or with my family. I am sure we will have fun at both. Remember it's supposed to be fun. Next year I want 30 in region and 10 in all-state. Let's get to work.

P.S. By the way, things are getting better and better at DF. Watch out for us!

Working for the Cause

I worked all day today for free...once again. I judged tubas at all state auditions and didn't make a dime. The thing was I looked around and many, many other people were doing the same thing. What most people don't realize is that we band directors work for free much of the time. I have been told before "At least you get paid to be here". One time I figured out exactly how much I make an hour from my extra pay for being a band director. It was shocking and discouraging so I didn't do it again. Something like less than $2 hour! I can't think of any other job where people work days upon days for free either. The neat thing is that I am not alone in it. I see all the other band directors doing that same thing and most of the time I see the same ones. I can remember when I was "one of the young" ones. Not so anymore. I see the same faces many places I go and it is strange in that we, band directors, are kind of like a band ourselves. We may not all know each other very well. We not even really like each other all that well. We may have some very close friends in the group too, but we all respect what we do because we know we all need each other to be successful. Kind of like a good band. We, DF, had 10 students audition today for all state and at this moment I don't know how they did. I can say I am bit disappointed that only one of the them worked with me on sightreading at all. I am not sure why either. I have judged all state auditions for more years than I can count, so I have a pretty good grasp on how it works and what kind of stuff they might see. It was their choice to stay for help or not. I am just kind of sad that only one stayed for help. Oh well. Maybe in time the students will build a bit of trust in me. We shall see.

Back to working for the Cause. It seems there must be something a bit more about this band thing other than a job. So many people put in so many hours to make it all work for no pay. Maybe it is just because it makes us feel like we belong to something bigger than all of us are as individuals. I treat all the band kids like they were my own. In many ways they are to me. I know a lot of other band directors that feel the same way. They are the ones that make it. By that I mean I see many come and go but there is always that same core of us that always wave to each other and say hi. I have to say that core is becoming smaller. I see many new band directors for a year or two and then they just disappear. It is a terrible amount of work and time and certainly takes us away from home a lot but in the end it seems to be worth it do something that is bigger than just each one of us alone.

Working Hard

It may seem like a down time of the year but that is not the case. Any band director will tell you things don't stop after football season. And I for one am tired. This has been one of my toughest years ever. I have found my new (not new any more) job to be very stretching on myself and Cindy too. I really want things to be great at DF. Anybody that knows anything about me, knows this is my dream job. I mean it. I remember 16 years ago when the school opened and I was working on my undergraduate degree that my best friend, Howie, told me about the school. He lived on Firetower Road so we road down to see it. Wow! It was something. I knew I wanted to work at that school. I just didn't know if I would ever have the chance. Now here I am! I am not complaining for sure. I am just tired. I want us to have one of the best band programs in the Southeast if not the country. I really do but I have found things to be very tough. I find myself working at home more and more. Cindy is very understanding and I am lucky for that. I never seem to have any down time at DF and I will say that it makes for a fast day but sometimes I get home and just crash. Hopefully as I get things set up to my needs it will get easier. That is what makes all the work worth it. Not only are things getting better everyday, I see a future at DF for myself. That is somewhat different for me. To those of you are always there for me; I really, really appreciate it. To those of you that wonder if you can help, come on! We can do this but only if we all work together.

P.S. By the way every morning I come to work, I am still amazed I work at Dutch Fork High School. It is a beautiful school especially in the morning. I did it! Thanks to everybody that helped me. I won't let you down.

Getting Some Help

Today I had two upper level students from USC come out and help me with the band. They are both very good and highly recommended. One took the woodwinds to the orchestra and the other worked with the horns in our small ensemble room. I stayed in the band room and took the rest of the brass. It is amazing what being able to separate the section does to the level of instruction. I really think this will take our playing level to a totally different area. We will, of course, still rehearse as a group but being able to get the students some individual attention from an expert on their instrument is not only educational, it's fun too. Although I am very capable of teaching every instrument and section in the band, this will allow everybody to stay busy too. There are many times when what I am telling the trumpets just doesn't apply to the flutes. The band rehearses well and talking and distractions are not the norm but I just think we can get more taught and accomplished by working separately some of the time. I have always said "It's not my job to be the best at everything. It's my job to find who is." Hopefully the students will learn more and get some more enjoyment and playing time too. I think it will all be worth it when we get together too.

Snow Day / Inauguration Day

As I sit at home and watch it snow, I must comment on the event the will affect the entire world today. Barack Obama will take the oath as President of the United States today. This is the most powerful position in the world. This position has inherited even more power over the past few decades as We are truly the only super power in the world. I find it interesting to watch and read news from other countries and see how much they report on what We are doing. You will have a difficult time discovering my political views as I do not make them public. I don't think, as a teacher, I should. I know I have all the rights and privileges of any citizen of the United States but I also know that it is not my job to use my position to influence the views of those under my director or in my class. Many teachers make their political views and affiliations very public. I do not. But I will comment on a few things:

1. I have never seen a President that had so much support. Every body wants him to succeed. He has too. He comes into office with a war, a sliding economy and more stuff like global warming. I wish him all the best. But remember something, he is a man. He is just like all of us in that aspect. He is not a super hero. He will need help. Don't be too hard on him or put too much unrealistic expectation on him either. But as he said, his story would not even be possible in any other country in the world. Let us all give him a chance but let us all remember, we write our own stories and we all have work to do.

2. I am always amazed that We can change Presidents with little to no problems. We don't have to use military force to get the old one out. This is an amazing fact in itself. Even we Mr. Bush was finally given the win of the office, we just changed. No fighting, no tanks, no Army. Just faith in what we all have built.

3. The environment must become a major item as we progress to a world economy. It seems like everybody knows something has be done but nobody is willing to make it a priority. It's not just about places to fishing, hunt, and camp anymore. It's about all of us and everything like food and water now.

I hope everybody has a great snow day. I will spend mine cleaning fishing reels. Spring isn't really that far away but I love the snow!

Communication: Or a Lack There Of!

I have been thinking about this for a while so here I go. I never really thought of myself as a great communicator but I have to say that I am pretty good at this item. I always return phone calls from parents and students at work. I always reply to emails that I received in a timely manner even it is just a quick one to say that I am working on it. I try to always be available to listen to and meet with my constituents (parents and students) even if it is the not the most appropriate time (like after I have been at rehearsal for 3 hours in 100 degree temperatures with 80% humidity). Also, I do this blog not only for me but so that others can keep up with what is going on in the band world. The problem is that I am starting to see more and more of a problem with communication on the other end of things. I often send out an email with something pretty important only to not receive an answer or even a response. I often get the old "I didn't know" when things are due from students and sometimes even parents. We, as a band, use our website to communicate things as well as mass emails and a phone tree but still we get the "I didn't know what time". Communication has to be something that works both ways. All the communication in the world is not a bit of good if both parties are not involved. This leads me to something else. Do we have too many ways to communicate in today's world of technology? Maybe!

Text messaging has become the method of choice as communication goes with the teenagers of today. I don't mind it for small things like when I am sitting in boring meetings or at a concert or...wait I am not suppose to really say that! Anyway, kids love to text each other. I asked some why. They said it is so much faster than even an email. I can see that except in my case as it takes me about 15 minutes to text a one liner but again this a personal problem. Kids text in a different language too. They abbreviate everything. I can't even read some of it. I think that this ease of communication may have an opposite effect in that many people don't even really read what they are receiving or view any other form of communication as unimportant. I prefer emailing myself. I can answer them on my time and can give complete and thoughtful answers too but still nothing beats a good old fashioned still down meeting.

Perhaps the saddest part of all this technology and ease of communication is the lost art of writing. Even things like this blog are becoming less and less viewed. They just take to long to write and read for some people. As a teacher, I use to find notes on the floor or being passed between students a good bit. Not so anymore. I for one still enjoy a nice note or card. Maybe my mom passed that to me. She loves to write notes and send cards. Try it if you haven't in while. You just may be surprised how much it means to the recipient.

Check this out!

I am in here somewhere. The Spirit of Gold 1987.

A 4 Day Weekend!

Well 3 days for me anyway. We have an Inservice Day tomorrow. You can come by and say "Hi" if you want though. Many years I go fishing on this weekend but with the temperature expected to be about 10 degrees, I think I will stay home. The students that have all-state auditions on the 24th can use this time to practice. There is absolutely no reason that all of them can't make all-state. Cindy and I may do some painting this weekend. We have really tall area by the stairs that is left to paint. I just love heights you know.

The Resistance Movement

This is what I call it when a wave of resistance to my directing comes though. It is kind of like a weather front. One moment things are sunny and clear and then the clouds start rolling in and before you know it...there is a storm. That really is the way it works. One moment we are trucking along and getting better and then a few seem to just get in the way. I really don't know why either. We all want the same thing. We all want a successful band program. If we all work together we will all get what we want. There still seems to be some lack of trust that I truly know what I am doing. Hopefully, with time, that will subside. There are a few options for me with this though:

I could leave and find another job. This won't be good for anybody. Dutch Fork would be in a state of change for at least another year and so would I. Besides I like a lot of things at Dutch Fork. I worked hard to have the chance to be the director here and I am not leaving. So get over that idea.

I could just wait for the "non believers" to leave. I have tried this before and it doesn't work. Problems don't just go away. You have to fix them.

I could "kick out" the trouble makers. This does work but you might lose a really good student in the process. I have been wrong about students before.

I could just stick to my guns and do what I know will work. This works and it has been proven time and time again. This is the option I shall stick with.

In conclusion, if you don't like me or how I am doing stuff, you can always talk to me about it. I had a student come into my office today and ask if I was busy. I said "Yes, but what you have is more important." Also if you just don't like me, you don't have too. I am not a band director to be your friend. That may happen in time or it may not, but you do have to respect me. If you can't do that, then you do need to look for other activities because as I said above "I ain't goin' nowhere fast!" Just get use to me being around and get use to me pushing you to do things. In the end, we just may get what we all want.

The Next Big Event: Concert Festival

Concert festival is our next big group event. We have started the process of picking out music for it. I have registered two different groups. One group will go in Class III and the other will go in Class V. This means the Class III group will be playing grade III music from the South Carolina festival list and sight reading grade 1.5 music in the sight reading room. The other group will have to sightread grade 3 music. Taking 2 groups will be a lot of work on me but in the end it will be worth it.

One of pieces we are considering is a new one called "Nitro!". It is not yet on the South Carolina Concert Festival list but I have submitted it. You can listen to it if you follow this link: NITRO!

Although concert festival is one of my favorite events in which to participate, it is perhaps the most difficult one in which to succeed. As of late, the judging has really gotten tough but I guess that is what makes it so rewarding when you get a superior rating.

Region Band Auditions

Region band auditions are over. I think things went very well. We have 10 students that will get to audition again in two weeks for all state. We should end up with about 20 students total in region band. I wish more students would audition but that will come. Many students will be disappointed with their results just as some will be very happy. To the ones that are disappointed I have a few suggestions. First, take private lessons from a qualified instructor. We have access to so many of them in our area. Second, practice consistently. Practicing a week or two before auditions is just what it takes. You must practice for the most important reason...because you like to play your instrument. Make it a habit. Third, don't give up. It is all too easy to say "I just can't do it!". I am proud of all the students that auditioned. You are doing what needs to be done to take our band to the next level.

The real stars of the day were the Dutch Fork Band Boosters. They were great and worked not only yesterday but many, many days before to prepare. Everybody seemed to be happy with the way things turned out with regard to the actual audition site. Thanks also goes to the many students that volunteered their personnel time to serve as a page and/or room monitor.

I have some disappoint in our final results. I think some students just did not realize the task ahead of them. Our region is a tough one. There are many great band programs and musicians with which we must compete. Certainly I will not stop striving for the improvement of our band program. None of us can. The band program itself is at stake.

The Ever Shrinking Bands of South Carolina

Band programs in South Carolina continue to shrink accounting to a lot data from around the state. Facts are facts and here are a few. The amount of students participating in band programs is shrinking at a steady rate each year. Marching band participation is down. All you need to do is go to a marching band competition to see this. Even large schools are fielding smaller bands. This is a fact shown on the registration form of bands at state competition. Even events such as region band auditions are showing lower numbers. Here is the big question...WHY?

Well there may be a few different reasons. One is the large amount of academic pressure put on high school students today. Many students take advanced placements courses in high school to earn college credit. It seems like a great idea to get a few credits before you leave home and go to college. The problem is that many of the AP courses are double blocked which means a student must give up a slot of time for another class. This class could be band. Even if the student has space in their schedule to take band, they may not have the actual time to participate due to the large amount of time they spend studying for these classes. They are under a great deal of pressure to succeed in these classes and band is just too much for them.

Another reason for shrinking bands is the fact that graduation requirements are more advanced than ever. The students are just simply required to take more class to graduate. Today students need 4 maths, 4 Englishes, and 3 sciences and a collage of other classes, and this is just to graduate high school. Many colleges have their own requirements for admission.

Another reason could be that band is hard. In today's teenage world there are many, many things available for them to do. Gone are the days of just being a football player, cheerleader, or band member. There are large amounts of clubs and sports that are available for them. To be accomplished in band, a student must spend a lot of time and extend a large amount of effort. It is just quite simply easier to do other things. Video games certainly don't take nearly as much effort.

Finances can certainly play a role in this shrinking of numbers as well. Band is an expensive activity on all levels from the actual families of participants to the schools themselves. The current economic tide is not doing us any favors.

Now for my thoughts. I am certainly not saying that students should not work for high academic progress. On the contrary those are exactly the types of students I strive to get in band and keep. I am going to state that students need more in their life than just high level classes and scores. As for the ever rising graduation requirements, perhaps a way could be developed to allow students to gain certain required credits through band participation but then again maybe this is just some we will have to deal with. On a block schedule, there are 32 chances to obtain 24 credits. Sometimes choices just need to be made. My fear is that band will get left out. We offer so much more than just music too. We offer a challenge to the individual student. We the chance to work as a team but perhaps what we offer most of all is something can't be seen or measured. We offer the student a chance to be unique and artful. We offer the student a chance to not only recognize art and beauty but to create it. Isn't that worth something? I think so. In one capacity or another, my life's work is to make sure that as many people as I can reach will know this too.

Region Band Ready?

This question can go two ways. If you are a student, then you ask if you are ready. If you have prepared, you will do well. The other way the question can go is in reference to the fact that we will host the auditions this Saturday. It will be a lot of work but I am actually looking forward to it. Just be sure to remind me of that on Saturday afternoon. I met with the region chair today and I am glad he was nice enough to come down. The computer thing was easy so that was a relief. I learned some things that I didn't know before so I think we are getting ready. The hardest part physically will be setting up on Friday night. If anybody can help, come on over to the band room Friday after school.

First Day Back from Break

Today was pretty good. I was actually glad to get back to it. I really like what I do most of the time. I even like the administrative part of the job like working with guidance and getting stuff ready for region band. Sometimes I wonder if I would like being an administrator. I have been asked about it before and maybe some time from now I will make that move. My sister does it and seems to like it. Any way though, my classes were OK. I wish the concert band would be more "in to" what they do. They just don't seem to enjoy it. I think a lot this "apathy" that goes around is more of an image to up hold rather than a reality. I just think it is currently "cool" to not show you care about things. It is a pretty easy out if you think about it. If you act like you don't care about something, than it is pretty easy to not worry about practicing and stuff like that.

This weeks main focus is TEACHING. That should always be the focus of what I do. Region band auditions certainly are priority too though and they will take time and effort for sure.

The New Year

I guess it is time to get ready for work again. Region band auditions are next Saturday and that will be a lot work but it would be just fine. I have hosted state competition, state concert festival, region band clinic, and drum corps before so I think we will do just fine at auditions.

My break has been pretty nice. I do wish the weather would have been better but that is out of the control of anybody so what is the point in being too concerned with stuff like that?

As for New Year's resolutions, I have none. I think I would be best to just try to do good things all year long. That goes for all kind of things like eating more healthy and donating to charity and all that other stuff. I just don't think I need an event like New Years to put those things in place.

My buddy Scott is coming down to eat, watch football, and smoke cigars tonight. It is always good to catch up with him. We were going to go fishing but weather tomorrow looks less than favorable so we will just eat too much and stay up late and watch football.

I hope the students that are auditioning for region band have been practicing but that is another things is out of my control so I will try not to worry about it too much. At region band the students always get what they deserve.