Preventing Burnout in the Next Generation of Teachers
Kate Alward & Emily Gunby
How Elementary Students Learn to Read and Perform Notated Pitches
Anna Schmitz
Common Individual and Ensemble Timing Issues and Solutions
Dr. Isaac Brinberg
Come symphony with us.
Great opportunities for Music Educators:
• Student Field Trips:
— All grades Daytime/Evening/Weekend
• $10 Educator Tickets to our Delta Classical Series
• UpTempo Teen Nights
• Family Concerts
• In-School Musician Visits
• Open Rehearsals
• Masterclasses
Association News
The President Speaks
Neil Ruby
Comedic thought leader
Michael Jr. shared, "When we know our why, our what becomes more impactful because you are working towards or in your purpose." This concept, popularized by inspirational speaker Simon Sinek, is known as "the golden circle." It delves into our what, the actions we take towards achieving our why, our how, the unique talents we have that make us special, and the why, the purpose that drives us, making our efforts more meaningful and effective.
To keep GMEA at the forefront of music education in our country, we must stay committed to our mission. Increased membership and participation numbers and elevated performance opportunities are all wonderful and important to celebrate, but our mission and our focus must continue to be defined by why we do what we do, rather than simply what we’ve done or will do. By embracing our 2025 In-Service Conference motto, Their Future is our Mission, we can unite in pursuit of a common goal. I believe we can achieve this when we focus on three actions:
1. Honor the Past
2. Celebrate the Present
3. Create the Future
Honor the Past
Take a moment to reflect on the journey that brought us to this point today. Think back to the person or people who influenced your decision to become a music educator, who took a chance on you, and who believed in you when maybe you didn't believe in yourself. Reach out to them, and thank them for the impact they had on your life and for shaping you into the person you are today.
Celebrate the Present
GMEA remains one of the largest and most engaged memberships in the country. We are now nearly 3,500 members strong. CNAfME is continuing to grow, and our active membership is currently the second largest MEA in the nation. We are still seeing increased participation in many of our statewide events, and the talent level of our student musicians is incredible. It's crucial that we not only acknowledge the achievements of our events and students but also honor the many dedicated music educators who are the driving force behind them. Today and throughout the year, let us celebrate every journey, every victory, and every individual who contributes to music education in Georgia.
Create the Future
As we continue on our journey to educate and inspire the future leaders of tomorrow, no matter what career path they take, let us remember the profound impact we have on our students' lives. Every event we host, every initiative we undertake, is centered around enriching the lives of our students. Behind every participation number is a student who benefits from the transformative power of music education to positively change lives.
So, as we reflect on our why, I hope you will embrace each day with enthusiasm and dedication, knowing that you hold the key to unlocking a brighter future for your students. Your impact may go unrecognized, but rest assured that someone, somewhere, will always remember the teacher who inspired them– and that teacher could be you! Thank you for all you do in your schools and communities, for your students and for each other!
From The Executive Director D. Alan Fowler
Happy Fall Y’all! As we embark on the new school year, my third as executive director, there are a few things I would like to share.
First, I remain honored to serve you, your students, and our association. After more than thirty years in education, I deeply miss the daily interactions with students and colleagues. However, I find numerous opportunities each week to engage with our members in meaningful ways. I enjoy interacting with students, singing in my church choir and playing the tuba with Tara Winds, and I’m still privileged to conduct the community band that Mr. TK Adams founded in 1993. This August marked the beginning of my 11th year leading the Newton County Community Band. I share this not to boast, but to emphasize that I’m actively involved—not just at my desk at HQ East in Covington. My interactions with musicians, students, and community members continually remind me of the passion and purpose behind our work.
Over the past two years, I have gained invaluable insights as your association’s executive director. While I had a strong grasp of GMEA and its operations before assuming this role, I am constantly inspired by the dedication and passion of our volunteers. Their commitment informs my discussions with music education students as I travel with Megan Williams to various colleges and universities across the state. It’s this same dedication and passion that we aim to nurture in the young teachers just beginning their careers. While GMEA’s success relies on many factors, one essential truth remains: young teachers must get involved to ensure we cultivate engaged veteran teachers in the future.
If you’re just starting your career or are young in the field, I encourage you to get involved. If you’re a veteran curious about how an honor orchestra is organized or how to run an LGPE, we welcome your participation. And to those who have long been engaged—THANK YOU!
Engagement is key not only in involvement with our association but also in interacting with the information shared. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed that many people overlook or don’t fully engage with the content of emails. We’re working to reduce the number of emails we send, but for this to be effective, it’s important to read what we include. Additionally, our goal with the News of Note newsletter is to ensure it is meaningful and consistently released, so that the information is timely. I personally love the "Upcoming Deadlines" section.
To ensure you stay informed about important updates, below are some recent changes regarding the registration process for the In-Service Conference. Gone are the days of “Pre” and “On-Site” registration, although you are encouraged to register ahead of time and you will still be able register once you arrive. To take full advantage of the way our technology functions and to make things easier on the staff, however, we now have “Early Bird” and (wait for it) “Regular” registration. Members who register early can save money, and the check-in process will be quicker and smoother for everyone. The “Early Bird” deadlines are January 14th if you’re paying by check and January 25th if you’ll be paying by credit card. Further information can be found on our website, so please visit www.gmea.org.
Best wishes on the remainder of the fall and the rest of the school year. I hope to see you in Athens. Take care and please do not hesitate to reach out to me or any of our wonderful staff should you need assistance.
Association News
GEORGIA MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Marriott Courtyard Hotel - McDonough, GA
May 18, 2024
1. The meeting was called to order by President Neil Ruby at 10:00 AM.
2. The following members were present: Neil Ruby, President, Sara Grimes, Vice President for Performance Evaluations, Jay Davis, Vice President for All-State Events, Dr. Matt Koperniak, Immediate Past President, Dr. Richard Bell, Past Presidents’ Council Representative, Alan Fowler, Executive Director, Chris Shumick, Band Division Chair, Michelle Austin, Choral Division Chair, Dr. Josh Byrd, College Division Chair, Letricia Henson, Elementary Division Chair, Krissi Davis, Orchestra Division Chair, Neal Bright, District One Vice Chair-elect, Dominique Lane, District Two Chair, Kenneth Boykin, Jr., District Three Chair, Monica Fogg, District Four Chair, Angela Reynolds, District Five Chair, Michael Elzey, District Seven Chair, Christopher Duke, District Eight Chair, Raymond Thomas, District Nine Chair, Tayler Norwood, District Ten Chair, Aaron-James Young, District Eleven Vice Chair-elect, Andy Esserwein, District Twelve Chair, David Metrio, District Thirteen Chair, Victoria Enloe, Editor, Georgia Music News, Maria Menendez, Multi-Cultural Awareness Chair, Adam Brooks, Memberat-Large, Barry Morgan, Member-at-Large, Amy Dees, Georgia School Boards Association.
3. A quorum having been established, President Ruby reviewed the voting procedure before introducing guests present for the meeting.
4. The following guests were present: Catherine Keyser, District Fine Arts Coordinators and GMEA staff members: Laura Webb, Bernadette Scruggs, Aleta Womack, and Megan Williams.
5. ACTION ITEMS
The following proposals were brought by Chris Shumick on behalf of the Band Division.
Proposal to adjust the marching band size classifications and change their usage to “required” instead of “recommended” as part of the Marching Band GMEA Sanctioned Marching Band event application – to begin in the 2025-2026 school year. Current classifications (by number of winds): A 1-40, AA 41-59, AAA 60-79, AAAA 80-100, AAAAA 101+ Proposed classifications (by number of winds): A 1-24, AA 2559, AAA 50-74, AAAA 75-100, AAAAA 100+
The motion was adopted by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal to require the use of approved Olympic Style or Caption Style Adjudicators sheets, instead of “recommended” as it is
currently listed in the application, at GMEA Sanctioned Marching Band events – to begin in the 2025-26 school year. Approved Adjudicator sheets will be on the GMEA website under the marching band section and will be uploaded as part of the marching band show application if any personalization is done (example: change fonts, add show logo, etc). The sheets can be reviewed here.
The motion was adopted by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal to require the use of a standard scoring formula for both Olympic Style and Caption Style, instead of “recommended” as it is currently listed in the application, at GMEA Sanctioned Marching Band events – to begin in the 2025-26 school year.
An Olympic Judging event is defined as the following a. Band Judges where the low and high scores are dropped for each band
b. 1 Judge per adjudicated speciality unit (Drum Major, Percussion, Colorguard, Majorette, etc.) Not factored into overall band score
A Caption Judging event is defined as the following a. 2 Music Performance Judges
b. 1 Music Effect Judge
c. 1 Visual Performance Judge
d. 1 Visual Effect Judge
e. 1 judge per adjudicated speciality unit (Drum Major, Percussion, Colorguard, Majorette, etc..) Not factored into the overall band score
The motion was adopted by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal to add a Marching Band Section in the Handbook (Page 60), following the Solo and Ensemble Performance Evaluations Section, to include:
GMEA Sanctioned Marching Band Event Definition:
A sanctioned marching band event is defined as one that is listed on the GMEA website, utilizes the GMEA scoring sheets, GMEA Scoring Formula and has gained approval by submitting an application to the Marching Band Standing Committee. All non-sanctioned events are prohibited from using GMEA score sheets, or using the phrases “GMEA” or “Georgia Music Educators Association” on any documents or advertising related to the Marching Band event.
Listing of all GMEA Sanctioned Marching Band Event Requirements, including:
•Classification Breakdown
•Caption Judging Event Details
•Olympic Judging Event Details
•Scoring Breakdown
The motion was adopted by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal to replace “Technique” with “Pitch Accuracy” on AllState Band Scoring Sheets / Audition Forms.
The motion was adopted by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal to allow the use of up to 4 drums for the High School All-State audition timpani etudes. Time allotted for tuning will be 15 seconds per drum.
Page 13 of Handbook - proposed changes in blue:
Timpani: Two Up to Four Timpani will be used for the audition. The tuning test requires students to tune (one time) to the sight-reading exercise. (The sight-reading pitches for the STATE level will match the pitches of the etude.) Middle School and Concert Band students may use any type of tone producer (pitch pipe, mallet instrument, etc.) for tuning, however no electronic devices may be used to produce a tone for tuning purposes by the student. Symphonic Band students will be given one pitch at the beginning of sight-reading, and that the student must tune to any subsequent pitches by ear only. The given pitch must be the lower pitch of the 2 amount of drums being utilized. There will be a 30 second per drum time limit on the Middle School and Concert Band timpani tuning audition, and a 30 second total time limit on the Symphonic Band timpani tuning audition. This tuning procedure applies to both the DISTRICT and STATE level auditions.
The motion was adopted by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal to change “Keyboard” to “Mallet Percussion” on all published materials related to the All-State Band and Orchestra Percussion Auditions, including but not limited to the etudes, handbook, and score (in lieu of “xylophone” or “marimba”).
Page 13 of Handbook - proposed changes in blue: Percussion In order to be recommended for the State Level Final Audition, students must score a combined total of 240 points with no individual score being less than 80 in all three areas (Snare, Timpani and Keyboard Mallet Percussion). Students will be required to perform in all three areas for both the district level, and the state level audition. There will be one sight-reading exercise in each of the three areas. The area’s district level, first round audition requirements are as follows: • Snare Drum: Middle School, Concert and Symphonic Bands- Perform the designated bracketed portion of the snare drum etude.
• Keyboard Mallet Percussion: Chromatic scale, full range of instrument; major scales and arpeggios as noted below by grade level:
The motion was adopted by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal to replace tempo requirements for major scales for all instruments with a maximum time requirement. A suggested tempo will be provided on each sheet. The time requirement shall be listed on the top of each scale page when published in August.
Page 13 of Handbook - proposed changes in red and blue: Major Scales and Arpeggios: Required major scales and arpeg-
gios for each level (middle school, concert band, and symphonic band) can be found on the GMEA website in PDF format. Scales must be played exactly as they appear on the GMEA website, including indicated tempi within the time limit requirements printed on the published scale sheets. Judging will be on tone quality, evenness, smoothness, and Major scales and arpeggios will be evaluated for articulation and pitch accuracy.
Following a period of discussion, an amendment was proposed by Andy Esserwein to clarify what would happen when time expires. The motion to amend was seconded by Barry Morgan. The proposed amendment was discussed, and then adopted by a vote of 26-0:
When time expires, the student will be allowed to finish the scale and arpeggio they were performing and receive any credit for the performance of that scale. There will be no audible alarm when time expires, and scoring instructions will be listed on the scale sheet for each instrument.
After further discussion, it was determined that a video of a sample audition would be made available on the GMEA website for directors, students, and parents.
The amended proposal was approved by a vote of 26-0.
The following proposals were brought by Michelle Austin on behalf of the Chorus Division.
Proposal to add a blind audition option to the All-State Chorus first audition
Following a discussion, Choral Chair Michelle Austin moved to table the proposal. The motion to table was seconded by Band Chair Chris Shumick.
The motion to table was passed by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal to move additional judge threshold from 25 to 20
GMEA Handbook (p.26) - proposed changes in blue: All directors who register students are required to serve at the appropriate audition, whether the student auditions or not. Directors must secure extra judges for increments of 15 students once they have registered 20 students, regardless of the number of schools where he/she teaches.
The proposal was not adopted by a vote of 5-21.
Proposal to add a time limit to All-State Chorus first audition sight reading
GMEA Handbook (p.23) - proposed additions and changes in blue:
Students will sing three (3) different 4-measure sight-reading examples using the method with which they are accustomed. Before each example, students will hear the block chord in the appropriate tonality, the arpeggio of the block chord, and the starting pitch before being given a 30-second practice period during which students can sing out loud without being scored. At the end of each 30-second practice period, students will hear the block chord and starting pitch again before performing each example. A rest will be performed silently. Students will be given a 75-second performance period to sing the example, with the exception of the third example for the 11-12 audition. That example will
have a 90-second performance period
Students will receive credit for each half measure sung with correct pitches and rhythms. They will receive bonus points for each example for maintaining intonation and a relatively steady tempo throughout the performance. At the end of each performance period, the students will be informed that time has expired. If a student has not finished singing the exercise, then all half measures that were not performed will be counted as incorrect. Students may still be eligible for steady beat and intonation points assuming all other qualifications are met. The rubric used to score sight-reading may be seen on the Chorus Division Webpage link for All-State Chorus Information. This component will comprise a potential 30 points of the overall audition.
The motion was approved by a vote of 23-3.
Proposal to change the allotted LGPE performance and sight reading time for Class M and D groups to 20 minutes and to redo current chart for more clarity
Following a discussion in which President Ruby addressed the financial implications and the fact the Executive Committee will be examining LGPE fees this next year, Vice President Sara Grimes explained that the Executive Committee had approved the change with the following stipulation: The 20-minute standard would be implemented for 2025 at Choral LGPE events that include both middle and high school choirs, and then in 2026 middle school-only events will change to the 20-minute schedule.
The motion was approved by a vote of 25-0.
Proposal to create a M-E split for middle school 6-8 grades for LGPE
GMEA Handbook (p. 46) - proposed changes in blue: No student beyond eighth grade may perform in a group entering Class M (middle school); a split D-M program is acceptable No student beyond sixth grade may perform in a group entering Class E (elementary); a split M-E program is acceptable
GMEA Handbook (p.47) - proposed changes in blue:
Classification of High School groups: A, A-B, B, B-C, C, C-D, D, D-M with voice classifications of Mixed, Treble, or Men. Classification of Middle School groups: E (for 6th grade students only); M, M-E (grades 6, 7, 8); A, A-B, B, B-C, C, C-D, D, D-M with voice classifications of Mixed, Treble, or Men.
The motion was approved by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal to unify all split class programs to sight read at the lower level, inclusive of DM (and ME, if approved)
GMEA Handbook (p. 47) - proposed changes in blue: High School choirs may perform a split D/M program with the following stipulations:
1. High School split D/M choirs are required to include an a cappella selection, and High School split D/M choirs are required to sightread at the D Level
This supports p. 44 of the Handbook, which says: Groups may enter LGPE with a split program, meaning they may perform one piece from each of two adjacent music lists (A-B, B-C, C-D, M-D). Groups singing a split program will sight read
the selection for the lower of the two classifications. All other music requirements remain the same as for groups entering in one classification only. Middle School choirs registering as Class A, B, C, D, or split C-D or D-M, must follow the guidelines of High School groups and perform one a cappella selection. Groups
Proposal to unify addendums regarding the LGPE repertoire sub mission timeline, and alter the deadline for a director to submit their repertoire to 30 days.
GMEA Handbook (p.41) - proposed changes in blue:
The director of the ensemble will have entered their literature selections into Opus when they registered for the event, or after that up until 30 calendar days prior to the event. The Head Adjudicator should log into Opus immediately after the two-week deadline and check the selections.
The motion was approved by a vote of 26-0.
The following proposals were brought by Krissi Davis on behalf of the Orchestra Division.
Proposal for statement clarification regarding parts covered in LGPE selections.
Handbook addition to p. 45 under “String Orchestra Specific Requirements - proposed changes in blue:
• All classifications are required to play three string orchestra selections.
•All parts of LGPE selections must be performed unless approved by the head adjudicator.
The motion was approved by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal to add option of electronic/virtual score sheets for District level All-State Auditions
Handbook addition to pg. 31 under “All-State Orchestra District Host/Organizer Information” - proposed changes in blue:
The District Division Chair may assume the duties of District Audition Host/Organizer or may appoint another person.
“Host/Organizer has the option of using virtual/electronic score sheets in addition to the paper scoresheets. Official results must still be entered into OPUS”
Following a period of discussion, David Metrio moved to amend the proposal to include “in addition to the paper scoresheets.” The motion, seconded by Andy Esserwein, was passed 26-0.
The amended proposal was approved by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal to return all All-State district level score sheets to teachers, regardless of pass/fail status
Handbook addition to pg. 31 under “All-State Orchestra District Host/Organizer Information” - proposed changes in blue:
The District Audition Host/Chair will:
•Enter audition results into Opus and release scores when satisfied of their accuracy and validity
•Return all score sheets to teachers regardless of pass/fail status
The motion was approved by a vote of 26-0.
The following proposals were brought by Vice President for Performance Evaluations Sara Grimes.
Proposal to the allowance of e-print scores and clarifying about IMSLP:
Handbook p.50, p.57, and p.59 - proposed changes in blue: E-print scores and music are allowed with a proof of purchase identified on the parts and scores. E-print should be neatly printed front/back, legible, collated, and bound/assembled in a way that is easy for the adjudicators to use while judging. If a piece being performed is available in IMSLP or other public domain sources, but is on the GMEA LGPE music list, scores should be purchased through the appropriate publisher notated on the list and not printed. However, if the piece is not on the LGPE list, then scores can be printed from IMSLP or public domain sources. IMSLP downloads must meet US public domain guidelines. Please notate on the score that it is public domain.
Following a brief discussion, Josh Byrd proposed adding: “ The edition must match the performers’ version.” That motion was seconded by Sara Grimes and then passed unanimously.
The amended proposal was approved by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal for Large Group Performance Evaluation clarifications:
GMEA Handbook, p.50 - proposed changes in blue: Add this sentence to help directors: “If you have any questions about your repertoire, please email your head adjudicator prior to putting your selections into OPUS.” (Add years to help directors to this) Performance Evaluation music performed by a specific group MAY NOT be performed again by that same group within a three-year time period for high school ensembles (for 2025, selections performed in 2024, 2023, and 2022 are ineligible) and a two-year time period for middle school ensembles (for 2025, selections performed in 2024 and 2023 are ineligible)
The motion was approved by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal for Solo & Ensemble clarifications:
Handbook p. 58, Add to Judging Criteria - proposed changes in blue:
“Judges should be from within the state of Georgia.”
Following a brief discussion Sara Grimes moved to table this portion of her proposal, Matt Koperniak seconded the motion.
The motion to table was passed by a vote of 26-0.
Add to Solo & Ensemble Entry guidelines: instrumental choir (flute choir; brass choir; cello choir, etc.) is allowed.
This portion of the proposal was approved by a vote of 26-0.
Proposal to move Jazz Performance Evaluations from Solo and Ensemble to a new section under LGPE (A new category in the Handbook; blue is new proposed changes within the context of removing the Jazz information from Solo & Ensemble on Handbook page 60. A committee has been established to provide larger updates for 2024-2025)
Jazz Performance Evaluations Registrations
GMEA members will register students for Jazz Performance Evaluation through the registration form linked in OPUS. For registrations paid by credit card or electronic funds transfer, no further action is required once the registration has been submitted and paid for. For registrations paid for by paper check, JotForm will provide an invoice to print. Fees paid by check MUST be paid with one member check, school check, booster club check, or money order payable to GMEA and mailed to the GMEA office in the same envelope as the printed invoice by the appropriate postmark deadline. Directors choosing to pay by paper check do so at their own peril and GMEA accepts no responsibility in cases where checks are not received for any reason whatsoever. Fee amounts can be found in the Application Fees section of this Handbook and are listed in Opus on the current application / acceptance form. There are no refunds for cancellation or failure to appear.
We will accept checks and invoices postmarked by the deadline no matter when they are received in the office. We will accept checks and invoices received in the office within five calendar days after the deadline no matter when they are postmarked. Those that are incomplete or incorrect will be returned and a
reprocessing fee of $25.00 will apply. Those that are neither postmarked by the deadline nor received in the office within five calendar days thereafter will be considered late and will be returned. After the deadline has passed, the following late fee structure and procedure will apply:
Teachers may register online after the initial deadline but with late fees assessed as follows: An initial late fee of $25.00 per registration on the first day after the deadline. After that the late fee will increase by $5.00 per day, per registration. Beginning sixteen days after the original deadline, no registrations can be accepted for any reason.
Jazz Performance Adjudication
The following ratings are awarded by the three (3) adjudicators in GMEA Jazz Performance Evaluations.
Superior (1): Outstanding performance. Worthy of distinction of being recognized as among the very best.
Excellent (2): Unusually good performance in many respects, but not worthy of the highest rating due to minor defects. A performance of distinctive quality.
Good (3): A good performance, but not one that is outstanding. Shows accomplishment and marked promise but lacks one or more essential qualities.
Fair (4): A performance that shows some obvious weaknesses, generally weak and uncertain.
Poor (5): A performance which reveals much room for improvement. The students reveal almost a complete lack of preparedness and understanding.
Any ensemble may decide at any time prior to performance to perform for comments only, for which no rating will be given.
Jazz Performance Protocols
• Time limit for jazz ensembles: twenty (20) minutes total performance to accommodate a thirty (30) minute scheduling block.
• There are no required or suggested music lists for jazz ensembles. Middle school, junior high, and senior high jazz ensembles must perform two (2) selections and are encouraged to consider contrasting styles. An ensemble may perform as many pieces as desired but must remain within the twenty (20) minute time frame. Elementary groups may choose to perform only one (1) selection
•(added from p. 42) Students may play their primary or secondary instrument in more than one jazz band.
• Directors are encouraged to provide scores for the adjudication panel. Each district may come to the consensus of whether or not to require scores. If scores are provided to the adjudication panel, they must be original (no photocopies) unless accompanied by a letter from the publisher or music dealer giving permission to use photocopied scores dated at least 14 days prior to the event.
• JUDGES SELECTION CRITERIA: Adjudicators should be chosen based on their relevant experience as jazz educators, evaluators, clinicians and performers. Adjudicators from outside the state requiring transportation will be reimbursed from local GMEA district funds, not from the state level, and approval from the GMEA district treasurer is required before securing any out of state adjudicators to serve on an evaluation panel.
The motion was approved by a vote of 26-0.
The following proposal was presented by Vice President Grimes, in conjunction with Vice President for All-State Jay Davis.
•Proposal for Late Fees Revision
GMEA Handbook - proposed deletions in red, changes/additions in blue:
The motion was approved by a vote of 26-0.
• Proposal to add All-State Band and Orchestra Percussion Ensemble to the handbook on p. 9, along with the following statements:
Handbook, Page 9 - proposed additions in blue:
p.10 Teachers may register students online after the initial deadline but with late fees assessed as follows: An initial late fee of $25.00 per application on the first day after the deadline. After that the late fee will increase by $5.00 per day, per application. Beginning sixteen days after the original deadline, no applications can be accepted for any reason. There is no on-site registration available.
p.48 After the deadline has passed, the following late fee structure and procedure will apply: Teachers may register online after the initial deadline but with late fees assessed as follows: An initial late fee of $25.00 per registration on the first day after the deadline. After that the late fee will increase by $5.00 per day, per registration. Beginning sixteen days after the original deadline, no registrations can be accepted for any reason.
p.59 After the deadline has passed, the following late fee structure and procedure will apply: Teachers may register online after the initial deadline but with late fees assessed as follows: An initial late fee of $25.00 per registration on the first day after the deadline. After that the late fee will increase by $5.00 per day, per registration. Beginning sixteen days after the original deadline, no registrations can be accepted for any reason.
After the deadline has passed, the following late fee structure and procedure will apply. An initial late fee of $25.00 per application on the first day after the deadline. After that the late fee will increase by $5.00 per day, per application. This will be calculated in OPUS. Beginning sixteen days after the original deadline, late fees will be capped based on these deadlines listed below. There is no on-site registration available.
After 15 days, the FINAL late fee is $150 per registration, until • Solo/Ensemble: 10 days before the event • All State 1st Round Audition: 10 days before the audition • LGPE: 30 days prior to the event.
Late Registrations after the 15-day window must be requested on this form (to be linked). Within the time frame before the event, no late registrations will be accepted without prior approval from the Executive Committee. The organizer of the event will also need to confirm that they can accommodate the request.
All State acceptance has a firm deadline. If the acceptance fees are not paid, alternates will be called up.
The motion was approved by a vote of 26-0.
President Ruby presented the following proposals on behalf of the Executive Committee.
• Proposal to remove Pilot and to add Middle School Tenor/ Bass All-State Choir to Handbook.
*The All-State Percussion Ensemble consists of the 11/12 grade percussionists from the 11/12 All-State Bands and Orchestra.
*The Band Division Chair will secure a sponsor to fund the honorarium of the conductor.
The motion was approved by a vote of 26-0.
President Ruby introduced the proposed Draft Copy of 2024-2025 GMEA Statewide Calendar
The motion was approved by a vote of 26-0.
6. DISCUSSION ITEMS
A. LGPE Events
1. Adjudicator training
2. Adjudicator Areas at Events
B. Appeals process for statewide events registration from schools/ programs without a GMEA member as a teacher.
7. INFORMATION ITEMS
A. Executive Director Alan Fowler presented a financial report. Mr. Fowler spoke about the figures and information on the GMEA Spring Budget Financial Update, and then he directed those in attendance to the five additional reports included – The Budget vs. Actuals Report for FY’24, the All-State Balance Sheet, the LGPE Balance Sheet, the Office Expenses breakdown, and the Profit and Loss as a % of Total Income Report. He noted the progress toward rebuilding GMEA’s operational reserves and the repayment of the SBA loan taken out by the association in 2020.
B. President Ruby addressed the change from $35 to $40 for Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus and 6th Grade Statewide Honor Chorus registration costs.
C. President Ruby shared news of the GMEA Handbook Update Dynamic Team that will be led by Past President Matt Koperniak. Then Dr. Koperniak spoke regarding the plan to revise the handbook, which will begin soon when he sends out a survey to the GMEA leadership seeking input.
8. Reports, either written or spoken, were presented.
9. There was no new business to come before the Board of Directors.
10. President Ruby presented certificates to outgoing members of the board and recognized Dr. Matt Koperniak for his long record of service to the association.
11. The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
D. Alan Fowler, Executive Director
Division News
Band
Chris Shumick
As we step into the new academic year, I want to send my wishes for a fantastic fall semester ahead. I hope it’s packed with enriching musical experiences for every student throughout our state. Whether you’re embarking on your first year of teaching or are a long-time educator, we all value the lasting impact of a thorough music education and the lifechanging benefits our school band programs offer.
As you are likely aware, in the Band Division we are in the final year of three adopting new etudes for our All-State Band and Orchestra auditions. The etudes were selected and edited by a committee of professionals on each instrument and received multiple rounds of review and adjustments before being published on the GMEA website. As was the case last year, I will solicit feedback for any potential edits/adjustments before they go into permanent rotation for use again in 2027-2028. We caught minor issues in several of the etudes so please ensure the students are using what is currently published on the website as it may have changed slightly from their original posting. At this point there will be no further adjustments.
Speaking of All-State, I am excited to share with you the conductors for the All-State Bands this year. As was the case last year, the All-State Bands will be conducted by well-respected music educators who have and continue to make a lasting impact on music education here in the State of Georgia:
All-State Middle School Band: Mr. Travis Downs - Director of Bands, North Gwinnett Middle School
All-State Middle School Band: Mrs. Sheila Smith - Director of Bands (retired), South Central Middle School
All-State Concert Band: Dr. Josh Byrd - Director of Bands, University of West Georgia
All-State Concert Band: Dr. Robert Dunham - Director of Bands (retired), Georgia Southern University
All-State Symphonic Band: Dr. Robert Ambrose - Director of Bands, Georgia State University
All-State Symphonic Band: Dr. Nicholas Williams - Director of Bands, University of Georgia
All-State Jazz Band: Mr. Craig Skeffington – New England based composer/educator
All-State Percussion Ensemble: Dr. John Parks, Professor of Percussion, Florida State University
Lastly, later this semester nominations for Band-Chair elect (to serve as chair from 2027 to 2029 after Sean McBride) will take place and a committee will be formed to develop the ballot that will be sent to the membership in early January. If you have an interest in serving the state in this capacity, please contact your local band chair to be nominated.
The unwavering dedication exhibited by our community of music educators here in Georgia is a testament to the overarching theme of this year's In-Service Conference: "Committed to Positively Changing Lives." Here’s to a wonderful 2024-2025 school year!
Guitar
Caryn Volk
Welcome to another remarkable year! I am beginning my 29th year of K-12 instruction, currently serving as Director of Guitars at North Gwinnett Middle School. In the past five years, we have noted an increase in non-traditional performing music classes, primarily guitar and piano-based groups. It is our mission to serve all teachers of music students, no matter what style ensemble they participate in.
Each year, we structure our days and months primarily around performance goals: when is the local school concert, when is adjudication, when is our solo event? State and national organizations have offered many professional development sessions regarding goal-setting and instructional design. What we must also include is intentionality, the purpose of our actions, goals, and instruction. What are your intentions for your non-traditional performing music class? Reflecting on the purpose of offering and developing a non-traditional class provides an intrinsic drive to follow your instructional map.
Why do I teach guitar if I am not a guitar major? The ensembles I offer provide a musical home for students—especially those who may not have been served in other music or performing classes. Our success will be measured by the feedback we receive from our students, fellow educators, and community stakeholders. Beyond simply setting a goal, we must clearly communicate our intentions for the journey and cultivate purposeful actions in both ourselves and our students.
We are preparing another powerful in-service conference, and I invite everyone who teaches, wants to teach, or has to teach guitar to come to our sessions. I am honored to serve as your Guitar Chair, and I am available for questions and conversations. I look forward to seeing our piano and guitar students at the Giocoso Guitar Festival in March 2025, and sincerely wish each of you a successful school year!
Orchestra Krissi Davis
I hope your year is off to an amazing start as we welcome new students, set our concert calendars, and establish routines and procedures for the 24-25 school year! During this very busy time, be sure to take a moment to make sure your GMEA membership is current, review the handbook, and make note of all important deadlines.
2025 All-State Orchestra promises to be another amazing experience for both students and teachers. If you’re able to, I encourage you to come early on Friday to watch this incredible line up of master educators engage our students during rehearsals.
2025 All-State Orchestra Conductors
Middle School- Margaret Selby and Tiffani Oui-Ponticelli
9/10 String- Dr. Naima Burrs
11/12 String- Felipe Morales-Torres
9/10 Full- Dr. Mark Laycock
11/12 Full- Soo Han
I also encourage you to make plans to attend our annual In-Service conference in January. We have an outstanding line up of sessions and performances featuring the following ensembles:
2025 ISC Performance Ensembles
Flat Rock Middle School Combined Orchestra
Hightower Trail Middle School Orchestra
Simpson Middle School Orchestra
Lambert High School Chamber Orchestra
Harrison High School Chamber Orchestra
John’s Creek High School Chamber Orchestra
Urban Youth Harp Ensemble
As we dive deeper into the school year, I encourage everyone to remember the importance of work-life balance. We can't be at our best for our students if we don’t take care of ourselves first. Don’t hesitate to lean on your support systems when needed, and remember, I'm here for you too! Feel free to reach out to me anytime at orchestra@gmea.org
Choral
Michelle Austin
I want to start by thanking some people who do important work for our division, but do not always receive appropriate recognition. The job of Choral Chair would be impossible without their knowledge and leadership:
- To our state choral chair elect, Velma Jenkins, for her support and insight.
-To our District Choral Chairs for all they do to support the teachers in their district.
-To the members of our All-State Committee, LGPE Adjudication Committee, and LGPE Repertoire Committee who work hard to ensure the success and equity of our major events.
-To our statewide All-State Chorus and Sixth Grade Statewide organizers who plan and execute memorable events for our students.
-To our region and district All-State organizers for the work they do to ensure ~6000 GA choral students have a positive audition experience.
-To all directors who volunteer to organize, host, accompany, clinic, or do anything that might be needed for our GMEA events.
If you do not already have plans for January 30th-February 1st, I hope you will save the date for our In-Service Conference. Choral sessions being offered include vocal pedagogy for choral educators, how singer seating placement can impact choral tone, creative recruitment strategies, warm-ups that build aural skills and improve choral tone, fostering student leadership, and strategies for effectively teaching an inclusion chorus. As always, we have some outstanding middle, high and collegiate performances happening at First Baptist Church Athens during the conference.
I hope you will get your students involved in the various choral events hosted by GMEA. You can access information about audition and event dates on the GMEA website.
• All-State Reading Chorus (9th-12th Grades) - Clinician is Erika Tazawa Jenkins from Georgia Tech
• All-State Chorus (7th-12th Grades) - Clinicians are Philip Silvey from Eastman School of Music (Middle Treble), Jason Alexander Holmes from the Cincinnati Boys Choir (Middle Tenor/Bass), Brandon Williams from Rutgers University (Middle Mixed), Jabarie Glass from the University of South Carolina (9/10 Mixed), Jennifer Sengin from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (Senior Treble), Jeffrey Murdock from the University of Arkansas (Senior Tenor/Bass), and Kelly Miller from the University of Central Florida (11/12 Mixed)
• Sixth Grade Statewide Honor Chorus – Clinicians are Craig Hurley from the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir and Alex Gartner from the Pensacola Children’s Chorus
• District Honor Chorus, Solo and Ensemble, and Large Group Performance Evaluation – Speak with your District Choral Chair to learn more
Best wishes to all of you on a wonderful school year!
Division News
Elementary Letricia Henson
Our 2025 In-Service Conference motto is an inspiring message, “Positively Changing Lives… Their Future is our Mission.”
As music educators, we share a unique bond of working with hundreds of students within a school year in providing positive musical experiences and creative programs in schools. The Elementary Division is looking forward to our members sharing their positive stories of living out the vision of our motto this year.
The Elementary Division is overjoyed to plan and organize annual events for Georgia’s music students and GMEA members with the goal to positively change lives. The Annual Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus and the Sixth Grade Honor Chorus are Back Together Again! The registration for Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus starts on September 3rd and lasts until the 500 slots are filled. Please register your five students and two alternates promptly. This year, we are honored to have guest conductors Ms. Ariel Alvarado and Mr. Rick McKee, both distinguished composers with a deep connection to Georgia. Their presence promises to elevate the musical experience at the SEHC, which along with the ISC, will be held at The Classic Center in Athens, GA.
Additionally, the annual In-Service Conference will provide professional development on musical techniques in Choral Singing, Recorder, Folk Dance, Drumming, and Orff, to name a few. We are excited to host presenters from across the United States, including our talented elementary colleagues. Don’t miss the chance to register for these events and join us in creating memorable musical experiences.
I would also like to extend special congratulations to the Kay Pace Performers, directed by Ms. Erin Oxford. They will grace the stage at the 2024 Biennial NAFME Music Research and Teacher Education Conference in Atlanta on September 26, 2024, right before the keynote address by Dr. Omar Thomas. The Kay Pace Performers also showcased their talents at the GMEA In-Service Conference in January 2024. Kudos to Ms. Erin Oxford and her students for this remarkable achievement!
As the legendary musician Betty Reid Soskin once said, “Music has the power to change anything.” Let us all strive to make meaningful contributions to our art form this year and beyond. Have a wonderful year, and please feel free to reach out at elementary@gmea.org.
Historian Matt Koperniak
The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) hosted two events in Atlanta, Georgia, in September 2024. The NAfME Southern Division annual meeting took place on September 8, 2024, at the Woodruff Arts Center, bringing together state presidents, state executives, and NAfME division leadership from the southeastern United States. The Biennial NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education Conference took place September 25-28, 2024, at The Westin Peachtree Plaza, highlighting the latest research in our profession. We are fortunate to host these events in our state, but they are certainly not the first to be held in Georgia during our long history as an affiliate of the national organization.
The NAfME Southern Division (previously called the Southern Conference) has held numerous meetings in Atlanta over the past century, under the changing names of our parent association. Notably, the first annual meeting of the Southern Conference of the Music Supervisors National Conference took place in Atlanta in November 1922. Twenty-one years later, each division of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) held a Wartime Institute to sustain music education in the schools while many music teachers were overseas fighting in World War II. The MENC Southern Conference met in Atlanta for their Wartime Institute, from April 6-8, 1943, at the Biltmore Hotel.
The MENC National Conference was held in Atlanta from March 8-12, 1972. According to The Atlanta Constitution, conference attendance boasted 8,000 teachers and 2,500 students. Performances included the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Morehouse Glee Club, and student groups from Atlanta, DeKalb, and Fulton County public schools. It is important to note that the lack of representation in the MENC conference program resulted the formation of the National Black Music Caucus, subsequently known as the National Association for the Study and Performance of African American Music (NASPAAM).
Visit the History section on the GMEA website (gmea.org/ history) to read more about these national events held in Georgia (look in A History of the Georgia Music Educators Association, 1922-1993 and Milestones and Memories). As always, if you have any GMEA records or memorabilia that might fill gaps in our archives, you can reach me at koperniak@ gmail.com. Best wishes for a productive school year!
Multi-Cultural Awareness
Maria Menendez
Happy Fall to everyone! My name is Maria Menendez and I am proud to begin serving as the Multicultural Chair for GMEA. Although I currently reside in the United States, I have grown up surrounded by people from multiple countries and cultures. My parents were born in Mexico City and immigrated to Canada in the 1980s, where I was born. I grew up as a child embracing three cultures at once: Canada, Mexico, and the melting pot of them all, the United States. My younger years consisted of feeling out of place as I did not feel that either country could be counted as my true home. It was not until I became older that I realized that each culture provided parts of me that made me different, and being different meant that I had a great story to tell.
I accepted this position because I feel that everyone is valuable and has a story to tell. I want students, community members, and educators alike to see different cultures represented in our great state of Georgia. I believe that highlighting the different cultures and backgrounds of our music educators can make a positive change in our students' lives. Throughout my term, I will highlight composers, educators, pieces of music, and students who have a story to tell. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any suggestions, composers that you recommend, students or educators that we should hear from, or any other great ideas. It is an honor to serve our state association here in Georgia where music education is thriving!
Research
Rebecca Atkins
Welcome back to the school year! If you are going to the NAfME National Conference in Atlanta, September 25-28, check out all the GMEA research presentations. We are well-represented. Congratulations to all the researchers in Georgia who were accepted to this prestigious
O’Brien, K. (2024) Examining the Prevalence and Experiences of Music Performance Anxiety in Young Adolescent Students. Georgia State University.
ABSTRACT
Many music activities involve live performance. The psychological and physiological effects of such musical engagement can aid in the development of identity for young musicians. Unfortunately, many school-aged musicians find that performing for others can have a deleterious effect. Repeated negative experiences can lead to the development of music performance anxiety (MPA) (Kenny, 2011). This phenomenon can be debilitating, having a detrimental effect on a music student’s experience, and potentially driving a student to prematurely quit music study. As such, MPA can negatively impact educational music programs and may raise a barrier to access to the lifelong benefits that music participation can provide, such as cognitive and social-emotional benefits (Elvers et al., 2017; Guhn et al., 2019; Welch et al., 2014; Welch et al., 2020). The purpose of this mixed methods study was to gather quantitative and qualitative information about the prevalence and experience of MPA in young adolescents in Grades 6-8 in both vocal and instrumental ensembles at a private school in the southeastern United States. This age group has not been adequately represented in MPA research to date and are at an age where they could be experiencing public performing for the first time. This study follows an explanatory sequential design, beginning by administering a validated survey to assess the prevalence of MPA (N = 51) and following up with semistructured interviews (n = 7) to expound upon the students’ experiences. The study shows that students in 6th grade reported higher levels of performance anxiety, partly because for many, this is their first time playing with an ensemble. Students revealed they had not talked much about MPA prior to the study and therefore had few strategies to cope with MPA. Additionally, there was a large discrepancy between participants’ survey and interview results, particularly for males; indicating the need for further mixed methods studies due to participants’ self-report of anxiety. Through a greater understanding of MPA that was gathered from this study, music teachers can better empathize and structure their pedagogy so that MPA is less of a barrier to music participation.
We look forward to seeing at the research sessions on Friday, January 24, 2025 at GMEA. Have a super semester! See you in Athens! (2024).
For this issue, I would like to highlight Kathryn O’Brien from Georgia State University on her work on music performance anxiety. Below is the abstract from her dissertation. Congratulations, Katie!
Division News
Retired Members
Jay Wucher
Over the past several years I have had the pleasure of serving as the GMEA Retired Members Chair. In that role it has been an honor and privilege to report on the lives of our retired members who continue to serve GMEA in some capacity. It is my intent to continue on this path in future issues. I am reaching out to you to help me with this. If you or someone you know is in the retired/redirected period of your life, please contact me so that I can tell your story and share it with our membership. Think of it as another opportunity to inspire and encourage others to walk in their own their own footsteps with you serving as a light in their path. My contact information is listed toward the end of this article.
Our GMN editor, Tori Enloe, recently sent the GMEA board members an email asking our newest board members to introduce themselves to our membership. As I enter my fifty third year as a GMEA member, and twenty first year of “formal retirement,” it occurred to me that it might be well served to reintroduce myself to our membership while reaching out to our retired members to share your personal and professional highlights with our GMEA former and present colleagues.
Robert Frost’s timeless poem The Road Less Travelled has impacted an untold number of readers since first written and published. If I were to write a poem it would be entitled The Road Best Travelled. From my days in junior and senior high school band, where the best I could achieve in my final year (1967) was third out of fourth chair in the tenor saxophone section, to 1995, where I was named Georgia Music Educator of the Year, and in 2020 being selected for the GMEA Distinguished Career Award, I have willingly and joyously served as a music educator. As a husband, son, father, grandfather, and great grandfather I have helped raise an extended family who are different in so many ways but share a commonality of making service to others a priority.
In my career as a band director, department chair, coordinator of music education, director of curriculum, college professor, and so on, I have had the time, desire, and energy to make a difference in the lives of countless students and teachers. In board memberships and leadership positions for countless organizations including the Rotary Club, The Fulton County Employees Charitable Fund, the Atlanta Symphony, Spivey Hall, Georgia Coalition for Arts Education, and GMEA, I have often worked behind the scenes to see lives enriched through arts education and beyond in fiscal, emotional, and socio-economic growth.
My road best travelled continues as I serve on the board of my local Rotary Club, Chair the Baldwin County Foundation for Excellence, teach part time at Georgia College and State University, and work as a Fine Arts Consultant for the Baldwin County Schools. I continue to work with students and teachers at all levels who appreciate the effort I place on making their lives better.
I’ve shared numerous ideas and thoughts with others. Two of my favorites, which I often use in the band room and beyond, are: “If the process is honorable, the product takes care of itself,” and my perspective on leadership: “Knowing when to lead, when to support, and when to step aside.” I have yet to see these statements fail me or others who adhere to them. Further, I have endeavored to shape my life around these principles, making them central to who I am and what I do.
My purpose in sharing all of this with you is to encourage you to share with me your own personal and professional accomplishments so that our membership can celebrate the difference you have made in the life of others. Our GMN is such a wonderful forum to communicate with others. To contact me please email me at jswucher@gmail.com or text/phone at 404388-2994.
Thanks for all you have done and for all you are still to do!
District News
District 7
Michael Elzey, District Chair
To say that the state of music education in District VII is great would be an immense understatement. All divisions within District VII and flourishing with the incredible teaching that is happening in the rehearsal rooms across our district each and every day.
This year, District VII welcomed countless new music educators to our area and we are very excited to see them in action at their respective schools. Our district is also home to numerous ensembles who will be performing on the state and national stages this year including:
• Carrollton High School Wind Ensemble
Dr. Chris Carr & Mr. Zachary Nelson, Conductors 2025 GMEA In-Service Conference, January, 2025
• Carrollton Junior High School Wind Ensemble
Ms. Maria Menendez, Conductor Music For All Southeastern Region Concert Festival, February, 2025
Ms. Jennifer Hamilton, Conductor 2025 GMEA In-Service Conference, January, 2025
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Georgia Music Educators on the Move!
GMEA spotlights our members who are starting new teaching roles throughout the state, bringing their expertise diverse range of institutions. We wish them great success in their new positions! Additionally, we extend a warm music educators as they begin their journeys in shaping the future of music education in Georgia. *Denotes First Year Teacher
District 1
Doug Povie
Blessed Sacrament School, Guitar and Recorder Teacher
Will Panter South Effingham Middle School, Band Director
Andrew Brown McIntosh County Academy, Band Director
Denisesha Hurley* Esther F. Garrison School for the Arts, Band Director
Leah Harp* Lyman Hall Elementary School, Music Teacher
Ashley Akridge Toombs County Middle School, Band Director Toombs County High School, Assistant Band Director
Kenneth Luke Richmond Hill Middle School, Assistant Band Director
District 2
Marcus Powers* Lee County Middle School West, Choral Director/Assistant Band Director
District 4
Kenneth Harris Rockdale County High School, Assistant Band Director
Andrew Duggins Morgan County High School, Band Director
Eugene L Grandy, Jr. Dr. Ronald E. McNair Middle School, Assistant Band Director
Katie Sanders* Pine Street Elementary School, Music Teacher
Gabriel Murray* Fairington Elementary School, Music Teacher
District 5
Annalisa Chang Roswell High School, Orchestra Director
Rose Baldwin The Lovett School, Middle School Choral Director
District 6
Ben Barkley* Union Grove High School, Choral Director
O'Shae Best Fayette County High School, Band Director
Dalton Wallace Rocky Creek Elementary School, Music Teacher
Cindy Cooper Ola Middle School, Band Director
Daren Turner Brooks Elementary School, Music Teacher
Candice Simmons* Locust Grove Middle School, Band Director
Stan Kramer Strong Rock Christian School, Band Director
Kara Joy Bragg* Trinity Christian School, Middle & High School Choral Director
District 7
Matthew Wall Haralson County Middle School, Band Director
Lebarron Mcwhorter New Manchester High School, Band Director
Kayla Bowman Red Bud Middle School, Chorus and Theater Director
Caleb McDonald Ringgold High School, Band Director
Adam Chasteen Armuchee High School, Band Director
Move!
expertise and enthusiasm to a warm welcome to our first-year
District 7 (continued)
Zach Odom* Rome High School, Assistant Band Director
Tiffany Hunt Cass Middle School, Choral Director
Seth Bates Adairsville Middle School, Band Director
Christopher Udell Ridgeland High School, Band Director
District 8
Bradley Cox* Clinch County High School, Band Director
Daniel Slone* St. Mary's Middle School, Band Director
District 10
Danielle Starcher Columbia County School District, Fine Arts Specialist
Ryan Bratton Greenbrier Middle School, Band Director
District 11
Sarah King* Mount de Sales Academy, Director of Music
Cameron Hamby Georgia Military College Preparatory School, Middle School Band Director
Kate Woodall Fort Valley Middle School, Band Director
District 12
Skyler Boardley* Dunleith Elementary School, Music Teacher
District 13
Vincent Sneed Central Gwinnett High School, Music Teacher
Madie Bishop-Baltzer Trickum Middle School, Music Technology Teacher
Dr. Zandra Bell-McRoy Mountain View High School, Band Director
Emma Allen* Benefield Elementary School, Music Teacher
Emily-Anne Nguyen Osborne Middle School, Band Director
Violet Pledger Puckett's Mill Elementary, Music Teacher
Dr. Chris Fowler Liberty University, Adjunct Instructor
District 14
Rachel Odom Gainesville High School, Choral Director
Lara Foster* Elbert County Middle School, Choral Director
Major Frank* Johnson High School, Band Paraprofessional
Presley Dale* Oconee County Middle School, Choral Director
Ian Cornelius* George Walton Academy, Assistant Band Director
Sharon Tran* Fowler Drive Elementary School, Music Teacher
Jenna Wagner* Legacy Knoll Middle School, Choral Director
Preventing Burnout in the Next Communication and Mentorship between Student Teachers
By Kate Alward & Emily Gunby Georgia State University
The sun is still comfortably tucked in when the alarm clock abruptly ends your precious hours of sleep. There is an overwhelming sense of dread to pull yourself to a classroom that feels more and more like a job than a passion. Despite this, you complete your morning routine, trudge through your day in the school building, and find yourself back at home to repeat the monotonous cycle. This bleak routine is sadly a reality in which educators can find themselves trapped. As teachers highlight the importance of preventing burnout, it is important not to forget those who have yet to step into their own classrooms. Student teachers are often overwhelmed by all the things they do not know when stepping into their placement. In this time of their teacher preparation program, it is important to have the correct tools to support their journey into their first year of teaching on their own.
The authors of this article, Emily and Kate, had vastly different experiences in their own student teaching processes. Reflecting upon these experiences, we hope to provide our colleagues with helpful tips for fostering positive, long-lasting mentorships between student teachers and their cooperating teachers. Neither of us have been cooperating teachers and recognize the limitations of our experience. However, Emily’s work for the past two years as a liaison has put her in direct communication with the student preparation triad: student teachers, cooperating teachers, and university mentors.
Teacher Burnout
Over the last several years, the U.S. media has regularly brought news of teacher shortages, fluctuating retention rates, and burnout (Morrison, 2024). In March of 2022, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) stated that 44% of public schools had posted teaching vacancies (Querolo et al., 2022). These hot topics can be overwhelming for those in the education profession and even more so for student teachers investing large sums of money on their teacher preparation programs. With the high volume of negative discourse surrounding the teaching profession comes the need to consider the condition of those entering the profession.
Psychologist and professor Christina Maslach, creator of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the most
widely used instrument for measuring job burnout, defines burnout as “a psychological syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who work with other people in some capacity” (Hanson, 2021, p. 6). The teaching profession involves constant engagement with people of all backgrounds and ages. For student teachers enrolled in a teacher preparation program, stepping into different classroom environments can be a shocking shift from their previous experiences. To ensure that student teachers do not experience burnout before taking on their own classroom, both they and their cooperating teachers must be aware of how to foster an uplifting, educational, and appropriately challenging environment (Hanson, 2021). The time a student teacher spends in their preparation program can greatly impact the motivation and starting success of new teachers.
The Student Teaching ExperienceThe Teacher Preparation Triad
Before a first-year teacher enters their own classroom bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, they must complete their student teaching. One of the most critical points of a young teacher’s career, this experience plays a huge role in pre-service teachers’ future retention in the profession (Thomas, 2023). Since school music programs may differ from school to school and district to district, student teachers’ range of experiences within this final semester is wide. Ideally, the student teaching process mimics the experience of a practicing full-time teacher in a way that is educational and appropriate for the current job environment. The variables that can affect this experience are limitless, but many factors fall within the mentors’ and student teacher’s control.
There are three critical people involved: the student teacher (ST), the cooperating teacher (CT), and the university mentor (UM). The ST and the CT interact the most with each other during the student teaching experience, as the UM often has to observe and give feedback to more than one ST at a time. The CT, therefore, has the greatest amount of influence over the student teaching experience for the ST.
Next Generation of Teachers: Teachers and Cooperating Teachers
ST’s begin their days, bright and early, mimicking the routine of their CT. They arrive at school and spend their day learning strategies and tricks of the trade from veteran teachers around them. They end their day by completing the schoolwork required by their university or by participating in extracurricular music activities hosted by their CT’s program. When the cooperating teacher deems it appropriate, the ST steps deeper into the shoes of a full-time teacher and experiences more control over the classroom. As this happens, the CT and UM observe the ST closely and provide feedback accordingly. This portion of student teaching looks different for each
ST depending on the allowance and expectations of the CT and UM. Open communication of these expectations among the teacher preparation triad may prevent an unhealthy power relationship with the ST (Thomas, 2023). While receiving guidance and learning from a respected teacher, the ST also needs to feel that their voice is heard and is valued. The relationship between the ST and CT suffers greatly when the learning environment being fostered is not collaborative, but dominative.
Strategies for Student TeachersPreventing Burnout
The student teaching experience serves to prepare college students for teaching in public schools by making sure they can properly teach appropriate content to students. Some of the most prevalent reasons music teachers leave the profession, however, are not because of teaching content at all. The most prevalent reason that teachers burnout is often because of challenges outside of their realm of control (Hanson, 2021). When STs exclusively focus on instructional strategies and are not exposed to coping strategies for these uncontrollable challenges, a phenomenon called praxis shock can occur. Praxis shock is identified in a teacher, “when the gap between a teacher’s expectations and the reality of their teaching context is too great” (Hanson, 2021, p. 6). Therefore, an ST’s experience before their first year in the profession greatly affects their burnout rate. Luckily, many of the coping strategies for music teacher burnout also work for music student teachers in their placements:
1. Practice efficient time management. Become comfortable saying “no” to extraneous tasks and opportunities. Leave more time than you think to make sure you complete any other homework tasks you may have during your student teaching. Preparing priority-based to-do lists may help with this.
2. Set up clear and concise boundaries and expectations between teachers in the same classroom. It’s important to know your role in the classroom as an ST. Be sure to ask your CT many questions on how you can best collaborate with them. This will help you develop co-teaching skills.
3. Prioritize health and wellness. Make sure to leave time to cook healthy meals at home and get plenty of rest.
4. Develop strong support networks and connections. Communicate needs and questions openly. It is okay to ask questions when you feel lost while entering any career. Building connections with other professionals helps you have a resource base for any answers you might need.
5. Remember your “why.” Keep students and the joy of learning in the foreground. Never lose sight of why you first started to love teaching in the first place (Hanson, 2021).
Strategies for Cooperating TeachersCommunication is Key
To prevent praxis shock in student teachers, CTs should aim to expose their STs to as many facets
of the job as possible: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Sparing student teachers from the distinct challenges that plague the profession does a disservice to the ST in their metamorphosis from student to independent educator (Thomas, 2023). Here are some helpful strategies on how to approach the student teaching process through the lens of the CT:
6. Critically evaluate your mental and physical state of being, your classroom environment, and your motivations behind agreeing to serve as a CT to an ST.
7. Know exactly what is expected of your ST based on their university’s guidelines for student teaching. University Teacher Preparation Programs often differ vastly on how they go about setting requirements, observations, and communication between all three parts of the student teaching process.
8. Read the guidelines and/or handbook that is oftentimes sent out by the student teaching coordinator from the university.
9. Log any due dates for the STs into your calendars (both personal and school). Based on these due dates, plan out a schedule with the ST on how you will incorporate their teaching into your classroom. At the beginning of the semester, it may be helpful to start the ST teaching a smaller group of students and then move to teaching bigger groups as the semester progresses.
10.Always check your email and identify who you contact at the university if there is any issue you might encounter.
11. Revisit the teaching ethics guidelines preventing students from being left completely alone with someone who is not a county employee. This may vary from district to district.
12. Gradually connect your ST to your own network of music teachers to promote a more comfortable and supportive professional environment (The Music Teacher Profession Initiative, 2023).
A great beginning to a student teaching experience may look like a quick meeting before the semester between the CT and ST. This establishes clear expectations and begins to build a relationship that will hopefully last throughout the ST’s teaching career. The CT can use this meeting to inform the ST’s first observations of their classroom by speaking on their teaching philosophy and classroom environment. This time should also be used to outline important dates, codes of conduct,
and personal expectations for the ST. The CT can provide resources that align with how they lead their classroom and can also be very helpful for the ST to begin designing lesson plans and units for their university assignments. One author’s first meeting with their cooperating teacher consisted of an hour in a coffee shop and a quick tour of the school. That short get-together set a positive tone for the semester and instilled confidence for the first days with students. Getting off on the right foot is critical for the success and wellbeing of the entire teacher preparation triad, not just the student teacher.
Inspiring the Next Generation of Music Teachers
Student teachers’ early experiences in the classroom can make or break their career in music education. The worsening nation-wide teacher shortage underscores the need for ST’s and CT’s to approach the student teaching experience with intentionality, implementing strategies that support aspiring teachers and reduce the risks of burnout and praxis shock, the reason many young teachers choose to pursue careers outside of education. The list of music teachers’ classroom responsibilities is shockingly long for many, especially those with fewer than five years in the field, and the more that mentors can expose student teachers to what being in the classroom every day is truly like, the better prepared they will be to tackle the challenges of the career.
References
Hanson, J. (2021). Research-to-resource: Confronting and overcoming music teacher burnout. Update, 40(1), 5-9. https://doi. org/10.1177/87551233211019999
Morrison, R. B. (2024) Inspiring the next generation of music educators. NFHS.org. https://www.nfhs.org/articles/inspiring-the-nextgeneration-of-music-educators/
Querolo, N., Ceron, E., & Rockeman, O. (2022, September 2). 2022 teacher shortage driven by low salary, Covid Burnout. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://www. bloomberg.com/features/2022-america-teachersgreat-resignation/
The Music Teacher Profession Initiative. (2023). A blueprint for strengthening the music teacher profession. National Association for Music Education. https://nafme.org/wp-content/ uploads/2023/11/NAF072-MusicInitiative-8.pdf
Thomas, M. (2023). The music teacher education triad and the role of the university faculty [Doctoral dissertation, Georgia State University]. Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations.
Emily Gunby received her Bachelor’s in Instrumental Music Education from Kennesaw State University. She is currently working as a woodwind coach, freelance oboist, and graduate research assistant while finishing her double Master’s in Music Education and Oboe Performance from Georgia State University. Emily’s work at GSU includes corresponding with both student teachers and cooperating teachers during the student teaching experience. Her current research interest involves increasing participation in music programs through music technology course offerings in public schools and teacher preparation programs. Through this vision, she researched and designed a music technology and guitar methods course for music education students. This course is being implemented at Georgia State University starting in the spring semester of 2025.
Kate Alward is a graduate student at Georgia State University, pursuing a Master’s degree in Music Education. While at GSU, Kate has worked as a color guard graduate assistant and will soon start an assistantship teaching Pre-K music at a local charter school. Before coming to GSU, Kate received a Bachelor’s of Instrumental Music Education with a minor in Secondary Education from Middle Tennessee State University. During this time, Kate completed her student teaching at an elementary school in the region. Over the past two summers, Kate has taught music at a summer program for migrant students, refugees, and English language learners in Kentucky. This opportunity has allowed her to begin her teaching career dedicated to an underserved population in her home district. With a passion for both performance and pedagogy, Kate is dedicated to inspiring and educating the next generation of musicians and performers.
October Professional Learning Webinars
Tuesday, October 15, 7:00–8:00 PM ET
Eleven Leaps to Literacy for Beginning Band, Strings, and Recorder
The Eleven Leaps to Literacy model includes singing songs from around the world and then adding solfège, singing with note names, singing with rhythm syllables, and counting before playing a song with notation alone. This approach ensures the success of students of all abilities, all races, and all ethnicities. It's time for our instrumental beginning classes to teach musicality and literacy to students with a curriculum that ensures success and retention into middle school and high school.
Read presenter Michael Francis Smith's full bio here.
REGISTER NOW
https://bit.ly/11LeapsToLiteracy
Tuesday, October 22, 7:00–8:00 PM ET
Higher Education Summit: Guitar in Music Programs
Based on recently collected data, 38% of those who teach guitar in secondary education consider themselves guitar specialists. Only 7.7% of those surveyed stated that their pre-service training prepared them for a career in guitar education.
Guitar classes and programs are growing nationwide. Music educators are finding themselves assigned to teach this instrument with little to no preparation. This data-driven session will address the need to support music education majors as they prepare to go into the workforce.
Presented by the NAfME Council for Guitar Education and the Guitar Foundation of America
REGISTER NOW
https://bit.ly/Oct22HigherEdGuitar
Wednesday, October 23, 7:00–8:00 PM ET
Student-Centered Learning and Instruction in the Modern Band Classroom
"A concert on the moon!" "Costumes made of purple duct tape!" "A 10-minute drum solo!" Music educators have tons of decisions on their hands when it comes to performance design, and students have answers. This session explores how to inspire and capture students' ideas and help them translate them into reality. From the stage to the rubric, how can we ensure that students lead their own learning?
Read presenter Mary Claxton's full bio here.
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https://bit.ly/StudentCenteredModernBand
Tuesday, October 29, 7:00–8:00 PM ET
Playing Music with Your Brain
Kevin Vigil underwent seven brain procedures in 2007. His experience as a neurological patient led him to learn more about the brain. He will present an overview of brain functions that are applied in music making in hope that those who join this webinar will gain some practical tips for playing and teaching music.
Read presenter Kevin Vigil's full bio here.
REGISTER NOW
https://bit.ly/MusicBrainWebinar
How Elementary Students Learn to Read and Perform Notated Pitches
By Anna Schmitz
It is important for children to develop the skill of musical literacy at an early age when their brains are most malleable. Music literacy is the ability to read and perform written music, as well as sing or audiate written music. By using audiation to read the music in one’s mind, a child can develop a deeper appreciation and understanding of music. In addition, children can develop independence by learning to read and perform written music instead of learning by rote. Elementary-aged children can learn to read pitches and sight sing most effectively by connecting visual, aural, and kinesthetic movements.
Common Methods Used to Teach Children How to Read Pitches
Kodály Method
The Kodály method teaches pitches on the staff to young children by implementing pre-staff activities, melodic contour, body signs, visual icons, and the solfa ladder (Jacobi, 2012). This method follows appropriate child developmental stages by incorporating vertical kinesthetic movements and visual icons that gradually become more like standard notation. All of this, put together, contributes to children’s understanding of pitch relationships by combining physical spatial degrees with pitch degrees. A basic principle of the Kodály method is to start with sound before sight, like learning to speak before learning to read. It is important to pay attention to appropriate child development by starting with listening, singing, or movement, and only then introduce musical notation (Jacobi, 2012).
The Kodály method uses the moveable do solfège system to emphasize relationships of intervals and tone centers, thereby improving students’ sight singing abilities (Jacobi, 2012). While the Kodály method will teach students how to hear pitches before singing them, it does not address absolute pitch names or key signatures. This contributes to a problem once students are expected to learn fingerings on a band or orchestral instrument, in which case they will need to keep the key signature and absolute pitch letter names in mind.
The Kodály method starts with teaching the limited pitches misol, then adding la, do, and re. The assumption that children playfully sing “Nah-nah-nah-nah-boo-boo” (“Sol-sol-mi-la-solmi”) to their peers, as was common in the twentieth century when Kodály was developing his method, is no longer relevant (Bennett, 2005). This melodic pattern was widely heard on playgrounds in the last century, and therefore, was used as a starting point in elementary music classrooms to connect to solfège. While these starting solfa syllables are commonly used by music educators, it makes more sense to start students with a strong tonal center of do-mi-sol to build a solid musical foundation that aligns with the strengths of the overtone series. Since notes want to gravitate toward the tonic in any key, music educators should emphasize the tonic, especially at the beginning of training, to help students internalize a strong sense of tonal music.
Bruner’s Three Stages of Cognitive Development
Jerome Bruner’s (1966) cognitive theory is another method that can be used to teach young children through upper elementary how to read pitches on the staff. In Bruner’s first cognitive stage, the enactive mode, children learn through physical movements. For instance, when hearing high pitches students can show understanding by raising their arms high, and lowering themselves to the ground as they hear lower pitches. As they progress through the years, they can refine these gross motor movements to associate specific intervals with solfège hand signs.
During Bruner’s second cognitive stage, the iconic mode, students turn physically learned concepts into visual representation. An example might be showing students a poster of frogs (or any other animal or object) drawn in vertically higher positions representing the higher pitches and lower vertical positions for lower pitches from left to right. This depiction helps students read from left to right and follow the melodic contour vertically as they read. This pre-staff activity prepares students to be able to eventually read standard notation.
This leads us into Bruner’s third stage of cognitive development, the symbolic mode. Students will be able to transfer their physical and iconic understanding into more abstract code, namely written language, or in this case, musical notation. Students should practice reading standard notation by naming the notes using letters or by using solfège syllables, and then transfer that to either singing the notation or playing it on an instrument such as the piano.
In addition to reading and performing notation, students should also write, or draw, music notes on a staff. This skill is often overlooked in music education but is important to practice since it is another way for students to comprehend how music notation works (Gordon, 2012). Using Bruner’s three stages of cognitive development in sequential order, starting at an early age, will improve students’ understanding of pitch relationships and notation (Bruner, 1966).
Gordon’s Music Learning Theory
Edwin Gordon’s music learning theory develops conceptual understanding of music by using tonal and rhythmic patterns. Gordon’s theory starts with imitating tonal patterns and then associating those patterns with verbal syllables. In the next stage, students audiate silently the assigned syllables while listening to music. In the fourth stage, students associate the appropriate tonal syllables to the notes in the patterns (Gordon, 2012). In stage one, the aural/oral, students imitate a pattern by hearing it repeatedly and the singing or chanting the pattern. In stage two, the verbal/associative, students learn to associate the appropriate tonal or rhythmic syllables to the notes in the patterns by verbally labeling notes and rhythms. Stage three builds on stage two by having students use tonal and rhythmic syllables while audiating. In stage four, students learn to read and write musical patterns. Gordon’s theory can be used methodically
to teach children how to audiate and bring written music alive through context (Gordon, 2012). Gordon’s methodology gives clear, sequential instructions on how to teach music reading to children in ways that are appropriate to the child’s developmental stage.
Alternative Methods of Teaching Standard Notation
Color Coding Music
Teaching children to recognize and translate notes on the staff into audiation and performance is a daunting task. Color coding music is a way to scaffold students’ learning in order to reach the ultimate goal of reading black and white standard music notation. Color coded music is easier to read than black and white standard notation (Lyngra, 2011), and some children prefer colored notation over black and white. Children will likely spend more time learning to read music if the experience is enjoyable. In addition, they will spend less effort decoding the pitches and be able to perform the music more easily. Simplifying the task of reading music by using colors can make the process more accessible to all children and encourage them to become more motivated to practice this skill.
Invented Notation
Another approach to reading notation is to invite students to draw their own way of representing pitch and rhythm. If students invent their own unique way of visually representing musical sounds, they will internalize the music more deeply than if they are faced with the complexity of reading standard notation (Bolden, 2021). This method allows students to express their individual creativity and think about what music should look like on paper. While the creative process of inventing one’s own way of notating music is valuable in the sense that it stimulates imagination and creativity, it does not transfer well to future endeavors in reading and performing standard notation or of communicating a common music code that others can readily use.
Methods of Teaching Sight Singing
Solfège or Numbers
As students learn to read written music notation, they should also be learning to sight sing to show what they know. There are several methods used in sight singing. Students could use solfège (fixed or moveable do systems), numbers for scale degrees, letters note names for pitches, or a combination of these methods. The benefit of using solfège is that it creates purer vowel sounds than using letter names for each pitch. This creates a better tone quality in the students’ developing voices, but it may take extra time and effort for students to learn the unusual syllables and associate them with a particular scale degree.
A simpler alternative to using solfège is to use numbers one through seven to label the scale degrees, where “one” is the tonic. This method bypasses the complexity of learning the solfège syllables and relates to children’s prior knowledge of numbers and counting to pitches getting higher as the numbers get higher. Each new octave is labeled “one” again to indicate the relationship it has in the tonal scheme. Another advantage of using numbers rather than solfège syllables is that it is grasped more easily by transfer students who move to a new school and need to learn the method used by their new music teacher (Brown, 2003). Numbers are universally used and understood, thereby making the connection to pitches clearer than using syllables.
A disadvantage of using solfège or numbers is that they focus more on intervals and tonality than absolute pitch. If, instead, students use the alphabetical note names for each pitch, they will more readily transfer that knowledge to playing an instrument since solfège is primarily used only in singing. Letter note names are used universally to communicate about music notation, so the method of using note names would hold value throughout a musician’s life.
Conclusion
The most comprehensive way to teach music literacy uses several modes of interpreting musical notation, including kinesthetic, aural, and visual (Gordon, 2012). The best way to teach reading notes on the staff is to use scaffolding and only introduce a concept that is easily learned by every student in the class. First, introduce only line and space notes and assess students’ ability to identify. Then, add one or two notes at a time to identify by letter name. Next, combine hand signs for kinesthetic vision and feeling of the placement of notes on the staff as students sing and/or hear the pitches. For extra scaffolding, use colored notes on the staff to add interest and make learning notes easier for some students. And finally, encourage students to compose simple rhythms and melodies to practice writing music, not just reading music, to become fully musically literate.
In addition to teaching students to read music on the staff, it is imperative to teach sight singing using a system of organizing pitches. Music educators should choose between fixed do, moveable do, numbers, letters, or a hybrid approach. It is unrealistic to think that all music educators will agree on a unified approach since each system has advantages and disadvantages. It may be wise to introduce solfège, numbers, and note names as children learn to sight sing so they will be prepared to engage in music throughout their lives, no matter what system their future music teacher uses. Using the methods of Kodály, Bruner’s cognitive theory, and Gordon’s music learning theory in combination with using solfège and color-coding music gives students a sequential and comprehensive way to learn to read, audiate, and perform written music, thus contributing to their overall understanding of and appreciation for music.
References
Bennett, P. D. (2005). So, why sol-mi? American music education can benefit from a reexamination of the practice of centering music education programs for young children around the sol-mi interval. Music Educators Journal, 91(3), 43+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A126849298/ AONE?u=anon~ffe91282&sid=googleScholar&xid=ee85add7
Bolden, B., & Beach, P. (2021). Integrating Music and Literacy: Applying Invented Notation to Support Prosody and Reading Fluency. General Music Today, 34(2), 5-12. https:// doi.org/10.1177/1048371320926603
Brown, K.D. (2003). An Alternative Approach to Developing Music Literacy Skills in a Transient Society. Music Educators Journal, 90(2), 46. https://doi.org/10.2307/3399934
Bruner, J.S. (1966). Toward a Theory of Instruction. NASSP Bulletin, 50(309), 304-312. https://doi. org/10.1177/019263656605030929
Duke, R. (2018). Intelligent music teaching: Essays on the core principles of effective instruction. Learning and Behavior Resources.
Dunbar, L. & Cooper, S. (2020). Speaking the Same Language: How the Kodaly Method Promotes Disciplinary Literacy. General Music Today 34(1), 14-20. https://doi. org.10.1177/1048371320909804
Gordon, E. (2012). Learning Sequences in Music: A Contemporary Music Learning Theory (2012 Edition): Vol. 2012 Edition. GIA Publications.
Houlahan, M. & Tacka, P. (2015). Kodaly in the second grade classroom: Developing the creative brain in the 21st century. Oxford University Press.
Jacobi, B.S. (2012). Kodaly, Literacy, and the Brain: Preparing Young Music Students to Read Pitch on the Staff. General Music Today, 25(2), 11-18. https://doi. org/10.1177/1048371311414182
Kluck, A. (2020). Rehearsal Break: The Music Literacy Conundrum. Choral Journal, 61(2), 55-65.
Lyngra, S. (2011). Color-Coded Music Simplifies the Challenge of Reading. Clavier Companion, May/June, 34-37.
Reifinger, J.L. (2018). The Relationship of Pitch Sight-Singing Skills With Tonal Discrimination, Language Reading Skills, and Academic Ability in Children. Journal of Research in Music Education, 66(1), 71-91.
Anna Schmitz teaches general music at Matt Arthur Elementary School in Kathleen, GA. In addition, she teaches private horn lessons to middle school through college-age students. Many of her current and past students have made Georgia All-State Band and Orchestra, have been selected from a national pool and performed in Carnegie Hall’s High School Honors Performance Series, and have gone on to major in music in college. Ms. Schmitz is the adjunct professor of horn at Mercer University in Macon, GA.
Common Individual and Ensemble Timing Issues and Solutions
Dr. Isaac Brinberg | Augusta University
Individual and ensemble pulse and rhythmic timing is crucial to musical excellence in performance. In recent experiences working with ensembles of all ability levels, I have noticed students struggling to establish an even flow of pulse that feels and grooves with the expression of the repertoire. This article provides pedagogical and musical ideas that will help your ensemble perform with more precision, groove, and artistry.
Causes of Pulse and Timing Issues
There are several overarching causes to ensemble pulse and timing issues in the concert setting. At the foundational level, weak individual sense of inner pulse, coordination of subdivision, and tracking pulse during sustains or silence prohibits achieving great ensemble timing. Ensemble timing can be disrupted by inherent difficulties in the music like syncopations, rests, and orchestration as well as performance techniques such as inefficient breathing/bowing mechanics and poor placement of breaths/bow lifts. Additionally, the acoustics of each instrument, rehearsal/performance space, and ensemble setup can distort precision of timing and ensemble sense of pulse. The following are strategies to address these different issues and foster better ensemble awareness of pulse and timing.
Individual Timing
Every ensemble member must have a keen sense of steady tempo, even flow of pulse, and rhythmic accuracy. There are many pedagogical strategies and practices in place to teach and refine this that are beyond the scope of this article. However, one tool I have found beneficial in my own practice that may supplement your own rhythm curriculum and pedagogy is the Rhythm Sight Reading Trainer ($3.99 on iOS and Android). This app has an extensive catalogue of short rhythmic passages with a variety of meters, divisions, and syncopations appropriate for beginners through professionals. The user taps the device screen with the notated rhythm and the app measures rhythmic precision, grading the user on a percentage of accuracy and showing the average deviation of taps from perfect time. The user can adjust the tempo and customize the experience, such as removing an audible metronome “click” and adjusting the number of times they tap
through the rhythm example. It is one of the best apps I have encountered in my teaching experience for refining individual rhythmic accuracy.
Ensemble Timing
I use a counting game with ensembles to sharpen the group sense of pulse. If ensemble pulse is not in sync, I will have them count out loud in different meters with eighth-note subdivision to whatever tempo I gesture (intentionally not verbalizing the tempo). Students tend to initiate counting slower than the tempo shown and slowly accelerate to the correct tempo. Students also tend to count too legato with sluggish diction, causing the “envelope of sound” to become too wide. Once the ensemble becomes more precise and synchronized with their counting, I have them turn vocals on and off via gesture, counting internally when vocals are off. Difficulty can be increased to scale, starting with switching vocals on every downbeat, every other measure, longer phrases, and on other metrical beats. This game heightens ensemble pulse awareness through the random vocal on/off cueing and maintaining internal pulse during varying stretches of silence.
If ensemble initiation of sound is imprecise, I use the “now” exercise. I will cue the ensemble to say the word “now” in the style I am showing gesturally. At first, there is too much delay between the gesture and the ensemble vocalizing “now,” but after some repetition the ensemble becomes more precise and musical with saying the word. Once students feel comfortable saying “now,” the exercise can be extended to the playing or singing a single note or chord. This exercise sensitizes the ensemble to precisely initiate sound with
Figure 1: Sample screenshot from Rhythm Sight Reading Trainer
the tip of the baton, unifying sense of timing. These are quick rehearsal strategies to establish a sense of ensemble pulse generated within and not relying on an external metronome, developing stronger self-reliance on finding, maintaining, and changing pulse as an ensemble.
Strategies: Use of Metronome in Rehearsal
One strategy to consider is varying how we use the metronome in rehearsal. We often default to the metronome clicking on every beat, sometimes adding the first level of subdivision. This provides a basic framework to establish even flow of pulse. In my experience, I have found that only using the metronome with these settings can foster ensemble reliance on the metronome for generating a steady pulse, becoming an external crutch that pulls an ensemble along. Once removed, the ensemble has difficulty retaining an even flow of pulse.
There are additional ways to use a metronome in the rehearsal setting that does not encourage reliance. Changing the number of clicks per measure, such as clicking every other strong or weak beat, only clicking on downbeats, or even clicking at a hypermeter (once every other measure or the beginning of each phrase) challenges ensemble members to retain even flow of pulse between the clicks. The metronome becomes a checkpoint to measure even flow of time rather than a crutch to pull time along. The app Time Guru ($1.99 on iOS and Android) achieves a similar effect, where the metronome click can be set to randomly disappear a certain percentage of the time. The random disappearing, especially when approaching 50% and above, is an effective test of the ensembles’ even flow of time and internal pulse.
Musical Solutions
Focus on individual/ensemble timing and metronome use sharpens objective aspects of rhythmic precision and even flow of pulse. While this enhances ensemble clarity and accuracy, focusing on objective elements does not inherently produce musical results. This approach can lead to technically correct yet robotic performance, like asking text-tospeech software to recite a Shakespeare sonnet. Music, like poetry, needs variety of metrical and rhythmic inflection, weight, and emphasis to be compelling. Listen to outstanding artists like Hilary Hahn or my colleague Wycliffe Gordon to hear musical poetry in motion. What are strategies to help students approach rhythm and pulse with more musicality?
Strategies: Note Groupings
One method comes from knowing metrical hierarchy of beats and notes in a phrase. David McGill’s book Sound in Motion, rooted in James Thurmond’s Note Groupings and Marcel Tabuteau’s numbering system, explores a detailed and systematic approach to understanding hierarchy of beats and notes in relation to phrasing. This system assigns a number to all notes in a phrase that denominates its emphasis relative to other notes in the phrase (e.g. 1 is the least and 10 is the most, as shown in the example below). Emphasis comes from different expressive techniques such as dynamic shaping, changing tone color, articulation weight, or vibrato.
Incorporating elements of note grouping can be done at an age and developmentally appropriate level. Introduce the concept during fundamental work and apply to performance repertoire in phrase length segments. Use singing, wind pattern, sizzling, air bowing, or other scaffolding strategies to help connect the concept to technique. Listen to great solo, chamber, and large ensemble performances with your students to build their aural vocabulary for their own performance. As it becomes engrained, note grouping will elevate students’ understanding how phrases can be shaped with subtle changes of emphasis through different musical techniques.
Figure 2: Sample screenshot from Time Guru
Terry B. Ewell, “A Bassoonist’s Expansion upon Marcel Tabuteau’s ‘Drive,’” The Journal of the International Double Reed Society 20 (July 1992): 27-30.
Strategies: Creating Feel/Groove
Counting systems or note grouping aids students’ understanding of rhythmic structure and its relationship to phrasing. Those systems are more meaningful when students connect them to feeling and groove. I encounter students who conceptually know how to count/clap rhythms or identify basic phrasing, yet their performance does not feel musical. Intentionally connecting conceptual knowledge to experiential feeling is crucial to fostering musical rhythm and groove. Have students sing or scat a phrase to illuminate this connection. A sound before sight methodology through call and response singing/scatting allows students to feel the musicianship before applying a counting/ number system, which can be particularly helpful for syncopated or visually complicated rhythms that feel more intuitive than they look on the page.
Another musical solution for ensemble timing is fostering active individual rest counting. I’ve seen this addressed at all levels, including ensembles comprised mostly of graduate performance students! When ensemble members rest for significant time before entering, an established procedure for how students should prepare for their entrance (setting playing position in advance, feeling and locking into ensemble pulse, breathing in tempo) can help keep tempo moving seamlessly.
Strategies: Acoustics and Setup
Individual and ensemble awareness of instrument acoustics and ensemble setup can counteract natural tendencies that influence ensemble timing. Ensembles that lack timing precision have a wide “envelope of sound,” meaning that instruments are not uniform in establishing tone in relationship to the pulse. The most common culprit are “football” shaped initiations of sound rather than a clear “block” initiation that are essential to strong ensemble timing. The book Visualizing Music: An Illustrative Guide to Exceptional Rehearsals and Performance by David Kish has excellent illustrations of this concept. Drawing the ensemble’s attention to these different shapes and striving for immediacy of sound clears ensemble sound and timing. Have wind players do breath attacks during fundamentals and “bop” phrases (playing initiations of notes only, no sustains) in rehearsal can help refine immediacy of sound.
Consider the room acoustics and ensemble setup in guiding students’ listening. Larger instruments that naturally take longer for tone production tend to sit furthest away from the audience, so training those ensemble members to slightly anticipate the pulse will help counteract the sound delay. Ensemble members instinctively slow down if they sense the bass voice behind the pulse, which starts a negative spiral
of dragging behind the pulse. Have the bass voice anticipate to propel the ensemble through the pulse with forward momentum.
Conclusion
Improving individual and ensemble timing, rhythmic precision, and even flow of pulse can greatly enhance ensemble clarity, accuracy, and musicianship. Through drawing awareness to certain acoustic tendencies, establishing immediacy of sound, cultivating strong individual rhythmic exactitude and bridging knowledge with musicianship, your ensemble will find more rhythmic feel and groove in performance. I hope these strategies and resources are helpful teaching tools for you and your students in your rehearsals. Please feel free to contact me by email with any questions, comments, or your own strategies!
Dr. Brinberg serves as the Wind Ensemble Director and Tuba Instructor at Augusta University in Augusta, GA. His research interests include a variety of subjects, recently focusing on Chen Yi, nontraditional concert venues, tuba pedagogy, and cultural diplomacy. He has presented at the CBDNA North Central and Southwestern Division conferences, the College Music Society Great Plains Regional Conference, and has given several virtual presentations through the CBDNA webinar series. His scholarship has been published in the Journal of Band Research and has contributed to The Instrumentalist and The Collective. Dr. Brinberg is an active tuba performer and pedagogue, recently presenting recitals during his studies in Illinois and Kansas City. Before graduate studies, Dr. Brinberg served as assistant band director at Discovery Middle School in Indiana, where he team-taught four concert bands, two jazz bands, and was on the marching band staff with Penn High School. Dr. Brinberg is a member of CBDNA, ITEA, GMEA, and Brother of Kappa Kappa Psi. You may reach Dr. Brinberg at ibrinberg@augusta.edu.
