- ArtistshouseMusic -

What do music educators need to know beyond pedagogy?

mikeking — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 09:57:28 -0700

Answer

There are things they don’t teach you in college about being a band director that are important to know. This clip with print music publishing CEO Sandy Feldstein is a must-see for anyone pursuing a career in teaching music.

Date

Editor

Debbie Cavalier

Video Links

Video Links:
Teaching Methods and Musical Styles
Teaching Approach
Playing in Ensembles

How do I find the right direction for my career in music?

mikeking — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:46:18 -0700

Answer

Print music publishing CEO Sandy Feldstein talks about the importance of gaining a broad base of experiences and then honing in on your area of focus.

Date

Editor

Debbie Cavalier

Video Links

Video Links:
The Job Search
Marketing Yourself: The Key to Your First Music Industry Job
Crafting Your Resume

How do I write a beginning band method?

mikeking — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:28:04 -0700

Answer

Print music publishing CEO Sandy Feldstein Sandy Feldstein, talks about the unique challenges in writing an elementary band method.

Date

Editor

Debbie Cavalier

Video Links

Video Links:
New Opportunities for Education Publishing
Submitting Your Music to Alfred Publishing
Teaching Methods and Musical Styles

What are other careers for music ed. beyond the classroom?

mikeking — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:38:19 -0700

Answer

A career in music education can include teaching, writing, arranging, consulting, and more. Music industry veteran Sandy Feldstein discusses the possibilities and opportunities available to aspiring music educators today.

Date

Editor

Debbie Cavalier

Video Links

Video Links:
Starting a Private Teaching Practice
Expert Advice for Getting into Music Publishing
Entreprenuership and Technology in Education

How do I create a family environment in a big company?

mikeking — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 16:20:07 -0700

Answer

Sandy Feldstein recounts his experiences as the CEO of a print music publishing company with over 280 employees.

Date

Editor

Debbie Cavalier

Video Links

Video Links:
Dealing with Business Personalities
Company Structure @ Blue Note Records
Expert Advice for Getting into Music Publishing

Teaching Musicianship From Day One

admin — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 18:19:34 -0700

Teaching Musicianship From Day One

The concept of Teaching Musicianship from Day One® can and should relate to all aspects of music instruction. For the purpose of this article, I want to focus on beginning band instruction. It is my hope that you will be able to incorporate the concepts presented in other areas of music instruction.

When developing materials to aid teachers in starting beginning wind and percussion students for the new Yamaha Advantage Band Curriculum, my co-author, Larry Clark, and I analyzed a few of the basic criterion for musical performance that we found to be lacking in performing groups that we have conducted. It was interesting for us to make lists of the things we spent the most time on when rehearsing bands. The surprising thing was many of the same concepts that were musical problems for young bands were the same in more advanced performing groups. After creating a long list of concepts that were recurring problems with most bands we worked with, we began to hone it down.

In this article I want to discuss three recurring problems and propose some easy solutions.

1. Musicians tend to not hold notes for their full value.

2. Musicians tend to not phrase across the bar line.

3. Musicians tend to not listen to the whole group and know how their part relates to the composition/arrangement.

1. Musicians tend to not hold notes for their full value is interesting. When speaking with young and not-so-young musicians, they almost always say that in their beginning instruction they were never taught to hold notes for their full value. Although this may be part of the problem, in my opinion the real culprit is our system of notation. If you visualize a whole note sitting at the beginning of a measure in 4/4 time, you see a symbol at the beginning of a measure followed by a lot of space before you get to the end of the measure. The note does not visually look like it is suppose to be held for all four counts let alone to the downbeat of the next measure. I have found the comprehension of note duration can be greatly improved if the initial visual representation of note values incorporates what I like to call “shape notes.” Shape notes are oval-shaped and take up the full portion of their value in a measure. For example, a whole note in 4/4 time would be an oval shaped note that encompasses the entire measure from the beginning—where it traditionally sits—but extending to the end of the measure. Beginning students see a visual image that relates to the duration of the sound they are going to play. A half note in 4/4 time would be the size of half of the measure, and so on. Today’s beginning student has been brought up in a visual era. They have learned from television and computers, which are both visual media. We have found the simple use of shape notes for the first few weeks of study has brought a true understanding of the correct duration of note values for students that will stay with them for a lifetime. Migrating from the shape note to traditional notation takes place in a matter of seconds. Imagine not having to say: “Hold the whole note over till one,” ever again? Wouldn’t that be great!

2. Musicians tend to not phrase across the bar line is also an easy one to fix. If you review beginning instruction materials and performance music, most of it is written in 4/4 time and in four-measure phrases beginning on beat 1 and ending on beat 4. After months and sometimes years of playing phrases that end on beat 4, or beat 3 (in 3/4 time), it is difficult to introduce the concept of phrasing across the bar line. We believe that when you introduce phrasing, you should immediately have students play familiar melodies that are phrased across the bar line. This should take place on the same day that you introduce the concept of phrasing. The theme from Symphony No. 1 by Johannes Brahms is one of many great musical examples to use for this concept. In this theme, every phrase begins on the fourth beat of the measure, goes across the bar line and ends on beat 3, two measures later. If musicians experience phrasing across the bar as well as phrases that begin and end on other beats early in their study, it will not become a stumbling block later on. Imagine not having to say: “No breath there, phrase across the bar line” ever again? Wouldn’t that be great!

3. Musicians tend to not listen to the whole group and know how their part relates to the composition/arrangement, reinforces the need to develop listening skills from day 1. Playing duets that progress from unison rhythms and harmony at cadences, to unison rhythms and simple harmonies throughout, to duets with some independent rhythms help develop listening skills. The performance of rounds and chorales also reinforce listening skills. Listening skills warm-up activities, where the melody switches between sections or between solo/soli and full band also increase the development of listening skills. Another idea is to develop musical games where each student plays one measure of an etude. This requires listening to each player and mentally playing the entire etude so when each student enters, the rhythm as well as the pitch continues in a musical flow. Beginning performance music that contains limited harmonies and two- and three-part writing will also continue to develop listening skills. It is important to perform some music that is not technically demanding. This music should be designed to enable students to concentrate on listening and playing musically without worrying about technical challenges. Asking students to verbalize how their part fits the musical composition is also helpful. Questions like: Who has the melody at measure 9? Who has the harmony? Billy, what role does your part play in the structure of this section? Questions like these are all helpful in focusing listening skills of young and growing musicians. Rehearsal techniques that include statements like: At measure 24 let me hear everyone who is playing the melody, will help your students develop knowledge of a specific composition, composing and arranging techniques and most important, listening skills. Imagine not having to say: “Listen, if you can’t hear the melody your playing to loud” ever again. Wouldn’t that be great!

The concepts of playing notes for their full value, phrasing across the bar line and developing listening skills are musts for all musicians. All too often—in the beginning stages of learning an instrument—we only think about technique, but these three concepts can be developed right from the beginning.

Make a poster: Musicianship from Day One and put it where you’ll see it everyday as a reminder that musicianship should be part of every musical experience.

About Sandy Feldstein

Sandy Feldstein combines a wealth of knowledge and success in both the business and musical aspects of music publishing and music education. He holds a doctorate from Columbia University and his early experience in education includes six years as Professor of Music Education at the Crane School of Music, State University of New York at Potsdam.

A prolific composer/arranger/author, Mr. Feldstein has published more than 600 musical compositions and books in all educational areas. His works are used daily by thousands of students and performers. ASCAP has recognized his excellence by granting him an ASCAP Standard Award for Composition every year since 1964. Mr. Feldstein was also the 2005 Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame Award winner.

Teaching Percussion: An Ensemble Approach

admin — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 15:23:31 -0700

Teaching Percussion: An Ensemble Approach

Tired of trying to get the percussion section to “play with the group?” Well if they can’t play musically as a section, you’ll never get them to play musically with the group.

Training beginning percussionists in a public school setting is often a challenge since most instrumental music teachers do not have a broad background in percussion. Often music educators have had a semester of percussion in college where they have been exposed to all of the instruments of the percussion family. As with other families of instruments, these methods courses tend to be focused on teaching the technical aspects of the instrument and rarely have time to include musical considerations and an understanding of balance within the section. The same problem occurs when training percussionists in a private setting since this is often a one on one situation without the opportunity to experience playing in a section. So how do we train young percussionists to listen to each other and balance the sounds within their section and then apply that understanding to playing with the band or orchestra?

The legendary performer, author, teacher and businessman Vic Firth and I had often contemplated this problem. After much discussion we formulated the concept of developing a series of individual teaching methods that had the added attribute of being able to be played together in any combination. The goal was to create beginning - stand alone - methods for snare drum, keyboard percussion, timpani and accessory instruments with the unique attribute that every line of music in each method could be played with any or all of the other books, thus creating an individual method series that was also a duet, trio or complete ensemble method. We felt the methods should include etudes and technical studies but should also include solos and other performance material conducive to teaching musicianship. What resulted was the Firth/Feldstein Percussion Series, which we believe accomplishes the goals of individual as well as group instruction.

Technique must be taught and developed, but technique alone will not develop musical performers or a musical section. In this article, I will discuss four concepts of ensemble teaching that will help all percussion sections become musical additions to performing organizations.

1. Develop the understanding that most percussion instruments are available in various sizes and are constructed from various materials.

2. Develop the understanding that most percussion beaters are available in various sizes and are constructed from various materials.

3. Develop the understanding that various areas of each percussion instrument can produce a different sound.

4. Develop listening skills.

The first concept, Develop the understanding that most percussion instruments are available in various sizes and are constructed from various materials is an often over looked fact with percussionists. Seeing a part written for snare drum is a strong hint of the type of sound the composer/arranger wanted, but just playing the part on any snare drum would not be correct. The nature of the composition will indicate weather the drum should be shallow or deep, tuned loose or tight and use wire or gut snares. For example a Sousa style march snare drum part should be played on a deep drum with gut snares and a fairly loose head, while a contemporary band composition would more likely be played on a narrow, tightly tuned drum with wire snares. The size and construction materials make even more of a difference when parts are written for other percussion instruments such as triangle, tom toms and cymbals. For example: if a triangle part is being played with an orchestra bell part or flute part one might want a high pitched instrument to blend with the other sounds. In that case a smaller triangle might be in order. If the part was with timpani or low brass, a lower pitched, larger instrument might be the correct choice. Picking the correct instrument for the part implies that having one triangle or one suspended cymbal probably won’t give you the flexibility to create the correct sound to enhance the overall musical outcome.

The second concept: Develop the understanding that most percussion beaters are available in various sizes and are constructed from various materials goes hand in hand with the first. If we go back to our snare drum example, a deeper and probably larger in diameter snare drum should be played with a larger stick with a bigger bead or striking surface to produce its characteristic sound and a narrower tightly tuned drum might be played with a lighter stick with a smaller bead or tip. Suspended cymbals can produce a wide variety of sounds. If a suspended cymbal roll is in a legato passage you might want to play it with soft yarn marimba mallets. If it is a rhythmic passage you might want to use snare drum sticks.

The third concept: Develop the understanding that various areas of each percussion instrument can produce a different sound is also an outgrowth of the first two concepts. Let’s look at our contemporary band composition. We have chosen a narrow snare drum with wire snares and have tuned it fairly tight. We have chosen a pair of sticks that will extract a great sound without being to big so as to hamper any vibrations of the head. Now the part calls for a roll that starts very softly and gets quite loud. Understanding how the various areas of our drum head works can help us play this part more musically. Every drumhead vibrates the most at the rim and the least in the center. It is therefore easier to play a soft sustained sound near the rim. So start the roll with the sticks on the head near the rim and move towards the center of the drumhead as you get louder. The same is true of a suspended cymbal. It vibrates the most at the edge and the least in the center or cup of the cymbal. To play a roll with a legato passage we have already chosen the yarn mallets, now we would know to play it near the edge of the cymbal where it vibrates the most. The rhythmic passage that we are going to play with the snare sticks would be played near the cup of the cymbal where it would vibrate less.

The fourth concept, Develop listening skills, is a must for every musician. The very nature of percussion instruments makes them produce sounds that tend to be loud. This often tends to have the percussionist only hear their own part and not how it fits with the others in the section. To overcome this problem, have each percussionist play their part alone while the others listen and watch their parts. By doing this, everyone knows what everyone else is playing. Then add the other instruments one at a time so each musician can listen to how their part fits and how they come together to form a whole.

So lets put the concepts together in sort of a checklist to help you remember the four basic ideas.

1. Choose the instrument that is the appropriate size and construction.

2. Choose the appropriate size beaters constructed from appropriate material.

3. Choose the appropriate area of each percussion instrument to produce the desired sound.

4. Listening intently to everything you, your section, and your ensemble is playing.

If you keep these four concepts in mind, and have your students practice as a percussion section in an ensemble situation, they will develop a musical, well-balanced approach to playing in any performance situation.

About Sandy Feldstein

Creating Education Materials

sarah — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 12:40:27 -0700

Creating Education MaterialsDavid Feldstein is a songwriter, producer, and singer and in this segment he discusses his production work for educational materials. He explains the process he goes through in arranging educational accompaniment tracks. He also discusses the importance of keeping the music interesting, varied, and accessible for the beginning music student.

Sandy Feldstein (Unedited Interview)

sarah — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 12:22:48 -0700

Sandy Feldstein (Unedited Interview)(Long unedited version of Sandy Feldstein's interview from which all of his shorter vidoes are derived. This long video is not to be featured on the site.) Background information for Sandy Feldstein, CEO of PlayinTime Productions and Sandy Feldstein Music.

About Sandy Feldstein

sarah — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 12:24:13 -0700

About Sandy FeldsteinSandy Feldstein, CEO of Playintime Productions, Inc. and Sandy Feldstein Music, shares information about his career in music, music education publishing, and consulting.

- ArtistshouseMusic -

What do music educators need to know beyond pedagogy?

Answer

Date

Editor

Related Links

Video Links

How do I find the right direction for my career in music?

Answer

Date

Editor

Related Links

Video Links

How do I write a beginning band method?

Answer

Date

Editor

Related Links

Video Links

What are other careers for music ed. beyond the classroom?

Answer

Date

Editor

Related Links

Video Links

How do I create a family environment in a big company?

Answer

Date

Editor

Related Links

Video Links

Teaching Musicianship From Day One

About Sandy Feldstein

Teaching Percussion: An Ensemble Approach

About Sandy Feldstein

Creating Education Materials

Sandy Feldstein (Unedited Interview)

About Sandy Feldstein