# of Students Taught: 8
Ages: 3 frosh, 3 juniors, 2 seniors
Instruments: 1 baritone, 2 bass trombones, 5 trombones
Materials: scales, tunes, & ear training; solo contest music, school band audition materials
Fundamentals covered: air flow, tone production, stamina, musicality, scale memorization
Memorable moment: One student has always struggled with reading music effectively, and from time to time I take away the written piece and teach it to him by ear. It takes a few tries to warm up but he always improves rapidly once he catches on. Then, I put the music back in front of him and instruct him to hear what he just did as he plays from the page. It’s great for his development of skill and reading and I should do it more often with all my students!
Bonus moment: I had to give a lot of post-audition pep talks today. No one felt great about their performance for their band audition and so we talked a lot about expectation and reality, and also how we are much harder on ourselves than we need to be. Plus, some bands really have a culture that stress achieving membership in the top band by one’s senior year, and it puts a lot of stress on the kids who don’t make it.
Takeaways: PLEASE DON’T MAKE BAND STRESSFUL (this goes out to students, directors, and parents alike)
Lauren Husting, trombone 