It's just TOO MUCH MUSIC!

I teach Beginning Band (grade 6), Middle School Band (grades 7 and 8), Middle School Choir (grades 7 and 8), High School Band (9-12), High School Choir (9-12), High School Jazz Band (9-12).  I have also added a small MS Jazz Band in the mix once per week...yes, because I don't have enough to do.

I think the thing that has overwhelmed me the most is the amount of music I have had to learn each year.  I am not to the point where I can reuse a lot of music that I have previously taught.  Not saying that I want to recycle the same pieces every 4-5 years, but it is nice to be able to pull out a piece and already know it.  It helps my enthusiasm when teaching.  At the same time, I get really excited when I am learning a new piece, too.  It just takes away from the experience when I have to learn at least 30-40  new pieces each year (at least 2-3 per quarter per group, excluding beginning band).

I think undergraduate music ed students should have required score study of grades 1-3 music.  I wish we had.  Each month, make them study pieces like Sweeney's Ancient Voices or Acclamations by Huckeby.  I have needed quality level 2-2.5 music the last few years and didn't have a clue.  I would search around some, think "Hey, this might work!" And go with it.  I didn't have a list of pieces that I already knew and was sure to be a success.  This made it frustrating for me and especially my band.



My poor middle school band did not get any high quality music until this past year either.  I thought I should worry about making sure the high school gets the good stuff.  Then I had the "duh?" moment.  If I want the high school to appreciate quality wind band music, maybe I should find quality middle school level material.  I also did a completely opposite move and let them play more pep band music, too.  After we played enough of both, they started to realize that quality wind band music is much more interesting than pep band music.  Not saying it isn't fun, we still had our "rocking out" moments with The Hey Song, but they were able to distinguish the differences, appreciate the music, and became more serious young musicians and less of "just middle school band kids." 

For all of the groups, band, choir, and jazz, the quality of music will make or break the experience for everyone, including me.  I guess the purpose of this blog post is to remind myself, just as I did in my first post, that I have it good.  I have a job where I get to study, learn, and teach some of the finest music my ears and eyes can find.  My life is further enriched by all of the new music that I have to learn.  It may be stressful at first, but after another year or two, I will have an even better handle on it and I will be able to enjoy it even more so than I do now.  I also know that if I don't study and teach this wonderful music to these kids, no one else will, so I better get to work!