The Intricacies of Ninth Grade Band Programming: Teaching the Kids You Actually Have!

July 19, 2018

For the past two weeks, I have been racking my brains over programming. Note the photo below:

This is a great post forcing me to remember a trap to which I continually fall victim.

DO NOT OVER PROGRAM THE NINTH GRADE BAND!

On my campus, the Freshman Class are contained in their own building. We refer to it as the "Ninth Grade Center." And, honestly, it is one of the best aspects of my position. I see the Ninth Grade uncorrupted, unconvinced, and isolated for an entire year. (Yes, they do perform with the upperclassmen when it comes to Marching Band, Jazz Ensemble, etc.) While this is special and honestly helps me out so much in terms of training, it presents its own unique problems.

The middle school set up for band in my district is horrible. Band essentially revolves around the small lesson group experience (popular in the Northeast USA) where students are pulled from class for a 30-minute lesson once a cycle. Band ensemble rehearsals occur 1-2 times a week in what is known as "target" time. This descriptive term changes but essentially represents a glorified homeroom where students have multiple options. Therefore, you can imagine, any teacher on the MS campuses with a plan fights for the kids. I could post entirely upon this topic, but I will defer to my original point: programming. The important lesson to be learned for the students I inherit: ensemble skills have taken a back seat to the individualized small lesson groups.

Then, the students come to me, where I see them full band ensemble ONLY for 50 minutes each day. (Yes, I and love that I see them daily). It is a wicked paradigm shift. Students are entirely caught off guard by the skill set. Instead of one on one instruction to learn band parts, students are now having to do so in context of a rehearsal. I find that my biggest challenges in Ninth Grade are
1. playing in time with others
2. understanding balance and blend
3. differentiated listening (what am I playing versus my section versus the whole band)
4. reading music in an ensemble format.

P.S. I am positive that I will cover the magic of 9th grade band later.

So here I am . . . . catching myself stuck between a rock and a hard place. There are 40 incoming 9th graders this year and I want to give them great music. However, the learning curve on skill acquisition is extremely heavy on them. In the past I have forgotten this, over programmed the group, and nearly lost them in the process. Trust me, I have a really good program.  The problem . . . . I am always thinking MAY when selecting repertoire and not SEPTEMBER (which are two entirely different animals in Ninth Grade Bandland). The students sitting in front of me are NEVER the students I envision or hope for. And, THIS isn't a bad thing. It just is what it is.

I spend the majority of my ninth grade band experience with these kids developing their ensemble playing, listening, and performance qualities. And, honestly, I'm becoming better at it. So, I'd like to end in sharing with you how I am going to program this ensemble.

We do four concerts a year, December (Holiday-ish), March, MPA (Large Group Assessment), and May. My plan for 9th Grade is to grow in programming at each experience (different curve from my other ensembles).

I am starting the year off with two grade 1 pieces. It will take most of September to train the students utilizing my favorite book, Essential Musicianship for Band . I continue the fundamental work I begin here in context of those Grade 1pieces.

As we grow, I add more music. Sometimes, I will wait to late October to do this. It takes time to teach our process. September and October are golden time for this, and inserting difficult repertoire at this point in the year disrupts everything. The first December concert usually ends up being Grade 1/2 music ONLY.

Typically the March Concert and the MPA Assessment utilize the same material. By March, I can get these students to 2.5 Grade Level Music (maybe a 3). We typically begin prepping for this the day after our December concert. (There are no down days in my program EVER).

In 2016, for example, we did (links are reference NOT my group):
Three Ayres for Gloucester, Hugh M. Stuart, Peacemaker March, Karl S. King, and Sweet Like That by Christopher Theofanidis

The last May Concert ends up being the most difficult in terms of repertoire. Surprisingly, due to the schedule, spring break, state testing, etc., this ends up being the concert I spend the least amount of time preparing. However, if I have played my cards right, and trained them well, the arc on putting this program together moves at a lightning pace comparatively. The hardest aspect I have found for Ninth Graders is the harder Grade 3 pieces exposing parts (for example where clarinet 1, 2, and 3 are independent). The students get caught off guard by the soloistic/individualized playing. If there is a piece I truly go after with them, I may start it earlier in the year to give them time to prepare it. One of our May Concert pieces this year we began in January, for example.

The May Concert has become very rewarding in that it is a huge tangible marker of progress. I often will have a time of reflection with the Ninth Graders allowing them to remember how difficult it was at the beginning of the year. They begin to understanding VERY CLEARLY their growth in recognizing how the process has developed by the May Concert. It is one of the great "AHA" moments for us in the band program.

The Lesson for Me: Ninth Grade Band in my teaching scenario is equivalent to puppy training. IT IS A MARATHON NOT A SPRINT!!! I spend the majority of my time developing their ensemble skills. Finding repertoire to complement this is a CHALLENGE. I use the best music I can find each year, teach our process, and pray. I don't see a point in doing it half well.