The First Six Notes with Classroom Composers

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Have you wondered what it takes to write engaging pieces that your beginning band students love to play? Our guest today, Aaron McMichael, is giving us an inside look at being a band director and composing engaging pieces for beginning band students.

Aaron is sharing his background and experiences as a band director and composers, an overview of his pieces, what he aims to include when writing for beginning bands, where he gets inspiration for his pieces, what his process looks like, how he maintains a work-life balance, and tips for new composers.

Show notes: https://classroomcomposers.com/episode-9-composition-conversations-with-aaron-mcmichael/

Website: www.classroomcomposers.com

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Do you have questions about the oboe and how to best teach your oboe students? Our guest, Brenda Bressler, is a music educator and oboist and she is joining us today to talk all things oboe.

Brenda has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the oboe and is sharing this knowledge with us! She is sharing some insight into when to start students on oboe, what types of reeds and oboes she recommends, how to start with beginning players, information about making reeds, and more!

https://classroomcomposers.com/episode-8-playing-the-oboe-with-brenda-bressler/

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Concert season is upon us! We all know how stressful preparing for a concert can be so we are sharing tips that we have started to implement in order to save our sanity and reduce our stress as we prepare for upcoming concerts.

In this episode, we are sharing 5 things to think about to keep things in perspective this concert season, 8 tips we implement in order to reduce the stress that comes with concert season, and why these tips are so important and our experiences with implementing them. 

https://classroomcomposers.com/episode-7-staying-sane-during-concert-season/

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If you have any questions about teaching trumpet to middle school and high school students, this episode is for you! Trumpet extraordinaire, Rachel Doolittle, is joining us to answer our questions and talk all things trumpet.

In this episode, Rachel is sharing her musical background and how she got started playing trumpet at age 6, how to start with a student who has no experience with their instrument, what order you should be teaching notes for trumpet int, suggestions for different exercise to improve playing and range, and how to improve lyrical playing for middle and high school trumpet players. 

Show notes: https://classroomcomposers.com/episode-2-playing-trumpet/

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Many middle school bands run into the issue of many students wanting to play saxophone and percussion. However, this can cause issues when we are trying to achieve balanced instrumentation.

In this episode, we are covering what ideal instrumentation looks like in beginning, intermediate, and advanced bands, ideas for how to decide who gets to play the highly requested instruments, and tips for encouraging students to switch to more advanced instruments in higher level bands.

Show Notes: https://classroomcomposers.com/episode-5-help-i-have-20-beginning-saxophone-students/

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Chair testing is very common in band and orchestra programs. Today, we are diving into the pros and cons of chair testing and sharing what we’ve seen in our own programs.

In this episode, we are diving into our personal experiences with chair testing, the pros of chair testing in band and orchestra programs, the cons of chair testing especially in elementary and middle school, and what we are trying as an alternative in our own program.

Show Notes: https://classroomcomposers.com/episode-4-chair-testing-the-pros-and-cons/

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Concert season will be here soon so it’s time to start thinking about concert prep. We all know how important it is to have a solid concert prep plan but sometimes it can be a challenge trying to figure out when to fit it all in.

In this episode, we are sharing the 6 week concert prep timeline we use to have successful concerts. We are sharing when and how we pick out concert music, why we include a mindset talk in our prep, how we practice the concert pieces, how we ensure our students know exactly what our expectations are, and what we do the week leading up to the concert.

Show Notes: https://classroomcomposers.com/episode-3-preparing-for-a-successful-band-concert/

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If your rehearsals don’t have a set routine or if you are only running through concert pieces every rehearsal, this episode is for you! 

We are sharing, step by step,  how we run our middle school and high school groups and our elementary groups. We’re covering everything we do from the moment students walk into our rooms until the bell rings and how we are able to teach new notes, articulations, etc. while still playing sheet music.

Show Notes: https://classroomcomposers.com/episode-2-running-a-better-rehearsal/

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Welcome to The First Six Notes with Classroom Composers! We are so excited to be here with you and can’t wait to share insights and tips for teaching band and strings. 

In our first episode, we are introducing ourselves and sharing our background, giving you actionable tips to grow any size program, and talking about the three phases of a band program and sharing ideas on how to grow at each phase. 

Show Notes: https://classroomcomposers.com/episode-1-how-to-grow-your-band-and-orchestra-program/

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Are you a string teacher or band teacher who is looking for insight, advice, and tips from experienced teachers? You're in the right place!

If you have any topics you'd like to hear us cover, send us a message on Instagram @classroomcomposers.

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