ASBA Newsletter

I must have the ASBA registration form and check by Thursday, Oct. 31 for your band to be a member of ASBA this year. Every year I have to give the bad news to one or two band directors that they are too late to join. Please help me avoid being the bad guy this year.

All-Star Try-Outs: Tuesday, February 11, 2020 at Riverview High School in Searcy, Ar.

I would kindly suggest that you also try to clear the snow date in case we have to move it due to inclement weather. Snow Date: Thursday, February 13, 2020.

From Leadershift by John Maxwell:

Setting goals is great, but emphasizing growth is even better. A goal-oriented culture values achievement, focuses on status, honors privilege, emphasizes the teacher, and the target is arrival. A growth-oriented culture values development, focuses on stretching, honors serving, emphasizes the student, and the target is growth.

If you shoot for goals, you'll achieve your goals, but you may not grow. If you shoot for growth, you'll grow and you'll achieve your goals.

Band application: For instance, a band director might set a goal of receiving straight first divisions at contest. This goal can actually can be achieved without much growth taking place if the music performed was not challenging and took little effort from the students.

Also, when goals are not met, there is a feeling of failure and a sense that all the work toward the goal was wasted. Focusing on growth emphasizes the importance of consistent improvement and daily successes.

(More details in next newsletter. Or you can read the book--highly recommended.)

Sound Production and Wind Patterning by Elizabeth Peterson. (p. 81)

"Because the flow of air is essential to good tone quality for any wind instrument, it is important to incorporate breathing exercises into the warm-up. One quick breathing exercise involves getting the group to say "OH" loudly. Then have them say "POH" loudly. The "P" consonant offers a bit of an explosive start to the sound. Finally, have the group say "POH" inwards. It is almost impossible to not take in a good wind player's breath with this exercise."

As marching season winds down, it may be a good idea to take a look at your conducting in preparation for concert season. Boonshaft has some great ideas that can take anyone's conducting to the next level. When examining the conductor's stance, he notes the following unpleasant variations:

1. Leaning forward. Bending forward with the upper torso implies weakness to observers. Though useful for conducting a lament, conducting a majestic passage would be difficult while leaning forward in that weakened state.

2. The Sumo Wrestler. Feet spread, hunched down, this position makes it hard to express any music with angelic charm.

3. Raised shoulders. Tension, concentration, and intensity often cause conductors to take this position. It's not a pretty sight.

4. Fidgeting. A sober, still and calm stance will command greater attention and control.

5. Jousting. If you stand with one foot in front of the other, the dominant hand looks like it is held in front of the body as if about the joust with a sword. This adds extra physical strain on the body as it twists and turns awkwardly to address various musical problems with the ensemble.

An Englishman, a Scotsman, an Irishman, a Welshman, a Latvian, a Turk, a German, an Indian, several Americans (including a Hawaiian and an Alaskan), an Argentinean, a Dane, an Australian, a Slovak, an Egyptian, a Japanese, a Moroccan, a Frenchman, a New Zealander, a Spaniard, a Russian, a Guatemalan, a Colombian, a Pakistani, a Malaysian, a Croatian, a Uzbek, a Cypriot, a Pole, a Lithuanian, a Chinese, a Sri Lankan, a Lebanese, a Cayman Islander, a Ugandan, a Vietnamese, a Korean, a Uruguayan, a Czech, an Icelander, a Mexican, a Finn, a Honduran, a Panamanian, an Andorran, an Israeli, a Venezuelan, an Iranian, a Fijian, a Peruvian, an Estonian, a Syrian, a Brazilian, a Portuguese, a Liechtensteiner, a Mongolian, a Hungarian, a Canadian, a Moldovan, a Haitian, a Norfolk Islander, a Macedonian, a Bolivian, a Cook Islander, a Tajikistani, a Samoan, an Armenian, an Aruban, an Albanian, a Greenlander, a Micronesian, a Virgin Islander, a Georgian, a Bahaman, a Belarusian, a Cuban, a Tongan, a Cambodian, a Canadian, a Qatari, an Azerbaijani, a Romanian, a Chilean, a Jamaican, a Filipino, a Ukrainian, a Dutchman, a Ecuadorian, a Costa Rican, a Swede, a Bulgarian, a Serb, a Swiss, a Greek, a Belgian, a Singaporean, an Italian, a Norwegian and 2 Africans walk into a fine restaurant.

"I'm sorry" says the maître d', after scrutinizing the group. "But you can't come in here without a Thai".