Mentorship Work 3

This week, I went to two schools. Last Wednesday I went to Martin Elementary. At that school I found that the class was a bit smaller due to other kids going to Outdoor Ed that week. My mentor took the opportunity to use the smaller class size to work out the finer points of musicianship. I as always primarily aided the trumpet and trombone players, but I also found myself correcting posture among the other instruments. One thing that I noticed about every school that I have been to is that there is one trumpet player that has his or her tuning slide inserted into the horn upside down. I correct it whenever I see it, and I hope that I can correct maintenance of horn issues in the future.

Last Friday I went to Los Cerritos. There, since I had a bit more grip since I started there, my mentor allowed me to take the brass players away from the rest of the band and work with them separately on brass only technique. I taught them an essential concept for any advancing brass player - Lip Slurs. these exercises are the equivalent of doing reps with weights; they are designed to wear out at the muscle in the embouchure and build stronger replacement muscles. The standard procedure is changing notes without the aid of changing valve or slide position, as this is the most challenging method. Since these kids were new though, I designed it so that it builds up to that level. notes that are played with the same valve/slide position are called partials, so there are notes between each partial. I had the students build up to the partial above a base starting note to teach them the importance of the exercise. They all managed to change between notes when a position was changed, but only a few could manage to shift between partials. They all commented that it was a hard process, and that "their lips feel weird and tingly." This tells me that the exercise works, and it is building the needed muscles in their young embouchures. I told them to practice them daily to ensure that it becomes easier as the muscles strengthen. Coming Friday (1/31) is when I will see them again, and at that time I will grade their improvement from the previous week. I hope to implement this method of exercise into as many schools as I can in the time frame I have.

I have also done some light research on techniques useful to teaching music, and I hope to test them out on Thursday (1/30) to see how they work.

As of now, I have accumulated 10 total hours in work. I aim to have more than 15 by the end of February.    

Mentoship Work 2

So as of now I have done three more hours, puting me at a total of 6 hours of physical work with my mentor. The work was done half and half at two schools over the week. On Thursday I took my first visit to Spruce Elementary and helped the two classes over there from 1:00 to 2:30, and on Friday I went to Los Cerritos from 1:00 to 2:45.

The group at Spruce only has an issue with behavior and discipline, but their playing is coming along well. Los Cerritos simply needs to work towards focus.

Since I do have a Marching Band background I was focusing mainly on posture again, since it is really important to set that habit from the start. In specific, the kids that have gotten used to my advice have become more aware of their posture. The trumpet players are also starting to make sure their grips on their horns are proper, which is important because a good grip leads to flexibility and strength later on.

What I noticed about the way the schools are doing music classes is that now all the classes are done as one unified band. While thats good for uniformity, I feel that it takes away the honing of skills on ones instrument before integration into a full band. Therefore I have asked for permission from my mentor to work with the Brass instruments seperately at the begining of class to help them further their skill. I hope to get all the brass players in the district to a level where they will be more than prepared for a fruitful musical career in school.

I also plan on doing individual research on teaching music to new players.

Mentorship Work 1

So over the past two weeks or so, I have completed 3 hours towards my 25 hour requirement. The first hour was a simple introduction to the elementary kids I would be working with. The other two hours were actual hands on work. While my mentor directed the class, I corrected individual problems and focused on the brass group since I am a brass player. The next time I plan on working with my mentor is coming thursday with the brass group at Spruce Elementary. I aim to have at least 10 hours done by next month.