James Divine

Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band

Quick and easy tips to help you be a better band teacher.

Be sure to visit the podcast's website and support the creator: www.jamesdivine.net

Author

James Divine

Category

Education

Podcast website

www.jamesdivine.net

Latest episode

Oct 21, 2026

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Episodes

Instilling High Standars Despite Pushback (EP 303) 05.11.2025

If you insist on high standards, you WILL receive pushback. Don't let that stop you. In this episode I share tips on Instilling High Standards Despite Pushback. Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes 75+ lessons, tips and truths...

Tips For Helping Brass Players Change Partials (EP 302) 22.10.2025

Tips For Helping Brass Players Change Partials. Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes 75+ lessons, tips and truths. Most can be read in less than 10 minutes. Many can be immediately implemented in your classroom. More tips and...

Reflect Every Week - Band Director Boost 15.10.2025

Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes 75+ lessons, tips and truths. Most can be read in less than 10 minutes. Many can be immediately implemented in your classroom. More tips and lessons will be added (I'm still in the classroo...

Don't Fix Every Mistake - Band Director Boost 13.10.2025

Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes 75+ lessons, tips and truths. Most can be read in less than 10 minutes. Many can be immediately implemented in your classroom. More tips and lessons will be added (I'm still in the classroo...

Classroom Structure and Management Tips (EP 301) 08.10.2025

Classroom Structure and Management (not Discipline). You can PREVENT 95% of discipline problems before they happen by having the right procedures and structures in place. Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes 75+ lessons, tips...

Your Energy Sets The Tone - Band Director Boost 06.10.2025

Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes 75+ lessons, tips and truths. Most can be read in less than 10 minutes. Many can be immediately implemented in your classroom. More tips and lessons will be added (I'm still in the classroo...

Tune The Ensemble, Not Just The Notes - Band Director Boost 01.10.2025

Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes 75+ lessons, tips and truths. Most can be read in less than 10 minutes. Many can be immediately implemented in your classroom. More tips and lessons will be added (I'm still in the classroo...

Praise The Small Stuff - Band Director Boost 29.09.2025

Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes 75+ lessons, tips and truths. Most can be read in less than 10 minutes. Many can be immediately implemented in your classroom. More tips and lessons will be added (I'm still in the classroo...

Ten Tips For Managing Large Groups of Beginners (EP 300) 24.09.2025

I spent 5 years at a Title 1 school where students didn't behave in other classes (but they did in mine). Here are 10 Tips for Managing Large Groups of Beginners. Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes 75+ lessons, tips and trut...

Less Talk, More Play - Band Director Boost 22.09.2025

Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes 75+ lessons, tips and truths. Most can be read in less than 10 minutes. Many can be immediately implemented in your classroom. More tips and lessons will be added (I'm still in the classroo...

Rehearsal Routine is Gold - Band Director Boost 17.09.2025

Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes 75+ lessons, tips and truths. Most can be read in less than 10 minutes. Many can be immediately implemented in your classroom. More tips and lessons will be added (I'm still in the classroo...

Start With Sound - Band Director Boost 15.09.2025

Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes 75+ lessons, tips and truths. Most can be read in less than 10 minutes. Many can be immediately implemented in your classroom. More tips and lessons will be added (I'm still in the classroo...

Getting More Parent Participation (EP 299) 10.09.2025

Would you like to get more parent participation? You CAN do it. It takes work. It takes persistence. Here are some tips. Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes 75+ lessons, tips and truths. Most can be read in less than 10 minut...

Build Leaders Early - Band Director Boost 08.09.2025
Repertoire Selection Tips (EP298) 27.08.2025

Repertoire selection can be one of the most difficult decisions you can make, and one that requires a lot of thought to. In this episode I share tips for selecting music for your ensemble. Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band , a handbook for band directors that includes...

When To Play (and Not Play) At Football Games (EP297) 13.08.2025

When I first started teaching high school, I didn't know when to play at football games (and when to stop playing). I learned the hard way over the years. Eventually I trained my leaders to be bold at starting and stopping the band. Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band ,...

A Drill Technique for Marching Band (EP296) 30.07.2025

In this episode I share a Marching Band Drill Rehearsal Technique. I stole this idea from a colleague of mine and used it for many years to teach Marching Band drill to my students. Upon completion of this technique, students have rehearsed a drill set 9 times and will usually be able to perform it at 80% or higher quality. Keep reviewing and cleaning afterwards. Jazz From The Start - Jazz and imp...

Big Announcement - The book is here 21.05.2025

Bonus Episode  - Big Announcement. The book is here. So many have poured into my life. I look forward to helping new band directors learn from my mistakes. The book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band is finally finished. Order it here. Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned Abo...

Episode 295 - Eating Healthy - How I Lost 40 pounds 14.05.2025

Episode 295 - Eating Healthy - How I Lost 40 pounds I was just 40 years old. The doctor said he had never seen triglyceride levels that high. My glucose levels were very high, as was my cholesterol. He wanted to start me on medicine. Could it be the two packages of M&Ms I was eating DAILY. I did not want meds, so I started paying attention to what I ate and lost 40 pounds.  Jazz From The Start - J...

Episode 294 - When Students Misbehave For The Sub 07.05.2025

Episode 294 - When Students Misbehave For The Sub When I was in school, I hated it when the whole class was subject to punishment when only a few misbehaved. And to be honest, some subs are terrible or have not received proper training and support. In this episode I share 4 possible things you can do when it happens and 7 prevention tips. Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you...

Episode 293 - 8 Tips For Dealing With Students Wanting To Switch Instruments 30.04.2025

Episode 293 - 8 Tips For Dealing With Students Wanting To Switch Instruments There are sometimes legitimate reasons for a student to switch instruments, but often that desire is due to hitting a plateau in their playing. In this episode I share 8 tips for how to handle the dreaded "I want to switch instruments" conversation. Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as so...

Episode 292 - Demanding Great Concert Behavior From The Audience and Your Students 23.04.2025

Episode 292 - Demanding Great Concert Behavior From The Audience and Your Students Is your audience rude and out of control? You can change that culture. Are your students rambunctious and inattentive when they're not performing? You can change that. Here are some things that have worked for me. Resources… Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know...

Episode 291 - What To Say At The Concert 16.04.2025

Episode 291 - What To Say At The Concert In short, keep it short. Much will depend on the culture and climate already at the school. Remember that you can help to change that culture.  Resources… Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as students know 5 notes Get the book Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band Have a question for the podcast? Need a...

Episode 290 - How Much Time Should You Spend On Fundamentals 09.04.2025

Episode 290 - How Much Time Should You Spend On Fundamentals When I first started teaching, I thought I didn't have time for fundamentals. Maybe I spent ten minutes of a 45 minute rehearsal on technique, scales, tone, tuning, arpeggios and long tones. Believe it or not, now I spend more than half our rehearsal time on those. I explain to the students that learning scales and other fundamentals mak...

Episode 289 - Helping Students Play In Tune 02.04.2025

Episode 289 - Helping Students Play In Tune One of my biggest pet peeves is watching a director individually tune 80 band members on stage using the tuner! It doesn't help! Maybe it makes that one note in tune, but tuning is a process that can be taught, even to young band students. Here are some tips. Resources… Jazz From The Start - Jazz and improvisation curriculum you can use as soon as studen...

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