The First Six Notes with Classroom Composers

Are you feeling overwhelmed thinking of all you have to do to get ready for the start of another school year? No need to stress! We've got you covered with all the tips and tricks you need to start off your music classes on the right note! We are sharing everything you need to know about what to do during teacher prep week and in the first few weeks of the school year. From recruitment strate...

How can you successfully teach beginning strings when your background is in band? Teaching beginning strings requires a unique set of skills and knowledge. If you’re a band teacher teaching beginning strings, tune in as we dive into the world of teaching beginning strings. In this episode, we are breaking down the pros of teaching beginning strings, the 7 prerequisite skills you should have before...

Are you using warm-ups and drills as a way to prepare your students to play sheet music? If not, you may be missing out on an incredible opportunity to help your students be more successful in band! Join us as we dive into the importance of utilizing warm-ups and drills to effectively teach and practice new concepts and skills. Hear how we use backwards planning to craft our warm-ups and how warm-...

All over, teachers are seeing challenging behaviors that we have not seen previously. We know that in order to best serve our students and run a successful band program we need to reflect on what is working and what is not working and adapt as needed. In this episode, we are diving into the 7 main issues we saw this past school year, what our updated rules and expectations will be going forward, a...

We’ve all gotten frustrated with method books or curriculums that move too quickly or aren’t easily understood by students. We knew there was a gap between what options were out there for beginning bands and what beginning band students and their teachers actually needed. In this episode, we are diving into how the Quarter Note Companion helps set beginning band students up for success. We are sha...

Teaching beginning band can be overwhelming and challenging! We have found that having three key pillars in place has been incredibly beneficial to running our beginning band classes. Establishing these overarching pillars have helped us to build our beginning band program that is successful and enjoyable for us and our students. In this episode, we are sharing the importance of planning backwards...

A lot goes into teaching beginning strings. When helping students learn the correct posture, safety, bow hold, etc., it is so important that they understand your expectations and what is expected of them. That is one of the key tips our guest, Elizabeth Rohrs, shares about teaching beginning strings. In this episode, Elizabeth is diving into how she successfully teaches her very large classes of b...

We’re reaching the end of the school year and you’re likely busy with spring concert prep and the last thing you want to think about is getting all the end of the year tasks completed. We want to help you get organized and plan for the end of the year without adding more to your to-do list.  In this episode, we are diving into how we have simplified our end of the year processes to ensure all task...

What can we learn from video games and video game design that can help us as music educators? Jared Brockmeyer is joining us today to dive into how understanding video game design and student motivations can help us better reach and connect with our band students. Jared has recently been presenting on gamification in education and has so much incredible information about the topic. In this episode...

Music education looks different depending on which state you are in but many music educators would agree that Texas’ music education is better than other places in the United States. What is it about music education in Texas that helps to create such great programs? In this episode we are joined by Andy LaRusch, a head band director in Texas, who is sharing some great insight into music education...

Whether a side hustle has been in the back of your mind for a while or if you haven’t considered starting one, Jennifer has some great insight for you! She is sharing an inside look at what it is like for her side hustling as a full time teacher. Jennifer has a successful YouTube channel and retail shop that she runs while still working full time as a teacher. She is sharing about her background a...

Music field trips can seem overwhelming but they don’t need to be! Whether you’ve done theme park field trips with your program before and want them to run more smoothly or if you think they’re too daunting to do, we have helpful tips for you! In this episode, we are breaking down our step-by-step process for planning our theme park field trips. We are sharing how we plan the field trip, handling...

Understanding the differences in every instrument in your band can be challenging. We are so grateful that Christina is joining us today to share some insight and tips to help us better understand the bass clarinet and how we can help our students with this instrument. Christina has an extensive background in bass clarinet and teaching. She is sharing the differences between bass clarinet and B-fl...

There is so much to cover when it comes to women in music, the progress made in this area, and what can be done to inspire young female musicians. We are chatting with Erin about her accomplishments and the impact she has made for women in music. Erin is sharing all about her experience as a teacher, musician, and composer, her advocacy for women in music, the difference in experiences between wom...

Are you looking for encouragement and tips to get started with music composition? Composing pieces for educational purposes can be a bit different than composing other pieces. Hearing from other band teachers who are also composers can be so helpful! Our guest today, Matt Neufeld, is chatting all about music composition and how he got started.  Matt is sharing all about his experience as a teacher...

Are you looking for a little support in teaching your beginner clarinet players? Our guest, Tom Heimer, has years of experience as a band director and professional clarinet player and is sharing some insight into teaching beginning clarinet.  Knowing all about every instrument in your band can be a challenge. We are so lucky to have Tom joining us to give us tips on how to support our beginner cla...

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...

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,...

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...

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 instr...

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 enc...

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 tryi...

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...

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,...

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...