This page contains three sections:

    Video of a clarinet lesson
    Self Critique
    Peer Critique

Please scroll down the page to view each of the three sections.

SECTION 1 - VIDEO

This fourth grade band concert was videotaped on Thursday, May 25, 2005 at Andrew T. Morrow Elementary School.

If you cannot see this video, please click or right-click on this link to view or download it.

SECTION 2 - SELF CRITIQUE

My self critique can be opened or downloaded as a Microsoft Word file by clicking or right-clicking in this link.

Band Concert Self Critique 

            This is the video from the first concert of my professional career.  As a whole, I think that it went quite well, however there are some aspects that I will be sure to pay closer attention to in the future.  This concert contains three selections: Mickey Mouse March, Aura Lee and When the Saints Go Marching In.

            I was lucky to have such a dedicated group in my first year of teaching.  Their ability to learn quickly allowed me to pick out three pieces that have different styles.  It is important to pick pieces that involve different styles so the students can learn the different techniques necessary to play their instrument.  The first piece in this concert, Mickey Mouse March, is a piece with very little part independence.  It is a simple march composition which focuses on the first five notes of the scale with mainly stepwise motion.  The next piece, Aura Lee focuses on legato style playing and develops a higher level of part independence.  The final selection in the concert, When the Saints, is the most advanced selection in the concert.  The various entrances throughout the piece develop the student’s ability to count correctly and play correct dynamics.

            There are some areas within this performance that I feel could have gone better.  One element of this performance which I was not quite prepared for was the behavior of the audience.  I feel that one logistical change on my part – turning the lights off – may have done something to help that situation.  I also could have made an announcement prior to the beginning of the band asking for the audience’s attention.

            Musically, there were some elements of the performance that I could have better controlled.  Near the end of the first song, Mickey Mouse March, the tempo ran out of control.  This is clearly something that I should have paid more attention to in the rehearsals leading up to the performance.  In the future, I plan on incorporating more exercises in which the students have to watch me for changing tempos.

            I feel that the next selection in the concert, Aura Lee, went very well.  In listening to the video, I heard many of the different musical elements performed correctly.  The behavior and stage presence of the band members was outstanding throughout the song.  Once again, however, the students tended to rush towards the end of the song.

            The students also performed amazingly in the final selection, the most challenging, When the Saints Go Marching In.  Many of the entrances in this piece are on a weak beat.  I did my best to teach the students to count the rests correctly, as well as cue them for their entrances.  I noticed a couple of early entrances throughout the piece, but as a whole I think the students performed quite well.  I think that it is clear that the students learned a great deal in their first year as musicians.

SECTION 3 - PEER CRITIQUE