Artifact 4 (written while student teaching)

Artifact Reflection #4

Title of Artifact: Paper on teaching high brass
Date Experienced Completed: Fall 2004

Description of Artifact:
For the music methods class “High Brass Techniques”, we have to write a
paper at the end of the semester summarizing all that was taught throughout the
class. I wrote my paper so someone who has never played trumpet or French
horn before could read it and teach someone how to play. I used simple
language. This way, when non-music people read it, they can hopefully learn
from it. It is a detailed, step-by-step instructional paper on how to begin a
student on a high brass instrument.

Wisconsin Teacher Standard Alignment:
I believe this artifact best aligns with Standard Four: Instructional
Strategies. I feel this because standard four talks about using different
instructional strategies to encourage development of the student’s performance,
and that is exactly what my paper entails. This paper outlines the basic
problems encountered with a beginning brass student, and the different venues
of correcting them. It covers improper posture, and how to get them to sit
straight. What to do if someone isn’t breathing right, and how to get students to
breathe with their diaphragm. It also covers problems with how they are
holding the mouthpiece to their mouth, and the proper way to blow through a
horn to get a good full sound. Lastly it covers how to start a student, that is, take
a student who has never played brass before, and start them from scratch on the
instrument. What instrument is best for what mouth shapes, getting the student
to take care of their instrument, the basics. As for promoting technology, there
are many videos available that cover the same topics summarized in this paper.
We are taught to analyze playing problems by observing the student, asking
questions, making small adjustments, and not trying to correct everything in a
day. An example is: if a student is getting a thin, weak sound, have them sit up,
and take deep breaths from deep in their diaphragm. Have them sit with their
hands on their upper stomach, lower lung area. Have them take deep breaths.
Their stomachs should push out while breathing in, and deflate as they breathe
out. After having them do this several times, put the instrument back to their
mouths, and use their new found air for fully push the air through the horn. You
can also use this method to fix pitch issues, and posture. This paper gives a
detailed and simple enough break down so that problems can be assessed and
resolved.

University Wisconsin Platteville School of Education Knowledge, Skill,
Disposition Statement Alignment:
My artifact aligns with KS1.d-Demonstrates Knowledge of Resources. I
feel this because the paper is based heavily off of lectures from distinguished
teacher G. Dan Fairchild at the University Wisconsin Platteville. It also draws
upon the knowledge we learn from high brass handouts, and videos we
watched in class. There are many videos made available to teachers that have
very valuable information in them. I took many of those tips and tricks of the
trade into mind as I wrote this paper. I also feel it aligns with KS3.b-Uses
Questioning and Discussion Techniques. I feel this because a large part of
correcting student errors is leading them to correct themselves. By asking “How
do you think breathing effects sound quality?” you open the door for a
discussion that will greatly improve the student’s knowledge, while fixing a
common problem, like poor breath support. By asking questions, you not only
give your best assessment, but also help the student assess and correct
themselves. My artifact covers ways to ask small questions to get big results (like
the example mentioned before).

What I Learned from This Experience:
This paper was an experience in itself. It represents a semester of work.
By studying text, hands-on experience, and the instruction of a high brass
teacher, I learned while writing this paper how to teach high brass instruments.
This is a crucial step in a music teacher’s career. I learned how to fix common
problems, like breathing, posture, and mouth position, in beginning band
students, and how to start brass students in general. I really got a sense of what
impact these changes make. When you make small corrections on how a
student plays, you aren’t just making that correction for that second. You are
impacting their entire music career. Something you change, having them hold
their trumpet at ten degrees parallel from the ground for example, is a small
correction that will change how they sound and perform from that point on.
Especially when you have the student correct that in themselves, it will stay
with them forever.

What I Learned About Myself as a Prospective Teacher:
The most important lesson learned about my prospective teaching career
is that, although I am a woodwind player, I can teach brass. Any woodwind
player would feel a little insecure going into beginning band, and having to
teach brass. But after taking this class, writing this paper, and having to teach a
mock lesson that mirrors the paper, I feel much better about my brass teaching
capabilities. Along with this paper, we had to make a whole three-ring binder
explaining how to teach high brass. When I am out in the teaching world, I will
have this paper, and the class binder to look back on and help with any
questions I have. I now can confidently say I know how to teach brass!