Darrell Branaman

Dr. Palmer
MUSE 250
Teaching Observation
I observed the 7th and 8th grade band from Brownstown Central Middle School on the Monday

of Ball States spring break. This included not only brass players but also woodwinds and percussion.

They had 4 Trumpet players, 1 French horn player, 2 Trombones, 3 Euphoniums, and 1 Tuba for their

brass section. I noticed that many of the students entered the room loudly, because most came from gym

class. They got their instruments out of their cases by setting them on the floor next to their locker and

assembling them there. Most of the students are rough with their cases and when unlocking them dont

hold them in a way that kept them from swinging open and hitting the floor. They were quick to assemble

their instruments, because they had been doing it for over a year. Once they assembled their instruments

they walked into the classroom. There Mr. Branaman was collecting late practice records. The students

walked quietly to chairs and sat with instrument in hand talking quietly to their neighbors. When the bell

rang he stepped on the podium, which caused instant silence. He started class with announcements about

how many rehearsals they had left and then talked about how their week was going to be hectic, because

of ISTEP testing. He made it clear that they werent going to get to meet again until Friday. He stated that

he was skipping warm-ups, because of the time crunch.

He then stated to his students that they were going to use their first song Regal March as a

warm-up. The brass was the section that suffered the most from this warm-up. This warm-up was

ineffective for the brass, because it didnt allow the brass players to tune or get their lips buzzing before

they were expected to play. He said before they started that they were going to focus on the dynamic

contrasts of the piece, the key signatures, and the different styles of articulations. The note accuracy was

significantly affected because there was no warm-up for the brass. The middle brass including the

euphoniums and the trombone players struggled the most. I think for the trombone players it was, because

they were struggling to hear the correct notes that they were supposed to be playing. Warming them up
would have opened their ears to everything happening around them, which would have helped their

accuracy.

The brass students throughout the rehearsal were struggling the most with hitting the correct

notes. The teacher modeled the correct notes by having the students sing their part along with him. He

then spends most of his time talking about the air support. His phrase to model the amount of air to push

through the instrument was push the watermelon through the instrument. Air support was the biggest

problem for the young brass players. He modeled only with his singing and directing he never took out an

instrument to model it with his students. The next struggle the brass students had were the releases of the

fermata notes. The first time the trumpet players held over too long. The second time they stopped it with

their tongue. He stopped and explained to his students that the correct release was to stop blowing the air.

He had the brass do it over and over with him and asked the brass and woodwinds after each release their

thoughts about it. He did this, until he felt it was correct where tuba was last voice to be heard.

The overall atmosphere of the classroom was very focused during playing, but during

times where he was teaching other sections were constantly talking to each other. He had to stop

several times to get everyone to get quiet. My take away from this observation is that warm ups

always should be a part of the rehearsal no matter what pushing matter is upon a teacher. I think

that they are crucial in brass students having a good rehearsal. I also think that teachers should

constantly be modeling to their students to get the correct sounds and articulations from their

bands that they want. I think that classroom management is crucial for success. I believe that as

teachers we have to be more focused on students having a deep understanding of music instead

of just being able to play certain music. This understanding of music is what sets students on fire

to learn as much as they can and be the best players they can be.