Daniel Scheetz

Jazz Band/Band Observation

Callahan Middle School
Was the Classroom Setup help or a hindrance?
Jazz Band: For the jazz band they were set up on the school auditorium stage and
it was very odd and difficult for them to rehearse. The sections were spread out because
of the little room there was to form a concise group. They also had to move all of their
equipment from the band room to the auditorium for rehearsal, which made it difficult for
Dan to focus on the music rather than being equipment manager.
Band: Rehearsal for the band was more successful because they actually were
prepared for rehearsal and the set up was already done. The students had plenty of space
to put their instruments together and the students and actually rehearse without being
crammed into a tiny space.
How did the teacher start class?
Jazz Band: The group just took out a tune they had been working on and started
playing it. Dan was playing the electric bass so that really hindered how much he could
move around in rehearsal. The group just starting playing he mentioned quickly some
reminders about what they should be thinking about, but there was no mental or physical
preparation before playing, which is necessary for a good performance.
Band: Just like in the jazz band rehearsal he did similar things in this rehearsal he
did have a warm-up but afterwards he just jumped right into the music getting his
students to play. Playing is important but actually getting the students to think about the
music and understand what they are playing is just as important.
Were there classroom management issues and how were they handled?
Jazz Band: Because he was stuck behind his bass he wasnt able to help his
students in other sections as much as he normally could. Also some of the students that
were farther away were more talkative and distracted. He could have handled this better
by not playing the bass.
Band: Some of the sections in the back of the room were not paying attention, so
he called the students out to make them pay attention. This works in classrooms but it
generally distances the students away from the teacher and makes it harder for them to
connect.
How much time was spent on warm-up?
Jazz Band: None
Concert Band: 5 minutes
What MENC music standards were taught?
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
5. Reading and notating music.
Was there an obvious form of assessment?
No. in both bands they played but he did not talk about how they were graded or
how he actually checked that they understood the concepts. He did ask some questions
but this seemed impromptu.
What strategies did the teacher use that were successful?

Dan separated sections and worked on their parts to help the students learn their
music. While he was doing this he also had other sections practice their fingerings or
slide positions for a section they needed to work on so that way those sections were still
practicing.
The warm up that Dan used worked on scales, which is important for the students
to have facility in their music.
what strategies seemed unsuccessful?
Dan used playing alone as a threat when some students didn't know their part or
were being disruptive. I think this is bad because the punishment is literally playing your
instrument. When he was helping students he seemed abrasive and he didnt compliment
the students when they played well, he would say I told you that was the right way to
play, dont you hear the difference. This wasnt a good complement and it actually just
reinforced that he was right.

Daniel Scheetz
Marching Band Observations
The following is an account of three observations on three different marching
bands. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. The marching bands include
Bondurant-Farrar high school, Ankeny high school, and Ankeny Centennial high school.
Bondurant-Farrar High School
Bondurant-Farrar high school marching band was a smaller sized band. it was
about 50-60 students in size. it comprised of about 6-8 guard members, 6-8 drum line, 6-8
front line percussion, and about 40 winds. the sections of the wind are evenly dispersed
helping overall sound quality. The marching band is run by one director with technicians
for percussion and color guard. The band director oversees the band but also runs the
wind section rehearsals and does all the visual teching.
The rehearsal observed consisted of the following: the marching band began with
marching basics focused on warming up the wind section waking up and getting them
ready to work. The bulk of the rehearsal was to rework some drill that had been rewritten.
The students learned new spots and practice moving from spot to spot, sometimes playing
their music but it was not very effective in a teaching standpoint. The material was being
learned to fast and time was not spent on learning the new drill with good basics, which
led to a poor quality of learning. the directors goals for the rehearsal were good but he
didn't encourage fundamentals and was too focused on learning the drill for the game that
night.
The drum line and front line percussion had rehearsal with the band that day. the
drum line worked on learning the new drill but the frontline percussion didnt have as
much to do because the band was learning drill. Alot of time the frontline just sat around
or waited to run a set of drill. The color guard began rehearsal separate from the band and

worked on the show with the color guard technician and joined the band about half way
through rehearsal.
The director is highly skilled and knows what he is doing but was unable to
achieve what he wanted to do. This might partially be because of lack of staffing but the
goals he tried to achieve were not backed by good fundamentals. His program is a good
example of a more rural high school band program.
Ankeny High School
Ankeny high school marching band is a good sized marching band. The overall
size of the band is about 100 members from 9th-12th grade. there are about 10 color
guard, 10 drum line, and 10 front line percussion members and the remaining 70 are in
the wind section. The band program is set up in a very new way. There are five band
directors for the school district where they work and teach all the band students from 7th12th grade. this allows more full time staff to work together and it helps develop the
program more fully. the band directors teach their instruments and tech their areas of
specialty. The band only needed to hire a color guard staff to teach color guard.
The rehearsal began with a review of some moves of the show before going
straight into a full performance review. They ran a pregame show, starting off the field
and did a full run through. They then worked on the half-time show before ending with a
full run of the show. The marching band didnt do any marching basic or warm-ups
because the freshmen have to leave at the end of the rehearsal and so they want to use the
time where they have the full band most effectively. When the freshmen left the
remaining 10th through 12th grade students would work on marching basics. This is fine
but I dont think that you will have as effective of a rehearsal if you don't warm up.
The drum line and front line worked with the wind section. This was effective
because each part of the band knew their parts and it helped them understand how they
functioned with the rest of the band. The color guard joined the band later on. They were
working individually with color guard technician.
The way the program at Ankeny is structured is very effective. With a growing
program and a large full time staff, the marching band becomes a more useful and
teachable program. Each teacher has an equal stake in the wellbeing of the band and the
experience of each teacher helps each student learn more effectively.
Ankeny Centennial High School
Ankeny Centennial high school is similar in size to Ankeny high school. The band
includes 100 students with the similar splits in size for the winds, drum line, front line,
and color guard. The staff is different in that one of the band directors on staff knows how
to teach color guard. The situation is tougher because the band rehearses at the middle
school where their stadium is. This requires that the 9th graders are bused in and the 10th12th graders have to drive. The administration allowed this and made arrangements for
the students.
The rehearsal began with sectionals that focused on music warm-up for the winds
and percussion, and flag warm-ups for the color guard. The rest of rehearsal was focused

on working out kinks in their show for a competition the next day. The rehearsal seemed
rather gloomy and much of it was fine tuning. Towards the end of rehearsal the band
performed a full run of the show. The freshmen then had to leave to go back to class
while the 10th-12th ran sectional music practice. The overall rehearsal was run very
efficiently.
The drum line worked the whole time with the rest of the band. They were far
enough in the season that the best use of their time is to be with the band. The front line
got an effective rehearsal because the focus was music so they got to play alot. the color
guard was used effectively and got to practice their routine quite a bit.
The band directors like Ankeny marching band are utilized effectively and their
program has benefited from that. even though the school is new and many of the staff are
new the program is running very well. This system is an ideal, which many school
districts don't have.