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 Mentoring
Young
Composers
The Small-Group,
Individualized
Approach
P. 7

Successful Steps
to Scat Singing

Elementary
P. 22

Music
Education Beginning
on page 30
 6

April 2010 • Volume 63 • Number 7

Contents
f e at u r e s

Mentoring Young Composers

22
The Small-Group, Individualized Approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Successful Steps to Scat Singing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Elementary Music Education
Science Comes Alive Through Music!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Toot Your Horn!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2010 FMEA All-State Elementary Chorus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
We Are the Music-Makers and So Much More!.. . . . . . . . . . . 40
38 The Joy of Music Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
What is RTI?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Music Educator 101.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Staying on the Balance Beam ... Maneuvers It
Took Me 10 Years to Figure Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Teaching Music to Low SES Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

d e pa rtm e nt s

Advertisers’ Index. 4
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

President’s Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Research Puzzles for Music Teachers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
www.flmusiced.org
Official FMEA and FMD Photographer: Bob O’Lary
Component News.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Circulation: 4,500 educators. Published monthly except Executive Director’s Notes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
January, June and July and combination February/
March by the Florida Music Educators’ Association,
Hinckley Center for Fine Arts Education 402 Office
Officers and Directors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Plaza Tallahassee, FL 32301-2757. FMEA reserves the
right to approve any application for appearance and to
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April 2010 3
 S u bm i s s i o n s
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4 Florida Music Director
A d v e rt i s e r s ’ I n d e x
The Florida Music Director is made possible by the participation of the fol-
lowing businesses whose advertisements appear in this issue. They make it
possible to provide you with a high quality publication, and we gratefully
acknowledge their support of our mission. We hope you will take special
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It is another important way you can support your professional association and
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The publisher does not endorse any particular company, product or service.
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Cannon Music Camp............................... 17 Music and Arts Center............................ 15
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 President’sMessage

Executive Director
The Benefits
of Influence
Florida Music Educators’
Association
James Perry
Hinckley Center for
Fine Arts Education
Joe Luechauer
402 Office Plaza President—Florida Music
Tallahassee, FL 32301 Educators’ Association
(850) 878-6844 or (800) 301-3632
(jamesperry@flmusiced.org)

I
am so pleased with the progress our association continues to make in terms of our
Editor-in-Chief
Michael Allen, Ph.D.
influence within our state. Last month, as you know, was our inaugural online edi-
Florida State University tion of the Florida Music Director. This was a vision brought into being, and very
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impressively I might add. I am sure we all can see the limitless benefits of this type of format,
128 Housewright Building
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mallen@fsu.edu our staff and those who contributed material and content for the success of this new venture.
As we continue to grow and become more sophisticated in the delivery of information and
Editorial Committee
Rick Greenwood resources, I am hopeful that you, our members, not only will find it easier to access informa-
Music Dept., UCF tion, but also will be encouraged to contribute articles and examples of best practices for all to
Orlando, FL 32816-1354
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tributions to and influence on education.
Steven Kelly, Ph.D. Our association continues to be a positive force within our state’s educational circles. It is
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encouraging to know that we have a strong voice of advocacy and a staff working with our lob-
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prepare for and participate in our Music Performance Assessments, recruit new students and
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reaffirm the need for music in our schools, let’s also remember that we are voices and role
Janet Moore
models for our profession.
School of Music, USF
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Tampa, FL 32620-7350 continue to deliver programs with less. Budgets are always a concern, but for many, this year
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(sales@flmusiced.org) literally hold the purse strings to our programs. Remaining professional in our conversations
and communications can only work to our advantage. This is a time when we should be so
Art Director &
Production Manager together in thought and practice that even the most entrenched politician can feel the power of
Lori Danello Roberts our resolve. Nothing is more influential and beneficial to our craft than music educators work-
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Joe Luechauer
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Copy Editor Joe Luechauer, President

Susan Trainor

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Valeria Anderson, (800) 301-3632

April 2010 5
6 Florida Music Director
Mentoring Young
Composers

W
The Small-Group, Individualized Approach
by Daniel Deutsch, D.M.A.

Why Composition Is a Crucial story, a letter or a poem—and that you

Component of Music Education had never learned to improvise your own

Composition is the creative wellspring sentences in conversation. You would not

of music. When we teach our students to be considered fluent in English. Literacy

compose, we invite them into the inner and fluency require a completed circle of

world of music. They begin to understand reading, writing and verbal expression.

more deeply the intentionality of music, It is the same with music. Musical literacy

the idea that composers mean something requires listening, reading, performing,

when they create compositions. When composing and improvising. It is said

students use the elements of music to that a test of fluency in a language is the

express their own ideas, emotions and ability to dream in it. That is what com-

imaginations, they add a new, deeper posers do: they dream in the language of

dimension to their musical understand- music and bring those dreams to life.

ing. As a result, their critical listen-

ing skills and performance ability are All Students Can Compose

enhanced. Imagine that as a child, you Every mother teaches her infant to impro-

had learned to read, but never to write a vise. As mother and baby coo back and

At left: Portrait of a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Continued on page 8

April 2010 7
Mentoring Young
Composers
Continued from 7
forth, the child gradually learns to navi-
gate the world of sounds and language.
All toddlers hum and sing their own
vocal improvisations while playing with
dolls and toys. Why do most of us lose
that ability as we grow older?
Composition should be part of the
music curriculum at every developmen-
tal stage. When we teach an elementary
school student her first three notes on
the trombone, we should present them as
tones to hear, to play, to improvise with
and to read. As the young trombonist
plays her own permutations and combi-
nations of her pitches, she has to make
choices, to experiment and to problem-
solve. The instrument is not merely a
device to reproduce other people’s music,
but also a tool for creative self-expression.
As she experiments and finds combina-
tions she likes, she begins to find her
own authentic musical “voice.” The notes
belong to her. She means them when she
plays them. She will expand her range
as she searches for the other notes her
song needs. Because she is not merely
decoding written symbols, she will play
the notes with better intonation and tone
quality. This feeling of authenticity and
intention usually transfers to other per-
formance settings.
Composition intrinsically entails
choice, and choice inevitably empowers ting, from the kindergarten general music from their classmates and inspire each
students. Even students facing extraordi- class to the high school concert band other. They can also work on collaborative
nary physical, mental and other learning rehearsal to the fifth grade cello lesson composition projects. This article focuses
challenges can compose. The students group. In my experience, the school set- on one effective approach to teaching
may just repeatedly choose “high note” or ting that leads to the highest levels of composition in the small-group lesson
“low note” and create an enjoyable musi- student engagement and achievement in setting for elementary and middle school
cal experience. They feel the power of composition is the small-group lesson, students.
their choices. There are appropriate com- just as it does for instrumental perfor- The educational setting for improvisa-
positional activities for students of every mance. The lesson group may be dedi- tion and composition must be supportive,
developmental stage and every combina- cated to composition or to a combination tolerant and nurturing. Of course, all edu-
tion of aptitudes and achievement. of composition with instrumental or sing- cational settings should be, but for com-
ing instruction. The small-group lesson position it is absolutely necessary. The
The Educational Setting provides the opportunity for individual path to composition begins with improvi-
Composition has been successfully taught coaching and also for peer interaction sation, experimentation and just “fooling
in every conceivable music education set- and social support. The students learn around” on one’s instrument. Because
8 Florida Music Director
At left: Autographed score of Alto Rhapsody by Brahms
the improviser is exploring uncharted
territory with undetermined outcomes,
the activity is inherently “risky.” As the
improviser explores the pathways of
musical invention, he will take wrong
turns and wander down blind alleys. The
wrong notes and self-correction are an
essential part of the compositional learn-
ing process, just as “babbling” is neces-
sary for language acquisition. Students
must not fear disapproval or ridicule
as they experiment. Another reason for
heightened sensitivity to the tone of the
educational setting is that student com-
posers are sharing their emotions and
ideas, their inner lives. An atmosphere of
trust and acceptance is essential. One of
the most effective ways to overcome the
students’ fear of risk is for the teacher to
model improvisational risk-taking for the
students.
How to Begin
Because composition is a creative activ-
ity, the curriculum must be tailored to
the specific needs of each student. Each
young composer inhabits a real musi-
cal world and has absorbed a cultur-
ally determined lexicon and semantics of
music. The composition teacher’s role is to
enter each student’s musical world and to
help make it a bigger world.
Most of us first learned composition
in theory class, so it is natural to think
that theory is the best starting point for
teaching composition. If by theory we
mean intervals, scales, chords and har-
mony rules, then theory may not be the
best starting place for creative composi-
tion. Let’s borrow another example from
language literacy and creative writing. To
help a child write a story, we do not start
with grammar, with nouns and adjec-
tives. We start with events, characters,
motivation, emotion. The story reflects
the student’s real interests and feelings.
The compelling “reality” of the child’s
story thrusts the narrative forward with
excitement. The teacher facilitates by ask-
ing questions about the urgency of the
plot and the motivations and reactions of
the characters. If the child is old enough,
at a later stage of the process, we teach
technical details of grammar, spelling
and punctuation, in order to facilitate a
more finished literary work. But that is
certainly not the place to begin. Many
typical introductory composition assign-
ments sound something like “Compose
an eight-bar melody in C major. Begin and
end on middle C, and use only half notes,
quarter notes and eighth notes.” While
this may be a useful puzzle or exercise, it
Continued on page 11
April 2010 9
10 Florida Music Director
Mentoring Young
Composers
Continued from 9
is not the gateway to “real” composition.
It leads students to believe erroneously
that composition is the manipulation of
symbols and conformity to set rules. The
resulting compositions are usually of little
aesthetic interest, and the child’s attach-
ment to the product is usually weak.
A more authentic approach begins
with ideas, emotion and meaning. “Kids,
we are going to have a great time invent-
ing our own music. We already have fun
playing music written by other compos-
ers, but now we get to express our own
ideas, feelings, emotions and imagina-
tions in music that can be created only by
YOU!” An introductory conversation fol-
lows, in which the teacher asks students
to select particular emotions, and the
teacher improvises phrases that illustrate
the given emotions. Students typically
suggest feelings such as sad, happy, excit-
ed and angry; but sometimes they go off
the beaten track with confused, isolated,
triumphant and so forth. Depending on
the level of the students, the conversation
can turn to how specific musical elements
combine to produce the given emotion.
“Now it’s your turn. Come back next week
with some music that expresses YOUR
emotion or idea. Don’t worry about writ-
ing it down; just play it or sing it to us next
week.” By casting such a wide net, the
assignment encourages students to rise
to their own highest possible levels right
from the beginning. The students return
with a wide array of responses. At one
extreme is the pianist who comes in with a
complete piece of Chopinesque chromatic
harmony. At the other extreme comes the
student who could not think of anything
at all. In between lies the full spectrum
of all other possibilities. Many students
come up with a first phrase; some create
a theme or motive; and some have just
a couple of notes they like. But with the
exception of the student who comes up
empty (and we will solve that problem
soon), all of the students share something
very important: They are attached to their
musical ideas. The ideas are authentic,
real musical expression. The teacher takes
the students seriously and treats them
respectfully as true composers who just
happen to be less experienced.
Helping Each Student Grow
The teacher faces a challenge. How do I
help all of these diverse students to grow
as composers? The students have differ-
ent levels of ability, different histories of
musical experience and different tastes
and preferences. Every student requires
a different kind and degree of scaffold-
ing. Fortunately, although each student
is unique, there are thematic strategies
and tactics the teacher can use to mentor
them all.
When the students play or sing their
first phrases, the teacher can invite every-
one in the group to say something posi-
tive about the music. All of them usu-
ally think of something kind (and true)
to say. The students’ first musical ideas
tend to present a customary array of
challenges. Many are disorganized, mov-
ing abruptly from one idea to the next.
Others have the opposite problem and
are extremely repetitious. The students
usually notice perceptively and comment
on these problems. Therefore, a good
topic for the second lesson is “Unity and
Variety.” Students are quick to grasp the
concept if the teacher illustrates it in
spoken language. Tell a story to the stu-
dents in which the characters and set-
ting change abruptly in every sentence.
“What is wrong with this story?” Then
tell a story in which the same sentences
recur over and over monotonously. The
students enjoy the satire and grasp the
point. Show them a clear example, like
Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, in which repetition
and variety of simple elements lead to an
eloquent musical statement. The student
who has too many unrelated motives
receives good news: “You have enough
ideas for eight pieces! Which ones do you
like the best? Let’s try to use those more
and get more mileage out of them. But
save all of the others for other pieces.”
Demonstrate how the student’s favorite
motive can take wing through repetition
and sequence.
Another student might bring in a melo-
dy that consists of only an ascending and
descending major scale with no rhyth-
mic differentiation or a series of diatonic
arpeggios rising by step. Once again,
first the good news: “You have written
a wonderful exercise. Let’s all play it
together. Now, if you want to make more
of a song out of it, what should we do?
How are songs different from exercises?”
The other students will usually offer use-
ful suggestions. Show how making some
of the notes longer stops the mechanical
repetition and creates the periodic flow of
breathing in phrases. Show how shaping
contour by changing direction adds more
interest.
As most educators know, the impact
of an adult’s words is very powerful
on young ears. Criticism at the early
stage can have a crippling effect. Insincere
praise can also slow or even halt progress
as the student wonders why the teacher
has to disguise reality. Often, the most
effective teacher’s responses to students’
work are phrased in the form of ques-
tions, such as “Do you want the phrase to
end suddenly?” or “How high should it go
before it stops?”
How can we help the student who can-
not think of any opening idea or who is
too shy to really try? One higher order
response is to ask the student what kind
of mood or style she wants for her piece.
Continued on page 12
April 2010 11
Mentoring Young
Composers
Continued from 11
When the student picks a mood, ask “Can
you hear a little tune that sounds like
that?” Often that is enough to jumpstart
the process. But sometimes the student
cannot even say if she wants to create a
happy or sad piece, a fast or slow piece,
a jazzy or classical piece. Then it is time
for a series of guaranteed fail-safe ice-
breaking activities. Start well within the
student’s comfort zone. “What is your
favorite scale?” Have the student play the
scale normally and then lead her gradu-
ally through a series of transformations.
First, the student can vary the dynamics
of the notes randomly, then the articula-
tion, then note duration. After that, she
can choose to repeat notes, or not, and to
change direction in the scale. In the few
minutes that this process takes, almost
every student will discover a satisfying
musical idea, something that “clicks” as
aurally authentic. The student is then
ready to rejoin her classmates in their
path forward.
Just as the story-writing teacher’s essen-
tial question is “What happens next?” the
composition teacher’s essential question
is “What sounds good after that?” Most
student composers pass through a series
of ebbs and flows in the creative process.
Sometimes the ideas grow naturally and
effortlessly; sometimes they stall. It is
helpful to have the blocked composer
temporarily assume the role of a passive
listener. “I am going to play your piece
for you. You don’t have to say anything;
just imagine what would sound good
next.” This often frees up the composer’s
imagination. If not, play the music and
have classmates take turns improvising
the singing of the next phrase. This is also
often successful. If aural imagination does
not work, the teacher can turn to theo-
retical analysis and show the student an
array of possible solutions to the impasse.
When offering specific suggestions, it is
a good idea to offer alternative scenarios
12 Florida Music Director
so that the student exercises choice even
when at an impasse.
If the music seems drab or lifeless, an
effective tactic is to appeal to the real-life
emotions of the student. “How do you feel
when you score a soccer goal? Wouldn’t
it be fun to put that in your piece?” This
process makes the music more interesting
and also increases the enthusiasm of the
student for his composition.
Sometimes the student’s ideas are diffi-
cult to comprehend. Is she trying to create
something avant-garde, or is she simply
confused? Do not judge too swiftly. It is
wise to record the music and listen to it
several times before you next see the stu-
dent. Once again, questions are the teach-
er’s best vehicle. Ask “Do you mean this
or this?” as you bend the phrase slightly
in one direction or another. “Some of my
favorite music is unusual. Are you trying
to create something unusual, or are you
just not sure what you mean or how to
play it?”
The student who rises to an advanced
level needs yet another set of responses.
The teacher can help him understand the
theoretical implications of his ideas and
extend that knowledge, through exercises
and analysis, to provide leverage for prog-
ress. Guide the student to participate in
regional, state and national programs and
competitions so that he can interact with
his compositional peers. If a regional or
state composition program does not exist
in your area, consider joining together
with colleagues to create one, as teachers
in several states have done successfully.
All of the students, at all of the various
achievement and aptitude levels, must
leave each lesson with hope and opti-
mism and with a sense of how they are
supposed to move forward that week.
“Are you feeling hopeful about your
piece? What is your plan for this week?”
If they do not articulate a positive answer,
the lesson is not complete, so the teacher
should always leave a few minutes at the
end of the session to help propel the stu-
dent through a creative trajectory toward
the next lesson. In direct response to the
students’ weekly progress, the curricu-
lum spirals up through a series of topics
that recur at rising taxonomic levels: mel-
ody and harmony; tension and release;
phrase, form and structure; texture and
instrumentation; dynamics, expression
and articulation; and tonal, modal
and atonal theory, as
appropriate.
Notation
Should students notate their pieces?
Should they write manuscripts by hand
or on the computer? The answers to these
questions depend on the age and devel-
opmental levels of the students. For most
students, notating too early in the compo-
sitional process often stifles the creative
musical flow. Students can invent their
own notational language as a memory
aid, or they can make audio recordings of
their improvisations. For those who know
how to read music, after the students
have composed a few phrases, the teacher
can introduce notation. In combination
with the traditional methods for teaching
notation, which are analogous to phonics,
the teacher can use a “whole language”
approach. Simply show the student what
the first phrase looks like in proper music
notation. Most students can extrapolate
their way forward, although almost all
of them will make rhythmic errors from
time to time.
Learning to notate music by hand with
a pencil is a valuable experience for young
composers. They learn proper notation
because the computer is not automati-
cally correcting every error, and they
take ownership of every single note. The
experience greatly increases their music
reading ability. More advanced students
may use notational software, but I advo-
cate that young students use the software
only after they have composed the music.
Composing directly on the computer can
cause musical problems. It is too easy
to click on notes without “hearing” or
feeling them. Students tend to cut and
paste too much. Pieces with
more than one
voice that are composed within
the notational software often have
a “sedimentary” feeling; the lines are
deposited above each other, but do not
interact responsively with each other.
All composers know that notation can
be a tedious process. Creating and dis-
tributing a publication of the students’
pieces is a very positive motivating force
for students to complete the process.
When students know that a composition
book is going to be published, they all
want their written pieces to be part of the
book. The publication creates an exciting
sense of community for the students as
they eagerly try to play the composi-
tions by the other students. Teachers can
also use technology to foster the sense
of community online with podcasts and
Web sites that gather and share students’
work.
Performance
Performance is an indispensible compo-
nent of the compositional process for
student composers. Having a composition
concert or festival scheduled on the cal-
endar of the school year gives students a
goal that directly shapes their motivation
and work. The concert brings the compo-
sitional process to its natural culmina-
tion, a public affirmation of the musical
expressiveness of the young composers.
Some of the compositions reflect the
Continued on page 14
April 2010 13
Mentoring Young
Composers
Continued from 13
personalities of individual composers so
clearly that people who know the stu-
dents can guess who wrote each piece.
But equally rewarding are the moments
when a very quiet, shy student presents a
heroic piece or a husky athlete performs
a tender or tragic piece. If the students
have been encouraged to follow their
own muses, one of the most strikingly
appealing qualities of the composition
concert is the sheer variety of the music:
a country fiddle tune; a calypso for alto
sax, piano and percussion; a Bartokian
duet for tuba and baritone horn; a piano
boogie-woogie; a classical string quartet;
a spooky piano piece with 12 singers hid-
den behind the back curtain; a heartfelt
graduation song. When the parents wit-
ness the degree of expressive authentic-
ity and excited engagement, they become
enthusiastically supportive.
The student composition concert is a
concert like no other. The music emanates
from the inner lives of the students. It
reveals their musical understanding more
than any standardized test ever could.
The patent pride and self-affirmation of
the students that is visible in the perfor-
mance of their creative works further
underscores the success of the concert.
Reflection
Throughout the compositional pro-
cess, formative assessment helps to guide
the students through cycles of creating,
reflecting and revising. When students
complete the process from inception to
publication and performance, they and
their teacher benefit from a summative
reflection session. At this time, pose ques-
tions such as “What was it like to compose
your own music?” and “Did it change the
way you think and feel about music?”
Most students say that the greatest
part about composing is the freedom and
power it gives them. “Composing my
14 Florida Music Director
own music was like being the president,”
said one fifth grader recently. A classmate
said, “Before composition, whenever I
saw a piece, I’d just play the notes without
thinking how the notes are placed. Now,
sometimes I think, Wouldn’t it be better
to put this note over here?” Another class-
mate said, “Playing my own compositions
in front of people made me feel like I was
free.” And another put it this way: “When
I play my own music, my soul is released.
I can fly. I’m special.”
Composition strengthens the respect
students have for other composers, as
revealed in this statement by a sixth
grader: “Now I think about the composer
who wrote the music. I know how hard
it is. I know he put the dynamics in for a
reason.”
Experience in composition transforms
many students’ concepts of their instru-
ments. A sixth grader said, “I no longer
think of the piano as an instrument;
rather, I think of it as a creative tool.” A
young oboist in the class said, “It made
me think as if my instrument was my
voice, letting out my feelings and emo-
tions.” Another classmate added, “Now
when I play piano, I can feel notes form-
ing inside my head.”
Students also recognize the impact
of composition on their emotional lives.
“Composing this piece was my anger
management for the year!” declared
a sixth grade student. Another wrote,
“Every time I add more notes to the piece,
there is this energetic and ecstatic feel-
ing. And when I play, I feel proud of me
and my music.” By giving an aesthetic
dimension to a student’s emotional world,
composition can help students overcome
emotional pain. A student who composes
an elegy for a lost family member uses
the transformative power of music to
turn her sorrow into a work of beauty and
remembrance.
Conclusion
As music teachers, we have a wonder-
ful opportunity. We get to teach the
“whole” student: left and right brains;
cognitive, affective and psychomotor
domains; technical and spiritual spheres.
Composition is an activity that unites all
elements of the student’s musical life.
Bloom’s revised taxonomy lists the fol-
lowing domains: creating, evaluating,
analyzing, applying, understanding and
remembering. It is difficult to conceive of
a program that helps students to grow in
these areas more vitally than music com-
position. The small-group, individualized
approach to mentoring young composers
offers an effective means to this end.
Additional Resources
Hickey, M. (ed.) (2003). Why and How to
Teach Music Composition: A New Horizon
for Music Education. Reston, VA: MENC.
Kaschub, M. and Smith, J. (2009). Minds
on Music: Composition for Creative and
Critical Thinking. Lanham, MD: R&L
Education–A Division of Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers Inc., in partnership
with MENC: The National Association
for Music Education.
Music Publishers’ Association and MENC.
(1993). Standard Music Notation Practice.
Available from NPC Imaging. http://
www.npcimaging.com/books/MPA.htm
Wiggins, J. (1990). Composition in the
Classroom. Reston, VA: MENC.
About the Author
Daniel Deutsch, D.M.A., is the compo-
sition/improvisation chairperson of the
New York State School Music Association
(http://composition.nyssma.org) and
national chairman of the MENC Student
Composers Competition. He can be
reached at dandeutsch@gmail.com.
This article first appeared in the fall
2009 issue of the Kansas Music Review.
 April 2010 15
SAMPLE COMPOSITION — AN AMERICAN DREAM CLICK TO PLAY

An American Dream John Adam Strub

     
q = 100 Majestic
            
Violin I     
   
mp

Violin II

           
     
mp

Viola          
mp

   
div.
   
Violoncello       
mp
  
Contrabass
       
mp

  
8             
    

 
Vln. I

          
Vln. II        

       
Vla.   
    
     

 
  
Vc.
   
 
Cb.
         

   
  
  
15
    
Vln. I     
 
mf
 
   
   
Vln. II      
mf

              
Vla.
mf mf
       
     
Vc.

mf

Cb.
       
mf

16 Florida Music Director

 April 2010 17
SAMPLE COMPOSITION —AMBIGUITY CLICK TO PLAY

18 Florida Music Director

SAMPLE COMPOSITION —EVERGREEN CLICK TO PLAY

April 2010 19
SAMPLE COMPOSITION — RECESSION! CLICK TO PLAY

20 Florida Music Director

 Make your
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April 2010 21
 Successful Steps
T
he popular appeal of vocal
jazz music and the educational
opportunities it provides choral music
students have been explored by many
music educators. Several schools
include vocal jazz ensembles as
a part of the daily schedule or as
an extracurricular performance oppor-
tunity for students who wish to perform
literature beyond the traditional choral
repertory. Specific vocal jazz singing
techniques include vibrato, ornamenta-
22 Florida Music Director
tion, phrasing and tone color. These tech-
niques have been researched, introduced
and discussed by various experts in the
field.1 Strategies for incorporating and
rehearsing such concepts within the cho-
ral setting have provided teachers with
the necessary tools for performing vocal
jazz. More recent publications in vocal
jazz instruction have also enabled teach-
ers to access information from written
scores and recorded excerpts.2 The pur-
pose of this article is to provide teachers
to Scat Singing by Billy Baker
with a sequential step-by-step process for
introducing and implementing scat sing-
ing within the context of a choral rehears-
al. The unique electronic presentation of
this publication will immediately enable
readers to witness audio and video dem-
onstrations of the concepts and strategies
being discussed.
Improvisation
According to Gridley, the act of improvis-
ing in music is an expression of spontane-
ous composition.3 That is, as musicians
are performing an improvisation, they
are crafting a piece of music that employs
various elements of melody, harmony,
rhythm, timbre and form. The National
Standard for Music Education Number
Three indicates that students should
improvise melodies, variations and
accompaniments. Jazz provides music
educators with a wonderful opportunity
to introduce students to the art of impro-
visation.
Scat Singing
Scat singing is the use of nonsense or ran-
dom syllables in any vocal improvisation.
Many scat soli are often imitative of vari-
ous instrumental styles and techniques.
For example, the slide of a trombone may
be imitated by the sigh or glissando of
the voice. Vocalists may also mimic the
splat of a trumpet with onomatopoeia
sounds such as “boink” or nonsense syl-
lables such as “byat.” Although Louis
Armstrong’s 1926 recording of Heebie
Jeebies has been attributed as one of the
first songs to include scat singing, sev-
eral of his ragtime predecessors also used
this singing style. Regardless of its ori-
gins, scat singing continues to evolve and
develop from musicians including Ella
Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Carmen McRae
and Sarah Vaughan to Al Jarreau, Karrin
Allyson, Dave Matthews, Bobby McFerrin
and Jon Hendricks.
Foundations of Scat
There is no prescribed method or isolated
approach to teaching scat singing. In fact,
the very nature of such a performance
technique should include experimenta-
tion with various styles and strategies.
However, several commonalities must
exist in the development of aural skills,
theory concepts and singing technique.
Listening to model singers is one of
the most beneficial preliminary steps
to rehearsing and performing scat. The
aforementioned musicians are notewor-
thy because they represent a diverse
collection of styles and interpretations.
A young jazz singer’s familiarity with
scatting techniques of the “masters” is
as important as a budding composer’s
comprehension of Bach’s counterpoint.
A sampler CD of 10 to 12 recordings
or a “listening party” may provide stu-
dents with opportunities to learn about
various styles and interpretations of jazz
performance practice.4 It is important for
singers to recognize that certain types of
jazz, such as bossa nova and ballad, use
softer and more liquid sounds, such as
“laa-oo-ley-oh-louie,” SOUND CLIP 1
while other types of jazz, including swing
and bebop, use more fricatives and stop
consonants, such as “bop-bo-dee-shoop-
zot-dat.” SOUND CLIP 2 As students
listen to a variety of recording artists,
they will come to realize this vocabu-
lary is a common language among scat
singers. Manipulation of a familiar nurs-
ery rhyme, children’s song or poem may
result in a variety of syllables and vowel
sounds for experimentation with scat as
well as syncopation. For example, the text
to Itsy Bitsy Spider is as follows:
Itsy bitsy spider went up the water
spout, down came the rain and washed
the spider out, out came the sun and
dried up all the rain and the itsy bitsy
spider went up the spout again.
By subtracting various syllables and
Continued on page 24
April 2010 23
 Scat Singing
Continued from 23
final consonants from the familiar text
and then speaking only the remaining
syllables in a swinging rhythm, students
will experience a variety of syncopated
“nonsense” syllables:
I - - sy - de we up - - te -, dow -
the - an wa - - de ou,
- ca - su - drie - - the ra, - - - sy bi - - de
we up - - again.
A remedial step to speaking this
altered text is to have half of the group
softly recite the complete text while the
other half speaks only the nonsense sylla-
bles. Students may then switch places for
VIDEO2:1: Chiaro
VIDEO Fifths
Figure 1. Scat singing circle of fifths exercise.
24 Florida Music Director
repetition. This activity may also include
the use of accents to emphasize the syn-
copation.
A working knowledge of music theory
and the ability to recognize changing
harmonic progressions aurally are also
prerequisite skills to scat singing. Singing
the following exercise based upon the cir-
cle of fifths ii, V, I chord progression will
assist students with realizing chord sym-
bols and internalizing harmonic changes:
See Video Clip 1 and Figure 1 below.
This activity may be expanded to
include more complex and extended pro-
gressions as students become more famil-
iar with the structure and spelling of
chords. Aural activities may also include
having students sing the root note of each
chord in a standard 12-bar blues progres-
sion, outlining the chords with arpeggio
scat syllables or simply trying to outline
various blocked seventh chords as they
are played on the piano.
Jazz singing techniques such as appro-
priate breath support, phrasing, vibrato,
tone and stylistic nuances should be prac-
ticed and mastered prior to performing
scat. Proper breath support is essential in
maintaining accurate intonation, lyricism
of the line and a healthful approach to
singing. This characteristic transfers eas-
ily from the bel canto technique of shap-
ing phrases with excellent breath con-
trol. Several phrasing techniques include
back phrasing (singing behind the beat),
forward phrasing (singing ahead of the
beat) and vamping (repeated measures)
of chord progressions for introductions,
interludes or endings. The following
audio clip is an example of how scat may
be used during a vamp:
SOUND CLIP 3
Although the use of vibrato in vocal
jazz is not as restricted as it may seem in
a traditional Renaissance motet, it is not
nearly as wide as in an Italian opera or
as free as in a musical theater show tune.
Singers should listen to a variety of per-
formers to understand the manipulation
of vibrato in jazz singing. For example,
 Figure 2. Blues vamp chord progression with bass line.

West Coast and cool jazz performers often to the performance that cannot be dupli- provide a familiar and relatively simple
use no vibrato while blues and bebop cated or repeated by other musicians. harmonic context for most students. The
singers frequently employ vibrato. Several Although they are not “scat” per se, these bass line/chord progression above may
genres, including ballads and various moments of improvisation represent the be used as an introductory vamp for
Latin jazz styles, may combine straight wide range of vocal techniques available improvisation:
tone and vibrato. It is not uncommon to to jazz singers. See Figure 2 above.
hear a long note value treated without The first step to scat singing with this
vibrato early in its duration and then Lesson in Scat Singing progression might be to perform the bass
progress to a more gradual and liberal use The first attempt to scat as a soloist line with neutral syllables, such as “doo”
of this device. may seem intimidating to students who with “bah” on the accented eighth notes.
The treatment of tone in vocal jazz can have the potential to excel in this area. Percussive and resonant articulations
range from a breathy or a smoky sound Therefore, it will be most beneficial for should be employed to imitate the pizzi-
to a more bright and brilliant color. Many the ensemble to experience scat singing in cato of an upright bass.
jazz singers experiment with a variety of unison prior to having individuals “jump See Video 2 below.
vocal timbres to convey the text and emo- into the deep end.” Blues progressions Continued on page 26
tions of a chart to the audience. Several
singers, such as Louis Armstrong, Billie
Holiday and Antonio Carlos Jobim, have
a distinct and unique tone that is recog-
nized and identified immediately upon
VIDEO 2: Blues Vamp
listening. A variety of tonal palates in
vocal jazz provides numerous opportu-
nities for young musicians to explore
improvisation and individual interpreta-
tion.
Stylistic nuances are unique to certain
genres and categories of the jazz idiom.
Scoops, smears and swinging note pat-
terns are often heard in standard charts
as well as in contemporary arrangements
of such tunes. The use of a “shout chorus”
may include preach singing or spoken
commentary, such as the following audio
clip of Stompin’ at the Savoy with Louis
Armstrong and Ella Fitgerald:

SOUND CLIP 4
These impromptu interjections add an
element of excitement and authenticity
April 2010 25
 Scat Singing
Continued from 25

The next step to scat singing with this
progression may include arpeggios of
each chord in the progression as illus-
trated and demonstrated in the example
below in Figure 3 and Video Clip 3 at right.
Next, consider subtracting certain
notes from the existing outline to create
rhythmic variety and syncopation: See
Figure 4 below and Video Clip 4 at right.
Finally, add more variation to the
existing syllables, ornament the arpeggio
outline and reverse several intervals to
enhance the solo: See Figure 5 below and
Video Clip 5 at right.
Continued on page 28

Figure 3. Chordal outline of harmonic progressions.

Figure 4. Syncopated rhythms and added rests.

Figure 5. Embellished text and reversed intervals.

26 Florida Music Director

 VIDEO 3:
Arpeggios

VIDEO 4:
Rhythmic
Variety

VIDEO 5:
Variation

April 2010 27
 Scat Singing
Continued from 26
The final performance represents a
typical scat solo with the given chord pro-
gressions. Although this approach may
seem “rehearsed” and lack spontaneity,
it provides each singer with a sequential,
reliable and secure methodology. Such
an approach may be transferred to other
passages within the jazz repertory and
be employed to teach various aspects
of theory, composition and performance
practice.
Scat singing not only provides music
educators with the opportunity to teach
some of the most often neglected National
Standards, it also promotes individuality,
improvisation and the study of a true
American art form, jazz. Frequent encour-
28 Florida Music Director
agement and experimentation are critical
components to the learning process as
students attempt to perform scat. A secure
and nurturing environment will enable
students to step “outside of the notational
box” and enjoy the creative aspects of
improvising.
Endnotes
1 Stephen Zegree, The Complete Guide
to Teaching Vocal Jazz (Dayton, OH,
Heritage Music Press, 2002); Michele
Weir, Jazz Singer’s Handbook: The Artistry
and Mastery of Singing Jazz (Van Nuys,
CA, Alfred Publishing Co., Inc., 2005).
2 Ibid.
3 Mark C. Gridley, Jazz Styles: History and
Analysis (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice
Hall, 2008), 4-5.
4 Kirk Marcy, “A Template for the
Comprehensive Learning of Vocal Jazz
Repertoire,” Choral Journal 50, no. 7
(February 2010): 57-61.
About the Author
Billy Baker is a candidate for the Ph.D. in
music education at Florida State University,
where he teaches group piano and
serves as an assistant with the vocal jazz
ensemble. He earned a B.M.E. from East
Carolina University and a master’s degree
in choral conducting from Michigan State
University. He is the former music depart-
ment chairman/choral director of Towson
High School in Baltimore, Md., where he
directed three choral ensembles, taught
AP Music Theory, music technology and
class guitar. He served as high school rep-
resentative on the Executive Board of the
Maryland Choral Educators Association
and site chairman for All-State chorus
auditions. He is a member of the Music
Educators National Conference, the
American Choral Directors Association
and the Society for Jazz Education.
 April 2010 29
Science Comes Alive
Through Music!
I
have found it fascinating to bring out the sci-
entists in my fifth grade musicians and even more
fascinating how much I learn from my students
through our musical adventures. With the help
from the fifth grade teachers, music colleagues,
workshops and surfing the net, I have located
and prepared simple experiments that offer a
close-up view of scientific phenomena connecting
music to the sounds we witness every day but rarely
take the time to investigate. Simple experiments help
demonstrate how the mysterious principles of sound
work, making the most complex concepts easy to
understand. The music-science experiments will
help inspire budding young musicians figure out
some of the mystery of their music world. Also, the
fifth grade teachers are thrilled that we are connect-
ing music to their science curriculum.
I researched our fifth grade science curriculum
and found that the FCAT exams require students to
know the different forms of energy. Sound is one of
30 Florida Music Director
many forms of energy, and sound is our world. Here
are the concepts of sound energy for which your
students are accountable. You may wish to consider
these if you choose to use science experiments in
your music curriculum.
• Recognize there are different types of sound
waves (water, sound, light)
• Know the parts of a sound wave (crest,
trough, wavelength)
• Recognize the relationship of wavelength
and frequency of sound waves
• Investigate how and why sound waves travel
at different speeds through solids, liquids
and gases (increase density: increase speed)
Knowing that hands-on projects create the biggest
impact in the minds of our students, I decided to
include sound experiments in the music curriculum.
The students have enjoyed their projects and have
begged for more music-science experiments! Here is
just a sample of what can be done.
 Introduction and Motivation
What is sound energy? It is the energy produced
when sound is created. Two characteristics of sound
Experiment: Understanding energy are pitch and frequency. Pitch is the high
sound energy with vibrating rulers
and low characteristics of sound. Frequency is the
and straw kazoos
number of vibrations for each sound pitch. How do
Grade Level: 5 MerryBeth Schmidt,
we use sound? We use sound to communicate, give
Time required: approximately 30 minutes NBCT/EMC Music
warnings, talk to each other and send messages over
Group size: 2 Sweetwater
the telephone. We also use sounds to entertain us Elementary School
Keywords: energy, frequency, pitch, sound, sound
and help us relax or get energized when we listen Port Orange, Florida
energy, sound wave, vibration
to music. Engineers also listen to sounds and create FMEA District IV
Learning objectives:
machines that detect sounds that our ears cannot Chairwoman
• Define pitch and frequency
even hear, such as ultrasound machines.
• Describe sound with a high or low pitch
• Describe how to change the pitch of a sound
Procedure
• Give an example of how engineers use pitch
Gather materials, rulers, straws, scissors and pen-
and frequency in the design of new products
cils, and make copies of the Pitch and Frequency
or musical instruments
Worksheet (as seen in the attachments). Divide class
To further our musicians’ understanding of sound
into teams of two students each.
energy, students will identify the different pitches
and frequencies created by a vibrating ruler and a
Continued on page 32
straw kazoo. They will create their own high- and
low-pitch sound waves.

April 2010 31
 Ruler Experiment
1. Have the students hold the end of a ruler flat against a table
and hit the other end, which extends beyond the edge
of the table. This is a good time to remind the students about
classroom safety.
2. Repeat this action several times, pulling more of the ruler
onto the table each time.
3. Ask the students how changing the length of the portion of
the ruler that extends past the edge of the
table changes the vibrations in the ruler. How does it affect
the pitch and the frequency of the
sound the ruler makes ? (Answer: The longer the amount of
the ruler beyond the table’s
edge, the lower the pitch and frequency.)
4. Students can find out how vibration creates sound by placing
the ruler on the
table and plucking the ruler to see and hear vibration. Write
answers on
worksheet.
5. Students can learn about volume as they pluck the ruler hard
for loud sounds and observe that a softer pluck changes
the volume.

Straw Kazoo Activity

1. Make a straw kazoo by cutting one end of a straw to a point. ment creations. See worksheets on the
following pages.
2. Blow into the straw and then cut a bit off the other end to
Incorporate the lesson with a class dis-
make it a shorter kazoo.
cussion of vocabulary terms.
3. Obser ve the change in the pitch as the straw kazoo is • How can you increase the volume of
shortened.
your musical instrument?
4. Discuss observations: Recall that pitch is the • How can you change the pitch of your
highness or lowness of a sound and that musical instrument?
frequency is a pitch’s rate of vibrations. • How does this affect the vibrations or
What type of pitch is characterized by slower frequency of your musical instrument?
vibrations? (Answer: A high pitch.)
Check out this great Web site: www.
pulsethemovie.com. In this Web site,
Science Comes Alive was not on their team. Have each group you will find Activity Connections to

Through Music! report their findings to the class.

Continued from 31
Assessments
Brainstorming: As a class, have the
students engage in open discussion.
1) What makes noise? 2) What is different
and similar between all these noises? Use
a Venn diagram to compare and contrast
noises.
Observations: Invite students to write
about their observations about the ruler
and straw kazoo activities. Compare their
observations with another person who
Kazoo designs: Give students three or
four new straws and allow them to design
and redesign their kazoos until they can
produce three or four different pitches.
Discuss their engineering feats!
Homework: Extra-credit-activity
extensions. Ask each student to design
and make an instrument. The student will
explain in writing how his or her instru-
ment makes a sound and why. Have a
“show and tell” day and conclude the day
by performing a song together with the
use of the students’ newly made instru-
National Standards and Science and the
Arts. The site offers a variety of activities
and worksheets connecting world music
to science activities.
This year, students will end our sound
energy experiment unit with a rhythmic
class-created kitchen-“sink-o-pation”
finale. Using the instruments designed
from home or the four straw kazoos, the
students will play along with songs we
have learned throughout the school year.
We will explore different sounds with the
use of syncopated rhythms and a little
improvisation.

Have fun as you explore the energy of sound!

32 Florida Music Director
 April 2010 33
34 Florida Music Director
 April 2010 35
 Toot Your Horn!
T
imes are tough. Florida may not recover
Mary Papit,
from the recession for at least another year.
NBCT/EMC Music
Riverside We are in for another grueling year of
Elementary School, proposed budget cuts. The federal No Child Left
Coral Springs, Behind Act lists the arts as a core academic subject,
Florida so why are the arts often one of the first areas to be
Plantation cut? Don’t wait until your school’s music program
Elementary School,
and your job are on the line. Assemble your support
Plantation, Florida
FEMEA District I troops before the threat. Act now!
Representative As music educators, we know the importance
of music to our students, but we need to make
sure the rest of the community sees the positive
effects of quality music education on our students.
Music education needs the support of each school’s
administration, teachers, parents and community as
well as our legislators. The more people in our com-
munity that know how important music education
is to our students, the more secure and effective our
program will be.
Administrative Support
Salaries are a school’s largest annual expense. When
there are budget cuts to be made, principals are left
with the decision of whom to cut that will have the
least impact on the students. Will your principal
question how essential music is to the students in
your school? You have the power … don’t let that
happen! In order for your school administrators
36 Florida Music Director
to understand the value of music to your students,
they must see and hear the students in action.
Continually invite administrators to see what goes
on in your classroom. Ensure that they see your stu-
dents integrating subjects while they learn music.
Music is one of the only classes where students inte-
grate reading, math, history, social studies and sci-
ence. Let administrators see the students creating,
collaborating and expressing feelings and emotion.
Parental Support
Involve as many students as possible in perfor-
mances during the course of the school year, not just
the students in performing ensembles. The more
students performing, the more parents will see
and value what the music program does for their
children. Ask Partners in Education about doing
a fund-raiser performance. You can display what
your students have learned and raise money for
the school simultaneously. Send invitations to the
whole school. Everyone will see the music program
in action, not just parents of the students who are
performing. Suggest to parents and students that
they invite relatives and friends. The more the mer-
rier!
Inform your audience. Have students distrib-
ute handouts that include important statistics, the
importance of contacting legislators and conveying
the fact that we need to spend more on
educating our children. Encourage par-
ents to visit the flmusiced.org Web site.
Under “legislative info,” they can click on
“find legislators” to get contact informa-
tion for their local legislators. Suggest to
parents that they let their school board
members know how valuable music is
to the students they represent and the
importance to the community at large.
Prepare a PowerPoint presentation to
show prior to performances. Make a few
brief statements about the importance of
music education to our children at the
opening and closing of the performance,
or perhaps allow a student to speak.
Nothing is more powerful than a child
speaking about what music means in his
or her life.
Encourage your students to share what
they have learned in music class with
their parents, siblings and grandparents.
You may want to give them some sugges-
tions at the end of class on how to do this.
Keep the parents informed. Include
information on the school’s Web site and
in the school’s newsletter about what the
students are doing in music class. Give
parents specific questions they can ask
their children regarding musical concepts
that were recently covered in class.
Community Support
Perform where you are likely to have a
large audience: school academic fair, book
fair, mall, airport … the opportunities are
endless. Think outside the box and sell the
product you passionately believe in.
• Invite school board members and
legislators to performances.
• Let the local newspapers know
about performances. Contact both
large-circulation newspapers as
well as small community publica-
tions. Get the word out that music
is alive in your school and in their
community.
• Offer your services and those of
your young musicians. Perform
for PTA/PTO meetings, principal’s
meetings, school board meetings.
There are so many possibilities.
• Get involved in the whole school,
not just the music program. Step
up and be a team leader, volun-
teer to be on the SAC committee,
offer to teach at the afterschool
FCAT camp. Investment in the
whole school helps administrators,
colleagues and community stake-
holders view us and our programs
as an integral, indispensible piece
of the teaching and learning envi-
ronment of our schools.
If you have assembled your troops
ahead of time, they will be there for you.
You will know on whom you can call to
take action.
Here are a few useful Web sites to help
advocate for music in our schools:
• www.flmusiced.org: advocacy,
facts and statistics, legislative info,
find legislators’ contact informa-
tion for parents to contact their
legislators
• www.menc.org
• www.theorymatters.com/testi-
monials/index.html: music advo-
cacy PowerPoint presentations
• www.musick8.com/html/down-
loaddisplay.php?dwnid=52: You
can add your school’s own infor-
mation to make it more personal
April 2010 37
 2010 FMEA All-State
Elementary Chorus
Robert Todd,
NBCT On Jan. 8, 2010, after months of hard work on the part of many dedicated teachers, parents
Bayview and most important, students, the FMEA All-State Elementary Chorus featuring 212 of
H
Elementary School
Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s finest fourth and fifth grade students took the stage. The ensuing concert was
Florida nothing short of magnificent.
FMEA All State
Elementary Chorus Henry Leck, maestro extraordi-
Chairman naire, having conducted the event
in its first year, returned for this
prestigious 10 th
anniversary con-
cert. His consummate choral art-
istry and patient manner brought
mutual respect from all who heard
him. It was evident that the boys
and girls had been well trained
by their teachers. Not only was
their music fully memorized, the
singers understood that they were
privileged to have the opportunity
to work with one of the greatest
of our time! Bravo, Florida music
educators!
Accompanying the choir on
piano was Suzy Reiser from Indian
River County, FEMEA’s own
sweetheart. As described during
the concert’s opening comments,
she is as kindhearted as she is
talented. We are very grateful to
Suzy, who not only masterfully
accompanied the concert, but also
recorded the accompaniment
piano tracks for the rehearsal CDs.
She was an incredibly conscien-
tious pianist and a generous entity
working toward the success of the
concert.
Mr. Leck’s selections made for
a well-rounded concert. Starting
off with an idea from Vivaldi’s
Magnificat, the students superbly
rendered Et Exultavit. While the
38 Florida Music Director
melismatic passages were some-
times vocally demanding, the stu-
dents sang with passion, bring-
ing out the moving lines with
precision. Along with the piano,
string players Cheryl and Patrick
Vaughan and Tricia Padlan very
skillfully accompanied the piece.
Hold On!, an African-American
spiritual, beautifully arranged in
a lilting jazz style by the extremely
talented Ken Berg, was a favorite
among the students. The singers
really shined on the cheerful Going
Down to Cairo, an Illinois Play-Party
song arranged by Douglas Beam.
Cyndee Giebler’s arrangement of
the English folk song The Tailor
of Gloucester provided much fun
with text as the children expressed
“hi diddle um kum feedle,” often
in different meters. Replete with
appropriate choreography, a song
and dance from the Torres Strait
Islands, Sesere eeye, rang out as the
children lifted their voices in close
three-part harmony. This playful,
traditional song, though learned
by our students with the written
notes, was performed in light of the
improvised way in which it was
taught and notated by Matthew
Doyle. Craig Uppercue and two of
his talented students from Stetson
University, Michelle Bommarito
and Angelo Sanchez, provided
beautiful percussion accompa-
niment. Mr. Leck composed the
annual FEMEA-commissioned
song. He arranged a three-part
adaptation of the Greek Folk song
Gerakina. Mr. Leck convinced the
singers of the 7/8 meter song’s
ease of execution by relating its
translation and demonstrating its
flow in a charming dance. Joining
him in the lively dance, such as
might be enjoyed at a Greek wed-
ding, was FEMEA member Joanne
Khambouris. Closing the fantastic
concert was Joan Varner’s We Are
the Dreamers. Its simple, eloquent
melody profoundly reminded us
all that together we can be capable
of making positive things happen.
This was definitely a fantastic con-
cert, one that will be remembered
for years to come.
Hosts of amazing teachers, all
FEMEA members, from through-
out Florida were instrumental in
bringing the concert to its culmi-
nation. FEMEA is sincerely appre-
ciative and gratefully acknowl-
edges Lisa Clark for her beautiful
singing on the rehearsal CD; Brad
Keller, who worked closely with
Lisa and “got all the kinks out”
with his sound engineering exper-
tise; Sarah Baltunis for securing
the copyright privileges allowing
us to make the rehearsal CD in
mass production; Scott Baltunis for
expertly manning the monitoring,
where there was always a pleth-
ora of teachers with those famil-
iar neon badges; Carolyn Turner,
who headed an entire team of yet
more awesome FEMEA members
in planning and executing a safe
and sane dismissal; Linda Steffen
for organizing the judges; Barbara
Sullivan, who beautifully planned
and carried out the students’ check-
in along with her team of more great
FEMEA members; Kim Spurlin for
hosting the judging at her school,
Hunters Green Elementary in
Tampa; our friends at J.W. Pepper
for providing many services to this
grand cause; and the FEMEA Local
Committee, a crew of individu-
als from the Hillsborough District
who descended upon us at 11
a.m. on Thursday and in no time
had the hall ready for rehearsals.
Having been a district representa-
tive myself, I know the tremendous
amount of work the district chair-
persons provide in processing all
of the audition applications and
recordings. My hat is off to all of
you for the expert way in which
you handled everything. The entire
Executive Board is to be commend-
ed for being willing, at the drop of
a hat, to jump in and work for the
good of our children. Finally, to all
the teachers who had students in
the choir and to those who audi-
tioned students: sincere gratitude.
It is not forgotten that you begin
in early September and do not stop
until the concert. This year’s forms,
contracts and fees were submitted
in a very timely manner, making
the co-chairpersons’ jobs so much
easier.
Because this was a transition
year from one chairperson to anoth-
er, heartfelt thanks and admiration
are expressed to Cheryl Vaughan.
She went well above the call of duty
in teaching me how to lead such
a monumental event, giving valu-
able advice and gentle guidance
throughout the year. Cheryl made
unprecedented and priceless con-
tributions during her tenure as All-
State chairwoman, streamlining
each phase, ensuring that the choir
runs like a well-oiled machine. One
can only hope to attain the high
standards and passionate execution
of every detail of this beautiful and
worthwhile chorus.
As we look to 2011, we will wel-
come Dr. Ann Small of Stetson
University, the next conductor, and
Earlene Rentz, who has agreed to
compose the commission. In just a
short while, the entire process will
start all over again. Through the
months we will grumble a little
and rush to make deadlines, but as
has happened every year that the
FMEA All-State Elementary Chorus
has been in existence, it will be
worthwhile when we hear yet
another superior choir.
 We Are the
Music-Makers
and So Much Mo
Karen Van Beek,
Music Specialist
Central Elementary
School
Okeechobee, Florida
FEMEA District VII
Chairwoman

You know it. Your students know it. Music class is much, much more
than just a planning period for the classroom teacher. With just a little
extra effort, the parents, the administrators and yes, the home room
teachers will realize it, too.
Every day there are wonderful things occurring in your classroom. Are you and the
children the only ones who know it? One way to share these experiences is to volunteer
to provide entertainment at your school’s PTA/PTO meetings. Having an entire grade
level perform at an evening PTO program can be a positive addition to a school’s tradi-
tions. Choosing songs, poems, instrumental pieces, movement activities and even listening
activities from your regular curriculum means you are not spending time rehearsing for a

“Hey, I K
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ditional F g!”
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h , rh y th e rf o rm s eat phrase
pitc ent p s,
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U S IC A222— e y b oa (ABA).
die
estimate d s connection: find
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n a ly z e the form istance fr Cumberla
instrum an a om Okee nd Gap o
student c atterns, u
ses chobee n U.S. ma
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MUS e n t re c o Tucker...
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MATH D Musical c
oncepts: ................
. ........ Dan
symbols ins eight bea Emmett
lla Jenk Language t phrases,
.. .. .. .. .. .. ............ E Arts conn
ection: fin
v e rse/refrain
form
ees. .. Physical d other ve
retty Tr gs songs
alone. Educatio rses, write
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S O e stu d e ongs wit on: folk d e
S IC A 111—Th a n s in g simple s Hot Cross
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he stude Buns....... skills
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................
..........En
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y th m , pitch. m p a re s characte oncepts: glish Stre
et Vendo
tone, rh e studen
t co on the sta
ff
learning “
B A G” o r’s Song
N C E F 112—Th n recorde
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SCIE als. Social Stu ading note
and anim dies conn s
of plants “advertis
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ection: dis
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dio, etc.

40
ore!
“show,” but rather you are showcasing
the skills and concepts the students have
been studying in class. Because there
is usually a business meeting first, the
program can be a brief 15 to 20 minutes.
The examples at left show excerpts
from two actual programs. Providing
a printed program for the teachers and
parents is an effective way of communi-
cating the details of the learning that is
occurring in your classroom. By printing
the learning objectives or Sunshine State
Standards in simple, easily understood
terms, parents and teachers will see that
your music class is not just popping in
a CD and singing along with it. If you
are concerned that your audience is not
reading the program, a brief narration,
either by the teacher or by students, can
provide the same information.
In the second example, Sunshine
State Standards were posted. You are,
of course, familiar with the Sunshine
State Standards in music, but have you
taken the time to review the language
arts, math, science, physical education
and other subject area standards? You
will find that you reinforce many of
these standards every day in your music
classes. While your emphasis will still
be teaching musical skills and concepts,
the students will benefit greatly from the
connections of one subject to another.
The classroom teachers will appreciate
the support and will, it is hoped, return
the favor when you have some extra
rehearsals or need some assistance with
a major program.
In addition to educating parents and
teachers through PTO performances,
you should consider becoming involved
and informed about all aspects of your
school. Many times music teachers com-
plain that in-service or training does not
apply to their teaching situations. While
it may be true that many of these events
do not directly address the music cur-
riculum, by attending and participating,
you are showing that you are a profes-
sional and that you are interested in
everything that involves students’ learn-
ing. When you show respect for all areas
of the curriculum and contribute to the
discussions and planning for your
school, you will be respected as a fellow
educator—not just the person who sings
and dances all day!
April 2010 41
 Joy of
M
The
Music Theory
Ann Leffard,
Program Director
Pensacola Kodály
Institute
University of West
Florida
FEMEA District VI
Chairwoman
Music Theory 101. This
college course has struck fear and loathing into the
hearts of many of the most devoted musicians and
music educators. Why? Could it be that we learned
music theory in much the same way many of us were
taught to read music from the very start?
“Lesson 1: This is a whole note. It gets four beats.
It is called C; it sits in the third space of the treble
clef on the music staff. A sharp makes it higher; a flat
makes it lower. There are five lines and four spaces in
the music staff. In the treble clef, the space notes are
named FACE, and the lines are EGBDF.”
What if we taught language reading to 6-year-old
children in the same manner?
“Lesson 1: This is a letter. It is called C, and we
write it so it sits on the line. We write letters from
left to right; when we put letters together, they
make words. If you write an H after C, it sounds
different. The letters of the alphabet in order are
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ.”
When you read the second example, it’s clear that
this pedagogical approach would not be very effec-
tive with beginning readers. Why, then, do we often
teach music literacy this way to learners of all ages?
The explanation for that is not as clear, but we can
look to the joy of music itself for an answer to this
question: How do we teach the seemingly dry and dull
elements of music in a joyful way?
Let’s backtrack and look at what literacy is and
how literacy develops. True music literacy develops
similarly to language literacy. Language literacy
begins with experiences. Babies learn receptively
from the moment they begin to hear, while still in
utero. Sounds eventually acquire meaning as babies
42 Florida Music Director
gain life experiences. Eventually the child imitates
language sounds he or she hears in the environ-
ment. Young children learn to communicate through
example and play, adding vocabulary throughout
their lives. Literacy happens when the mental lexi-
con of familiar vocabulary connects to written
text. Reading and writing are interlaced with aural
experiences as the final steps of a multi-year process
of developing language literacy.
Ideally, beginning music literacy skills are layered
and intertwined with early music experiences. Read
this sentence again, now thinking of music literacy:
Literacy happens when the mental lexicon of familiar
vocabulary connects to written text. Children must
1) have a variety of high-quality, developmentally appro-
priate music experiences stored in their memories
prior to learning to read music; and then, 2) these
mental sounds must connect to the written learning.
Just as important as the experience of hearing
musical sounds is the emotion these experiences
inspire. Many children enter school musically behind;
they may even come from a family that discourages
normal singing exploration because “Mom and Dad
can’t sing,” and so the child is not expected to “have
talent”! This myth must be dispelled. Music skills
are learned skills! Could we imagine ever telling a
young child that since his or her parents were not
good at math or reading, therefore he or she won’t
be? It becomes the duty of the school music program
to help the child become a music-maker, to provide
essential music experiences and skills that he or she
may not have acquired previously.
Back to language. Imagine if we were to deprive a
child of read-aloud stories. Research has shown (and
Grandma has always known) that reading
aloud to children strengthens language
comprehension, vocabulary and expres-
sion, and provides a fluency model for
children to emulate. Consider how effec-
tive it would be to teach a child to read a
story about a cat if he or she had never had
experiences with “catness.” You might as
well try to teach the child about anti-
disestablishmentarianism! This brings to
mind Annie Sullivan’s experience with
Helen Keller. The light bulb went on for
little Helen when the word “water” was
spelled in her hand under the running
pump. The experience finally connected with
the text. Eureka! Comprehension!
With this in mind, we must then rec-
ognize how important it is to sing to
and move musically with young people.
Parents and teachers have the oppor-
tunity to lay the groundwork of rich,
developmentally appropriate experiences
that will strengthen our children physi-
cally, emotionally and cognitively. Many
students enter school at all levels without
an adequate musical background; music
educators must then be prepared to model
and participate in joyful music-making in
classes with their students. This is how
children learn that people make music.
When students have acquired back-
ground music experiences and are ready
to learn the written elements of music,
Continued on page 44
April 2010 43
 The Joy of
Music Theory
Continued from 43
how could we then justify the dry, music-
less pedagogy of talking about elements
of music notation without connecting it to
the sounds of the music itself? Is it possible
to teach the elements of music so that they are
always connected to the sound of the music
they represent? The answer is a resounding
44 Florida Music Director
yes, and this pedagogy can be implement-
ed at every age, at the primary and sec-
ondary levels and on through maturity.
We are fortunate to be music educators
because our subject matter is naturally
infused with emotion. Research is show-
ing that emotion has a huge influence
on the efficacy of learning. The sound of
music has always been the inspiration
for the study of music, and it will be the
factor that ultimately saves music from
humanity’s final curricular chopping
block. Humans crave music and recog-
nize the value of music for music’s sake.
Therefore, we will do well to be remind-
ed that there is grave danger in teaching
music by separating the elements of music
from the sound of music, for it is then that
the theory of music actually does become
that dry and boring subject that many
musicians dreaded during their formative
years. Music educators in every specialty
should always use the joyful sound of
music in teaching the elements of music.
The music educator then becomes a facili-
tator in the music lesson; the students
discover the joy of musical understanding
for themselves. The teacher asks guiding
questions; students listen, sing or play
to identify the critical attributes of the
new learning as they compare new sounds
to known sounds in their own experiences.
Music learning is then active and student-
centered instead of merely talking about
dry ink spots on the page. When made
personally relevant in this manner, music
lessons are anything BUT dry and boring.
Instead, the emotion of the sound enhanc-
es understanding and excites the intellect!
Music literacy is fluency in the sound-
to-symbol connection. Most of us decid-
ed to become musician-educators because
of the goose bumps created by that sound.
When music educators commit to lifelong
development of their own personal music
literacy and seek to refine their pedagogi-
cal skills, teaching the elements of music
becomes exciting. The joy of the music
itself is the joy of music “theory.” It is
the magic that cements the connection
between the emotional and cognitive
aspects of the sound. The “secret” to
keeping all music learning joyful for our-
selves and for our students is to make
sure we 1) make music with students in
every class; and 2) keep the symbols con-
necting to the joyful sound of music—
always.
Kodály Concept Level One will be
offered at UWF July 19-30, 2010. For more
information, go to www.musicmind.home-
stead.com.

What would you think if you saw the
letters RTI on your schedule? Two years
ago, I came back to school a couple of
weeks early to clean, etc., and decided to
look at the common folder and check out
the schedule. Right there at the beginning
of the day, every day, were the letters RTI.
I really had no idea what that meant; the
rest of my classes were there, but what
did RTI mean to me?
Well, two weeks later, I found out. RTI
meant that I would have a reading group
every day, first thing in the morning,
for 35 minutes. I was given a kit with a
vocabulary book, a workbook and a book
of stories along with words printed on
2x10 cards and beautiful, color pictures.
I was given a list of seven second grade
students. It was a good group of kids,
so I thought O.K. … I can do this. I can
apply the essential skills that I apply to
my music classes: ability to read (musical
literacy), ability to transfer ideas, ability
to problem solve, ability to perform com-
fortably, ability to respond to emotional
character of music and ability to internal-
ize basic rhythms and pulse; all of these
elements should help me to teach fluency,
comprehension, phonics and phonemic
awareness to this group, right?
Well, it took a couple of weeks of ago-
nizing on my part, but I think I’ve got it
now. My preparation time has gone from
over an hour to around 20 minutes, and
although assessment is not part of this
activity, I have done some visual assess-
ments on my own. I’m proud to say I have
seen progress in developing vocabulary
and literacy skills in my RTI group.
RTI, by the way, stands for Response
to Intervention. The kit I was issued is
Beck and McKeown. Every week begins
with the story and the seven words. I post
the words and their corresponding pic-
tures on my small bulletin board. I have
discovered that all of my classes look at
the pictures and the words because the
words keep popping up in answers to
questions that I ask during regular music
classes. Noticing this observation by the
students, I asked the fifth grade team
members for their science vocabulary
words. Those words are posted on my
door, and we have used them in several
rhythm activities.
O.K., back to the actual lesson. I begin
with the story and discussing the words,
and then we play the words on mallet
instruments or drums and repeat the def-
initions. Sometimes we create our own
sound story using the seven words. I have
also pulled out my vintage Silver Burdett
books and asked the students to find
a song that uses one of our vocabulary
words, and then we can sing that song.
Every Friday is a special celebration of
the week’s words. For instance, the week
our words included gallery and display,
Suzy Reiser,
NBCT/EMC
Music
Beachland
Elementary School
Vero Beach, Florida
District VII
Representative
I asked each student to bring a treasured
object. The students chose a couple of
Mozart piano sonatas for me to play, and
we had a visit to an art gallery right in
the music room, along with cheese and
crackers and sparkling water. I got hats
and ties out of the costume closet so we
would be dressed appropriately for a visit
to an art gallery. Needless to say, every
Friday can’t be that elaborate. The week
our list included creation and assemble,
I put out a selection of colored paper,
markers and scissors. The students cre-
ated and assembled, and every student
drew musical notes and treble clefs on
their creations.
I enjoyed interacting with a small
group every day and sharing in their
literacy development. I saw their love
of words and of creating patterns with
the words that could transfer to musical
composition as the students develop and
mature. This year I volunteered to take a
third grade group. New words, 16 new
students and new issues, but we have set-
tled into a routine. I am striving to give
these students the gift of vocabulary and
the love of words so they will have more
questions to ask, more concepts to think
about and more books to read. It is my
hope that the outcomes for these students
will include creating more music and
increasing their learning success through-
out their lives.
April 2010 45
 Tricia Padlan,
Music Specialist
Whitehouse
Elementary School
Jacksonville, Florida
FEMEA District V
Representative
Music Educator 101
F
inally, you have received your
diploma, passed all of the require-
ments for your teaching certificate
and have interviewed and landed
at a school teaching music. What do you
need to do now? Being a first-year teacher
may be an uncertain time, or it can be a
pleasant experience. With either outcome,
you still have responsibilities and ques-
tions to address.
You were chosen for the position
because you showed certain aspects of
character of the ideal employee and have
the credentials to fill the position. Now
that you are at your school planning for
the school year, what do you plan on
teaching? What classroom structure will
be in place for the first day and the next
days of school? What happens when you
feel like you cannot teach another day or
your well of lesson ideas has gone dry?
You may not know where to look, but
in your county, you have resources to
help you. Statewide you have resources
to inspire and invigorate the beginning
teacher.
Imagine yourself in a foreign country.
You studied the surroundings and the
46 Florida Music Director
culture of the country before you arrived.
You went there on your own. Do you
feel lost yet? In the foreign country, you
find people with whom you can speak
and build relationships. You get to know
people with interests similar to yours.
Teaching for the first time can some-
times feel like you did all of the neces-
sary work, but the job is nothing like you
expected. In teaching, you have those
that speak the same language as you and
have the same interests as you. There are
people in your school that can help you
get through the first year. Find a teacher
that is like you, and see if he or she will
be a mentor to teach you the ropes and
routines of the school. Do not be afraid to
ask questions. Secretaries, teachers and
principals also can help you have a suc-
cessful year of teaching. Sometimes other
teachers can help you with classroom
and time management. Also, check at
your school to see if there is a schoolwide
behavior plan. That is a great way to plan
structure into your classroom.
After securing your position, you may
be instructed to complete a beginning
teacher course. You may think, “I’ve
already done this,” but it will be O.K. You
will make it through, just like you did
in your college courses. However, if you
are completing an alternative certification
program and are holding a temporary
teaching certificate, you will have courses
to complete in relation to classroom man-
agement and assessments.
At your school, you may have music
books and other resources. These are
great for jumpstarting your music pro-
gram. They are filled with everything you
need to teach a lesson. If you have CDs
with these books, or sheet music if you
play an instrument, then you have every-
thing to help plan your lessons for the
year. These books also have information
for cross-curricular activities like history,
literature and science.
You have become familiar with your
school’s procedures, and now your con-
centration is on your subject area. You
have practiced some aspects of your sub-
ject, but what about working with grade
levels or ensembles? Sometimes you
might be stuck on what lesson to do next
with a grade level. Networking with other
music teachers in your county or area
is a great resource. Teachers who have
made it past the first-year hurdle have
valuable information for you. In addition,
networking in your area will connect you
with veteran teachers that have lessons
and ideas that have worked consistently.
Cling to those teachers! Most of those
teachers want to pass on what they know
and what works. Find a mentor in this
group, too. A mentor can be a lifeline
when you are floundering in the middle
of the year for something to do with your
second graders or for a special program.
Contacting professors and colleagues
from your college can also help you gath-
er new ideas for grade levels. A fabulous
source for ideas and new lessons can be
had by joining local music organizations
and your state music organization. The
resource you are reading now is possible
because you joined the Florida Music
Educators’ Association (FMEA). You have
in this digital magazine access to les-
son ideas, other teachers and state news
to help you be the best music teacher
you can be. Every year FMEA holds a
music conference to encourage, inspire
and inform teachers of teaching tech-
niques and statewide news. There are also
components that hold sessions specific to
their areas of expertise. There is some-
thing for the elementary teacher, the band
teacher, the choir teacher and the orches-
tra teacher. It is a wonderful resource
because you meet teachers from across
the state (networking tool!) and you meet
people from across the nation that come
to share their ideas and “tried and true”
lessons with you.
During your first year, you may start to
feel “run down, sluggish and exhausted.”
That is a sign that you are more than like-
ly catching something from your environ-
ment. This is normal. The school environ-
ment is different from those places you
have been to before. You will get sick. You
will need to stay home and rest. Do it!
Being a teacher does not mean you have
to go to work every day and never miss.
Do not feel guilty for taking a day or two
to recover from whatever is ailing you.
Remember, you are human. You need rest
and proper nourishment. Do not forget to
eat well, get some exercise, drink plenty
of fluids and rest. You may be a teacher
taking care of children, but you also need
to take care of yourself. Also, find some-
thing to do to relieve stress. You will be
happy you have something to do other
than planning lessons.
Remember, you are not alone in teach-
ing music to your students. You have
many supports in your school, district
and state to help you get through the
sometimes unpleasant “new kid” feeling.
Use your resources. Ask questions. Find
out what best fits the needs of the stu-
dents whose lives you will touch. Do not
forget to find things that inspire you and
that encourage you to keep teaching
music to these students and even to your
fellow faculty members. Share your ideas
when you have something that really
works; someone else can probably use it.
Join your professional organizations. Do
not let the opportunity for information
and ideas be given to you secondhand.
Get involved. Be in the center of it so you
can grow into the music teacher you
aspire to be!
April 2010 47
 Staying on the Balance
Julie L. Hebert,
NBCT/EMC Music
Gene Witt
Maneuvers It Took Me
Elementary School
Bradenton, Florida
D
FEMEA District II
Chairwoman
o music teachers wear tights
and leotards? Not usually. Do
they sing with or conduct their
students from atop a balance
beam? Probably not. However,
tights and leotards aside, the
life of a music teacher is very
much like the life of a balance
beam gymnast. Just as the bal-
ance beam artist’s success is
measured by the accuracy in which she is
able to stay on the beam while performing
difficult gymnastics maneuvers, a music
teacher’s success is determined, in part,
by his or her ability to maintain a healthy
balance of personal and professional tasks
while cultivating student achievement.
“How do you do it all with two tod-
dlers at home?” “Do you ever do any-
thing fun?” “Do you ever sleep?” These
are examples of common questions I’ve
become accustomed to answering. It
seems that my colleagues, family and
friends find it hard to believe that I’m able
to be a successful wife, mom and music
teacher while serving on the FEMEA
Board, attending grad school and serving
on numerous other committees. However,
there was a time when I was not doing
so well with all of these responsibili-
ties. I was overwhelmed with extra tasks.
If it were not for the advice of a few
close friends, I might not have success-
48 Florida Music Director
10 Years to Figure
fully made it through a significant rough
patch. I likely would have crashed off of
my balance beam. Fortunately, my good
friends offered some seemingly simple
suggestions … things I had heard a mil-
lion times. But putting these ideas into
practice made me a better wife, mom and
music teacher while keeping me balanced
on my beam.
Time Management
Get yourself a calendar, Palm Pilot, alarm
clock … whatever you need to make sure
you keep track of your schedule. Never
commit to anything until you’ve checked
your schedule. It is best to cross-reference
your schedule with those of your spouse/
significant other and/or children. Stick
to your schedule and know your limits.
I make it a rule to never be away from
my family for more than one weekday
evening. As much as possible, I schedule
non-family activities to take place during
the weekday hours that my children are
with a babysitter.
Juggle the Lists
When I am assigned a task, I always
adhere to deadlines. If a deadline is not
given, I request one. Deadlines are the
end-all, be-all of my three To-Do lists:
1) To-Do Today; 2) To-Do this Week; and
3) To-Do When I Have Time. I begin each
day by looking at my three lists, housed
in my MacBook Stickies. I arrange the lists
based upon priority. Items with the near-
est deadline go to the top of the To-Do
Today list.
I used to make a habit of creating extra
work for myself by focusing on jobs that
weren’t necessary and didn’t benefit any-
one. But now when I look at my To-Do lists
and see questionable items, I ask myself
two questions: 1) Does this benefit my
family?; and 2) Does this benefit student
achievement? Items that do not receive an
affirmative answer to either question are
eliminated from my lists or moved to the
To-Do When I Have Time list.
For example, recently I had the oppor-
tunity to see a model of a colleague’s
attendance sheets. I really liked the pro-
fessional appearance and user-friendly
format. Therefore, I included “update
attendance sheets” in my To Do This
Week list. But a few days later when
I began to feel overwhelmed with the
growing length of my To-Do This Week
list, I looked for questionable items within
the list. I came across “update attendance
sheets.” I asked myself: Does this ben-
efit my family? Does this benefit student
achievement? The answer to both ques-
tions was no. Therefore, “update atten-
dance sheets” was moved to my To-Do
When I Have Time list.
Beam …
Out
Just Say No
Dr. Richard Greenwood, a former
University of Central Florida music pro-
fessor, used to say to his students, “If you
need something done, find a busy person
to do it.” His advice really makes sense …
if you are the asker. However, if you are
on the receiving end of the asking, you
might prefer that a less busy person be
asked to accomplish said task.
I used to kill myself trying to please
others by helping with tasks that I real-
ly did not have time to complete. But
because I wanted to help and I liked being
involved, I would take time away from
my own priorities to help others. DARE
taught us in fifth grade to “Just Say No”
to drugs. But I’ve learned that it is O.K. to
say no to helping others, too. If you know
your plate is full, kindly decline a second
helping. Your colleagues will respect you
for knowing your limits.
I have also found that by declining
to help others, new worker bees have
emerged from the hive. It is refreshing
to know that others can do the work suc-
cessfully and that the world will not stop
turning if I’m not directly involved with
every decision or task.

Continued on page 50

April 2010 49
Staying on the Balance Beam …
Continued from 49
Files, Tubs and Lists … Oh My!
Barring my children’s bedrooms, my
home and my classroom are systemati-
cally organized. Every item in my house
and classroom has a home, a place to
“live.” Living and working in clutter-free
zones has helped me maintain my sanity.
I admit it took a great deal of time to find
or create homes for everything. But in the
long run, I have saved hours (if not days)
of time due to my organization efforts.
My adolescent years of part-time cleri-
cal work have paid off. I am now a filing
queen. Every document I receive is filed
or tossed into the recycling bin. I never let
paper pile up on my desk. For instance, I
used to have a cabinet full of music cata-
logs, random resources and children’s
literature books sporadically tossed in
various locales; instruments stuffed into
indiscriminate storage tubs in no particu-
lar order; and CDs shoved into a closet. I
had a difficult time remembering what
materials I had available and locating
those materials for use in lessons.
My solution to finding my materials
was lists. I arranged alphabetically my
resource books and children’s literature
books in separate cabinets. On the inside
door of each cabinet is an alphabetical list
of the contents. I am now able to locate
books in an instant. My CD cabinet is
arranged alphabetically within genres.
Each section is labeled for quick reference.
My classroom instruments are organized
into tubs with like instruments (skins,
metal, wood, shaker/scraper) and clearly
labeled.
When I came across an item I needed
for my classroom, unnecessary time was
spent sifting through catalogs to locate an
item with a current price. My dilemma
was solved when I created a drawer in
my filing cabinet to house catalogs. I have
folders labeled with the titles of each
catalog arranged alphabetically in the
drawer. Within each folder is the most
50 Florida Music Director
recent copy of the catalog. When a new
catalog arrives, the old catalog goes into
the recycling bin.
Finally, I purge what I don’t need.
There is no need to keep old textbooks,
record albums, broken instruments that
will not be repaired, etc. With permis-
sion from my principal, I send these
things to our district warehouse, give
them to other music teachers or throw
them away. The same rule holds true
in my house. My family makes numer-
ous donations of clothes, toys and other
items that we don’t need to charitable
organizations several times a year. When
deciding whether something should be
kept, donated or thrown away, I ask
myself, “When is the last time I used this
item?” If I used the item within the last
12 months, I keep it. If not, it is either
donated or thrown away.
Delegate/Ask for Help
For several years, there was no district-
wide celebration of elementary music in
my district. In 2003, I proposed to my
colleagues that we reestablish the festival.
It went off with resounding success in
May 2004. I devoted nearly every waking
moment of my life to the organization of
the festival for nearly 10 months. My dis-
trict has kept the tradition of the festival
alive since 2004. We will hold our seventh
annual festival this May. Yet, rather than
one person organizing the whole thing,
these days the festival comes to fruition
through the work of two coordinators, a
district support person and chairpersons
for the chorus, tickets, programs, instru-
ments/equipment, photographs, dona-
tions, ushers and more!
How I was able to manage the 2004
festival nearly by myself I’ll never know.
But because of my inner striving for per-
fection, I thought I had to do everything
myself. Since then I’ve realized that others
can certainly share responsibilities and
will likely be more creative and do a bet-
ter job than I can do on my own. I’ve also
learned that things will not always be
perfect … and that is O.K.
How do I do it all with two toddlers at
home, you ask? I could not do it all if it
were not for the complete love, devotion
and support of my husband and extended
family. It is acceptable to ask for help. And
when it comes to managing my schedule,
adhering to deadlines and crossing items
off of my to-do lists, I take advantage of
the help my husband and several sets of
grandparents are willing to offer. I am
grateful to have just 20 minutes away so
many family members who love and sup-
port me.
‘Self-Development’
Anyone reading this article is aware of the
importance of professional development
because you are a member of FMEA and
are taking advantage of the Florida Music
Director, one of the many professional
development benefits of your member-
ship. Yet, how many of us have reflected
on the idea of “self-development?” In the
past, I was guilty of focusing so much on
my professional life that I forgot to focus
on my personal life. My personal relation-
ships, my health and my family suffered.
It is imperative that we take time for a
little self-development.
Make time for doing things you enjoy.
Read (for pleasure), go to the beach, shop,
get a pedicure or go to the movies. If we
don’t partake in a little self-indulgence
once in a while, we are sure to burn out or
let other responsibilities lapse. Also be
sure to take care of your health. Eat right,
exercise and get plenty of sleep. Above all,
be sure to make time for your friends and
family. Show them your gratitude and be
thankful for their love and friendship. If
you ever fall off your balance beam, they
will be there to pick you up … even if you
are dressed in a leotard and tights.
Teaching Music
to
Low SES Students
I
I am the music specialist at MOSI Partnership K-5
School, located on the grounds of the Museum of
Science and Industry in Tampa, Fla. Our small school
size (fewer than 300 students) and partnership with the
museum allow our students unique educational oppor-
tunities not usually available in most schools. Classes
have full access to museum exhibits whenever needed
to support the curriculum. In addition to the museum,
our students have full access to the Science Library at
MOSI, a Hillsborough County Public Library branch
located inside the museum’s lobby. MOSI Partnership
has earned a school recognition grade of A.
MOSI Partnership serves a multi-ethnic population
that consists of 286 students from a predominately
economically disadvantaged community. Two percent
of students are Asian, 60 percent are black, 21 percent
are Hispanic, 7 percent are multiracial and 10 percent
are white. Twelve percent are students with disabilities
(SWD), 15 percent are classified as English language
learners (ELL) and 2 percent are gifted. Approximately
92 percent of our students are economically disadvan-
taged. Currently our school has an 81 percent mobility
rate, and 53 students withdrew from our school in
2008-2009.
There are several reasons why schools that have a
low socioeconomic status (SES) population do well:
• Caring and supportive teachers;
• A safe and orderly school environment;
Brent Uppercue,
• Positive expectations for all children; Music Specialist
MOSI Partnership
• Opportunities for students to become meaning-
K-5 School
fully and productively involved and engaged in the
Tampa, Florida
school; and FEMEA District III
• Efforts to improve partnerships between the home Chairman
and school.
Finding Keys to Open Doors
What goes through our students’ minds when they
walk through our doors? Will they be successful when
they are in our music classes? I would like to propose
to you just a few ideas I have found to be successful
during my tenure at MOSI Partnership.
• How do you set the tone for the day? Do you play
recorded music, piano or guitar when the students
are walking through your doors? I often find that
students who have had a hard time with their class-
room teachers for one reason or another quickly
change their attitudes and begin to open up and
forget their concerns that happened 10 minutes ago.
I believe there is power in this process, and we have
the ability to change attitudes.
• Build activities into your plans that give your stu-
dents immediate, positive results. Build in those
special songs that can be sung or played success-
fully the first time. This type of activity begins to
help build self-confidence as well as taps into each
student’s self-esteem. Continued on page 52
April 2010 51
Teaching Music
to
Low SES Students Continued from 51
• Students who are low achievers should
be given multiple opportunities to
practice an instrument part when
allowable. Find students in the music
classroom who have quickly grasped
a skill and allow them the opportunity
to work one-on-one with others who
need encouragement from their peers.
• Make your lesson fun, but challenging
and meaningful. Ask your students
higher level thinking questions (ana-
lyze, compare, create and evaluate).
The key word here is fun. How can
you make this activity a WOW?! Let’s
do that again!
• Make connections with the world. Use
timelines, world maps and word walls
to make world connections for your
students.
• Create a night of dancing under the
stars with your families. For two
weeks in the spring, the PE specialist
and I have joined forces to dance with
all of our students. I have used the
series Chimes of Dunkirk by Peter and
Mary Alice Amidon, which is a great
series to learn partner dances, and our
PE specialist has contributed with line
dances such as Cupid Shuffle, Electric
Slide, Cha Cha Slide, Boot Scootin’
Boogie and many more. Our culmi-
nating activity at the end of our dance
unit is to bring our students back to
school for an evening of dancing with
their parents and other students. The
children actually teach the dances to
their families. Afterward we enjoy
light refreshments. This type of activ-
ity gives families opportunities for
bonding as well as memorable times.
• Have schoolwide performances. Team
up with your PE specialists to do
school performances. Sometimes,
older, intermediate students will not
perform in a choir or an instrumental
ensemble, but they will perform in a
dance ensemble.
52 Florida Music Director
• Have multi-level performance ensem-
bles. Students from third to fifth
grades can be successfully placed in
a choral ensemble, fourth and fifth
grade students can play in a drum
ensemble and K-2 students can form
another choral ensemble.
• What are your students going to
remember 5 to 10 years from now?
How are we going to hook and reel
them in to enroll in future music or
performing arts classes?
• Take advantage of every school news-
letter to highlight your program.
Educate and advocate that music and
the arts are vital to every child’s edu-
cation.
• Understand that students can learn
when they are taught the what, the
why and the how.
• Students that survive in poverty have
to be sensory-based and nonverbal.
To survive in school, one must be
verbal and abstract. These are learned
behaviors.
• Classroom teachers are very aware of
the impact they make on their students
and the value of what they do. But at
the same time, they are aware that
some students are performing well
below acceptable academic standards.
Classroom teachers are overworked
and always focused on their agendas
for the day. It is extremely difficult to
ask teachers to release their student(s)
for enrichment or special ensembles.
Students are in high need of as much
remediation and focused academic
time as possible. If you have the abil-
ity to pull students for ensemble expe-
riences, get the classroom teachers to
buy in by having them select students
to be in your choir or instrumental
ensemble. Criteria can be based on
completion of classroom academics
and homework assignments and hav-
ing classroom behavior in check as
well as a student’s interest to partici-
pate in the desired ensemble.
• Set high expectation levels in your
ensembles. Let the students know it is
a privilege to attend a rehearsal within
the school day. All students will con-
duct themselves in a respectful man-
ner when attending a rehearsal. All
students must sign a contract, which
must be signed by the classroom
teacher, PE specialist, music special-
ist and parent, that lists the specified
criteria. Make sure you have respon-
sible students in your ensembles. Send
reminders to your media specialist to
announce rehearsals on your morning
show. Also, send a reminder the day
before your ensemble meets through
your school’s internal e-mail.
There is a definite advantage to being a
male role model for many students of our
single-parent families in which the male
figure is absent. After reaching 32 years
as a music educator, it feels great to make
connections with my students and to
know I am making a difference in their
young lives. There is much joy and happi-
ness when they are at school. This is not
always the case when they get on the bus
and go home. Sometimes we don’t fully
realize that what we are giving our stu-
dents is what they need the most: the love
and joy of making music.
Resources
Amidon, Peter and Mary Alice. http://
www.amidonmusic.com/index.html
Improving low-SES school students’ access
to higher education. http//www.curricu-
lum.edu.au/leader/improving_low-ses_
school_students_access_to_highe,26507.
html?issueID=11710
MENC supports this Web site: http://www.
supportmusic.com
Payne, Ruby K., Ph.D.2002. Understanding
Learning, the How, the Why, the What. aha!
Process Inc.
 April 2010 53
 Research
Puzzles
(for music teachers)
 y C. Victor Fung
B and consistent. For example, if instrumental sight-reading skill is a variable in
Research Committee
Chairman
The purpose of this column is
to answer your questions about
music education research. I call this
column Research Puzzles for two
reasons. First, it aims at resolving
your puzzles about music education
research. I welcome your questions
about music education research.
Second, readers should have a
better understanding about music
education research by reading this
column through an extended period
of time and by putting the pieces
together like pieces of a puzzle.
The big picture of music education
research should reveal itself when
the pieces of the puzzle are in place.
It will not be right if I claim that any
answer in this column is a complete
answer. Answers to questions in
this column could easily be an
hour-long explanation or even a
full-semester course. Regardless,
these puzzle pieces contribute to our
understanding of music education
research.
E-mail your questions and feedback
to cvfung@arts.usf.edu with a subject
heading Research Puzzles. Your questions,
if selected for publication, will remain
anonymous unless you state otherwise.
54 Florida Music Director
Why would a researcher need a panel to make a
judgment at a certain stage in some research projects?
It is vital that research data are valid and reliable. This is especially true
when research data are evaluative in nature. There is a need to involve a panel
of experts to support the truthfulness of the data so they can be trustworthy
a research project, students taking a sight-reading test may be audio-recorded
so a score can be determined. If this score is determined by the researcher
alone, only a little, if anything at all, can be said about the reliability of the
score. But if the sight-reading score is an average of three or more different
music teachers who score the recording independently, then the researcher
can state that the sight-reading score is supported by some level of confi-
dence and reliability. Ideally, the reliability should be very high. This same
technique is used in ensemble ratings in a festival, where multiple judges are
involved. The judges serve as a panel. Panel members involved in a research
project should be individuals qualified to make the judgments so that the
data can be validated. The more panel members used, the more likely the data
are to be reliable.
What is a reasonable timeframe to
complete a research project?
A reasonable timeframe to complete a research project depends on four
main factors: 1) nature of the research; 2) availability of resources; 3) scale of
the project; and 4) the researcher. First, the nature of the research mainly
concerns what the project is about and the design of the study. Some stud-
ies, by nature, require more time. For example, if the design of the study is
longitudinal or involves multiple steps or a long treatment period, it obvi-
ously needs more time. Second, availability of resources may influence the
time needed to complete a research project. When resources are readily
available (e.g., measurement instruments, participants, literature, travel sup-
port, clerical support, etc.), this should help the project to proceed in a more
timely fashion. Third, a study may be conducted in a small scale, involving
fewer participants, or in a large scale, involving many participants. For
example, a study may examine a phenomenon in one school district in
Florida or in all 50 states in the United States. The latter, the larger scale
study, clearly would call for more time and resources. Fourth, the researcher
plays a key role in realizing a planned research timeframe. How much time
is the researcher able to spend on the project each day? How focused is the
researcher on the project? How quickly can the researcher complete a
research task correctly? How skillful is the researcher in applying various
analytic methods? How accurately can the researcher interpret the research
findings? How well is the researcher able to think critically on the topic and
to synthesize relevant materials? How effective is the researcher in writing
the research report? The list can go on and on. Researchers may vary greatly
on these issues. Therefore, it is hard to offer a definite answer to this ques-
tion without a specific project and information about the researcher.
Furthermore, any proposed timeframe for a research project may change
since some of these factors may shift as the project progresses.
ComponentNews
Florida Bandmasters
Association
By Mark Spreen,
President
No column this issue.
FLORIDA COLLEGE
MUSIC EDUCATORS
ASSOCIATION
By Kathleen Kerstetter,
Ph.D., President
Welcome to the second edition of the
online Florida Music Director. As seasoned
college educators with—ahem—some
years under our belts, this new format
is enlightening, innovative and a little
scary. A recent article in The New York
Times entitled “Do School Libraries Need
Books?” (http://roomfordebate.blogs.
nytimes.com/2010/02/10/do -school-
libraries-need-books/) highlighted the
Cushing Academy that opted to convert
its school library to a fully digital media
center. That’s right, a library sans books.
To say this move sparked debate about
the power of print media might be the
understatement of the year. However, as
educators of teachers that will be teach-
ing well into the 21st century, and teaching
students that will live into the 22 centu-
nd
ry, can we accept the change in medium?
In their book Rethinking Education in the
Age of Technology, Collins and Halverson
quote how education throughout time
has resisted changes in technology:
1815: “Students today depend on paper
too much … they can’t clean a slate prop-
erly.”
1907: “Students today depend too
much on ink. They don’t know how to
use a pen knife to sharpen a pencil.”
1928: “Students today depend upon
store bought ink. They don’t know how FLORIDA ELEMENTARY
MUSIC EDUCATORS
to make their own.” ASSOCIATION
1950: “Ballpoint pens will be the ruin
By Karen W. Bouton,
of education in our country.” President
With little doubt, digital publications I hope you enjoy the Elementary Focus
can soon be added to this list. While of this Florida Music Director. Our district
currently at the forefront of the techno- representatives have unique and varied
logical divide, digital-only publications perspectives on elementary music edu-
have garnered little affection from the cation in Florida. They also realize that
academy. A physical publication has more our organization is very diverse. Each
prestige, power and reputation. In our of these FEMEA board members put a
lifetimes, however, the tides concerning lot of thought and effort into preparing
digital publication may change. With a articles for this edition, and I know their
large number of e-readers entering the insights will benefit all. I received great
market, digital publications are no longer ideas from reading these articles before
tied to the desktop. Are we ready for this they went to press. We appreciate FMEA
change, and are we preparing our stu- for allowing this focus each year. Be sure
dents for it? to thank them!
I encourage you to take a look through Please remember to send your com-
this issue of the FMD and then consider ments and suggestions about our
the wide possibilities it will offer. The organization to bouton@wfeca.net.
ability to include multimedia files, to link I look forward to hearing from you!
directly to referenced items (like the NY
Times piece mentioned in the opening),
is just one of the rich experiences that FLORIDA MUSIC
SUPERVISION
future digital publications will offer. Do ASSOCIATION
we want our resistance to new media to
By Beth Cummings,
be included in a book of quotes about President
21st century education’s failure to accept No column this issue.
change?
While the content of teaching music
FLORIDA ORCHESTRA
will experience little reformation, the ASSOCIATION
method will. This is inevitable. Our new- By Tami Roedig,
est teachers must be able to synthesize President
many modes of instruction with their stu-
No column this issue.
dents. We can no longer separate “music”
and “technology” into discrete categories.
Instead of higher education being the last FLORIDA VOCAL
ASSOCIATION
stronghold of tradition, perhaps we can
engage in true innovation. I hope you will By Mary Catherine Salo,
President
see the digital editions of Florida Music
Director as the beginning of this process. No column this issue.
April 2010 55
 
Executive
Director’s Election
NOTES CHecklist!

FMEA/FSMA You’re in Luck. Primary Election:

Aug. 24, 2010

James T. Perry It’s an Election Year! General Election:

Nov. 2, 2010
3 Identify the candidates
who support music
education and public
schools

A
re you happy with the way the Legislature is treating This is where ALL POLITICS ARE
3 Talk with candidates
public education? Do you believe funding is sufficient? LOCAL and where you can make the
at local forums
Or that you, as a teaching professional, are being treated most difference.
3 Share your conversa-
fairly with the proposed legislation related to contracts? How
tions with your net-
about music education and arts education? Do you believe your Some other steps to take: works
courses are firmly cemented into the general curriculum? • Make sure you and your friends
3 Volunteer for the can-
If you have issues about any of these topics, you’re in luck. This are registered to vote (more than didate who best sup-
is an election year! 30 days prior to the election). ports music education
Would you like to have more influence and be more effective • Keep all election and campaign and public schools
with elected officials? The months leading up to the elections will activity on your personal net- 3 Register to vote
be prime-time for candidates to be listening and soliciting your works and email. (and make sure your
votes. While FMEA as a not-for-profit association cannot endorse • Keep all election and campaign friends are registered
any candidate, you as members of the public certainly can promote activity on your own personal to vote)
FMEA’s mission: a quality, comprehensive music education for all time. 3 Plan to be active in
Florida students as part of their complete education. • Plan NOW to be involved over the the campaigns over
the summer months
There will be two important dates for elections. First is the pri- summer months.
mary election, which will be held on Aug. 24, 2010. Any candidate
lacking an opponent from another party is elected on this date. Some Web sites that will help you identify candidates:
Primary elections are often won or lost with only a few hundred www.flmusiced.org/dnn/LegislativeInfo/tabid/79/Default.
votes. Second is the general election to be held on Nov. 2, 2010. aspx - to identify your current legislators and your state House
What can you do? The main thing is to find out which candi- and state Senate districts.
date’s views are closest to your own position. Who feels strongly http://election.dos.state.fl.us/candidate/index.asp - Division of
about properly funding public education? Who will support music Elections’ Web site to find your candidates, their financial reports
and arts education as part of the general curriculum? Talk with (who is contributing to their campaigns) and local contact infor-
the candidates at public forums or community events. During the mation. Using this Web site, it is easy to see which candidates are
election, every candidate will be happy to interact with constitu- viable and which are not.
ents! Network among your colleagues and booster community to
see who else is willing to assist in asking questions and sharing Personal note: As I watch the Legislature up close and personal,
information. it is easy to become disheartened and cynical about how little
When you determine which candidate you’d like to support, work is undertaken for the “public good” and how much is done to
you can make a financial contribution (and these can be small), advance the next campaign or other self-interest. Education policy
AND you can contribute your time. Candidates are always look- is not being made with children in mind, but rather it is the politics
ing for volunteers to work in their campaign offices, to help walk of finance, taxation and personal advancement.
neighborhoods and to assist with a variety of other tasks. The All children should have equal opportunities for a full and
months between the qualifying date (June 18) and the primary balanced curriculum. In my mind, it rises to the level of “evil” for
election (Aug. 24) are “prime-time” to offer your assistance as a children to be deprived of the best education we can provide. All
volunteer—and the time offered is sometimes more valuable than that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
a financial contribution. nothing.
Use your networks! Communicate about the candidate who has I have great confidence in the integrity and vehemence of our
demonstrated an interest in funding schools properly and in sup- members to act on behalf of their students! I hope you will take up
porting music education. Ask your friends in the network to help the challenge and become involved with your local elections and
activate their networks, too. Remember that in a primary election, begin to help your communities elect school board members and
100 votes may make a difference in who is elected to office—espe- legislators who will support music education and, more than that,
cially if there is no opponent in the general election. support public education.

56 Florida Music Director

 O fficers and D irectors
EXECUTIVE BOARD
President..................................Joseph Luechauer
Broward County Public Schools
600 SE 3rd Avenue, 12th Floor
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
(754) 321-1861
joeluechauer@browardschools.com
Past President........................... Jeanne Reynolds
Pinellas County Schools, Administration Building
301 4th Street, SW, P.O. Box 2942
Largo, FL 33779-2942
(727) 588-6055; reynoldsj@pcsb.org
President-elect................................... Sheila King
3730 Oakhill Drive, Titusville, FL 32780
(321) 383-3991; pianoforte@mindspring.com
FBA President.................................. Mark Spreen
Riverview High School, 1 Ram Way
Sarasota, FL 34231-8511
(941) 923-1484; mdspreen@msn.com
FCMEA President......... Kathleen Kerstetter, Ph.D.
11720 Berry Drive, Cooper City, FL 33026
(954) 447-6217; miamiflute@gmail.com
FCMENC President........................ Michelle Guest
18193 Horseshoe Bay Circle, Fort Myers, FL 33967
(239) 437-8009; mlg06e@fsu.edu
FCMENC Advisor....................... Al Holcomb, Ph.D.
University of Central Florida
4000 Central Florida Boulevard
Orlando, FL 32816
(407) 823-4180; aholcomb@mail.ucf.edu
FEMEA President . ................Karen Bouton, NBCT
1047 8th Avenue, Graceville, FL 32440
(850) 263-0246; karenbouton@bellsouth.net
FMSA President............................Beth Cummings
P.O. Box 437, Kathleen, FL 33849
(863) 859-2447; cummingsbg@hotmail.com
FOA President................................... Tami Roedig
1844 Mountain Ash Way
New Port Richey, FL 34655
(727) 943-4035; foapresident@gmail.com
FVA President....................... Mary Catherine Salo
706 SW 25th Avenue
Boynton Beach, FL 33435
(561) 734-2960; mcsalo@yahoo.com
Member-at-Large.............. John K. Southall, Ph.D.
Indian River State College
3209 Virginia Avenue; Fort Pierce, FL 34981
(772) 462-7810; jsouthal@irsc.edu
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS
Historian/Parliamentarian
Kathleen D. Sanz, Ph.D.
District School Board of Pasco County
7227 Land O’ Lakes Boulevard
Land O’ Lakes, FL 34638
(813) 794-2248; ksanz@pasco.k12.fl.us
DOE Arts Education.................Linda Lovins, Ph.D.
Florida Department of Education
325 West Gaines Street, Suite 432
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400
(850) 245-0762; linda.lovins@fldoe.org
Executive Director............................ James Perry
Hinckley Center for Fine Arts
Education, 402 Office Plaza Drive
Tallahassee, FL 32301-2757
(850) 878-6844; FX: (850) 942-1793
jamesperry@flmusiced.org
Florida Music Director, Editor-in-Chief
Michael Allen
2305 Kilkenny Drive West, Tallahassee, FL 32309
(850) 894-1086; FX: (850) 644-2033
mallen@fsu.edu
FSMA President.................................. David Lewis
Polk County District Office
P.O. Box 391, Bartow, FL 33831
(863) 534-0624; david.lewis@polk-fl.net
FMEA COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS
Awards...........................................Debbie Fahmie
Fine and Performing Arts Resource Specialist
Osceola District Schools
(407) 870-4904; fahmied@yahoo.com
Black Caucus............................Bernie Hendricks
Ocoee High School, 1925 Ocoee Crown Point
Parkway, Orlando, FL 34761
(407) 905-3009; bernard.hendricks@ocps.net
Budget/Finance, Development......Joe Luechauer
Broward County Public Schools
600 SE 3rd Avenue, 12th Floor
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
(754) 321-1861
joeluechauer@browardschools.com
Emerging Leaders...................Judy Bowers, Ph.D.
Florida State University, College of Music
Tallahassee, FL 32306-1180
(850) 644-3005; jbowers@fsu.edu
Florida Music Industry Council........... Fred Schiff
All County Music
8136 North University Drive
Tamarac, FL 33321-1708
(954) 722-3424, fredallcounty@aol.com
General Music.......................................Ed Prasse
3046 Cloudland Drive,Tallahassee, FL 32312
prasse@aol.com
Research..................................Victor Fung, Ph.D.
University of South Florida, School of Music
FAH 110, College of Visual and Performing Arts
Tampa, FL 33620
(813) 974-1145; cvfung@arts.usf.edu
Retired Members..................... Lucinda Balistreri
4461 North Lake Drive, Sarasota, FL 34232
(941) 371-3020
cindy_balistreri@sarasota.k12.fl.us
Special Learners.........................Josue Rodriguez
Hollywood Park Elementary
901 North 69 Way, Hollywood, FL 33024
(754) 323-6250
josue.rodriquez@browardschools.com
Technology..................................Dominick Eggen
Viera High School
6103 Stadium Parkway, Viera, FL 32940
(321) 632-1770
eggen.dominick@brevardschools.org
Student Leadership.......................... To be named FLORIDA ELEMENTARY MUSIC EDUCATORS
ASSOCIATION
CLINIC-CONFERENCE
President . .......................Karen W. Bouton, NBCT
Exhibits Managers.......... Byron and Bobbie Smith 1047 8th Avenue, Graceville, FL 32440
4110 Tralee Road, Tallahassee, FL 32309 (850) 263-0246; bouton@wfeca.net
(850) 893-3606; fmeaexhibits@flmusiced.org
President-elect......................April Laymon, NBCT
Local Co-Chairman................................ Ted Hope 1434 North Laura Street, Jacksonville, FL 32206
Hillsborough County Public Schools (904) 662-1556; laymona@dreamsbeginhere.org
School Administration Center
Past President...............................Lu Anne Leone
901 East Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33602
2108 North 14th Court, Hollywood, FL 33020
(813) 272-4861; ted.hope@sdhc.k12.fl.us
(954) 925-6126
Local Co-Chairwoman...............Melanie Faulkner luanne.leone@browardschools.com
Hillsborough County Public Schools
Executive Director......................Anita Travaglino
School Administration Center
19336 Otters Wick Way, Land O’Lakes, FL 34639
901 East Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 949-9380; akhocker@msn.com
(813) 272-4461; melanie.faulkner@sdhc.k12.fl.us
FLORIDA MUSIC SUPERVISION ASSOCIATION
FLORIDA BANDMASTERS ASSOCIATION
President......................................Beth Cummings
President.......................................... Mark Spreen
Polk County Schools
Riverview High School
5204 Highway 98 South, Lakeland, FL 33813
1 Ram Way, Sarasota, FL 34231-8511
(863) 647-4729; beth.cummings@polk-fl.net
(941) 923-1484; mdspreen@msn.com
Past President...................... Tom Pearson, Ph.D.
President-elect.............................. Randy Folsom
School District of Palm Beach County
Fort Walton Beach Sr. High School
3310 Forest Hill Boulevard, C-225
400 Hollywood Boulevard, SW
West Palm Beach, FL 33406
Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548-4540
(561) 434-8161
(850) 833-3300, ext. 2507
pearsot@mail.palmbeach.k12.fl.us
folsomr@mail.okaloosa.k2.fl.us
Treasurer................................. Sandra Durr, Ph.D.
Past President.................................Chuck Fulton
Escambia County District Schools
Lakeland Christian School
J.E. Hall, Suite 105, 30 East Texar Drive
1111 Forest Park Street, Lakeland, FL 33803
Pensacola, FL 32503
(863) 688-2771, ext 237; cfulton@lcsonline.org
(850) 469-5311; sdurr@escambia.k12.fl.us
Executive Director.....................Duane L. Hendon
Florida Bandmasters Association FLORIDA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION
P.O. Box 1028, Silver Springs, FL 34489-1028
President........................................... Tami Roedig
(352) 625-9570; duanelhendon@cs.com
1844 Mountain Ash Way
New Port Richey, FL 34655
FLORIDA COLLEGE MUSIC EDUCATORS (727) 943-4035; foapresident@gmail.com
ASSOCIATION
Past President........................ Scott Rudes, Ph.D.
President.......................Kathleen Kerstetter, Ph.D.
Assistant Principal for Magnet Curriculum
11720 Berry Drive, Cooper City, FL 33026
Howard W. Blake High School
(954) 447-6217; miamiflute@gmail.com
1701 North Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33607
Past President................................. John Seybert (813) 272-3422
Southeastern University scott.rudes@sdhc.k12.fl.us
1000 Longfellow Boulevard
Executive Director..................... Donald Langland
Lakeland, FL 33801-6034
620 Rollingwood Lane, Valrico, FL 33594
(863) 667-5104; jmseybert@seuniversity.edu
(813) 774-9752; FX: (813) 333-1045
Secretary-Treasurer...................Kenneth Phillips
exdirfoa@aol.com
Palm Beach Atlantic University
P.O. Box 24708 FLORIDA VOCAL ASSOCIATION
West Palm Beach, FL 33416-4708
President.............................. Mary Catherine Salo
(561) 803-2411; kenneth_phillips@pba.osu
706 SW 25th Avenue, Boynton Beach, FL 33435
(561) 734-2960; mcsalo@yahoo.com
FLORIDA COLLEGIATE MENC
Past President.................................. Michael Dye
President....................................... Michelle Guest
102 Georgia Avenue, Niceville, FL 32578
18193 Horseshoe Bay Circle
(850) 729-1733; mndye@yahoo.com
Fort Myers, FL 33967
(239) 437-8009; mlg06e@fsu.edu Executive Director........................... J. Mark Scott
7122 Tarpon Court, Fleming Island, FL 32003
Past President.......................... Nicholas Casiano
(904) 284-1551; fva.scott@gmail.com
970 Plover Avenue, Miami Springs, FL 33166
(305) 887-8748; nicholas.casiano@gmail.com Financial Officer........................... Betty Jo Couch
1242 Jade Lane NE, Palm Bay, FL 32907
(321) 327-7976; fvacouchbj@gmail.com
April 2010 57
 Convenient, Fast…

On-line
Forms
Florida Music Educators’ Association understands how busy you are, and has posted all
the forms that you will need as members, including the form to become a member, at their
website. CLICK HERE to go directly to the
forms page and become a member of
Florida Music Educators’ Association
TODAY!

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