Effective engagement strategies in high school band

Abstract

The lessons demonstrated in this report are focused on implementing engagement strategies in the high school band setting. High school musicians are developing their musical identity while still continuing to improve their instrument pedagogy or understanding. The goal of these lessons was to introduce engagement strategies to better facilitate learning and retention. Overall, these lessons on engagement strategies have been effective and have provided an opportunity to introduce ways to engage high school band students on self-guided learning, democratic rehearsal practice, and peer to peer learning. Over the course of my master’s program, I have had a shift in philosophy in terms of conducting and repertoire selection. Taking the advanced conducting class showed how I can significantly improve my communication through my conducting. Repertoire selection can also have a profound impact on students based on historical, social, and stylistic reasons. Introducing quality literature to students will help them gain an appreciation of where our wind band literature came from, but also where it is heading. These two developments have helped me structure a well-balanced music education for my students.