MUS 210

Frank Merritt
Campus Phone: 828 328-7154
Home Phone: 704 872-1118
E-Mail: fmerritt@i-america.net

Catalogue Description
“The brass methods class is designed to provide a working knowledge of all the brass instruments of the standard band instrumentation for teaching purposes. Two class hours per week. One credit.”

Course objectives
This course is designed to give the student an overview of teaching and performing on brass instruments. The student will be able to understand the basics of brass performance and will be able to express that understanding through teaching methods.

North Carolina Competencies
The music teacher candidate must demonstrate:
1.2 A knowledge of music literature suitable for various age levels and the ability to select music appropriate for the ensemble and/or individual student.
1.3 A knowledge of basic music vocabulary/terminology essential to the teaching of music in the school, K-12.
1.7 The ability to analyze and interpret representative works of the past and present and to perform and/or teach them with understanding.
3.1 An understanding and knowledge of staging and the visual presentation of ensembles in performance.
3.3 The ability to perform simple instrument repairs.
4.3 Sufficient techniques to demonstrate and teach representative musical instruments at beginning levels of proficiency. Students electing additional preparation in instrumental music should be able to demonstrate and teach each of the instruments.
4.7 A working knowledge of music texts and other source materials at all levels.
4.9 The knowledge of and ability to apply effective classroom management skills effectively.
4.11 Practical approaches to the teaching of music reading and the ability to adapt these approaches to children of varied age and ability levels.
4.12 A working knowledge of diverse approaches to student instruction at differing age and ability levels.
4.16 The ability to evaluate musical performance and student work and to involve students in the evaluative process.
4.19 An awareness of effective financial management of school programs, including budget operations, bidding procedures, lease-purchase contracts, estimation of travel costs, etc.
5.7 The ability to relate positively to students, school personnel, and society.

ASSIGNMENTS AND REQUIREMENTS
The student of this class will be required primarily to perform on their appointed brass instrument .
Along with the musical performance, there will be reading assignments and teaching demonstrations. Class discussion will be strongly encouraged. Success in class will be determined largely by the practice time you put into your instrument outside of this class. I strongly recommend 15 - 30 minutes daily as a bare minimum.
Students are expected to be in class. The scheduling of a make-up of any missed quiz or exam is the responsibility of the student and will be allowed only in the event of an excused absence.
An excused absence is defined as illness, court duty, or family ceremony such as a funeral or marriage, child management. If you must miss any exam or quiz due to direct conflict with any of our other classes or school function, it must be arranged in advance. If you anticipate any missed exam, contact me in advance. I can be reasonable. Examples of unexcused absences are, “I forgot”, “ I overslept”, “I had to study for another classes’ exam”, “I didn’t study”, or work.

Study Guide
First two class meetings will be focused on instrument assignment and brass instrument overview.
One week will be spent on the basics of brass performance. Breathing, embouchure development, and exercises pertaining the acquisition of these basic concepts. This period will be spent largely buzzing the mouthpiece.
The course will then proceed in a beginning band format with the instructor acting as the band director.
After this period the class will break up into teams of two and act as student and teacher.

Evaluation
The evaluation will consist of a performance test at mid-term and at end of term. The performance test will consist of a list of competencies that each student must attain based upon the individual student’s level. Each student will be ranked based upon the experience the student has on brass instruments.
Written quizzes will be given several times in the semester covering reading assignments and class lectures.
Each student will be expected to perform a solo piece of their choosing.