Dear Launceston/Northern Tasmanian friends and colleagues, two of my outstanding trombone students have just graduated, and I consequently have two vacancies. (I currently only take on 4 students at a time.) If you know of any trumpet, trombone euphonium or tuba players looking for lessons, then they can contact me through my website - montemumford.com. I would appreciate and value your recommendations! Thank you!
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Wow! It has been a long time since I last posted an article! And what an amazing rough ride it has been for many of us! What we return to will be very different from what we left in February. However, we will ultimately return to our beloved ensembles at some point in time.
In a sense this period of enforced separation can also offer up some silver linings in our present dark clouds. With enforced interruption to our ensemble training just maybe we can do some 're-setting of how we will recover the lost momentum and revisit the neglected, but essential skill base. To this end I would like to offer for your consideration the following article on addressing "Common Rehearsal Problem Solving Solutions"... Here are a few reflections regarding thoughts and recommendations on common rehearsal concerns: 1. How to improve rhythm-reading skills Assisting your ensembles in obtaining effective rhythm vocabulary acquisition seems to be a common thread from most ensemble directors I have worked with in the past. However, some of those with whom I have worked have mentioned the Ed Sueta “Rhythm Vocabulary” Charts as a great tool for gaining rhythmic acquisition of mastery and comprehension. Some ensemble music educators use various strategies and combinations of rhythm-reading strategies, such as providing beginners, as well as advanced players with different levels of rhythmic challenges. After all, the book is only a book of exercises aimed at developing and employing the tool of rhythmic sub-division leading to accurate rhythm reading. It is how you use the exercises to attain your goals: with imagination and measurable outcomes! Ultimately what. rhythmic skills do you wish for your ensemble to master? Surely we wish for self-motivation and independence. The main purpose of the rhythm charts is to:
2. How to select appropriate performance repertoire As to selecting ‘appropriate‘ repertoire for a specific ensemble, there are quite a few factors to keep in mind. The better acquainted you are with the available literature, composers and publishers the more successful you will be in meeting repertoire selection challenge. To this end I would suggest that you:
Please refer to the Repertoire Selection and Score Study Process article, which should assist you in informing your selection criteria. Our repertoire should always be considered a part of our teaching material, providing reinforcement for your training programme, as well as exposing our students to the art of music-making. For our concert repertoire serves many purposes beyond primary performance. 3. How to work with unbalanced ensembles Unbalanced instrumentation within an ensemble often presents some fundamentally difficult issues:
However, in the end, answers to these questions only offer short-term solutions. You can work around each of the above problems, providing a temporary relief for your students with judicial choices, but without ever addressing the “Elephant in the room” of why we need to continually make these instrumentation adjustments. I do not pretend to have the ‘correct’ answers for all of these questions. However, the essential question is, “Why are our ensembles unbalanced?” In a sense, these questions point to an overall administrative problem and one of attraction and retention. In the long run, participation in unbalanced ensembles is not particularly rewarding, or educationally viable for the average student. In fact, it often leads to greater problems, such as rehearsal engagement and overall retention. 4.How to effectively work with wide range abilities within an ensemble setting. We are often faced with the problem of working with students of unequal abilities within an ensemble setting. Our academic colleagues face this issue too. How can we effectively engage our students when both their skills and knowledge base are often at odds? I would like to suggest that we need to think communally with regards to this issue. Let us create a community of learners that is compatible with our educational philosophy, that includes a ‘student ownership’ component (students having a personal stake) in our ensembles: Here are some points to consider:
In Conclusion I believe that our rehearsals should not be perceived as overly ‘concert production’ oriented; Rather they are to be viewed as ‘Show & Tell’ opportunities, serving in part, as a gage of how well our ensemble is assimilating their fundamental skill and knowledge training. Rehearsal focus can then be directed to developing generic ‘learning-processes’ that leads to musical interpretation. This approach will, in turn direct students toward taking both responsibility and ownership for their individual learning and problem solving. This kind of rehearsal focus allows more time for music-making, and much less time and effort spent on technical rote-learning. Rehearsals ought to be places where directors operate as guides and mentors, passionately sharing suggestions and proven strategies: Identifying achievable goals and demonstrating the effectiveness of employing strategies that lead to overcoming performance challenges, including; syncopated rhythms, fingering & bowing combinations, key centres, tone production and intonation issues, harmonic influences, phrasing and expression considerations. After all, in the end, we are but 'investment counsellors' sharing investment strategies! All the while, our rehearsals should aim to both inspire and empower students to appreciate and enjoy the joy of music making on both a personal and corporate level. Ultimately this should lead to lifelong engagement with music enjoyment and music making. It is this kind of environment that promotes an effective pathway to ‘life-long’ learning." Welcome back to my final episode on developing and improving personal practice habits and learning skills!
My final instalment is entitled "Informing the practice format - Essential elements in actually living with our practice - Keeping 'practice time' attractive and rewarding" D. Specialisation – Generalisation practice strategies: How can we keep practice attractive It is essential that the balance between spending practice time on detailed, technical development, or specific technical/musical challenges in our performance repertoire be offset with time spent on making the necessary expressive performance connections for the overall picture. It is easy to either spend too much time just playing through our repertoire, or to become too bogged down by inordinate time spent on specific technical details. “We can’t see the forest for the trees”, or “we can’t see the individual trees because our focus is on the forest”. Either scenario keeps us from experiencing healthy, rewarding progress to rewarding musical outcomes. It is important therefore that we search for opportunities allowing for us to consolidate our progress through either informal or formal performance opportunities. (friends, family, informal occasions, etc.) Some practical considerations towards transforming the act of practice from 'duty' to relative 'pleasure':
In conclusion: Don’t be overly discouraged when you experience difficult practice days, days of progress drought, or even a disappointing practice week! After all, it is a normal occurrence and frustrations can often lead to thinking in new ways and using the challenges to grow our skills. Consistent investment in a well-planned practice regimen will, over time, reward you with steady progression. It is also important to understand that the effective learning habits being formed, developed and reinforced through the process of systematic practice should be considered ‘transferable’ to many learning applications and will remain with you for the rest of your life. It is my hope that these past three instalments investigating the nature and process of successful and rewarding individual practice will lead to fresh inspiration for both music teachers and students alike. Thank you for taking time to read my musings and suggestions on the The Art of Practice “Perfect Practice makes Perfect…maybe” Warm regards, and best wishes for your musical journey Monte Welcome back to my discussion on developing and improving personal practice habits and skills! Following on from my last post in which I discussed my philosophy behind developing a more effective and rewarding practice routine, I now want to share the actual nuts and bolts of how one can actually maximise their practice sessions through examining specific, proven practice strategies. C. Improving our actual practice approach: Making each session count! 1. Identify/Isolate/Reconnect One of the most effective ways to approach a work is to first identify the challenging passages. Next, isolate those sections, working through them slowly and then putting them back into the context of the work when sufficient accuracy is achieved. Do not reinforce mistakes by repeating them, but stop and identify what the specific problem or challenge is. Now, determine how you will fix it. Your teacher’s shared strategies will be of great assistance in this exercise. 2. Learn to identify trouble points through the comparative listening approach. At times, it may be useful to record yourself (audio or video) to identify specific trouble spots. If you are having difficulty with a particular passage, it often helps to play through the section very slowly, experimenting with a variety of articulations, rhythmic sub-divisions and intervalic variations. Try alternative finger combinations/slide positions. If it is a rhythmic problem then try counting (sub-dividing) and fingering (slide shift) or buzzing through the passage. Do not play the passage any faster than you can play through it correctly! Slow practice is best when addressing individual trouble spots. This strategy will aid in automating your approach to the passage. The Comparative Listening Process - I have an aural model of what is to be recreated, either from my teacher, musical director or another source, such as a professional recording, or live performance. I try to re-create the model. Following my 1st attempt, I now compare my performance against the model: I make the necessary adjustments, (teacher suggestions) and try again. I repeat this process until I achieve a close approximation of the model. 3. Be patient! Begin by playing through the problem passage very slowly, if need be, one note at a time, until you are playing the rhythms, fingerings, articulations and pitches correctly. Once accuracy has been achieved, then repeat that section at least 3 times. Now, gradually increase the tempo until the passage is up to speed. Remember; it is essential to begin the passage at a slow tempo and gradually increase your speed while playing the passage correctly rather than attempting to play an entire piece at performance speed, making numerous errors. Remember: We don’t generally play difficult passages slow enough for long enough periods. 4. Trial expressive interpretation possibilities. Once the passage has been mastered you can then begin to focus on expressing yourself through the passage/work instead of being limited to playing the correct note at the right time. Musicality can be defined through demonstrating the ability to interpret a piece with emotional connection through identifiable phrases and cadence points, with shape, contour and nuance. These decisions are generally informed through harmonic “Departure/Arrival”. This is what distinguishes an outstanding performance from that of a predictable one. 5. We all need inspiration. First, follow the printed directions such as dynamics, style of playing, and the tempo, or speed at which the music should be played. But remember; these are only ‘instructions’ that are actually derived from the underlying harmonic chord progression and the unique interplay between harmony, rhythm and melody. It is best to ask ‘why the instructions are there in the first place.’ To what are the instructions pointing and leading us to actually do at the moment. Can the interpretation be different tomorrow? You can gain additional interpretive insight and inspiration through listening to fine recordings of the same piece performed by various artists and attending to their individual interpretations. You can also gain excellent insight by researching the history of the composer and the era in which the music was composed. 6. Be prepared to experiment! Be sure to try out different phrasing/breathing/fingerings/alternative slide positions. Also explore variations in tone production, articulations, style, and intensity. Memorising a piece may assist you in achieving more freedom of expression. Once you know a piece so well that you are "free" from the technical demands, you may find it easier to interpret music on your own. 7. Productive Review Process At the end of each practice session, try playing straight through the piece, enjoying your successes and consolidating your gains. The progress made during addressing ‘problem spot’ practicing can be reinforced and locked in. And, you will also feel a sense of accomplishment, hearing the improvements you have made in the full context of the work. “Perfect practice makes perfect". All it takes is commitment, persistence, patience, consistency and concentration. We can then begin to enjoy the fruits of rewarding, productive practice – real musical investment. 8. Come Prepared Be sure that you have all of your materials handy and organised, including music, tuner, pencil, metronome and any other items you plan to incorporate into your practice. Use your pencil to note fingerings, phrasing, breathing points and any other pertinent information. A serviceable music stand is essential and always employ the best posture and hand position, whether sitting or standing. As to the materials ...
9. Be sure to divide your practice segments equitably. Consider using a mix of scales, etudes, and repertoire selections (concertos, sonatas, orchestral music, etc. However, you may not have time to work on every element in every practice session, plan according to your time limitations. Consider building your practice sessions around the following five categories a. Warm-up routine - be sure to vary this every day
b. Technical ‘A’ - rhythmic exercises that include
c. Technical ‘B" - Melodic studies exploring:
d. Solo repertoire
e. Ensemble repertoire*
Be sure to catch my final instalment "Informing the Format: How to put it all together" Once again, thank you for reading! Warm regards and best wishes for your next practice session. Monte I believe that a great way to examine and improve our approach to personal practice is to consider the time spent practicing as one would consider the analogy of making financial investment as one might invest in ‘futures’. In a sense practice is a form of investment, so therefore we need to develop a systematic, sequential approach to practice that will equate into to effective, rewarding performance returns/outcomes over the long term. However, many of us remain unfamiliar with the systematic and sequential learning principles that lead to successful, rewarding practice outcomes. I trust that the following overview of the fundamentals of practicing will provide some informative direction leading to more productive, enjoyable practice sessions inspiring us to return to the practice room time and again. A. Here follows some common questions 1. When is your best time for practice (consider work/school/family/friends commitments) If you feel more alert in the morning, this may be the best time for you. Conversely, if your concentration, energy and focus are better in the afternoon or evening, then these may prove more productive. Sometimes it is more effective to divide practice time into two or three time slots instead of one long session. Whatever time suits your schedule and state of mind, be consistent and make the effort to practice at the same times at least five to six days per week. 2. Where is the best place to practice? Practicing requires a ‘quiet’ space where you won't be distracted or disturbed. Put away any distractions and let the people around you know that you would like not to be disturbed. Be sure to Turn your media/phone off. 3. How can I best prepare for successful practice outcomes? Practice requires both mental focus and physical energy to effectively progress your practice plan. Practicing when tired, thirsty, hungry or un-focused, will only lead to frustration and disappointing results. 4. How long should I practice? The actual time spent in practice does not matter as much as how you will use the time you have, identifying what you wish to accomplish and selecting and organising the activities and exercises that will best aid you in achieving today’s goals. a. Depending on the tasks at hand, such as: exams, juries, recitals, major ensemble public performances; forty-five minutes to an hour is a good place to start… However, practice time is also about building mental and physical endurance. It is important to understand the physical and mental demands our performance repertoire will place on us so that we can prepare for both mental and physical endurance. b. Make sure that you programme your practice sessions for success by identifying what specific things you wish to accomplish today. It is easy to reinforce mistakes and waste time when you practice without a plan; well-constructed plans can provide both purpose and focus to your practice. They promote ‘scope and sequence’, encouraging mindful concentration thereby enabling steady progress. 5. How can I get the best results from my practice time? Structured, planned and consistently timetabled practice sessions provide the basis to achieving productive progress. The following suggestions will help you steadily progress when you practice. B. Planning and Preparing for a workable practice routine The first step toward developing a productive and rewarding practice routine is to begin with a clear definition of the word “practice”. Practicing is the act of learning and refining one’s technical and musical fundamentals through a sequential and systematic approach. Without a properly developed technique it is very difficult to master either ensemble or solo performance repertoire. Actually, there are two parts to this: ‘learning’ and ‘refining’. Performance’ can take place in front of your friends, teacher, an audition panel, an exam, a master class, or a public audience. The art of practicing in its broadest terms is a skill that is developed over time, enabling you to detect problems and mistakes through careful concentration and comparative listening; to effectively solve those issues through the application of proven strategies. Practicing is hard work. For this reason, it is necessary to approach the task with thoughtful planning and constant experimentation to learn what format is ultimately most suitable and effective for you. 1. First of all, you will need to decide on how many hours of practice you are going to attempt each day/week. Much depends on your destination, ultimate goals, the performance task, and what you ultimately wish to accomplish in the time allotted. 2. Sit down with your weekly schedule and organise specific practice times. If you are unable to set regular times, you will fill up the time with other activities, unable to meet your goals. Be sure to trial your schedule. Some practice times may work better than others, but it will at least provide a place to start. You can always make adjustments to meet your particular needs. 3. If possible, break up your practice times throughout the day. However, if you have to practice, for example, two hours consecutively, take a break of ten or fifteen minutes between sessions.e. Be flexible in finding practice time when your daily life adds more activities. You may need to get up earlier or stay up later. You may also need to invest in a practice mute: There are currently many on the market. 4. Daily practice does not consist of simply playing through exercises, solos and ensemble repertoire with a dis-engaged’ rote-repetition approach’. Rather, it is essential that one first identify the fundamental skills and knowledge “I need to overcome the specific technical performance challenges of my repertoire”. These basic performance skills are developed and mastered through the daily use of sequential training materials. It is the mastery of these skills that enable us to meet the technical and musical challenges of our performance repertoire 5. Play with specific goals in mind; ones that you can measure. Set three focused gals for each time you begin practice. At the beginning of practice sessions, ask yourself, "What do I want to accomplish today? Shall I focus on tone/intonation development, basic finger/slide technique, build reading skills through sight-reading? Or, should I begin to focus on a new work, play with heightened musicality, or fix some problem passages in a current work?" Now, set three focused goals for each specific exercise, task or passage you place under the ‘microscope”. Don’t aim too high though. Make your goals realistic, even setting them lower than you think. Better to hit a lower target than to miss altogether. 6. Before we can practice a work, we must learn it through becoming familiar with the specific key centres, notes, articulations, rhythm challenges and expressive considerations. The main task of ‘practicing’ is that of getting the work up to speed. As your focus may change, continue to analyse our progress with questions such as: "Am I playing in tune? Is my tone even across the range, are the specific rhythms properly aligned and what parts of the work need specific attention?" However, whatever direction you take, remember to form detailed, descriptive opinions of your specific practice out-comes throughout your practice time, and be sure to recognise what is going well first and then identify what you would like to improve! 7. The most effective use of time is to meticulously plan for each practice segment with specific targets and measurable outcomes. As a part of the learning process try to form honest, articulate opinions on your progress* a. Listen critically b. Listen analytically c. Listen patiently *Start with ‘What did I believe went well’ and follow up with ‘What would I like to improve’? Be sure to stay tuned into my next instalment "Improving our practice approach" Thank you for reading! Warm regards, Monte Dear friends and family, Lynda and I have finally released our CD Album, "Go, Lovely Rose!"
The album can be purchased online at https://montemumford.bandcamp.com This album represents a unique partnership between myself and my friend and colleague, pianist Lynda Jessup. The album celebrates a musical friendship spanning 35 years of shared music-making. Together we have performed the widest range of repertoire, from works that are specific to the trombone, to the lush and romantic compositions for voice. In this recording, we share with you a selection of English, Russian, French, Australian, and American art songs and dances drawn mainly from the early 20th century. Although the trombone is often capable of projecting a voice of power and majesty, this collection of eclectic, little-known works provides opportunity to experience the instrument's unique ability to 'sing' with glorious piano accompaniments, of both intimacy and surprise. Hard copies can purchased directly from me. We do trust that you will enjoy this delightful collection! “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there” … John Lennon “Professionals rehearse because they perform. Amateurs/students perform because they rehearse. The rehearsal is the main event” … Craig Kirchhoff “My rehearsal is my most important performance” ... Monte Mumford As much as we might agree that planning for every rehearsal is important, both the writing, and using of comprehensive rehearsal plans can be daunting. And, what about all those pesky considerations, such as; “Where do I start? I have such limited time… I must prepare for the next concert… I must teach the pieces… My students never practice their parts at home… How will we ever be ready in time?” etc… At this point it is essential to remember that rehearsal plans generally reflect our ‘core’ music philosophy and overall purpose for inspiring students through rewarding participation in mastering skill, knowledge and artistic expression through our rehearsal routine. Is the ‘next concert’ our true destination, or is it our ensemble’s overall musical development and advancement? To this end it is imperative that we frequently revisit, re-examine and continually adjust our educational philosophy to ensure that it consistently supports and informs our purpose and direction for each and every rehearsal. After all, we should remember that as conductors, we are educators first. What do we wish for our ensemble members to gain through our rehearsals? Without meticulous planning it will not be possible to effectively lead and instruct our ensembles in the short rehearsal time allotted. If the lack of rehearsal time is a real concern, it is imperative that we work with a detailed plan of specific targets, strategies and goals with realistic timings to ensure steady progress. Like many challenges, once you have the ‘learning curve’ down for creating and delivering a balanced rehearsal plan, it becomes much easier. After the first plan is written and delivered, it then serves as a template for the rest of our plans for the term. Here are some guidelines I find helpful in my initial rehearsal planning routine. 1. I carefully consider the priorities of what my ensemble will need to know to meet generic performance requirements, such as:
3. I find it incredibly useful and most effective when I can share my plan via email with my ensemble three or more days before the next rehearsal. This provides the ensemble sufficient time to respond and employ the suggestions I have shared towards our next rehearsal. The use of meticulous, systematic rehearsal plans leads to measurable, rewarding outcomes, and also ensures positive engagement and continued growth. However, it is important to also understand that these intensive, broad-based rehearsals are to be planned so that their content and activities are tailored to fit into whatever time frame you are working. "There is always to to do what you want to do." ,,, Benton Minor Be both persistent and consistent, for the rewards of a well-trained ensemble are truly worth the effort. As an added benefit, well prepared plans can also establish our credibility to both colleagues and students alike. My rehearsal plans generally consist of the following three major sections 1. Warm-up: physical preparation and mental focus, employing; “Circle of 4ths” studies and related exercises as needed; developing independence and aural awareness 2. Training: technical and interpretative exercises/studies ** rhythmic and pitch vocabulary materials – rhythms, scales, arpeggios, the use of relatively short, unison etudes phrase and harmonic development through the use of chorale material 3. Performance repertoire: sight-reading and performance works all of repertoire choices are consistently matched to the level of the warm-up, training and chorale materials and overall abilities required by the repertoire. This three-point rehearsal format is based upon the use of a series of annually adjusted ‘Student/member Learning Objectives’ (SLOs). These are broken down into term goals and addressed through weekly rehearsal plans. These SLOs can be further broken down into the introduction and use of ‘long term, mid-term and short-term’ practice strategies (more on these later). The end point of our use of ‘rehearsal plans’ is to ultimately demonstrate to our ensemble members how to successfully invest in planning their home practice routine for successful progression and measurable, positive returns on their ‘investment’! 1. Circle of 4ths – Alternative Rehearsal Techniques* - The purpose of the various exercises introduced through the Ed Lisk Circle of 4th routine is to “redirect” thought and attention away from written notation (visual skills) to the art of listening (auditory skills). It is also useful in building individual and group concentration skills and individual engagement with independence. The mental processes and visualisation techniques promote ensemble member participation and focusing attention. It also provides for activating and improving individual listening skills through internal pulse development and aural awareness in scale, arpeggio and interval work. 2. Technical development (I generally split this section into two parts)
b. Chorale studies provide opportunities for developing perceptions of balance, blend and vertical intonation, as well as for exposure to the all-important harmonic movement (departure and arrival), and harmonic context as the driving force in phrase sensitive expression/interpretation. There are several method/etude/chorale ensemble texts# (see list below) that can be systematically employed for every level of ensemble expertise; the choices are many. However, ultimately, it is not the material you choose, but how you choose to use it that really matters. (A topic for another post, but they are designed to be used sequentially!) The important point here is that we employ the training material systematically every rehearsal with special attention to applying the learning strategies to home practice routine. In fact, every amateur and professional sporting club both appreciates and practices the importance of daily training discipline in every turn-out. Every rehearsal provides a valuable lesson in how to practice at home: make an opportunity to introduce a learning strategy and then demonstrate its effectiveness, in every rehearsal! We, in fact become trusted investment counsellors. 3. Repertoire and the Rehearsal Proper: Specific considerations It is at this point that we need to see that a major function of our repertoire choice should provide for opportunities to reinforce the technical and musical development of our ensemble. Our plan therefore will need to effectively connect the training material introduced in the first two sections of the rehearsal towards addressing the technical and musical challenges found in our repertoire choices. We must not lose sight of the fact that we are trying to build generic skills and musical knowledge to meet the musical and technical demands of our repertoire. That is why it is vitally important that the mastery of technique and musical interpretation are separately introduced and learned prior to exposure to the current repertoire in the folder. Be careful to choose repertoire that does not exceed the capacity of your ensemble to meet its technical and musical demands. Therefore, when moving on to planning and preparing the performance repertoire section of your rehearsal, it is important to list the specific issues for consideration, such as how will your repertoire best serve achieving your music education philosophy. You will need consider what sections will need attention and how they should be approached and prepared with references and examples drawn specifically from the training materials. The ability to balance your training and performance activities requires both vision and dogged commitment to meticulous planning, timing and above all, patience. We must remain committed to the ‘long game’. Point to ponder… Good rehearsals always include connective analogies, metaphors and narrative (stories) to assist our ensemble in understanding musical concepts difficult to understand and promote the intrinsic value of excellence in music performance over short-term extrinsic rewards. Additional notes and resource lists: *Circle of 4ths Rational and use: Why I both promote and employ the Circle of 4ths strategies as a foundation of warm-up procedure across every rehearsal. Through the use of the “Circle of 4ths” exercises and stratagems, I focus on developing rhythmic internal and external pulse awareness through the use of subdivision, and vertical pitch alignment through beat-less tuning, harmonic alignment and balance: accurate rhythm and duration, pitch, tone quality and intonation harmonic and melodic ensemble balance and blend tone colour, articulations, key centre cognation scale mastery. Employing the Circle of 4ths programme and related applications enables ensembles to increase their automised skills base through its application throughout the rehearsal. It is important to understand that all of the ‘Circle of 4th’ exercises are to be ’un-conducted’ and are solely dependent on each individual’s internal pulse. They are expected to listen to the ensemble for developing and matching tone quality, intonation, balance, blend and corporate time and internal pulse. **On-line resources for ‘Rhythm Reading” I believe that it is important to share online resources with our ensembles, which will assist in priming curiosity and individual engagement with technical and musical growth, as this promotes individual responsibility and ownership. Here are three rhythm sites that can be of great assistance. All three appear to be free and interactive. The 3rd site includes a print option, so I share them with in hopes that they will assist in improving rhythm vocabulary. Mastering rhythm notation is key to ultimate success in sight-reading, so, happy rhythm reading! http://www.daniellaberge.com/music/rhythm/rhythm1.htm http://www.therhythmtrainer.com http://www.samuelstokesmusic.com/rhythm.html #Texts and training materials The Creative Director Alternative Rehearsal Techniques (Edward Lisk) Rhythm Spectrum for Effective Rhythmic Development (Ed Sueta) “Sound Innovations” books 1-2 (Robert Sheldon) “Sound Innovations Ensemble Method” books 1-3 (Robert Sheldon) “Accent on Achievement” - books 1-3 (John O’Reilly) “Traditions of Excellence” – books 1-3 (Bruce Pearson) “Essential Elements” - books 1-3 (Tom Rhodes) “Symphonic Band Warm -ups“ (Claude Smith) |
AuthorMr. Mumford holds an international reputation as a conductor, adjudicator and clinician, contributing regularly to the field of music education and performance studies through conference presentations, publications, professional development offerings, and master classes. He is highly regarded for his musical experience, expertise, passion and effective teaching style. He is in demand as a guest conductor, music education consultant, and adjudicator, providing performance strategies and professional development for music educators, administrators and students alike. From 2015 -2017 Mr. Mumford was engaged as Advisor and Lead Educator for the Melbourne Youth Orchestra Teacher Professional Development Programme. Archives
February 2021
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