by Peter Boonshaft | Jun 13, 2017 | Boonshaft's Blog
Try simply writing this remarkably perfect quote in giant letters on the board before band. Don’t say a word about it. However, just before you start to rehearse, after the band is quiet and focused on you, simply stare at it in silence: “Students practice...
by Peter Boonshaft | May 30, 2017 | Boonshaft's Blog
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.” Those words of Helen Keller might be the best I know for how we deal with frustration as teachers. I so...
by Peter Boonshaft | May 22, 2017 | Boonshaft's Blog
So you’re listening to your band and their corporate or overall balance is good but the balance is still unsatisfying. When that happens, section balance is usually the culprit. For example, the trumpet section is appropriate in the context from piccolo to tuba,...
by Peter Boonshaft | May 15, 2017 | Boonshaft's Blog
I recently conducted an All-State Band on the exact same stage, in the same school auditorium, as the very first honors band festival I ever performed in as a 10th grader. It was awesome. It was surreal. I had so many flashbacks to that event when I was 15 years old,...
by Peter Boonshaft | May 9, 2017 | Boonshaft's Blog
Too often administrators don’t understand the process of what we do in band. Help them understand what we do and how we do it. Make them a part of a performance. Obviously, if they play an instrument, that’s easy, have them sit-in with the band on a piece...