General Information
For those that haven't been able to attend an IMSS Parent Information Evening prior to their child commencing lessons, here are some key points relating to your child's brass lessons:
With that overview out of the way, here are some more practical matters for those commencing brass lessons.
- Students in Years 5-10 receive either a 20 or 30 minute lesson once per week during school hours. Groups of 1-2 students are typically allocated 20 minutes of face-to-face teaching time, while larger groups get 30.
- Primary school lessons are held at the same time and on the same day each week. Secondary school lessons rotate across multiple periods when possible to avoid students missing half of the same class every week.
- There may be instances in which a particular secondary school has an hour or less of brass teaching. In these cases the lesson times won't rotate as I'll be required to fit another 2, 3 or even 4 schools into that same day.
- Secondary schools often have ensembles such as concert band, jazz band or orchestra that take place outside of school hours. The details of these will vary from school to school, but it means that IMSS teachers may be working with students an or hour more before and/or after school on any given day.
- Class lists in secondary schools may be arranged by student experience or skill level rather than year level to allow for optimal programming. The course materials I have developed for my students may allow for differentiated learning, but putting a Year 8 student with three years of brass experience and a background on piano in the same class as another Year 8 student that only started the year before is an unnecessary challenge for everyone involved!
- Brass lessons are unique in that I typically have 2 or 3 different instruments reading different musical notation in the room at any given time. This makes the teaching process more complex but provides a range of benefits alongside the inherent challenges. Brass instruments blend well together and sound their best in mixed groups!
- IMSS teachers share the same Classroom Teacher classification as any other public school teacher. We require tertiary teaching qualifications (mine is a Bachelor of Music Education from UWA), work to the same AITSL standards, complete Performance Management, attend school staff meetings and accrue sick leave just as any other teaching staff member does. The main difference is that we teach slightly fewer than the standard 1200-1300 minutes per week and receive less DOTT time due to all the driving between schools.
- In 2021 I visit 16 schools each week. 11 schools of those are scheduled between Monday and Wednesday each week, so email responses may be delayed across those days. Your patience is appreciated!
- As the work of instrumental music teaching is equally valuable we have a comprehensive relief teaching system to deliver as consistent a teaching program as possible. Naturally there are fewer brass relief teachers around WA than there are maths teachers so there may be occasions when no relief staff are available. Should this occur, IMSS will endeavour to notify your child ahead of their lesson time via their school's administration.
- Students are required to practice for as many minutes as is necessary to carefully prepare the weekly set work. For beginners that have been maintaining a relatively consistent routine this will only about 10-15 minutes per day, five or six days of the week. In later years there will be periods in which they need to play for 25 or 30 minutes per day to develop the material, but after a few sessions may be able to play it proficiently in less time. Other weeks may require a greater or lesser quantity of practice dependant on attendance, what was covered in the previous lessons and the quality of their practice.
- We reinforce a number of musical problem solving strategies every lesson, as the How To Practice processes employed in class (e.g. Clap-Sing-Play, 3x Perfect etc.) will be similarly effective in students' home practice.
- I regularly have students audition for - and successfully gain admittance into - the Gifted And Talented Education music program at John Curtin College of the Arts. If your child has enjoyed their lessons, developed the kind of practice routine described above and therefore made solid progress throughout their first year then this may be an extremely valuable opportunity to pursue!
With that overview out of the way, here are some more practical matters for those commencing brass lessons.
Common Resources
1. PRACTICE JOURNAL
Students are provided with a practice journal free of charge at the beginning of each year, in which they can record how much they practiced each day and what they should be focusing on in their weekly set work. There is a printable journal page available on my homepage should your child misplace their journal.
2. METHOD BOOK
Beginner students will also be provided with a free copy of Dr Paul de Cinque's Brass Class method book in Term 2. This text follows expands on the fundamental skills introduced in my Primer Pack (provided early in Term 1) and will assist in the development of strong music reading skills even for those students with little or no prior experience in note-reading.
3. ADDITIONAL BOOKS IN FUTURE YEARS
As students progress they can tackle longer performance pieces than those found in typical method books. Publishers like Hal Leonard offer collections of popular songs in a range of styles and that are accompanied by good quality backing tracks. The books usually include one or two easy pieces suitable for students in their second year of learning and a number of intermediate to advanced songs. These books make great gifts and can be highly motivational, especially if the child is involved in choosing one that appeals to them.
Students will require the purchase of additional repertoire books in Years 10, 11 and 12. Commonly used texts include Mark Walton's 66 Great Tunes, Jim Snidero's Jazz Conception series and The Trumpet Collection published by G. Schirmer Inc.
4. OTHER EQUIPMENT
All brass players require the following additional items:
- A music stand (cheap and portable or more expensive and sturdy - your choice!),
- A display file for storing handouts,
- A pencil to live in their instrument case,
- A cleaning kit (see below for details),
- A metronome app downloaded to an accessible device at home.
Cleaning kits for trombone must include the following:
- Slide oil or cream (if using cream, the student will also need a small water spray bottle sold separately)
- Tuning slide grease
- Mouthpiece cleaning brush
- Flexible 'snake' cleaning brush
Cleaning kits for all other brass instruments are extremely similar and must include:
- Valve oil (called 'Rotary Valve Oil' for French Horns)
- Tuning slide grease
- Mouthpiece cleaning brush (sized to match instrument type)
- Valve casing cleaning brush (sized to match instrument type)
- Flexible 'snake' cleaning brush
Cleaning kits can usually be found in local music stores for between $30-$40, but I'm not permitted to recommend one particular brand over others. If you are choosing between very different examples such as those in the picture above, my recommendation would be for example on the right which includes bottle-brush style tools, rather than the round foam tipped ones on the left.
A lesson for beginner students on how to use all of these cleaning items will take place early in Term 1 to ensure that students understand how to maintain and avoid damaging their instrument. As such, purchasing your child's cleaning kit ASAP is a high priority. The photos below (published with permission) show Year 5 beginner students putting their cleaning kits and newfound maintenance skills into action.
5. END OF YEAR PURCHASE ($$$)
This is a big one for trumpeters and trombonists, but not baritone, euphonium, tuba or French Horn players. The Department of Education only owns enough trumpets and trombones for cohort of beginner students throughout the state, so you will need to source your own at the end of the year. Please refer to my Purchase & Hire Advice document for further information on this topic.