Things you need to cover in woodwind methods class

ByBret Pimentel

If you are teaching a woodwind methods course, you might be interested in my book.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

A few years back I posted a rant about non-mission-critical information in woodwind methods textbooks.

This is a course primarily for instrumental music majors, who will go on to become school band or orchestra directors, and who need a crash course in the playing and pedagogy of each instrument that will be in their future ensembles. At the places I’ve taught, it means taking students from zero to playing a little bit of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone, all in one semester. It’s a semester-long sprint.

I went on to list things I have found in textbooks intended for these courses, which I think are distractions or filler or otherwise misguided.

woodwind methods class
photo, Ace Foundation

What should a woodwind methods class focus on?

  • Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. Fundamentals. For woodwinds, the following are absolutely, non-negotiably crucial technical elements: breath support, voicing, embouchure, articulation, and finger technique. They must be understood and properly connected to audible elements: tone, intonation, response, volume/dynamics, and fluency (of finger movements). This material should probably make up 90%+ of lecture, readings, in-class activities, etc.
  • Woodwind-specific band-room survival skills: minor instrument repairs and adjustments, reading and interpreting fingering charts, woodwind transpositions, selecting equipment (this needs to be a much bigger conversation than just a list of brands and models), and matching students to instruments (hint: gender, anatomical factors within broad norms, and ill-conceived proficiency testing are not good ways of doing this).
  • Introduction to additional resources. One, two, or even several semesters are not enough to make a undergraduate student into an effective teacher of woodwinds; they need to know how and why to consult available pedagogical books, journals, and online materials.

Also, disturbingly, I have been hearing occasionally from woodwind methods teachers who are choosing or are being encouraged to skip or minimize the double reeds and focus on flute, clarinet, and saxophone. (I even heard from a publisher alerting me to their woodwind methods textbook that does not cover the double reeds!) I think this is a disastrous side effect of a marching-band-centric approach to music education, and leaves future music educators woefully unprepared to lift their band programs above that level. You have to teach oboe and bassoon!

The question I get a lot from new college professors about to teach their first woodwind methods course is which textbook to use. I don’t have a strong recommendation. Dietz and Westphal seem to be commonly used, but they are expensive and have the other problems I have previously described. I currently use some materials of my own with my woodwind classes, which may or may not at some point become available. If you like, join this mailing list and I’ll use it to spam you if I ever get everything edited into a book-like form. Update: the book is now available!

Make sure you are using your woodwind class’s time well, preparing them to teach woodwind fundamentals clearly and thoroughly.

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    So you bought a new mouthpiece! How exciting. But wait—it’s not playing as well as you hoped. Maybe it squeaks, or some (or all) notes don’t come out very well, or the tuning is weird. Let’s consider some possible reasons why:

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  • Doubling-specific skills vs. instrument-specific skills

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    Practice hard!

  • Hi, come on in, you’re right on time for your lesson.

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    I have lots on things on my list for you today: we should double-check your rhythms on that etude, review those melodic minor scales that were giving you trouble last week, and discuss some finer points of vibrato.

    But something about your sunken eyes when I met you at the door, the way you slouched into the room, the slept-in fashion statement, says that today you are Struggling. Not because you are lazy or undedicated. But because college life is fraught with deadlines for research papers and rent payments, and scheduled to the brim with marching band rehearsals and late shifts waiting tables, and fueled by store-brand Pop Tarts and never enough sleep.

    And because of the heavy secrets that you carry. A friend spiraling into addiction. A boyfriend or girlfriend who tells you you’re not enough. A medical worry that you can’t afford to acknowledge. Sexual assault. Depression.

    We can try to fight through your repertoire piece, but today Saint-Saëns isn’t breaking the top twenty things on your mind.

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    Or sometimes to ask how you’re doing, ignore the reflexive “fine,” and wait for the real answer to come tumbling out.

    I’m no therapist. And I’m not your parent or your doctor or a social worker. I might not always be the right person for you to talk to—luckily you have friends, family, clergy who are also ready to listen. And there’s the campus counseling center, for when you need to talk to someone who isn’t invested in your life, or someone who can offer a professional opinion when medications or other therapies are needed. But if I seem like the right person to open up to, then I want you to feel safe and unjudged doing it.

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    See you next week. Hang in there!

    Thanks for reading! You’re awesome. If you found this post helpful, let me know with a donation or an email.

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    If you are teaching a woodwind methods course, you might be interested in my book.

    Photo, Nick Findley

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    Usually my classes figure out that I can’t very well reject anything they print from my website, so I usually see a lot of my own stuff appearing in their notebooks. I don’t object to this as long as they choose well, but sometimes they don’t. Last semester’s submissions included my review of the AKAI EWI 4000s, which, of course, is not part of our curriculum, and even some of my links pages, which become considerably less useful on paper, since you can’t click through to the good stuff.

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4 Comments

  1. Have you looked over Teaching Woodwinds: A Guide for Students and Teachers? It’s lead author is Kelly Mollnow Wilson (flute), with chapters by Sarah Hamilton and Mark Dubois (oboe), Deborah Andrus (clarinet), Jenny Mann (bassoon), and Gail Levinsky (saxophone). I think it is a really good starting point, and a much more affordable option than Dietz or Westphal. It’s a Mountain Peak Music publication, with the entire text online (with lots of video and audio). There’s a supplemental workbook. I’d be curious of your thoughts about it.

    Reply

    1. The publisher sent me a print copy because I let them use diagrams from my Fingering Diagram Builder. (It turned out they used hundreds, maybe thousands, of diagrams, and credited me only online behind the paywall—the next for-profit publisher who asks will have to cough up more than a complimentary desk copy.)

      It doesn’t really have the bloat problem that Dietz/Westphal have. If anything maybe the opposite: it’s practically a band method, with lots of simple tunes and hardly any text. It does have the issues of being written by a committee—the language and approaches are inconsistent. (For example, some of the instrument chapters briefly address voicing, while others ignore it. Ditto breath support.)

      The online resources are a nice idea, and I’m in favor of using technology in teaching, but I’m reluctant to put $60 (cover) into what turns into basically an Essential Elements book if/when the online resources disappear.

      Reply
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