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Workshops

 Marshall Music offers a variety of workshops and seminars that can be tailored to your situation for you and your music staff.  In addition to the workshops listed here our educational staff can offer their expertise in other areas you may require from uniform purchase to facility planning. If you have any questions or would like to schedule a workshop contact our school service department at 517 337-9700 ext. 301 or Bill Gourley at 517 337-9700 ext. 306 also billg@marshallmusic.com

Instrumental Music

 Developing Proficient Sight Reading Skills
William W. Gourley – band or orchestra
50 – 120 minutes 

Proficient sight reading skills enable ensembles to be more efficient in rehearsal and encourage individual practice. Utilizing a programmed approach students are able to build independent music making skills and become confident and proficient sight-readers.

Efficient Rehearsal Technique
William W. Gourley – band or orchestra
90 – 120 minutes

                        Score preparation
                       Eliminating the Road-Blocks-To-Success
                        Anticipating problems
                        Focusing the ears on sound
                        Ensemble unity
                        The Musicality Laws
                        Short cuts
                        Building the rehearsal schedule
                        Assessment 

Memorable performances are the result of efficient rehearsal techniques including score preparation, ensemble skill development, attention to detail and musicality. A variety of strategies will be presented to maximize rehearsal time.

Inventory Assessment and Planning
William W. Gourley – band or orchestra
50 minutes

                        Inventory
                        Assessment
                        Needs
                        Maintenance
                        Replacement
                        Expansion
                        Projections
                        Prioritizing
                        Long term planning 

It is important to maintain an instrument and uniform inventory in an orderly fashion to allow for efficient use of budgeted funds. This seminar will present a methodical approach to developing a comprehensive budget process necessary for maintaining an adequate inventory for our program.

Creating a Budget
William W. Gourley – band or orchestra
50 – 90 minutes

                        Instructional budget
                        Textbooks
                        Music
                        Fees
                       Maintenance
                        Inventory 

This seminar will explore the many facets and often overlooked aspects for creating a comprehensive budget for your instrumental music program.

Getting Organized for Music Educators
William W. Gourley – band or orchestra
50 – 90 minutes 

Organizational duties are a daunting task. This month-by-month approach is a detailed presentation with a time line to assist the music educator to stay ahead of the job including strategies for handling fundraising, inventory, budget preparation, etc.

Eight Weeks to a Better Ensemble
William W. Gourley – band or orchestra
50 minutes 

Many ensembles are just 15 minutes a day for eight weeks from top notch performances. The claims of an improved ensemble in eight weeks certainly sounds like an infomercial for the next weight loss scheme or piece of exercise equipment that will give you that Hollywood body in as little as six weeks. The fact is the vast majority of ensembles are two months away from great performances. There are basic characteristics of successful ensembles that can produce marked improvement in eight weeks if they are diligently followed.

Beginning Band and Orchestra, the Roots of a Successful Program
William W. Gourley – band or orchestra
50-90 minutes 

The middle school and beginning music programs have little in common with the university experience. Getting students started with the proper habits, guiding them through those first honks, squeaks, groans and scrapes requires us as teachers to be a cheerleader, coach, expert analyst, visionary, salesperson, promoter, psychologist, pedagogical master and possess unflappable patience while 30 to 100 beginners make their way through “Hot Cross Buns”. Trying to keep young students motivated in a discipline that is inherently grounded in delayed gratification when they are surrounded by immediate gratification activities creates an environment that can feel quite alien to any music educator let alone the beginning one.

The Happy Classroom
William W. Gourley
50-90 minutes 

We have all heard it, “Kids join band/orchestra because they like music, they stay in because they like the director” or, “Teaching is 10% talent and 90% personality.” Both of these are oversimplifications of the complexities of teaching but they do put the focus of successful teaching on its primary source, the teacher.

One can debate the merits of various teaching styles but in the case of the music instructor we are concerned with how we encourage students with a cornucopia of choices to stay in our programs year after year. Students are required to take English Lit., science, social studies, etc. As long as the school’s enrollment stays the same or grows the “core” classroom teacher can be assured of a room full of students each fall. Music is an option competing with a lot of other classes that require far less commitment for a limited number of bodies. Even if the student body enrollment increases, filling the chairs each fall becomes more challenging with each added graduation requirement, AP offering, extra-curricular activity or job taken to earn money for the latest video game on the market. Considering these factors, that 90% personality thing is quite daunting.

This session will focus on strategies to enhance:

Band 

Beginning Band
William W. Gourley - band
90 – 120 minutes

                        Posture
                        Tone Building
                        Rote to Note strategies
                        Repetition strategies
                        Pulse awareness
                        Building a tonal center
                        First concert           

Beginning students require a solid foundation upon which to build their skills. A strong emphasis on aural learning creates students more focused on what they hear as they perform rather than what they see on the page. A model process will be presented to develop tone, blend, balance, pulse, ensemble unity and ear-to-hand proficiency in the beginning band class.

Pedagogical Development of the Intermediate and Advanced Band Student
William W. Gourley - band
90 – 120 minutes

                        Tone production
                        Brass flexibility
                        Technical fluidity
                        Range development
                        Percussion proficiency
                        Tonguing
                        Rhythmic proficiency
                        Ensemble unity
                        Tuning
                        Blend and balance           

There are few ensembles fortunate enough to have all members studying privately. A carefully planned, sequential, pedagogical approach for the developing student in a full band class can produce proficient ensembles without the advantages of private study.

Improving Band Tone, Intonation and Ensemble Unity
William W. Gourley – band
50 – 90 minutes

The reason it doesn’t sound good is because it doesn’t sound good.  It is imperative that a band demonstrate good ensemble blend and balance and uniformity of movement. to achieve a quality performance.  Correct notes and rhythms are of little value when ensemble tone is not refined. There are quick fix strategies that can dramatically improve the band sound. This seminar includes strategies to immediately improve blend and balance thereby improving intonation for beginners as well as advanced bands. Other exercises for improving intonation and ensemble unity will be presented. This may be done with an ensemble or in seminar form.

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