Adam Alves

Secondary Methods and Materials

Observation Reflection

Methuen High School (9-12)

I had the opportunity to observe different kids of music classes at Methuen High School, such as

band, music tech, and freshman choir. The band was interesting because the sophomores through seniors

rehearsed in the morning and the freshman rehearsed in a separate class later in the day. The band

director Brian Mcgonagle explained to me how this was a benefit, because the freshman can’t hide behind

the strong upperclassmen and learn to play out, that way the marching band is stronger all together.

Another thing that stood out to me were the drum majors. They all seemed confident in what they were

doing and didn’t feel scared to speak up when a student wasn’t listening to them. It made the rehearsal go

a lot smoother, which I’m sure the band director was thankful for. Definitely a quality I have to keep in

mind when I am auditioning my drum majors one day.

The freshman choir was interesting because I don’t often get experience with vocal ensembles.

Ben Woodward was the choir director and he was very helpful and welcoming. He started off the class

with a meditation exercise which I found interesting. I do think it is beneficial, but this was a morning class

and I’m not sure if having students meditate in the morning is quite a good idea. I’m afraid that the

students will already be sleep deprived (which they probably are), and meditating might just lead to them

falling asleep. I think it would definitely be more beneficial as the start to an after school rehearsal where

the students are more awake, and they can actually use that meditation as a time to clear their minds and

get ready for the rehearsal.

The music technology class was taught by Eric Poster, and the atmosphere was very different in

that room. Most of the students were not in any sort of band, orchestra, or chorus, and so it was

interesting to see how they all took ion the information. The class was a go-at-your-own-pace sort of

format with Eric going around for student to student, which is nice because it definitely creates a calmer

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environment. It’s calming to have a class that doesn’t have a lot of strict deadlines, contrasting from other

classes that may need projects and homework turned it regularly. Most of the projects were in garage

band, and I like that they were sticking with that DAW because it is the most user friendly in my opinion. I

understand that it is mainly a financial reason as to why they can’t get DAW’s such as Protools and

Reason, but I think keeping I simple especially with students not too familiar with writing music is

essential. It was nice to see some football players make beats and sharing it with their friends, using the

music technology class as a creative outlet.

The last class I observed was the theory class, which was again taught by Brian Mcgonagle.

Brian’s way of teaching key signatures was extremely eye-opening to me. First off, he doesn’t use the circle

of fifths. He doesn’t believe that it should be the first thing you see when you enter a music theory class

because it will just confuse the students, which I agree with. His philosophy on learning the different keys

was that you need to understand scales in order to understand key signatures, and so he began to write

scales with the class. He stared with he C major scale, went up to G, dragged it to the staff below, and

started a new scale on G using the wwhwwwh method. Visually, it just made so much sense, and I have

started to incorporate that into how I teach my scales and key signatures. He also said to use humor in the

classroom, because music theory can get boring for the students and if you’re very animated and being a

little silly, then the students will be more engaged in what they’re learning.

Chelmsford High School (9-12)

I also had the opportunity to observe a few different classes at Chelmsford High School as well.

The band director is Matt Sexauer, and he explained to me how there are three different band classes due

to a scheduling problem. He does see the whole band, but not until after school. He ran all the classes the

same though, starting off with a DVD of a breathing exercise called “The Breathing Gym” which he says

has really helped the students and their breathing.

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 I also got to observe the string orchestra with the orchestra director Kate Comeau. It was

interesting, because the day I observed they were trying something new. All the students gathered around

and put their chairs in a circle, making a “donut” shape with the bass player in the middle. I was really

impressed with how much they played in the class. It took a while to set up, but they still were able to play

through all of their pieces rather well in my opinion. The band class did not play as much as the orchestra

class did, and sadly it actually showed in their playing. I’ll have to keep in mind the techniques the

orchestra director was using for her ensemble, for whatever ensembles I teach.

The last two classes I observed were not as long as the first two. First was music theory with Matt

Sexauer. The theory class was for Theory 1 and AP music theory, and the AP music students would take

the AP exam at the end of the year while the Theory 1 students just treated it as a regular class. Matt

started off with some ear training, which shouldn’t have surprised me but it did for some reason. I learned

music very theoretically, and ear training was a new concept when I came to Berklee. However it makes

sense for you to go over ear training in your theory class because you need the audio as well as visual when

it comes to music.

The last class I observed was Advanced Guitar with Lauren Cochran, who is also the theater

director. The class reminded me a lot of the keyboarding class I took in high school, in which we all went

at our own pace and had time to study the material. The guitar class is a little more structured that that

though, with Lauren teaching a topic/technique to the class. She teaches the technique, the students

practice for a bit, then they regroup and play exercises together from the “First Year Guitar H.O.T.” book.

It was a very informal class, and it was once again a way for students to take part in music without being

in a formal ensemble.

ABLE Observations (k-12)

I observed two sessions of ABLE observations at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. The first

session was in the morning which was for younger students. The instructors for the class were Miles and

Nadia, who were very nice and welcoming. There were about 7-10 students in the class, some coming and

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going at times, but I was observing at how quick Miles was to diffuse an issue. Any time a student was

upset about something, Miles calmly and empathetically diffused the situation. Both instructors kept doing

activities that had manipulatives, which was good because it kept the students attention and helped them

sing/tap along with the music.

The second session I attended was the rock band, which had middle and high school aged

students. This session was partially taught by Erin Eberhardt, who had me help out with the ensemble

(which is why there aren’t any notes on this session). I helped Erin step up the room, grad instruments we

need, and at times assisted students. Erin was teaching the song “All Star” by Smashmouth, and she

projected the chords on the board. The drummers pretty much followed along with what they heard, the

singer looked up the lyrics, and the wind players had a little packet that had the guidetone lines of the

song. It was a very informal setting, which is how I suppose you run a rock band. The only thing I may do

a little differently is printing out the lyrics and chords as well, that way everyone has a little repertoire of

some kind, even if it isn’t standard music notation.

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