Senior High School Observation

On October 17, I was able to observe Ryan Anderson’s junior and senior high band. This was an eye opening experience because of the differences he ran his band. Dover-Eyota Middle and High is a Grammy nominated band program, so this was a great opportunity to see a band outside of Tennessee. Mr. Anderson did utilize the room in a big way. Firstly, he purposefully spread everyone in the room out. In the middle of the ensemble, there was an aisle so he would be able to walk from the podium to the back with the percussion. This is a great idea because most bands would keep everyone close and not utilize going through the ensemble to listen in to each section a little easier. This also made it easier for him to help a section. I wish I could see more band use this method in their ensembles. I started the observation with his junior high band. This band consist with about eighty 7th and 8th graders. He would start his class with breathing and stretches, but it was not led by him. This was student led which was a new for me because usually the director would not let students lead much in junior high. I enjoyed that he started the class with breathing and stretches because it would the …show more content…
Anderson. His high school also had about eight students He started class the same way with the breathing and stretching, and this was student led as well. When he started rehearsing the concert pieces, he was going in depth with musicality. I could tell his main goal was to start making music with the students because the ensemble was playing the piece at a proficient level. He would ask the students about musical ideas they could do which kept the students engaged. Mr. Anderson’s band was very student led and response which was great because it made the students get the most out of the class. This also help the student identify different times they could be musical. This was the major thing I took away from his high school