Why It Works

The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

Jordan R. Sawyer
Director of Bands
Indian Ridge Middle School
1355 S Nobhill Road, Davie Fl 33324
(954) 715-0304
jrdnsywr@gmail.com

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

In 2019 I was the Assistant Director of Bands at Decker Middle School in

Austin, Texas. I was afforded a great deal of personal time because of the multiple
director-system we used and I remember being in awe of the Head Director, Mrs.
Kimberly Yeager, for her profound understanding of the Essential Elements method
book. She could rattle off any line number and explain in painful detail which con-
cepts it demanded and which hidden concepts (leaps, skips, long phrases, etc.)
might be within it. She had a detailed map in her mind of how to navigate the
method book in a way I’d never considered: the lines demand that the students
prepare before approaching them.

At that time, I’d gotten a hold of a Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musi-
cian book for Clarinet and Trombone, and I wondered if I could glean from it what
Mrs. Yeager had been able to mentally track from her method book. I set myself to
creating an inventory of concepts and pitches for both methods and was shocked at
the sheer volume and drawn out pace of the HSBBM books. It was there that I was
hooked on the method. I ordered a director’s book for further review and discovered
all these neat additions:

• A Pre-Book 10-part sequence that eliminated the need of a book for the students
before instruments
• Thoughtful grouping of 20-line portions into units that facilitated this demand
Mrs. Yeager had discussed
• Plethora of dedicated Playing Test lines
• A suite of supplemental material on the Habits Universal website

The impetus for this clinic stems from that experience. By knowing this
method - deeply, truly knowing - I have come to appreciate it as the most complete
and effective modern beginning band method book.

I hope to make the following assertions and prove my point of view correct

1. That the Structure of the book is one of its key strengths

2. That the Prebook Sequence is the best pre-built music lesson plan you can pur-
chase
3. That the Layered Teaching design inherent in the book is what produces excel-
lence

This document is made up of my experiences and my opinions. They are not

right. They are not wrong. They are mine and if they help just one other Director
then this entire process will have been worthwhile. I’ve been lucky to have the ex-
periences I’ve had that have afforded me the time to put into everything in this doc-
ument; I hope one day to be really good at this thing called band.

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Thanks so much,
Jordan R. Sawyer

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

The HSBBM is structured as follows

• 207 individual lines in the book

• 104 lines of redundant skill assessment
• 65 lines of “first exposure”
• 22 playing tests
• 10 technical drills
• 6 scale lines
• 3 progressive warm-ups

This structure is built “End in mind”. Starting at the ending point, backtrack through
the skills and concepts to the very beginning to navigate implementation.

197 of these lines are broken in to 11 Units

• 9 20-line Units
• 1 10-Line Unit
• 1 6-Line Scale Unit

These units divide the method into digestible chunks, facilitate layered learning,
and allow for focused pacing.

Before the Units is a 10-part Prebook Sequence that prepares students to be taught
in the unique atmosphere of the band room, establishes rhythmic literacy, and can
be completed without the students having materials beyond rhythm charts.

The following sections are that break down, from Complete Method to Units to Pre-
book Sequence.

The appendix of this document contains the entire Concept Inventory from Full In-
ventory, to Units, to Page-by-Page, to Line-by-Line index, to Prebook Sequence.

The power of HSBBM’s structure cannot be understated.

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

This is the complete collection of concepts in its entirety from the HSBBM. This is the “End
in Mind” when using this method. It’s important to note that this list is designed to take
1.5-2 years to complete, the purpose is to develop illiterate and capable musicians with
strong habits of performance.

The density is by design

17 Winds Rhythmic Concepts
19 Percussion Rhythmic Concepts
5 Key Signatures
8 Dynamic Concepts
5 Tempo Concepts
5 Articulation Concepts
36 Theory/Roadmap Concepts
14 Different Scale Concepts
38 Percussion Instrument Concepts
Multi Octave pitch index per instrument
Because this list can seem exhaustive, the Director’s book is broken into Units, marked by
shaded tabs on the right of the Director’s book pages.

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

There are 9 20-Line Units, 1 10-Line Unit, and 1 6-Line Scale Unit in the book. HSBBM Is or-
ganized by these navigable units to help facilitated Layered Learning, where concepts are
reviewed, refined, introduced, mastered, and applied.
Considering the method in this way allows you to select an end point for the year and work
backwards from that place.
Units With Regard to Pacing

If we select Line 100, this is the

final suite of Concepts students
should master by the year’s end.
This is Unit 5. If we divide the to-
tal amount of teachable days by
the amount of Units + 1 (for the
Prebook Sequence), we get a
rough guide for pacing.

180 School Days

- 25 for Testing, etc. 155/6 ≈ 25 Days

155 School Days

Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4

Pre-
Unit 1 Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 4 Unit 5
book

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

To help further prepare students

for the first Unit journey, there is
a 10-part Prebook Sequence that
helps build the most basic princi-
ples of musicianship as a founda-
tion. This is the full list of con-
cepts students will know before
ever touching an instrument. The
structure of the method leads all
the way down to the very first in-
teractions.

This prebook sequence can be

used in tandem with classroom
management routines an expec-
tations. Leading from establishing
the class rules directly into music
making is a powerful way to start
the year; often, I’m well into the
3rd or 4th sequence before other
teachers in the school have be-
gun actively teaching students.
This makes my room a place of
business - for sure, we have a ton
of fun, but we’re aiming to do
something incredible, and we’re
going to need tall the time we
can get!

Included in this section are the

Rhythm Chart supplements

1. Enter & Set up - 1 minute Establishing “Rehearsal”

Routine
2. Review previous sequence Rhythm concepts
3. Accompanying Rhythm Chat 2-3 lines, counting This is an excellent opportunity to
establish expectations with how
4. Follow next Sequence for Rhythm to be taught in the Band Room.
Our rooms are so different from
5. Review previous sequence Solfege concepts the general population, many stu-
dents will THRIVE in the struc-
6. Follow next Sequence for Solfege
ture of the class in tandem with
7. Additional Music Theory concepts the structure of the method. To
the left is an example of how a
8. Pack & Dismiss class period during the Se-
quences might look.

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

With regard to Music Theory concepts: I’m not heavy on front-loading theoretical
written concepts for students, I think it’s both confusing and not the time this early.
I provide context as theory is needed before, but I don’t start discussing the staff,
clefs, etc… until after students have mastered the Masters of the Alphabet exercise
and done their flashcards. From there, we turn the alphabet into the staff, the staff
into the clefs, and then finally begin adding symbols to the lines. I allow solfège to
operate for a long time and have not yet had it be to my detriment.

Our process for learning ideas like the Alphabet, the Staff, the Clefs, Ledger Lines,
and so on follows this format:

1. We start with the Musical Alphabet, memorizing it up and down (we read pitch vertically,
so I emphasize vertical reading of pitches).
2. Once Students understand the vertical nature of the pitches and the alphabet, we add
lines, focusing the E and the G columns
3. This leads to the introductions of the Clefs, which helps us organize the sets of pitches
we selected
4. Which ultimately leads to identifying pitch names based on their location in the staff
… I believe this is a stronger approach than first building a staff, adding the symbols, and
then suddenly explaining the rules; in this way, we’re starting with the rules and then find-
ing the right game to play once they’re mastered. From “X” shapes we’ll move to rhythms
that can not only move horizontally, but have vertical expression (pitch), too!

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

Transitioning to the instruments is one of the most exciting times in the band class -
this is what the students signed up to do!

Once students have completed the Prebook Sequence, we start the process of
learning how to open our cases, assemble our instruments, care for the different
parts, disassemble our instruments, closes the cases, put the instruments away, sit
with our instruments, and more.

There are a few different approaches I take for this:

I.
1. All students have a deadline by which they’ll need their instrument, or have
rented a school one.
2. Any students who bring their instruments in before get pick of the lockers -
and more importantly - get access to the Clinic Videos.
3. Once students have watched all of their videos, I give them a brief little quiz
to test whether or not they actually watched them, if it’s still before the dead-
line for instruments, they may show me how to put their small instrument to-
gether.
4. These students get the “100” treatment: I will show them how to make the
first sounds, they then have to recreate that sound 100 times in a row. They
must keep count. If they don’t, they must start over. (In reality, they’re just
going to keep making the sound over and over, but this helps focus them - it
really works!)
5. I make sure the student is sitting appropriately, holding the small instrument
appropriately, and is actively making the correct sounds instead of playing
around.
II.
1. Advanced students will spend time in the band room before/after school hop-
ing to “adopt” beginners and help them get started.
2. Approved students with my permission may sit with and go through the
videos with a beginner.
3. They may then help them assemble the small instrument and make their first
sounds.
4. These students bring their “adoptee” to me for review
5. This is an immensely helpful approach as it takes a huge burden off of many
clarinet and saxophone players for whom the construction of the mouthpiece,
ligature, and reed is a time consuming process
III.
1. After the deadline, I will show the videos to the entire class, one instrument
at a time.
2. Those students who have already worked with me or an advanced student
have the opportunity to help out their peers.

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 3. The entire class watches each group’s videos to ensure we all know what
proper handling looks like.

The ultimate goal is to move towards the Checklist of skills, which catalogs the in-
formation found in the Director’s book regarding each instrument’s fundamental
pitches and idiosyncrasies.

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

Established routines and expectations.

Developed rhythmic literacy and pitch vo-
cab.
Prebook Sequence
Developed basic theory understanding.
Establish non-musical concepts (posture,
cluture, etc.).

Moved slightly away from established rou-

tine.
Transition to Instru-
Allowed students exploratory opportunity.
ment
Introduced equipment responsibilities.
Positions, cases, maintenance, etc.

Full focus on making appropriate sounds.

First Sounds Developing embouchure and air.
Beginning to look like established routine.

Implementation of the Checklist.

Return to routine class flow with instru-
The Checklist ment.
Adds what was learned in Prebook Se-
quence.

I have come to accept that a certain amount of controlled chaos will ensue as stu-
dents move from the routine of the sequence into the instruments. I say con-
trolled chaos because I think it’s important that each student be given their pace
and space to accomplish the physical task of assembly, creating their first sounds,
and disassembly. Very often, as we transition, I will finish up the videos with the
class and the next day give everyone 2 minutes to assemble their small instru-
ment. I will inspect each instrument, we’ll pack up, and we’ll do it again. After this,
we move to making the first sounds guided by the clinic videos, myself, students
who are coming before/after school, and - most cacophonously - simultaneously,
regardless of where that student is. Some students will be making their first

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

The Checklist

The goal of this document is to guide stu-

dents through successive steps to beautiful
tone. Students must get the first item
checked off before they can get the second.
In this example, a brass player would have
to create their first long buzz. Typically,
when I teach a student to make their first
sound, I send them off to “do it 100 times in
a row - and keep count!” Even if they create
an effortless, beautiful sound right away, I
want them to get repetitions:

quality time on instrument = success

Before/after school, during class, and

through more advanced students, each be-
ginning student gets some 1-on-1 time to
work through each item of the Checklist. I’m
not in a hurry to get to the book, I’m a hurry
to establish the best practices so that when
we do open the book, sound and tone qual-
ity are not problems we have to constantly
address.

Once all students have completed the very first item on the Checklist, we include it in our
daily class routine.
1. Enter & Set up - 2 minutes
2. Count & 2 new Rhythms
3. Long Tones 4-8-12-16 on Small Instrument
4. Whole-Half-Quarter on Small Instruments (1 Whole, 2 Half, 4 Quarter)
5. I Play, You Play Rhythms on Small Instruments
7. Play Previous Rhythm Chart on Small Instrument
8. Individual Work on the Checklist & Pass-offs
9. Pack & Dismiss

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

Essentially, during this time, I’m teaching 40-50 individual private lessons
with a similar focus at the beginning of class. For those students that are eager,
come in the morning/afternoon, practice outside of the band room, I also them to
move in to the book under my supervision or that of a more advanced student. Typi-
cally, by the time we start the 1st 5 Notes Page in class, several students are well
underway on their book Pass-off journey. When it comes time to do the individual
work on the Checklist & Pass-offs, these students get to put their entire instrument
together in the class and work on whatever it is they’re working on. This can be a
HUGE motivator for the rest of the class: they can see where they’re headed, it’s
within grasp! I can also use these advancing students as models or to help students
who may need a partner in the band class to be more successful.

Remember, by the time a student has completed the Prebook Sequence,

they understand

Steady Beat, Barline, Measure, Double Barline

qQhHwWq_ q h_ h h_ q h. h_\ wh_\ q $4 @4 #4 ^4
“Do” “Re” “Mi” “Fa” “So” Tuning, Blending, Balance, Steps, Skips, Musical Alphabet =====
Intervals

And by the time they complete the Checklist they can

Produce a beautiful and consistent tone, hold the instrument appropriately, change pitches
(Clarinets can play from open to six fingers [A to low G])

And by the time they complete the 1st 5 Notes Page they can play

Concert B♭, C, D, E♭, and F

This means that any student ahead of the class is significantly ahead of the demands of
Page 3 and Line 1, which
Fl is
=r=made up Cl
of =g= Tp =g= Tb/Eu =w=
S.D.
𝄞 𝄢 === =!==
Single Stroke
1 '=!==! ==. Ob =r= As =w= Hn (U) =a= Tu =s=
Rim
$4 wW
Mallet Roll
Hn (5th)
Bs =w= Ts =t=g= Mlt =f=
=g=

In this way, students who are highly motivated can reap the benefit of all the early
work we did and go at their own accelerated pace before we start the class in the
book proper 13
 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

The 1st 5 Notes

Once 85% of students have completed their

Checklist, we transition to learning the 1st 5
Notes in class. Many of the students will
have already been acquainted with it
through the process of completing the
Checklist and receiving this page, this
means only about 15% will need remedia-
tion, and often times, working through this
page helps finalize the Checklist for them.

We continue to implement the routine es-

tablished, this is in preparation now for the
1st Unit of the book. The goal is to master
the skills in the 1st Unit (which includes the
1st 5 Notes) through the comfortable routine
we’ve established, so that when we open
the book, Line 1 is too easy for the students.

Once we move to the 1st 5 Notes Page

1. Enter & Set up - 2 minutes
2. 4-8-12-16 On Small Instruments
3. 4-8-12-16 On Each Pitch Do-So
4. Whole-Half-Quarter Articulation on Each Pitch Do-So
5. 2 New Rhythm Lines Counting-Singing-Playing on So
6, Steps: Whole to Whole Do-Re, Re-Mi; Half to Hal Do-Re-Mi, Re-Mi-Fa; Quater Do-Re-Mi-
Fa; etc.
7. I Sing, You Play Technique Patterns (Do Re Do Re Do Do, etc…)
8. Individual Work on the Checklist, 1st 5 Notes, & Pass-offs
9. Pack Up & Dismissal

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

Layered Learning

Basic Principles Start 1st Unit Start 2nd Unit Etc

Concepts in 1st Unit Concepts in 2nd Unit Concepts in 3rd Unit

Students are ready to start using the book. This is where we’re going to start layering the
learning. The concepts of the upcoming section become the focus of our fundamentals and
warmups, the concepts we’re worked on most previously become the focus of our assess-
ment, and the concepts we’ve since mastered become the focus of our review.
It’s important to have an approach to the Book, below is an example of how I approach
new lines throughout so that students have a guide and structure to work on their own.

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

Layered teaching is the principle that HSBBM revolves around: it requires you prepare stu-
dents for the upcoming section while simultaneously assessing what they’ve prepared, and
reviewing what they’ve mastered through assessment. There are 2 primary ways to think
about the method in this way

Start 1st Unit Start 2nd Unit Start 3rd Unit Etc

Concepts in 2nd Unit Concepts in 3rd Unit Concepts in 4th Unit

What It Looks Like

Monday: _1_/_8_ Section: __21-40___ Page(s): __6-8__

Announcements Warmups/Fundamen- Rhythm/Review Last Line: _33

tals Current _
Upcoming fundrais- Rhythm #12: 3-4_ry__ Line: _34
ing__ Foundation Next Line: _
#3_________ _35
_

event, Play Test E♮ “Fi” “Re” tonic_____ p. 6 full Notes: Pass-

next___ read___________ offs___
Monday______________ Re-Mi-Fi-So-La________ Reminder about Keys! starting with
_ __ Johnny
______________________ 𝆐𝆏 𝆐𝆑 𝆒 𝆓 — ______________________ __________________
•__________

We’re moving from these concepts To these concepts

c ‘ Dynamics 𝆏 𝆑 @4 — • 𝆒 𝆓 ♮ ♯ &====
Theme & Variation 𝆐𝆏 𝆐𝆑 > ry Major/Minor

This approach focuses on the concepts in each Unit, driving the learning in large chunks.
While you’re in one Unit, you’re preparing all of the skills in the next over there course of

16
time that students are being assessed. In this way, during the fundamentals portion of the
class, you’re spending more time since the block of concepts to master is overall greater.

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

Page 6 Start Page 7 Start Page 8 Etc

Concepts in Page 7 Concepts in Page 8 Concepts in Page 9

What It Looks Like

Monday: _1_/_8_ Section: __21-40___ Page(s): __6-8__

Announcements Warmups/Fundamen- Rhythm/Review Last Line: _33

tals Current _
Upcoming fundrais- Rhythm #12: 3-4_ry__ Line: _34
ing__ Foundation Next Line: _
#3_________ _35
_

event, Play Test Snare p. 6 full Notes: Pass-

next___ >_______________ read___________ offs___
Monday______________ Dynamics Reminder about Keys! starting with
_ 𝆏 𝆑__________ __ Johnny

______________________ ______________________ ______________________ __________________

We’re moving from these concepts To these concepts

‘ Dynamics 𝆏 𝆑 Theme & Variation
Snare >

This approach focuses on the concepts in each Page, driving the learning in small chunks.
While you’re in one Page, you’re preparing all of the skills in the next over there course of
time that students are being assessed. In this way, during the fundamentals portion of the
class, you’re spending less time since the block of concepts to master is overall greater.

18
 Whichever of these approaches works best for your situation is fine, and I often move
between the two as some of the Units have more challenging or high volumes of concepts;
so long as layered teaching is being applied, the method will function at its most efficient.

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

Every line is an assessment of a Before playing this Line, students should have
student’s understanding of the • Experienced the concepts as isolated as possible
concepts within and your ability • Demonstrated them as isolated as possible
to have taught those concepts. • Reviewed them in varied presentation (isolated)
• Demonstrated them in the context of mastered con-
cepts
• Demonstrated them in the context of one another
So what does “Hot Bundt Cakes Duet” Assess?

• Sit appropriately
• Hold the instrument appropriately
• Form the appropriate embouchure
• Produce the appropriate tone on Mi, Re, and Do
• Recognize and start, sustain, and end Mi, Re, and Do as pitch identifiers
• Start notes with their tongue
• Place their fingers in the appropriate place to produce the appropriate pitch
• Recognize the length of each note, when it occurs, and when it ends
• Maintain a steady tempo
• Decode musical symbols on the staff
• Repeat sign
• Duet playing
• Harmony
• Melody Balance
What might preparation for this assessment have looked like?
1. Lines 1 or 2, 3 or 4, 6, 8, 10, and 14 (single pitch lines for tone) [Percussion rotating]
2. 1-2 rhythm lines counted and performed on concert F
3. Whole-Half-Quarter technique patterns
4. So-Do Slur patterns in preparation for next page (and so trombones get to actually slur)
5. Mi-Fa-So over Do-Re-Mi harmony patterns
6. Key Signature concept review
7. Review p. 4 lines 8-13 (rest between each line, percussion no rotation)
8. Check Line 15 - play with no review, ensure it’s understood
9. Review Line 16 - play in 2-3 measure portions, ensure it can be checked next class
10. (We skip Test lines in class)
11. 5 step process for A of 18, extract for B of 18, full performance in two groups

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12. Line-By-Line Passoffs

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

The Playing Tests throughout are excel-

lent points of summative assessment. There
are numerous ways that they can be imple-
mented. I have experimented with the fol-
lowing three.

1. Right when starting the first line of the

Unit Playing Tests are in, they are as-
signed to the students. They are due by
the time the Unit is completed. This is
nebulous time, so students need remind-
ing that they will be tested, I kept a list of
student names who had completed them
and who had not and made a point to call
on the students who had not during the
Pass-Offs time.

2. Right after finishing the Unit Playing

Tests are in, they are assigned to stu-
dents with a due date. This is a more tra-
ditional timeline approach and students
must get them completed by the sched-
uled date.

3. Playing Tests are used as an accelerated

course of study through the book in the,
as seen in the sheet to the left.

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 Structuring the class to meet the method
helps streamline its implementation. I
breakup my class in the following order:

1. Warmups - Review mastery based on

achieved and upcoming concepts

2. Fundamentals - New concepts to be

taught

3. Rhythm - 1-2 new rhythms per class to

facilitate literacy

4. Review - Previous Lines/Page full read to

develop endurance and repetition of
skills

5. Last/Current/Next

6. Assessment - Pass-offs

Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

Implementing the Clarinet Pages

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There are 2 Clarinet Register prep pages with 12 exercises. In my
experience, I have found it better lines up with starting/moving
Page 7 → line a
through pages 7-16. When starting p. 7, I take clarinets through the Page 8 → line b
notes in the very top; we’ve already done this as going down to low Page 9 → line c
G was part of their checklist, so this is more of a review. I have the Page 10 → line d
rest of the class cheer with me when they can do it. I then assign Page 11 → line e
the first line, they may play this for me during Pass-offs time, be- Page 12 → line f
fore or after school, or with a designated more advanced student. Page 13 → line g
When they get the line completed, it’s marked off in the book and Page 14 → line h
they move to the next. At the beginning of each new page, I review Page 15 → lines i, j
what’s necessary to complete the next line(s)
Page 16 → lines k, l

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

In the second year of instruction, continua-

tion of the process will take students to the
end of the method. This is a comprehensive
list of concepts and skills they will have
mastered and prepares them to move on to
more challenging concepts in a more ad-
vanced setting.

The layered learning approach is applicable

to HSMSM. This method breaks up the fun-
damentals portion of class into different por-
tions that are each designed to move in the
way that the HSBBM moves, accomplish the
skills to perform the line, while mastering
that line in context of each skill, work on the
concepts and skills of the next. The biggest
difference is that you will be moving each
section at a different pace.

The same can be said for the HSM. This

method is a high school appropriate method
in the same vein as the previous two, de-
signed to maximize fundamentals time with
the layered learning approach.

25
Any of these methods can serve as a review of concepts later in a student’s musical jour-
ney.

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 Why It Works
The Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician

APPENDEX

27