Page 8 - Info Magazine nr 14 december 2020

An Interview with a Class Band Teacher!

Teacher's name: Marion Zwanenberg-Neefs
Name Country: The Netherlands
Name city: Rosmalen
Name school: Rodenborch College

Why are you a Yamaha class band teacher?
17 years ago Vincent reached out to me and asked if I was interested to start a ClassBand. The
project was totally new in the Netherlands. Because I was teaching at a high school, it seemed
logical to give it a try there. It took about 1 year to organise everything, but in 2005 we could
actually start!

How old are the students you work with in your Yamaha class band?
The students in my school start YCB when they are 12 years old. They start in their first year of
high school. It is a choice to participate, other students attend the regular music lessons. There
is no opportunity to start later, it’s a challenge for the students to give it a try at their new school
right from the beginning.

How is your Yamaha class band classified in the school?
Once the students have started in their first year of high school, they can remain playing until
their sixth year in our school. After each year both the students and the teacher can decide
whether they stop or continue playing. In the first three years we call it ClassBand, in the last
three years we call it Orchestra-class. When the students play in the orchestra-class they parti-
cipate in a live musical orchestra. Other students from the school will sing/dance and act while
this class plays the musical arrangements. We think it is the best musical cooperation you can
think of.

How is your class structured?
The students can choose out of 8 instruments:, flute, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone, trum-
pet, euphonium, trombone and Electric bass.
I used to offer French horn too, but that seemed to be more difficult than the other instruments
and the students felt a bit disadvantaged. (Probably because I couldn’t teach them French horn
well enough) Instead I added tenor saxophone, which gave the Class band sound more depth.
After a while I added Ebass, which made the trombones and euphonia play better.
I am very happy with those additions and it also gives the students a wider ranch of choice.

What method do you use and how do you apply it?
Using Essential elements works best for me. Especially the way the method works with the
unison playing in the beginning. The students train their ears straight away. I use the digital
material which gives us nice accompaniments and the students can practise at home with it.
Sometimes I let them send me their recordings, so I can grade them or give suggestions to im-
prove their skills.
Of course I use different material next to this methode. Sometimes we play from the books
Blastaget or Take Off, both written by Jan Utbult with very nice accompaniments that can be
listened to via (free) Spotify. And I arrange pieces that are an extra addition for my classes, for
example Disney-, Christmas-, Pop- or local pieces. For the Orchestra-class I arrange a musical
every year, which we will perform with the entire school.