Page 10 - Info Magazine nr 17 april may 2021

An interview with a Class Band teacher!

Teacher's name: CARMEN ÁLVAREZ GARCÍA
Name Country: SPAIN
Name city: MADRID
Name School: IES “BEATRIZ GALINDO”

WHY ARE YOU A CLASS-BAND TEACHER?
I had seen the advertising on the web, and I loved the idea. Coincidentally, in September 2013 I
had the opportunity to visit Yamaha's first “Jamsession” at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid.
There, I met Juan Miguel López who explained the conditions to me.
Next, I proposed the project to the principal of my high school, he thought it was wonderful, and
that is where it all began ...

HOW OLD ARE THE STUDENTS YOU WORK WITH IN YOUR CLASS-BAND?
Students belong to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th levels of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO), that is
to say, they are between 13 and 16 years old.

HOW IS YOUR YAMAHA CLASS BAND CLASSIFIED IN THE SCHOOL?
It is one of the most attractive educational projects of our centre. It makes a difference with other
high schools. Parents recognize the value of their children being able to learn to read music and
to play an instrument within school hours, without the expense or extra time of extracurricular
classes.
The trips we made to play at two Lisbon high schools in 2018 and the participation in the Riva di
Garda Class-Bands meeting in 2019 were two milestones highly appreciated by the entire educa-
tional community.

HOW IS YOUR CLASS STRUCTURED?
Students start with the music subject in 2nd ESO, that is, directly with the Class-Band in our case.
This is about showing them the basic rules of how the band works in each class and introducing
them to the different instruments so that they can think about which one they would like to play.
In 2nd and 3rd ESO the music subject is compulsory. Two hours a week. We do the Class-Band in
all groups so that no one feels discriminated against.
In 4th ESO the subject of music is optional. The students who choose studying music have al-
ready been playing for two years so they are the ones we can count on to form the “official band”
of the institute, with whom we do the official concerts, exchanges….
The annual star concert is the opening day of the BGMUN (a sort of United Nations at School). On
that day, the band welcome students coming from different countries performing musical themes
related to their countries.

WHAT METHOD DO YOU USE AND HOW DO YOU APPLY IT?
At the beginning it is very demanding, the choice of the instrument, the subject of the mouthpie-
ces, teaching them the process of assemble, disassemble and cleaning… We also spend some
time with the issue of buying mouthpieces that are personal (except for flute heads).
Then the work focuses on the simultaneous learning of reading and fingering on their instru-
ments. When we reach this moment, it becomes possible to advance somewhat faster ...
A single teacher attends the whole class simultaneously (woodwind and brass) since there are no
hours to do split-ups within the school day.
One question I always have is whether by placing a lot of emphasis on learning to read music we
are neglecting the also essential aspect of being able to play by heart.