Page 14 - Info Magazine nr 16 february march 2021

An Interview with a Class Band Teacher!

Teacher's name: Marc Doomen
Name Country: The Netherlands
Name city: Geleen
Name School: Graaf Huyn College Geleen

Why are you a Yamaha class band teacher?
From my childhood onwards, I came into contact with the rich hafabra culture of the province of
Limburg. With the W.M.C. a stone's throw away from my birthplace, it was not surprising that I
became a member of the local music association: the Koninklijke Fanfare St. Caecilia Puth.
After first playing the small drum, I ended up on the horn via the trumpet. I studied this instrument
at the Maastricht Academy of Music. I also graduated cum laude from the Royal Conservatoire in
The Hague as a hafabra conductor and graduated with my essay "hafabra education in education
as a stimulus for wind music as a cultural heritage" as a 1st grade music teacher.
For this study I researched how education could play a meaningful role in preserving the cultural
heritage "wind music" and my conclusion was that the Yamaha wind class was the solution.
After my career as a horn player with, among others, the Johann Strauss orchestra of André Rieu,
I ended up in education and got the chance to start my dream: "a wind class". At the Graaf Huyn
College, there were 10 wind instruments and with the help of the local brass band "Harmonie
St. Augustinus Geleen", who offered us 14 instruments on loan, we were able to start the Focus
stream at our school in 2020 with 24 pupils.

How old are the students you work with in your Yamaha class band?
12 - 14 years old.

How is your Yamaha class band classified in the school?
The Class Band is part of music lessons in the Focus music stream.
Focus is personalised education for talented sports or music pupils at the Graaf Huyn College.
These pupils start each school day with 2 lessons in music or move-ment, after which they con-
tinue the day with the school system developed by the Swedish Kunstkapskolan. In short, each
pupil works towards his or her final exam by setting his or her own goals. The results are amazing:
motivation problems are greatly reduced. In addition, the daily start (working on your own talent)
is the fly-wheel for passionately following all subjects. For the pupils of the music stream, the
wind class is one of the components in the substructure. They also learn to play the keyboard,
guitar and drums, and there is a lot of singing. Theory is taught by means of the internet method
beatsnbits.

How is your class structured?
As a teacher, I am in charge when we play tutti. In addition, I teach all brass instruments. Pupils
from regular schools who already play an instrument give clarinet, saxophone and flute lessons.

What method do you use?
The “Essential Elements” method.

What is your goal for the students participating in the Yamaha class band?
Generating enthusiasm for wind instruments in the hope that people might enjoy them and join
one of the many brass bands and harmony ensembles in our area.
I also work on social skills. It turns out that what is so normal while making music together is also
translated into the daily life of the child:
- Waiting for each other.
- Starting and stopping together at the same time.
- Listening to each other.