New Course: Coaching a Popular Music Ensemble
As a part of the brand new Modern Band Bundle available exclusively in the MusicFirst Classroom, we employed several amazing music educators to create curriculum that will help music educators get a modern band program up and running in their school. One of those authors is the amazing Steve Holley - a music educator/bassist/author living in Denver, CO. Steve is currently the President of APME - the Association of Popular Music Education, and has written numerous publications on building and fostering popular music programs in schools. His curriculum - titled Coaching a Popular Music Ensemble - is fantastic and includes TONS of resources on the what, why and how of building a popular music program. Whether you’re working with a modern band, a flex ensemble, or any group interested in performing contemporary music, this course provides the tools to inspire and guide your students to getting an ensemble up on stage at your next concert. Here is a link to an overview of the syllabus. So what is in this course and why should you include it in your int your teaching? I’m glad you asked.
Unlike traditional instrumental or vocal methods that prioritize technique, this course focuses on rehearsal environments and collaborative learning. The goal is to empower teachers and students to start a band, select music that resonates with students and audiences alike, organize rehearsals, and get students performance-ready for both live stages and recording studios. By shifting focus from rigid, teacher-led instruction to a more inclusive, student-centered process, this course helps students build agency, autonomy, and ownership over their learning journey. The course features insights from professional musicians, songwriters, and educators with extensive experience in creating, producing, recording, and performing popular music. Their voices lend depth and real world experiences to the curriculum, offering educators a comprehensive perspective on the unique challenges and opportunities in popular music education.
The course includes 30 lesson plans organized into seven distinct units: Understanding Music Through Active Listening, Getting the Band Together, Instrument Boot Camp, Getting Ready for the Rehearsal, Working Out the Parts, Dialing It In, and After the Show. Here is an example of one of the lesson plans from the Getting Ready for the Rehearsal Unit, titled Writing A Chart:
Lesson Objectives
The objective of this activity is to scaffold the learning from understanding/identifying form to creating a visual representation of what the Ss might need to engage in the rehearsal process with the band.
Students will use their "road map" as a guide to create the beginnings of a professional music chart.
Students will continue to develop an understanding of musical vocabulary and elements.
Skills:
Digital literacy, critical listening, musical vocabulary, learning by ear, peer and independent learning, understanding and engaging with notation
Materials
Music streaming service (ex. Spotify or YouTube)
Whiteboard/projector to keep track of the form, chord voicings, frets, etc. (Hint - this also serves to frontload chart writing)
Soundtrap (load a song into Soundtrap and mark out the sections/ask Ss to mark out the sections, if needed)
Teacher Procedure
This process builds on the previous lessons, solidifies the concept of form, and creates connections between what the student hears and how musicians comprehend song form and chart layout.
By understanding and visualizing the form, students will continue to make connections between the songs they are learning to play on their instruments and a written representation of the song.
Students will engage in multiple forms of reproducing what they hear into iconic notation. These forms might include a chord chart, a Nashville numbers charts, or a drum chart, etc.
Students are encouraged to share their charts, offer feedback, and edit accordingly.
Conversely, this lesson could be scaffolded into 1) collectively determining the best of the layout for a chart and displaying options on a whiteboard, followed by 2) groups of students collaboratively (or individual students) determining the best of the layout and creating a chart accordingly
When transcribing the form of a song into a physical format, any number of formats can be used, including a blank piece of paper, staff paper, and, if available, notation software. Given the flexibility of the exercise, even the choice of physical format could be, in and of itself, part of the scaffolding process, i.e., learning to first write the chart on staff paper before learning to utilize notation software.
Now that the students have the form of the song mapped out (from the previous activity), assist them in thinking through how to lay out the road map on staff paper, i.e., should there be repeats, first and second endings, through-composed?
Next, encourage students to think through how their chart might be most visually appealing and easy to follow. For example:
If the phrasing is generally in four or eight-bar phrases, strive to keep each phrase to a staff line.
If the phrasing allows, try to keep the beginning of sections (verse, chorus, etc.) on the left side of the chart so they can be easily tracked visually (see Image 1, next page).
Placing the sections on the left side of the page also leaves ample room for any chords, lyrics cues, rhythmic cues, etc. one might add to this template.
Once students have determined the mapping and layout of the chart – and have the sections of the entire song set to paper – students can decide what notational style they might want to overlay on this template. Some choices are outlined in the image below.
Encourage students to add the notes they've taken during previous listenings/rehearsals to the chart.
Extensions
Encourage students to include landmarks such a the first few lyrics to the verse or chorus, where a breakdown/solo happens, or other reminders in creating a visual representation of what they hear in the music.
If you would like to check out this course, along with ALL of the other course in the Modern Band Bundle, you can sign up for a FREE 30-day trial. I’m sure that you’ll agree that what Steve has put together is perfect for any music educator who wants to get a modern band program up and running. If you’d like to hear more from Steve on his philosophy of teaching popular music in schools, here is a podcast that I did with him last year: