Reprinted with permission from Tempo, the official magazine of the New Jersey Music Educators Association.

Citation information:

Berz, William, "Internet Resources for Band Conductors," Tempo, 54 no. 1 (October,1999): 46-47.

Internet Resources for Band Conductors

by

William Berz

Let me add to the discussion and debate about the use of the Internet in music education, and specifically as it pertains to band directors. Certainly, the computer is radically transforming society, although its impact in education might be considered less dramatic than in some other fields; the corporate world is one obvious example. There are a number of reasons, not the least of which is the cost of equipment and staff; funding prohibits wide-scale implementation. Additionally, appropriate and realistic methods have yet to be developed for the classroom, especially in instrumental music education.

Many teachers do have access to a computer, either at home or the office, and many are accessing the Internet for professional ends. Most commonly, teachers use the Internet in two ways: email and web browsing. Use of email has become very popular and does at least have the potential to improve communication. There are many studies on how email is changing the way that people communicate, both positively and negatively. For example, many people are fair less inhibited when using email as opposed to when they speak or write letters. Chat-rooms and other forms of electronic discussion might be included under this classification as well, and these formats have become extremely popular. Bandchat is the most widely known for the band director.

The World-Wide-Web (WWW) has grown dramatically in the just the past few years, and is continuing to evolve daily. Many people consider it to be the most exciting part of the Internet, and it can be a very valuable and useful research tool for the band director. The quantity of information that can be obtained on the web is astounding, so much so that users must consider this issue carefully when employing it as a research tool.

First, much of the information found on the WWW is not subject to any editorial supervision, a long recognized and successful practice in print-based media. Virtually anyone can post virtually anything on the web, ranging from the incorrect to the offensive. One cannot be guaranteed that whatever information found on the web is accurate or correct. The old expression, "don't believe everything that you read" would seem even more appropriate here; the reader must beware.

Second, there is so much information on the web that it is usually difficult to find what is wanted. For example, when I searched Yahoo!, one of the most popular search engines, for the word "band", over 12,000 sites appeared. The top links from the search were:

This is absolutely no exaggeration. The list reached over 100 before I hit upon a listing for marching bands, shortly after one for rubber bands. I gave up before finding a link to a concert band.

One could say that I should have adopted a more intelligent search strategy. (For the purposes of this article, the search result exaggerated the problem even better than I had hoped.) However in doing more serious and purposeful browsing, I had similar, although perhaps less dramatic, results. A search linking the words "wind" and "ensemble" resulted in hundreds of hits, including home pages for a countless number of high school and college groups. A teacher might need to examine hundreds of sites before s/he found the requested information. Obviously, searching might take a very large amount of time, a chore that can become very frustrating.

However with purposeful searching and with some diligence and creativity, one can find a wealth of information. There are a growing number of web sites that provide the wind band conductor with valuable information that can be used to plan programs, improve teaching, write program notes, discover new teaching methods, and accomplish a variety of other tasks.

I have assembled a list of sites that might be valuable for band conductors. I have tried to exclude commercial sites except for publishers and sources of band recordings. (Many publishers provide excellent information on composers.) I also did not provide links to individual bands and educational institutions feeling that this kind of information was easy to find and did not hold the greatest research potential. The web is a highly dynamic environment where information can change with considerable frequency. The data provided were accurate as of August 12, 1999, and I will endeavor to revise on a regular basis. Rather than listing them in print in Tempo, I have assembled a web page providing the actual addresses. Directors can explore and bookmark the links if desired. The address is:

http://musicweb.rutgers.edu/windband/bandlinks1.htm

As part of the work that I did in preparing this article, I collected the band articles that I have written for Tempo and have, with permission, put them on the web. I have also included a number of articles from the Rutgers Music Education Newsletter as well. This address for this is:

http://musicweb.rutgers.edu/windband/tempohome.htm

Educational use of the WWW can go beyond browsing. For example, band directors can write their own web pages covering topics relevant to what is being done in the rehearsal. Basic web development is not difficult and can be a very interesting and educational project for students and teacher alike. An absolutely terrific site is the one constructed by Robert Wilson who teaches in Blissfield, Michigan. Although his work is well beyond "basic", it is an excellent example of what teachers can accomplish. And it goes well beyond the promotional nature of most high school band sites; it is truly educational not simply commercial. The address is:

http://scnc.blissfield.k12.mi.us/~rwilson/index.html

Educational application of the Internet is really at its very beginning. Using the web as a research tool can be a real benefit for band directors. However, teachers will need to be creative to find the best applications that are both valuable and practical. Use of the Internet will be one of the many areas where teaching will change in the future.

Do you want to use the Internet right away? Email me with your comments at wberz@rci.rutgers.edu.

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