Teach­ing Tech­niques and Insight for Instru­mental Music Educators/G-3723
GIA Pub­lic­a­tions (Dis­trib­uted in Aus­tralia by Hal Leonard)

Here is a book filled with the insights and inspir­a­tional ideas of some of the world’s finest teach­ers and con­duct­ors. This book is worthy of con­sid­er­a­tion because it is a com­pil­a­tion of con­cepts and delib­er­a­tion that span the broad land­scape of ensemble-based edu­ca­tion. Casey has gathered thoughts that con­vince and at times con­flict but that is valu­able because it provides choices in find­ing answers to often vex­ing ques­tions and ques­tions that are often not eas­ily under­stood when they first con­front us.

Remem­ber, it might be argued that the truth is con­tex­tual and in this situ­ation the con­tex­tual pos­i­tion of the con­trib­ut­ors provides a vari­ety of answers for many simple and vex­ing ques­tions. For example, when dis­cuss­ing pre­par­ing for rehearsal Pro­fessor James Croft (recently retired from Flor­ida State Uni­ver­sity) stated that:

‘There are sev­eral state­ments that might guide the teacher’s plan for a rehearsal …’

He then goes on to list 15 mat­ters that may assist in plan­ning a rehearsal and means whereby defin­i­tion can be given to such plan­ning. On the next page but under the same sub­ject title the great Fre­drick Fen­nell is quoted:

‘Don’t go into a rehearsal with a pre­arranged idea of what is going to happen …’

Such appar­ent con­tra­dic­tions are in fact a stim­u­lat­ing part of this books engage­ment. They are like a vibrant dis­cus­sion around the cof­fee table or the music office desk.

Casey has col­lec­ted and col­lated these ideas with con­sid­er­a­tion and care and young band and orches­tra teach­ers will find this resource most valuable.

Ralph Hult­gren
Head of Pre-Tertiary Stud­ies
Queens­land Con­ser­vat­orium of Music, Grif­fith University