Composing and Teaching

At this point in my career as a composer/arranger, teaching is definitely what pays the bills. I do, however, love to teach. My experiences in the classroom profoundly impact me as a composer and I certainly enjoy giving students the "nuts and bolts" in order to perform and experience music on their own. This is where being a teacher/composer comes in handy. I often find myself writing countless exercises to teach students how to READ music. Its amazing how much reinforcement is needed...and sometimes it is very frustrating. Very frustrating. But when the lightbulb finally does go off, it is totally worth it. So to any educators (specifically band directors) that would like to check out my "Free Stuff" section, please use any and all of these resources I create. I write them when my students need it, every one has been used and works in the classroom (the ones that don't work haven't made it onto the website).