Choppin It Up with Kevin Davenport

Today we talk with Kevin Davenport. Kevin is the Director of College Bands and Chair of the Department of Music at Simmons College of Kentucky. We did our first Directors Series with Dr. Davenport to support his book Practical Techniques for Building The High School Marching Band which is available on Amazon for purchase. Dr. Davenport has also been a guest on The 90 Degree Show and a good friend to the network. In this podcast we find out where Kevin is from, where he went to school and his timeline to becoming Director and Admin at Simmons College of Kentucky.
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Yearly Proactive Plan for Band Directors by Dr. Kevin O. Davenport
This is a template for band directors to use to help them design their own Yearly Proactive Plan for their program. This allows the director to be on top of things and to think of things before they happen. The plan starts in June to signal the end of the school year. The actions below are based on six parts:
1. Performances
2. Preparation for performances
3. Position selections
4. Concert performances
5. PROACTIVE MEASURES
6. Administrative/managerial assignments
—————–End of the Academic Calendar——————
June
Play at graduation – Concert performances
Collect instruments and equipment – send out for repairs – Administrative/managerial assignments
Have beginning band class for rising fifth and sixth graders – Preparation for performances
Have intermediate band class for rising sixth seventh and eighth graders – Preparation for performances
Have advanced band class for rising eighth and ninth graders – Preparation for performances
July
Starting the third week of July have a marching band camp for new ninth graders, section leaders, and drum major 2 to 3 days a week. During this Camp, Work on musical fundamentals, marching fundamentals, band traditions and history, and indoctrinate into disciplinary procedures. Teach the freshman does star-spangled banter, the Alma Mater, and any other regular music played by the band. – Preparation for performances
August
Starting the first week of August, have a band rehearsal for all band members 2 to 3 days a week. Review all marching fundamentals and introduce music for the first show, as well as all traditional music to be played. During the second week of rehearsals, start the field placement for the first halftime show. Also begin working on the first show. – Preparation for performances
Pass out uniforms to returning band members – Administrative/managerial assignments
Fit new band members for uniforms – Administrative/managerial assignments
September
During class work on musical fundamentals, scales, and rhythm reading. – Preparation for performances
Begin to choose music for winter concert as well as spring adjudication. – Concert performances
Continue marching band performances – Performances
Start Fall fundraiser – Administrative/managerial assignments
October
During third week of October, pass out music to be performed at winter concert. – Preparation for performances
Begin working on this music. – Preparation for performances
Continue marching band performances – Performances
November
Began to wind down marching band, and begin perfecting music for winter concert. – Preparation for performances
Also choose other songs that are to be prepared for spring adjudication. – Administrative/managerial assignments
Spend time rehearsing Pep Band (were applicable) – Preparation for performances
Select destination for spring band trip – Concert performances
December
In the second or third week of December have the winter concert. – position selections
Also give students musical assignments to work on over winter break. – Concert performances
Continue to rehearse Pep band. – Preparation for performances
Select spring fund-raiser – Concert performances
—————–Start of the Calendar Year——————
January
Begin to prepare concert band for Adjudication/Spring Concert. – Preparation for performances
Begin to prepare Jazz band for spring performances – Preparation for performances
Begin Drum major tryout process. – position selections
Have pep band perform at selected basketball games – Performances
February
Continue preparation of concert band(s) – Preparation for performances
Continue preparation of Jazz band – Preparation for performances
Have Pep band perform at selected basketball Games – Performances
Continue Drum major tryout process – position selections
Take informal survey of band members that will be returning during the fall (including evaluation of what students will be graduating) – PROACTIVE MEASURES
March
Take concert band(s) to adjudication – Concert performances
Last week of March, begin to train band members on second instruments – PROACTIVE MEASURES
Continue the rehearse Jazz band – Preparation for performances
Select music for spring marching band camp – PROACTIVE MEASURES
Start spring fundraiser – Administrative/managerial assignments
April
Recruit at middle school feeders – Take band to the schools to perform – PROACTIVE MEASURES
Continue to rehearse concert band for Spring concert/ graduation – Preparation for performances
Take Jazz band to adjudication/festival – Performances
Have auxiliary tryouts – position selections
Conclude drum major tryouts – position selections
Continue training members on new instruments – PROACTIVE MEASURES
Begin to select music for fall – PROACTIVE MEASURES
Select destination for fall band trip(s) – PROACTIVE MEASURES
Have section leader interview/auditions – position selections
May
Have spring concert – Concert performances
Take spring band trip – Performances
Select fall fundraiser – PROACTIVE MEASURES
Have spring band camp for returning members – Preparation for performances
Have band awards Banquet – Administrative/managerial assignments
Collect band uniforms-clean and store – Administrative/managerial assignments
———————————————————————————————————————————
Make sure to contact Block Band Music and Publishing and ask to get your copy of Dr. Davenport’s book:
“Practical Techniques for Building the High School Marching Band”
Dr. Kevin O. Davenport
Literature suggestions for Concert Band preparation from Dr. Kevin O. Davenport
Book series:
“Teaching Music Through Performance in Band” by Larry Blocher, Eugene Corporon, Ray Cramer and Tim Lautzenheiser. There are nine books in this series.
Concert band warmup books:
- Superior Bands in Sixteen Weeks – Quincy Hillaird
- Symphonic Warm-ups for Band – Claude T. Smith
Rhythmic studies books:
Rhythmic Vocabulary – Ed Sueta (Note: You can download this document from the link provided.)
Fourteen Weeks to a Better Band – Roger Maxwell (There is a Junior High set and a Senior High set.)
All of this material is tax-deductible for a band director as work-related materials.
A list of suggested concert band pieces will come out soon through Block Band.
Dr. Kevin O. Davenport
2014 Directors Series Bundle and Thanks
We would like to say thanks to everyone who participated in or listened to the first Directors Series Podcast on The Marching Podcast Network. We are honored to have someone of Dr. Davenport’s prestige help us grow the network, and it was good to reach out to the Directors, who are now our peers in the field. It is up to us to continue what we are doing to build our craft and our community, and we believe that we’re accomplishing this with the knowledge put out there in this series. The feedback and support from you, the listener, was the most in Marching Podcast history!
Since our inception, we’ve been telling the story of the college marching band scene, but we also have to mention and show our appreciation for the tremendous support we get from high school students on Twitter and when we broadcast high school-focused podcasts. We will continue this next year in 2015, so stay tuned for updates on next year’s series.
Again, special thanks and love to Dr. Kevin O. Davenport and Rashad Watters for helping us host the series and also for sponsoring the series. If you missed any of the series or have to jump to different places to hear them all at once, we posted the bundle below for you to listen all at once.
See you next year!!
- Preparing for Competitions – May 18 – http://bit.ly/1jehS5V
- Concert Band Literature – June 22 – http://bit.ly/1qbI4hF
- Recruiting – July 27 – http://bit.ly/1ljOWWu
- Recap Round Table – August 10 – http://bit.ly/1qT7V2g
#2014DirectorsSeries w/Dr. Kevin Davenport Part IV
Welcome to the final installment of the 2014 90 Degree Directors Series hosted by Dr. Kevin O. Davenport Ed.S. & Ed.D, BlockBand Music and Publishing and The Marching Podcast. In this podcast we will recap the previous episodes, planning for the entire year and open this time up for more feedback and questions from the listeners. This show is for you and we will make sure that if you have any questions or comments about what you have heard this year, make sure to give us a call as we recap the series in a roundtable discussion.
Listen here: http://bit.ly/1qT7V2g