F.E. Blog 9

BHS Band

I was excited to finally see Kelly Burdahl in action.  I don't think one can be involved in music in Bozeman and not know of him.  He has a reputation for being a little... gruff.  I was interested to see this for myself, since I have found that usually when teachers are described as "tough" they really just have high expectations and run their classroom efficiently.  I felt bad for Mr. Burdahl this day because his percussionists just did not have it together.  For someone who supposedly 'erupts' in class, I thought he kept fairly calm for the situation at hand.  The students did not have the right instruments or the right music, and even after he asked them to figure it out, were still sitting in the back with confused looks on their faces.  I can imagine that it would be very frustrating and embarrassing to have people observe your band on a day when your students are having an off day.  I am sure his rehearsals usually run with the utmost efficiency, as that is his reputation. 

I really appreciated how much time he spent on tuning the band.  Intonation is incredibly important as a foundation for everything we do in a music class.  He had a tuner in hand and spent time going through every section to make sure everyone was in tune.  He had students listen to each other and help tune instead of relying entirely on the tuner.  It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would, because the students were used to this routine.  I think this will benefit these students immensely in the long run!