These rhythm studies are presented in a methodical progression that allows students to truly understand the underlying patterns in many of the most common rhythms. Longer notes are presented first as tied shorter notes so that students can see the “building blocks” and grasp the simple math behind rhythmic notation.

Once your Beginning Band students have learned their first 7 notes– typically, as in Essential Elements, concert A natural through concert G (Ti through La)– hand out these warmups, play the whole page at the beginning (and end!) of every rehearsal, and listen to your kids learn pitch control, articulation, phrasing, and more!

In Long Tones, the brass players should listen to the woodwinds to match pitch first on their mouthpiece (or, better yet, on Berps) and then on their horns.

In Unison Articulation, students should strive to match their trios (the two students closest to them and themselves) in articulation style– clearly articulating each note consistently with the tip of the tongue.

In Scale Study, students should strive for an unbroken 4-bar and then a 5-bar phrase without breathing in the half notes. I recommend having your students draw an arrow from each half note pointing right all the way to the quarter note in the next bar. Flute and tuba students will most likely need to breathe during the phrase, but make sure they breathe anywhere but the half notes. You can assign stagger breathing beats to help your flute and tuba kids.

These warmups, using only one octave in D Major, will really get your kids playing! Tone Builder develops bow control and tone. D String Intonation and A String Intonation allow you to focus on each string one at a time. After they learn how to play these exercises, have your kids hum, then sing them and you will be amazed at how their intonation improves. A typical sequence I may use for this is:

1. Note name and “D String Intonation” pizzicato

2. Play “D String Intonation” arco

3. Hum while playing

4. Hum without playing

5. Hum the first note, then open your mouth to say “ah” (Your students will be amazed– we can sing?!)

6. Sing on “dah”

7. Play while singing and match your instrument (left hand) to your voice

8. Repeat every day and marvel as your kids’ intonation improves

D Major Steps and D Major Scale gets the kids moving through the whole octave and switching strings.

Slurs are presented in a very playable way without any string crossing even for bass.

The bowing for Rhythm Etude can be taught “long long little little.” This one really gets the kids’ bows moving.

You can easily differentiate instruction for mixed-level groups with these warmups. For example, you could have your advanced students play up an octave or avoid open strings, your intermediate level students play the page as written, and your beginners play the whole page pizzicato or bow the whole page on open D and/or A.

Basic “check patterns” on a single sheet. Perfect for your beginning percussionists to get their hands moving! Teach your students to say the rhythms first, then say and play the rhythms at the same time. You can then introduce your preferred counting method (e.g. “1e&a”).

“Drumming 101” is a series of exercises designed to teach percussion students at all levels many important basic skills and rudiments. Each concept (e.g. flams, buzz rolls, etc.) is presented in three levels of difficulty so that you can tailor the learning to the level of the student. These exercises are designed to be laminated or placed into plastic sheet protectors so that the instructor can write practice tempo goals into the boxes with a dry- or wet-erase marker.

A very basic presentation of Major scales using accidentals instead of key signatures. Flat keys are presented in the order of 4ths and sharp keys are presented in the order of 5ths. Useful for percussion students, as well as a music theory teaching tool for all students.