Interview- Dennis Naughton
Part of my real inquiry was doing an interview with my mentor. I asked a range of questions about his motivations, daily schedule, and his teaching style. Here’ s the interview:
1. When did you first realize you wanted to TEACH music and why?
“I decided my senior year of high school, it was the thing I was best at and it was the thing I enjoyed most. There was no other academic area that intrigued me or that interested me. I had a lot of adversity going into it because people didn’t want me to do this and there was no money in it.”
2. How do you feel about the education of students when they first start on their instruments?
“My wife’s a middle school band director who has an incredible band, but there are also awful bands, or those who fall in between. I feel like they are prepared to a point, I feel like the methodology is ok, but I feel like more could be done. There are certain techniques that need to be done, that I don’t necessarily think are being done every day in some places that are not the best.”
3. When did you first find that music was an outlet for you, if at all?
“By the time I was 8. I played the organ back then, and that was a huge form of expression. In fact when I retire I want to go back and take piano lessons again.”
4. What was one of the first things you realized when you started teaching about communicating with students?
“They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. In order to be good at this, you have to be able to communicate on their level. You have to give respect to get respect. You have to talk to everybody, everybody has to feel important, and they have to feel like they make the group successful. “
5. How do you feel about the importance of singing?
“It’s something that has developed with me in the past 5 years. I think it’s an incredibly important part of not only hearing pitch, but students begin by having to focus on hearing and getting things right. Not only is it an ear trainer but a methodology in rehearsal.”
6. Explain a musical concept that you have figured out the best way to explain to students over the years and how?
“How to communicate what I want my band to sound like; using the sound pyramid, and teaching the difference between a bright sound and a dark sound. The students get an idea of what the band’s supposed to sound like.”
7. Explain a concept that you had a lot of trouble communicating to students and then had to think of how to communicate it?
“The most effective way to teach rhythm, and how to get them to understand triplets. Just how to understand the rhythmic concepts and you have to address both auditory learners and visual learners.”
8. How do you differentiate between your podium personality and off the podium personality?
“People know when it’s rehearsal time, people understand we have a focus, but off the podium I mingle and talk and be friendly, so that I can bridge the gap between rehearsal Naughton and off podium Naughton.”
9. How did you go from your previous more abrasive teaching style in earlier years to your current more relaxed style and why?
“The early methodology almost lost me my career. I learned from a guy that was very hot headed, and that became my teaching style. You would just kind of fly off the handle really easy. And one year, a kid got in my face at a football game and we got in a verbal argument. The assistant principal and parents came over and I ended up resigning that job later that year. From that point I became a calmer person, and learned that if you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right. So I try to make my classroom positive as much as I can.”
10. What is one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned on the podium from a teaching standpoint?
“To get respect, you give respect.”
Reflecting on the interview: My mentor is really a great example and advocate of the concept that being a band director is not a simple job. Being on the podium is only about 10% of it, is what he usually says; it is almost similar to being mayor of a small town. Talking and learning from Mr. Naughton has opened my eyes and I’m thankful that I won’t be going into this career with a sense a naivety about my responsibilities. Not only am I aware of a certain strength and responsibility I will have to have, but I have also learned from him a certain attitude you have to have with your students, and also about what you do every day, and I think I will be more successful going into my career knowing how to deal with students and rehearsal.
1. When did you first realize you wanted to TEACH music and why?
“I decided my senior year of high school, it was the thing I was best at and it was the thing I enjoyed most. There was no other academic area that intrigued me or that interested me. I had a lot of adversity going into it because people didn’t want me to do this and there was no money in it.”
2. How do you feel about the education of students when they first start on their instruments?
“My wife’s a middle school band director who has an incredible band, but there are also awful bands, or those who fall in between. I feel like they are prepared to a point, I feel like the methodology is ok, but I feel like more could be done. There are certain techniques that need to be done, that I don’t necessarily think are being done every day in some places that are not the best.”
3. When did you first find that music was an outlet for you, if at all?
“By the time I was 8. I played the organ back then, and that was a huge form of expression. In fact when I retire I want to go back and take piano lessons again.”
4. What was one of the first things you realized when you started teaching about communicating with students?
“They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. In order to be good at this, you have to be able to communicate on their level. You have to give respect to get respect. You have to talk to everybody, everybody has to feel important, and they have to feel like they make the group successful. “
5. How do you feel about the importance of singing?
“It’s something that has developed with me in the past 5 years. I think it’s an incredibly important part of not only hearing pitch, but students begin by having to focus on hearing and getting things right. Not only is it an ear trainer but a methodology in rehearsal.”
6. Explain a musical concept that you have figured out the best way to explain to students over the years and how?
“How to communicate what I want my band to sound like; using the sound pyramid, and teaching the difference between a bright sound and a dark sound. The students get an idea of what the band’s supposed to sound like.”
7. Explain a concept that you had a lot of trouble communicating to students and then had to think of how to communicate it?
“The most effective way to teach rhythm, and how to get them to understand triplets. Just how to understand the rhythmic concepts and you have to address both auditory learners and visual learners.”
8. How do you differentiate between your podium personality and off the podium personality?
“People know when it’s rehearsal time, people understand we have a focus, but off the podium I mingle and talk and be friendly, so that I can bridge the gap between rehearsal Naughton and off podium Naughton.”
9. How did you go from your previous more abrasive teaching style in earlier years to your current more relaxed style and why?
“The early methodology almost lost me my career. I learned from a guy that was very hot headed, and that became my teaching style. You would just kind of fly off the handle really easy. And one year, a kid got in my face at a football game and we got in a verbal argument. The assistant principal and parents came over and I ended up resigning that job later that year. From that point I became a calmer person, and learned that if you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right. So I try to make my classroom positive as much as I can.”
10. What is one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned on the podium from a teaching standpoint?
“To get respect, you give respect.”
Reflecting on the interview: My mentor is really a great example and advocate of the concept that being a band director is not a simple job. Being on the podium is only about 10% of it, is what he usually says; it is almost similar to being mayor of a small town. Talking and learning from Mr. Naughton has opened my eyes and I’m thankful that I won’t be going into this career with a sense a naivety about my responsibilities. Not only am I aware of a certain strength and responsibility I will have to have, but I have also learned from him a certain attitude you have to have with your students, and also about what you do every day, and I think I will be more successful going into my career knowing how to deal with students and rehearsal.