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The Band Director's Lounge Podcast


Welcome to the Band Director’s lounge, a podcast about what makes great instrumental music programs. I am a band director trying to build a great program by learning from others and sharing my knowledge along the way.

Dec 7, 2018

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Today’s guest is Dan Tewalt who teaches band at Wayzata High School in Wayzata, MN. Dan is a good friend and band colleague. He is a 2008 Phantom Regiment Alum and brings this knowledge and insight into his band classroom. Today Dan and I cover a bunch of topics including how his time in drum corps has influenced his teaching, how he teaches rhythm, and how he embraces Advanced Placement scheduling challenges with band students. I walked away with a lot of tips and tricks from this one and I think you will too! Be sure to check out our show notes to see an overview of the conversation topics and feel free to jump to the segment that most intrigues you.

I wanted to give you a quick update on what’s going on with the show. We are approaching the 2 month mark since starting the program and the feedback that I have received has been positive. Downloads are steady so that tells me there are directors out there finding value in what we are doing which is great! I am going to be posting some survey-style questions on the Facebook page to continue refining how we do things here with the program to make it more valuable to you as a director and help you get the most out of the show. If you are on Facebook, I would appreciate your feedback and if you weigh in on some of the questions I’ll be posting. Thanks for your help with this! Alright let’s jump into my conversation with Dan Tewalt.

Episode Overview

  • Dan Tewalt (2:04)
  • Wayzata High School Band Program (5:28)
  • DCI and Phantom Regiment 2008 Influence (19:50)
  • “Bopping” (24:04)
  • Pieces & Programming (29:35)
  • Rhythm Sight Reading Trainer App (35:50)
  • Structuring the Band Room (42:45)
  • Band & AP Courses (45:25)
  • Advice for Young Directors (54:33)
  • What Makes a Great Band Program? (57:48)

That was my conversation with Dan Tewalt. Again, check out the show notes for links to some of the resources mentioned in our conversation especially that awesome app Dan mentioned.

If you haven’t done so, be sure to hit subscribe to this podcast and like the podcast page on facebook. This is a small way to help me gauge interest and the level of engagement with the show. Also consider leaving a review on Facebook or wherever you listen to this program, this helps us get the word out about the show.

If you know of someone that you think would make a great guest on the Band Director’s Lounge, please send me a message on facebook or to my email listed in the shownotes. Thanks for tuning into this episode! I hope to see you back here for our next conversation in The Band Director’s Lounge.

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