Recently, I had the opportunity to sit in with the Hamamatsu (Japan) Commercial High School band. It was eye opening. Warmups The band rehearses seven days a week. Each rehearsal begins with 45-minute sectionals, led by a student section leader. Exhibiting an extraordinarily high level of discipline and focus, the section played a short exercise or passage, followed by animated critique from the leader. The group answered with a shouted, “Hai!” This procedure was repeated many times with remarkable consistency. I worked with the trumpet section leader, Jay, who aspires to be a professional jazz musician. The rest of the … Continue reading Band in Japan