Celebrating more top music teachers
Brent Burger is the Fremont Middle School band director for sixth through eighth grade. He has worked at Fremont Elementary District 79 for 16 years and started his career there teaching fourth through eighth grade.
Q: Elementary students aren't likely to become virtuosos before they leave fifth grade. What's your goal for, say, a kindergartner over the course of a school year, and how do you build on that throughout elementary school?
A: I believe there is potential in all students at all levels. With that being said, I don't teach kindergarten. We start our band students in grade four, and I teach grades sixth, seventh and eighth. My goals for each student is the same; show improvement between day one and day 180. Some students will have a larger growth range than others, but as long as they show some level of growth, then I am happy.
Q: Kids are natural noisemakers. How do you harness that inclination and shape it into vocal or instrumental talent?
A: If you start the student correctly, with posture and embouchure, then their level of success increases greatly. In the beginning, the students are very excited to start an instrument, and if they have quick and early success, then they will naturally want to continue to improve, and they will be easier to teach.
Q: What music - a composer, an artist, a song, etc. - is essential for students to know and appreciate? Why?
A: I believe that students should be exposed to as many different types of music as possible. If they have an overall appreciation for music and the arts, they can be lifelong lovers of music.
Q: What song's your favorite guilty pleasure?
A: I enjoy listening to classical, jazz, '80s rock and '90s pop music.