Just your average stereotypical band geek? Not exactly.  In our book, Owen Bradley was cool enough to take that determination and drive it takes to play an instrument and conduct an ensemble and put it to good use for a future career as a band director for a high school.  And he knew he wanted to do it since the 10th grade! 

Talk about going for your goals.  Owen Bradley is currently the Band Director and Chairman of the Performing Arts Academy at North Port High School in North Port Florida. A 1988 graduate of the Florida State University, he has been teaching for 20 years in Florida. He holds a Master’s Degree in Curriculum with and emphasis in Integrating Technology in the Classroom and is a Sarasota County Schools NeXt Generation Educator. He is currently working on his doctoral degree in education leadership.

He's also a trained trumpet player and has tried his hands at jazz and has used his skills in musical instruments and technology alike to formulate innovative methods of music education.  

Wait, there's more. He also blogs on the side.  Check out his blog, The Digital Music Educator, all about those non-traditional methods.

And while you're at it, read up on his background and his future goals right here on Jemsite.

Tell me about your music background.

I was a regular “band kid” in junior high (yes, I'm that old) and high school.  I fell in love with the idea of teaching music in 10th grade, and began to shape my experiences to help me pursue a career as a band director.  While in college, in addition to the regular curriculum I had the opportunity to work as a student musician at Walt Disney World playing the trumpet.  I am a classically trained trumpet player, but dabble in jazz (a secret love) so this was a great opportunity and a LOT of fun!

I began teaching in 1988 at the junior high level and then had an opportunity to move to a high school soon after.  This is where my real education began, as I matured in my career, the job evolved as well.  The implementation of all the added responsibilities (preparation for high stakes testing, professional development, non-music responsibilities) as well as the kids just plain “changing” with regard to their interest in devoting themselves to band (major after school commitment to marching band, dedicating themselves on their band instrument) lead me to investigate “non-traditional” approaches to music education.

In 2003 I earned a Master's Degree in Instructional Technology and began to accelerate my technology skills. In 2006 I wrote a grant for a traditional guitar program at North Port High School, and immediately, the class filled up past capacity. This was an indication that times were changing!  Soon after, I became involved in the NeXt Generation Learning initiative in Sarasota County and further developed an already healthy interest in technology.  I began blogging, podcasting, and experimenting with integrating electronic music into my guitar curriculum.

This worked so well that I was featured in SBO magazine in the April 2008 issue focusing on music technology.  To this day, I am passionate about helping students to discover music through non-traditional avenues such as guitar and electronic music.

Why choose to be a music educator rather than a music performer?

I have a passion for education.  I really knew that right from the beginning, even though I struggled like any beginning teacher during my first 5 years of teaching- trying to “figure it out”.  I absolutely love interacting with students and challenging them to learn- most of the time we end up having a quality musical experience AND a great time!  Laughter is a frequent visitor to my bandroom!

What are your obligations as Band Director and Chairman of the Performing Arts Academy at North Port High School

I am responsible for the Concert Bands, the Jazz Bands, and the Drum and Bugle Corps (We espouse a DCI approach to our marching program, and march all brass, percussion and colorguard).  Recently, I have been fortunate enough to have an associate director who shares my passion for band, and he has been a great help focusing us on the “next level” of performance.

As chairman of the Performing Arts Academy (now called the Performing Arts Small Learning Community) I lead a team of 16 teachers in all disciplines (English, Math, Social Studies, Science, as well as the Performing Arts) in integrating the Arts in all subjects.  In 2005 I was recognized by the Superintendent of Sarasota County Schools with an award for our integrated curriculum project: Kaleidoscope.

What have you learned from your experience teaching music for 20 years?

I think the biggest thing that I have learned is that education is always changing.  Students are not the same as they were 20 years ago, but that is not a bad thing, it is just evolution.  I have also learned that an educator must never stop being a student- I have remade myself through study and found that I am much more capable as an educator than I would have ever thought possible.  I have my current Principal, Dr. George Kenney to thank for that- he invested in me and allowed me to develop my leadership skills far beyond the walls of the bandroom.

Why do you believe it is so important to integrate technology into the classroom?

Students today are very interested in technology.  They spend a great amount of time interacting with it whether it be playing video games or surfing the internet.  They are very comfortable with technology, however I find that they are not nearly as savvy as we presume.  They use technology as a tool rather than an object of study, so while they are very comfortable using technology, they may not know the theory and functionality behind it and sometimes cannot see how to transfer technology to other uses.  I have become very good at this, so I can bridge that gap. I believe that we must change the way we deliver instruction to reflect our changing students- technology is going to be a central part of their lives in the 21st century and we do our students a great disservice if we do not allow them to develop technology skills that will be necessary in their daily lives and their jobs.

Give me some examples as to how this works, specifically focusing on guitar if you can.

My guitar class is a hybrid of traditional and new.  At the beginning of the class, I lay out a specific plan of what I want them to know:  How to read traditional notation, the names of the strings, the notes on the fretboard, how to tune the guitar to itself (you would be surprised at how many “shreddin'” guitarists can't tune without a tuner!) I call it “practical/tactical guitar”.  The non-traditional music student and guitar student is looking for information that they can apply “right now”- they don't want to be held back by everyone plucking the open E string together in quarter notes- in today's classroom, that is a recipe for trouble!

Then I do two things which are totally unexpected- I promise them that I will learn their names within a week (I tell them that they cannot come into the classroom unless I can meet them at the door with their first name- it's just a game, really but it shows them that I respect them as individuals), and I sit down with each and every one of them and ask them what they would like to learn by the end of the class (I teach semester long Guitar classes).  I find that the answer to this is NEVER “I want to learn 'Go tell Aunt Rhody'” and FREQUENTLY the answer is “I wanna learn how to do sweeps” or “I wanna learn the power chords” or “My favorite song is X and I have the tabs, but I don't know how to read them, so I want to be able to read tabs and play stuff I download off the internet”.

I make it part of my lesson plan to give the students the resources that they need as much as possible.  I also help them to understand that if everyone could do what they hear on their ipods, everyone would be recording music and touring!  They find it hard to relate to the kind of dedication it takes to learn an instrument- LOTS of them know how to “shred” and can play a few songs that they have learned by heart- very well I might add- but they either learned it by ear or they did not spend enough time learning how to read music and tabs so they are doomed to a musical life of listening to the same song and coming as close as they can with no training.

The electronic stuff comes in the second nine weeks of the class- after they have learned what I want them to know and we have had time to create a culture of respect in the classroom sufficient to allow me to place thousands of dollars worth of electronics in their hands.  We use Line 6 pocket pods for individual practice, but I have the ability to tie two or more musicians together through our Korg digital piano lab so they can work together.  We also use CD and digital audio file based “guitar trainers” to slow down their music so that they can figure it out.  Most kids have only heard about this technology and cannot afford a decent unit to work with.  We also use a macintosh computer with garage band to record through a Line 6 tone port USB interface.  This allows us to lay down tracks of guitar with effects, drums (we have a set of Alesis DM5 Pro e-drums) synthesizers (we have 30 Korg Triton LE keyboards as well as a large selection of virtual instruments via Garage Band and VST  and AU plug-ins)

I don't really train them to become recording artists, we just do enough to give them the basics and for them to lay down something that is “theirs”.  We make a CD for them (or put it on their digital music player) of their work that they can play for their friends and their families- they REALLY love the project!

How is technology changing the world of music?

Technology is allowing the “masses” to experiment with high quality sounds, effects, and equipment that was simply not economically possible even five years ago- as we continue to develop low-cost, high quality hardware and software and computers advance in speed and capability, even the amateur musician can put something down that sounds pretty good!

Music is changing and becoming more personal because of technology.  You can't go in the hallway at a high school without seeing students with their earbuds glued to their ears, so is it any wonder that they want to make their own, personal, music?  They are also very interested in posting their creations on youtube and other social networking sites so that they can get feedback from others.  This simply was not a consideration when I began teaching.

There was a whole post on it! Do you believe music education is easily accessible online?

That post was actually a guest post by Adrienne Sara Carlson who blogs at onlinedegree.net She did a great job on that post, and I was happy to host her article!

Has any type of music or any performances influenced you music and music education wise? If so, which ones?

I grew up listening to a variety of music from classical to Led Zeppelin.  My parents were not musicians, but they always played music in the house.  Elvis, Frank Sinatra, you name it.  My Dad played the guitar and taught me from a very early age- I also sang all the time and put on little shows for my parents when I was very young- a natural born “ham”!  Later, I was fortunate enough to attend all types of concerts and I can honestly say that I am a conglomeration of every one.  I think my favorite rock band of all time was Rush- both album and live- looking at me now, I don't think anyone would guess that...

Performing at FSU in the Marching Chiefs and in the fine concert and chamber ensembles there gave me a firm grounding in performance skills- performing at Disney taught me how to be a showman, and I don't think I'll ever forget the first time that I saw Blast on stage- I think that is what really got me thinking about how to integrate disparate genres like we do now in our classes and performances.

Tell me about your blog, The Digital Music Educator.

I began The Digital Music Educator as a project in 2006 related to what I was learning about blogging and social networking in the NeXt Generation Initiative.  I really felt that there was a need for educators to read about and explore areas of music education that depart from the traditional.  It has been a labor of love for me, and I really enjoy posting the “teachable moments” or “bloggable moments” when something spectacular happens in my class. I began with just a few posts not expecting anyone to really read it, but over the years I have attracted a world-wide audience.  I really enjoy getting feedback on my posts and knowing that I might inspire someone in some small way.  I try to post subjects that are in the “Music Educator 2.0” area- teaching is teaching, but we can learn to incorporate the incredible tools at our disposal.  

I really think that our profession is evolving, and we need to all share with each other so that we can help students get the same joy out of music that we had when we were young-  the possibilities are limitless as the Internet itself, and I can't wait to see what the next 20 years brings!

Image Credit: DMET