sound of the group or loud???

[MartyNeilan]

I have found that during my brief time so far in the public school system as a student teacher, most brass students at the middle and high school level have NO CLUE what real dynamics are. Everything is played somewhere between MP and MF. And when you ask them to play loud, their first instinct is to blat and blast until they are shown properly, unfortunately this used to be encouraged in some schools for the marching band (fortunately that trend is dying away.) Believe it or not, one of the biggest priorities given to me as a teacher by the two head BD's is to get my kids to play louder in band, especially the trombones .

Practice loud with a good sound at least some of the time; you will never be able to play loud with a good sound if you never practice it. FWIW, the rest of the group should be encouraged to play with a full sound, using lots of air (I love telling my high school students to "Breathe my pasty friend, Breathe!" like the lozenges commercials.) Unfortunately, it may not be your place to do so. I am lucky to have two good and experienced BD's to be teaching under, who also respect me as a player. (The fact that I am around their age doesn't hurt, either.) While setting certain limits, they give me a fair amount of freedom to work within.