Mr. Vazquez is the director of bands at Iselin Middle School. He is passionate about his job and major and wishes to teach students the magic of music through instruments. In this article, we will be learning about his adventure into loving and teaching music.
Panther Press: What is your occupation at Iselin Middle School?
Mr. Vazquez: I am the director of bands at Iselin Middle School.
Panther Press: How long have you been teaching at Iselin Middle School?
Mr. Vazquez: I have been here for about five years now.
Panther Press: Would you say your students have clarity in your teaching?
Mr. Vazquez: I mean it all depends. Some people it depends on the elementary school teachers they had and obviously it’s very important if they are teaching all the right things down at the elementary school it’s a little easier. But sometimes it’s a little bit of a challenge for the people that are just a little further behind and that’s totally okay. I mean I think it’s graspable and learnable for most students if they try.
Panther Press: Generally, do you work better with students who had band in elementary school?
Mr. Vazquez: Honestly, it all depends on the student’s work ethic. I mean one of my best students has never been in elementary school band and he ended up getting a solo in less than two months. Like, the kid just worked really hard. So being in elementary school band doesn’t necessarily give you all the tools that you need. Sometimes people that start in middle school end up doing a little bit better. It all depends on the work ethic of the person. The person likes to work hard and grind for something they can’t do, then they will be successful.
Panther Press: What does it mean to work hard?
Mr. Vazquez: So work hard is–you know, a lot of people a lot of the time your standard is to do the least bit possible. To do 5 minutes practice time here and maybe get a section of music correct, so let’s say you got 4 sections of music correct. A hard worker would make sure that if he practiced 4 measures, he can wake up at 3 in the morning and be able to play those measures perfectly. That means you have gotten enough repetitions on it, and to me repetition is the mother of learning. So if you’re repeating things and you’re repeating things correctly, then you will be a better musician because of it.
Panther Press: So when were you first introduced into trying to learn about the fundamentals of instruments and music?
Mr. Vazquez: I kind of had elementary school music and choir. I do remember that. That was Ms. Gleason. I will never forget her name. That was in second grade. After that, I didn’t know what a whole note was until I was in high school. So really when I learned the fundamentals was high school. I was 16 years old.
Panther Press: So what was the main thing that introduced you?
Mr. Vazquez: I had to be in band class.
Panther Press: It was required?
Mr. Vazquez: It was required. I either had to take art or take music class, and obviously I wasn’t going to do art. I chose music. Then yeah, that’s how it happened. I had to do it and that’s the only reason I learned.
Panther Press: Did a person tell you about music or was it something that sparked your interest that made you want to learn?
Mr. Vazquez: I’ve always wanted to be a percussionist and a drummer since I was a little kid. I remember watching a lot of shows when I was a kid with my parents. A lot of Spanish TV shows with people drumming and doing all this stuff, so that motivated me to want to do it too.
Panther Press: How did you learn the fundamentals of music? Did you go to any classes or sessions for it?
Mr. Vazquez: It was really just my high school band director. He taught us all the rhythms, he basically taught us everything we needed to know. It was just him, he did a great job.
Panther Press: Was your high school band director easy-understanding or did he teach with complexity?
Mr. Vazquez: He was easily understood but he was tough, man. He would test us all in the middle of class. You know how I test you guys individually? He made us test in front of everyone! And he would tell you what your grade was. If you got an F he’ll tell you ‘you got an F,’ in front of everyone.
Panther Press: Did that give you a lot of anxiety?
Mr. Vazquez: It gave some people anxiety. It motivated me! I didn’t want to be the dude to get a F in front of everybody so it motivated me. It has its good parts and its bad parts.
Panther Press: What challenges did you face while learning music and instruments and did you make any major or minor mistakes along the way?
Mr.Vazquez: Oh I made major mistakes–major corrections along the way. I mean it was just trying to catch up to everybody else. That was my biggest challenge but I didn’t let that stop me.
Panther Press: Are you comfortable with sharing one of your major mistakes?
Mr. Vazquez: Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me was that I was not the best mallet player. I always kind of ignored that part of my percussion playing until I couldn’t ignore it anymore and it became a problem. The biggest challenge was trying to catch up my mallet playing to my drumming which is most of my college career.
Panther Press:Would people make fun of you or notice that you struggled?
Mr. Vazquez: No because they knew I was trying actively to get better. When people see that you’re trying to get better they are more open to you not having it 100% yet.
Panther Press: When and why were you finally persuaded to become a band teacher because of this journey?
Mr. Vazquez: When and why? I started my first teaching job as a college kid when I was 20 years old at Edison High School. I went in because I needed some money. I didn’t know I was good at teaching. It was just something that I tried. Then I really liked it! I just kind of continued with it and then I completely switched my major to music. Then everything was done after that. I taught high school for a little bit and it made me fall in love with it. That’s why I’m here today.
Panther Press: When did you switch to teaching middle school or elementary?
Mr. Vazquez: So first I did high school for 7 years at the same time I’ve been getting a part time college job, then I did elementary school and IMS middle school was the last thing I did.
Panther Press: Would there be anything else you would like to add?
Mr. Vazquez: No, I don’t think so.
