Students in Scotland High School’s bands have been receiving advice from a guest artist this week, and according to band director Mark Doerffel, having an extra set of ears is paying off.

Dr. John Stanley Ross, director of Bands at Appalachian State University, sat in on band classes on Thursday and Friday as part of SHS Bands’ Artist in Residence program, and offered his advice and constructive criticism to band members as they continue to work on music which they will be performing at the State Concert Festival on March 11-13 at West Johnston High School.

After giving suggestions and assigning each of the school’s bands a goal, Ross will return again at the end of the month, when he will gauge their progress.

“This (Artist in Residence program) is unique in the fact that not only am I here for two days now, but I’m back in two weeks, which is great because I can work on planting seeds now, and when I come back I can make sure that things are progressing well,” said Ross.

Ross also commented that he was impressed with the improvement he saw from Thursday to Friday’s class sessions, and added that if the students continue to develop at a comparable rate the bands will be in “really, really good shape” upon his late-February return.

According to Ross, there is one clear indicator of the health of Scotland County’s band program, and that is that its members “have the most fun when they are playing well.”

“That is the hallmark of a good program,” he said.

It was made clear by Ross that his visit’s only goal was to improve the band, and that he was not on a recruiting trip. While he would take questions on Appalachian’s band program after class was over, he said that he preferred to let his work speak for itself.

The Boone-based band director added that he saw a “great work ethic” among Scotland County’s band students.

Students reported having fun and learning a lot during Ross’ visit.

Senior band member William Owens, a clarinet player, emphasized that Ross often, reinforced what Doerffel had been telling the band all along.

“(Ross) gives us new ideas, he enhances our ability to play what Mr. Doerffel has outlined, and he elaborates more on what (Doerffel) has taught,” Owens said.

“Dr. Ross gave us quite a few points to improve upon, and I am sure Mr. Doerffel will help us do that,” Owens added.

Doerffel, who organized the Artist in Residence Program at the school, said that it has been such a success that he plans to continue doing it as long as he is at the school.

“The visit is going pretty well,” Doerffel said.

“The Students are getting used to the way Dr. Ross likes to operate, and there is a learning curve there. It’s interesting watching the kids react to Dr. Ross,” he added.

Sophomore trumpeter Miles Fairley said that he has learned the most about “tone quality” and note “articulation” and also said that Ross’ visit is “exciting because he knows a lot about music and band, and he is improving the band’s quality and sound.”

During last year’s edition of the program SHS hosted Stan Michaelski, Director Emeritus of Clarion University.

“Last year was very successful,” said Doerffel.

Michalski returned last Thursday to check up on the bands prior to Ross’ visit.

Doerffel said that he favors bringing the “clinicians” to the school rather than taking the students on a field trip for a number of reasons, chief among those being that with the Artist in Residence program the artist “can serve all of the band students.”

The program is described by Doerffel as being of the “Doctor-Patient” approach, in that the “Doctor” comes in and diagnoses problems and then administers a treatment, in the form of advice to the band.

“Maybe sometimes it is just hearing the same thing from a different set of lips that makes the difference for the students, or maybe I’ve completely missed something because of how close I am to the program … either way, it is all done to improve the program, to make sure we are headed in the proper direction, (and to) maintain the integrity of the music in general.”

Ross will be back at SHS from Feb. 26-27 to see if his “treatment” had its intended effect.