Measures of Success

Measures of Success® was created to ignite musical curiosity, to unite conceptual knowledge with performance skills, to foster understanding of the many ways that people share and interact with music, and to assess each student's continued musical growth.

While there are differing opinions on starting systems, directors agree that the music itself is the most important component of a method. Every exercise in Measures of Success® has been sequenced to promote optimal development through great musical content. Creative titles stimulate the imagination, musicianship challenges promote expressive playing, and special attention is paid to important concepts such as phrasing. In addition, students will enjoy full band arrangements and original compositions by renowned composers Brian Balmages and Robert Sheldon. Directors will quickly discover that this performance-based method also introduces students to critical listening, composing, conducting, music history, and other elements that bring about a deeper understanding of music.

Measures of Success® is divided into six chapters (Opus 1 through 6). Each “Opus” is followed by a full-page assessment. Students are able to attain achievable benchmarks throughout the method, which keeps them motivated, excited, and playing their instruments.

Music history is presented simultaneously with art, literature, and world history, giving students a broad picture of social and artistic events of a certain time period. Composer pictures, artists, paintings, authors, literary works, world history, and fun facts are presented throughout the method. This strongly supports the National Standards and encourages cross-disciplinary study in music education. Best of all, it is contained in the text so directors do not need to do additional research.