We were lucky to catch up with James Divine recently and have shared our conversation below.
James, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s one of the most important lessons you learned in school?
I’ve spent 35+ years working in the field of music,, yet in sixth grade I almost didn’t join band! The choices were to go to choir, drama, art, band or to stay in the room and read. I love reading, so I decided to stay in the room. After about a week of this, it grew boring. My band friends talked about how much fun band was, so I decided to give it a try.
I met the director, Mr. Derrio. He looked at me – looked at my mouth and said, “You look like a clarinet player.” Even as a professional musician and having taught band for many years, I am not sure if he could really tell, if all he had left were clarinets, or if he needed clarinet players.
Playing the clarinet was something I had a natural talent for. I practiced regularly. I had a passion for playing, I looked forward to it, it helped my confidence. Not having a dad around made me somewhat of a mama’s boy. I wasn’t very skilled at sports. I didn’t know much about outdoor activities like hunting, fishing, camping and shooting.
I can look back now and realize that I was more gifted emotionally than the average person. Most people in the arts are gifted in the same way. This gifting makes us more sensitive and caring. It also allows us to be hurt by people more easily. The result for me was a lot of bullying and teasing in school.
Mr. Derrio had a huge impact in making music important to me. He was kind and patient and excited about music. He always had a funny comment or joke about the music. He never raised his voice or yelled.
Band was the highlight of my day. About April of that year, Mr. Derrio had a heart attack and was gone from school for quite awhile. We had a substitute who had retired long ago. I’m sure he tried his best, but he just did not have the energy to keep up with a group of 6th graders, and we pushed the limits daily in his class.
Mr. Derrio came to visit one day and was wearing sunglasses to hide his tears. Almost all men were like that in the 70s; men did not cry. I don’t know how many times I was told by the men in my life to quit crying and act like a man. It wasn’t until I was about thirty that I felt comfortable expressing my emotions.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Using my 105 year old saxophone, I help people realize that although they may be scratched, dented, and abused – like my sax – a beautiful symphony of music can still pour out of their lives. I am a motivational speaker and can speak on a variety of topics…
Your NOW Doesn’t Determine Your FUTURE (Keynote Speech)
I use humor, music, stories and my 105 year old sax to help people see that – although they may be scratched, dented, and abused – like my sax – a beautiful symphony can still come pouring out of their lives. This presentation is based on my book Jimmy: A True Story of Abuse, Poverty, Forgiveness and Redemption.
Teachers. You Saved My Life (Keynote Speech)
Do you ever struggle with doubt about your chosen profession of teaching? Do you ever wonder if you make a difference? Join James as he shares funny and inspirational stories – and music – about how Teachers Saved My Life! I grew up in a home with a dad who abused his mom, then I experienced sexual trauma, but I had a lot of teachers who poured into my life, helping me be the successful husband, dad, teacher, granddad, musician and speaker I am today. Most of these teachers never got to hear from me, but their influence was life-changing and life-saving. I’ll use humor, personal stories, music and my 105 year old sax to share how important teachers are. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but you’ll leave knowing you make a difference.
Growing Up Italian (Keynote Speech)
Funny stories about my widowed Italian mom, and the impact she made on my life. With only a first grade education on her side, she stressed the importance of education and encouraged us to focus on that. She suffered through abuse. Her resilience through that helped me overcome my own abuse at the hands of a friend of the family. She had a very funny, quirky personality – and that comes out in this presentation based on my book I Cannoli Imagine: My Italian Life. Mom passed in 2021, but her laughter and wisdom carry on.
7 Tips To Save 5 Hours This Week and Every Week
Do you ever wish you had more time? Time to pursue the things you love? Time to exercise, to cook, to read, to hike, to enjoy life outside your job? We all have the same 24 hours in a day. I can’t give you more hours to spend, but I can share 7 tips with you that may save you at least 5 hours this week – and every week. You’ll get another 5 quick tips that may gain you more time. I also include the Fast and Furious 11 – 7 things to STOP doing and 4 things you should DELEGATE to someone else.
Goal Setting for Teens
We discuss the difference between a goal and dream, the 5 essential elements that must be included in a goal, why it’s important to write goals down, why it’s important to do the difficult thing first, the 3 success principles that – if followed – give you a 97% chance of avoiding poverty. All this with personal stories and magic!
Get Started Writing a Book
Have you ever wanted to write your own book? Maybe you have a story to share, or something you have learned that you want to share with others. In this presentation, I’ll share some tips on how to write, format and publish your eBook on the free Kindle Direct Publishing platform. It’s possible to complete an eBook in just a few days. My most popular book, “40 Ways To Make Money as a Musician” was written, uploaded and published in about three days. It was a shorter book and the material was developed over a lifetime as a musician. Most of my books have taken about 9 months working on them an hour or two a day.
A Stroke of Bad Luck
On an evening in May 2016, my world was shattered when I received the news that my mom had a stroke. Dealing with a stroke is difficult. There are emotional considerations, finances, and other setbacks to deal with. In this presentation I share my experiences in 11 lessons learned.
Dealing with People (training for youth in relationships)
So much of a teen’s life revolves around screens that many have never learned how to speak face to face to others in their lives. I say “Good Morning” to everyone. I once had a student whose response to my greeting was always “Don’t Talk To Me.” Even if she was in a bad mood, this was not a proper response. In this training geared to teens, we talk about the proper way to deal with parents, teachers, peers, and bosses – even if you disagree with them. And in relating to them properly, you will find that you will get what you want more often.
Tips To Prevent Your Saxes From Sounding Like Squawking Geese
Saxes don’t HAVE to sound like geese. A few simple changes in reed, mouth placement, volume of air can make all the difference. I share these tips and demonstrate the good and the bad on my saxophone. You’ll leave with tips for a better sounding sax section that you can incorporate immediately.
Jazz From The Start For Everyone
Many directors wait until students are in their 2nd, 3rd or more years of playing their instrument before getting them started learning jazz techniques and improvisation. And many directors only teach these techniques to students enrolled in jazz band. Shouldn’t every student study America’s only original art form? Shouldn’t all students learn jazz techniques and how to improvise? In this informative session, James will teach you how to teach jazz techniques to groups of all abilities and get them started improvising. You will leave with 7 jazz lessons you can implement immediately with your band or orchestra. You can implement these lessons as soon as your students know five notes.
Classroom Discipline
Setting boundaries, expectations, and consequences from Day 1, but more importantly, being pro-active so that 90% of discipline problems that could have happened don’t ever show up.
Take Care of YOU using the acronym B.A.N.D.
Directors are very caring. So much so that they often forget to take care of themselves. The acronym BAND can help you remember four ways to take care of you so you can serve your students better.
HELP! I’m a band teacher teaching orchestra.
When I started a new job that involved teaching orchestra for one period, many of my colleagues suggested I try to get rid of that class as soon as I could. I found that I grew to love it. There are a few tips that can help you more easily make the transition. You’ll find yourself loving orchestra too!
The Student Led Rehearsal
Why should the director do all the work? This workshop teaches you how to train your students to LEAD the rehearsal. Not from the podium with a baton, but right from their seats as they are playing the parts. Everyone is involved. The workshop also teaches students to listen to the music more critically.
When a Life is Lost
Two weeks after school let out in 2017, two students passed away in a tragic accident which also took their mom’s life. In this session, I share some lessons learned.
Sex Trafficking Awareness Training
I’m on the board of Sarah’s home, an organization devoted to rescuing teen girls from sex-trafficking. This is the quarterly training I present to new employees and volunteers. It is usually an all day training, but awareness of the problem is something we all need. This training can be adapted to one hour, two hours, or whatever length you need.
Band Director 101: Why Didn’t They Teach THAT in College
Music college is great! You learn all about pedagogy, student development, and many other subjects. But how about all the things they don’t teach you? Classroom discipline, 1st week procedures, setting up a seating chart, preparing for a field trip, maintaining a library – and MORE. James shares some things he has learned the hard way in this informative session. He also shares links to forms he has already created. Copy and paste to make them your own.
13 Mistakes New Directors Make
The best plan ever would be if a new director could co-teach with a retiring director for a year or two. That way these mistakes would be avoided. But that would be impractical, so learn directly from James about his mistakes and avoid them from the start.
How To Structure Rehearsal Time
There are myriad ways to structure rehearsal time, and often how you do it will depend on your demographics, where your program is in its development, and other factors. James shares what has worked well for him in both middle and high school and also teaching a block and normal schedule.
How To Make It In The Music Business
“There are no jobs out there.” “A Music Ed degree will get me nowhere.” Both of these statements are false! James shares several strategies for getting that job, as well as how to make it in life generally. There’s one trait that is the MOST important, and it’s not what you think.
James Divine Speaking Topics and Descriptions
www.jamesdivine.net
[email protected]
719-238-4193
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I believe the best thing to do is keep showing up. Sometimes the results may be hard to see, but if you keep writing, keep posting, keep podcasting – and adjust and pivot along the way – you will eventually get to your intended audience.
I started a podcast 10 years ago for music teachers. When I started, I was lucky to get 10 listeners per episode. I kept posting and creating content. Downloads are close to 200,000 now with about 400-700 listeners per episode.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
I sell on my site using shopify. I am able to quickly add a new product, offer coupons, share it on social media, change prices, etc. The cost is only $40 per month.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jamesdivine.net
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@divinejames
- Other: www.jazzysaxman.com