The Guidonian Hand offers a flexible lecture/demonstration program designed to engage students’ imaginations while teaching them about classical music and the trombone quartet.  The program addresses listening skills, concert etiquette, and historical connections.  Students will also unlock the mysteries of musical composition by participating in the creation of a unique piece of music which will be performed at the end of the demonstration.  The program can be tailored to the musical level of the students and adjusted to address subjects and pieces they have studied in their courses.  Specific activities include:

- A fugue by J.S. Bach is used to help the students learn to listen for and identify a recurring musical idea during the course of a piece.
- Through a series of games, students are taught what is considered to be appropriate concert etiquette.
- After listening to music by Claude Debussy, students will be encouraged to talk about images it may have brought to mind.  Debussy’s ideas about the music will then be shared with the students, at which point they will experience a second performance of the piece.
- By allowing students to choose from specific rhythms, harmonies, and melodic ideas, they will participate in the creation of a new piece of music that will then be performed by the Guidonian Hand.
- “How do you know where to stop the slide?” This is one of the most common questions asked of trombonists. Through a brief demonstration, the students will be introduced to one of the most versatile instruments ever invented.
- Connections are drawn between the music itself and historical events from the time the music was written.