Leader of the band
Tyler Findley is new band director for Southaven High
He’s only known them a few weeks, but Tyler Findley, the new band director at Southaven High, can tell you a lot about his students. Not just their music ability, but what is going on in their lives.
“I like to approach music from the individual and then work my way out,” Findley said. “If everyone is doing well as individuals then the group does very well. When I look at a band I see 200 individuals that make up one unit, not one group that’s made up of 200 parts.”
Findely’s love for music began at an early age. He remembers hearing his uncle play Van Halen on the guitar and wanting to grow up to be a rock star. But, when his older brother took up trombone in middle school he followed in his footsteps and things took a slightly different path.
“We had the trombone,” he said. “I was practicing more than he was. He got into other things, and I found I was really good at it and I really enjoyed it.”
But it was not until he got to high school and met band director Chris Tate at Forest City High in Forest City, Ark., that his future career took shape.
“He introduced me to so much music. He made sure we were playing difficult pieces by Tchaikovsky and Sousa,” Findley said. “Because of how much he pushed me to play harder things, when I got to college I was ahead of the curve.”
Findley said Tate’s personal attention to see every individual in the band learning, growing and having fun set this basic foundation for Findley’s theories on music education.
“He would seek each of us out as individuals. He knew me personally, and I would not be where I am today without him,” Findley said.
While in high school, Findley marched in the band and participated in Drum Corps Internation-
al, performing with the Memphis Sound Drum and Bugle Corps and the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps. While at Delta State University earning a bachelor of education degree in music education, he was a member of the Delta State Wind Ensemble, the Pride of the Delta Marching Band and several other DSU musical groups. At the same time, he returned to the Memphis Sound as a staff member and was with the drum corp when they won the DCI open class world championship in 2007.
Each experience and so many of the people he met, he said, helped him grow as both a musician and a music educator.
After college, he became the assistant band director at Grenada High School in Grenada. From there he served as the band director at Florence High School in Florence, Miss. until leaving that school to take the top band director position at Southaven.
“We would see a lot of the DeSoto County bands at regional, state and other competitions. When I told people I was taking a teaching position in DeSoto County they congratulated me on going to the ‘Camelot of marching bands,’” he said.
Findley accepted the Southaven High position in April after it was announced that former band director Andy Sanders was retiring. He moved here with his wife, Candace, who is an Olive Branch Police Officer, and also joined the Southaven staff as a guard instructor.
“Mississippi high school band is quite different than other states,” Findley said. “It is very focused on marching band and that’s great. Marching band is fun. I also want to emphasize our wind ensemble, symphonic band and concert band.”
Southaven High School principal Shane Jones said he’s eager to see Southaven’s band in competition this year under Findley’s direction.
“We did a thorough search and from all our sources all over the state, his name kept coming up to the top. He brings a lot of excitement and passion and is a breath of fresh air,” Jones said.
This year’s Southaven marching band show is called “Fast Forward.” It explores, through music, the feeling many people have to always hurry up and get to the next thing but also the need to occasionally take time to enjoy the moment. Findley said he is enjoying the moments at Southaven High.