currently searching:

The Habits Series

The Habits series is making a worldwide impact on the lives of music educators and their students by providing sound pedagogical practices and methodologies. The mission of the Habits team is to provide teachers and students valuable resources that will help create a collaborative environment for music making AND to connect teachers and students in a significant way through music, love, passion, vision, and purpose.

The Habits team is made up of music educators who have spent over 150 years teaching in the trenches. Their real-world practicality and wisdom have endeared the series to thousands of music students and teachers and has helped cultivate a musical and personal culture of excellence.

Image of all Habits books

The Habits Series Resources

Click below to explore any HABITS series resource category

Method Books for Students

The HABITS series offers a variety of method books for students covering all major instruments and choral performance for multiple grade levels. Click to explore by instrument and skill level.

Educational Resources for Teachers and Music Education Students

The HABITS Series also contains numerous publications for music teachers and directors. Here, find resources aimed towards improving the skillset and understanding for teachers of any grade range.

Supplemental Online Resources

Many books and resources in the HABITS series also have standalone web components such as HabitsUniversal (for our beginning band book). This section is always expanding, so be sure to check for updates regularly!

Did You Know...

Each student method book in the HABITS series is available digitally for access on any device of choice!

Learn Online!

Most HABITS student method books are available digitally for $6.95 (a $3 saving compared to the physical edition).

View Habits Digital Books

Meet the HABITS Team!

The HABITS Team

ONE TEAM: To provide music teachers and students valuable resources that will help create a collaborative environment for music making AND to connect teachers and students in a significant way through music, love, passion, vision and purpose.

Scott Rush

Team lead for the HABITS Series

Scott Rush is the team lead for the Habits series by GIA Publications and is the former Director of Bands at Wando High School in Mount Pleasant, SC. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and the University of South Carolina. He currently serves as co-conductor of the Charleston Wind Symphony, a semi-professional ensemble in Charleston, South Carolina.

Learn More

Jeff Scott

HABITS Series Middle School Band Lead

Jeff Scott is the Director of Bands at Cario Middle School in Mount Pleasant, SC, where he has held that position since 2001. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and received a Master of Instrumental Music in Conducting at Southern Oregon University. He was awarded National Board Certification in 2005 and 2015. In 2020, he was named Phi Beta Mu “South Carolina Bandmaster of the Year”.

Learn More

Christopher Selby

HABITS Series Strings Lead

Dr. Christopher Selby is the author of Habits of a Successful Orchestra Director, Music Theory for the Successful String Musician, and co-author of the Habits of a Successful String Musician series , a collection of string method books for middle- and upper-level orchestras, published by GIA. He is an active clinician and has presented sessions at two Midwest Clinics, the 2016 NAfME National Conference, five American String Teacher Association (ASTA) National Conferences, and numerous state conferences across America.

Learn More

Margaret Selby

HABITS Series Strings Lead

Margaret Selby is the orchestra director and 2020 Teacher of the Year at Laing Middle School in Charleston County (SC) where her program grew from 42 to 215 students in five years. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and her Master’s degree in Music Performance from the University of South Carolina. Mrs. Selby’s orchestras have participated in SCMEA Concert Performance Assessment and other festivals in the southeast, earning superior ratings.

Learn More

Eric Wilkinson

HABITS Series Choir Lead

Eric Wilkinson is the director of the Wando High School Choir program in Charleston, South Carolina. Wilkinson’s choirs have consistently earned superior ratings at state and national choral festivals and have performed in Carnegie Hall, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Washington National Cathedral. His pursuit of excellence in teaching and conducting has taken him to London, Vienna, Varna, New York City, and Medomak, Maine. Wilkinson has served on the SCMEA All-State committee for ten years and chaired the audition process for four years. Wilkinson’s choirs have been invited to perform for SCMEA and ACDA conventions.

Learn More

Kevin Boyle

HABITS Percussion Lead

Kevin Boyle is in his sixteenth year of teaching instrumental music and his first year as the Associate Director of Bands at Tapp Middle School in Powder Springs, GA. He is also the Percussion Director for McEachern High School. Prior to arriving at Tapp, he taught middle school band and percussion in both Georgia and South Carolina. Mr. Boyle’s ensembles have received consistent Superior ratings at Large Group Performance Evaluation.

Learn More

Marguerite Wilder

Music Education Consultant and Editor

Marguerite Wilder is widely recognized as a conductor and clinician, having conducted honor bands throughout the United States, Canada, England, Italy, Turkey, and Australia. Serving as a resource person for in-service sessions, she works with both local and regional school systems and universities. Her clinics on motivational techniques for beginning band are often featured at state and national conventions, including the Midwest Band and Orchestra Conference.

Learn More

Mary Land

Author: Habits of a Successful Music Education Student

Dr. Mary Land is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Music Education at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She conducts the University Concert Band and teaches courses in instrumental music education. Prior to this position, she was Director of Bands and Instrumental Music Education at Young Harris College in Young Harris, Georgia. Before moving to higher education, Dr. Land was a public-school band director in Georgia for over twenty-five years where she developed an outstanding band program in Pickens County, Georgia. Bands under Mary Land’s direction have received invitations to perform at numerous music conferences and clinics.

Learn More

Linard McCloud

Author: Choosing Help Over Hurt:Successful Habits for Teaching Band in Underserved Communities

Linard H. McCloud is a 1972 alumnus of Burke High School in Charleston, SC. In 1976, he received his BS in Music Education from Florida A&M University. Immediately following graduation, he was awarded the William P. Foster Scholarship to attend the University of Kansas, but decided to further his studies at the University of Iowa on a full fellowship, where he received his MA in Music Education.

Learn More

John Nieto

Author: Habits of a Successful Beginner Mariachi Músico

John Nieto is the mariachi director at Brackenridge High School in San Antonio, a position he has held since 1990. He also serves as the lead mariachi instructor for San Antonio ISD, of which he is a graduate. He currently serves as arranger/copyist/instructor for the Albuquerque Mariachi Spectacular (21 years) and previously taught at similar workshops in Tucson, Arizona, and Las Cruces, New Mexico. John has been a guest clinician for Region Mariachi clinics throughout the state of Texas.

Learn More

Sarah Ball

Author: Habits of a Successful Young String Musician

Sarah Ball has been teaching orchestra for twenty six years, currently at North Gwinnett Middle School in Sugar Hill, Ga, where she is one of two orchestra directors. The NGMS orchestra program has 475 students enrolled in grades 6-8. The 8 th grade orchestra was selected to perform at GMEA in January (2012), and received the GMEA Exemplary Performance Award in 2009 and 2015. In December 2013, the NGMS Honor Orchestra was one of three middle school orchestras selected internationally to perform in Chicago, Illinois at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, and has performed at Carnegie Hall.The NGMS music department was recently awarded the inaugural Exemplary Program Award from GMEA (2017-18).

Learn More