The purpose of this study was to investigate the rehearsal characteristics of "superior" middle and high school band directors. A total of 131 respondents from Florida, Kentucky, and North Carolina who received a "superior" rating for 4 out of the past 5 years, completed an open-ended essay question online asking them to describe which aspects and/or elements they considered to be the most important during their music rehearsal. Using a previously established descriptive approach consisting of qualitative coding techniques, responses were analyzed and placed into a taxonomic structure according to similar themes that emerged from the data. Results from the 792 comments listed indicate that both middle and high school directors spend the most time working on "Music Fundamentals," with "Tone Quality/Production" listed as the most frequent response for both groups. Additionally, directors placed importance on "Conductor/Teacher Behaviors," "Teaching Techniques," "Classroom Environment/Behavior," "Use of Specific Warm-ups to Teach," "Selecting Literature," and "Good Relations with Students."