Hello again!On the last post in this series I talked about teaching students about implied note emphasis. That is a good first step that is easy for them to grasp and gets them making musical decisions. Once they get the hang of that, the next step is to teach them about basic phrase shaping. Keep in mind with what you're about to read, that the key indicator is basic. This is meant to be understood by beginning band students who are in the last leg of their end of the year concert preparation.
To be successful in this new skill, students will need to understand how to identify phrases (or at least know where all of the phrases in the music happen), and they'll need to be proficient in crescendos and decrescendos.
Relating Implied Dynamics to Reading English
You'll want to begin by reminding them that music is like speaking a language, in that there are expressive qualities that we can't notate, and that each person projects themselves when they read something. You can remind them, if you want, that we said knowing which note to emphasis in a phrase was like knowing which word to emphasize in a sentence.
But there is another thing we imply when read sentences, and that's the volume of the speaker's voice. This example is off the top of my head, but you could come up with something better. I would write on the board,
"Devin, come back. Hey, Devin, come back here! Come back here now!"
I would read it without any inflection or volume changes. Then I would explain that if we were reading it in a book, one way I could interpret it is this (and vocalize):
Devin, come back. Hey, Devin, come back here! Come back here now!
I would ask them to notice how I emphasized certain words, but I also gradually increased the volume, because to me, when I read that line, in my head it sounded like it should be more frantic every time.
Music is the same way. We have to emphasize certain notes and play dynamics that aren't written to help the audience hear the hidden meaning of the music. It can't just be sound. It has to mean something.
So the next trick is to figure out how to do this with music.
Implied Dynamics, Simplified
Identify the Phrase
Of course, before they can imply dynamics, they have to know where a phrase begins and ends. They must understand that you imply dynamics to each phrase. So the first step is to identify the phrases. Depending on your method, you have either lead them to figuring out the phrases, or you've told them, "Breathe here". If you're in the latter, hopefully you've at least explained why phrasing is important, and explained at least once or twice how to figure it out on their own. Either way, they have to know where the phrases are.
From here there are a few different routes you can take here that are all pretty simple. The one I've seen in action with 6th grade beginning classes is to only give them one option.
Crescendo to the High Note
Explain that what they must do is crescendo to a key note in the phrase, and then decrescendo away from that note until the end of the phrase.
In this option, how do they know which note to crescendo to and decrescendo away from? Tell them it's the highest note in the phrase. Every time.
Remember, we are dealing with first year band students. Many teachers wouldn't touch this subject in the first year, but one of my mentors (who is a former Texas Honor Band Director) was explicit in saying that you should teach them to do everything you want them to do by the end of that first year, so that in subsequent years you're simply reinforcing it, and eventually at some point in high school they should get all of it at a pretty high level.
While I have tried it (yet), I believe it's possible to give them another option and still keep it simple.
Crescendo to the Low Note
Sometimes it's not the highest note in the phrase, but rather the lowest note that is the most important. I'll admit that it's less often, but this gives them a simple choice to make regarding phrase shaping with every phrase they encounter, and I like the idea of giving them creative decisions to make. And it's just as simple to understand.
Peaks and Valleys
When you get into choosing the notes and such, I would have them apply it to music as soon as possible. If you're using the two options, you can even try both so they can see the difference in how it sounds, and chances are there will be a consensus on which one sounds better. That's the decision making capacity you want to shoot for.
But as we know, sometimes it's not as simple as one note. Even in some grade one music, shaping is more like peaks and valleys than a hill. I would wait and address this once it pops up in the music. By that point you'll be building on something they already understand. Baby steps, right?
Keep it Appropriate
It's okay to let them crescendo more than what is appropriate the first couple times when they're still getting the idea that there are implied dynamics that aren't written. But once they've played dynamics that aren't on the page, the next step is to get them to do it with a touch of subtlety.
The beginner way to understand this is that they start on the current dynamic level and crescendo up to the next dynamic level before decrescendoing back to the stated dynamic.
Remember,This is the Beginner Version
In later years there is a more complex and musical approach to all of this. Both the dynamic ranges used in phrase shaping and the entire schema for musical nuance. But by teaching the two concepts of implied note emphasis and implied dynamics, even in these simple models, it will help your students to sound much more musically mature than they would otherwise.
Equally as important, you've now given them some creative control over any music they play. I've said before on this blog that when band students are simply playing what's on the paper, and playing the shaping etc. that we tell them to, and basically only do what they're told to do (either by us or the notated music), there is no creativity involved in that. The creativity comes when they exercise their own musical judgement. I worry that a lot of beginning band students, I fear, don't get to exercise their creativity because of our relentless demands to push their technical abilities. What I'm saying is, maybe, if we unleash their creativity, they will get a taste of the greatest appeal of playing music, and their intrinsic motivation will rise, which will hopefully lead to more playing and practicing either outside of class, or down the line somewhere.
I hope this was interesting and helpful. It may not be as thorough as my usual outings, but ever since I accepted my job offer late last week (and especially since I signed on Tuesday), I've been working like a mad man to get things ready.
What do you think of this system? Love it? Hate it? Ideas for improvement? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment section!
On a side note, the blog has had more hits this month than in any previous month, and I hope that it continues to grow as long as I'm able to put out interesting and helpful content. So thank you again for reading! Until next time, take care!
Musically yours,
Mr. Cooper
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