| Program preparation feels a lot like this, but every day counts. What do students feel they've accomplished when they leave each day? |
What Skills Should You Address?
You can't lead a band (or any group) without knowing where they're going. My thinking is that we have two broad areas of rehearsal to improve their skill set - the Warm Up, Music Rehearsal, and depending on the day (or for some, every day) Sight Reading. And while most directors use warm up exercises and try to fix problems in the music each day, I've found though The Yellow Board that a lot of young directors aren't sure what all skills they need to work on each day. Thankfully there is a great reference that both explains everything we need to teach and simultaneously defines most of our careers - the UIL Comment Sheet. Our goals for each rehearsal need to focus on the following 18 bullet points (in case you don't have this on hand):
TONE
1. Centered, focused tone quality.
2. Balance within sections.
3. Balance between Sections.
4. Intonation within sections.
5. Intonation between sections.
6. Dynamic contrasts without distortion.
TECHNIQUE
7. Note accuracy (According the the rubric, any wrong notes = Division III!)
8. Manual dexterity and flexibility.
9. Rhythmic accuracy.
10. Rhythmic stability.
11. Appropriate mastery of articulation.
12. Observance of ties, slurs and articulation markings.
MUSICIANSHIP
13. Appropriateness of style.
14. Sensitivity to phrasing.
15. Observance of musical markings.
16. Appropriateness of dynamic contrasts.
17. Appropriate observance of tempo.
18. Demonstrates musical understanding.
Most of these are pretty self explanatory. If you need more detail, though, you should check out the official UIL judging rubrics. Even if you don't teach in Texas, this is a great resource to help you gauge where your band is at and what you need to get it up to!
Daily Warm Up Goals
I've already written a post about ideas to make the warm up relevant for students, but I think those ideas combined with the above check list give us an even more focused way to use that warm up time to improve the band. For me, the warm up time is about improving individual tone quality, section/ensemble balance, and then any number of other skills found in our list.
For example, to work on rhythmic accuracy, I like to use scales and the Circle of 4ths chord exercises and have the students play fundamental rhythms (or rhythms in their music) instead of the normal rhythm for the exercise. We can count the rhythm together, play it on a unison note, and then play it in the exercise. Once this routine is established it only takes a minute or so and the students get the benefit of improving their rhythmic skills and ensemble pulse (rhythmic accuracy and stability), as well as attention to matching attacks and note lengths (mastery of articulation). Simply direct their listening during the exercise to help them line it all up, and accept nothing short of their best.
Maybe you're working on phrase shaping (sensitivity to phrasing, musical understanding). A simple way to do this is have them work on crescendos/decrescendos as part of their normal scale pattern, then work to transfer that concept. Fair warning, this isn't a short term solution. The point is you can address it in the warm up.
In fact, there are a ton of exercises and approaches out there for how you can address all of these issues in the warm up time. If you're stuck in a rut of a warm up routine, then changing to a flexible but structured warm up that allows you to tackle various fundamentals on different days will take some getting used to - for you and them. But it's worth it. If you start in the fall, then come time to prepare for UIL Concert & Sight Reading it won't take much more time than your current routine, and they'll learn a LOT more during that time. Just don't forget to apply the concepts during music rehearsal.
Daily Rehearsal Goals - Set Them, and Get After It!
In the previous blog I touched on this, but it's worth mentioning again. Plus, the last blog didn't have the UIL Comment Sheet points.
I can't express how helpful it is to record run throughs of your band. How many you do a week may depend. If you do a single recording a week, depending on how many issues you find, that may be enough. But find a way to record your band and listen to it carefully, making note of every detail you can find.
Where is the band balance and intonation lacking? Any wrong notes? Are they ending the phrases in the right place? Playing the articulations? Matching note lengths or pulse not lining up? What's missing? Do you hear any musicality in their playing? Can you hear everything on the score and with the right proportion? (As one of my mentors says, "If it's written in the score, it must be heard." Be hard on it. Try not to lament if it sounds awful. You can get it to where it needs to be. But be meticulous.
What are the biggest overall issues with their performance? Many of these (such as tone, balance, intonation, pulse, etc.) can be tackled in the warm up and connected to the music rehearsal for added effectiveness.
With that list (or sticky notes littering the score), of these which are the most glaring issues? Have a plan of attack. You may want to refine a good section so that they have a model for what they're capable of, something you can compare to. But do not wait to get after the sections of the music that are in the worst shape. You have your list. One problem at a time.
And once it's fixed, if you hear it wrong again afterwards, do not hesitate to re-fix it. They have to learn that it's not okay to repeat those mistakes, and that allowing themselves to slip will result in their time being wasted by fixing it again. The other benefit of this (although they hate it), is that it will help motivate them to play better on everything else so that you don't have to stop them so often.
Don't Over Plan
One of my early mistakes in planning was trying to get too much accomplished in a day. That might sound strange, but here is why:
I write down the day's goals on the board every day so that when they walk into class they know what order we're playing everything in, and what the general objectives for improvement are. If we accomplish all of our goals for the day, we all feel better about things. If we still have an objective or two on the board, the rehearsal won't feel successful... even if we made good improvement. I start freaking out because I feel behind, and that seeps out into the ensemble.
This may take some time to figure out. How much can you accomplish with your group in a given day? Try to stay within that boundary. It's better to state that you accomplished all your goals, so you're going to play through something you hadn't planned on, than to point out that the band is behind and will have to work even harder to catch up tomorrow. Imagine what it would feel like to say that every day for a week. Or two weeks!
Better to plan for accomplishing less than to plan on accomplishing more and not getting it all done. As long as you're making improvement every day, and you know where you need to get to, and you can see that you're getting there, then you're doing the right things. If all of this is happening, then the students will also leave the rehearsal feeling like they improved and the rehearsal was worthwhile. That daily achievement, in my opinion, is very important for student motivation. It lets them know that rehearsals are well planned, goal oriented, and that you're going to lead them to successful performances. With that kind of message they're much more likely to show up and take both you and the rehearsal more seriously.
I hope some of these tips are helpful and at least give you some ideas. Like I mentioned, there are all kinds of ways to incorporate the UIL rubric into your warm up, as well as rehearsal techniques for developing those skills in music rehearsal. I'd love to hear some of the tactics you use in the comment section!
Next time we'll talk about some of the longer term factors for motivation. Until then, take care, and thank you for reading!
Musically yours,
Mr. Cooper
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