Ideas from El Sistema: Private Lessons and Sectionals

Greetings!

This past semester was tough. There were many times where my motivation waned, or doubt crept in. Most of all, I constantly battled a sense of fatigue which seemed to grow stronger. It was to my soul what Nazi Germany was to Europe once they began their march. It wasn't just the semester, or these particular classes, or projects. It was the entire college experience. The past seven and a half years have been a fantastic experience, but the longer it's worn on, the more tiring it has become. While my quality of work seems to be consistent, I get less done in more time simply because I had a hard time finding the drive. Thankfully, there are incredible forces at work in the world from which one can pull inspiration and motivation. One such force is El Sistema in Venezuela. If you're not familiar with The System, here is a trailer for a documentary that was filmed a couple of years ago. It doesn't give you much information, but it will get get you pumped:

For a more in depth look, I highly recommend checking out Jose Abreu's TED Prize acceptance speech, where he explains briefly how The System works, as well as how it is impacting not just the children involved, but also their families and communities. By brief, I mean it is a 20 minute speech. For an added bonus, there is a Part II of this video where their top youth orchestra performs a couple of tunes, the first being the most intense performance of the 2nd movement of Shastakovich's 10th Symphony I have ever heard. In fact, after a week of searching, I cannot find a recording that matches it. You can find that performance here.

As many of my colleagues know, throughout college, since I've had a family, I pull 1-2 (sometimes 3) all nighters a week for study and project purposes. While this has come with a cost to my physical and emotional health, it has allowed me to focus on my family when I get home from school until the time they go to bed. Our marriage remains strong. And my greatest hope is that I won't have to do that anymore to be adequately prepared on a day to day basis for teaching. Anyway, this past semester I regularly sought out videos and information about El Sistema to help get my energy level up after typically a two hour nap, and also to remind me of what I'm doing with my life, to increase my motivation for the task ahead that night. 

So it's only natural that I would wonder what I could do as a band director that was modeled after their program. Unfortunately, I haven't found any books on the subject. I have watched numerous videos, including an hour and a half round table about the system with Gustavo Dudamel which can be found for free on iTunes (through iTunes University). I've read the material on their websites. I've basically scoured the internet for everything I could read or watch for free. As soon as I have some money, I plan on ordering the movie for which you saw the trailer. Anyway, while I can't tell you any details, I can tell you what I've learned about their methodology so far, and speculate as to how it could be implemented into a band/music program.

Three Levels of Instruction

Every student receives instruction on three levels every week: private lessons, sectionals, and full ensemble. According to the official website, the student typically sees the same teacher in lessons and sectionals, which allows mistakes to be easily corrected and good habits to be reinforced. 

Of course, all band programs have full ensemble rehearsals on a daily basis. Sometimes those extend to after school rehearsals. I don't think that's something that needs any exploration. Perhaps the most problematic of those three is private lessons.

Private Lessons

Music teachers who work in the large school world know the importance of private lessons to the success of both the individual student and the full ensemble. I think the saying that "The band gets better one person at a time," is very true. All of the really successful band programs in the large school world have a strong culture of students taking private lessons. 

I myself benefited from a great private lesson experience. In fact, it wasn't until my second private lesson that I learned how to name notes on the staff, and how key signatures worked. I was a sophomore in high school, and had been playing for nearly 4 years. By that point I was also in my high school's top band, and that year we were playing, among other things, all six movements of Grainger's "Lincolnshire Posy". I can't imagine how I would've dealt with playing the Hindemith "Symphony in Bb" my senior year had I not had that crucial one on one instruction. Certainly I would've never made the All-State band the next two years, nor had many of the other positive experiences that ultimately led me to consider a career in music. And by the way, I had excellent teachers, particularly from my Freshman year on. Sometimes a student just falls behind for whatever reason. In my case, it was because I couldn't see the board as a beginner and I was keeping my poor eye sight a secret (I didn't want to wear glasses). I also didn't think I was going to stay in band past that first year when I started. Suffice to say I wasn't even close to the top of the section, which had at least 8 tuba players. I guess you never know how some students will turn out. But back on topic.

Coming Up With the Teachers

Another aspect of The System is it's teachers, and I think this is important to understanding how they pull off the three levels of instruction. Those who are in charge of full orchestras are usually professionals, or paid through the system's funding. I'm not sure. But most of the teachers are former members who have come up through the system and understand the importance of its mission. Also, many of the teachers are current students. In the round table I mentioned, Gustavo Dudamel says that this is why it's called "The System". When a student graduates from the children's choir to the children's orchestra, they also go back and teach the children's choir. When they graduate from the children's orchestra to the youth orchestra, they also teach the children's orchestra. I've also read that while they are teaching children how to play, they're also teaching them how to teach. This way, students who advance to the next level become teachers, even at a young age. The structure builds on itself and can sustain itself regardless of how large it gets.

By the way, this isn't just practical for sustaining the structure. It's considered a crucial component to fulfilling the system's objectives. Remember that this isn't simply music education, it is social reform through music education. The goal is not just to teach music, but also to build a better society by passing on certain values and skills. It gives these kids, 70-80% of whom grow up in poverty, the tools they need to lift themselves up from poverty and lead a successful and happy life. Teaching is one of the primary ways The System imparts leadership and people skills. Dudamel explained this after being asked whether or not it was difficult for him to step up to a leadership position when he was being raised in a group mentality. He said that because of how it works, leading was a very natural progression. Indeed, it was a planned part of the progression.

So why go into all of that detail? Because of small schools. Most large schools have access to either symphony players or college music majors to give private lessons. Most small schools are in the middle of nowhere, and do not have that kind of access.

So what I'm suggesting is, why not have our students give lessons? I don't think it's as crazy as it might sound, if done properly.

Students as Peer Tutors (Lesson Teachers)

I've already blogged about peer teaching techniques. We know that when a person teaches a concept, they have a 90% retention rate (the highest of any method) and gain a much deeper understanding. It's also a great way to differentiate for the excelling band members, preventing boredom. We know all of these things. Here are some other considerations, and possibly requirements if this is to work.

Our schemata must be solid. A schema is essentially how a student organizes information to understand it. Good teachers create structures for the information they present to help students create effective schemata, whether that schema deals with posture, breathing, articulations, musicality, literacy skills, and so on. The rhythm tree is an example of an attempt to help students create a schema. Sometimes a schema is as simple as a checklist, as is in the case with good posture and instrument carriage. If we incorporate peer teaching, where all students get the chance to coach, I think the retention rate would be increased, and they would be in good shape to help out students... on lower levels.

Most small schools I've run across have two bands in the Jr. High/Middle School, and one high school band. Beginning band concepts are so simple that I would bet money that students from the "advanced" Jr. High band could help out beginners. As long as the advanced band players know fingerings (or knew where in the book/binder to find them), know how to count rhythms (also requires that you use and teach a counting system... and the same one at each level), and some basics about tone production, chances are they can be a big help. Then you could have them take weekly lessons from the high school players. But who would the high school players take lessons from?

Good question. Many teachers offer free lessons to their students, especially if they see potential. At least my high school staff did. Either that or they were hanging around after school so you could always ask a question. I think that is perhaps more common. My high school director simply had a sheet on the door to his office where students could sign up. He usually offered two half hour slots per day, and they were usually pretty booked. I think it might be possible for the section leaders or strongest players to help those in their section. My high school section did this without prompting. As the section leader I encouraged everyone to try out for all region band, and a hand full of us would stay after school sometimes to practice. When this happened I was approached to answer questions about rhythms, fingerings, playing tips, etc. But also, we were constantly passing tips back and forth, as some players had skills other didn't. Kevin had a much faster single tongue than me. Rudy had an amazing vibrato technique none of us had. Drake could hit pedal tones nobody else could. It was a really cool environment, complete with inside jokes and other stupid stuff. I'm positive some bad advice was passed along here and there, but most of it was the same stuff our teachers had been telling us for years, and we all improved as a result of the peer coaching. I'll take that, even with the bad habits. 

So maybe for high schoolers it could be a combination of the teacher(s) teaching the top players, and the top players teaching the rest, while they teach the top Jr. High band and the Jr. High band teaches the beginning band. Or perhaps high school players are the only ones giving lessons to any Jr. High player, depending on the sizes of the bands, where the better high schoolers work with the advanced Jr. High kids, and high school kids get a lesson every 1-3 weeks depending on the availability and number of people on the high school staff.  

I don't know. I also imagine such a system would take multiple years to implement. If one's leadership skills are good enough, and there is a strong and inspiring vision in place for the program that the students have bought into, then I don't think it's a hard thing to sell the students on. But you obviously couldn't jump into something like this over night. Then again, a fully realized Nucleo of The System also takes years of development, beginning with pre-school aged children. That said, I think anything is better than nothing, and everyone starts somewhere (wherever that is). Even at small schools, where kids are freakishly busy, chances are at least a few of them would be enthusiastic about the idea of teaching younger students, or even just one a week. 

That's another thing, too. If in a hypothetical world you were able to require lesson teaching and attendance, if each student were teaching/attending one lesson, then really you're only asking for an additional half hour a week per event. A half hour to teach the lesson, a half hour to receive a lesson. That doesn't seem like an awful lot to add. Hmm...

Other Logistics

Of course, the other major consideration is the logistical side. Where would these lessons take place? Some small schools have practice rooms, while others do not. Most that I've seen do, fortunately. But even then, sometimes these practice rooms get filled with other things, like uniforms, unused instruments, flag/drumline equipment, etc. etc. I've never liked this. Teachers complain when students don't practice, but you certainly can't expect them to practice when your practice rooms aren't suitable for use. But then, I also understand the lack of storage space. What is one to do? Especially if you don't have enough, or any practice rooms. It would be very difficult to have numerous lessons going on at once in the same band hall. A listening nightmare, possibly more bad than good. If it's warm you could go outside, provided you had something to hold the music down. You probably can't use a bunch of classrooms, because even if you could get the keys you would probably be required to have a faculty member present. Psshhh. Yeah, right. So then where do you have all of these lessons? 

Or sectionals, or that matter? You could probably apply the same levels but choose the best student available in regards to having sectionals for the younger ensembles. But you'd be dealing with sectionals for at least 3 bands. Is it possible to give each one a sectional once a week? Or even once every other week?

Ultimately, exploring those kinds of details here is probably not helpful. Every situation is going to be different. Unique situations require unique applications. Anyone, such as myself, who would be interested in implementing something like this system into their program would obviously have to do some considerable thinking and research as to what is possible, what they and their students are capable of, and where would a successful place to start likely be. A lot of what I've been writing is thinking more on terms of what it would look like in full bloom, but the starting point would probably be something on a much smaller scale.

Still, I think such a thing would be possible, regardless of the scale. And I think that even on a small scale, with only a hand full of participants, the benefits would be great. 

By the way, also in regards to student run sectionals, I recently ran across something in a book a friend lent me. The book is "Building Strong Music Programs: A Handbook for Preservice and Novice Music Teachers" by Charlene Ryan. It has a lot of practical advice, but mostly ideas, for how to build programs. There was a great idea in there about student led sectionals, in that you should provide a form for them to fill out that includes attendance/absentees, objectives to be met (with symbols on how to indicate the progress made), and a place to note both good and bad behavior. They don't have the training we do, so it makes a lot of sense to provide them with a plan for their section time and a way to help with classroom management if necessary. 

Of course, in a large school setting, all private lessons would be provided by a predetermined staff of professional players and/or teachers at the high school level. The lessons for the Jr. High/Middle Schools could still be provided by the high school players, but the logistical challenge changes from being a location challenge to a transportation challenge depending on whether or not the high school student can drive. 

There would be a lot of details to consider. But again, I think it's possible. And especially when the teaching staff is stretched to it's limits, it would be a great avenue of taking the program further than it could otherwise go. At the same time it would teach students leadership, teaching, and people skills, which will better prepare them for society and a happy, successful life. Aside from it taking some effort to start up, it sounds like an all around win to me. 

Considering how to transfer El Sistema's concepts into the public school world is something I've put a lot of thought into. I meant for them all to fit nice and succinctly into a single blog, but that apparently won't be the case given the way I write. My apologies. But I hope it is good food for thought. Thank you for reading, and until next time, take care!

Musically yours,

Mr. Cooper

A New Idea for HS Summer Band Camps

I couldn't think of a good title for this one, but it's something I thought of earlier that I wanted to document somewhere.

On my first day in my second camp I spent time observing the students playing to see if I could spot anyone who was behind the curve. It was obvious that the woodwind section was very strong. I wasn't surprised to learn that the previous director was a woodwind player himself. But the brass seemed to be having a tough time in some ways. After noticing a tubist constantly second guessing himself on fingerings, I politely asked him a couple of questions.

"What's this note called?"

"Uh... I... can't remember."

"That's okay. Can you tell me what this is? (pointing to the key signature)"

"B Flat!"

"Good, but what does it mean?"

"Uh... I... They never really taught us that."

"That's okay. I can help you with that."

And I did. Yesterday I pulled the tubist from the full band rehearsal. I showed him the chromatic finger sequence, then we wrote down the open notes on staff paper, and gradually built a fingering chart using the finger sequence he had just learned. In fact, when I first introduced it to him I had him play from the F below the staff down to the Bb below the staff by following the sequence I'd written down, and when I told him he just played a chromatic scale from F down to Bb, he said he couldn't believe it.

Next I showed him now to figure out note names by going up the staff in alphabetical order, or down the staff in reverse alphabetical order. He's a Junior in High School, and it blew his mind how easy it was once I showed him this trick. It always blows their minds how easy that part is.

Anyway, we got through the fingering chart. His brain was really crunching, but he made it. Good!

Next we went to key signatures. I told him I was less concerned about knowing the names of key signatures, and more concerned that he could understand what they meant. When I pointed out that a flat sign on the B line of the staff meant that all B's were to be played flat, and then applied the same logic to other key signatures, he was once again astonished at how easy it was to figure out, and at how much less frustrated he would've been all these years if someone had just shown him these simple tricks. I told him I understood, because I was in the same boat until I took my first private lesson my sophomore year in High School.

We talked about a couple of other things as well. He asked me to explain accidentals, for example. And even though we'd built a fingering chart, I had another one printed off for him for good measure. I sent him back to band armed with a ton of new knowledge and some quick references we'd worked out together, with the promise that it would take some work at first, but that eventually all of these things would become second nature to him. He felt good, and I felt good for him.

Today in sectionals I got to do a couple of things I'd wanted to do yesterday. I had the kids make name tags to hang from their stands so I could start getting to know their names, for example. But more importantly, I gave them a couple of minutes to write music biographies.

"What's a Music Biography?"

It's an idea I picked up in an education class, Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum. The teacher had us each write a bio with our name and our reading experiences. She used these to get to know us better, in addition to helping her learn our names. In the first camp of the summer, I gave them about 2-3 minutes to write their name, grade level, bands they like (not genres), and hobbies. It worked beautifully. Where as I'm normally bad with names, I quickly got to know each of the brass players, and I could actually talk to them about common interests. I'll probably use this forever now. Even when I pushed them hard and got intense, they were sold enough on me to not get upset. I don't think they were angry with me once. With the music, perhaps, because they couldn't get it yet, but not with me. Well, there were other factors, too, like the fact that they were learning so much. But anyway...

With the group at this camp I added something. I asked them today to write down any questions they had about reading music, or playing the instrument. I gave them examples (note names, key signatures, etc.etc.) and gave them a little extra time to think and write. It didn't take much time. But when I collected those sheets I not only had the music bio, but individual player weaknesses, all with the promise that I would help each person who wrote something down before the camp was over. During full band I looked at what they'd written and prioritized students. After all, a few of them put down non-critical items. One player just wants a lesson, which is fine, but I'll get to her last.

So now part of my mission, in addition to building up the brass to the point that they're capable of blowing away the woodwinds (even though they will be discouraged from doing so), and understanding what it takes to play as a section at a high level, is to strengthen the weakest players in the group by giving them that one on one time they need to get caught up to their peers. Or at the very least, I can arm them with the tools to get there. Yesterday it was a tubist

Fortunately there weren't as many students critically behind as I initially anticipated in the brass. Actually, they're picking up quickly on sectional playing, and generate a good sound, which I hope I can turn into a wall of sound by camp's end. But by working individually with the players that either need or requested individual time, I'll be getting everyone up to par. I've heard that a band gets better one player at a time, and I'm predicting that this time investment will greatly boost the performance of the total brass section, and thus the band, throughout the season and the year.

Not to mention that it just feels good to show students who got lost at some point what the need to know to be on par with the people they sit next to. They're always excited, grateful, and you know that you've probably just drastically improved their music experience for however much time they have left in high school.

So on my way home I thought about the potential of something like this if it were implemented camp wide. After all, I'm toying with the idea of a camp that not only sets the foundation for the marching band, but truly for the year through methods which I've never seen employed before (at least not like I'm debating). That may be for another blog, but here is a new idea which I'm considering now. I'd love your thoughts on this.

Every good camp has technicians. Some have more or less techs than others. The last camp I worked basically managed a brass, woodwind and percussion tech. Larger schools have one tech per individual section, and in some cases, assistants to the techs. I'm already planning on using Music Bios in my programs to get to know my students better, and thus gain their trust faster. If I add the "Problem Inventory" to the Bio, then I can have techs, regardless of how many of them there are, prioritize the students with problems in the group they're responsible for, and then work with them during a larger ensemble rehearsal time. Funding could be a factor, of course. If my techs are professional symphony players, as was my high school experience, then they'd probably want an increase in pay for the week for their additional 1/2 hour to 1 hour of work each day. Of course, if it's a small school and I hire university students as techs to come out for the week (as is the case in these parts), then I can probably ask them to do anything for the same cost. Either way, imagine the possibilities for a band program in which all of its members understand everything they need to know about reading music and the basics of playing the horn, even if they have always previously been behind or got lost as some point. Not only for the marching band, but for the year as well. I'm a big fan of the notion that you should invest time to save time, and this has that written all over it. I'll sacrifice a player in each section during full band for them to get caught up like this - gladly. I can always put the responsibility on the section members to catch their peer up afterwards.

So any thoughts? Personally, I think this could be a great addition to summer camps. I'll be interested to see if I can tell whether or not it's having an impact as the camp progresses, especially into next week.

Until next time, thanks for reading, and take care!

Musically yours,
Mr. Cooper