The Benefits of Clinicians

Watching a clinician at work
is like seeing a skilled surgeon
in action. It's awesome.

The term "clinic" is so appropriate to band for what it is. You bring in an expert to diagnose the
problems your band is having, prescribe solutions, and set your band on the path to healthy playing and ensemble skills. Kids love working with a guest conductor, but I think I gain as least as much out of it as the students do (if not more). It's hard to believe that anyone out there would not bring in guests to work with their band, but I assume that happens because almost every time I go to a convention there is at least one session on the benefits of clinicians. People compliment the job I'm doing pretty regularly, but even so I feel like I owe so much of that success to the expert teachers that we bring in to work with the students. For me, the more clinicians the better. And when you find a good clinician, your band will experience explosive growth in just one rehearsal! So why does it work that way? What are the benefits to you and your students? And if you've never used a clinician, how do you find one?

Ear Training for Beginners (Plus "InTune!" App Review!)

One thing I neglected my first year of teaching was devoting time to ear training. I was probably overwhelmed as it was, but really it's not difficult to incorporate this critical musical skill. We want our student musicians to have discerning ears. You can start this right from the beginning of the year. Here are a few of the things I did this past year. I feel like it's resulted in more musically intelligent students.

10 Motivational Strategies for Beginners

What does it take to be the Beginner
Band Champion? Many hours
of practice!

Motivation can be an elusive goal, and beginners will need plenty as they start on the long road to becoming literate, musical artists. We're just over a quarter of the way through the school year, and although the honeymoon has worn off, our students this year are more motivated than they were in the first few weeks! My friend and I are both new to this school system, and we hope to build a dynastic program here. We know that starts with our first class of beginners, so we've pulled out all the stops we can think of, and it seems to really be paying off for our students. I don't know how they're doing compared to other similar sized schools, but neither of us have seen anything like this kind of excitement for band and commitment to practicing in our previous efforts. Did I mention that all 6th graders here are required to be in band? Here are some of the extra, fun things we're doing to create a band class that the kids hopefully look forward to, and also to motivate them to practice outside of class!

Four Fun Tricks to Align the Band's Pulse

Greetings!

One of the biggest things I've had to do with my band is work to align the ensemble's pulse. Even once the quarter notes lined up, often eighth notes across the band wouldn't line up properly. Sometimes it's just that players aren't agreeing on how to shape the ends of notes, but just as often is can be a lack of subdivision. You can explain subdivision and tell them to subdivide, which is better than nothing, but I've found that getting them to externalize it and then referencing that is more helpful, and more fun. So here are a few ways you can try this out with your group.

Musicality for Beginners: Emphasizing Notes

Greetings!

From what I gather, one of the aspects of playing that many teachers struggle to teach is musicality. Here is what I mean by that - How do you get students to develop good enough musical instincts that they can make independent decisions regarding musical nuance?

I remembered having pretty good instincts in this regard as I entered college, but my later college experience trashed these skills in favor of something radically different, and I might add, much less exciting. I struggled to remember how we were taught those valuable skills. As the section leader, if we were not given details of nuance for a given phrase, I would make those decisions and pass it along to my section members so that we could immediately start practicing doing it with a unified sound on the next playing (sometimes one of the other guys would make good recommendations we would run with).

Considering that my senior year we had an All-State player in every section (except the euphonium section), I have to imagine that this happened throughout the band. Did it happen in our second band? I'm not sure. They did have a different teacher, so who knows.

What I do know is this - we promise creativity, and I feel like we don't always deliver. There are times when the conductor must give instruction as to nuance (emphasized notes, shaping, phrasing, style, etc) to unify the band. However, often students either don't have the tools to make those decisions on their own, or they don't even understand that they're supposed to. In my educational opinion, there is nothing creative about doing exactly what is written on the page, and/or exactly what you're told to do. The creativity can only come when the student takes that music and uses what they know to give it inflection and life. The end result will be unique based on their personal musical decisions. Not only does this give them the chance for creativity, but it makes each piece more musical as we simply don't have time to cover the nuance of every phrase for every part.

So having defined what I mean by musicality in this instance, and having defended why this is important, we can get into how it is taught. I've researched this topic in multiple texts, and plan to do a series of posts outlining various steps you can take with them. This is the first step, and the greatest part of this step is that you can do it with beginners.

How Do You Teach Intonation to Beginners? - Individual Training in the Classroom

Greetings!

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything. I'll explain why in the "P.S." section. Business first!

I'd like to start by saying that I've had an incredible student teaching experience so far. I've been able to work with students and run classes on a daily basis, and my skill level has dramatically improved. I wish I could stick around for another semester to learn about the details of marching season from the two teachers I work with, but what are you going to do?

Anyway, how do you teach intonation? I was lucky to have a tremendous high school band education as part of one of the top 10 concert bands in the state, and a couple of years with one of the top collegiate bands in the state. The intonation in both of these ensembles was top notch. The expectation is that you would play perfectly in tune, at all times. And we did... more or less. But we were also taught how to do it independently.

As we all know, playing in tune is the
difference between this...

...and this.

Different Schools of Thought

Band teachers typically use one of two tactics. Some will listen to a student and tell them what to do to get in tune, while telling them to listen and match the section leader. It works, and I've seen it work. And there are some really successful teachers that do this.

Other teachers tell students what to listen for, and how to react to what they hear, so that the decision making is no longer on the teacher, but rather on the student. My personal belief is that this is a better music education. I want my students to go on with the skills and knowledge to be an independent musician, in whatever capacity that might be. This requires that I don't just tell them what to do. Instead, I have to train their thinking.

It is possible to tell them what to do ("You're sharp, pull out."), and for them to develop the ability on their own. If the student is motivated, and smart, then they will eventually figure it out on their own. It happens all the time. What I'm about to share was developed by a leading educator and I believe it's a much faster route to the end of independent musicianship.

A couple of authors (at least) talk about this idea of teaching students how to think. In a clinic with John Whitwell, he recalled Elizabeth Green telling a room of graduate students, "You band guys are so good at teaching the lips and the fingers. When are you going to start teaching the brain?" Ed Lisk has several books (which I love, by the way) in which all of his tactics are based on teaching students how to think and make musical decisions.

I wouldn't have known to teach beginners about intonation unless one of my mentors at the school I'm student teaching at had told me to do it. He's a past Honor Band Director, so I take his advice as being solid. One day I noticed he was teaching the bulk of the woodwind class about intonation, at which point I said, "Well, I guess it's time," and set myself to teaching the other two beginning classes (low brass and high brass) how to do it. That night I reviewed some books and the next day I put it into practice.

The results have been very good! When you teach beginners what to listen for, almost all of them will hear it right away. For a few, it has taken some time to recognize the difference between in and out of tune sounds. But I'd say it's a very small percentage. For everyone else, when they heard waves in the sound for the first time, their eyes lit up, and they could identify it, and in varying degrees (fast waves, slow waves), every time afterwards.

Fast forward some weeks, now that the beginning band has met as a full group a few times and played through all of their festival tunes. They are playing with pretty good intonation and blend for 6th graders, and I can't wait to see how much better it gets in the 4 weeks until they perform for the public.

The Procedure

So what was the procedure I used? It's basically the procedure outlined in Ed Lisk's "Alternative Rehearsal Techniques" series, but with a couple of small changes. It's also the same method, I realized, that I was taught to use in high school.

I used a white board to draw a few images as I gave an explanation. I started by explaining that it is possible for two people to play the same note, but that it won't be quite the same. One person might sound slightly higher or lower than the other person, and that we call that sharp or flat. When that happens, you hear waves in the sound. "Waaa-waaa-waaa-waaa." It would look something like this (and I did the wave sound again as I drew the waves):

I continued, if the players are really far off from each other, you'll hear fast waves, kind of like this:

"Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa"

If the two players are really close to being in tune, the waves will sound slower:

"Waaaaaaa-waaaaaa-waaaaaa"

But waves just don't sound good to us or to the audience. What we want is what we call, "Straight line tuning", which is a sound without waves:

"Dooooooooooooooooooe"

I also related it to a heart rate monitor and what it sound like when it flat lines. They thought that sounded like a bad thing, but I assured them that when you play in a band, that straight line sound is exactly what you want. Perhaps I should've stayed away from that analogy. =^)

So we dug into it. I explained the activity. The section leader would play and hold a concert F (which is what this program uses to tune to), and I would point to the next person to play and hold. I instructed all students to listen carefully for the waves, and see if they were fast or slow. I pointed to the section leader, and said, "Do you hear how her sound is a steady, straight line?" Then I pointed to the next student.

Waa-waa-waa-waa-waa!

Eyes lit up and several students said excitedly, "I hear the waves!"

I cut the two off and continued an explanation. We always assume that the section leader is in tune. The section leader's job is to tune to the lower instruments, and everyone else's job is to tune to the section leader. If you hear waves, you're out of tune and you need to make an adjustment...

First, make sure you are playing with a good quality of sound. Ideally you want to match the sound of the section leader. This might mean pushing more air, checking your posture, or adjusting your embouchure. 

(This student was playing with a good sound, so I explained that I didn't think it was that, and went ahead and continued to the next part. If his sound were weaker at the moment, I would've encouraged him to make an adjustment and try again before going to the next step.)

If you're playing with a good sound and you still hear waves, you must check to make sure you're playing the same volume as the section leader and the people on either side of you. If you can't hear your neighbors, you're playing too loud. If you can't hear yourself, you may be too soft. Match the volume of the people next to you. Make sure you still have a good sound quality.

"Now try again and this time match her volume."

Waa-waa-waa-waa-waa.

(To the students) Are there still waves?

Students, "Yes!" and they started showing me the waves with their hands and so forth. I cut them off.

If you made those two adjustments and you still hear waves, then the instrument is out of tune and you need to make an adjustment. (Make the instrument longer or shorter), then play again. 

Did the waves get faster or slower? If they got faster, you went in the wrong direction and need to go in the opposite direction. Did the waves get slower? Then you're going in the right direction, and you need to keep going. Does it sound like a straight line? Then you're perfectly in tune and it can't get any better. Memorize what that feels like and try to do it all the time.

"So make an adjustment and let's try again." 

Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa.

Cut off, then to the student playing, "Were the waves faster or slower?" He wasn't sure. Other students answered, and I agreed with their answer, so I reminded him to adjust in the opposite direction and try again. We kept going until he was perfectly in tune with the section leader. When he got there, the students recognized it. I cut them off and said, "That was perfect! Good job!" 

So then I had both of them playing and holding while the next person tried. We went through the same basic procedure, except that with me repeating the same things (again, telling them what to listen for and what to think/how to react to it), the process got faster with each student. When the class started getting waves in the sound before the student had a chance to tune to the group, I explained that air speed affects the tuning. Slower air makes pitch go down, faster air makes it go up, and that they have to keep a steady air speed and keep the embouchure in exactly the same place to keep the pitch steady. This advice was strictly based on my own experience. Eventually chops started to tire, so I had the section leader play and hold while everyone else listened. There were a couple of students we just couldn't get in tune. Cases like these were due to underdeveloped sound, or stuck tuning slides. In the case of the former I was gentle but honest in explaining that the sound quality was the likely culprit, but that it would improve with time (in other words, I was encouraging), and in the other case I explained to the student and the class the importance of maintaining equipment, and that it would be impossible to play in tune with a stuck tuning slide. After class we got it taken care of.

Reflections

One class had 14 students, and the other had 12-13 students, and it was an interactive but time consuming process. I initially didn't plan for it to take as long as it did, but considering they were beginner classes I should have. Ultimately it was worth losing most of the periods to cover this skill. After all, as one of my mentors said when I asked him how you teach this to beginners, he simply said, "Ear training." After a while it got a little boring for some of them. That's understandable. They're 11 year olds. But for the most part it was engaging until we got to the last 3rd or 4th of the class and we'd been at it for some time. But again, it was worth it. They could all now recognize when they were playing in tune, and they had some training on what to do to get in tune. 

So how do you get through this in a larger class? I understand that many beginning classes, depending on the school size and situation, can be much larger. This is obviously best done in smaller groups to begin with. It probably wouldn't be smart to attempt this in a beginning class, for example, where you have all beginning band students in one class, and there are 50-60 of them. But we have to figure something out. After all, students need the chance to experiment and succeed, and they can't do that by themselves. Have you tried tuning to an electronic sound? It's not as easy to hear, unless you have something that is loud and in your range (which I never did). Students need to be trained how to think and react to make independent musical decisions, and the only way to give them that training is to give them the time and opportunity to experiment, fail, and go through the whole process until they achieve success (so they can memorize and hear the right way). You can show them the strobe, but this doesn't teach them to listen. And you can tell them what to do, which will get them more in tune with the other players, but it will make them dependent on you to tell them when they're out of tune and what to do when they're out of tune. Only certain students will achieve independence this way.

So we have to teach them what to listen for and how to react to make musical decisions, and then we have to give them the time to develop the listening and performance skills. It takes time. 

When I implemented this strategy, and in the following days as we continued to review the concept, I was worried that it was taking too much time. We hardly covered any music the day I introduced this, which I was worried was a very bad thing. But now, several weeks later, I can see that it wasn't such a bad thing after all. They're still at the end of their book in addition to having learned four grade 1 band tunes, a short chorale, 7 scales, and a few other things. With a month to go (we're about to break out solo and ensemble materials for them), and with them playing with pretty good intonation skills for 6th graders, I'd say that time investment was well worth it. 

Lately I've been working with percussionists in a different room from the main groups, but the other day I had a minute to listen to the low brass, and what I heard was very surprising. As they oompah'd their way through their quarter and half note accompaniment part, most of what they were playing was with straight line tuning. I only heard waves on occasional notes. It made me smile!

Anyway, the initial presentation is what I wanted to cover here. Of course there is more to it than this, but as far as introducing it to the group, that seemed to work out pretty well. I think in the next post I'll reflect on what happened afterwards to help them practice the new skills and build them up. 

Ed Lisk has two other parts to his procedure. Once they're in tune he asks students to analyze whether they're pinching the tones, or loosening the embouchure, to get the note in tune. If so, he notes that the instrument is too long or short, respectively, and they need to make the proper length adjustment and return to their regular, relaxed embouchure. When they are in tune with their regular embouchure, then they're in tune. I didn't cover that with these guys. I've mentioned it once, I think, so I don't know if it's made any difference, or how it would've worked out had I mentioned it consistently. I would have, but honestly, I just forgot to include it. Drawing the straight line and varying speeds of waves as I modeled the waves with my voice as something I added on the fly, and it seemed to work pretty well. I like catering to visual learners.

Well, it was fun to look back on this. I spent a lot of time looking for ways to present it, and eventually settled on what you read above, and I'm happy with the results. As always, thank you very much for reading! Until next time, take care!

Musically yours,

Mr. Cooper

P.S. So why the long delay in blogs? A lot of that is that I'm carefully considering the parameters of this blog, and boundaries for how I should write. I'm pretty sure I've followed the Texas Educator's Code of Ethics, but it seems that even if one does that, you can still cause discomfort when someone knows who you are and that you're talking about their student, or students. That's certainly not what I want. I want this to be a means to help myself improve, but I also want it to be a positive thing for others. I want it to be helpful, never hurtful, or even to cause anyone an ounce of stress. What I decided is that I want to continue to blog in a reflective manner that is open for everyone to read, so I'm working on figuring out how to do that with the above considerations. Don't be surprised if there are some changes to the blog once I decide how to procede in that regard. Thanks again for reading and take care!

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

Ideas to Create a Community of Learners, and Student Ownership

In this blog I mostly just want to get out some ideas I've had as the year has progressed and my education classes have made me think. I'd love to hear your thoughts about these. Sometimes I have great ideas, and sometimes they're crazy, and the bad news is that I rarely know the difference!

One topic I've read about deals with creating a community of learners. There are certain prerequisites, such as having a positive classroom environment (both in terms of the room's organization as well as good classroom management). But the idea is that you take the focus away from yourself as the teacher, and focus on student centered activities. This involves less lecturing and individual practice, and more group activities and discussion. Everyone is learning, including the teacher, and everyone helps each other to learn.

There are a LOT of things they talk about in education classes that band pretty much has built into it. But I think in regards to this one, I'm not so sure. Traditional rehearsals are entirely grounded in the idea that when you're not playing, you're not talking, and you're devoting 100% of your attention to the conductor, even if they're not talking to you, else you'll face the wrath. Of course, as players we always find ways to communicate, whether it's whispering extremely quietly, or whatever. When conductors are dictators, students find ways to bend those rules, even if just a little bit. At least that's my experience coming up in bands with that kind of environment. And hey, it works.

But what if there were more ways to make students responsible for each other's learning, and thus improving their learning in the process? Specifically, teaching a concept has the highest retainment rate and helps you to achieve a deeper level of learning than does anything else. So what are some ways to better create a community of learners and give students more ownership? I wonder how some of these ideas would work out.

Marching and Playing Fundamentals


My typical experience of marching techniques involves an explanation/demonstration of a marching technique by an instructor, with guided practice by the instructor in a block. Following that you'll usually break into sections, and the section leaders drill the new technique while giving the section more individualized attention. The ratio of officer to section members varies, of course, but it's better than the large block. Notice that the section leaders are now teaching, which increases their understanding and ultimately helps them become the stand out marchers of the band. After several minutes you'll return to the large block and drill some more. Some teachers have one group of students watch another, whether it's through the form of a section contest, or whatever kind of contest. This can be useful as you can see what makes someone look good or bad, but there is no guarantee that all students will watch intently. Though when you make a contest out of it, those chances do increase.

What if we were to do something like this? After reviewing previous techniques, we teach them the new technique and drill it for several minutes in a group setting. Then we number the columns or rows in 1's and 2's. Students turn towards their partner, introduce themselves, and then fall back into attention. We can then have the 1's fall out and watch the 2's display the technique, reminding them before hand of the check list of things they should look for, and with a previously instilled attitude concept that says they are ultimately responsible for the band's total success, and that every one of them really is a vital member of the band, along with some tips on how to give and receive constructive criticism (again, a safe environment is a prerequisite for establishing a community of learners).

Now what happens? Now we have a student teacher ratio of 1:1. The 1's are getting a deeper understanding of the marching techniques by not just watching it, but teaching it, and the 2's are getting one on one attention to help them improve. I think we could have the 2's display the technique a total of three times, with feedback after the first two. As soon as they stop, 1's assume the position of attention, and then 2's become the teachers. Having just had comments on their technique, they'll be even better prepared to coach the 1's (this seems unavoidable). We could even have the students shake hands or hug afterwards and say thanks for the help. We could either drill as a large group again to assess the total progress to that point, or go straight to sectionals where the section leaders, who have more training and probably better trained eyes (and probably higher expectations) will try to catch anything that was missed. Then we can still conclude with a giant group block at the end to review. I'd also be willing to instruct students to stand between two different people at each session so they're getting coached and coaching people they're unfamiliar with.

And yet there would be an element of urgency to this process, and a sense that students should be grateful for each other's help, because I am a big believer in having a marching certification process. For anyone who is unfamiliar, marching certification is like your marching techniques final exam, where you march through an established drill (ex: series of box drills), and demonstrate perfect marching fundamentals. This is with the threat (I hate to say it) that they must be certified to have a spot on the field during the half time show. The sequence should be challenging, but achievable, so that it is doable by everyone, but there is a real sense of accomplishment at the end. Then you do whatever it takes to make sure every student passes certification. Those who get certified right off the bat can root on those who are still trying, and can even coach students who are having significant trouble. The goal for an entire session is to pass certification, and you stay behind at the end of the day to keep working with anyone who couldn't do it in that time period.

Regardless of how hard it is, you hype it up as being a challenge. With this test of skills on the horizon, I think students can bond together with the common goal of helping each other to get through it, even on a one on one level. My only concern is that some students will be less experienced and knowledgeable than others, but rotating partners at each session should help to lessen the impact on any one student and give all students a more consistent experience. I don't know, I just think it could work.

I've also heard of a similar approach to teaching playing fundamentals in beginning band, such as having partners check each other for posture, horn carriage, etc. I don't think you can use this in all situations, but I think it would work well for certain things.

I went into much more detail on that than I had intended.

In Music Rehearsal?

I honestly think the most important thing you can get the students to do to improve during rehearsal is to motivate them to focus on improving at something no matter what's going on. For example, when I work with a group I say up front that if I start addressing one section, I expect the students not in that section to do something to get better. They can mentally count rhythms, finger through passages, etc. etc. There is music to memorize, and much to be done in general, and because time is the one commodity we never get back, they shouldn't waste a moment of it just because I'm addressing a section or an individual.

However, I think it's still somewhat possible to have a "community of learners" in the context of rehearsal. But you have to sacrifice something. Silence. Now this one I'm still undecided on, and I will probably arrive at a conclusion within the first couple of years of teaching, but here is what I'm debating. Actually, I tried this out over the summer and generally liked the results.

I gave the students permission to talk, but with certain restrictions. Above all else, they had to restrict their discussion to music related items. This way, if someone needed help (like a fingering or rhythm question), they had my permission to ask a neighbor before asking me. I figure the most problems they can fix on their own, the better for all of us. They were required to use the softest voice possible so that I could still communicate with who I needed to. If I could not communicate easily with who I needed to, I could remove that right. Finally, they could only ask each other questions if I was addressing someone else. If I was addressing them, I required their full attention.

You sacrifice the complete silence that most directors cherish. But silence is an interesting thing. Some students are able to focus better in complete silence, while others (particularly those who have enough siblings and animals at home) concentrate better when there is at least a little bit of ambient noise. So as long as the noise is of a low level such that I can easily communicate with who I need to, I don't think it hurts me. Silence or noise? Either way, some students are better off than others. If the noise level gets too loud, enforce the whisper rule, and if it happens again, enforce a "talk out". For non-WT people, the idea of a "talk out" is that, once enacted, only the director may speak a word. The consequences for uttering even a syllable during a talk about are apparently severe, though I never asked what happens. Everyone just shut up and I assumed if I talked I would get kicked out of band or something. I could just as easily have a student immediately put their instrument away and exit the ensemble formation, and call home after class. So through this concept it might be possible to create a community of learners even in music rehearsal, even if it was more limited. Maybe this will end up being totally wrong. But as long as the general rule is that they quietly stay on task individually until a question arises, I think it could work. Certainly a mad house is unacceptable. I've seen directors work in such an environment, but I can't imagine how, and the bands themselves were usually not that great. Of course, almost all of the talking was not related to the task at hand. But that kind of volume just plain made me angry. Anyway, I guess we'll see.

Other ideas to promote student ownership...

Have you ever considered that most subjects have student tutors, but band doesn't? Granted, even your best players have bad habits that you don't want them to pass on, but at the same time they could still offer some valuable help. I know in my high school tuba section, we traded tips all the time. In large enough cities you might have a small army of lesson teachers, but not all students can afford that, and I rarely see Jr. High/Middle School students taking lessons. Worse, what do you do if you're in a small town where no lesson teachers are available? Well, of course you can set aside some time each day to teach a private lesson or two, but you'll probably give priority to your older students, or at least those in the high school.

Keep in mind this specific idea is for small school bands, where often the Middle School and High School are merged onto one campus.

Why not have students from your top band, who are willing, able, and (based on your judgement) capable, teach lessons to beginning band students? Call them Band Tutors. Let your high school students know that these players are the future of the band, so the more help we can give them, the better the band will become when they become members. In larger areas with middle schools that have students start in the 6th grade, with 7th and 8th graders split between two skill based bands, you might still be able to find students willing to tutor beginners, but I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. But that first year of band is covering material so easy that it should be easy for even 8th graders to coach their 6th grade peers, as long as they've been well taught.

White sheets - of course. Ben Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic (among other things), promotes a practice in which students answer the following question on a blank white sheet at the end of rehearsal - "What can we do to make more beautiful music?" For students, it might be that they need a cue, or need more help with a passage. But ideally what you want is feedback on the interpretation of the music itself. It might be a beautiful chord they want held out longer, or something else. You can then read over the suggestions and pick the ones you're interested in experimenting with the next time you hit those sections. With this practice, the end result is more of a collaborative effort than strictly the interpretation of the conductor (though that is the heaviest influence). Using student recommendations that are appropriate gives students a stronger feeling of ownership and pride in the music, in addition to having given them more liberty to exercise their artistic creativity.

As this has turned into a long post already, I'll conclude with these two brief ideas.

One question I've asked myself is how we can use the high school band to help support social causes both as a means for student intellectual growth as well as to build support among the community. I recall my high school band doing a food drive at least once, and at the concert the director explained that it had come from the band members and shook hands with the director of that organization on stage. Sure, it could be something as simple as that, or preferably we could maybe perform at an event or offer some volunteers or something. I'm not sure.

But what I'd like to do is compose a list of local organizations that advance various causes. At some point during the year I could give this list, with a description of the organization's purposes, to the students with instructions to read about the organizations and causes. At some point towards the end of the year we could take some time to vote on which organization(s) the students want to support in the next year. We narrow it down to 1-2, and then I can get in touch with those organizations to see how we could get involved. This way, not only are we building a positive reputation and positive connections throughout the community, but the students are learning positive values in the process, and have ownership over which causes the band supports. Hopefully it will involve a performance of some type, but that might not always be the case.

Finally, I'm also interested in having students choose the theme for the marching show each year. I'm currently preparing for the event that, like most other ASU music grads, I'll end up with a job as a director at a small school (though I wouldn't mind a job working with beginners in a large area, as I think it would benefit me more in the long run). With that in mind, I'm gradually piecing together a show, just in case that happens. But after that first year I could let the students help with that. My instructions would include paying more attention in their core classes to discover the underlying lessons and themes that can apply broadly to benefit us as Americans, or as a human race. For example, a student studying World War II in history, or related literature in English, may discover some important lessons about the evils of oppression. If the theme of oppression (not a show title, but a theme... part of the show's message) made the final cut, then I could go forth and find music that suited that theme. Shostakovitch or any number of composers would have great music that could be applicable to such a theme. I would provide guidance through the elimination process, but the end result would be based on what the students wanted the show to convey. Then I could go find the music and put the show together. This way the students get at least a small amount of ownership at the ground level of the show, while I still do the most important aspect (at least in my view), programming. But just this small thing makes the show their show, their message, and so on.

Well, that's a LOT of ideas I've thrown out there. What are your thoughts? Are any of them good? Or are they crazy? Your feedback is always appreciated. Thank you, as always, for reading, and take care!

Musically yours,
Mr. Cooper