Take Care of Yourself

Take Care of Yourself by Kale White

No, this isn't a lecture encouraging you to eat healthy, exercise regularly, and get plenty of rest. Instead, I'm going to encourage you to be selfish in your next rehearsal and governed by your own needs and development instead of the musical needs of your students. Sound interesting?

The best education in music, for me personally, was a two-week intersession course, Advanced Rehearsal Techniques Through Video Microrehearsal, presented by Dr. Stephen Paul and Dr. William Wakefield. The course presented a number of different rehearsal techniques and allowed the participants to apply them in a 12-15 minute videotaped rehearsal each day. The objective was to focus on ourselves as teachers, not the final musical product. Videotaping the rehearsals was a critical course component, providing the opportunity to reflect and analyze our teaching. Below are some of the rehearsal skills we addressed in the course.

Many of us videotape our rehearsals, but usually to analyze our conducting. Instead of always watching yourself conducting music, occasionally take the opportunity to evaluate yourself teaching music. Videotape a rehearsal and focus on some of these rehearsal skills:

Set / Follow-through / Response
In rehearsal, when you stop the ensemble during a musical passage, observe if you consistently: 1. identify "what is the problem" (Set) and "how to fix the problem" 2. take the necessary time to fix the issue (Follow-through) while exploring ways of conducting the correction into the music, 3. provide feedback (Response) to the students on each attempt and closure at the end. Closure could be simply stating, "that's improving, but more work needs to be done," or "that's was it...wonderful!"

Pacing
Effective teachers give instruction clearly and concisely, including both "what" and "how," reinforcing with feedback. Watch your videotaped rehearsal and observe how much of your rehearsal time is talking vs. playing. When the space between music making and instruction is short, the pace builds intensity, effort, and limits inappropriate student behaviors.

Musical literacy
I cringe at the words, associating music literacy as the latest catch phrase on state-mandated assessments. However, I would encourage you to videotape your rehearsal and pay attention to your use of colloquial vs. musical terminology. Do you use fermata instead of hold; fortissimo instead of loud; staccato instead of short, etc? Directors that make a conscious effort to use musical terminology are developing musically literate student musicians that will soon associate musical language with appropriate sound.

Stimulus Variation
All of us have commented on our students' short attention span. Consider yourself and your rehearsal situation as stimulus objects. If you vary your rehearsal in a planned way, you can redirect your student's attention and eventually gain some flexibility. Relating my favorite stimulus variation: About once every two weeks, I'd plan a rehearsal so that I never stood on the podium. I "conducted" the whole rehearsal walking throughout the band. Sometimes I used a metronome with remote and other times I encouraged the students to listen to each other. I discovered my absence made the students more accountable for timing, counting rests, and being prepared for entrances. Review your videotaped and observe whether your rehearsal incorporates moments of variety to redirect student's attention or if your rehearsal seems routine and monotonous.

It sounds strange to put the spotlight on ourselves as we prepare our ensembles for upcoming contests and festivals. So much of what we do is focused on our students and ultimately, the performance. Experiment with being selfish every now and then by videotaping yourself. You will have to believe that by taking care of yourself, in the long run, your ensemble will be better served.