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Dear Colleagues,
PRINCIPLE ONE: MODEL THE RIGHT BEHAVIOR It's essential to model the behavior we ask the students for. If we want our ensemble to play with energy and passion but don't feel any, ourselves, the students' response will be tepid and short-lived. We don't pick up a pencil to mark our scores during rehearsal? Neither will they. If we tell the students to look up from their music (and risk making mistakes, or getting lost), we must do the same - or their eyes will remain on the page. If we ask for a fortissimo or sforzando with no energy in our voices - the response will also lack commitment. If we want the young musicians to express their deep feelings through more passionate playing, we might put the baton down for a moment and share some intense personal feelings of our own. Self-examination - or a colleague's observation - can help us identify any counterproductive modeling. Simple awareness of these inconsistencies is sometimes enough to eliminate them. If, however, our fears of rejection, emoting, or risk-taking make this difficult (as is the case for many of us), we should then work to overcome these fears - and not only for our students' sake. PRINCIPLE TWO: SEND CONSISTENT MESSAGES Our unspoken messages must be the same as those we verbalize. For example, do we ask for more expressive playing, and then, when the ensemble plays the passage again, continue even if it is not fully what we've asked for? If so, we send the message that a mediocre effort is acceptable. If we fail to stop when dynamics are ignored, our message is, "Expressive markings don't matter; you can forget about them." If we make a correction, then start before every musician marks his part, our real message is that what we say isn't important, and that the group effort does not require the participation of each and every individual. Or do we give the downbeat before all eyes are on us? Then, no matter how much we say, "Watch the conductor!" the message the students receive and believe is: "I don't really care if you watch or you don't." Shocking, but true. It's my experience that many directors inadvertently train their ensembles - through the unspoken messages they send - to do the precise opposite of what they ask for aloud. Again, self-observation, or the comments of a colleague, can help spot inconsistent messages. The necessary adjustments can then be made that will create dramatic differences in the quality of both the music and the musicians' experience. The director's, too. PRINCIPLE THREE: FOCUS ON LEARNING, NOT TEACHING Focus on learning, not teaching, to create musical and personal growth. Do we focus on what we do (teach)? Or is our attention on what the young musicians are doing (learning)? Rehearsals characterized by teaching - correcting musical errors - will be far less productive than rehearsals where students are actively involved in their learning process. When a director stops conducting to tell the group its ensemble is ragged (teaching focus), she might ask, instead, "Why did I stop?" (learning focus) There's likely to be immediate quiet, puzzled expressions…and full attention. The students will look at the director and she at them. If there are no answers (as is usually the case, since students are unaccustomed to listening to themselves or thinking about what they're doing), the director can begin again, stop at the same spot, and ask the same question. The process can be repeated until the students realize that the director is not going to tell them what to do. If the director persists, transformation can take place. The students will begin to listen to themselves, understand why the director stopped, do what the music calls for, and, in the best of worlds, mark their parts. Then, if all goes well save the marking, the director will congratulate the ensemble, but then ask, "Why aren't we continuing if you've done so well?" Although now wise to the game, the students may need the director to mark her score before understanding they should do the same. If the director has the heart to wait for the parts to be marked - every time - before continuing, marking can well and truly become the ensemble's norm. Instead of telling the sopranos they're not soft enough at measure 18, a director could ask if they sang the indicated dynamic at that spot. They won't know because they're used to their director "being their ears," and have understood the message, "You don't have to listen. I'll listen for you." And so they don't. To involve them in learning and assuming responsibility for their actions, conduct the passage again, and ask again. If they report that it was soft, ask whether it can be softer still; they'll say, "Yes." Repeat it and it will be softer still. By asking questions, directors can involve and empower the musicians, creating, in this example, a pianissimo that the students may never have produced before. There will be an intense quiet and focus in the room during this process, and the musicians will have become totally involved, and may begin to sense how much further they might reach. Initially, this process can be time-consuming and frustrating since it is: 1) new; 2) personally challenging for all, and; 3) because limited music is rehearsed. Silences following questions are uncomfortable, and directors will endure no end of students' eye rolling. But the results will fully justify the effort. The students can become actively involved in their learning process, assume responsibility for all aspects of their playing or singing, and bring their new approach (with gentle reminders) to whatever they rehearse in the future. PRINCIPLE FOUR: EXPECT ONLY THE VERY BEST FROM YOURSELF AND YOUR STUDENTS The higher our goals for our ensembles, and ourselves, the better their performance and experience will be. This is largely based on our self-image. Conclusions of studies on the impact of students' self image on their work are no less true for teachers: the more positive our self-image, the greater our expectations will be of what can be achieved. If our job description is creating experiences the students will value - no matter how the official version reads - we should ask ourselves if we feel capable of such inspired work? Do we feel that we have the ability to influence young minds and lives? Do we understand that we have the opportunity to influence a generation and change the world just one little bit and one person at a time? Or is our approach one of making sure everyone is present and getting through as much of the music as possible? The words of the Roman emperor and philosopher, Epictetus, are apropos here: "Our life is what our thoughts make it. How can it be otherwise?" If we think that we can create great results, we are right. If not, we are also right. The good news is that we, like the students, can take charge of our thinking. Should we find it difficult to change our thoughts about our abilities, many avenues can be explored to help us through this challenging process. The point is simply that high expectations of young people will usually produce high achievement. The same is true for us. With All Best Wishes, 
David Barg, Learning Center Director The Classical Archives, LLC email: david@prs.net |
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