REGIER, from p. 47
of the most effective is to cut down on the amount of time spent talking to the ensemble. A strategy to accomplish this goal is to make a conscience decision to give more concise feedback to the ensemble—even cutting down the feedback to seven words or less (Brinson & Demorest, 2013). Conductors can sometimes give elaborate explanations of the sound they need to hear from the ensemble. Often the best feedback is the simplest feedback, however. Instead of saying “Sopranos, take a look at measure 15. Can I get more volume from you please in that measure? Now what you sang was nice but I think we could possibly be a little louder. Let’s try that again,” simply say “Sopranos, measure 15 needs to be louder.” This is a simple, measurable goal for the section that provides an opportunity for quick feedback from the director in order to hear the necessary change from the musicians. Researchers have noted that choral ensemble members have expressed preference for teachers who talk less when giving feedback (Napoles, 2016). Furthermore, teacher delivery of instruction was identified by Napoles and MacLeod (2013) as being the best predictor of overall perceptions of teacher effectiveness.
Another strategy to reduce teacher talk is to use a clear conducting gesture (Kohut & Grant, 1990). This sounds like a simple solution, but as conductors, we can fall into a trap of talking instead of showing. Often, the simplest and most musical way of fixing an issue is
48
to show it more clearly through our gesture and facial expression. Think of the number of times you have adjusted volume and style of the music using your words. With some practice, these moments of talk can become moments of showing. Not only will students likely be more sensitive to your conducting, but your ability to show more of the music through conducting could improve, as well.
In order to identify opportunities to cut down on teacher talk, music educators should consider video recording their own instruction. One of the more valuable resources for this purpose is SCRIBE (Duke & Farra, 1996), computerized video playback software. With this tool, educators are able to upload their own teaching video and create variables that they would like to measure. The software is able to track both timed variables and frequency variables. For example, in our rehearsal clinic courses at the University of Missouri– Columbia, students track the amount of time they talk and the amount of time students perform. Students will then compare these two variables and identify areas for improvement. We also have the students compare the number of times they give positive feedback to the number of times they give negative/constructive feedback. The software is able to present timelines, durations, frequencies, and means—all of which help the student improve their pacing. In the beginning, students are almost always surprised at how much time they talk during a rehearsal. We work with them on giving concise spoken and gestural feedback in
order to provide the performers with more opportunities to play the identified section accurately.
The goal of talk time during rehearsal should be between 35%–45%. Outstanding choral directors have been identified as talking for 35% (Caldwell, 1980) and 40% (Caldwell, 1980) of their total class time. Highly effective band directors have been measured talking for 42% (Pontious, 1982) and 44% (Sherill, 1986) of their rehearsal time. Our students start around 65% talking time in their rehearsals and can often get that down to approximately 50% during the semester. Students begin to understand the relationship between their talking and the frequency with which they get to listen to the performers improve their playing. By the end of the semester, many students demonstrate much improved pacing.
As we seek to improve your instructional pacing, we must remember that the frequency of teacher talk to student performance is what is important, and not the total amount of time students perform. Directors need to give students numerous opportunities to make a change in their sound. Once the sound is achieved the first time, repetition of the sound becomes important to ensure that a change has been made. By reducing the amount of time we talk to the ensemble, either through the conciseness of our feedback or through gesture, our students receive higher rates of teacher feedback and performance opportunities.
See REGIER, p. 49 MISSOURI SCHOOL MUSIC | Volume 71, Number 3
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