grade beneath the grade of their perfor- mance piece. Let your body show, “I’ve got this, follow my lead.”
Tap, Sing And/Or Count Out Challenging Passages
Once you’re ready to explain to your
students, try to be as measured and ef- ficient as you can be. If you have doubts that a particular section will be able to conquer a challenge deflate the chal- lenge. Help the students work from the familiar to the difficult. Don’t say, “trom- bones, you always miss this pattern so lis- ten carefully.” You have just created a self fulfilling prophecy and also given them permission not to try to work through the problem. If you’re absolutely sure you can’t effectively explain to them how to solve the problem don’t put up a wall. This is a place where you can let them know that another section has a similar part or reference a song you’ve worked on in class.
w
Call Out Letters Or Numbers
As you get to rehearsal numbers or letters, call them out. If players are lost hearing the letter or number gives them a “meeting point.” I would tell my stu- dents during the explanation period that I’d call out the letter a measure ahead and say “now” once we got to it. This rein- forces confidence for those who are there and gives those who aren’t the “meeting place” they need.
Remind Them That We’re All In This Together
Strong players shouldn’t feel as though they have to carry the group and weak players shouldn’t feel as though they’re holding the group back. Put the group on your back and remind them that no one person will get all of the credit and no one person will get all of the blame. What you do in sight reading should be an outgrowth of what you’ve done in class. If you’ve only taught the
music for success at the festival you’ll probably fail at sight reading but if you’ve taught your students rhythms and pat- terns and analytical skills you’ll be consis- tently successful sight reading at school or at the festival. Above all else, you want your sight reading to be a very “musical” performance and that includes expres- sion marks, dynamics and stylistic accu- racy. Remember, it all starts with you.
______________ Ronald E. Kearns is the author
of Quick Reference for Band Directors (NAfME/RLE Publishing) and Recording Tips for Music Educators (Oxford Uni- versity Press). Ron is a Vandoren of Paris Performing Artist and Selmer of Paris Performing Artist.
&
Bachelor of Arts in Music Bachelor of Arts in Music (combined with a second major) Bachelor of Music Education Bachelor of Music in Performance
For Open House and Audition dates, go to:
www.gettysburg.edu/sunderman
www.gettysburg.edu/sunderman
JANUARY 2018
35
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