formance? I hope not! Get your students to understand the fact that they are in con- trol of the pulse for better or worse. Teach them to count rhythms in subdivision. This is step-one in being more consistent with pulse. Teach them to hear the important instruments that are giving the pulse of the work being rehearsed and performed. And what should you do if the ensem-


ble slows down? The easy answer, and the one even I do from time to time, is to con- duct hard er and bigger to try and get every- one’s attention and let them know they are slowing down. The only problem with this solution is that you will slow yourself down by pounding out beats. If your ensem ble slows down and can’t stay together, don’t conduct them. Make them do it themselves without you. It may completely fall apart that first time they don’t take you seriously, but then do it again. Tell them to listen and keep time together. They will get it. Just give them time, and you will figure out that you don’t have to conduct everything! How good is your sense of pulse? I do


an exercise with my be ginning conduct- ing class. I have them all stand in a circle, and us ing a silenced metronome, I count off a measure and ask them to conduct a four-beat pattern. I will count out loud with them for two measures, and then I tell them to close their eyes and keep con- ducting, even when I stop counting. After a few measures I have them open their eyes. No two conductors are together. Once they close their eyes, and don’t have the pulse given to them, they fall apart. Then we add subdivision, and when they start to focus, it all comes together. Try something similar with your ensemble. Much like intonation, the long-term goal is good ensemble pulse without you being a crutch. This will take time, and this is not to say that pulse must be constant throughout music. The pulse should move and flow with the music. But don’t let the lack of a sense of pulse dictate how the music flows.


Warm-up


Moving beyond those two basic areas, what else can we “give up” and let go of? Another area would be warm-ups. What do you do for a warm-up? To me a warm-up is a chance to get the students listening to each other. It is a chance to help focus the


JANUARY 2018


ensemble sound. When visiting schools, I see a wide variety of warm-ups being used, but there seems to be just as wide a variety of thoughts on what a warm-up is. Is a warm-up time for the students to get their fingers moving, or is it time for the ensemble to open up and come together in sound. To me the answer is both. The warm-up should be personal and ensemble based, more leaning towards ensemble based though. How long a warm-up lasts also varies widely from program to program. I want to argue though that how long you warm-up should vary from rehearsal to rehearsal. There are things you shouldn’t do when warming up. Don’t just do the same warm-up every rehearsal. This will lead to students just going along with the routine and not focusing on anything. In a perfect world with unlimited re- hearsal time, we could give our students plenty of time to play some notes on their own before warming up as an ensemble. Then we could spend ten to fifteen min- utes warming up the group and getting them going before we tackle the music we are learning. But that is obviously a dream, or it is? What if you do give the students a few minutes to blow some notes and get the air moving on their own? Then move on to something that makes the students open their ears and listen to the sounds around them. Play a chorale, a slow scale or maybe some chord building. I see ensembles blow through fast scales and won der how that helps. Students are so focused on surviv- ing the light ning fast finger moves that they aren’t listening to anything around them. That kind of routine is great for personal warm-up but not for ensemble warm up. Now back to the point of this article,


and how you can let go of warming up your ensemble. Have you thought of letting stu- dents warm-up the group? There are a few reasons why this will help. One is it gives students an idea of what the ensemble sounds like from a place other than where they sit. Concepts of ensemble are easy to talk about, but give the students a chance to hear it from the front of the group, and give them a chance to be in charge of the sound being created. Have a rotation of students who will warm-up the ensemble, and have a bank of warm-ups for them to select from. This will give you a chance to step off the podium and wander the ensem-


51


ble, hearing things that you probably have never heard be fore. Get off the podium and get in to the heart of your ensemble. It will change how you hear things as well. There are so many more ways to let go,


and I certainly can’t talk about them all in one article, but this is a start. Remember these are long-term projects, and not things that you can instantly change. Honestly, not everything will work with every ensem- ble. As en semble directors, we need to be open to change, and willing to fall flat on our faces when things don’t work out the first time. If your goal is to teach the music and perform concerts that sound very nice, without much knowledge being passed on, then don’t let go. If your goal is to teach music and teach your students how to cre- ate, then you need to let go of some things and let your students learn, take chances, and create on their own. In the long term your ensem ble will come together in ways you can’t even imagine. I won’t lie, I still put myself in that musical ball and chain from time to time, but I strive to break out and learn more about me and my students every day.


Mark A Stickney is the Director of


Bands at Plymouth State University, where he directs the Symphonic Band and teaches courses in conducting and applied low brass and music education. In addition, he serves as coordinator of the Graduate Instrumen- tal Music Education Program, the All New England Band Festival and the New England Band Directors Institute. He has held con- ducting and brass teaching positions at the Community College of Rhode Island, Okla- homa Panhan dle State University, Salve Regi- na University and Southern Utah University and has conducted festival bands and orches- tras all over the United States. In 2016, he was appointed the Artistic Director of the Sea- coast Wind Ensemble in Kittery, ME. Stick- ney received his DMA in Wind Conducting from Rutgers University, his MA in Tuba Performance from Montclair State University and his BA in Music from Gettysburg College. Utah Music Educators Journal


& TEMPO


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76