ensembles. The language they use, the gestures they make, and even the breaths they take can either positively or negatively influence an ensemble. As an example, band conductors quite often are told to be sure to “take a breath” during every preparatory gesture which, in and of itself, is not bad advice. However, when that breath is shallow, loud, or through the nose, it only rein- forces and encourages the taking of an inadequate breath on the part of the ensemble. At a minimum, a badly inhaled breath on the part of the conductor forces the ensemble to make a choice (“Does he really mean for us to breathe that way?”) to either ignore the conductor, or to do what the conductor meant rather that what he said. Our goal should be to eliminate, in every way possi- ble, any ambiguity as to what is said, both verbally and non-verbally, on the podium. I seem to remember a conductor
once saying something like, “Every word you utter on the podium is just one more nail in your coffin.” This holds true, particularly when work- ing with highly advanced students and/or professional ensembles. Of course when working with less ad- vanced, younger students, it is of- ten necessary to explain things dur- ing the rehearsal process. However, young teacher-conductors are often shocked by how little they actually need to speak during a rehearsal and still accomplish all of their goals with an ensemble each day.
When the use of spoken lan- guage is necessary, the language we use, and how and when we use it, is of vital importance. For instance, when a teacher-conductor stops an ensemble, it should be for a good
JANUARY 2019
reason. Even if the reason for stop- ping is good, but the conductor does not fully and completely clarify that reason (and the suggestions for im- provement) to the ensemble, valu- able rehearsal time is wasted and ambiguity ensues. Simply saying, “Go back to measure 5,” will only allow you to hear, once again, the same thing you just heard. When a teacher-conductor stops an ensem- ble during rehearsal, her suggestions and feedback should be brief, posi- tive, to the point, and contain prac- tical, doable, and valuable actions for improvement. The language the teacher-conductor uses should be as inclusive as possible. Addition- ally, encouraging students to be a part of that improvement process is like, as they say, “putting money in the bank.” Here are some exam- ples • Rather than saying, “I need to hear the trumpets at B,” say “Let’s listen to the trumpets at letter B, because this time they are going to try to…”
• Rather than saying, “Softer at measure 201!” ask “Who can tell us where the melody is? Are you able to hear that melody?”
• Rather than launching into a lengthy explanation each time you stop an ensemble, ask “Why might we have stopped there?”
• Rather than yelling, “Watch me!” ask “Did anyone notice what I was trying to tell you there through my gesture?” Asking these kinds of open-end- ed questions can only help to increase an ensemble’s awareness of what is happening both around them and on the podium. Students should be an integral part of the improvement
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process; that their musicianship and humanity are important to the com- munal efforts of the ensemble. Still, the use of verbal language
during a rehearsal should be the last (not the first) resort. I encourage young teacher-conductors to first show what they want non-verbally. At that point, if there is no observ- able change in the ensemble, they then have the right to ask, “Who was able to get the ‘memo’ I was send- ing just then?” When silence follows that question, as it often will, espe- cially when getting to know a young ensemble, ask them to play that sec- tion again, and ask them to see if they can pick up what you are “try- ing to say.” In addition to improv- ing and heightening the awareness among the students in your ensem- ble, relying primarily on non-verbal communication during the course of a rehearsal will also teach you how effective your gestures actually are. We live in a remarkably visual society. One positive turn of that is that young people are programmed to respond to visual stimuli; we teacher-conductors should harness that ruth.
As teacher-conductors of ele-
mentary school, middle school, high school, and university students, what we say and do both on and off the podium is important. Most teachers try to institute, either officially or by implication, certain codes of con- duct that each member of an ensem- ble is required to respect and adhere to. In some cases, these edicts are not worth the paper they are written on, because the person in charge violates these “rules” nearly every day. We ex- pect punctuality from students, yet we start and end our rehearsals late. We expect students to treat one an-
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