Rehearsal flow

[pres64]

What techniques do you use to start rehearsals efficiently and in a timely manner?

[maxmckee]

Probably the best lesson I ever learned from Randall Spicer (Boulder H.S. Colorado, U. of Colorado, Washington State University and my father-in-law) was to do EXACTLY the same thing at the opening of every rehearsal. Students then couple the necessity to "get ready" with those actions. Spice always played #19 out of Treasury of Scales first then immediately went to another TOS chorale-like line in the key of the piece he was going to work on.

That's one of the reasons that our Warmups That Work books came out. They were (initially) a compilation of my "Tone 'n Tech" book created between 1970 and 1998. My Chorale on a Scale is thus set in all 12 keys so that I could play the Eb version at the start of every rehearsal (as a foundational setting and to assess if I was going to have a terrible rehearsal today ) and then played another of that same chorale in the key of the first piece on which we were going to work on.

What I found (psychologically) was that non-professional players need that constant anchor at the start of every rehearsal. The fact that they soon understood what an in-tune version of the Eb Chorale on a Scale felt like lead them to transfer that feeling (pitch awareness) to the one in G major.

[Ericemusic]

So on those hopefully rare days that the chorale goes badly enough that you know it is going to be a difficult day...what are some suggestions. I find that these days are often after a long holiday weekend, a special day at school (pajama day) or a rainy or cold day that is unusual, so the tuning and ear sensibilities are all out of wack.

[gcbrookes]

Today is the last day of our winter vacation here in CT, so I expect to have a very poor sounding group tomorrow! When you know they haven't practiced over a long weekend, give them an extra long warm up focusing on tuning and tone. Low brass on a B-flat and everyone else goes up 5 steps and back. Singing the tuning pitch, etc...If you can tie in the importance of tuning while performing later in the lesson that is even better. Other than that, less talk more play!!

[kassulkepaulr]

It seems to me that the best technique there is for starting on time and in a solid educational manner is for the director to be prepared. Is there a play list for the day on the board? Is the room ready? My rehearsals went well when I was ready for them.

[bobbeshears]

I have my students rate their rehearsals from 1-10 at the end of each rehearsal. We then talk about the best parts and weakest parts. In the following rehearsals I will find a "great" moment and call it to their attention. "Hey gang, the rehearsal 'feels' great. Let's keep it going." I use the awareness of how the room feels; calm, quiet, mentally centered, etc. Then if we are challenged, I mention that the "classroom doesn't feel correct". Generally kids will work to return to the correct atmosphere for success. I often refer to the band hall and even the marching field as a classroom. Educationally, administrators, coaches and parents understand that we are teaching and not just playing around.

There is also a strong necessity for students to know the order of events of the class time. Always close class with the expectations of individual practice and the next rehearsal.

Remember to "lead toward success" rather than "yell and scream" when things are going poorly. Honesty goes a long way. If they know you are working/teaching rather than controlling them, things are a lot easier. Individual praise and group praise works well. I have special stationary that I send home to parents praising efforts for our band's success. Newspaper articles and school announcements help to inspire kids to want to be in class. Going back to my first comments, this makes them want to raise their rehearsal ratings because it is their responsibility rather than my control for improvement.

[nabeut]

Here's something that might be helpful, especially for 1st period classes. At the beginning of this year, I told my high high school band students that their required reporting time (seated and playing the instrument) was 5 minutes before class was actually scheduled, and I gave them a few daily points for showing up at this time. I justified this to my principal (in case of any complaints from parents) by saying that in order to be truly prepared for rehearsal, each student needs to be sufficiently warmed up on their own. I also told them that I felt that punctuality was one of the most important habits in order to be successful in life. When I framed it this way, I think that this made students feel that I was requiring them to be early out of concern for them and their future success, not just my own agenda.

Most of the students bought into this, and the students who were always "on time" (7:55 or earlier) actually started putting pressure on the "latecomers" (7:57!) to get there earlier. Students would warm up for 5 minutes (I also stressed and demanded meaningful warmups. No Smoke on the Water!), and at EXACTLY 8:00 every day the group would stop playing, immediately followed by tuning notes/chords. I found that after 5 minutes of each student individually warming up (and not talking to each other) they were much more prepared to focus during rehearsal. I also found that it was extremely rare for any student to wander into class after 8:00.