As the back-to-school season comes crashing down around us and summertime relaxation wanes, most of our time will soon be spent thinking about all the logistics that encompass running a music program. We have most likely already started formulating plans for our season’s repertoire, begun to fret over our program’s numbers, and started to steel our resolve to manage fundraisers and spring trips, all while anticipating emails and other bureaucratic stumbles that slow us down in our pursuit of making more music.
While all these concerns, both large and small, are valid and important to the health of our programs (and I mean that in all sincerity, including those pesky emails), I want to make the case for implementing a guiding principle (rule) that will help you during your year.
The Rule: Don’t Wait!
Case in point: during my first year of teaching, I had a student who asked me to fill out some paperwork so they could participate in a state musical event. I remember thinking, “Yes, I’ll get to it,” then immediately forgot about it. Fast forward a bit later, and I had a devastated student whose time I had wasted. From that point on, when it came to my administrative duties, I made sure to get things in on time and with a plan. I also adopted this rule for my ensembles and their musical development, and it served us well. Here is what I learned:
Don’t wait to start working on fundamentals.
Don’t wait to start working on sight-reading.
I have a unique opportunity as a composer and editor to get out into more classrooms now than I ever dreamed of as a full-time music educator, and I cannot tell you how often I see well-meaning directors waiting to start working on both things:
“We’ll start with the fundamentals after the holiday concert.”
“We’ll start concert music after the marching season is over.”
“Assessment is in April, so we’ll start practicing sight-reading in February.”
At the risk of stating the obvious, there is a reason why we call them fundamentals; they are the foundation of everything we do and, as such, should always be present.
When building a house, we build up from the foundation. The foundation is always there, even when you work on other parts of the house. So too with music, fundamentals should always be a focus of your daily rehearsals.
Don’t fret, fundamental development does not have to take the place of working on your music. I know the siren song of looming performances, but I want to make the case that by relating those fundamentals to the music we are playing, our musical performance will happen more easily, and any time spent on fundamentals will be saved during rehearsal. For my marching band director friends, just like our drill blocks, music fundamentals will only make your marching band better. Don’t wait, there is time! A few tips:
Build fundamentals into your warm-up.
Do more than a scale and a chorale (especially in a key that doesn’t relate to your music).
Change things up, make fundamentals “part of your routine,” not just routine.
Make fundamentals work for your rehearsal: Warm up on the rhythms, keys, and techniques you will be using in the music.
Do it every day. Consistency is key!
I’d be remiss if I also didn’t add to this section a plea for you not to wait to get your instrumentalists comfortable singing! Part of our fundamental development as musicians is our ear, and singing will help us establish a much more solid pitch, a richer tone, and a concept of sound for our ensembles far earlier than if we avoid it because asking middle school kids to sing is uncomfortable.
A few tips:
Have them hum first.
Have them close their eyes and use a syllable you prefer (so they cannot see each other and so that they know others cannot see them).
Remove the focus from the face and mouth – have them use their hands to direct their air or hover over the sides of their neck so they can focus on their vocal cords vibrating – anything to remove the focus from their insecurities and get them focused on the act and the reason.
It is always a little ironic that sight-reading is one of the last things we wait to work on when at the end of the day, it is the proverbial “end-goal” of playing music. In a perfect world, we would find ourselves surrounded by musicians who could pick up instruments and read music at a performance level on the spot, with little need to rehearse, and all the time to focus on expressiveness and the singular miracle that comes from playing with another person. Any of us who have been around studio recording groups or professional ensembles know how awe-inspiring that is; it almost seems like a superpower and stands as proof that fundamentals and dedication are key to success. I’d feel confident in saying that most (if not all) of those professionals didn’t wait to work on their sight-reading skills.
I see so many directors wait to start sight-reading practice in January or February ahead of their music performance assessment.
However, waiting until a month before the assessment to work on this skill is simply too late. Working on sight-reading skills as soon as possible in the rehearsal process will help make your preparations for assessment more effective.
A few tips:
Sight-read something every day.
What you sight-read is less important than that you sight-read. It doesn’t always have to be a full piece of music.
Have a plan for how to approach every new piece or sight-reading exercise (and fill them in on what that is and why), then follow it every time.
Don’t play it over and over. Sight-read, give them feedback, and move on.
Sight-read a variety of styles: marches, ballads, pop, festival, classical, etc.
Finding resources for all these things costs time and money. While there are many ways to accomplish this on your own, there are a great deal of resources already provided by publishing companies and composers who have taken the time to compile these collections for you. I encourage you to seek those out and add them to your bag of tricks.
The title of this article comes from the idiom “Good things come to those who wait.” While I wholeheartedly believe in the general sentiment, I feel it only applies after you have done everything you can to achieve your goals. We live in a fast-paced culture of instant gratification (trust me, I open my Facebook app as much as the next person). It is sometimes a challenge to see the eventual payoff of not waiting to work on sight-reading and fundamentals. In this case, the good thing we are waiting for is musical proficiency—something that takes time and effort, so don’t wait. Once we put in the effort, it is simply a matter of time before it pays off.
TylerArcari.com
