Becoming A Different Kind of Ensemble Director

Teaching instrumental music with CMP techniques seems like a really good way to help students realize what they are supposed to be learning in an instrumental music classroom. After all, keeping learning goals a secret doesn't help students attain them. Providing explicit knowledge in a variety of ways will help students gather and use information for their own benefit and transfer into other areas. If the teacher knows as much as possible about the pieces he or she is teaching, it will enhance student learning. The teacher owes it to his or her students to do score analysis and perspective study to enhance the music education experience. Music is an active entryway into a variety of historical time periods and cultures. I think that studying and experiencing music can shed light on a variety of traits, from feelings to values, that all humans share, regardless of time, ethnicity, or location.

Making these connections through logical and sequenced activities over time will help students retain old ideas and learn new ones. Giving students opportunities to share ideas and knowledge will help them make the most personally meaningful connections, which will lead to transfer to the bigger understandings and ideas of history, culture, and the arts. One way to help students make these connections would be to have students create journals as they learn and play a specific piece of music. Doing this might help students ponder questions which will lead to active and meaningful discussion in class. These kinds of meaningful discussions will lead to active synthesis and evaluation.

Teaching Improvisation

I feel that it is important to integrate improvisation into instrumental methods classes. I feel that improvisation is often neglected in these classes. In my own experience as a middle and high scholer, the only time I had ever experienced musical improvisation was in a practice room, on my own, where nobody could possibly hear or see me. The first time I ever improvised in a group was as a junior in college, and it was not as part of an instrumental ensemble at all. It was a part of a music history class on the performance practices of the Baroque era. Part of this class focused on improvisation as a dynamic skill, and included an opportunity to improvise as part of an active learning experience. The experience of improvising in the moment with a group of people, especially as a part of a music history class, was a challenge. It was also a joy, and I was surprised to be exhilarated as a result of the active process of improvisation. This class put the Baroque period of music in a fresh, new light for me, and opened my ears and eyes to new ways of experiencing music.

Now, I really appreciate and enjoy Baroque music in a way that I never anticipated. I think that this is the result of the combination of excellent teaching and my willingness to open myself to new experiences. One of the things that made this teacher stand out to me was the fact that he allowed failure in the context of a musical performance experience. As a music performance major, this was a daunting, but revolutionary idea. I believe that the music learning process was partially exposed to me as a result of this music history class. This, in some way, has contributed to my desire to become an excellent music teacher.

I want to give these experiences to my students as a part of an instrumental music class in a K-12 setting. In order to make the experience fun and meaningful, it will be important to give the students certain parameters, especially at first, so they begin to feel comfortable with the process. Beginning with a pentatonic scale, they can improvise on any note and never sound "wrong." Teaching about good musical questions and answers is also be a way for me to integrate improvisation into my instrumental classroom at a slightly higher level. If the students know that a good answer to a musical question has some elements of the question in it (rhythm, pitches, etc.), they will have an idea where they can start improvising, leading to greater enjoyment and appreciation of music as an art form. I think that, above all, students will intuitively know what they like and what they don't if they are given an opportunity to just "do" improvisation. Giving a group of students an assignment to just jam together in a practice room and then perform for the class when they refine what they want to do would be a good way to integrate improvisation in an instrumental ensemble.

Assessment in Music Education

It is very important to accurately assess student's musical growth in music performance based classes. All too often, music educators of ensembles think that if students attend and participate in music ensembles, they will be able to simply "get by," learning necessary skills along the way as they spend more and more time in rehearsal. This is true to some extent, but without accurately measuring individual performances and knowledge learned in class, grades become a reward for good behavior in class instead of a tool for meaningful feedback.

Another danger in this approach to grading is that some students will end up with an inaccurate picture of what their skills actually are. This might lead to a student considering themselves ready to pursue a career in music performance when, in the larger world of music performance, they are inadequately prepared compared to their peers. This could have devastating effects for the students and families of students who are college-bound. While festival assessments provide a measure of reality for some students, some students whose districts do not attend festivals, the band or orchestra teacher's grade may be the only indicator.

In the instrumental music classroom, students should be assessed on the skills and knowledge to which instructional time has been devoted. If students are learning a new rhythm in a piece, grades on a cognitive assessment can provide teachers with an opportunity to gauge understanding and adjust strategies to make sure that all students understand the concept. This exercise would address the larger National Standard No. 5 (reading and notating music)and scores on the test would give individual students meaningful feedback. A good way for band and orchestra directors to provide lots of meaningful feedback and address National Standards 2 and 4 would be to have individual students leave the room, one at a time, and videorecord a prepared portion of a solo. The teacher could then review each videotape and provide meaningful feedback to each student. Keeping these videorecordings on file, in both the student and teacher portfolio, would provide an authentic record of growth for each student.

Competition: Is Music Education the Loser?

The music profession and competition go hand-in-hand. In the professional music world, high stake auditions are the primary way that music directors decide to hire musicians for their orchestras or bands. Similarly, professional ensembles have many opportunities to perform on local, state, national, and international levels for prizes and accolades. The idea of competition in instrumental ensembles in schools is a logical progression to prepare young musicians for the competitive professional music field. While the super-competitive approach to music in schools may be of particular benefit to the minority of students who seriously consider pursuing professional music careers, most students will not pursue music as an avocation. As such, music educators must make good decisions regarding competition that positively affect as many students as possible.

One thing that a music educator must consider is the constituency of the student population. What do the students need? Will bringing a competitive band or orchestra program into the school be a benefit and a boon to the community, or will it leave potential students behind? Will having a non-competitive "ya'll all come" type of ensemble (marching band, for example) affect more student involvement in music? Will parents and students respond to concert and contest competitions in a constructive way, or will concert and contest competitions deter students from participation in music ensembles? Obviously, the issues around music and competition stir up many questions, but the most important question for me to answer is, "what will be best for my students?" Being flexible about ensemble policies regarding competition with the needs of my students in mind will help me construct a program that will involve as many music students in as meaningful a way as possible.

If the students and parents in my school are receptive to competitive music making, I see it as my job to prepare my students in music classes for these competitions with constructive criticism. Constructive criticism can come in the form of assessment from me, from the students themselves, and from their peers. Creating a checklist style assessment that measures students in specific skill across a period of weeks with suggestions for improvement can help students realize that a solo and ensemble or marching band competition rating is only one more way to help students' grow and progress. If the students see a competition in this way, they will maintain a sense of worth even if they "lose" or "fail" in a competition.

If educators view competitive events as long-term goals that present opportunities for student growth, these events can be beneficial for the many students in his or her care. Giving specific feedback and suggestions for further growth after the competitive event can help engender the sense that nothing is acquired in life without hard work and motivation. These ideas will help every student grow in a meaningful way.

Score study

Score study is one of the most important preparatory exercises that instrumental ensemble teachers can (and should) engage in prior to teaching a particular piece. The systematic study of the score using the Macro-Micro-Macro technique, as suggested Feldman and Contzius, will make the piece meaningful for both teacher and student. This systematic score study will help students make relevant connections that go beyond the band or orchestra room.

In the first "Macro" phase, the primary goal is to understand the major melodic, harmonic, textural, and formal components of any given piece. If a teacher takes the time to do this and exposes the students to the knowledge he or she has acquired (in the form of a handout, for example), students will be more prepared to recognize the "bigger picture" of the composer's intent. The students will be able to look beyond their individual notes and rhythms (in isolation) to realize the cohesive aspects that shape a musical work. Giving a historical perspective by using sites like Hyper History can also help shape a student musician's initial idea of the piece. A story or short historical biography, in the form of optional reading, for example, might also be helpful at this stage.

In the "Micro" phase, the piece is analyzed on every level. Chordal analysis is important, as it will illuminate the composer's intent, even if the exercise seems pedantic and time-consuming, given the many responsibilities that a music teacher will undertakes. Knowing the harmonic score in this way will help the teacher express the essential aspects of tension and release that are inherent in almost all musical works. If the teacher knows which instruments have the important notes, he or she will be able to help the students hear the tension and resolution of important chords. Knowing the underlying harmonic structure of a work will also help the teacher address intonation problems.

In the third and final phase, the "Macro-Redux" phase, the piece is interpreted based on the first two phases of score study. In this phase, the teacher makes interpretive decisions that are relayed by the teacher's body in the physical act of conducting. In my limited experience, using visual reminders, such as highlighted passages and short written words, help me put together information for the performers. I think that if students have an accurate idea of the composer's intent, they can help the conductor make interpretive decisions. This gives students a stake in what they are doing with music, and can help make higher level connections across many areas.

Teaching strategies

It is essential for teachers of all disciplines to have a clear understanding of how to write outcomes and implement strategies in the classroom to reach all learners. I am a kinesthetic and a visual learner, so I have a tendency to base my learning activities around kinesthetic and visual experiences. In recent teaching experiences, I have found myself overly reliant on things like written lesson plans. I am sure that this reliance will go away over time as I get more comfortable in the classroom, but, for now, at least I know my bias. As a student, I respond to kinesthetic experiences, so I have my private students "do" and "feel" things with their bodies. I know that I am not an auditory learner, so, as a teacher, I need to remember to include auditory strategies in my student-centered approaches.

In a student centered approach, students come first. Being student centered means responding to the needs of the students, even in front of the music itself. I really like this idea, as it puts students in charge of their own education. If the students feel that they have a part of the creative process of music making, music becomes less of a chore and more of an art. As a conservatory student, I often felt like I was a "tool" to be used for the execution of technique. When directors told me what to do, my own creativity was stifled, especially in an ensemble setting. If everyone feels like they have a stake in an ensemble, it will provide even more opportunities for social, academic, and personal growth.

Involving students in a meaningful way inside rehearsals may help students develop transfer abilities into other areas. With teacher guidance, students will discover the many ways that music is a part of other areas of culture, science, and math. Teachers can inspire students to explore other areas by providing context for the students in the form of handouts which describe cultural perspectives on the piece, composer, and era.

Writing effective teaching strategies can help make learning meaningful for the students. Implementing the strategies can be gratifying for the teacher, and students will pick up on the excitement that this process generates. I think that teachers owe it to their students to implement creative teaching strategies that are based in meaningful learning outcomes. Helping students learn in this way will contribute to true understanding, which will lead to transfer into both music and other skill areas.

Writing outcomes

Some of the first places to start when writing an outcome (outcome="the student will be able to...") are in the music department curriculum, the state curriculum, and the National Standards for Music Education. In my extremely limited experience in writing lesson plan outcomes at this stage in my career, I have found that looking at the state's curriculum has been extremely helpful. One of the reasons for this is that the benchmarks are very clearly aligned with the expected skill levels of the students I will teach. I cannot expect, for example, typically developing fifth graders to realize that a piece is in a mixed tonality. This is probably a college-level skill. The state outcomes help me realize what is appropriate for many of the students I will encounter in my career.

In an instrumental music classroom, appropriate, skill matched pieces should be chosen. Using the pieces as a starting point, I can write outcomes based on Bloom's Taxonomy to help ensure that units will be designed to help students operate on a variety of levels, from knowledge (level one) to evaluation (level six). Using the verbs associated with the level of complexity of knowledge, I can write these outcomes in my lesson plans within a unit. One example that would address several levels of cognition on the same idea in an instrumental music class (over a unit, for example):
1. Students will define ABA form (knowledge)
2. Students will give an example of a piece of music that uses ABA form (comprehension)
3. Students will discover what the form of a given piece of music (application)
4. Students will analyze a piece of music in ABA form (Analysis)
5. Students will compose a piece of music in ABA form (Synthesis)
6. Students will compare two pieces of music in ABA form (Evaluation)

One of the biggest challenges that teachers face in the arts classes is writing outcomes that apply to emotional growth as a result of exposure and interaction with the art. In music classes, it is important for teachers to realize that students will have meaningful experiences with the music because music is at once a technical, social, spiritual, and emotional experience. If a music teacher is so involved in the technical aspects of playing a musical instrument well (a critical observation of myself as a horn teacher), the teacher may not be well prepared to address the affective outcomes of music making and performing. As an advocate of my art form, it is important for me to prepare outcomes that address the affective outcomes of music. Using words in my outcomes that may not be easy to evaluate (appreciate, value, express) will help me help my students realize the emotional and spiritual growth that is theirs to own and experience as a result of music making in an ensemble.