Three Weeks In!
Thursday, September 21, 2017
I can't believe we are about a month into school already!
Now that we are up and running past Labor Day, I thought I would share a few of my projects during band classes. Last summer, I presented to colleagues during a PD session on rehearsal stumbles I found last year. I used real examples from our rehearsal arcs to present findings.
One such was this anomaly that occurred in last year's 9th grade band. We were rehearsing "Three Ayres from Gloucester" and the kids could just not get the first two measures to be vertically aligned. Someone was always out. It bothered me.
First step was to check their rhythmic understanding. (There is a dotted figure right off the bat in Mvt. 1). I would have put my 403b down that one of the kids was miscounting the rhythm. But . . . they weren't. I went individually through every player in the section and they all KNEW it. So, it was odd . . . the kids physically understood the rhythm. They could play it individually, count it individually, but then when performance time came, the figure was never right. Boggled me.
After a chain of rehearsal mishaps, I discovered that the issue was the breathing. The kids weren't breathing in time, therefore, they were applying different understanding of the pulse. Each kid was playing their specific understanding of the figure correctly, but at different points. (We ended up using a clapping figure to isolate breath length/time, and fixed the problem immediately).
This got me thinking though . . . .my kids understand much about music but never in context of the beat. They can count just about anything. Does arbitrarily counting actually do anything though? And, this brings me to the point for 2017-2018, how can I unify students understanding of music during an ensemble rehearsal?
The first step I took was to unify our counting system. I chose the Eastman System as I think its syllables are more common to band articulation. (It's not that hard, most of my kids were 1and2and kids, it took less than 30 seconds to switch them). Each day for three weeks now, we have put on music (the kids have thoroughly enjoyed the Wii Theme Song . . . I'm not sure why) and we count. But, I never have the rhythm on the board, we go through it together.
Rhythms are often from our material. And, then we play it. The idea always starts with the pulse. We begin by doing something with the music that is playing whether that be clapping, counting, or hopping. And, then I ask them to count (in their head) the rhythm on the board. We do it together. (Fun note: you can touch upon breathing and posture here too, I do, never let up folks!)
Now, I have to be dead honest here. . . . I was absolutely inspired by the Trio of MS Band Directors running "After Sectionals: The Podcast for All things Band." Much of this was taken from their suggestion in a clinic they did called, "Teaching Rhythm Logically." (See below). You can purchase the materials for $20 and it is pretty cool stuff. I had to adapt, as their system is built for beginners. HOWEVER, the process they use is the golden stuff. I'm a big fan of their work.
http://aftersectionals.com/rhythm-clinic/
So, now, we have unified the counting system, we do daily exercises (with fun music) exploring the beat, and rhythm, and can address musical concepts within that. I think it has been a different approach, but worked well. The kids are definitively understanding rhythm and more importantly its relation to the beat. Our performance skills have improved too.
Other variations I have used for this:
1. Having the marching band do self-directed halts, horns up, horns down, to "Jessica" by the Allman Brothers, perfect tempo!
2. Breathing Gym Exercises to the Frozen Soundtrack (once again, perfect tempo)
3. Concert F and Concert Bb Remingtons utilizing the iRealB app with the cool background style changes.
4. Percussion rudiments to music.
5. air playing chorales, exercises, and sight-reading passages to anything.
The kids have really loved it and they all seem to be more motivated this year.
I can't believe we are about a month into school already!
Now that we are up and running past Labor Day, I thought I would share a few of my projects during band classes. Last summer, I presented to colleagues during a PD session on rehearsal stumbles I found last year. I used real examples from our rehearsal arcs to present findings.
One such was this anomaly that occurred in last year's 9th grade band. We were rehearsing "Three Ayres from Gloucester" and the kids could just not get the first two measures to be vertically aligned. Someone was always out. It bothered me.
First step was to check their rhythmic understanding. (There is a dotted figure right off the bat in Mvt. 1). I would have put my 403b down that one of the kids was miscounting the rhythm. But . . . they weren't. I went individually through every player in the section and they all KNEW it. So, it was odd . . . the kids physically understood the rhythm. They could play it individually, count it individually, but then when performance time came, the figure was never right. Boggled me.
After a chain of rehearsal mishaps, I discovered that the issue was the breathing. The kids weren't breathing in time, therefore, they were applying different understanding of the pulse. Each kid was playing their specific understanding of the figure correctly, but at different points. (We ended up using a clapping figure to isolate breath length/time, and fixed the problem immediately).
This got me thinking though . . . .my kids understand much about music but never in context of the beat. They can count just about anything. Does arbitrarily counting actually do anything though? And, this brings me to the point for 2017-2018, how can I unify students understanding of music during an ensemble rehearsal?
The first step I took was to unify our counting system. I chose the Eastman System as I think its syllables are more common to band articulation. (It's not that hard, most of my kids were 1and2and kids, it took less than 30 seconds to switch them). Each day for three weeks now, we have put on music (the kids have thoroughly enjoyed the Wii Theme Song . . . I'm not sure why) and we count. But, I never have the rhythm on the board, we go through it together.
Rhythms are often from our material. And, then we play it. The idea always starts with the pulse. We begin by doing something with the music that is playing whether that be clapping, counting, or hopping. And, then I ask them to count (in their head) the rhythm on the board. We do it together. (Fun note: you can touch upon breathing and posture here too, I do, never let up folks!)
Now, I have to be dead honest here. . . . I was absolutely inspired by the Trio of MS Band Directors running "After Sectionals: The Podcast for All things Band." Much of this was taken from their suggestion in a clinic they did called, "Teaching Rhythm Logically." (See below). You can purchase the materials for $20 and it is pretty cool stuff. I had to adapt, as their system is built for beginners. HOWEVER, the process they use is the golden stuff. I'm a big fan of their work.
http://aftersectionals.com/rhythm-clinic/
So, now, we have unified the counting system, we do daily exercises (with fun music) exploring the beat, and rhythm, and can address musical concepts within that. I think it has been a different approach, but worked well. The kids are definitively understanding rhythm and more importantly its relation to the beat. Our performance skills have improved too.
Other variations I have used for this:
1. Having the marching band do self-directed halts, horns up, horns down, to "Jessica" by the Allman Brothers, perfect tempo!
2. Breathing Gym Exercises to the Frozen Soundtrack (once again, perfect tempo)
3. Concert F and Concert Bb Remingtons utilizing the iRealB app with the cool background style changes.
4. Percussion rudiments to music.
5. air playing chorales, exercises, and sight-reading passages to anything.
The kids have really loved it and they all seem to be more motivated this year.
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