FUNdamentals . . . and how they are EVERYTHING.
October 17, 2017
When I was a younger educator, a mentor said, "Marching Bands stop getting better around the first week of October."
I never understood what that meant until circa 2016. It has been in the last few years that I have come to understand the awesome power that is fundamentals and training within the HS Band program. They are my everything now. I would have NEVER guessed this as a younger director. And, honestly, this is probably the thing that I would have told 23 year old Seth to pay attention to.
The above quote does not mean the band stops growing (they clearly do). It means that bands eventually stop improving beyond what they are fundamentally asked to do. Therefore, one sees bands strike success early and plateau. This was a scenario in which earlier generations of bands of my own did. And, I could never understand what I was doing wrong.
The reality of my early failures was entirely attached to lack of fundamental training. I never respected them. Therefore, I never paid attention to them. At some point during the fall season, the show became the show and everything revolved around rehearsing it. When IN REALITY, fundamental training drives the improvement NOT the rehearsing it itself.
I discovered this lesson around the time that my Symphonic Band performed at our State Convention in 2016. We grew to a point where the band was not developing. I was frustrated (with the impending notice that my fellow educators in the state would be watching with that silent conference eye). We were fortunate to bring a clinician that would rock my world. He spent nearly 60 minutes playing one note (Concert F, of course). In the rehearsing of this one note, I learned more about band directing than I could have ever imagined. For the remaining two weeks prior to our conference performance, I changed EVERYTHING in terms of how we rehearsed. And, to my disbelief. . . it worked.
So, what did I learn?
1. You don't have to do much. You have to do it well.
2. The plan you (the director) sets is imperative. BUT . . . .the more you are willing to stick to its success, the better.
3. Finding creative ways for the ensemble to connect the dots on their own improves what you can do.
4. This is a cultural project NOT a musical one. (Basically, your students MUST buy into it which is an entirely different conversation).
5. Fundamental training (warm ups, exercises, and chorales) are NEVER ENDING. Your ensemble will never reach a magical point of "WE GOT IT." They are forever and endless.
So here we are in October 2017, and I am thankful for my paradigm shift. As you may have read, we spent more time on Fundamentals during our preseason than ever before. My band is truly playing the best it has ever been (and we have done nothing different other than a strong focus on fundamental playing). The fact is that our demand has translated across the board. The students take everything more serious and are achieving better too. We are asking them to be better and they are responding.
What are the things we are focusing on in October? What are we doing to finish the season?
1. We began the season with 8 count long tones on Concert F. The demand in August was to begin and end the sound with precision. (I stole the term "IN TUNE, IN TONE, IN TIME" from a friend). The goal is the same with the addition of crescendos, decresendos, dynamics (soft versus loud) and specified articulation. (We do this to a metronome, of course). The payoff? We can vary just about any combination of these fundamentals to apply to our show repertoire. The students make the transition easily between the warm ups and the repertoire. The specific material is NOT hard therefore the students can focus on the development of the added requirements.
2. We have continued to develop the use of Chorales. We play chorales EVERY DAY. They have helped with vertical harmony. The students understand how they fit into vertical chords. I also use chorales as study in balance. Isolating instruments can help create listening environments similar to our repertoire. In doing so, the students translate the skills to the repertoire. The Foundation of Superior Performance Chorales are awesome because they have tonal centers in Bb, F, Eb, Db, C and g minor (basically the same as my show). I can use these as an easy conduit for scale degree tuning tendencies. Every chorale we play is dependent upon students creating a proper and characteristic tone. It double reinforces the performers best playing.
3. We began the season with the Breathing Gym exercises. We have continued this idea into how these exercises fit into the tempo of our show. If we breathe properly, now in October, are we doing so in tempo? (I preach breathe in time, play in time). The payoff is our rhythmic accuracy is surprisingly more unified. I have used this fundamental training to also unify step offs in our visual demand. The students are internalizing pulse across the board. (I specifically listen for the breath in our warm up. I listen for an energized but nonrestrictive sound).
4. At this point in the season, I consider a general rule: "If you can't say it in 8 words or less, it is not worth saying." My verbage has forced me to consider how we deliver instruction. I found that I lose students after 8 words. Therefore, if something needs to be said in more than 8 words, it is too complex to fix in the moment. I strive to explain everything in simple piece by piece instruction. For example, our ensemble is having tempo issues within one portion of the show. There is NO POINT in explaining this. Instead, I rehearse various elements (bopping for tempo, articulation via sizzling or clapping, breathing in tempo, or rehearsing finger transitions) to determine the cause of the tempo error. By breaking down the pieces, I can focus the instruction. This philosophical approach creates more effective outcomes.
FINAL THOUGHT
Hand in hand with all of this is that my students are genuinely devoted to fundamentals. They get it and buy in. This has been at least 5 years on my part of getting us to this point. I'm lucky. I'm thinking this may be a future post . . . . "How to Get them to Buy In."
When I was a younger educator, a mentor said, "Marching Bands stop getting better around the first week of October."
I never understood what that meant until circa 2016. It has been in the last few years that I have come to understand the awesome power that is fundamentals and training within the HS Band program. They are my everything now. I would have NEVER guessed this as a younger director. And, honestly, this is probably the thing that I would have told 23 year old Seth to pay attention to.
The above quote does not mean the band stops growing (they clearly do). It means that bands eventually stop improving beyond what they are fundamentally asked to do. Therefore, one sees bands strike success early and plateau. This was a scenario in which earlier generations of bands of my own did. And, I could never understand what I was doing wrong.
The reality of my early failures was entirely attached to lack of fundamental training. I never respected them. Therefore, I never paid attention to them. At some point during the fall season, the show became the show and everything revolved around rehearsing it. When IN REALITY, fundamental training drives the improvement NOT the rehearsing it itself.
I discovered this lesson around the time that my Symphonic Band performed at our State Convention in 2016. We grew to a point where the band was not developing. I was frustrated (with the impending notice that my fellow educators in the state would be watching with that silent conference eye). We were fortunate to bring a clinician that would rock my world. He spent nearly 60 minutes playing one note (Concert F, of course). In the rehearsing of this one note, I learned more about band directing than I could have ever imagined. For the remaining two weeks prior to our conference performance, I changed EVERYTHING in terms of how we rehearsed. And, to my disbelief. . . it worked.
So, what did I learn?
1. You don't have to do much. You have to do it well.
2. The plan you (the director) sets is imperative. BUT . . . .the more you are willing to stick to its success, the better.
3. Finding creative ways for the ensemble to connect the dots on their own improves what you can do.
4. This is a cultural project NOT a musical one. (Basically, your students MUST buy into it which is an entirely different conversation).
5. Fundamental training (warm ups, exercises, and chorales) are NEVER ENDING. Your ensemble will never reach a magical point of "WE GOT IT." They are forever and endless.
So here we are in October 2017, and I am thankful for my paradigm shift. As you may have read, we spent more time on Fundamentals during our preseason than ever before. My band is truly playing the best it has ever been (and we have done nothing different other than a strong focus on fundamental playing). The fact is that our demand has translated across the board. The students take everything more serious and are achieving better too. We are asking them to be better and they are responding.
What are the things we are focusing on in October? What are we doing to finish the season?
1. We began the season with 8 count long tones on Concert F. The demand in August was to begin and end the sound with precision. (I stole the term "IN TUNE, IN TONE, IN TIME" from a friend). The goal is the same with the addition of crescendos, decresendos, dynamics (soft versus loud) and specified articulation. (We do this to a metronome, of course). The payoff? We can vary just about any combination of these fundamentals to apply to our show repertoire. The students make the transition easily between the warm ups and the repertoire. The specific material is NOT hard therefore the students can focus on the development of the added requirements.
2. We have continued to develop the use of Chorales. We play chorales EVERY DAY. They have helped with vertical harmony. The students understand how they fit into vertical chords. I also use chorales as study in balance. Isolating instruments can help create listening environments similar to our repertoire. In doing so, the students translate the skills to the repertoire. The Foundation of Superior Performance Chorales are awesome because they have tonal centers in Bb, F, Eb, Db, C and g minor (basically the same as my show). I can use these as an easy conduit for scale degree tuning tendencies. Every chorale we play is dependent upon students creating a proper and characteristic tone. It double reinforces the performers best playing.
3. We began the season with the Breathing Gym exercises. We have continued this idea into how these exercises fit into the tempo of our show. If we breathe properly, now in October, are we doing so in tempo? (I preach breathe in time, play in time). The payoff is our rhythmic accuracy is surprisingly more unified. I have used this fundamental training to also unify step offs in our visual demand. The students are internalizing pulse across the board. (I specifically listen for the breath in our warm up. I listen for an energized but nonrestrictive sound).
4. At this point in the season, I consider a general rule: "If you can't say it in 8 words or less, it is not worth saying." My verbage has forced me to consider how we deliver instruction. I found that I lose students after 8 words. Therefore, if something needs to be said in more than 8 words, it is too complex to fix in the moment. I strive to explain everything in simple piece by piece instruction. For example, our ensemble is having tempo issues within one portion of the show. There is NO POINT in explaining this. Instead, I rehearse various elements (bopping for tempo, articulation via sizzling or clapping, breathing in tempo, or rehearsing finger transitions) to determine the cause of the tempo error. By breaking down the pieces, I can focus the instruction. This philosophical approach creates more effective outcomes.
FINAL THOUGHT
Hand in hand with all of this is that my students are genuinely devoted to fundamentals. They get it and buy in. This has been at least 5 years on my part of getting us to this point. I'm lucky. I'm thinking this may be a future post . . . . "How to Get them to Buy In."
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