Keeping Everyone Involved While Working With Only One Section

Keeping Everyone Involved while we work with only One Section

Here are some excerpts from the chapter, Keeping Everyone Involved while we work with only One Section from Ignite Response to your Conducting, Publication: 2019

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Keeping the entire ensemble engaged, learning, and – especially – not being disruptive when we’re working with one section in our ensemble is both of utmost importance…and a significant challenge.

In fact, there’s no high level music making without it since we need to be able to rehearse individual sections (“focus sections”) of our ensemble without distraction from “the others” (those not in the focus section).

Here’s the good news:
Keeping everyone involved offers a rich, multi-faceted opportunity for your students’ musical and personal growth. This chapter will share ideas for taking advantage of this opportunity and creating these results:

Musical

Making the most of rehearsal time as the others find passages in their music similar to the one you’re rehearsing with the “focus section,” and mark your comments;
Sharpening listening skills as the others vote/comment on how well the focus section is achieving what we’ve asked for;
Practicing assessment the others can apply to their own playing.

Ensemble

General sense of ensemble and everyone together is strengthened by the interaction between groups of players – something that doesn’t usually happen during rehearsals;
Livens the rehearsal atmosphere and provides a change of pace;
Increased conductor-student rapport as we involve the others in higher order thinking.

Individual

Teaching life skills: showing the importance of listening and paying attention when the focus is not directly on them;
Increases attention and sharpens listening as the others assume responsibility for providing feedback;

Validation of students as judges and teachers strengthens their confidence, as they reflect on the thinking and playing of their classmate.

How wonderful to create so many results and solve the problem of keeping
everyone involved when working with only one section. Given limited rehearsal time, working on many issues at the same time will powerfully leverage value of our rehearsal time.

In this chapter, you’ll see how you can rehearse: attention, listening, understanding your gestures, strengthening kinesthetic connection
with the music, increasing rapport in the ensemble, and life skills….while, at the same time, keeping everyone involved! Read on!

On the other hand, the usual experience for many of us has been:

We start working with the sopranos and - almost immediately - the basses turn away and start cracking jokes…
While we’re tuning a brass chord, the woodwinds duck behind their stands to chat…
And the strings don't even have to stop playing in order to start talking – the moment we start working with another group!

In addition to the lack of respect, consideration, and humanity young musicians show when they don't pay attention (add your own favorite descriptors), We know they create other problems, including:

Distracting both us and the focus section we’re working with, compromising our work and wasting precious rehearsal time;
Losing more time when we have to rehearse the same passage when it’s in the others’ parts;
Sending an insulting message to the focus section that their learning isn’t important to those who are disrupting;
Forcing us to work hard to get their attention when we’re ready to resume work with the whole group;
Sending students the message “In life, you only have to pay attention when it’s about you.”

Underlying Issues
They may not be aware of being active and quiet at the same time

They don’t know they can frequently learn more by observing that being rehearsed (Euro master class)
They’ve not been raised to share and give others their fair turn.
They don’t know how much they can learn by listening.

Is it possible that, unconsciously, we sometimes avoid important work with
focus sections – the nitty-gritty – because we know we’ll be distracted by the others?

Think about it – is it true for you? One way is to notice whether you rehearse the focus section passages you’ve chosen in your score study: if you’ve planned to work on those passages but don’t, it might be unconscious fear of the distraction that usually happens when everyone is not involved.

We have to find a way to keep everyone involved while we work with one section
We know the traditional way – telling “the others to be quiet and pay attention” hasn’t, doesn’t, and won’t work.

Besides doing the right thing and being little angels…there’s got to be something to engage the others’ attention and involvement while you’re focusing on one section. What could that be?

There is a simple, sure-fire way is to engage their attention and involvement: rehearse everyone while you’re rehearsing one section!

This puts the others on notice that they’re as much an active part of the rehearsal as the focus section.

Here are some ways to do it.

ENGAGE EVERYONE BY RELATING THE “FOCUS GROUP’S" MUSIC TO “THE OTHERS’ " MUSIC

Ask the others to find similar music in their parts
The others think the music you’re rehearsing with the focus section doesn’t have anything to do with them (the others). Wrong! Some sections are likely to have – at some point in a piece – the same or a similar passage as the focus section.

Keep the others engaged by having them learn what you want in the passage you’re work on with the focus section.

Ask the others to find the same or a similar passage in their parts.
Listen to conductor comments
Can you hear anything you have to be careful of? Good – mark it.
Mark the conductor’s comments in your music.

Make sure the others mark what you're saying to the focus section - at the spot they have the same passage; then turn around and rehearse them in that same music - immediately!

Did the sopranos learn from hearing you rehearse the tenors? Did the saxes learn from your rehearsing the same music with the trumpets? What will the rehearsal be like if you have to rehearse the same spot every time it happens? Right - borrrrrrrrring!
If you’re working with the flutes and clarinets, the bassoons, trombones, and tuba (s) are unlikely to have the same passages
This will erase frustration (theirs and yours) at having to resolve the same issue when it happens in another part
Think about how very different – and productive - your rehearsal could be with you asking students to find the same and related spots; to make the appropriate markings at those spots based on what you’re rehearsing with the one section; with the students applying what you’re doing at one spot to other spots, etc. etc.

Have the others comment on the focus section’s progress
Ask the others about how well – or not well – the focus section responded to your instructions.

By judging

When you start working with a focus section, instruct the others to listen so they can help you judge the focus section’s progress.

Give an example: Tell the focus section to play fff!!! And then tell the others they have to judge whether it was, in fact, fff;

The others can answer with a simple thumbs up or thumbs down, or they can shout out their answers, having a bit of fun and releasing energy;

You can call on individuals among the others: How was it? What could the focus section do better?

This gives information to the focus section as well supporting their efforts since their classmates are listening to them, thinking about how they’re doing, and providing suggestions – something that rarely happens rehearsals.

By gesturing

If the others say it wasn’t fff, ask them, “If you were the conductor, what gesture would you use to get the focus section to play louder?”
Encourage them to make whatever gesture they like, then comment and correct;
Ask the focus section play again, conducted by the others with their “louder” gesture.
It’s guaranteed that, if you do this with good will, humor, a feeling of “we’re all in this together” the others will be totally involved!

By measuring response

You can ask some of the others to count how many times it takes for the focus section to meet your expectations.
Those who take this on will, over time, be able to report on whether there is any overall improvement – in the form of needing fewer times through (talking to themselves faster)

Have the others conduct, clap and/or move to the music you’re working on with the focus section.
This will also give the others a kinesthetic experience of the passage you’re rehearsing so that they feel the mood and rhythm more strongly when it’s their turn to sing/play it. Besides, the others will love “telling the focus section what to do.”

Students love to conduct, and you can pause in your work with the focus sections to comment on the others’ conducting;

Does it need more energy or greater intent? Is their pattern clear? Is it in the style of the music?
Make sure to have the focus section joins in the conducting exercise.
Depend on this to engage the others, as well as increasing their ability to watch, understand what they see, and allow them to ascend into the realm of conducting.

This is a template for many scenarios.

If rhythm is an issue, have the others conduct really tightly…the “focus section,” too.

Then have them conduct really legato to feel the difference.

Get other groups to clap in time with the music you’re rehearsing with the “focus section.”
This has the same effects as when they conduct except and is even stronger rhythmically.
Vary this by having some play “body percussion.” They might hit a more resonant part of their body to emphasize the first beat in a measure
You can also get the others up out of their seats and move to the music; is the focus section’s playing strong enough to get them moving in its style?
Having the others conduct, clap, and get up and move, brings a variation and energy outlet into the rehearsal, as well as proving plenty of opportunities for you to increase your rapport with the students through your joking comments.

Share the score
If possible, xerox (or have your Library Crew xerox) the sections of the score you’ve identified in your score study to work on at that day’s rehearsal

Create a Score/Xerox crew to copy and distribute the copies.
This is an example of ways you can pass work on to your students, so that you’ll have more time before the rehearsal starts to get yourself to state.
The minute you stop to work on a passage, tell the others what you’ll be rehearsing and where: "I'm going to work with the violas on measures 38 and 39."
Important - wait until everyone has found the spot.
Have the focus section play the passage.
Ask both the others and members of the “focus group” what needs work
Ask the others to look at the score and identify what part – counter melody, accompaniment, etc. they’re playing during the passage you’re working on with the “focus section.”

ENGAGE EVERYONE BY INCREASING THE OTHERS’ AWARENESS OF THEIR THINKING

Give the others an experience of how distracting they are when they're not paying attention while you're working with another section.
Students are generally unaware of how distracting their chatting is, perhaps because they haven’t yet developed a sense of their presence in the world.

Ask a section – easily visible to the unruly others - to start chatting. Ask the unruly others if their attention is diverted from what you’re saying.

Have the unruly others come up to the podium. Ask one to rehearse the focus section then ask the behaving others to chat and be a distraction, etc.

Ask questions to the others that make them reflect on their behavior

Ask for some examples/situations of why people should pay attention to what is being said and done if it seems not to concern them

Ask what kind of things can you learn when you listen but you’re not the center of it all?

Understand the person better who’s speaking

Understand how people react, generally, to that kind of speaking
See how different types of people react to that kind of speaking
Learn, generally, the dynamics between a speaker and a listener, or more sharply distinguished, how listeners’ attention wanes, what effect that has on the speaker, etc. etc.

What can you learn about yourself as you observe how you react to when the conductor works with another section?

Understand the subject better
Learn to discipline yourself – Ask when it’s important to learn how to discipline yourself.
Be more prepared when it’s your turn to speak
Respectful and courteous
Wouldn’t ask questions about topics that were already discussed (this is the same as having to rehearse the clarinets in the same music you had just rehearsed with the flutes.)