Student Led Rehearsals: Week 1 (aka Ready or Not...)

We've anticipated problems. We've brainstormed solutions. We've established our norms, and selected our pieces. (We can rebuild him. We have the technology.)

The only thing left to do is to start doing the thing itself...

Student-Led Rehearsals: Weeks 1 & 1.5 (November 12-16, 19-20)

Everyone in the room (myself included) felt a degree of awkwardness upon my stepping off the podium. The palpable weight of freedom and space hung in the room until broken by the bravery of a few students to lean into it. Inevitably, a few students in each class period stepped up and began by inviting other students to speak their mind: Does anyone have an opinion on what we should do? How should we start? Is there anything anyone needs?                                                                                                Some ensembles took longer to settle in than others. The first few rehearsals were tricky as students navigated challenges such as who would be a student conductor, how decisions would be made, etc. proved challenging for some students. Fortunately, asking some simple reflective questions at the end of rehearsal (i.e.: "How effective was rehearsal today?", "Is there anything you would change for next time?", etc.) helped re-focus students on the ultimate goal: rehearsing their selected piece with the intent of performing it to the best of our abilities. I have been making a point of asking these questions at the end of each student-led rehearsal-- if giving students the time and space to lead is important, then having the time and space to reflect, evaluate, and brainstorm for the next time is equally important. 

After the initial awkwardness, I started observing and hearing some really exciting things. Less talking in between repetitions. Fewer phones out during rehearsal. Students who haven't said a word all year found their voice and even step up to conduct/lead rehearsal, and even more so: students inviting other students to speak/lead. More students engaged and listening to other sections when they were not playing, ready to jump in with both praise and constructive feedback.                                                                                                      "There was one part where you guys did a really great crescendo; you should do that all the time!"                                                                                                                                  "Hey! We need to be quieter so we can hear the flutes!"                                                                                                               "Everybody clap while the clarinets play."                                                                                                                                 "I can't really hear the melody here..."

I heard musical conversations about balance, timbre, unwritten dynamics, and style... 

"Do we want to feature the woodwinds first time and brass second?"

"It sounded good, but I think we can do more (dynamics)."

Students problem solving issues together, testing possible solutions and analyzing their effectiveness... 

"Let's try something: play as quiet as possible just to see. When we actually play, we'll do the crescendos..."

"Put the metronome on 180 instead of 90; we can try it in 4/4 instead of cut-time."

"Let's sing our parts here with the metronome instead of playing them."  (Be still my heart!)

"Let's record today and then we can write out our feedback on backchannel chat."

As a band director, I could not be any more excited that my students are not only concerned with how it should sound, but how they want their music to sound. Notes, rhythms, dynamics are not just answers to questions on a test-- they are shaped into ART. (YES!) 

I can't WAIT to see and here where these kids take their music next...