Teaching Students To Practice

The bell is about to ring, and it's time for the students to put away their instruments. You look around the room and observe the various routines of individual students. One has already begun taking her instrument apart, another is playing through one of the songs from earlier in the year. Most of these instruments will be shut in their cases and will not see the light of day until the next rehearsal. Some students are taking their instruments home, but you wonder what exactly they plan on doing with them. Maybe they have a great time squawking on their mouthpiece to annoy a sibling, or perhaps they are trying to learn a song that they heard on the radio. How many of these students are actually going to sit down in a quiet room with a mirror, care for their instrument, take at least fifteen minutes to warm up, and spend time working on the repertoire that they are learning in class? You sigh as you admit to yourself, probably none of them.

Most band students do not have good practicing habits, and that is a fact. Most of the time, I am just happy to hear a student say that they are taking their instrument home this weekend. In a perfect world, all of my students would understand the need for dedication, the time committment that is required to be a part of the band. They would all know how important it is to practice the basics, and to practice every day for at least thirty minutes. At the very least, they would take their instruments home to learn their band music. So how do we get there from here? Without a private teacher for every student, it is difficult - but not impossible.

One misconception that I had as a beginning teacher was that my band students would figure out how to practice all on their own. I covered the basics during the first few weeks, things like "take your instrument home," and "play long tones first," and "slow down difficult passages." Now, I think that practice techniques should be taught all year long. As a beginning teacher, I also underestimated the amount of time and effort that it takes to create specific practice assignments on a regular basis. Not only are the students at different ability levels, but they also play different instruments and different music! To put it simply, teaching students how to practice is difficult!

So here are my ideas on making it a little more manageable:

1) Learn to play all of the instruments. This is beneficial in so many ways. Learn the All-State audition pieces for each instrument. It lets you discover the intricacy of each instrument. You will understand the differences in each instrument and how they should be practiced.

2) Teach practice techniques regularly. Use them during rehearsal. Have the students speak the rhythms, use fingers only, use an air stream, slur everything, tongue everything, play only the dynamics, isolate tricky spots, and all of the other techniques that professional musicians use on a regular basis.

3) Teach the fundamentals of playing as part of the warm-up, and don't skip the boring ones. Practice breathing, practice on the mouthpiece, practice articulations and releases, practice range, practice dynamics, practice scales. Emphasize the importance of spending time on these things, and separate them from learning the repertoire. Make them understand, "This is the warm-up. This is where you learn your fundamentals."

4) Require the students to practice. Whether you use a check list, individual assignments, or even a set amount of time each week, the students need to know that they have a responsibility to practice outside of the classroom.

5) Identify both long term and immediate goals. The goal of practicing is never just to make it to the end of the song. The goal of practicing is to make the music sound like what you think it should sound like. Identify immediate goals such as learning a new fingering or a new rhythm, playing with specific articulations and dynamics, or learning to play a specific passage without errors.

This coming year, I want my students to practice better. Maybe I will use a practice journal, where they will write down their goals at the beginning of the week with my help. Maybe I will have individual students come in after school for temporary private lessons. I know that I will focus more on the warm up period, where all of the fundamentals are honed in. One thing is certain: learning to play an instrument takes time, and time is a valuable resource. Learning to practice means making practice time more efficient.

Is it summer yet?

I just finished Music Festival weekend, so I should feel a whole load off of my chest, right? Then why do I feel like things are even more difficult? Why is it harder for me to plan my lessons and pick music? Why am I thinking about packing up and shipping out?

Do I really want to be a music teacher?

Why did I choose this job in the first place?

I want to be a good music teacher. I want to have a successful classroom, where students enjoy coming, where they focus on making music. I want to have a successful program, where the band and the choir are filled out with students who know what they are doing. I want a curriculum where the students learn what's important about music, where all students are successful.

Do I really want to be a music teacher? Well, what else could I be? I have devoted nine years to the profession. It's not like I can make very much money being a performer, not that I would want that type of lifestyle in the first place. I don't think that any other job is free from stress, at least none that would help me provide for a family. It's not that I mind teaching music, it's just that I don't like feeling like a failure. I don't like free days, or musical chairs, and I don't like my students to think that music is boring. I need a curriculum. I need to be able to plan lessons. I need to see the big picture at all times, and then focus on the little details. And that's not even going into the social aspect.

Why do some of my students torment me? It bothers me so when any student struggles, but it bothers me more when they take an attitude with me or one another. I'm always asking myself what I should have done or what I should do in any tough situation. Why does it have to be so complicated? Why do they act the way that they do? And is it my responsibility to teach them how to act?

I chose this job because I like music and because I like teaching. I think that I am good at both. Maybe its the scope of K-12 that is daunting to me. I know that if I only had one student, that I would be very good at teaching them. Maybe I should look into being a private teacher? But then I would have to find students and who knows what my income would be. I'll keep being a music teacher, and I'll keep working on a curriculum.

Practice requirements in 5th and 6th Grade

Practicing requirements usually fall somewhere on a spectrum. On one end, there are no practice requirements, and students are not required to take their instruments home. On the other end, the students are required to take home weekly practice sheets, log their times and/or exercises, and return the slip with a parent's signature. There are many different views on this subject.

For teachers who do not require practice time from their students, there can be several reasons, such as assessing students in class. Students who excel naturally do not need to take their instrument home to learn the part, while students who are struggling will receive a poor grade unless they take their instruments home. Thus the students are not graded on their practice, but on their performances. A poor reason is that the teacher does not have the time, organization, or support from parents and administration to require at-home practice. Perhaps the teacher innocently believes that the students should want to practice, and that requiring students to practice goes against the teacher's philosophy. Also, a new teacher may hold a position where students are combative about practice requirements. Combined with an unsupportive administration and community, it may be in the teacher's best interest to leave this battle for another day.

Teachers who require students to log their practice time and return signed practice logs at regular intervals have several approaches. The simplest approach is to assign a regular amount of practice time for each week, such as the 45 minutes that are required here in Dutton, and to reward those students who practice with stickers and good grades. The philosophy is that practicing something is better than practicing nothing at all. Other teachers make specific assignments each week, requiring the students to practice certain exercises at home. In theory, this would be the best practice because the students would know exactly what was expected of them. However, in practice it is very demanding to create new practice assignments each week and assess whether they have been completed. The previous method takes much less effort, but it is also less effective.

Here is a third alternative which has just occurred to me: at the beginning of each midterm, the students are tested with a sight-reading exercise of appropriate difficulty. If they pass their sight-reading, their practice requirements are lowered for that term. For example, if all students are required to practice for 45 minutes each week by default, but Student X passes a sight-reading test, then Student X is either excused from practicing for that term, or has their requirements lowered to 30 or even 15 minutes a week. At the beginning of the next term, Student X is given a more difficult sight-reading exercise (if the student is progressing enough in class, then they would not be required to take their instrument home). Student Y, who is not as talented, does not pass the sight-reading test at the beginning of the term, so they are required to practice for 45 minutes each week until the next term begins, at which point they will have another opportunity to sight-read.

This model requires less work than assigning specific exercises each week and accommodates students who are either struggling or gifted. It also requires some thoughtfully chosen or created assessment materials, as well as some means of assessment. One final thought that just occurred to me: the 6th grade students should be given the second year book as well as the first year book. In rehearsal, they use the first year book. While practicing at home, they use the second year book.

Responsibility in band: Part 1

One of the problems that commonly occurs in band class is that students will forget to bring an instrument and music folder to class. Either the teacher must provide the student with an instrument and music (if one is available, which still takes up everyone else's time), or the student will have to sit for the period with nothing to do. Both of these situations are win-lose, so here is another alternative.

Band students need to learn how to be responsible. Sometimes it is necessary to take the instrument and music home to practice, so like everything else about classroom procedures, this should be practiced until the students are proficient. In other words, the students need to pratice taking their instruments and music home and bringing them back for the next rehearsal.

This begins with an assignment: all students must take their instruments and music folders home. Then the teacher must observe, at the end of the day, whether or not all of the instruments and folders have been taken. Next, the students must all bring their instruments and music back for the following rehearsal. This is much easier, as students who do not come prepared will be obvious. When all students are able to complete this assignment, the students no longer have to take their instruments and music home. Here is the catch: if a student forgets to bring his instrument home, or if he forgets to bring it to the subsequent rehearsal, all students must continue the assignment until all members of the class are able to follow the instructions. Also, if at some point throughout the year a student is unprepared (or perhaps leaves his music or instrument out), the task is reassigned to the entire class. This focuses not only on responsibilty, but also incorporates teamwork, because the students will be motivated to remind their classmates of their responsibilities.

Update: Some students are no longer trying to bring their instruments home. Many more students turned in their weekly practice slip, but getting that 100% seems to be unrealistic. Is there a way to modify this responsibility assignment? For example, separate the group by grade level or instruments and have a competition to see who can reach 100% first. Perhaps keeping a list and checking off a student's name once they have returned their instrument? (Although this contradicts the purpose of being responsible as a class - the teamwork side of playing music.) Finally, as a last resort I might have to punish students who do not show any effort to bring home their instruments.

Prepare to fail...

As the saying goes, if you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail. Time and time again I have experienced this, and hopefully (after 5 years of experience), I am starting to realize the truth in this statement.

Recently, during the 5th and 6th grade choir class, I have had several terrible rehearsals. While I can account these to student behavior, specifically the lack of an attention span, I have also noted a pattern in my own teaching. Usually, I will write down the order of songs to rehearse, but I will not plan exactly what to rehearse in each song. Halfway through a song, I may hear something that needs to be fixed, so we stop to fix the problem and then contine onward. At least, that is theoretically what should happen. However, with these students (and possibly older students - I don't want to experiment), their attention span goes out the window when I use what I call this "reactionary" technique. In other words, I am reacting to what is happening during the rehearsal, rather than planning for what should happen before the rehearsal even starts. Of course, this goes against all notions of good teaching, so I can't figure out why I keep falling into this pattern. Hopefully writing about it will reinforce the idea...

Rehearsals should not be "reactionary." They should be planned out ahead of time, knowing which issues need to be addressed and how to address them. "Winging it" is not a viable rehearsal option for any successful music teacher.

Elementary curriculum: Summarized in three concepts

With the recent reflection that I have been doing on third and fourth grade curriculum, I have discovered that almost everything fits into one of three categories. Furthermore, this framework might fit all elementary level music classes.

One category is "Music Appreciation." Music appreciation focuses on introducing students to culturally and historically important musical examples. The breadth of exposure relies on the beliefs of the teacher, and I believe that classical, multicultural, and traditional music should be included. Another idea included in music appreciation is the historical information behind composers and songs, as well as the forces that helped shape the music such as instrumentation. Music appreciation is experiencing music and knowing "about" music.

Another category is "Practical Theory." Music theory includes many subcategories such as vocabulary, form, pitch, and rhythm. Theory is not required for performing or listening to music, but it enables the students to understand music on a deeper level. At the secondary level, practical theory focuses on reading notes and rhythms in band, but that is just the bare minimum that needs to be known.

The third category is "Performance," which obviously includes any type of performing. Students should have experience singing, playing instruments, and moving to music. At each grade level, there are appropriate activities which should challenge the students (in order to nurture their musical abilities) without sacrificing the quality of the finished performance. Also note that many times the "performance" is not a formal presentation to an audience, but perhaps just a final run-through after which a new song is introduced.

In summary, all elementary music curriculum components fit into one of three categories: music appreciation (learning about music), practical theory (learning how music works), and performance. Each of these categories then contains subcategories for different concepts, which can then be assigned to specific grades, semesters, and unit plans.

Concert Band curriculum

Aside from learning the repertoire, band students should also be learning about rudiments and practical theory. Most bands across the United States use the first portion of rehearsal as a "warm up," where the director develops the fundamentals of playing. What then should be included in the curriculum?

First, my band is combined 7th through 12th grade band. This poses some problems with designing a curriculum, because some students are going to have up to 5 more years of experience than other students. I have tried using Essential Elements books with the combined band, with limited success. Some students easily become bored and want to move on to the next exercise, while other students may be struggling and unable to play a certain exercise without multiple repetitions at slow tempos. This predicament adequately portrays the major dilemma of teaching a combined band: finding a balance between challenging the advanced students without leaving the beginning students behind.

This brings up the idea that there are some fundamentals that are practiced daily even by professional musicians. These things could be included in the curriculum, like breath control, articulations, tone quality, dynamics, scale patterns, and other etudes. Ensemble concepts such as balance and phrasing are also important. How do you teach these concepts over the course of 40 weeks in a way that keeps the students interested?

One other idea to consider before planning a curriculum is that most of these fundamentals are required from the very beginning to make good music. In other words, you can't save dynamics for the fourth quarter because you'll need them during the first quarter. The same thing can be said about tone quality, balance, rhythm reading, breath control, and several others. Of course, you can't teach all of these things in the first week, but perhaps there is a way to design a type of spiral curriculum that briefly addresses each fundamental (or a few) each week, and then returns a few weeks later to develop that fundamental even further. For example, you can't just focus on breath control for the first quarter. You could, however, work on breath control and tone quality in the first week, dynamics and articulation in the second week, phrasing and style in the third week, posture and technique in the fourth week, range and dexterity during the fifth week, and then return to the beginning of the cycle during the sixth week (although I know I'm missing a few fundamentals in this list, but it is just an example). This could be implemented in a such a way that the curriculum essentially restarts at the beginning of each midterm or quarter, and the fundamentals can be expanded based on the progress of the entire class.

In summary, the warm up portion of the class should be devoted to developing the fundamentals in a logical, cyclical progression so that the students become well-rounded performers on their instrument. The repertoire can be used to teach specific concepts in context.