Music Performance

Solo Contest and Life Lessons

1 Comment / College Prep, High Schools, Music Performance, Parenting, Solo Prep, Teaching /

By John Gardner

Solo and Ensemble no frameThere are surprises every year at Solo/Ensemble contest. I would spend the day encouraging, listening, supporting, congratulating, and consoling. Without question, the experience students gain from participation is strong.

Life is not always fair, and neither are judges. A high school principal once commented to me after a disappointing marching band result that…

“They should judge these things the way we do basketball; points happen when the ball goes through the basket.”

At the end of the day of a Solo/Ensemble festival a few years ago, when two directors were complaining to the site official about the same particular judge, the official response was that…

“…that score represents a personal, professional opinion. That is what we hire them to do.”

There are problematic (for me to justify) judges in solo/ensemble festivals: …

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Practice sheet quotes

College Prep, Music Performance, Personal experience, Respect, Solo Prep, Teaching Music /
I was putting together a practice sheet for a student when I found I’d already done that. I may post that another time…..but at the end of it, I had some quotes….from me, my son’s trumpet professor and my clarinet professor. Oh, I may also do a more substantial post of my teacher’s comments, these were some of his rare positive ones.

“You should not have to tell someone you are good. BE good. PLAY good (well). And if you ARE good, others will tell you…. and that IS good.”
–me
“Always be modest and humble…..until you put that [trumpet] in your hand and step up to perform ….and then you become one mean, arrogant, confident, son of a [band parent]!”
–Dr. CD, Professor of Trumpet at Tennessee Tech University (son’s teacher)
“Fast notes…! So what! NASA can teach monkeys how to wiggle fingers and push buttons. Fast notes deserve to be musical too!” 
“Why do you insist on getting nervous when you perform? That is wasted energy and nerves make mistakes. Consider how many people in the audience could do what you are doing. Do what you know you can do and make them stand up.”
–Dr. PM, Professor of Clarinet at University of Kentucky
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Solo contest judge’s #1 recommendation

Leave a Comment / College Prep, High Schools, Music Department, Music Performance, Parenting, Solo Prep, Teaching Music /

By John Gardner

excellentMost participants in high school solo competitions are only in the performance room long enough for his/her performance and maybe for a couple friends’. They could learn so much by sitting and listening/observing for a while.

During some down time in between local student performances at a state level contest, I sat in a few performance rooms just to hear examples of what other students around the state are doing.  I did not expect to see the wide range of performance quality given that I was at a STATE level contest and everyone participating had already received a GOLD (top) rating at district competition. If I had to summarize that experience, it would be with the conclusion that…

…not all music education results are created equal.

…

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Practice takes music from impossible to easy

Music Performance, Personal experience, Solo Prep, Teaching Music /

I spent much of my teaching career telling students that,

…if the notes are on the paper, it is your job to play all of them — well.

We often talked about HOW to master technical passages.

When our practice did not bring everyone to the proficient level, occasionally I had to tell someone (or some people) to simplify or not play a particularly tough passage.

I only recall one time that I actually, after exhaustive (I thought) time devoted to one piece with outrageous runs, that I actually gave the woodwinds a “cheat” run. It worked, as the judges either didn’t catch it, or chose not to ‘ding’ us for it, but I always regretted resorting to that.

Refer to my 5 Steps to Cleaning Technical Passages for Instrumentalists for those techniques.

5 Steps to Cleaning Technical Passages for Instrumentalists

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Marching Band Fails

Assistant Directing, Marching Band, Music Performance, Respect, Social Media, Teaching Music /
I want to be careful and mindful posting this. As far as I know, no one was hurt. I’ve heard people say marching band is easy. If you say that, you should try it. I mean….out there on the field. For a few years, at the end of Band Camp, we would invite parents to learn a portion of drill with their student. Of course, we didn’t really give them time to learn it because that was not the point. It DID give those parents a new perspective on what their student was doing.
Most of these types of fails would not have happened (often) when I was marching…..but today’s complex drills, fast paces, close intervals and backward marching…. well….
Watch for a laugh……but it is marching season, and KUDOS to the way those in this video responded through their fail.
Go ahead. You can laugh out loud. Then go cheer on a marching band.

 

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Did I really say something ‘racist’?

Leave a Comment / Assistant Directing, Family, High Schools, Music Performance, Personal experience, Repost, Respect, Storytelling, Teaching, Teaching Music /

In the high school where I taught, we were just beginning to work on Africa: Ceremony, Song and Ritual. It was an incredible piece of music written to display some of the beauty and complexity of African music and drumming.

I have two “racist”-related stories to go with our preparation of this piece. The first happened several years ago when I invited (and then had to un-invite) an area African drumming group to come to our school to lead a Master Class for our students and open our concert. That will be for another post.

More recently, as part of our discussion and preparation, I spoke with the class about how African drums are considered “sacred” and that we would treat this music and our performance of it with that type of respect.

As part of that discussion, I spoke a little of my son’s study abroad experience during his undergraduate work at Duke University, when he spent a summer in Ghana. He was one source of telling me how reverently the Gananians treated the drumming instruments. He also told me the exceptional level of respect they gave “white people”, especially men.

He stepped over some local cultural norms when he insisted on helping with the food preparation and in washing his own clothes. It should be noted that the home where he stayed was considered one of a “nobleman” from the area.

Not comfortable with the female servants doing his laudry, David tried to do his own. The best he could get was for them to let him help them.

“Everyone wanted their picture taken with the white guy, and they wanted hugs. When I went to church, they would always set me on the front row, if not on the platform itself.” -David Gardner

What really sparked the shocked response was when I told this class (mostly white with a small hispanic component) about my son’s experience in a Drumming Circle, where several of the students from his trip participated. The comment that the drumming leader made (multiple times) was that….

“You all are playing like a bunch of WHITE PEOPLE.”

I got a noticeable gasp of disbelief and shock when I shared that quote. I explained that this was not something a white person said, but rather was a critical statement made by a Gananian African about how non-Africans were playing his instruments.

I was not trying to be or show any form of racial disrespect, but rather, to use a quote from someone who should know the instrument….. Incident averted.

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National Band Directors Day

Assistant Directing, College Prep, Music Performance, Personal experience, Respect, Teaching, Teaching Music /
I learned late today that May 20th is National Band Director’s Day. I’ve had several directors who have impacted me different ways.

ROBERT CROWDER took over some of the elementary school bands when my initial teacher (more, in a moment) worked out to stay at the high school. Mr. Crowder was the first black teacher I had any extended contact with. He was so nice and soft spoken. He taught me at 10th District in grades 6-7. I was in 8th grade, at the huge, inner-city @2500 student Jr/Sr high when MLK was killed. Racial tensions were sky high for a while, including daily walk-outs 10 minutes before school end by hundreds of black students. I didn’t experience it directly, but apparently Mr. Crowder did a lot to help restore a calmer atmosphere in the school.

SAMUEL SANDERS was my Jr High director in 8th grade. I was 1st chair, but always goofing off in rehearsal. He pulled me aside one day and said something like, “You’ve got a lot of potential, but you’re going to throw it all away if you’re not careful.” That impacted me and I changed.
JAMES COPENHAVER taught me in his and my first years. I was in 5th grade and he just got the job. He didn’t like the way I held my horn. He sat down next to me, quietly explained hand position while patting me on the top of my head with his college ring turned around. I have great hand position still. Freshman year, he pulled me aside to say, “I understand you want to be a band director. That means you will have to go to college and I know your family can’t send you. You have four years to work on that clarinet, so that, by the time you graduate, you’ll be good enough that schools will pay for you to come.” He was right. I have so many stories about him. To say he was a strict taskmaster might be an understatement, but he did so many things to help me along. He got me scholarships to summer camps and connected me to the best clarinet teacher (below) in the area. He left after my sophomore year. He taught me to always strive, not only for excellence but for the top spot. I tried to pay him forward when I taught. It was hard because his tactics would be problematic today….but I get enough notes and feedback from students and parents that I know I impacted some lives.
RICHARD FOUST moved up from the Asst position for my last two years of high school. He was a great jazz musician. Overall, he kept the band strong through my graduation.

ROBERT RODEN was my clarinet teacher throughout high school. He was also a band director. He had the first chair clarinetists from two other area high schools in his studio. (Senior year he gave the three of us the same solo for festival). Mr. Copenhaver convinced him to give me an ‘audition’. After listening from his living room lounge chair, he offered me lessons with a condition. “You’re pretty good. I can help you get better, but you can’t afford me. I have a bad heart and am not supposed to do much hard work, so if you will mow my lawn, shovel my snow and do whatever else I need around the house, I will give you lessons UNTIL the day you show up here unprepared.” I have tried to pass that forward, but it is hard to find that level of commitment in the lives of super-busy teens. Mr. Roden died in the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in 1976. There were @160 deaths. My dad was off duty, but at the fire helping fire fighters.

WM HARRY CLARKE was my college band director. The day I walked into the Fine Arts building for a visit, there was a music major at the door waiting for me, calling me by name and escorting me to meet Mr. Clarke. I learned a lot about conducting and rehearsal technique from him. One skill I never mastered was his ability to always remember names. We had a huge band and he knew everyone by name. That is powerful.

PHILLIP MILLER was my college orchestra director and clarinet professor. He was a good teacher, not such a good human. Other than telling me he had wasted four years of his life on me (when he found out I was an education vs performance major), the most memorable takeaway for me was that, just before I would walk on stage for a solo performance, his words to me were, “Make them stand up.”

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5 Steps to Cleaning Technical Passages for Instrumentalists

Leave a Comment / College Prep, High Schools, Music Performance, Teaching Music /

By John Gardner

Solo and Ensemble no frame

“If the notes are on the paper, it is your job to play ALL of them.” -John Gardner

Too often, when I have heard high school (and college) students perform a piece, there are then inevitable technical passages. Rarely do I hear long technical passages played cleanly and correctly. The word ‘slop’ comes to mind. The reason the performance contains slop is because the practice contained slop.

Here’s how a typical high schooler practices:
     Start at the beginning
     Play to the technical passage
     Slop
     Stop
     Go back to the beginning and start over.
     Repeat the above steps.

Cleaning technical passages

  • Stop repeating what you CAN play and concentrate on what you can’t. I suggest circling those 3-5 most problematic spots in a solo. Then, when you start to play the piece, instead of starting at the beginning, start with the problem passages. Play them first — and last, twice as often as the rest of the piece. Don’t always start at the beginning just so you can sound good.
  • Always, ALWAYS stop and fix it.
  • Break longer passages into smaller pieces
    • Play the first 4 sixteenths plus the first note of the next beat.
    • Do that until you can play it PERFECTLY 3 times in a row.
    • Play the next set of 4 sixteenths plus one note. Get it perfect 3x.
    • Play beats one and two. Perfect.
    • Play beat 3.
    • Play beats 1-2-3.
    • etc.
  • Slow it down, get it right, and then speed it up GRADUALLY.  
    • Use a metronome (free apps available for iPod, iPad.
    • Start with a tempo at which you can play it perfectly.
    • Increase the speed on the metronome no more than 5 beats per minute.
    • Don’t increase until you are consistently clean and correct.
  • Change the rhythm. What you are doing is practicing small groups of notes quickly without playing all of them quickly at the same time. By reversing and changing these rhythms, you are playing different groups of notes quickly.
    • Play 16ths as if you’re playing dotted eighth/sixteenth combination, exaggerating the quickness of the 16th.
    • REVERSE. Now play pairs of 16ths as sixteenth/dotted eighth. This is harder to do.
    • Then play them as three triplet sixteenths and an eighth note.
    • REVERSE to play eighth plus three triplet sixteenths.

Practice your performance, record yourself, critique your performance, mark your music and repeat the above cleaning steps.

A youth baseball quote I recall from years ago comes to mine;

“Be sure you catch the ball before you throw it.”
Musical translation:
“Play it right before you play it fast.”
——————-

 

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Why an ‘A’ is not enough in music

Leave a Comment / Assistant Directing, High Schools, Music Performance, Teaching, Teaching Music /

I have used this video multiple times in ensemble rehearsals. Really makes a strong point in the difference in expectation and excellence level in music. Please listen to all of it.

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Wait Longa, Move Fasa, Hit Harda

Assistant Directing, Marching Band, Music Performance, Personal experience, Respect, Teaching, Teaching Music /

Horns UpWe had a Marching Band Drill Writer/Visual Tech who would use this instruction when talking about “horns up”. He wasn’t from Boston, but used that type of accent. Here is what he was talking about:

“Wait LONGA” means don’t rush it. Don’t move early. Wait until the last possible moment.

“Move FASA”. Once you move, move fast….like two film windows….. one you’re down, the next you’re up…. with very fast movement.

“Hit HARDA”. Without losing any teeth, stop the movement as if it hit something.

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