Habits of a Successful Wind Ensemble

Transcription

1 1 Habits o a Successul Wind Ensemble Sequential Fundamentals that Include an Individualized and Comprehensive Approach to Sightreading Scott Rush Author o Habits o a successul musician habits o a successul band director the evolution o a successul band director GIA ublications, Inc. Chicago

2 2!"$%&'(%)*+,-&'.+/+0$-1-$"%)-2'$+%$+3'4"'(-%)+/5567%89+(7+3-:9(6'%$-:+!"$%&'(")*$+,-$./"$'""0$1&2$13'045"'*467$*85"$! The band director is the bridge rom the beginning band student to the consummate musician! The role o the warm-up is mental, physical, sequential, and perormance-based! Meaningul undamentals time allows or seamless transer o concepts to literature! Eective undamentals reduces the time needed to prepare or perormance! Some orm o sight-reading should be reinorced daily!"$%&'(")*$+9-$ :3'045"'*467$*85"$537*$/4;"$)32)&7"$4'0$5"4'8'<$ $! A speciic percentage o rehearsal time should be spent on undamentals! Stretching and breathing exercises serve a physical and mental purpose! The "components o playing" are the tools that allow troubleshooting to be taught! Buzzing exercises or brass should be used to get the chops going and to center pitch! Warm-up exercises must have intent and not turn into a routine o mindless repetition! Scale studies: the building blocks or technique! Tone production and ensemble sonority... It don't mean a thing i it ain't got that "ring!"!"$%&'(")*$+=-$ :3'045"'*467$*85"$7/&360$8'(630"$7">3"'*846$4'0$(&5)2"/"'78;"$78</*2"408'<$! Introduce your desired counting system! Use rhythm charts reinorced with pitches! Sightread notes and rhythms with an emphasis on timing! Sightread at a tempo that insures a successul perormance o everything that is on the page! Sightread with an emphasis on the "components o playing"! Sightread using the inverse principle! Musical sightreading must be developed over time with a logical sequence in place!"$%&'(")*$+?-$./"$";&63*8&'$&1$*/"$13'045"'*467$)2&("77$537*$36*854*"6$6"40$*&$<2"4*$5378($54@8'<$! Cross the threshold rom the "components o playing" to "thoughts about phrasing and musicianship"! Use solege to combat "musical wandering"! Include music-making exercises as part o the curriculum! Get o o the podium and let them play! Strive or an artistic perormance $ All concepts and examples presented are contained in Habits o A Successul Musician by Scott Rush and Rich Moon.

3 3!"$%&'()*(+,-./0&1*2*'*(23(454%678! One stretching exercise! One breathing exercise! Other speciic warm-up exercises! One scale study to include arpeggio, thirds and technical study! One chorale! One rhythm chart to reinorce your counting system! One rhythm chart with pitches! One sightreading exercise (notes and rhythms) with an emphasis on timing! At the appropriate time, add two sightreading examples per day with dynamics and articulations! At the appropriate time, add phrasing and musicianship concepts with ocus towards artistry!"$%&'()*(9:-./0&1*2*'*(23(454%678! Three stretching exercises! Three breathing exercises! An entire warm-up curriculum! One scale study to include arpeggio, thirds and technical study! One chorale! Two or three rhythm charts to reinorce your counting system! One rhythm chart with pitches! Three sightreading exercises (notes and rhythms) each with a dierent time signature and key with an emphasis on timing! At the appropriate time, add two sight-reading examples per day with dynamics and articulations! At the appropriate time, add phrasing and musicianship concepts with a ocus towards artistry! At the appropriate time, develop a daily ear training curriculum through the use o solege! At the appropriate time, include one improvisation exercise per week ;2*(1'/0<=>*26/3*3 Begin by illing the bag completely, then: 1) In or Four, Out or Four (8 times minimum) 2) In Eight, Out Eight

4 4 3) In Eight, Out Eight, In Seven, Out Eight, In Six, Out Eight etc. The ollowing exercise begins with no air in the bag. The initial inhalation happens with a two-count breath outside o the bag: 4) Duples and Triples (blow out a series o straight eighth notes / then a series o triplets) Begin by illing the bag with air, then: 5) Four, Three, Two, One (In our, out our, in three, out three, etc.)

5 & b b c & b b b & b b n & b b & bb b b 12.?'*B/)*-31*CA6(4*A1&D$ Five Step Scale Study Note: Articulations should vary daily. a n w b w n n lay 3 times & b b c b w w n b b lay 3 times Ó & b b c n n n n b n n n n b w Ó n 5 c lay 3 times & b b c d lay 3 times Ó & b b c Ó e lay 3 times & bb c Ó E$0(./6=>*26/3*3 bb a w w w w & bb c Ï Ï Ï & b b c c w w w w Ï Ï & b b c w w w w Ï! to niente

6 6?'*F%.C%0*013%"G4($/0< 1. Tone 2. Timing 3. Tuning 4. Dynamics 5. hrasing 6. Articulations (staccato, marcato, legato, slurred, various accents) 7. Rhythm 8. Balance 9. Blend 10. Attacks 11. Releases 12. Duration o notes 13. Style 14. Range 15. Technique 16. Tone Color (intensity, color spectrum, clarity, sonority) 17. Control 18. Consistency /Accuracy 19. Musicianship A6(4*A1&D/*3 & bb Major Scale c w & bb Arpeggio Thirds w & bb Technical Study & bb w

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8 8?'%&<'13N5%&1G'2(3/0<(0DT&3/6/(03'/C! Long notes should have direction and shape - they should intensiy or decrescendo.! hrases should have peaks and valleys, arrival points, and weighted notes (agogic).! You should carry over phrases and don t breath at inappropriate spots.! I a line is repeated, do something dierent with it the second time.! Find tension and release points.! Musical moments usually take longer to build than they do to pull away.! In many styles, short notes directionally lead to long notes! It s what s NOT on the page that makes the music.! Use mood words to establish style and ambiance.! Assign words to entire musical phrases to help establish meaning and purpose.! ersichetti said, Music is either singing or dancing.! It s what happens rom note-to-note that makes the music come alive.! The music will tell you what to do; the intuitive response creates more than what's on the page.! Trust your soul to eel and express the music. Tell a musical story with passion and conviction.! The conductor s blood must drip with musical conviction, both to the players and the audience.! Discover music in every phrase.! Unlike a painting or sculpture, music can be re-created again and again, with new meaning and understanding.! The paper and ink don t make the music, instruments make no sounds on their own the soul creates the music.! Music must be interpreted to the point that the perormance is said to be artistic and the perormers, artists. A%4"*<* Musical literacy or melodic wandering? It is important that as you learn sel-expression that you not only learn to musically interpret what's on the page, but to hear it and understand it. This is true whether done through improvisation or simply hearing an intervallic relationship stated on the printed page. The best way to practice this aural skill is through the use o solege. Here is a model o how to incorporate solege into daily instruction. A. Solege exercises with syllables and scale-degree numbers B. Solege exercises with syllables only C. Solege syllables sung to students or playback D. Sing or play pitches only or playback E. Melodic and rhythmic dictation 4 Mi Re 3 Do 3 Do 1 2! Fa

9 9 Once this process is taught, eliminate the scale degree numbers and just use solege syllables. This is also the time to begin and end on syllables other than "do." B. solege exercises w/syllables only So Fa Re Mi Once this is mastered, sing solege syllables to the students and have them play back what you sing. Over time, try to cover each o the diatonic intervals. This is also the time that you want to use examples that have a strong underlying harmonic structure. You should be able to hear the chords underneath what you sing or play. C. solege syllables sung to students (sample) Do Re Mi Do Mi So La Fa La So Mi So Once students master the process o playing back solege syllables, play or sing pitches only and have students play back what they hear. D. play or sing pitches only (sample) Doh - Doh - Doh Do Re Mi Doh - Doh - Doh Do Mi So Doh - Doh - Doh La Fa La Doh - Doh - Doh So Mi So

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12 Habits o a Successul Musician A Comprehensive Curriculum or Use During Fundamentals Time This is a ield-tested, vital, and most important musical collection o more than 200 sequenced exercises or building undamentals. erect or use by an ensemble or solo player at virtually any skill level. In one place, this series collects everything an aspiring player needs to build undamental musicianship skills and then be able to transer those skills directly into the perormance o great literature. rovides chorales or the development o tone quality, ensemble sonority, and musicianship. resents rhythm charts in a new ormat to allow transer rom timing and rhythm to pitches in a musical context. rovides audition etude sight-reading in a ull-ensemble ormat that is well thought out in scope and sequence. resents exercises in various keys, tonalities, and modes. Creates a mindset intent on establishing a culture o excellence or both the ensemble and individual players. G-8125 Conductor s Score (Band) $29.95 G-8628 Conductors Score (Strings) $34.95 Individual instrumental editions available $9.95 per part Quality o Lie Habits o a Successul Band Director Balancing Lie and Work or the Modern Music roessional Being a band director is more than a career it is truly a way o lie. Demanding and extended hours are par or the course. Then there s the stress o concert perormances and managing students and budgets, let alone the parents! Written by two veteran music educators, this indispensable book is or anyone who struggles in dealing with the hazards o the proession, be it a irst-year teacher or a seasoned veteran o more than 25 years. Quality o Lie Habits o a Successul Band Director can be especially valuable or preservice music education students, and can help solve many problems beore they start. Topics include: early career strategies; perspectives rom the masters Ray Cramer and Frank Battisti; balancing amily, spouse, workplace, and personal needs; motherhood and band directing; and transerring theory to practice through the development o action steps and proessional strategies. G-8917 Hardcover, 128 pages $21.95 Habits o a Successul Middle School Band Director Building on the successul Habits series, Scott Rush and his team have created a practical guide to all aspects o the middle school band program, including: Recruiting or beginners Mouthpiece testing and instrumentation Running an eective middle school rehearsal Teaching strategies or middle school Repertoire suggestions Warm-ups or beginner, intermediate, and advanced middle school players. Additional sections address musicianship, classroom management, working with parents and colleagues, assessment, technology, the middle school mind, minor instrument repair, private lessons even traveling with middle school students. Habits o a Successul Middle School Band Director is a resource to turn to time and again or ideas and inspiration. This is a comprehensive book that will grow as teaching skills grow, a book that will serve as a constant and essential companion throughout the career o any middle school band director. G erect bound, 264 pages $29.95 The Evolution o a Successul Band Director A roven lan to Improve Your Eectiveness Intended or both novice and experienced band directors, this companion to Scott Rush s bestselling book Habits o a Successul Band Director is designed to: resent eective teaching principles with more depth and understanding Challenge readers to look deep within themselves to ind solutions that will lead to more eective teaching ose questions and suggest activities to put these solutions int action and cause readers to set goals through sel-discovery Establish the classroom as a true laboratory or making music rovide a study guide or college methods classes using Habits o a Successul Band Director. This book is designed to be an invaluable companion or the entire breadth o a band director s career. G-7440 erect-bound, 232 pages $30.95 Habits o a Successul Band Director italls and Solutions A how-to book or young teachers A supplement or college methods classes A common-sense approach to everyday problems band directors ace Sequential models or instruction that are narrow in scope Solutions, in the orm o inormation and probing questions, that allow assessment o a classroom situation Valuable inormation in a new ormat and reerences to other helpul publications A contemporary text or all band directors This is a resource you ll want to turn to again and again! This classic book is newly revised and reissued by GIA. G-6777 Quality paperback, 192 pages $29.95 GIA ublications, Inc S. Mason Avenue Chicago, IL Fax HO1