5 Rehearsal Necessities - What Every Rehearsal Needs
The makings of a rehearsal. It’s been a long time since I have sat down and thought about the thought process and planning that goes into a rehearsal. Over the past month, I have been forced to think a lot about our rehearsal plans because we’ve missed so much school. What was a plan for 10 rehearsals before a concert has turned into 4 due to snow days. The weather has forced me to plan rehearsal to the minute in order to get done what needs to be done. Here are the 5 things to consider when planning a rehearsal.
Warm Up
Technique
Notes and Rhythms
Musicality
Performance Practice
1. Warm-Up
I like to devote 10 - 15 minutes of rehearsal time to warm-ups (of an hour rehearsal). My go to warm-ups are long tone exercises, lip slurs, scales and chorales. I have been using John McAllister’s Band Basics with my younger students, and am very successful with that.
2. Technique
Sight Reading is a big part of my rehearsals. I use Sight Reading Factory almost every day. Whether the goal is rhythm reading in 12/8 or tied eighth notes, 5-8 minutes is spent specifically targeting rhythms or durations that are in our music. I pre-teach everything, from key signatures to time signatures. My philosophy with my ensembles this year has been “If I haven’t taught it to them, they don’t know it.” That will change as as I teach at this school longer, but right now I am making no assumptions on anything.
3. Notes and Rhythms
The “nitty-gritty”. The nuts and bolts of the literature we are playing. I pre-teach tricky rhythms, key signatures to make the connection to the literature. Sometimes this transfers and the students pick up on it right away. Other times they can’t connect that the technique work we just did, is the same technique in measures 6-12 of their music. This is where I spend most of my rehearsal time. Articulations and style also fall into this category. My ensembles are younger, so it takes more time in this stage of the rehearsal process. My students don’t really practice (unless a playing assessment is due), so all of the nitty-gritty has to be rehearsed as an ensemble. Sad, yes. But it’s a realization that I have come to learn over the past few years.
4. Musiciality
I like to program at least one piece slightly below their grade level so we don’t have to work so hard on notes and rhythms. This usually comes in the form of a slower, ballad type piece. Focus during a rehearsal of that piece is about phrasing, dynamic contrasts, etc. This is a piece were we (as an ensemble) can make musical decisions about how it should sound. Once all of your lit has been note and rhythm rehearsed, this is where I spend a lot of time.
This is where I differ from a lot of band directors. I teach notes and rhythms first (to my younger ensembles). I can’t expect them to play with musicality if they are playing notes and rhythms incorrectly. If I were rehearsing a top tier wind ensemble, or older students, I would teach musicality right along side notes and rhythms (and would expect to NOT spend a ton of time teaching notes and rhythms). But, those aren’t my ensembles right now. We do get to this portion of a rehearsal, but not as quickly.
90% of the time, I am telling students exactly what to do with the “musiciality”. “Crescendo here, slow down here, decrescendo there.” The other 10% of the time, I am asking the students to make some decisions. “In measure 4, what should we add to the start of that phrase to give it some direction?” Questions are carefully constructed to allow students to make those decisions. Yes, they are leading questions, with a very specific answer in mind, BUT if your students tell you there should be a crescendo in measure 4, they will never forget to play it…
5. Performance Practice
I always end a rehearsal with some performance practice. No matter how bad (or good) the rehearsal was, students need to leave the room feeling like something was accomplished. Play through a piece (or section) as it was a performance. Correct tempo, style, etc. Allow the students to end a class period with a “run” of something. This has been particularly important these past 2 months, as I never know when the next rehearsal will be. Yesterday we spent the last 7 minutes of rehearsal pretending it was the concert. “Alright, let’s see how this goes, because who knows, this could be the last rehearsal before the concert…”
By Stephanie Williamson
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